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«Serf» redirects here. For the saint, see Saint Serf. For the type of magnetometer, see SERF. For the film, see Serf (film).

Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.^[1]

Unlike slaves, serfs could not be bought, sold, or traded individually though they could, depending on the area, be sold together with land. The kholops in Russia, by contrast, could be traded like regular slaves, could be abused with no rights over their own bodies, could not leave the land they were bound to, and could marry only with their lord’s permission.^{[citation needed]} Serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for the lord of the manor who owned that land. In return, they were entitled to protection, justice, and the right to cultivate certain fields within the manor to maintain their own subsistence. Serfs were often required not only to work on the lord’s fields, but also in his mines and forests and to labour to maintain roads. The manor formed the basic unit of feudal society, and the lord of the manor and the villeins, and to a certain extent the serfs, were bound legally: by taxation in the case of the former, and economically and socially in the latter.

The decline of serfdom in Western Europe has sometimes been attributed to the widespread plague epidemic of the Black Death, which reached Europe in 1347 and caused massive fatalities, disrupting society.^[2] Conversely, serfdom grew stronger in Central and Eastern Europe, where it had previously been less common (this phenomenon was known as «later serfdom»).

In Eastern Europe, the institution persisted until the mid-19th century. In the Austrian Empire, serfdom was abolished by the 1781 Serfdom Patent; corvées continued to exist until 1848. Serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861.^[3] Prussia declared serfdom unacceptable in its General State Laws for the Prussian States in 1792 and finally abolished it in October 1807, in the wake of the Prussian Reform Movement.^[4] In Finland, Norway, and Sweden, feudalism was never fully established, and serfdom did not exist; in Denmark, serfdom-like institutions did exist in both stavns (the stavnsbånd, from 1733 to 1788) and its vassal Iceland (the more restrictive vistarband, from 1490 until 1894).

According to medievalist historian Joseph R. Strayer, the concept of feudalism can also be applied to the societies of ancient Persia, ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt (Sixth to Twelfth dynasty), Islamic-ruled Northern and Central India, China (Zhou dynasty and end of Han dynasty) and Japan during the Shogunate. Wu Ta-k’un argued that the Shang-Zhou fengjian were kinship estates, quite distinct from feudalism.^[5] James Lee and Cameron Campbell describe the Chinese Qing dynasty (1644–1912) as also maintaining a form of serfdom.^[6]

Melvyn Goldstein described Tibet as having had serfdom until 1959,^[7][8] but whether or not the Tibetan form of peasant tenancy that qualified as serfdom was widespread is contested by other scholars.^[9][10] Bhutan is described by Tashi Wangchuk, a Bhutanese civil servant, as having officially abolished serfdom by 1959, but he believes that less than or about 10% of poor peasants were in copyhold situations.^[11]

The United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery also prohibits serfdom as a practice similar to slavery.^[12]

History

Social institutions similar to serfdom were known in ancient times. The status of the helots in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta resembled that of the medieval serfs. By the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire faced a labour shortage. Large Roman landowners increasingly relied on Roman freemen, acting as tenant farmers, instead of slaves to provide labour.^[13]

These tenant farmers, eventually known as coloni, saw their condition steadily erode. Because the tax system implemented by Diocletian assessed taxes based on both land and the inhabitants of that land, it became administratively inconvenient for peasants to leave the land where they were counted in the census.^[13]

Medieval serfdom really began with the breakup of the Carolingian Empire around the 10th century.^{[citation needed]} During this period, powerful feudal lords encouraged the establishment of serfdom as a source of agricultural labour. Serfdom, indeed, was an institution that reflected a fairly common practice whereby great landlords were assured that others worked to feed them and were held down, legally and economically, while doing so.

This arrangement provided most of the agricultural labour throughout the Middle Ages. Slavery persisted right through the Middle Ages,^[14] but it was rare.

