Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
As slavery gradually disappeared and the legal status of servi became nearly identical to that of the coloni, the term changed meaning into the modern concept of "serf". The word "serf" is first recorded in English in the late 15th century, and came to its current definition in the 17th century. Serfdom was coined in 1850. [citation needed]
The landowner could transfer the serf without land to another landowner while keeping the serf's personal property and family; however, the landowner had no right to kill the serf. [8] About four-fifths of Russian peasants were serfs according to the censuses of 1678 and 1719; free peasants remained only in the north and north-east of the country.
Such differences in social classes would ensure that alliances between the two groups would not lead to revolts towards plantation owners and managers. [ 38 ] As well, during periods of mass indentured servitude of Irish peoples in the Caribbean, certain Irish individuals would use enslaved labour to profit financially and climb the ladder of ...
Here false contracts conceal slavery. Slaveholders can easily force their slaves to sign anything: mortgages, loan agreements, indentures, or labor contracts. If questions are raised, signed contracts are produced and corrupt law enforcement looks the other way.
Of particular interest to historians is the role of serfdom and slavery within the state, and the implications that held for both serf and slave. Some think that slavery was the exclusion of people from the public sphere and its institutions, whereas serfdom was a complex form of dependency that usually lacked a codified basis in the legal ...
Gorshkov, Boris B. "Serfs, Emancipation of" in Encyclopedia of Europe, 1789–1914. John Merriman and Jay Winter, eds. in chief. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006; Mironov, Boris. “When and Why was the Russian Peasantry Emancipated?” in Serfdom and Slavery: Studies in Legal Bondage Ed. M.L. Bush. (London: Longman, 1996) pp. 323–347.
Nexum was a debt bondage contract in the early Roman Republic. Within the Roman legal system, it was a form of mancipatio. Though the terms of the contract would vary, essentially a free man pledged himself as a bond slave (nexus) as surety for a loan. He might also hand over his son as collateral.
Villein is derived from Late Latin villanus, meaning a man employed at a Roman villa rustica, or large agricultural estate.The system of tied serfdom originates from a decree issued by the late Roman Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305 CE) in an attempt to prevent the flight of peasants from the land and the consequent decline in food production.