What is the meaning of Commoner? Concept and Definition of Commoner

Definition, concept, meaning, what is commoner

1. Concept of commoner

It was a social class in ancient Rome, formed, according to the terminology used by the authors of ancient Rome, by "that were not part of the people», in latin. Anyway, the term itself was a great extension as among the commoners, there were situations very different at all levels; almost since the founding of the city is detected the presence of foreigners settled for various reasons; mainly attracted by the prosperity of the city, large numbers of merchants and artisans free they converge from the nearby regions, from the cities of the Magna Greece, and even from the metropolitan cities of Hellas. Many of them were, without a doubt, rich merchants. All those who belong to the royalty, as all who are United in marriage.
The tradition attributed to Servius Tullius the inscription of the Plebs in public records, organizing them into craft corporations, following the classification which Plutarch attributes to Numa Pompilio: flutists, Dyers, shoemakers, orifice, bronzesmiths, carpenters, tanners and potters. These reforms of Servius Tullius, based on the census, allowed them to enter part of the army and of the elections centuriados and, later, even in the same Senate.
However, the fact that these non-patrician gentes were marginalized and lacked certain civil rights (for example had no right to vote), was the cause of multiple clashes patricios-plebeyos, doing that they were taking class consciousness, which themselves recognized plebeian, coaligaran without taking into account the level of wealth and to unite in a fight demands the aspirations of all of them. But at the beginning of the Republic is only when they are considered a group organized in which all recognized a common element: its not belonging to the patriciate, aside from their fortune or their poverty. Joins them other social sector, that of the proletarians (sojedinjaites), the most marginal element or lower of the Roman population.
In summary, the social composition of the plebian class we can say that it was made up of: rich and influential characters linked to the army; the plebeian adsidui, i.e., those who possessed property; and the sojedinjaites that did not have anything - among which the free slaves, i.e. slaves emancipated either by probate decision of their owners, were on merits incurred during your period of slavery or for buying his freedom-.
In the 4th century BC produced the first uprisings of the populace demanding more civil rights, being so, spurred by pressure from the populace, the Roman patricians produced a sophisticated legal code, the law of the twelve tables, which broadly speaking, are inheriting our current laws, in order to silence the protests of the people. In addition, the populace gets have representatives (tribunes of the Plebs) with powers to ensure their rights against the ruling class.

2. Definition of commoner

Plebeian, that it comes from plebēius (a Latin word), it is an adjective that applies to him or what belongs to the populace. The populace, for its part, is the social class that occupies the lower on the pyramid of society.
The term was common in ancient times, when classes were distinct and the mobility between the two was impossible. By then, it was easy to distinguish between the nobles, religious, military, and commoners.
Merchants, craftsmen and potters, among others, were part of the populace of the ancient world. One of the main features of the commoners was that they could not exercise various civil rights, which were reserved exclusively for the rest of the classes. This led, eventually, to various uprisings and struggles through which the plebeians demanded more rights and equal treatment.
It must be noted, however, that not all the commoners were equal. Some members of the mob were rich and had a great social influence; others, however, did not have any property and lived in absolute poverty.
Today, the notion of commoner is used occasionally to mark an opposition between people lacking nobility titles and those that are part of the monarchy and the nobility. When the Argentine Maxima Zorreguieta married Prince William, it was stressed at the junction between a commoner and a member of the monarchy of the Netherlands. The same thing happened when commoner Letizia Ortiz married Prince Felipe, the son of the King of Spain.