In the later Middle Ages serfdom began to disappear west of the Rhine even as it spread through eastern Europe. Serfdom reached Eastern Europe centuries later than Western Europe – it became dominant around the 15th century. In many of these countries serfdom was abolished during the Napoleonic invasions of the early 19th century, though in some it persisted until mid- or late- 19th century.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology

The word serf originated from the Middle French serf and was derived from the Latin servus («slave»). In Late Antiquity and most of the Middle Ages, what are now called serfs were usually designated in Latin as coloni. 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]}

Dependency and the lower orders

Serfs had a specific place in feudal society, as did barons and knights: in return for protection, a serf would reside upon and work a parcel of land within the manor of his lord. Thus, the manorial system exhibited a degree of reciprocity.

One rationale held that serfs and freemen «worked for all» while a knight or baron «fought for all» and a churchman «prayed for all»; thus everyone had a place. The serf was the worst fed and rewarded however, although unlike slaves had certain rights in land and property.

A lord of the manor could not sell his serfs as a Roman might sell his slaves. On the other hand, if he chose to dispose of a parcel of land, the serfs associated with that land stayed with it to serve their new lord; simply speaking, they were implicitly sold in mass and as a part of a lot. This unified system preserved for the lord long-acquired knowledge of practices suited to the land. Further, a serf could not abandon his lands without permission,^[15] nor did he possess a saleable title in them.^[16]

Initiation

A freeman became a serf usually through force or necessity. Sometimes the greater physical and legal force of a local magnate intimidated freeholders or allodial owners into dependency. Often a few years of crop failure, a war, or brigandage might leave a person unable to make his own way. In such a case, he could strike a bargain with a lord of a manor. In exchange for gaining protection, his service was required: in labour, produce, or cash, or a combination of all. These bargains became formalised in a ceremony known as «bondage», in which a serf placed his head in the lord’s hands, akin to the ceremony of homage where a vassal placed his hands between those of his overlord. These oaths bound the lord and his new serf in a feudal contract and defined the terms of their agreement.^[17] Often these bargains were severe.

A 7th-century Anglo Saxon «Oath of Fealty» states:

By the Lord before whom this sanctuary is holy, I will to N. be true and faithful, and love all which he loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the laws of God and the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve it, and that he will perform everything as it was in our agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his will.

To become a serf was a commitment that encompassed all aspects of the serf’s life. The children born to serfs inherited their status, and were considered born into serfdom. By taking on the duties of serfdom, people bound themselves and their progeny.

Class system

The social class of the peasantry can be differentiated into smaller categories. These distinctions were often less clear than suggested by their different names. Most often, there were two types of peasants:

1. freemen, workers whose tenure within the manor was freehold
2. villein

Lower classes of peasants, known as cottars or bordars, generally comprising the younger sons of villeins;^[18][19] vagabonds; and slaves, made up the lower class of workers.

Coloni

The colonus system of the late Roman Empire can be considered the predecessor of Western European feudal serfdom.^[20][21]

Freemen

Freemen, or free tenants held their land by one of a variety of contracts of feudal land-tenure and were essentially rent-paying tenant farmers who owed little or no service to the lord, and had a good degree of security of tenure and independence. In parts of 11th-century England freemen made up only 10% of the peasant population, and in most of the rest of Europe their numbers were also small.

Ministeriales

Ministeriales were hereditary unfree knights tied to their lord, that formed the lowest rung of nobility in the Holy Roman Empire.

Villeins

A villein (or villain) represented the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages.^{[dubious – discuss]} Villeins had more rights and higher status than the lowest serf, but existed under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from freemen. Villeins generally rented small homes, with a patch of land. As part of the contract with the landlord, the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord’s fields. The requirement often was not greatly onerous, contrary to popular belief, and was often only seasonal, for example the duty to help at harvest-time.^{[citation needed]} The rest of their time was spent farming their own land for their own profit. Villeins were tied to their lord’s land and couldn’t leave it without his permission. Their lord also often decided whom they could marry.^[22]

Like other types of serfs, villeins had to provide other services, possibly in addition to paying rent of money or produce. Villeins were somehow retained on their land and by unmentioned manners could not move away without their lord’s consent and the acceptance of the lord to whose manor they proposed to migrate to. Villeins were generally able to hold their own property, unlike slaves. Villeinage, as opposed to other forms of serfdom, was most common in Continental European feudalism, where land ownership had developed from roots in Roman law.

