The doctrine of the English Gentleman in the 16th Century-Ruth Kelso [1625]

The difficulty of arriving at a fair representation of the Elizabethan ideal of the gentleman is indicated by this variety of its sources, which often present incompatible if not warring elements. The renaissance claimed that it drew its morality from Christianity, that is from the church fathers, and made use of pagan philosophers only in so far as they were compatible with Christianity and reinforced it.