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Costumes of slaves or serfs, from the sixth to the twelfth centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel from original documents in European libraries.

Serfdom is the socio-economic status of peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery seen primarily during the Middle Ages in Europe. Serfdom was the enforced labor of serfs on the fields of landowners, in return for protection and the right to work on their leased fields. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Download high resolution version (1440x1040, 37 KB)Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ... Download high resolution version (1440x1040, 37 KB)Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ... Socioeconomics is the study of the social and economic impacts of any product or service offering, market intervention or other activity on an economy as a whole and on the companies, organization and individuals who are its main economic actors. ... Categories: 1911 Britannica | Historical stubs | Feudalism ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century), in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval European political system comprised of a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the... For the 17th century system in Canada, see Seigneurial system of New France. ... Debt bondage or bonded labor is a means of paying off a familys loans via the labor of family members or heirs. ... Slave redirects here. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

Serfdom involved work not only on fields, but various agriculture-related works, like forestry, mining, transportation (both land and river-based), crafts and even in production. Manors formed the basic unit of society during this period, and both the lord and his serfs were bound legally, economically and socially. Serfs were labourers who were bound to the land; they formed the lowest social class of the feudal society. Serfs were also defined as people in whose labour landowners held property rights. Feudalism in Europe evolved from agricultural slavery of the late Roman Empire and spread through Europe around the tenth century; it flourished in Europe during the Middle Ages but lasted until the nineteenth century. The Black Death broke the established social order to some degree and weakened serfdom. A decidous beech forest in Slovenia. ... This article is about mineral extractions. ... For the area of Sheffield, in England, see Manor, Sheffield. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ...

After the Renaissance, serfdom became increasingly rare in most of Western Europe but grew strong in Central and Eastern Europe, where it had previously been less common (this phenomenon was known as "later serfdom"). In England, it lasted legally up to the 1600s and in France until 1789. There were native-born Scottish serfs until 1799, when coal miners previously kept in serfdom gained emancipation. In Eastern Europe the institution persisted until the mid-19th century. It persisted in Austria-Hungary till 1848 and was abolished in Russia only in 1861.^[1] In Finland, Norway and Sweden feudalism was not established, and serfdom did not exist. This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... A current understanding of Western Europe. ... Central Europe The Alpine Countries and the Visegrád Group (Political map, 2004) Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... Statistical regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked red):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... For other uses, see Emancipation (disambiguation). ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ...

Feudalism, according to Joseph R. Strayer, can be applied to the societies of the Russia, Byzantine Empire, Iran, ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt (Sixth to Twelfth dynasty), Muslim India, China (Zhou Dynasty, end of Han Dynasty and Qing Dynasty (1644-1912)^[2] ), and in Japan during the Shogunate. According to Pierre Bonnassie, feudalism could also be seen in Spain. Although serfdom existed in all these regions, it was not uniform throughout them. Byzantine redirects here. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. ... The Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into the region, beginning during the period of the ascendancy of the Rajput Kingdoms in North India, from the 7th century onwards. ... This article is about the ancient Chinese dynasty. ... Han Dynasty in 87 BC Capital Changan (202 BC–9 AD) Luoyang (25 AD–190 AD) Language(s) Chinese Religion Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy History  - Establishment 206 BC  - Battle of Gaixia; Han rule of China begins 202 BC  - Interruption of Han rule 9 - 24  - Abdication to Cao Wei 220... Flag (1890-1912) Anthem Gong Jinou (1911) Qing China at its greatest extent. ... This page is about the Japanese ruler and military rank. ...

Etymology

The word "serf" originated from the Middle French "serf", and can be traced farther back to the Latin servus, meaning "slave". In Late Antiquity and most of the Middle Ages, what we now call serfs were usually designated in Latin as coloni (sing. colonus). As slavery gradually disappeared and the legal status of these servi became nearly identical to that of coloni, the term changed meaning into our modern concept of "serf". This meaning fell out of use by the 1700s, but the current meaning was first used in 1611. The term "serfdom" was coined in 1850. Middle French (French: ) is a historical division of the French language which covers the period from (roughly) 1340 to 1611 [1]. It is a period of transition during which: the French language becomes clearly distinguished from the other competing Oïl languages which are sometimes subsumed within the concept of... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... A colonus was a type of Roman peasant farmer. ...

