Squire

For other uses, see Squire (disambiguation) and Squires (disambiguation).

A knight and his squire

Wolfram von Eschenbach and his squire (Codex Manesse, 14th century)

A squire cleaning armour

A squire helping his knight, in a historical reenactment in 2009

A squire holds the warhorse of his knight, detail from monument to Sir Richard Stapledon (d.1326), Exeter Cathedral.

In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.

Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire could be a knight's apprentice or a servant that fought with his lord. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a "squire", and still later, the term was applied to members of the landed gentry. In contemporary American usage, "squire" is the title given to justices of the peace or similar local dignitaries.

Squire is a shortened version of the word esquire, from the Old French escuier (modern French écuyer), itself derived from the Late Latin scutarius ("shield bearer"), in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was armiger ("arms bearer").

Knights in Training

The most common definition of squire refers to the Middle Ages. A squire was typically a young boy, training to become a knight. A boy became a page at the age of 7 then a squire at age 14. Squires were the second step to becoming a knight, after having served as a page. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. The squire would sometimes carry the knight's flag into battle with his master.

In literature

The young King Arthur served as Sir Kay's squire in the traditional tale of the Sword in the Stone that appears in literary works, including Le Morte d'Arthur and The Once and Future King. One of the pilgrim-storytellers in The Canterbury Tales is a squire who is the son of the knight that he serves. In Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, the babbling Sancho Panza serves as squire of the deluded Don. In the children's book The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop, the protagonist William serves as the squire of Sir Simon, a knight from the Middle Ages who got transported to the present.

Landed gentry

In the English countryside from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century, there was often one principal family of landed gentry, owning much of the land and living in the largest house, often referred to by people lower down the social scale as the "big house". The head of this family was often the lord of the manor and called "the squire". Lords of the manor held the rank of esquire by prescription.

Squires were gentlemen, usually with a coat of arms, and were often related to peers. The squire usually lived at the village manor house and owned an estate, comprising the village, with the villagers being his tenants. If the squire owned the advowson or living (i.e. "was patron") of the parish church — and he often did — he would choose the incumbent, designated as either a rector, or if the parish had a lay rector or impropriator, who was often the squire himself, a vicar. These roles were often filled by a younger son of the squire or of another family of local gentry. Some squires also became parish incumbents themselves and were known as squarsons; a portmanteau of the words squire and parson. The squire would also have performed a number of important local duties, in particular that of Justice of the Peace or Member of Parliament.

Such was the power of the squires at this time that modern historians have created the term 'squirearchy'. Politically, during the 19th century, squires tended to be Tories, whereas the greatest landlords tended to be Whigs.

The position of squire was traditionally associated with occupation of the manor house, which would often itself confer the dignity of squire. It is unclear how widely the village squire may still be said to survive today, but where it does, the role is likely more dependent upon a recognition of lineage and long family association rather than land, which, while relevant, is nowadays likely to be considerably smaller than in former years due to high post-war death duties and the prohibitive costs associated with maintaining large country houses.

In Scotland, whilst esquire and gentleman are technically correctly used at the Court of the Lord Lyon, the title laird, in place of squire, is more common. Moreover, in Scotland, lairds append their territorial designation to their names as was traditionally done on the mainland of Europe (e.g., Donald Cameron of Lochiel). The territorial designation fell into disuse in England early on, save for peers of the realm.

In literature

The later form of squire as a gentleman appears in much of English literature, for example in the form of Squire Trelawney in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. William Makepeace Thackeray depicted a squire in Vanity Fair as a lecherous, ill-educated, badly mannered relic of an earlier age. However, he clearly shows their control of the life of the parish. Others include Squire Hamley in Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters and Squire Allworthy (based on Ralph Allen) in the novel Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, who was himself a squire and magistrate. There is also a notable squire in Cormac McCarthy's Outer Dark and Charles Reade's 1856 novel It is Never Too Late to Mend, where the squire uses his authority to abuse the postal and judicial services. In the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian, Jack Aubrey's father, General Aubrey and later Jack himself, are typical squires.

Mary Ann Evans, alias George Eliot, includes Squire Cass as a character in her novel Silas Marner. One of the main characters of Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne, published in 1858, is Squire Francis Newbold Gresham. Sherlock Holmes' ancestors are mentioned to be country squires in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

As an informal term

• The term squire is sometimes used, particularly in London and its environs, by men when addressing another man. Although historically used to a man perceived as being of higher social class (similar to guvnor), its modern usage is often ironic with friendly humorous intent due to it being something of an anachronism. The original usage in conversations between people of different social classes crops up frequently in comedy sketches by Monty Python, such as: "What can I do for you, squire?".

See also

• Silahdar
• Main article: Esquire