A variety of kinds of villeinage existed in Europe in the Middle Ages. Half-villeins received only half as many strips of land for their own use and owed a full complement of labour to the lord, often forcing them to rent out their services to other serfs to make up for this hardship. Villeinage was not a purely uni-directional exploitative relationship. In the Middle Ages, land within a lord’s manor provided sustenance and survival, and being a villein guaranteed access to land, and crops secure from theft by marauding robbers. Landlords, even where legally entitled to do so, rarely evicted villeins because of the value of their labour. Villeinage was much preferable to being a vagabond, a slave, or an unlanded labourer.

In many medieval countries, a villein could gain freedom by escaping from a manor to a city or borough and living there for more than a year; but this action involved the loss of land rights and agricultural livelihood, a prohibitive price unless the landlord was especially tyrannical or conditions in the village were unusually difficult.

In medieval England, two types of villeins existed–villeins regardant that were tied to land and villeins in gross that could be traded separately from land.^[20]

Bordars and cottagers

In England, the Domesday Book, of 1086, uses bordarii (bordar) and cottarii (cottar) as interchangeable terms, cottar deriving from the native Anglo-Saxon tongue whereas bordar derived from the French.^[23]

Status-wise, the bordar or cottar ranked below a serf in the social hierarchy of a manor, holding a cottage, garden and just enough land to feed a family. In England, at the time of the Domesday Survey, this would have comprised between about 1 and 5 acres (0.4 and 2.0 hectares).^[25] Under an Elizabethan statute, the Erection of Cottages Act 1588, the cottage had to be built with at least 4 acres (0.02 km²; 0.01 sq mi) of land.^[26] The later Enclosures Acts (1604 onwards) removed the cottars’ right to any land: «before the Enclosures Act the cottager was a farm labourer with land and after the Enclosures Act the cottager was a farm labourer without land».^[27]

The bordars and cottars did not own their draught oxen or horses. The Domesday Book showed that England comprised 12% freeholders, 35% serfs or villeins, 30% cotters and bordars, and 9% slaves.^[25]

Smerd

Smerdy were a type of serfs above kholops in Medieval Poland and Kievan Rus’.

Kholops

Kholops were the lowest class of serfs in the medieval and early modern Russia. They had status similar to slaves, and could be freely traded.

Slaves

The last type of serf was the slave.^[28] Slaves had the fewest rights and benefits from the manor. They owned no tenancy in land, worked for the lord exclusively and survived on donations from the landlord. It was always in the interest of the lord to prove that a servile arrangement existed, as this provided him with greater rights to fees and taxes. The status of a man was a primary issue in determining a person’s rights and obligations in many of the manorial court-cases of the period. Also, runaway slaves could be beaten if caught.

Serfdom was significantly more common than slavery throughout the feudal period. The villein was the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages. Villeins had more rights and status than those held as slaves, but were under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from the freeman. Within his constraints, a serf had some freedom. Though the common wisdom is that a serf owned “only his belly”—even his clothes were the property, in law, of his lord—a serf might still accumulate personal property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their free neighbors, although this was rather an exception to the general rule. A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom.^[29]

Duties

The usual serf (not including slaves or cottars) paid his fees and taxes in the form of seasonally appropriate labour. Usually, a portion of the week was devoted to ploughing his lord’s fields held in demesne, harvesting crops, digging ditches, repairing fences, and often working in the manor house. The remainder of the serf’s time he spent tending his own fields, crops and animals in order to provide for his family. Most manorial work was segregated by gender during the regular times of the year. During the harvest, the whole family was expected to work the fields.

A major difficulty of a serf’s life was that his work for his lord coincided with, and took precedence over, the work he had to perform on his own lands: when the lord’s crops were ready to be harvested, so were his own. On the other hand, the serf of a benign lord could look forward to being well fed during his service; it was a lord without foresight who did not provide a substantial meal for his serfs during the harvest and planting times.^{[citation needed]} In exchange for this work on the lord’s demesne, the serfs had certain privileges and rights, including for example the right to gather deadwood – an essential source of fuel – from their lord’s forests.