The system of serfdom

Peasants during the winter (Pluckmakers by Mihály Munkácsy, 1871)

The essential characteristic of a manorial society was the near-total subordination of the peasants to the economic authority and jurisdiction of the landlord. However, not all peasants were completely subsumed under serfdom. One has to distinguish between full serfdom of the land, which was a serf cultivating, and the power of the disposition of serf's bodies. Mihály Munkácsy (1844, Munkács, Kingdom of Hungary – 1900, Endenich, Germany) was a Hungarian painter, who lived in Paris and earned international reputation with his genre pictures and large scale biblical paintings. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In medieval times in England vast amounts of land belonged to the Church; other land was owned privately. Indispensable for the survival of small landowners was the common land ("Allmende" in French), which was collective arable and forest land used for cultivation and for feeding livestock.

Landholders consisted of the nobility, the Church and royalty. Serfs were allowed to work certain plots of land in exchange for a percentage of the product they produced. While most serfs were farmers, some were craftsmen, such as blacksmiths or millers. In most serfdoms, serfs were legally part of the land, and if the land was sold, they were sold with it. Medieval manors consisted of a manor house, where the landlord, knight, or baron lived, and a village consisting of peasant houses. These homes were actually one-bedroom huts made from wooden beams, mud and straw. Windows were rare and a hole was left in the roof to allow smoke from fires to escape. During the winter months, warmth was made by allowing the farm animals (goats, sheep, chickens, geese, and often cattle) to sleep inside. Whole families slept on a simple straw or wool mat, leaving little privacy. Usually a small church was the heart of the town, and acted both as a place for worship and the center of entertainment for the village. Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... Ightham Mote For the London district, see Manor House, London. ... For other uses, see Knight (disambiguation) or Knights (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Baron (disambiguation). ...

The lives of serfs were very strenuous. The lord needed to maintain his authority in order to maintain the social structure. The priest was the bedrock of village life and all members of the community were dependent on him for their religious instruction and obligations. The priest could “proclaim [a serf’s duties], more for the society than for the ploughman; such total servitude is indeed useful to everyone” (Frantzen/Moffat, 60). Lords and priests who were able to insist that the serf’s role was indeed essential and important to the survival of the community often perpetuated this system.

Dependency and the lower orders

The serfs had a place in feudal society in much the same fashion as a baron or a knight. A serf's place was that, in return for protection, he would reside upon and work a parcel of land held by his lord. There was thus a degree of reciprocity in the manorial system. For other uses, see Baron (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Knight (disambiguation) or Knights (disambiguation). ...

The period rationale was that a serf "worked for all," while a knight or baron "fought for all" and a churchman "prayed for all;" thus everyone had his place. The serf worked harder than the others, and was the worst fed and paid, but at least he had his place and, unlike in slavery, he had his own land and properties. Slave redirects here. ...

A manorial lord could not sell his serfs as a Roman might sell his slaves. On the other hand, if he chose to dispose of a parcel of land, the serf or serfs associated with that land went with it to serve their new lord. Further, a serf could not abandon his lands without permission, nor could he sell them.

Becoming a serf

A freeman became a serf usually through force or necessity. Sometimes freeholder or allodial owners were intimidated into dependency by the greater physical and legal force of a local baron. Often a few years of crop failure, a war or brigandage might leave a person unable to make his own way. In such a case a bargain was struck with the lord. In exchange for protection, service was required, in payment and/or with labor. These bargains were formalized in a ceremony known as "bondage" in which a serf placed his head in the seigneur's hands, parallel to the ceremony of "homage" where a vassal placed his hands between those of his lord. These oaths bonded the seigneur to their new serf and outlined the terms of their agreement. ^[3]Often these bargains were severe. A seventh century Anglo Saxon “Oath of Fealty" states “By the Lord before whom this sanctuary is holy, I will to N. be true and faithful, and love all which he loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the laws of God and the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve it, and that he will perform everything as it was in our agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his will.” To become a serf was a commitment that invaded all aspects of the serf’s life. Brigandage refers to the life and practice of brigands; highway robbery and plunder. ... Old English redirects here. ...

Moreover, serfdom was inherited. By taking on the duties of serfdom, serfs bound not only themselves but all of their future heirs.

Serfdom's class system

The class of peasant was often broken down into smaller categories. The distinctions between these classes were often less clear than would be suggested by the different names encountered for them. Most often, there were two types of peasants - freemen and villeins. However, both half-villeins, cottars or cottagers, and slaves made up a small percentage of workers. In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: in fact, hunger and harsh winters were realities for the average European in the...

