See also:

• SERFDOM (from Fr. serf, Lat. servus, a servant or slave)

SERFDOM (from Fr. serf, See also:

• LAT

Lat. servus, a servant or slave)  . The notion of See also:

• SERFDOM (from Fr. serf, Lat. servus, a servant or slave)

serfdom is distinct from those of freedom and of See also:

• SLAVERY

slavery . The serf is not his own See also:

• MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master: to perform services for other persons is the essence of his status, but he is not given over to his See also:

• LORD
• LORD (O. Eng. hldford, i.e. hldfweard, the warder or keeper of bread, hlIf, loaf; the word is not represented in any other Teutonic language)
• LORD, JOHN (1810-1894)

lord to be owned as a thing or an amimal—there are legal limits to the lord's See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power . Serfdom is very often conceived as a perpetual adherence to the See also:

• SOIL

soil of an See also:

• ESTATE (through O. Fr. estat, mod. flat, from Lat. status, state, condition, position, stare, to stand)

estate owned by a lord, but this praedial See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character is not a necessary feature of the See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition . Hereditary serfdom may sometimes assume the shape of a See also:

• PERSONAL

personal relation between servant and master . Such being the See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general features of serfdom, it is sure to appear in very different ages and countries . It will be formed naturally, for instance, in cases when one barbarous community conquers another, but it is not able to destroy entirely the latter or to treat its members as See also:

• MERE
• MERE, ADALBERT (1838-1909)

mere chattels . This mitigated See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of See also:

• APPROPRIATION (from Lat. appropriare, to set aside)

appropriation of human beings by their conquerors may be brought about as well by the paucity or See also:

• COMPARATIVE

comparative weakness of the victors as by the difficulty for them to draw income from pure slaves . In a See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state of backward See also:

• AGRICULTURE
• AGRICULTURE (from Lat. ages, field, and colere, to cultivate)
• AGRICULTURE, BOARD OF

agriculture and natural See also:

• ECONOMY

economy it will sometimes be more profitable for the conquerors as well as for the conquered to leave the dependent See also:

• POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population in their own households and on their own plots, at the same See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time taxing them heavily in the way of See also:

• TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

tribute and services . Such an arrangement clearly obtained in several of the agricultural states on See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient See also:

• GREECE

Greece . The Penestae of See also:

• THESSALY

Thessaly appear as a remnant of a distinct tribe settled on the confines of See also:

• MACEDONIA

Macedonia and at the same time as a class of tributary peasants serving Thessalian aristocrats . The Mnoitae, Klarotae and Apha-miotae of See also:

• CRETE (Gr. Kp;rrrr; Turk. Kirid, Ital. Candia)

Crete were more or less in the same position .

Their See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief occupation was the cultivation of the shares (KAapoL) of the Dorian See also:

• ARISTOCRACY (Gr. apuvror, best; «paria, government)

aristocracy, but they lived in households of their own and were considered as subjects rather of the Cretan commonwealths than of private men . The relation between both classes is well illustrated by a fragment of the Cretan poet Hybrias, who thus glories in his See also:

• SHIELD (0. Eng. scild, cf. Du. and Ger. Schild, Dan. Skjold; the origin is doubtful, but may be referred to the root seen in " shell " or " scale "; another suggestion connects it with Icel. skjalla, to clash, rattle; it is not connected with the Indo-Ger
• SHIELD, WILLIAM (1748—1829)

shield and See also:

• SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword: " I till the See also:

• LAND

land with them, I See also:

• PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press the See also:

• WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine from the grapes . On See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of them I am called the lord of the Mnoa." Even in the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case of the See also:

• HELOTS (Gr. eYAwres or eiXiorat)

Helots of See also:

• SPARTA (Gr. Eirapril or AaKe5atycav)

Sparta, although their condition was very hard and they were made to perform services to any Spartiate who might require them to do so, features of a similar tributary condition are apparent . The chief See also:

• WORK

work of the Helots was to provide a certain quantity of See also:

• CORN (a common Teutonic word; cf. Lat. granum, seed, grain)
• CORN (fromm Lat. corms, horn)

corn, wine and oil for the lords of the shares on which they were settled (roughly 82 medimni of See also:

• BARLEY (Hordeum sativum)

barley a See also:

• YEAR

year per See also:

• SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share); personal services to other Spartiates were exceptional . See also:

• POLLUX, JULIUS
• POLLUX, or POLLUCITE

Pollux in his account of the Helots places them distinctly in an intermediate position between See also:

• FREE

free men and slaves . The fact that in these instances governments had a See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

• DEAL

deal to say in the regulation of the status of such See also:

• SERFS, SERROS

serfs is well See also:

• WORTH
• WORTH, CHARLES FREDERICK (1825-1895)

worth noting: it explains to a See also:

• GREAT

great extent the legal limitations of the power of the lords . Even downright slaves belonging to the state or to some great See also:

• TEMPLE
• TEMPLE, FREDERICK (1821-1902)
• TEMPLE, RICHARD
• TEMPLE, SIR RICHARD, BART
• TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM, BART

temple See also:

• CORPORATION (from Lat. corporare, to form into a body, corpus, corporis)

corporation were treated better and carefully distinguished from private slaves by the Greeks . We shall not be astonished to find, therefore, in the Hellenistic states of See also:

• ASIA

Asia a population of peasants who seem to have been in a condition of hereditary subjection and adherent to the See also:

• GLEBE (Lat. glaeba, gleba, clod or lump of earth, hence soil, land)

glebe on the great estates of the Seleucid See also:

• KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings (see Rostowtzew in See also:

• LEHMANN, JOHANN GOTTLOB (?-1767)
• LEHMANN, PETER MARTIN ORLA (1810-187o)

Lehmann's Beitrage zur See also:

• ALTEN, SIR CHARLES [Karl] (1764–1840)

alten Geschichte, ii.) . It is not unlikely that the customs of these Aaoi (3acrattKoi went back to the See also:

• EPOCH (Gr. E7roxij, holding in suspense, a pause, from E1rxav, to hold up, to stop)

epoch of the See also:

• PERSIAN
• PERSIAN, SYRIAN, EGYPTIAN AND TURKISH

Persian See also:

• MONARCHY (Fr. monarchic, from Lat. monarchia, Gr. uovapXia, rule of one, µbvos, alone, apXi7, rule)

monarchy . In any case these peasants (yecwpyot) were certainly not slaves, while, on the other See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, their condition was closely See also:

• BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound up with the cultivation of the estates where they lived . The regulation by the state of the duties and customary status of peasants on See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government domains turns out to be one of the roots of serfdom in the See also:

• ROMAN

Roman See also:

• WORLD

world, which in this respect as in many others follows on the lines laid down by Hellenistic culture . It is important for our purpose to See also:

• NOTICE

notice that the condition of coloni was See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed as a result of historic See also:

• NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity by the working of economic and social agencies in the first centuries of the Roman See also:

• EMPIRE

empire and was made the subject of See also:

• REGULAR

regular legislation in the 4th and 5th centuries .

In the enactments of Justinian, summing up the whole course of development (C.J. xi., 48, 23), two classes of coloni are distinguished—the adscripticii, representing a more See also:

• COMPLETE

complete state of serfdom, and the free coloni, with See also:

• PROPERTY

property of their own . But the whole class, apart from See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

minor See also:

• VARIATIONS
• VARIATIONS, CALCULUS
• VARIATIONS, CALCULUS OF

variations, was characterized by the See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea that the peasants in question were serfs of the soil (servi terrae) on which they were settled, though protected by the See also:

• LAWS

laws in their personal and even in their praedial status . Thus the ascription to the soil, although originally a consequence of ascription to the tributes (adscriptio censibus), became the See also:

• MARK
• MARK, CARL (1858– )
• MARK, GOSPEL OF ST
• MARK, ST

mark of the legal status of serfdom . The emperors actually tried in their legislation to prevent the landowners from evicting their coloni and from raising their rents . In this way fixity of See also:

• TENURE (Fr. tenure, from Lat. tenere, to hold)

tenure and service was aimed at and to a certain degree enforced by the state . With the break-up of the Roman empire the legal See also:

• PROTECTION

protection in regard to serfs could not be kept up in the same way as before . The weak governments which took the See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of imperial authority were not able to maintain the strict discipline and the stress of judicial power which would have been necessary to See also:

• GUARANTEE (sometimes spelt " guarantie " or " guaranty "; an O. Fr. form of " warrant," from the Teutonic word which appears in German as wahren, to defend or make safe and binding)

guarantee the tenure and status of the serfs . And yet serfdom became the prevailing condition for the See also:

• LOWER

lower orders during the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle ages . See also:

• CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

Custom and economic requirements produced checks on the sway of the masters which proved effectual even when legal protection was insufficient . The direction of events towards the formation of serfdom is already clearly noticeable in See also:

• CELTIC

Celtic communities . In See also:

• WALES (Cymru, Gwalia, Cambria)

Wales and See also:

• IRELAND
• IRELAND, CHURCH
• IRELAND, CHURCH OF
• IRELAND, JOHN (1761-1842)
• IRELAND, JOHN (1838- )
• IRELAND, WILLIAM HENRY (1777-1835)

Ireland the greater See also:

• PART

part of the rural working classes was reduced not to a state of slavery, but to serfdom . The male slave (W. cteth) does not See also:

• PLAY

play an important part in Celtic economic arrangements: there is not much See also:

• ROOM

room for his activity as a completely dependent See also:

• TOOL (0. Eng. tdl, generally referred to a root seen in the Goth. taujan, to make, or in the English word " taw," to work or dress leather)

tool of the master .

The See also:

• FEMALE

female slave (cumal) was evidently much more prominent in the See also:

• HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household . Prices are reckoned out in See also:

• NUMBERS, BOOK OF
• NUMBERS, PARTITION OF

numbers of such slaves and there must have been a See also:

• CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant See also:

• CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call for them both as concubines and as household servants . As for male workmen they are chiefly tceogs in Wales, that is See also:

• HALF

half-free bondmen with a certain though See also:

• BASE

base See also:

• STANDING

standing in See also:

• LAW
• LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
• LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
• LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)

law . Even these, however, could not be said to form the social basis for the existence of an upper free class . The latter was numerous, not wealthy as a See also:

• RULE

rule, and had to undertake directly a great part of the See also:

• COMMON

common work; as may be seen from the extent of the free and servile tenures on the estates carved out for See also:

• ENGLISH

English conquerors in Wales and Ireland . Anyhow, the tog class of half-free peasants stands by the See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side of the smaller tribesmen as subjected to heavier burdens in the way of See also:

• TAXATION
• TAXATION (from " tax," derived, through the French, from Lat. taxare, to appraise, which again is connected with the same root as tangere, to touch)

taxation and services in See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind . In Wales they are distributed into gavells and gwelys, like the free tribesmen themselves and thus connected with the land, but there is nothing to show that this connexion was deemed a See also:

• SERVITUDE (Lat. servitus, from service, to serve)

servitude of the glebe . The tie with the lord is after all a personal one . The Germanic tribes moved on similar lines . Slavery was not a natural institution with them, although it did occur . In the eyes of a Roman observer, however, even downright slavery was turned into serfdom by the force of circumstances . As See also:

• TACITUS, CORNELIUS (c. 55-120)
• TACITUS, MARCUS CLAUDIUS

Tacitus tells us, the ancient Germans made use of their slaves in a different way from the See also:

• ROMANS
• ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE

Romans .

