Squire A squire was the shield bearer or armour bearer of a knight , and at times squires included a knight ' s errand runner or servant . Use of the term has evolved over time . In the Middle Ages , squires were trainees to a knight but later a leader in an English village or Lord of the Manor might be called a squire , and later key public figures such as justice of the peace or Member of Parliament . In contemporary American usage as well , squire is the title given to Justice of the peace or similar local dignitaries . Squire is a shortened version of the word " Esquire " , from the Old French ( modern French ) , itself derived from the Late Latin ( " shield bearer " ) , in medieval or Old English a " scutifer " . The Classical Latin equivalent was , " arms bearer " . Knights in training . The most common definition of ' squire ' is that to which refers to the medieval times . A squire would be a teenage boy , in his training to become a knight . A boy became a squire at the age of 14 . This was the second stage to becoming a knight , after serving first as a page . As part of his development to that end , he served an existing knight as an attendant or shield carrier , doing simple but important tasks like saddling a horse or caring for the knight ' s weapons and armour . The squire would sometimes carry the knight ' s flag to battle with his master . But a squire did not stay a squire forever . A knight would take his squires ( a knight could have multiple squires but a squire could only have one knight ) into battle with him and that was a squire ' s chance to prove himself . If he proved his loyalty and skill in battle , he would have a dubbing , an official ceremony to become a knight . However , during the Middle Ages the rank of the squire came to be recognized in its own right , and once knighthood ceased to be conferred by any but the monarch , it was no longer to be assumed that a squire would in due course progress to be a knight . The connection between a squire and any particular knight also ceased to exist , as did any shield - carrying duties . Jobs . The typical jobs of a squire In literature . The young King Arthur serves as Sir Kay ' s squire in the traditional tale of the sword in the stone that appears in literary works including " Le Morte d ' Arthur " and " The Once and Future King " . One of the pilgrim - storytellers in " The Canterbury Tales " is a squire whose father is the knight who also tells a tale . In Cervantes ' s " Don Quixote " , the babbling Sancho Panza serves as squire of the deluded Don Quixote . Village leader . In English village life from the late 17th century through the early 20th century , there was often one principal family of gentry , owning much of the land and living in the largest house , maybe the manor house . The head of this family was often the Lord of the Manor and called " the squire . " Lords of the Manor held the rank of Esquire by prescription . Squires were gentlemen with a coat of arms and were often related to peers . Many could claim descent from knights and had been settled in their inherited estates for hundreds of years . The squire usually lived at the village manor house and owned an estate comprising the village , with the villagers being his tenants . If the squire " owned the living " ( i . e . " was patron " ) of the parish church — and he often did — he would choose the rector , a role often filled by a younger son of the squire of that or another village . Some squires also became the local rector themselves and were known as squarsons ; a portmanteau of the words " squire " and " parson " . The squire would also have performed a number of important local duties , in particular that of justice of the peace or Member of Parliament . Such was the power of the squires at this time that modern historians have created the term " squirearchy " . Politically , during the 19th century , squires tended to be Tories whereas the greatest landlords tended to be Whigs . The position of squire was traditionally associated with occupation of the manor house , which would often itself confer the dignity of squire . It is unclear how widely the village squire may still be said to survive today ; but where it does , the role is likely more dependent upon a recognition of good manners , lineage and long family association rather than land , which , while relevant , is nowadays likely to be considerably smaller than in former years due to high post - war death duties and the prohibitive costs associated with maintaining large country house s . In Scotland , whilst " Esquire " and " Gentleman " are technically correctly used at the Court of the Lord Lyon , the title Laird , in place of squire , is more common . Moreover , in Scotland , Lairds append their territorial designation to their names as was traditionally done on the mainland of Europe ( " e . g . " , Donald Cameron of Lochiel ) . The territorial designation fell into disuse in England early on , save for peers of the realm . In literature . The later form of squire as a gentleman appears in much English literature , for example in the form of Squire Trelawney in Robert Louis Stevenson ' s " Treasure Island " . William Makepeace Thackeray depicted a squire in " Vanity Fair " as a lecherous , ill - educated , badly mannered relic of an earlier age . However , he clearly shows their control of the life of the parish . Others include Squire Hamley in Elizabeth Gaskell ' s " Wives and Daughters " and Squire Allworthy ( based on Ralph Allen ) in the novel " Tom Jones " by Henry Fielding , who was himself a squire and magistrate . There is also a notable squire in Cormac McCarthy ' s Outer Dark and Charles Reade ' s 1856 novel " It is Never Too Late to Mend " where the Squire uses his authority to abuse the postal and judicial services . Term of address . The formal term " esquire " . The " Royal Equires " of the late - medieval English Court ( upon which most of the other European Courts modelled themselves ) , were not young men studying for knighthood . Far more frequently , and certainly from Edward III of England to the Reign of Henry VIII of England , they tended to be men of a similar age to the Monarch ; having his complete trust . In the 15th Century " Black Book of The Household " - a set of Ordinances composed for Edward IV of England for the " Governaunce and Regulation of the Royal Household " , the King had only 4 " Esquires For The Bodie " ; these were the most senior Servants in the Royal Household with total access to the Royal Person at all hours . They were the Senior Staff of the Privy Chamber , and the closest of the King ' s " Affinity " ( i . e . his most intimate daily companions ) , and were the only Servants in the entire Household who were required - not just allowed - to bear arms in the King ' s presence , as one of their duties was to act as personal bodyguards " of last resort " in the event of an immediate threat to the Royal person . In times of War when their Royal Master was " under arms " himself , they would also fight ( literally ) at his side , defending him with their own bodies , if needed . They oversaw his Pages and the other lesser servants of the Privy Chamber , and arranged for his daily clothing , for his laundry , helped him dress and undress , stood guard while he was shaved , washed or bathed , - one stood behind his Chair of estate when he dined ; - they accompanied him while at leisure - when hunting , at archery , at tennis , - they played cards and other board games with him , wagering with him on the results ( see wagers lost and won recorded in the Account Books of Henry VII of England , each page signed by the King in person , National Archives at Kew ) and were the bearers of confidential messages to and from , both diplomatic and amorous . King Edward IV of England and King Richard III of England only appointed 4 Esquires For The Bodie each . King Henry VII of England appointed four of his closest " companions of Our late Exile " within days of his victory at Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485 , and had appointed an extra five Esquires by the end of his Reign in 1509 . His son King Henry VIII not only retained all of his father ' s Esquires of the Body while dismissing others of his Father ' s senior Officers and even executing some ( for example , Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley ) but he vastly increased the number of that select group , as he enlarged the rest of the Royal Household as set down in the " Statutes of Eltham " . The position was so highly regarded , for the value of its continuous close - access to the King , that at least two notable late - medieval Gentles are recorded contemporaneously as having famously refused offers of knighthood , declaring that to be an " Esquire of the Body " was a far - greater honour . In the post - medieval world , the title of " esquire " came to belong to all men of the higher landed gentry ; an esquire ranked socially above a gentleman but below a knight . In the modern world , where all men are assumed to be gentlemen , the term has correspondingly often been extended ( albeit only in very formal writing ) to all men without any higher title . It is used post - nominally , usually in abbreviated form : " John Smith , Esq . " , for example . Germany . The linguistic and social development of " esquire " or " squire " is paralleled by that of the German " junker " , which historically meant " young nobleman " or otherwise " young lord " and denoted the lesser part of the aristocracy , but " went up in the world " in much the same time as " squire " did in England . United States . In the United States , this style is most common among attorneys , borrowing from the English tradition whereby all barristers were styled " Esquires " . ( Solicitors were entitled only to the style " Mr " . ) In earlier years in the U . S . the title squire was given to a Justice of the Peace , for example Squire Jones . It was also used to mean Justice of the Peace as in the example " He was taken before the squire . " It appears that the connection to attorneys evolved from a time when squires meeting to negotiate a duel would instead resolve the dispute , see the heading England on Trial by Combat . The slang term " squire " . The term ' squire ' is sometimes used , particularly in southern English slang , by men when addressing another man . In this context it is interchangeable with other slang terms such as ' mate ' , ' pal ' or ' chum ' , but with a slightly aggressive , challenging , mocking undertone as it ironically implies a subordinate relationship to the person being addressed . This usage crops up frequently in comedy sketch es by Monty Python , et al . Example : " Yes squire , what can I do for you ? " .