Freemen

Freemen were essentially rent-paying tenant farmers who owed little or no service to the lord. In parts of eleventh-century England these freemen made up only ten percent of the peasant population and in the rest of Europe their numbers were relatively small. A tenant (from the Latin tenere, to hold), in legal contexts, holds real property by some form of title from a landlord. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Villeins

A villein was the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages. Villeins had more rights and status than those held as slaves, but were under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from the freeman. Villeins generally rented small homes, with or without land. As part of the contract with their landlord, they were expected to use some of their time to farm the lord's fields and the rest of their time was spent farming their own land. Like other types of serfs, they were required to provide other services, possibly in addition to a rent of money or goods. These services could be very onerous. Villeins were tied to the land and could not move away without their lord's consent. However, except to their own lord's land, they were free men in the eyes of the law. Villeins were generally able to have their own property, unlike slaves. Villeinage, as opposed to other forms of serfdom, was most common in Western European feudalism, where land ownership had developed from roots in Roman law. A landlord, is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called the tenant. ... Using the term Roman law in a broader sense, one may say that Roman law is not only the legal system of ancient Rome but the law that was applied throughout most of Europe until the end of the 18th century. ...

A variety of kinds of villeinage existed in the European Middle Ages. Half-villeins received only half as many strips of land for their own use and owed a full complement of labor to the lord, often forcing them to rent out their services to other serfs to make up for this hardship. Villeinage was not, however, a purely exploitative relationship. In the Middle Ages, land guaranteed sustenance and survival, and being a villein guaranteed access to land. Landlords, even where legally able to, rarely evicted villeins because of the value of their labor. Villeinage was much preferable to being a vagabond, a slave, or an un-landed laborer. Like most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this Cameroonian man cultivates at the subsistence level. ...

In many medieval countries, a villein could gain freedom by escaping to a city and living there for more than a year; but this avenue involved the loss of land and agricultural livelihood, a prohibitive price unless the landlord was especially tyrannical or conditions in the village were unusually difficult. Villeins newly arrived in the city in some cases took to crime for survival, which gave the alternate spelling "villain" its modern meaning. Bad guy redirects here. ...

Cottagers

Cottars or cottagers, another type of serf, did not possess parcels of land to work. They spent all of their time working the lord’s fields. In return, they were given their hut, gardens, and a small portion of the lord’s harvest.

Slaves

The last type of serf was the slave. Slaves had the fewest rights and benefits from the manor and were also given the least. They owned no land, worked for the lord exclusively and survived on donations from the landlord. It was always in the interest of the lords to prove that a servile arrangement existed, as this provided them with greater rights to fees and taxes. The legal status of a man was a primary issue in many of the manorial court cases of the period. Slave redirects here. ... For the direction right, see left and right or starboard. ...

The serf's duties

The usual serf (not including slaves or cottars) paid his fees and taxes in the form of seasonally appropriate labor. Usually a portion of the week was devoted to plowing his lord's fields (demesne), harvesting crops, digging ditches, repairing fences, and often working in the manor house. The lord’s demesne included more than just fields: it included all grazing rights, forest produce (nuts, fruits, timber, and forest animals), and fish from the stream; the lord had exclusive rights to these things. The rest of the serf’s time was devoted to tending his or her own fields, crops and animals in order to provide for his or her family. Most manorial work was segregated by gender during the regular times of the year; however, during the harvest, the whole family was expected to work the fields. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... Look up Harvest in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The difficulty of a serf's life derived from the fact that his work for his lord coincided with, and took precedence over, the work he had to perform on his own lands: when the lord's crops were ready to be harvested, so were his own. On the other hand, the serf could look forward to being well fed during his service; it was a poor lord who did not provide a substantial meal for his serfs during the harvest and planting times. In exchange for this work on the lord's property, the serf had certain privileges and rights. They were allowed to gather deadwood from their lord’s forests. For a fee, the serfs were allowed to use the manor’s mills and ovens. These paid services were called banalities in France during this time. You can choose: Robert L. Mills, US physicist who researched quantum field theory. ...

In addition to service, a serf was required to pay certain taxes and fees. Taxes were based on the assessed value of his lands and holdings. Fees were usually paid in the form of foodstuffs rather than cash. The best ration of wheat from the serf’s harvest always went to the landlord. For the most part, hunting on the lord’s property was prohibited for the serfs. On Easter Sunday the peasant family owed an extra dozen eggs, and on Christmas a goose was expected as well. When a family member passed away, extra taxes were paid to the manor for the cost of that individual's labor. Any young woman who wished to marry a serf outside of her manor was forced to pay a fee for the lost labour.-1... Easter (also called Pascha) is generally accounted the most important holiday of the Christian year, observed March or April each year to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead (after his death by crucifixion; see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year, almost two... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ...

