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A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational or ceremonial duties on the manor.
The term has pre-Conquest origins in Old English, deriving from the Old English bydel ("herald, messenger from an authority, preacher"), itself deriving from beodan ("to proclaim", which has a modern descendant in the English verb bid).[1] In Old English it was a title given to an Anglo-Saxon officer who summoned householders to council. It is also known in Medieval Latin as bedellus.
The Domesday Book refers to Beadles as bedelli or undersheriffs of manors.[2]
- ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
- ^ The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge Vol III, (1846) Charles, Kinght, London, p.26