ABSTRACT
The one word ‘nobility’—noblesse, nobleza, szlachta-referred in Europe to the entire status elite and was notoriously imprecise. As new men rose into the elite, it became necessary to define terms. The abstract word ‘gentleman’ (gentilhomme in France, hidalgo in Spain) was accepted as referring to a ‘true’ noble, that is, one who was born such and not created. In the rural provinces of western Europe a knight, caballero or chevalier was likewise normally a representative of the old nobility Titles were rare, a mark of state favour rather than a guarantee of old nobility.