Often there were arbitrary tests to judge the worthiness of their tax payments. A chicken, for example, was required to be able to jump over a fence of a given height to be considered old enough or well enough to be valued for tax purposes. The restraints of serfdom on personal and economic choice were enforced through various forms of manorial common law and the manorial administration and court.

It was also a matter of discussion whether serfs could be required by law in times of war or conflict to fight for their lord's land and property.

Benefits of serfdom

Within his constraints, a serf had some freedom. Though the common wisdom is that a serf owned "only his belly" — even his clothes were the property, in law, of his lord — a serf might still accumulate personal property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their free neighbours, although this was rather an exception to the general rule. A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom.

Serfs could raise what they saw fit on their lands (within reason — a serf's taxes often had to be paid in wheat, a notoriously difficult crop), and sell the surplus at market. Their heirs were usually guaranteed an inheritance. Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat Wheat For the indie rock group, see Wheat (band). ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The landlord could not dispossess his serfs without cause and was supposed to protect them from the depredations of outlaws or other lords, and he was expected to support them by charity in times of famine. For other senses of this word, see outlaw (disambiguation). ... <nowiki>Insert non-formatted text hereBold text</nowiki>A famine is a social and economic crisis that is commonly accompanied by widespread malnutrition, starvation, epidemic and increased mortality. ...

Variations

Specifics of serfdom varied greatly through time and region. In some places, serfdom was merged with or exchanged for various forms of taxation. A tax is an involuntary fee paid by individuals or businesses to a state, or to functional equivalents of a state, including tribes, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements. ...

The amount of labor required varied. In Poland, for example, it was few days a year in the thirteenth century; one day per week in the fourteenth century; four days per week in the seventeenth century and six days per week in the eighteenth century. Early serfdom in Poland was most limited on the royal territories (królewszczyzny). Crown land is a designated land belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it. ...

Sometimes, serfs served as soldiers in the event of conflict and could earn freedom or even ennoblement for valour in combat. In other cases, serfs could purchase their freedom, be manumitted by their enlightened or generous owners, or flee to towns or newly-settled land where few questions were asked. Laws varied from country to country: in England a serf who made his way to a chartered town and evaded recapture for a year and a day obtained his freedom. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Manumission is the act of freeing a slave, done at the will of the owner. ...

History of serfdom

Social institutions similar to serfdom were known in ancient times. The status of the helots in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta resembled that of the medieval serfs, as did the condition of the peasants working on government lands in ancient Rome. These Roman peasants, known as coloni, or "tenant farmers", are some of the possible precursors of the serfs. The Germanic tribes invading the Roman Empire for the most part displaced wealthy Romans as the landlords but left the economic system itself intact. “Ancient” redirects here. ... The Helots (in Classical Greek / Heílôtes) were the serfs of Sparta. ... The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... For modern day Sparta, see Sparti (municipality). ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... A colonus was a type of Roman peasant farmer. ... The term Germanic tribes (or Teutonic tribes) applies to the ancient Germanic peoples of Europe. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... An economic system is a particular set of social institutions which deals with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in a particular society. ...

However, medieval serfdom really began with the breakup of the Carolingian Empire around the tenth century. The demise of this empire, which had ruled much of the western Europe for more than 200 years, was followed by a long period during which no strong central governments existed in most of Europe. Map of Carolingian Empire The term Carolingian Empire is sometimes used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the dynasty of the Carolingians. ...

During this period powerful feudal lords encouraged the establishment of serfdom as a source of agricultural labor. Serfdom, indeed, was an institution that reflected a fairly common practice whereby great landlords were assured that others worked to feed them and were held down, legally and economically, while doing so. Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century), in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval European political system comprised of a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the...

This arrangement provided most of the agricultural labor throughout the Middle Ages. Slavery persisted right through the Middle Ages,^[4] but it was rare, diminishing and largely confined to the use of household slaves.^{[citation needed]} Parts of Europe, including much of Scandinavia, never adopted many feudal institutions, including serfdom. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Slave redirects here. ... For other uses, see Scandinavia (disambiguation). ...

In the later Middle Ages serfdom began to disappear west of the Rhine even as it spread through eastern Europe. This was one important cause for the deep differences between the societies and economies of eastern and western Europe. For other uses, see Rhine (disambiguation). ...

