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Burgess was a British title used in the medieval and early modern period to designate someone of the Burgher class. It originally meant a
freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...
of a borough or burgh but later coming to mean an official of a municipality or a representative in the House of Commons.


Usage in England

In England, burgess meant an
elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...
or unelected official of a municipality, or the representative of a borough in the English House of Commons. This usage of "burgess" has since disappeared. Burgesses as freemen had the sole right to vote in municipal or parliamentary elections. However, these political privileges in Britain were removed by the
Reform Act In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...
in 1832.


Usage in Scotland

Burgesses were originally
freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...
inhabitants of a city where they owned land and who contributed to the running of the town and its taxation. The title of ''burgess'' was later restricted to merchants and craftsmen, so that only burgesses could enjoy the privileges of trading or practising a craft in the city through belonging to a Guild (by holding a Guild Ticket) or were able to own companies trading in their guild's craft. One example are the Burgess of Edinburgh. The burgesses' ancient ''exclusive'' trading rights through their Guilds were abolished in 1846. Thereafter a burgess became a title which gave social standing to the office and usually carried with it a role which involved charitable activities of their guild or livery company, as it does today.


Usage in American colonies

The term was also used in some of the
American colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...
. In the
Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...
, a "burgess" was a member of the legislative body, which was termed the " House of Burgesses".


Etymology

It was derived in Middle English and Middle Scots from the Old French word ''burgeis'', simply meaning "an inhabitant of a town" (cf. ''burgeis'' or ''burges'' respectively). The Old French word ''burgeis'' is derived from ''bourg'', meaning a market town or medieval village, itself derived from Late Latin ''burgus'', meaning "
fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
" or "wall". In effect, the reference was to the north-west European medieval and renaissance merchant class which tended to set up their storefronts along the outside of the city wall, where traffic through the gates was an advantage and safety in event of an attack was easily accessible. The right to seek shelter within a burg was known as the ''right of burgess''. The term was close in meaning to the Germanic term '' burgher'', a formally defined class in medieval German cities (
Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...
''burgher'', Dutch ''burger'' and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
''Bürger''). It is also linguistically close to the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
term ''
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
'', which evolved from ''burgeis''.


"Greensleeves" reference

The original version of the well-known English folk song " Greensleeves" includes the following:
Thy purse and eke thy gay guilt knives, thy pincase gallant to the eye: No better wore the Burgesse wives, and yet thou wouldst not love me.
This clearly implies that at the time when it was composed (late 16th to early 17th century) a burgess was proverbial as being able to provide his wife with beautiful and expensive clothes.


See also

*
Burgher (title) A burgher was a rank or title of a privileged citizen of medieval towns in early modern Europe. Burghers formed the pool from which city officials could be drawn, and their immediate families that formed the social class of the medieval bourgeois ...
*
Bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
*
Citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
*
Bourgeois of Brussels In Brussels, as in most European cities, one needed the capacity of bourgeois (equivalent to German burgher or English burgess; in French ''bourgeois'' or ''citoyen'' ''de Bruxelles''; in Dutch ''poorter'' or ''borger'' ''van Brussel''; in Lat ...
*
Poorter Poorter () is an historical term for a type of Dutch, or Flemish, burgher who had acquired the right to live within the walls of a city with city rights. In the Dutch Republic, this ''poorterrecht'' or ''poorterschap'' (citizenship) could be ...
* House of Burgesses of Virginia, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World * Borough and Burg * "
The Taill of the Uponlandis Mous and the Burges Mous "The Taill of the Uponlandis Mous and the Burges Mous", also known as "The Twa Mice," is a Middle Scots adaptation of Aesop's Fable ''The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'' by the Scottish poet Robert Henryson. Written around the 1480s, it is th ...
", a poem from Scotland which partly satirised the class. *
Burgage Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town (" borough" or " burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage teneme ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Titles Estates (social groups) Medieval titles Bourgeoisie