The petty nobility is the lower

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

classes.

Finland

Petty nobility in Finland is dated at least back to 13th century and was formed by

nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasa ...

s with leader roles in local community that were given

tax exemption Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

for taking care of services like guard duties of local strongholds. Cavalry service was not required from these petty noble families. Later on many of these petty noble families gained full nobility ranking.

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Vehkalahti Vehkalahti () is a former municipality surrounding the town of Hamina in south-eastern Finland. At the beginning of 2003 Hamina and Vehkalahti combined to form a new town of Hamina. History These southern parts of Karelia are known to be the ol ...

'' is particularly noted in literature for as having been an example of such petty nobility (Finnish: ''knaappiaateli'').

Germany

The Niederer Adel that held legal privileges until 1918 greater than those enjoyed by commoners, but less than those enjoyed by the ''Hochadel,'' were considered part of the lower nobility or ''Niederer Adel''. Most were untitled, only making use of the particle ''

von The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''. Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...

'' in their surnames.

Poland

The nobility (''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

'') of Poland included petty nobility known as ''drobna szlachta''. These were owners of a part of a village or owning no land at all, often referred to by a variety of colourful Polish terms such as: *''szaraczkowa'' – ''grey nobility'', from their grey,

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

len, uncoloured

żupan Żupan (; lt, žiponas, cz, župan, sk, župan, hu, kabát, be, жупан, uk, жупан) is a long lined garment of West or Central Asian origin which was worn by almost all males of the nobility in the multi-ethnic Polish–Lithuanian ...

s *''okoliczna'' – ''local nobility'', similar to ''zaściankowa'' *''zagrodowa'' – from ''zagroda'', a farm, often little different from a peasant's dwelling *''zagonowa'' – from ''zagon'', a small unit of land measure, ''hide nobility'' *''cząstkowa'' – ''partial'', owners of only part of a single village *''panek'' – little ''pan'' (i.e., lordling), term used in Kaszuby, the Kashubian region, also one of the legal terms for legally separated lower nobility in late medieval and early modern Poland *''hreczkosiej'' – ''

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as ''Fagop ...

sowers'' – those who had to work their fields themselves. *''zaściankowa'' – from ''zaścianek'', a name for plural nobility settlement, ''neighbourhood nobility''. Just like ''hreczkosiej'', ''zaściankowa'' nobility would have no peasants. *''brukowa'' – '' cobble nobility'', for those living in towns like townsfolk *''gołota'' – ''naked nobility'', i.e., the landless. ''Gołota'' szlachta would be considered the 'lowest of the high'. *''półpanek'' ("half-lord"); also podpanek/pidpanek ("sub-lord") in

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-centra ...

and Ukrainian accent – a petty ''szlachcic'' pretending to be wealthy.

Serbia

The nobility (''vlastela'') of Serbia in the Middle Ages is roughly divided into magnates ('' velikaši''), nobility (''vlastela'') and petty noblemen (''vlasteličići''). Sometimes, the division is made between ''vlastela'' (including "great" and "small" ones) and ''vlasteličići''. The ''vlasteličići'' (властеличићи) were the lower nobility class of Serbia. It was a relatively numerous class of the small, warrior nobility, originating from the ''vojnici'' (warriors) from sources from the end of the 12th- and beginning of 13th century. They held villages, with full rights, and in

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

and legal terms stood below the ''vlastela''. They had military obligations, such as joining the army individually or with a group his men (soldiers), dependent on his wealth.

References

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