In Western Europe, the rise of powerful monarchs, towns, and an improving economy weakened the manorial system through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and serfdom was rare following the Renaissance. A current understanding of Western Europe. ... For other uses, see Monarch (disambiguation). ... Generic plan of a mediaeval manor; open-field strip farming, some enclosures, triennial crop rotation, demesne and manse, common woodland, pasturage and meadow Manorialism or Seigneurialism describes the organization of rural economy and society in medieval western and parts of central Europe, characterised by the vesting of legal and economic... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ...

Serfdom in Western Europe came largely to an end in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, because of changes in the economy, population, and laws governing lord-tenant relations in Western European nations. The enclosure of manor fields for livestock grazing and for larger arable plots made the economy of serfs’ small strips of land in open fields less attractive to the landowners. Furthermore, the increasing use of money made tenant farming by serfs less profitable; for much less than it cost to support a serf, a lord could now hire workers who were more skilled and pay them in cash. Paid labor was also more flexible since workers could be hired only when they were needed. For other uses, see Money (disambiguation). ...

At the same time, increasing unrest and uprisings by serfs and peasants, like Tyler’s Rebellion in England in 1381, put pressure on the nobility and the clergy to reform the system. As a result serf and peasant demands were accommodated to some extent by the gradual establishment of new forms of leasing the land and increased personal liberties. The end of the revolt: Wat Tyler killed by Walworth while Richard II watches, and a second image of Richard addressing the crowd The Peasants Revolt, Tyler’s Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a...

Another important factor in the decline of serfdom was industrial development — especially the Industrial Revolution. With the growing profitabilty of industry farmers wanted to move to towns to receive higher wages than those they could earn working in the fields, while landowners also invested in the more profitable industry. This also led to the growing process of urbanization. A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ...

Grain pays

Serfdom reached Eastern European countries relatively later than Western Europe — it became dominant around the fifteenth century. Before that time, Eastern Europe had been much less populated than Western Europe, and the lords of Eastern Europe created a peasantry-friendly environment to encourage migration east^{[citation needed]}. Serfdom developed in Eastern Europe after the Black Death epidemics, which not only stopped the migration but depopulated Western Europe. Image File history File links Zboze_Placi. ... Image File history File links Zboze_Placi. ... Statistical regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked red):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR... This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ...

The resulting large land-to-labor ratio combined with Eastern Europe's vast, sparsely populated areas gave the lords an incentive to bind the remaining peasantry to their land. With increased demand for agricultural products in Western Europe during the later era when Western Europe limited and eventually abolished serfdom, serfdom remained in force throughout Eastern Europe during the seventeenth century so that nobility-owned estates could produce more agricultural products (especially grain) for the profitable export market. Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... Grain redirects here. ...

Such Eastern European countries include Prussia (Prussian Ordinances of 1525), Austria, Hungary (laws of late fifteenth, early sixteenth centuries), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (szlachta privileges of early sixteenth century) and the Russian Empire (laws of late sixteenth/first half of seventeenth century). For other uses, see Prussia (disambiguation). ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Stanisław Antoni Szczuka, a Polish nobleman Szlachta ( ) was the noble class in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the two countries that later jointly formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. ...

Grain doesn't pay. Those two pictures illustrate the notion that agriculture, once extremely profitable to the nobles (szlachta) in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, became much less profitable from the second half of seventeenth century onwards

This also led to the slower industry development and urbanisation of those regions. Generally, this process, referred to as 'second serfdom' or 'export-led serfdom', which persisted until the mid-19th century, became very repressive and substantially limited serfs' rights. Image File history File links Zboze_Nie_Placi. ... Image File history File links Zboze_Nie_Placi. ...

In many of these countries serfdom was abolished during the Napoleonic invasions of the early nineteenth century. Serfdom remained the practice on the most part of territory of Russia until February 19, 1861, though in Russian Baltic provinces it has been abolished in the beginning of nineteenth century (Russian Serfdom Reforms). Russian serfdom was perhaps the most notable among the Eastern European experiences, as it was never influenced by German law and migrations, and the serfdom and manorialism systems were forced by the crown (Tsar), not the nobility. Combatants Austria[a] Portugal Prussia[a] Russia[b] Sicily[c] Sardinia  Spain[d]  Sweden[e] United Kingdom French Empire Holland[f] Italy Etruria[g] Naples[h] Duchy of Warsaw[i] Confederation of the Rhine[j] Bavaria Saxony Westphalia Württemberg Denmark-Norway[k] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack... [[Media:Italic text]]{| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... // Economic development The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were times of crisis for Russia. ... A Peasant Leaving His Landlord on Yuriev Day, painting by Sergei V. Ivanov. ... For the 17th century system in Canada, see Seigneurial system of New France. ... Tsar (Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian цар, Russian  , in scientific transliteration respectively car and car ), occasionally spelled Czar or Tzar and sometimes Csar or Zar in English, is a Slavonic term designating certain monarchs. ...