In addition to service, a serf was required to pay certain taxes and fees. Taxes were based on the assessed value of his lands and holdings. Fees were usually paid in the form of agricultural produce rather than cash. The best ration of wheat from the serf’s harvest often went to the landlord. Generally hunting and trapping of wild game by the serfs on the lord’s property was prohibited. On Easter Sunday the peasant family perhaps might owe an extra dozen eggs, and at Christmas, a goose was perhaps required, too. When a family member died, extra taxes were paid to the lord as a form of feudal relief to enable the heir to keep the right to till what land he had. Any young woman who wished to marry a serf outside of her manor was forced to pay a fee for the right to leave her lord, and in compensation for her lost labour.

Often there were arbitrary tests to judge the worthiness of their tax payments. A chicken, for example, might be required to be able to jump over a fence of a given height to be considered old enough or well enough to be valued for tax purposes. The restraints of serfdom on personal and economic choice were enforced through various forms of manorial customary law and the manorial administration and court baron.

It was also a matter of discussion whether serfs could be required by law in times of war or conflict to fight for their lord’s land and property. In the case of their lord’s defeat, their own fate might be uncertain, so the serf certainly had an interest in supporting his lord.

Rights

Within his constraints, a serf had some freedoms. Though the common wisdom is that a serf owned «only his belly» – even his clothes were the property, in law, of his lord – a serf might still accumulate personal property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their free neighbours, although this happened rarely.^[30] A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom.^[31]

A serf could grow what crop he saw fit on his lands, although a serf’s taxes often had to be paid in wheat. The surplus he would sell at market.

The landlord could not dispossess his serfs without legal cause and was supposed to protect them from the depredations of robbers or other lords, and he was expected to support them by charity in times of famine. Many such rights were enforceable by the serf in the manorial court.^{[citation needed]}

Variations

Forms of serfdom varied greatly through time and regions. In some places, serfdom was merged with or exchanged for various forms of taxation.

The amount of labour required varied. In Poland, for example, it was commonly a few days per year per household in the 13th century, one day per week per household in the 14th century, four days per week per household in the 17th century, and six days per week per household in the 18th century. Early serfdom in Poland was mostly limited to the royal territories (królewszczyzny).

«Per household» means that every dwelling had to give a worker for the required number of days.^[32] For example, in the 18th century, six people: a peasant, his wife, three children and a hired worker might be required to work for their lord one day a week, which would be counted as six days of labour.

Serfs served on occasion as soldiers in the event of conflict and could earn freedom or even ennoblement for valour in combat.^{[clarification needed]} Serfs could purchase their freedom, be manumitted by generous owners, or flee to towns or to newly settled land where few questions were asked. Laws varied from country to country: in England a serf who made his way to a chartered town (i.e. a borough) and evaded recapture for a year and a day obtained his freedom and became a burgher of the town.

Serfdom by country and location

Americas

Aztec Empire

In the Aztec Empire, the Tlacotin class held similarities to serfdom. Even at its height, slaves only ever made up 2% of the population.^[33]

Byzantine Empire

The paroikoi were the Byzantine equivalent of serfs.^[34]

France

Serfdom in France started to diminish after the Black Death in France, when the lack of work force made manumission more common from that point onward, and by the 18th-century, serfdom had become relatively rare in most of France.

In 1779, the reforms of Jacques Necker abolished serfdom in all Crown lands in France. On the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1789, between 140.000^[35] and 1,500,000^[36] serfs remained in France, most of them on clerical lands^[37] in Franche-Comté, Berry, Burgundy and Marche.^[38][39]
However, although formal serfdom no longer existed in most of France, the feudal seigneurial laws still granted noble landlords many of the rights previously exercised over serfs, and the peasants of Auvergne, Nivernais and Champagne, though formally not serfs, could still not move freely.^[40][41]

Serfdom was formally abolished in France on 4 August 1789,^[42] and the remaining feudal rights that gave landlords control rights over peasants were abolished in 1789-93.^[43]

