manor

to the manner born

Coming naturally, as if accustomed from birth. She grew up in poverty, but since she became famous she has taken to rubbing shoulders with the upper crust as if to the manner born.See also: born, manner

to the manner born

Accustomed from birth to a particular behavior or lifestyle, as in At a high-society function she behaves as though to the manner born, but we know she came from very humble circumstances . This term was invented by Shakespeare in Hamlet. Referring to the King's carousing in Danish style, Hamlet says (1:4): "Though I am native here And to the manner born, it is a custom More honor'd in the breach than the observance." The manner in this expression was later sometimes changed to manor, "the main house of an estate," and the idiom's sense became equated with "high-born" (and therefore accustomed to luxury), a way in which it is often used today. See also: born, manner

to the manner born

naturally at ease in a specified way of life, job, or situation. This comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet: ‘though I am native here And to the manner born’. Punning on this expression, to the manor born is used to refer to someone who has aristocratic origins.See also: born, manner

(as if) to the ˌmanner ˈborn

(formal) as if a job, a social position, etc. were completely natural to you: He rides round in a Rolls Royce as if to the manner born.See also: born, manner

to the manner born

Accustomed to a position, custom, or lifestyle from or as if from birth.See also: born, manner

to the manner/manor born

Used to elegance and luxury. This term originated with Shakespeare, who in Hamlet (1.4) wrote, “Though I am native here, And to the manner born,—it is a custom more honour’d in the breach than the observance.” Although Hamlet was discussing his father’s corpse waking and carousing, so that manner here simply means “way of doing things,” it later was often corrupted to manor, meaning the home of the well-to-do, and so the expression came to mean high-born and therefore accustomed to the best of everything. O. Henry played with it in The Venturers (1910): “He ordered dinner with the calm deliberation of one who was to the menu born.” A delightful British television comedy series of the 1970s may have helped preserve the cliché with its title To the Manor Born, but it may be dying out nevertheless.See also: born, manner, manor

manor

1. (in medieval Europe) the manor house of a lord and the lands attached to it 2. (before 1776 in some North American colonies) a tract of land granted with rights of inheritance by royal charter 3. a manor house

Manor

the term for a feudal patrimony in medieval England. Although manors were established before the Norman conquest of England in 1066, they became widespread and uniform throughout the country only after the beginning of the Norman age. A “typical” manor consisted of two parts: the demesne, or lands retained by the lords for their own use, and the lands of the serfs (villeins) and freeholders. In addition, the manor included common lands, most of which were used by all the manor’s inhabitants, but which were considered the personal property of its lord.

The overwhelming majority of the manor’s inhabitants were villeins. The economy of the demesne depended on their labor obligations, and their quitrent in kind satisfied the needs of the lord and was sold by him on the market. The villeins were subject to the jurisdiction of the lord in the manorial court. They were also obliged to pay banalities to the lord. The manor was administered by the lord’s ministerials (the stewards). On the manor all forms of seignorial dependence were encountered: the peasants were personally, legally, and economically dependent on the lord.

By the end of the 13th century, most of the manors were small or middle-sized. As the exchange of money and goods developed, the manorial system declined. Gradually the villeins were emancipated, and the corvee was commuted to cash payments. Demesne lands were either given out to a single major lessee or were broken up into small plots that were rented to small peasant farmers. In the later Middle Ages, as economic relations took on a completely new, bourgeois character, the manor became an empty shell. Manors disappeared in the 18th century, giving way to capitalist forms of landowning. However, their disappearance did not mean the elimination of the virtual monopoly over land-ownership by a minority—the basis of the modern system of landlordism.

REFERENCES

Vinogradov, P. G. Issledovaniia po sotsial’noi istorii Anglii v srednie veka. Moscow, 1887.
Vinogradoff, P. The Villenage in England. Oxford, 1892.
Vinogradoff, P. The Growth of the Manor, 2nd ed. London, 1911.
Petrushevskii, D. M. Vosstanie Uota Tailera, 4th ed. Moscow, 1937.
Kosminskii, E. A. Issledovaniia po agrarnoi istorii Anglii XIII v. Moscow-Leningrad, 1947.
Barg, M. A. Issledovaniia po istorii angliiskogo feodalizma XI-XIII vv. Moscow, 1962.
Maitland, F. W. Domesday Book and Beyond. Cambridge (England), 1907.

M. A. BARG

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to the manner born

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(as if) to the ˌmanner ˈborn

to the manner born

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REFERENCES

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Cross-references

manor

Synonyms for manor

noun manor house

Synonyms

Synonyms for manor

noun the mansion of a lord or wealthy person

Synonyms

Related Words

noun the landed estate of a lord (including the house on it)

Related Words