These slaves had their See also:

• SEPARATE

separate households, while the masters exacted tribute from them in the shape of corn, See also:

• CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle or clothes, and the serfs had to obey to the extent of rendering such tribute (Tacitus, Germania, 21) . This means, of course, that it was in the See also:

• INTEREST

interest of the master to See also:

• LEVY (Fr. levee, from lever, Lat. levare, to lift, raise)
• LEVY, AMY (1861–1889)
• LEVY, AUGUSTE MICHEL (1844– )

levy tribute and not to organize slave labour . After the See also:

• CONQUEST

conquest of the provinces by the Germanic invaders the Roman stock of coloni naturally combined with See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German tributary peasants to form See also:

• MEDIEVAL

medieval serfdom . A half-free See also:

• GROUP

group is marked off in the See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early laws under the designation of liti, lazzi, aldiones . But in See also:

• PROCESS

process of time this group was merged with freedmen, settled slaves (servi casati) and small freedmen into the numerous class of serfs (servi, rustici, See also:

• VILLANI, GIOVANNI (c. 1245-1348)

villani) which appears under different names in all western See also:

• EUROPEAN

European countries . The customary regulations of the duties of an important group of this class in regard to their lords are clearly expressed in the Bavarian law (7th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century): serfs settled on the estates of the See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

church have to work, as a rule, three days in the See also:

• WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week for their masters and are subject to See also:

• DIVERS

divers rents and payments in kind . The regulations in question, although entered in a legal See also:

• TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text, are not a legislative enactment but the result of a slow process of See also:

• ADJUSTMENT (from late Lat. ad juxtare, derived from juxta, near, but early confounded with a supposed derivation from justus, right)

adjustment of claims between the ecclesiastical landowners and masters on one side and their rural dependents on the other . There can be no doubt that they were largely representative of the conditions prevailing on Bavarian estates belonging not only to the church but also to the See also:

• DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke and to See also:

• LAY

lay lords . The old English Rectitudines singularum personarum (rrth century) See also:

• PRESENT

present other variations of the same customary arrangements . The rustic class appears in them to be differentiated into several subdivisions—the geneats performing See also:

• RIDING

riding duties and occasional services, the geb4rs burdened with week work and the cotsets holding cottages and performing See also:

• LIGHT

light work in the shape of one See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day in the week and services to match (see See also:

• VILLENAGE (VILLAINAGE, VILLANAGE, VILLEINAGE)

VILLENAGE) . Of these various See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups that of the gebGrs corresponds more closely to the See also:

• CONTINENTAL

continental serfs (coloni, Horige, unfreie Hintersassen) . The See also:

• DUALISM (from rare Lat. dualis, containing two, from duo)

dualism characteristic of medieval serfdom, its formation out of debased freedom and rising servitude, may be traced all through the See also:

• HISTORY

history of the middle ages .

See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French jurists of the 13th century, e.g., lay stress on a fundamental difference in law between the complete serf whose very See also:

• BODY

body belongs to his lord (cf. the German Leibeigenschaft) and the villein or roturier, who is only bound to perform certain duties and ought not to be further oppressed by the landowners on whose soil he is settled (See also:

• BEAUMANOIR
• BEAUMANOIR, PHILIPPE DE REMI, SIRE DE (c. 1250-1296)

Beaumanoir, Coutume de Beauvaisis) . But the same texts which draw the See also:

• LINE

line between the two classes make it clear that there were no other guarantees to the See also:

• MAINTENANCE (Fr. maintenance, from maintenir, to maintain, support, Lat. manu tenere, to hold in the hand)

maintenance of the rights of thesuperior rustics than the moral sense and the self-interest of their masters . Should the lords infringe the well-established rights of their subjects, the latter had no See also:

• COURT
• COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the influence of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
• COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

court to See also:

• APPEAL

appeal to and only See also:

• GOD

God could inflict See also:

• PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment on the oppressors . It must be added, however, that even in the darkest times of feudal sway, economic forces provided some protection for the peasants who had lost the means of appealing to legal remedies . A certain See also:

• BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. bilantia, an apparatus for weighing, from bi, two, and lanx, a dish or scale)

balance had to be struck in most cases between the greed and selfishness of the class of landowners and the necessary requirements and human aspirations of the subjects . Feudal masters could not afford to See also:

• ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act with the ruthless See also:

• CRUELTY (through the O. Fr. crualte, mod. cruaute, from the Lat. crudelitas)

cruelty of slaveholders relying on government and See also:

• CIVILIZATION

civilization to back their claims to a complete sway over their human chattels . Lords who did not wish to see their estates deserted had to submit to the rule of custom in respect of exactions . And the See also:

• SCREEN (usually, but very doubtfully, connected with Lat. scrinium, a box for holding books, from scribere, to write; a connexion with Ger. Schranke, barrier, has been suggested)

screen of rural custom proved sufficient to allow of the growth of some property in the hands of the toiling class, a result which in itself rendered possible further emancipation . A very instructive example of the formation of serfdom is presented by the history of See also:

• RUSSIA
• RUSSIA (Rossiya)

Russia . Personal slavery in the sense in which it existed in the See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

West was practised in ancient Russia (kholopi) and arose chiefly from conquest, but also from voluntary subjection in cases of great hardship and from the redemption of fines and debts (cf. the O . Eng. wite-theow) . But the number of personal serfs was not large and they were principally to be met in the households of great See also:

• PEOPLE

people .

The great See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass of the peasantry was originally free . Even when in the course of time landownership was appropriated by the See also:

• CROWN

crown, the ecclesiastical corporations and the nobles, the tillers of the land retained their personal freedom and were considered to be farmers holding their plots under contracts . They were free to leave their farms provided they were able to effect a See also:

• SETTLEMENT
• SETTLEMENT, ACT OF

settlement in regard to all outstanding See also:

• RENT

rent arrears and debts . Members of the household who were not directly responsible for the farms could look out for their livelihood as they pleased . The custom of the See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country gradually took the shape of a simultaneous resettlement of all conditions of rural occupation about St See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

George's day (See also:

• NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 24), that is after the gathering of the See also:

• HARVEST (A.S. hcerfest " autumn," O.H. Ger. herbist, possibly through an old Teutonic root representing Lat. car pere, " to pluck ")

harvest and the See also:

• PRACTICAL

practical winding up of rural work . Such was the legal state of affairs up to the end of the 16th century . A great See also:

• CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change supervened, however, through the slow working of economic and See also:

• POLITICAL

political causes . The peasants settled under the sway of nobles and churches could very seldom produce a clean See also:

• BILL

bill in regard to their See also:

• MONEY

money relations with the landlords . They generally had to account for arrears and got into See also:

• DEBT (Lat. debitum, a thing owed)

debt from the very start by taking over stock with the See also:

• FARM

farm . The longer they remained on the same See also:

• PLOT
• PLOT, ROBERT (164o-1696)

plot, the more entangled became the ties of their economic dependence . Thus, as in the case of many Roman coloni, thoroughly free settlers gradually lapsed into a state of perpetual subjection from which they could not emancipate themselves by legal means . On the other hand, the growth of the See also:

• MUSCOVITE

Muscovite state with its fiscal and governmental requirements involved a watchful repartition of burdens among the population and led ultimately to a See also:

• SYSTEM

system of collective liability in which the farms were considered chiefly as the See also:

• SOURCES

sources of taxable income .

