What did serfs do in medieval times?
Serfs were peasants who farmed the feudal lords’ fields and paid them certain dues in return. These dues were usually in the form of labor on the lord’s lands. The possession of the land was heritable.
What was life like for a serf in Russia?
Serfdom in Russia. Russian serfs were agrarian peasants legally bound to the land owned by nobility and who were deprived of rights and forced to provide free labor. A Peasant Leaving His Landlord on Yuriev Day, painting by Sergei V. Ivanov.
What happened to the serfdom in Russia?
Serfdom in Russia. Tsar Alexander I wanted to reform the system but was stymied. New laws allowed all classes (except the serfs) to own land, a privilege that was previously confined to the nobility. Russian serfdom was finally abolished in the emancipation reform of 1861 by Tsar Alexander II.
When did the free peasantry replace the serfs?
By the 14th century, economic conditions in western Europe were favourable to the replacement of serfs by a free peasantry.
How were serfs and peasants treated?
Serfs were often harshly treated and had little legal redress against the actions of their lords. A serf could become a freedman only through manumission, enfranchisement, or escape. The greatest achievement of the era was the liberation of peasants.
What differences were there between serfdom and slavery?
Serfdom was, after slavery, the most common kind of forced labor; it appeared several centuries after slavery was introduced. Whereas slaves are considered forms of property owned by other people, serfs are bound to the land they occupy from one generation to another.
What was life like for serfs in Russia?
The serfs had to work for the landlord as usual for two years. The nobles kept nearly all the meadows and forests, had their debts paid by the state while the ex serfs paid 34% over the market price for the shrunken plots they kept.
How were peasants treated in Russia?
The reforms in agricultural also disappointed the peasants. In some regions it took peasants nearly 20 years to obtain their land. Many were forced to pay more than the land was worth and others were given inadequate amounts for their needs.
What was the difference between peasants and serfs?
Peasants, Serfs and Farmers Peasants were the poorest people in the medieval era and lived primarily in the country or small villages. Serfs were the poorest of the peasant class, and were a type of slave. Lords owned the serfs who lived on their lands.
What was serfdom in England?
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. This arrangement provided most of the agricultural labour throughout the Middle Ages.
How did serfs get punished?
Legally a landlord could not allow a serf to starve and had to provide food if the harvest failed. He could not kill or maim a serf, although corporal punishment was normal and, as in this story, a serf could die under the whip.
Why did Russia free the serfs?
Emancipation had been intended to cure Russia's most basic social weakness, the backwardness and want into which serfdom cast the nation's peasantry. In fact, though an important class of well-to-do peasants did emerge in time, most remained poor and land-hungry, crushed by huge redemption payments.
What happens if a serf ran away?
If a serf ran away to another part of the country there may have been no proof of their status. However serfdom could end legitimately. In 1470 Sir Gerrard Widdrington manumitted or freed his native serf William Atkinson, and gave him the manorial office of bailiff for Woodhorn manor.
What did serfs do in Russia?
Day after day, serfs worked the land of their lords, barely leaving time to cultivate the land allotted to them to take care of their family. The lord's land was divided by the peasant commune (obshchina or mir), into large fields worked on a rotation crop system.
What is the difference between feudalism and serfdom?
Serfdom is the bottom of a feudal structure where an individual is bound to the land and functionally owned by his feudal lord. Feudalism is an economic and governance structure in which loyalty and military service is exchanged for protection and benefit.
What was the condition of the peasants in Russia?
Over three-quarters of the Russian population were unhappy with their position in the Empire. Peasants and workers alike suffered horrendous living and working conditions and hence posed a threat to the Tsarist regime. Discontent increased in the years before 1905 in the form of riots, illegal strikes and protests.
Why did the Lords need the Serfs?
The lords needed the serfs, too; labor shortages caused by war and disease limited the available workforce in Western Europe. This is part of why the terms of serfdom constrained a peasant's rights to resettle—it maintained a labor pool for the lordly class.
When did Serfdom end?
Direct link to Joshua D.C's post “Serfdom ended in August 4, 1789, when a decree abo...”. more. Serfdom ended in August 4, 1789, when a decree abolished feudal rights. Comment on Joshua D.C's post “Serfdom ended in August 4, 1789, when a decree abo...”. ( 4 votes) Button opens signup modal.
What happened to the Roman Empire after the collapse?
As the Western Roman Empire collapsed, landholders gradually transitioned from outright slavery to serfdom, a system in which unfree laborers were tied to the land. In the absence of powerful regional authorities after the collapse of the Carolingian Empire in 888, local manorial lords held sway in Western Europe, ...
How many petty kingdoms were there in medieval Europe?
If you were to travel through early medieval Europe, you would find yourself in a hundred petty kingdoms, each with its own manor or landed estate, each one with its manorial court. The land of these manors was tilled by unfree agricultural workers, or serfs.
What happened to the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century?
Serfdom in Western Europe. As Germanic peoples overtook the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century and beyond, many imperial institutions began to crumble. Competing powers and interests destroyed traditional trade routes between parts of the Roman Empire.
