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The main rule: A serf is a slave so a slave must ask permission to leave his/her area and they were to be sub servant to all.

A Different Perspective

Serfs were not slaves. A serf had basic human rights that were not given to a slave. Serfs were not bought or sold. They willingly entered into the oath of loyalty with the lord of the manor. They are referred to as unfree because they were not legally allowed to leave the manor, but the laws and implications of this are not immediately obvious to a modern person who is first introduced to them. The serf was in a situation of mutual obligation, and could not leave that situation without loosing the benefits it provided.

Serfs had to obey the laws of the land, and had to obey the laws of the Church.

A serf had to provide labor, part of his crop, or money as rent to the lord. The organization of labor and of fields to farm were at the discretion of the reeve, who was usually a serf from the same manor, either appointed to the position by the lord or elected by the serfs with the lord's approval. The system gave the individual serfs a lot of latitude in how to do their work.

If a serf wanted to move away, permission to do so was technically required. In the absence of permission, the serf could be required to come back, but laws of some lands said that if the serfs was gone for a year, he was free of manorial obligations. This meant that the lord's obligations were also freed, and the serf could not return to demand a place on the manor.

There were manorial courts, and the serfs had some obligations in regard to them. For example, if a serf was accused of a relatively minor crime that would be dealt with in the manorial court, a group of other serfs might be assigned to see to it that the accused was present for the trial. A serf might be required to be in the jury for a manorial court, but conditions varied from one manor to another.

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13y ago
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10y ago

Serfs grew all the food and provided unskilled labor for such things as mining and forestry. They were in a condition of mutual obligation with their lords. The lord provided the serf with a place to live, land to farm, and protection; in exchange the serf gave the lord part of the crop or, especially later in the middle ages, rent. They were not free to leave the land they lived on, but they had a right to be on the land could not normally be evicted from it. They were not bought or sold, and if a new person bought the land they were on, the purchase bound that person into the same deal the serfs had with the old lord. They could not get married without the lords approval.

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Q: What role did serfs play in Medieval Europe?
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