The decline of serfdom

End of serfdom: a German „Freilassungsbrief“ (Letter for the End of a serfdom) from 1762

Serfdom became progressively less common through the Middle Ages, particularly after the Black Death reduced the rural population and increased the bargaining power of workers. Furthermore, the lords of many manors were willing (for payment) to manumit their serfs. Serfdom had largely died out in England by 1500 as a personal status, but land held by serf tenure (unless enfranchised) continued to be held by what was henceforth known as a copyhold tenancy, which was not abolished until 1925. During the Late Middle Ages, peasant unrest led to outbreaks of violence against landlords. In May 1381 the English peasants revolted because of the heavy tax placed upon them by Parliament. There were similar occurrences at around the same time in Castille, Germany, northern France, Portugal, and Sweden. Although these peasant revolts were often successful, it usually took a long time before legal systems were changed. In France this occurred on August 11, 1789 with the “Decree Abolishing the Feudal System”. This decree abolished the manorial system completely. It included removing the authority manorial courts, outlawing pigeon houses, eliminating and rerouting tithes (set taxes), and it freed those who were enslaved. Fear and hatred of the privileged was the most important idea that emerged as a result of the eventual dismantlement of serfdom. The majority of the population consisted of peasants. This social system was no longer viable. The beginning of the eradication of the feudal system marks an era of rapid change in Europe. The change in status following the enclosure movements beginning in the later eighteenth century, in which various lords abandoned the open field farming of previous centuries in exchange for, essentially, taking all the best land for themselves and "freeing" their serfs, may well have made serfdom a lifestyle desperately to be wished for by many peasant families. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 355 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (1181 × 1991 pixels, file size: 668 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 355 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (1181 × 1991 pixels, file size: 668 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ... At its origin in mediaeval England, Copyhold tenure was tenure of land according to the custom of the manor, the title deeds being a copy of the record of the manor court. ... Dante by Michelino The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th to 16th centuries (AD 1300–1500). ... The end of the revolt: Wat Tyler (also spelt Tighler) killed by Walworth while Richard II watches, and a second image of Richard addressing the crowd The Peasants Revolt, Tyler’s Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe... The House of Representatives Chamber of the Parliament of Australia in Canberra. ... Popular revolts in late medieval Europe were uprisings and rebellions by (typically) peasants in the countryside, or the bourgeois in towns, against nobles, abbots and kings during the upheavals of the 14th through early 16th centuries, part of a larger Crisis of the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes also known as... is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Enclosure (disambiguation). ...

In his book Kapital, in Chapter 26 named "The Secret of Primitive Accumulation" and the following Chapter Twenty-Seven: "Expropriation of the Agricultural Population from the Land" Marx shows that the feudal relationship of serfdom was violently transformed into to private property and free labor: free of possession and free to sell their labor force on the market. Being liberated from serfdom meant being able to sell one's land and work wherever one desired."The so-called primitive accumulation, therefore, is nothing else than the historical process of divorcing the producer from the means of production. It appears as primitive, because it forms the pre-historic stage of capital and of the mode of production corresponding with it." (emphasis added) In a case history of England, Marx looks at how the serfs became free peasant proprietors and small farmers, who were, over time, forcibly expropriated and driven off the land, forming a property-less proletariat. He also shows how more and more legislation is enacted by the state to control and regiment this new class of wage workers. Meantime, the remaining farmers became capitalist farmers operating more and more on a commercial basis; and gradually, legal monopolies preventing trade and investment by entrepreneurs are broken up. Kapital (Capital) is a 1992 album by Laibach. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ...

Taxes levied by the state took the place of labor dues levied by the lord. Although serfdom began its decline in Europe in the Middle Ages, it took many hundreds of years to disappear completely. In addition, the struggles of the working class during the Industrial Revolution can often be compared with the struggles of the serfs during the Middle Ages. In parts of the world today, forced labour is still used. Serfdom is an institution that has always been commonplace for human society; however, it has not always been of the same nature.