Why did the Roman Empire turn into a self-sufficient empire?
The late Roman Empire led big farms to convert themselves into self-sufficient estates, due to a trade crisis and labor shortage. Tenant farmer status became hereditary, as the result of changes in Roman labor law that tried to freeze existing social structures in place. As the Western Roman Empire collapsed, landholders gradually transitioned ...
What did the Plebeians do without a centralized economy?
Without a centralized economy to lean on, the estates had to become self-sufficient, producing food and crafts without outside aid. As city economies crumbled, lower-class plebeians from the city immigrated to the countryside and entered into a new kind of labor agreement with the landholders.
Which European country was the first to free all serfs?
The End of Serfdom in Britain. Henry Marsh describes how England and Scotland became the first European countries to begin freeing their serfs, towards the close of the twelfth century. England and Scotland were the first countries in which all serfs were freed.
What were the causes of the emancipation of the Serfs?
But the final causes for the emancipation of all the serfs of the kingdoms were constitutional change and economic pressures. The changes arose in England from the continuous efforts of the Kings to establish a strong central government and to make the Crown the supreme and unquestioned authority throughout the realm.
What was Henry II's first step towards the establishment of a new social structure?
During the latter half of the twelfth century, Henry II set out to limit the powers of the barons and so took the first step towards the setting up of a new social structure to replace feudalism.
What was the essential feature of the Serfs?
This was the essential feature differentiating serfs from slaves, who were bought and sold without reference to a plot of land. The serf provided his own food and clothing from his own productive efforts. A substantial proportion of the grain the serf grew on his holding had to be given to his lord.
How did the Serfs become freedmen?
A serf could become a freedman only through manumission, enfranchisement, or escape. Read More on This Topic. Russian Empire: Emancipation of the serfs. The greatest achievement of the era was the liberation of peasants.
What was the greatest achievement of the Russian Empire?
Russian Empire: Emancipation of the serfs. The greatest achievement of the era was the liberation of peasants. It paved the way for all other reforms and made them necessary. It also determined the line of future development of Russia. Alexander’s chief motive is clearly expressed in his words to the….
What was the effect of the Black Death on Europe?
The drastic population decline in Europe after 1350 as a result of the Black Death left much arable land uncultivated and also created an acute labour shortage, both economically favourable events for the peasantry.
Why did the wars in Eastern Europe affect the nobility?
The chief reason was that the wars that devastated eastern Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries tended to increase the power of the nobility at the expense of the central governments. In eastern Germany, Prussia, Poland, and Russia, this development coincided with an increased demand for grain from western Europe.
When did the peasants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire get free?
Peasant status from eastern Germany to Muscovy consequently deteriorated sharply. Not until the late 18th century were the peasants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire freed from serfdom, thus recovering their freedom of movement and marriage and the right to learn a profession according to personal choice.
When were all serfs freed?
All serfs were freed, however, upon the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 . The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy McKenna, Senior Editor.
Who were the serfs?
Though we say that serfs were those who farm the land, blacksmiths, millers, carpenters, etc. were often also serfs. They too were bound to a place and could not leave that place without the feudal lords’ permission. Serfs were at the bottom layer of the feudal hierarchical system. Serfs were almost like slaves.
What is the difference between a serf and a peasant?
The main difference between serf and peasant is that peasants owned their own land whereas serfs did not. Serfs and peasants formed the lowest layer of the feudal system.
What were the three layers of the medieval period?
In the medieval period, the society was divided into three layers; the nobility, clergy, and the commoners. The common people were classified as serfs and peasants. Peasants were poor rural farm workers. Serfs were peasants who worked lords’ land and paid them certain dues in return for the use of land. The main difference between serf and peasant is that peasants owned their own land whereas serfs did not. Serfs and peasants formed the lowest layer of the feudal system.
What was the form of labor on the Lord's lands?
These dues were usually in the form of labor on the lord’s lands. The possession of the land was heritable. When a serf working the fields died, his son would have to pay a feudal relief to the Lord to prove his fealty in order to inherit the right to use the land.
What was the most important event in the emancipation of the Serfs in England?
The liberation of serfs happened over a period of many years. Black death, which was followed by the peasant revolution is considered to be the most important event in the emancipation of serfs in England.
Who were the peasants in the feudal era?
Who is a Peasant. In the feudal society, peasants were poor, rural farmers; they were either the owners of their own farms or laborers. The social structure of peasantry can be categorized into further smaller groups. Freemen and villein are the most common types of peasants.
Did peasants pay taxes?
Though some peasants owned their own land, they too had to pay taxes; taxes were either in the form of money or crops. Although they were not bound to the land like peasants, they had to work in the lords’ field two or three days each week. However, peasants were a one step above from a serf, in the social hierarchy.
What did Michael Postan say about the English serfs?
Back in the 1960s, Michael Postan observed that English serfs were far more interested in land acquisition than in manumission; meaning, that they could afford the few shillings required to buy their freedom, but opted instead to spend that money buying new land. [4] .