Ireland

Gaelic Ireland

In Gaelic Ireland, a political and social system existing in Ireland from the prehistoric period (500 BC or earlier) up until the Norman conquest (12th century AD), the bothach («hut-dweller»), fuidir (perhaps linked to fot, «soil»)^[44] and sencléithe («old dwelling-house»)^[45] were low-ranked semi-free servile tenants similar to serfs.^[46][47] According to Laurence Ginnell, the sencléithe and bothach «were not free to leave the territory except with permission, and in practice they usually served the flaith [prince]. They had no political or clan rights, could neither sue nor appear as witnesses, and were not free in the matter of entering into contracts. They could appear in a court of justice only in the name of the flaith or other person to whom they belonged, or whom they served, or by obtaining from an aire of the tuath to which they belonged permission to sue in his name.»^[48][49] A fuidir was defined by D. A. Binchy as «a ‘tenant at will,’ settled by the lord (flaith) on a portion of the latter’s land; his services to the lord are always undefined. Although his condition is servile, he retains the right to abandon his holding on giving due notice to the lord and surrendering to him two thirds of the products of his husbandry.»^[50][51]

Poland

Serfdom in Poland became the dominant form of relationship between peasants and nobility in the 17th century, and was a major feature of the economy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, although its origins can be traced back to the 12th century.

The first steps towards abolition of serfdom were enacted in the Constitution of 3 May 1791, and it was essentially eliminated by the Połaniec Manifesto. However, these reforms were partly nullified by the partition of Poland. Frederick the Great had abolished serfdom in the territories he gained from the first partition of Poland. Over the course of the 19th century, it was gradually abolished on Polish and Lithuanian territories under foreign control, as the region began to industrialize.

Russia

Serfdom became the dominant form of relation between Russian peasants and nobility in the 17th century. Serfdom only existed in central and southern areas of the Russian Empire. It was never established in the North, in the Urals, and in Siberia. According to the Encyclopedia of Human Rights:

In 1649 up to three-quarters of Muscovy’s peasants, or 13 to 14 million people, were serfs whose material lives were barely distinguishable from slaves. Perhaps another 1.5 million were formally enslaved, with Russian slaves serving Russian masters.^[52]

Russia’s over 23 million (about 38% of the total population^[53]) privately held serfs were freed from their lords by an edict of Alexander II in 1861. The owners were compensated through taxes on the freed serfs. State serfs were emancipated in 1866.^[54]

Emancipation dates by country

See also

References

Further reading

External links

• Serfdom, Encyclopædia Britannica (on-line edition).
• The Hull Project, Hull University
• Vinogradoff, Paul (1911). «Serfdom» . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).
• Peasantry (social class), Encyclopædia Britannica.
• An excerpt from the book Serfdom to Self-Government: Memoirs of a Polish Village Mayor, 1842–1927.
• The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis, discussion and full online text of Evsey Domar (1970), «The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis», Economic History Review 30:1 (March), pp. 18–32.

«Serf» redirects here. For the saint, see Saint Serf. For the type of magnetometer, see SERF. For the film, see Serf (film).

Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.^[1]

Unlike slaves, serfs could not be bought, sold, or traded individually though they could, depending on the area, be sold together with land. The kholops in Russia, by contrast, could be traded like regular slaves, could be abused with no rights over their own bodies, could not leave the land they were bound to, and could marry only with their lord’s permission.^{[citation needed]} Serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for the lord of the manor who owned that land. In return, they were entitled to protection, justice, and the right to cultivate certain fields within the manor to maintain their own subsistence. Serfs were often required not only to work on the lord’s fields, but also in his mines and forests and to labour to maintain roads. The manor formed the basic unit of feudal society, and the lord of the manor and the villeins, and to a certain extent the serfs, were bound legally: by taxation in the case of the former, and economically and socially in the latter.

The decline of serfdom in Western Europe has sometimes been attributed to the widespread plague epidemic of the Black Death, which reached Europe in 1347 and caused massive fatalities, disrupting society.^[2] Conversely, serfdom grew stronger in Central and Eastern Europe, where it had previously been less common (this phenomenon was known as «later serfdom»).