Return of serfdom

See also: The Road to Serfdom

The neutrality and factual accuracy of this article are disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (February 2008)

Some schools of economic and political thought argue^{[attribution needed]} that centrally-planned economies, especially the Soviet collective farm system and other systems based on Soviet-style Communist economics, amount to a return to government-owned serfdom. This view was put most powerfully by Friedrich Hayek in The Road to Serfdom as early as 1944 and has since been adopted by others including Mikhael Gorbachev. In certain Communist countries, farmers were tied to their farms, either kolkhoz which were theoretically collectives, or sovkhoz which were state-owned, through a system of internal passports and household registration. They had to plant crops according to instructions from the central authorities, especially if they were on state-run farms. These authorities would then "buy" their agricultural produce at vastly reduced prices and use the surplus to invest in heavy industry. The Road to Serfdom is a book written by Friedrich Hayek (recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1974) and originally published by Routledge Press in March 1944 in the UK and then by the University of Chicago in September 1944. ... Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... Collective farming is an organizational unit in agriculture in which peasants are not paid wages, but rather receive a share of the farms net output. ... Soviet redirects here. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Friedrich August von Hayek, CH (May 8, 1899 in Vienna – March 23, 1992 in Freiburg) was an Austrian-born British economist and political philosopher known for his defense of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought in the mid-20th century. ... The Road to Serfdom is a book written by Friedrich Hayek (recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1974) and originally published by Routledge Press in March 1944 in the UK and then by the University of Chicago in September 1944. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... A kolkhoz (Russian: IPA: ), plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms (sovkhoz). ... A sovkhoz (Russian language: Совхоз, Советское хозяйство, sovetskoe khoziaistvo), typically translated as state farm, is a Soviet state-owned farm, in contrast with kolkhoz, which is a collective-owned farm. ... An internal passport is an identification document issued in some countries. ... Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning compared to light industry. ...

That de-facto serfdom persisted in Russia till as late as 1974 (with a brief break during the Civil War), when the USSR Government Decree #667 was put in effect, for the first time in Russian history granting peasants identification documents, with an unrestricted right to move within the country — thus detaching them from the piece of land where they had worked for generations. Technically a similar system of household registration still exists in rural China, but it no longer works effectively on account of the expansion and opening of the Chinese economy, and the advance of technologies in China. However, the Laogai camps, which is the application of forced labor by the Chinese government, constitues an integral part of China's economy viewed by some analysts as economics of slavery.^[5] State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Map of laogai in China Laogai (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), the abbreviation for Laodong Gaizao(勞動改造), which means reform through labor, is a slogan of the Chinese criminal justice system and has been used to refer to the use of prison labor in the Peoples Republic of China. ... Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for forms of work, especially in modern or early modern history, in which adults and/or children are employed without wages, or for a minimal wage. ...

Dates of emancipation from serfdom in various countries

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See also

An indentured servant (also called a bonded laborer) is a labourer unde from the employer in exchange for an extension to the period of their indenture, which could thereby continue indefinitely. ... Ministerialis (plural ministeriales); a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses. ... // The Serfdom Patent of 1781 (German: Leibeigenschaft) aimed to abolish aspects of the traditional serfdom system of the Habsburg lands through the establishment of basic civil liberties for the serfs. ... A colonus was a type of Roman peasant farmer. ... Debt bondage or bonded labor is a means of paying off a familys loans via the labor of family members or heirs. ... For other uses, see Farm (disambiguation). ... Fief depiction in a book of hours Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord, generally to a vassal, in return for a form of allegiance, originally to give him the means... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century), in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval European political system comprised of a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the... Folwark is a Polish word for the giant farms (in Latin, latifundia) that were operated in Poland or the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th century into the 20th, whose purpose was to produce surplus produce for export. ... Freehold is a term used in real estate or real property law, land held in fee simple, as opposed to leasehold, which is land which is leased. ... Hacienda is a Spanish word describing a vast ranch, common in the Pampa. ... Josephinism is a term used in reference to the ecclesiastical policies of the Holy Roman Empire Emperor, Joseph II of Austria (1765-1790). ... For the 17th century system in Canada, see Seigneurial system of New France. ... Kholops (Холопы in Russian) were feudally dependant people in Russia between the 10th and early 18th centuries. ... A kolkhoz (Russian: колхо́з) was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms or sovkhozes. ... The word peon, derived from the Spanish peón, in its root connoting a person who is on foot rather than mounted (see caballero), and the derivation peonage are English words which have a variety of related meanings: In Spanish-speaking countries, especially those in Latin America, where the hacienda... A Peasant Leaving His Landlord on Yuriev Day, painting by Sergei V. Ivanov. ... A shōen (荘園 or 庄園, shōen) was a fief or manor in Japan. ... Slavery in medieval Europe was the keeping of people in slavery in Europe during the Middle Ages. ... Smerds (Smerd sing. ... Yeoman is a word with several modern and historical meanings. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Birkarls (birkarlar in Swedish, unhistorical pirkkamiehet or pirkkalaiset in Finnish; bircharlaboa, bergcharl etc in historical sources) were a small, unofficially organized Finnish group that controlled taxing and commerce in central Lappmarken in Sweden during the 13th to 17th centuries. ...

