The word yeoman has attracted a great deal of scholarly dispute (there was a whole series of articles in 'Past and Present' some years ago), and it certainly changed its meaning - or meant different things in different social contexts. It seems to have begun in the fourteenth century as a military rank, then it meant a senior retainer in a noble household. The most famous yeoman in literature was Robin Hood (that's how he is described in the Geste). Scholars seem to agree that it was as much a value term (like the modern usage of the word 'gentleman) as it was a social descriptor. In the early modern period, which you mention specifically, it probably meant a landowner of the minor gentry, probably untitled but an important personage in his own locality. Confused? Join the rest of us! Best wishes Dr Ian Buckley