rd _baccalarius_ changed its significance; thus in
the 8th century it was applied to the _rustici_, whether men or women
(_baccalariae_), who worked for the tenant of a _mansus_. Throughout all
its meanings the word has retained the idea of subordination suggested in
this origin. Thus it came to be applied to various categories of persons as
follows.--(1) Ecclesiastics of an inferior grade, _e.g._ young monks or
even recently appointed canons (Severtius, _de episcopis Lugdunensibus_, p.
377, in du Cange). (2) Those belonging to the lowest stage of knighthood.
Knights bachelors were either poor vassals who could not afford to take the
field under their own banner, or knights too young to support the
responsibility and dignity of knights bannerets (see KNIGHTHOOD AND
CHIVALRY). (3) Those holding the preliminary degree of a university,
enabling them to proceed to that of master (_magister_) which alone
entitled them to teach. In this sense the word _baccalarius_ or
_baccalaureus_ first appears at the university of Paris in the 13th century
in the system of degrees established under the auspices of Pope Gregory
IX., as applied to scholars still _in statu pupillari_. Thus there were two
classes of _baccalarii_: the _baccalarii cursores_, _i.e._ theological
candidates passed for admission to the divinity course, and the _baccalarii
dispositi_, who, having completed this course, were entitled to proceed to
the higher degrees. In modern universities the significance of the degree
of bachelor, in relation to the others, varies; _e.g._ at Oxford and
Cambridge the bachelor can proceed to his mastership by simply retaining
his name on the books and paying certain fees; at other universities a
further examination is still necessary. But in no case is the bachelor a
full member of the university. The degree of bachelor (of arts, &c.) is
borne by women also. (4) The younger or inferior members of a trade gild or
city company, otherwise known as "yeomen" (now obsolete). (5) Unmarried
men, since these presumably have their fortunes yet to make and are not
full citizens. The word bachelor, now confined to men in this connotation,
was formerly sometimes used of women also.

Bachelors, in the sense of unmarried men, have in many countries been
subjected to penal laws. At Sparta, citizens who remained unmarried after a
certain age suffered various penalties. They were not allowed to witness
the gymnastic exercises of the maidens; and during w