social stratification is the division of people of a particular society on the basis if occupation, income, power, prestige, authority, status, dignity, education, class, castle, gender, race and ethnicity In sociology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes and strata within a society. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Upper class is a concept in sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. ... The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that societys political policy. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... White-collar worker is an idiom referring to a salaried professional or a person whose job is clerical in nature, as opposed to a blue-collar worker whose job is more in line with manual labor. ... Petit-bourgeois (or petty bourgeois through folk etymology) is a French term that originally referred to the members of the lower middle social-classes in the 18th and early 19th centuries. ... Vacations to destinations such as Hawaii, shown above, may be seen as a hallmark of the Upper-middle class. ... The creative class is a group of people that social scientist Dr. Richard Florida, Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, believes are a key driving force for economic development of post-industrial cities in the USA. The Creative Class concept is controversial, as is Floridas methodology. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who performs manual labor and earns an hourly wage. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... For the band Nouveau Riche, see Nouveau Riche (band). ... This article needs to be wikified. ... A pink-collar worker works in a relatively clean, safe environment, in a job that is considered traditionally female (these traditions generally harking back to the first half of the twentieth century). ... The lumpenproletariat (German Lumpenproletariat, rabble-proletariat; raggedy proletariat) is a term originally defined by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in The German Ideology (1845), their famous second joint work, and later expounded upon in future works by Marx. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ... Old money refers in the United Kingdom to the pre-decimal currency of pounds, shillings (or bob) and pence. ... Gold-collar worker (GCW) is rarely used compared to its blue-collar and white-collar counterparts. ... In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: in fact, hunger and harsh winters were realities for the average European in the... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock... A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... A monument to the working and supporting classes along Market Street in the heart of San Franciscos Financial District, home to tens of thousands of professional and managerial middle class workers each day. ... The American upper class described the sociological ideology concerning the status of the top layer of society in the United States. ... A monument to the working and supporting classes along Market Street in the heart of San Franciscos Financial District, home to tens-of-thousands of professional and managerial middle class workers each day. ... The socio-economic stratification of American society as outlined by Dennis Gilbert. ... The percentage of households and individuals in each income bracket. ... This graph shows the educational attainment since 1947. ...

External links

• serfdom -- Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Peasantry (social class) -- Encyclopaedia Britannica
• An excerpt from the book "Serfdom to Self-Government: Memoirs of a Polish Village Mayor, 1842–1927"
• The Granary of Europe — serfdom in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
• The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis, discussion and full online text of Evsey Domar (1970), "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis," Economic History Review 30:1 (March), pp. 18–32
• Serfdom
• "Serfdom: a declining institution"

Evsey Domar (1914-1997) was a Polish-American economist, famous as co-author of the Harrod-Domar model. ...

Notes

References

• Gorbachev's BBC Interview
• Dhont, Jan, La Alta Edad Media (Das früche Mittlelatter), Madrid: Siglo XXI. ISBN 84-323-0049-7
• Backman, Clifford R. The Worlds of Medieval Europe. New York/Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003.
• Coulborn, Rushton, ed. Feudalism in History. London: Princeton UP, 1956.
• Freedman (Paul), Bourin (Monique) ed., Forms of Servitude in Northern and Central Europe. Decline, Resistance and Expansion, Brepols, 2005.
• Frantzen, Allen J., and Douglas Moffat, eds. The World of Work: Servitude, Slavery and Labor in Medieval England. Glasgow: Cruithne P, 1994.
• Pierre, Bonnassie. From Slavery to Feudalism in South-Western Europe. Trans. Birrell Jean. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991
• White, Stephen D. Re-Thinking Kinship and Feudalism in Early Medieval Europe. second ed. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Variorum, 2000