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Were serfs bound to the land and sold like slaves in the middle ages?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Serfs were bound to the land, but they were not sold like slaves.
A serf lived on a manor, and was not permitted to move away from the manor except with the agreement of the lord of that manor. But that was the extent of the serf's lack of freedom.
The serf owed a portion of the crop, or the value of it, to the lord, which is how the lord got his income. In exchange for this, the lord provided the serf with a place to live on the manor, land to work, and protection.
The lord was really as much bound as the serf was. Not only could he not sell the serf, he could not evict him from his property and was bound to protect him. The serf had a right to be on the property and to farm it. If the lord sold the property, neither he nor the new owner could force the serf off the land.
The serf could run away if he wanted to, and many did. If he was gone for a year, he was considered free. The reason more serfs did not run away was not fear of the law or of retribution so much as the loss of the right to live and farm on the land and the security that provided.
In the end, the lords went through a phase after the Black Death when many found it necessary to steal serfs from others in order to make up for losses of workers. When this happened, a large number of serfs became free. But also important was the fact that the lords wanted to make more money, and having serfs who had a right to farm limited the flexibility of the lord in management of the property.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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Whats so important about middle ages and lord and serfs?
a serf is a person who worked on the lord manor and make food
Why did serfs and peasants get treated unfairly in the middle ages?
Because they were
Did serfs have last names?
No. In the Middle Ages many people did not have family names.
How does literature reflect aspects of European culture in the Middle-Ages?
poetry from the serfs
Who is in lower class in middle ages?
The serfs were the poorest people in the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages there were also homeless people and abandoned children/women so they could be considered the poorest. They lived in the streets and would go to the rivers/coasts to pick up discarded items and garbage.
What were the economic implications for emancipation serfs and slaves?
Serfs were slaves and not a different group of people ( serf is Latin for slave). In the middle ages there was no emancipation for these people.
Who farmed feudal estates in middle ages?
Feudal estates were farmed by peasants. For much of the Middle Ages, the peasants were serfs, which meant that they were bound to the estates and not allowed to move away. There were some places where a lot of them were slaves. There were also places were they were mostly free peasants who were tenants on the estates.
What continent did serfs come from?
Nearly all serfs were born on the land where they lived, and nearly all of the Middle Ages were European. Serfs were not taken as captives and transported or sold as slaves. They were considered to be bound to the land they lived on, rather than to some feudal lord, and they neither leave the land, nor be made to leave it.
How much did people in the middle ages earn for working on a farm?
Farmers in the Middle Ages, also called serfs, served Kings and Noblemen, and earned next to nothing. (They were basically slaves.)
What did the middle ages had that we don't?
serfs
What were the different classes in the middle ages?
Church King peasant serf
Serfs in 1861?
AnswerNo. Not in Europe and 1861 was well past the middle ages. In the United States there were still slaves so in a sense there were still serfs. AnswerThe serfs of the Russian Empire were freed in 1861. There is a link below.
What are facts about serfs in the middle ages?
they were swagadelic
What did serfs look like in the middle ages?
a serfs house was plane and old
Who was the bottom of the feudal tree during the middle ages?
In most places the bottom level of the feudal pyramid was occupied by serfs and other laborers. In a few parts of Europe, there were slaves, but slavery was not usually legal, and serfs were not slaves. Serfs were not entirely free, but did have important rights. There is an link below to an article on serfdom.
What was the need for knights in the middle ages?
Land and serfs.
What types of peasants were there in the middle ages?
Serfs and Freemen