What is the difference between slavery and serfdom?
while both slavery and serfdom are designed to place a certain category of people at a fundamental disadvantage in terms of rights, slavery primarily concentrates on denying rights altogether, whereas serfdom is, instead, fundamentally geared towards charging for access to them instead.
What did the writs in C 249 suggest?
But the writs in C 249 suggest that some lords were trying hard to hold on to their unfree tenants long after the plague’s outbreak. A writ dated to 16 April 1410 seeking the release of John Kyngesson of Wainfleet from custody confirms this: the sheriff of Lincoln notes that Gilbert Umfreville claims him as his naif.
What did the villeins do?
to send his children to school; to feed beasts (mostly pigs) in the woods about the village (pannage); to fish in nearby rivers or streams; to collect firewood for fuel (fire-bote); to take wood or thorns to repair fences (hay-bote), or to repair houses (house-bote). A villein also had specific obligations.
What was the king's request for release of William Milhirst of Horsell?
In a writ directed to the sheriff of Surrey and dated to 8 August 1391, the king demands the release of William Milhirst of Horsell with his livestock and chattels. William had been recently arrested and imprisoned by officials of the Abbey of Westminster and someone had complained to the king on his behalf.
Who was kept in chains in C 249?
C 249 includes numerous other writs alluding to “disobedient serfs.”. [20] William atte Ree was not the only serf kept in chains. On the dorse of a writ dated to 1344, the bailiff of Ramsey Abbey explains that John Coker of the village of Stukeley Magna is being kept in chains by John of Washingley.
What did John Hatcher prove?
Moreover, he demonstrated that not only were villeins failing to spend their money on manumission, but some freemen were willing to give up their freedom for the right property.
What caused the decline of serfdom in Western Europe?
The decline of serfdom in Western Europe has sometimes been attributed to the widespread plague epidemic of the Black Death, which reached Europe in 1347 and caused massive fatalities, disrupting society. The decline, however, had begun before that date.
What is it like to be a serf?
To become a serf was a commitment that encompassed all aspects of the serf's life. Moreover, the children born to a serf inherited the status of the parent, and were considered born into serfdom at birth. By taking on the duties of serfdom, individuals bound not only themselves but their future progeny.
How were the restraints of serfdom enforced?
The restraints of serfdom on personal and economic choice were enforced through various forms of manorial customary law and the manorial administration and court baron . 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.
Where did the word "serf" come from?
The word serf originated from the Middle French serf and was derived from the Latin servus ("slave"). In Late Antiquity and most of the Middle Ages, what are now called serfs were usually designated in Latin as coloni. As slavery gradually disappeared and the legal status of servi became nearly identical to that of the coloni, the term changed meaning into the modern concept of "serf". The word "serf" is first recorded in English in the late 15th century, and came to its current definition in the 17th century. Serfdom was coined in 1850.
What was the history of the Galician slaughter?
Main article: History of serfdom. Galician slaughter in 1846 was a revolt against serfdom, directed against manorial property and oppression. 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.
When was serfdom abolished?
Serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861. Prussia declared serfdom unacceptable in its General State Laws for the Prussian States and finally abolished it in October 1807, in the wake of the Prussian Reform Movement.
What was the basic unit of feudal society?
The manor formed the basic unit of feudal society, and the lord of the manor and the villeins, and to a certain extent the serfs, were bound legally: by taxation in the case of the former, and economically and socially in the latter.
What were the serfs in the Middle Ages?
Serfs in the Middle Ages. Serfs in the middle ages were generally peasant farmers who provided manual labor in their master’s land. The peasants would pay the lord some dues (in the form of labor) in exchange for using part of the lord’s land to generate their own food. These farmers would work in the lands at least three times a week ...
Why were the serfs important to the Church?
For purposes of safety and defense, the serfs lived close together in small villages around their master. Other than working in the lands, the serfs were also dedicated to the Church. The church played an important role in their lives as the serfs looked up to the Church for additional assistance in difficult times.
What were the stratifications of the Middle Ages?
Within the middle ages manor or village where the serfs lived and worked, there were further stratifications. The freemen did not owe labor to their lords but they paid rent in the form of agricultural products or money. Other laborers included smallholders who would also rent very small pieces of land from the lord but they were not tied to ...
What was the role of serfs in the church?
The serfs generously offered their labor and produce to their local church and were particularly instrumental in maintain the overall fabric of the church. The day-to-day life a serf was difficult.
What caused the decline of serfdom in England?
Moreover, their serfdom was no longer something that their children inherited. The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 also contributed to the decline of serfdom in England. By 1500 the system of serfdom had was in complete decline but was still legal.
What were the variations of the villeins?
There were half-villeins who had access to very small pieces of land for their use and they owed their lord complete labor. This would force them to serve in other serfs’ pieces of land to compensate for the hardship. Cottagers or small holders were lowers than ...
What rights did the Lord give to the Serfs?
The lord allowed them to graze their own cattle in the meadows and to cut some hay from there. The serfs in the middle ages were also allowed to venture into the lord’s forests to gather firewood for building and domestic purposes. Serfs in the middle ages had some form of political rights and were allowed to form their own village courts, ...