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What is a villein?

Updated: 8/19/2023
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7y ago

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In the Middle Ages, a villein was a peasant who, under the feudal system of land tenure that prevailed in Europe in the Middle Ages, paid dues and services to a lord in exchange for land. Villeins were not slaves, and were named as freemen and freewomen in medieval documents, however they were not free. They, and their land and possessions belonged to the lord of the manor. They were not free to leave the manor, and they were subject to a very large number of obligations required by the lord, including work on the lord's land two or three days a week, additional work at harvest, and the payment of manorial dues. In lots of places they also had to pay for the right to brew ale, bake bread, and grind corn at the mill, that was probably owned by the lord.

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16y ago
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7y ago

A villein is a historical term for a feudal tenant.

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