In theKingdom of England from the 12th to 15th centuries, afranklin was a member of a certainsocial class or rank. In theMiddle English period, a franklin was simply a freeman; that is, a man who was not aserf. In thefeudal system under which people were tied to land which they did not own (or "own directly", etc.), serfs were in bondage to a member of thenobility who owned that land. The surname "Fry", derived from theOld English "frig" ("free born"), indicates a similar social origin.

The meaning of the word "franklin" evolved to mean afreeholder; that is, one who holds title to real property infee simple. In the 14th and 15th centuries, franklin was "the designation of a class oflandowners ranking next below thelanded gentry".^[1]

With the definite end of feudalism, this social class disappeared as a distinct entity. The legal provisions for "a free man" were applied to the general population. The memory of that class was preserved in the use of "Franklin" as asurname.

According to theOxford English Dictionary, the term "franklin" is derived fromMiddle English:franklen,frankeleyn,francoleyn, fromAnglo-Latinfrancalanus a person owningfrancalia, "territory held without dues". Collins mentions the Anglo-Frenchfraunclein, "a landowner of free, but not noble birth", fromOld Frenchfranc free +-lein, "-ling", formed on the model of "chamberlain". All these go back toLate Latinfrancus "free" or "a free man", fromFrankish *Frank, "a freeman", literally, "aFrank"; cognate withOld High GermanFranko.

The social class of franklin, meaning (latterly) a person not only free (not in feudal servitude) but also owning the freehold of land, and yet barely even a member of the "landed gentry"^[2][3][4] (knights,esquires andgentlemen, the lower grades of theupper class), let alone of thenobility (barons,viscounts,earls/counts,marquis,dukes), evidently represents the beginnings of a real-property-owningmiddle class in England during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Note that the land and property owned by this English middle class might well be in arural area. This is one factor distinguishing this class fromthemainland Europeanbourgeoisie, a social class whose name means "town-dwellers".^{[citation needed]}

Magna Carta gave rights to free men and thepeasantry."No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled. Nor will we proceed with force against him. Except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."^[5]

• Afranklin is one of the characters inThe Canterbury Tales byGeoffrey Chaucer.
• Cedric of Rotherwood, a character in the historical novelIvanhoe bySir Walter Scott, is a franklin.
• Georgette Heyer uses the term in her novelThe Conqueror (1931), which is set in 11th-centuryFalaise,Normandy.
• The English translation ofSigrid Undset'sThe Master of Hestvikentetralogy, aboutmedieval Norway, names the books' protagonist "a franklin". While not precisely identical to the English class, the Norwegian equivalent was also a class of landowners, often enjoying substantial properties and prestige, but no title of any kind.

Unlike some other terms referring to social class or status in medieval England such asesquire andgentleman,franklin has no modern usage other than as a historical reference to theMiddle Ages.

Several Englishsurnames are thought to derive from this class of people. They developed in the Middle Ages as a status surname, indicating a 'free man'. They derived from theOld Frenchfeudal termfranchomme; composed of the elements 'franc' (in its original meaning 'free') and 'homme', man, from the Latin 'homo'. The various spellings gradually altered because of association with such common English placename suffixes such as '-combe' and '-ham'. The modern surname is found as (among other variations) Francombe, Frankcomb, Francom, Frankcom, Frankum and Frankham.^[6]

• Bourgeoisie
• Esquire
• "The Franklin's Prologue and Tale"
• Free tenant
• Gentleman
• Knight
• Middle class
• Nobility
  • British nobility
• Social class
• Yeoman