The government was directly interested in maintaining their efficiency and in preventing migrations and desertions which led to a weakening of the taxpaying communities . A third aspect of the question must also not be desregarded, namely, the keen competition between landowners trying to attract settlers to their estates at the expense of their needy or less powerful neighbours . The first legislative See also:

• MEASURES

measures of the See also:

• MOSCOW (Russian Moskva)
• MOSCOW, (Russian Moskva)

Moscow rulers directed towards the See also:

• ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of a servile class similar to the Roman coloni fall into the first years of the 17th century (A.D . 16o1, 16o6) and consist in enactments against landowners depriving their neighbours of the tillers of their estates . But matters were clearly ripe for a wider application of the view that the See also:

• PEASANT (O. Fr. paysant, Mod. paysan; Lat. pagensis, belonging to the pagus or country; cf. " pagan ")

peasant ought to stick to the soil, and the restoration of the Muscovite empire under the Romanovs brought with it the consolidation of all rural arrangements around this principle . See also:

• PETER
• PETER (Lat. Petrus from Gr. irfpos, a rock, Ital. Pietro, Piero, Pier, Fr. Pierre, Span. Pedro, Ger. Peter, Russ. Petr)
• PETER (PEDRO)
• PETER, EPISTLES OF
• PETER, ST

Peter the Great regularized and completed this See also:

• EVOLUTION

evolution by effecting a comprehensive See also:

• CADASTRE (a French word from the Late Lat. capitastrum, a register of the poll-tax)

cadastre and See also:

• CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

census of the rural population . The ultimate result was, however, not only the fixity of peasant tenures, but the subjection of the entire peasant population as a separate class (Krepostrie) to the personal sway of the landowners . The state insisted to a certain extent on the public character of this subjection and See also:

• DREW
• DREW, SAMUEL (1765-1833)

drew distinctions between personal slavery and serfdom . In the midst of the peasants themselves there lived a consciousness of their See also:

• SPECIAL

special claims as to See also:

• TENANT (from Lat. tenere, to hold)

tenant right, claims which sometimes assumed the shape of the See also:

• QUAINT (O. Fr. cointe, from Lat. cognitus, known, probably influenced by association with Lat. corn plus, neat)

quaint saying, " The land is ours, though we are yours." But, in fact, serfdom naturally took the form of an ugly ownership of live chattels on the part of a privileged class, and all sorts of excesses, of cruelty, ruthless exploitation and wanton caprice, followed as a See also:

• MATTER

matter of course . Emancipation was brought about in the 19th century by economic causes as well as by humanitarian considerations . The fabric of a state built up on the basis of serfdom proved inadequate to meet the tasks of See also:

• MODERN

modern times . Private enterprise and the free application of See also:

• CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
• CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

capital and labour were hindered in every way by the bondage of the peasant class .

Even such a necessary measure as that of moving cultivators to the See also:

• RICH, BARNABE (c. 1540-1617)
• RICH, CLAUDIUS JAMES (1787-1821)
• RICH, JOHN (1692-1761)
• RICH, PENELOPE, LADY (c. 1562–1607)
• RICH, RICHARD, 1ST BARON RICH (1490?-1567)

rich soil of the See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south was thwarted by the adherence of the See also:

• NORTHERN

northern peasantry to the glebe . On the humanitarian and liberal ideas making for emancipation we need not dwell, as they are self-evident . After several half-hearted attempts directed in the course of See also:

• NICHOLAS
• NICHOLAS (1841– )
• NICHOLAS (or NICLAES), HENRY (or HENDRIK) (c. 1501-C. 158o)
• NICHOLAS, SIR EDWARD (1593-1669)
• NICHOLAS, ST

Nicholas I.'s reign to See also:

• FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face the question while safeguarding at the same time the rights and privileges of the old aristocracy, the moral collapse of the ancien regime during the See also:

• CRIMEAN

Crimean See also:

• WAR
• WAR (O. Eng. werre, Fr. guerre, of Teutonic origin; cf. O.H.G. werran, to confound)

war brought about the Emancipation Act of the 19th of See also:

• FEBRUARY

February 1861, by which some 15 millions of serfs were freed from bondage . The most characteristic feature of this act was that the peasants, as distinct from household servants, received not only personal freedom but allotments in land in certain proportions to their former holdings . The state indemnified the former landowners, and the peasants had to redeem the See also:

• LOAN (adapted from the Scandinavian form of a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Swed. Mn, Icel. lan, Dut. leen; the O.E. laen appears in " lend," the ultimate source is seen in the root of Gr. Xeiaecv and Lat. linquere, to leave)

loan by yearly payments extending over a number of years . If we turn back from this course of development to the history of serfdom and emancipation in the West striking contrasts appear . As we have already noticed, medieval serfdom in the West was the result of a process of customary feudal growth hardly interfered with by central governments . The loosening of bondage is also, to a great extent, prepared by the working of See also:

• LOCAL

local economic agencies . Villeins and serfs in See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France rise gradually in the social See also:

• SCALE
• SCALE (1) A

scale, redeem many of the onerous services of See also:

• FEUDALISM
• FEUDALISM (from Late Lat. feodum or feudum, a fee or fiel; see FEE)

feudalism and practically acquire tenant-right on most of the plots occupied by them . See also:

• TOCQUEVILLE, ALEXIS HENRI CHARLES MAURICE CLEREL, COMTE DE (1805-18J9)

Tocqueville has pointed out that already before the revolution of 1789 the greater part of the territory of France was in the hands of small peasant owners, and modern researches have confirmed Tocqueville's estimate . Thus feudal overlordship in France had resolved itself into a superficial dominion undermined in all directions by economic realities . The fact that there still existed all kinds of survivals of harsh forms of dependence, e.g. the bondage of the serfs in the See also:

• JURA
• JURA (" deer island ")

Jura Mountains, only rendered the contrast between legal conditions and social realities more pointed .

The See also:

• NIGHT

night of the 4th of See also:

• AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1789 put an end to this contrast at one stroke and the further history of rural population came to depend entirely on the play of free competition and free See also:

• CONTRACT
• CONTRACT (Lat. contract us, from contrahere, to draw together, to bind)

contract . The evolution of serfdom in See also:

• GERMANY
• GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland)

Germany was effected by the working of somewhat more complicated causes . The regulating See also:

• INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of government made itself See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt to a greater extent, especially in the See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

east . The colonization of the eastern provinces and the struggle against the Slays necessitated a stronger concentration of aristocratic power, and the reception of Roman law during the 15th and 16th centuries hardened the forms of subjection originated by customary conditions . It may be said in a general way that Germany occupied in this respect, as in many others, an intermediate position between the west of See also:

• EUROPE

Europe and Russia . Emancipation followed also a middle course . It was brought about chiefly by governmental measures, although the ground was to a great extent prepared by social evolution . The reforms of See also:

• STEIN, CHARLOTTE VON (1742-1827)
• STEIN, HEINRICH FRIEDRICH KARL, BARON VOM

Stein and See also:

• HARDENBERG, KARL AUGUST VON, PRINCE (1750-1822)

Hardenberg in See also:

• PRUSSIA
• PRUSSIA (Ger. Preussen; Lat. Borussia)

Prussia, of the French and of their clients in South Germany, opened the way for a See also:

• SERGIPE (originally SERGIPE D'EL-REY)

SERGIPE See also:

• GRADUAL (Med. Lat. gradualis, of or belonging to steps or degrees; gradus, step)

gradual redemption of the peasantry . Personal serfdom (Leibeigenschaft) was abolished first, hereditary subjection (Erbuntertheinigkeit) followed next . Emancipation in this case was not connected with a recognition of the full tenant-right of the peasants; they had to part with a good deal of their land . To the last the landowners were not disturbed in their economic predominance, and succeeded very well in working their estates by the help of agricultural labourers and farmers . In the west the small peasant proprietorship had a better See also:

• CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance, but it arose in the course of economic competition rather than through any general recognition of tenant-right .

On the whole serfdom appears as a characteristic corollary of feudalism . It See also:

• GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew up as a consequence of customary subjection and natural husbandry; it melted away with the coming in of an See also:

• INDUSTRIAL

industrial and commercial See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age .