History glossary
Serfdom
a system where peasants were tied to land and owed labor or payments to a lord.
- Category
- Labor system
- Region
- Medieval Europe and elsewhere
What it means
Serfdom was not the same as slavery, but serfs were not fully free. They usually had rights to farm certain land, but owed labor, rents, fees, and obedience to a lord, and often could not leave without permission.
Related terms
Stories using this term
Feudalism and Medieval Society
From the estates of Charlemagne's empire to the flowering of Gothic cathedrals, this story explores how feudal hierarchies, manorial agriculture, and Church authority shaped the lives of kings, knights, and peasants alike.
The French Revolution
From royal debt and social inequality to republic, terror, and Napoleon, the French Revolution dismantled the old order and produced the political ideas of citizenship, rights, and nationalism that defined the modern world.
