jon357
13 Apr 2012
Life / Do Polish names generally have a meaning to them or a particular structure?. [88]
It isn't a perfect analogy - for this reason:
Even 'gentry' is stretching it - Freemen is a better translation - the ones in the UK had (at the time Poland had its 1st Republic) an analagous legal status to Polish szlachty, were often affluent in relation to their neighbours and during that same period were gentrifying.
Exactly - nobility is the wrong word and the wrong concept.
Carlyle was pretty definitive, however Norman Davis compares them to a caste rather than a stratum - this is perhaps the best analysis of the situation.
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
This is spot on - the best way to describe them is as Freemen who due to an antiquated system surviving developed entrenched customs and marriage rules - there are interesting parallels with Mauretanian society today.
As far as surnames go, it was possible to join the szlachta - even foreigners could join, like the British Makalski family - the name doesn't necessarily give a clue to origin, nor does the ending -ski imply that the holder's ancestors were Polish Freemen.
Szlachta means nobility
It isn't a perfect analogy - for this reason:
The difference between Polish and other European nobility is that it was not wealth or lifestyle that constituted nobility, but hereditary juridical status. Nobility belonged to those of "noble birth" that is those whose parents were of the same noble origin (since 1505 at least the father had to be a noble).
Even 'gentry' is stretching it - Freemen is a better translation - the ones in the UK had (at the time Poland had its 1st Republic) an analagous legal status to Polish szlachty, were often affluent in relation to their neighbours and during that same period were gentrifying.
Polish nobility can't be compared to it's counterparts in other countries.
Exactly - nobility is the wrong word and the wrong concept.
He clearly had no idea about Polish nobility.
Read something else, preferably something written in XX or XXI c.
Read something else, preferably something written in XX or XXI c.
Carlyle was pretty definitive, however Norman Davis compares them to a caste rather than a stratum - this is perhaps the best analysis of the situation.
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
For disgusting maybe you should do some research on the percentage of Freemen in the respective countries.
This is spot on - the best way to describe them is as Freemen who due to an antiquated system surviving developed entrenched customs and marriage rules - there are interesting parallels with Mauretanian society today.
As far as surnames go, it was possible to join the szlachta - even foreigners could join, like the British Makalski family - the name doesn't necessarily give a clue to origin, nor does the ending -ski imply that the holder's ancestors were Polish Freemen.