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On the old Roman villas, the workers were largely made up of slaves. When the Germanic people took over the areas, the same slaves would naturally become serfs.

There were a number of cases when hordes running through old Roman territories cause migrations of free agricultural workers into cities. Those who did not have the food they were required to bring for their support in case of siege were often put into a position of selling themselves into slavery. Many of the serfs might have been descended from these people.

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