No kind of title was bestowed in addressing any but nobles and clergy. The bourgeois was merely Richard Haberdasher, John the Clerk, or William by the Brook--(whence come Clark and Brook as surnames)--the villein was barely Hodge or Robin, without any further designation unless necessary, when the master's name was added. Such a term as Ralph Walter-Servant (namely, Ralph, servant of Walter) is not uncommon on mediæval rolls.
The clergy, as is still the case in Romish countries, were addressed as Father; and those who had not graduated at the Universities were termed Sir, with the surname--"Sir Green," or "Sir Dickson." It is doubtful, however, whether this last item stretches so far back as the twelfth century. "Dan," the epithet of Chaucer, certainly does not.
The names bestowed on the nobles consisted of three for the men, and two for the women. (French, it must be remembered, was the language of England as well as of France at this time. Only villeins spoke English.) The lowest epithet was "Sieur" (gentleman), which was applied to untitled landed proprietors. The next, "Sire" or "Messire" (Sir) was the title of the knights; and the King was addressed as Sire only because he was the chief knight in the realm. The highest, "Seigneur" (Lord) was applied to royalty, peers, and all nobles in authority, especially those possessing territorial power. The ladies, married and single, were addressed as "Dame" and "Damoiselle." The English version of the last title, damsel, was used of the young nobility of both sexes.
Among themselves, nobles addressed their relatives by the title of relationship, with the epithet "bel" prefixed--which, when English began to be spoken by the higher classes, was translated "fair." "Fair Father," "Fair Brother," sound very odd to modern ears: but for centuries they were the usual appellations in a noble family, both in England and in France. They were not, however, used between husband and wife, who always ceremoniously termed each other Monseigneur and Madame.
It was only natural--and is what we ourselves do to this day--that our ancestors should address God in prayer by those terms which in their eyes were the highest titles of honour. In this light, though "Majesty" is peculiar to Spain, yet "Seigneur," "Messire," and "Bel Père," obtained currency in most civilised countries. The first we have retained: and though we have degraded "Lord" into the title of our lesser nobility, we still use it as the special epithet of Deity. It is only custom which has made the other names sound strange to our ears. We no longer prefix "fair" to "Father" when we address the human relative; and it has also become unusual to transfer it to the divine Father. "Sir God" would shock us. But in our ancestors' eyes it was the most reverent and honourable of all titles, which was the reason why they chose it. Even so late as the fifteenth century, the Maid of Orleans never spoke of God by any other term than "Messire."