In Eastern Europe, the institution persisted until the mid-19th century. In the Austrian Empire, serfdom was abolished by the 1781 Serfdom Patent; corvées continued to exist until 1848. Serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861.^[3] Prussia declared serfdom unacceptable in its General State Laws for the Prussian States in 1792 and finally abolished it in October 1807, in the wake of the Prussian Reform Movement.^[4] In Finland, Norway, and Sweden, feudalism was never fully established, and serfdom did not exist; in Denmark, serfdom-like institutions did exist in both stavns (the stavnsbånd, from 1733 to 1788) and its vassal Iceland (the more restrictive vistarband, from 1490 until 1894).

According to medievalist historian Joseph R. Strayer, the concept of feudalism can also be applied to the societies of ancient Persia, ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt (Sixth to Twelfth dynasty), Islamic-ruled Northern and Central India, China (Zhou dynasty and end of Han dynasty) and Japan during the Shogunate. Wu Ta-k’un argued that the Shang-Zhou fengjian were kinship estates, quite distinct from feudalism.^[5] James Lee and Cameron Campbell describe the Chinese Qing dynasty (1644–1912) as also maintaining a form of serfdom.^[6]

Melvyn Goldstein described Tibet as having had serfdom until 1959,^[7][8] but whether or not the Tibetan form of peasant tenancy that qualified as serfdom was widespread is contested by other scholars.^[9][10] Bhutan is described by Tashi Wangchuk, a Bhutanese civil servant, as having officially abolished serfdom by 1959, but he believes that less than or about 10% of poor peasants were in copyhold situations.^[11]

The United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery also prohibits serfdom as a practice similar to slavery.^[12]

History

Social institutions similar to serfdom were known in ancient times. The status of the helots in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta resembled that of the medieval serfs. By the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire faced a labour shortage. Large Roman landowners increasingly relied on Roman freemen, acting as tenant farmers, instead of slaves to provide labour.^[13]

These tenant farmers, eventually known as coloni, saw their condition steadily erode. Because the tax system implemented by Diocletian assessed taxes based on both land and the inhabitants of that land, it became administratively inconvenient for peasants to leave the land where they were counted in the census.^[13]

Medieval serfdom really began with the breakup of the Carolingian Empire around the 10th century.^{[citation needed]} During this period, powerful feudal lords encouraged the establishment of serfdom as a source of agricultural labour. Serfdom, indeed, was an institution that reflected a fairly common practice whereby great landlords were assured that others worked to feed them and were held down, legally and economically, while doing so.

This arrangement provided most of the agricultural labour throughout the Middle Ages. Slavery persisted right through the Middle Ages,^[14] but it was rare.

In the later Middle Ages serfdom began to disappear west of the Rhine even as it spread through eastern Europe. Serfdom reached Eastern Europe centuries later than Western Europe – it became dominant around the 15th century. In many of these countries serfdom was abolished during the Napoleonic invasions of the early 19th century, though in some it persisted until mid- or late- 19th century.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology

The word serf originated from the Middle French serf and was derived from the Latin servus («slave»). In Late Antiquity and most of the Middle Ages, what are now called serfs were usually designated in Latin as coloni. 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]}

Dependency and the lower orders

Serfs had a specific place in feudal society, as did barons and knights: in return for protection, a serf would reside upon and work a parcel of land within the manor of his lord. Thus, the manorial system exhibited a degree of reciprocity.

One rationale held that serfs and freemen «worked for all» while a knight or baron «fought for all» and a churchman «prayed for all»; thus everyone had a place. The serf was the worst fed and rewarded however, although unlike slaves had certain rights in land and property.

A lord of the manor could not sell his serfs as a Roman might sell his slaves. On the other hand, if he chose to dispose of a parcel of land, the serfs associated with that land stayed with it to serve their new lord; simply speaking, they were implicitly sold in mass and as a part of a lot. This unified system preserved for the lord long-acquired knowledge of practices suited to the land. Further, a serf could not abandon his lands without permission,^[15] nor did he possess a saleable title in them.^[16]

Initiation

A freeman became a serf usually through force or necessity. Sometimes the greater physical and legal force of a local magnate intimidated freeholders or allodial owners into dependency. Often a few years of crop failure, a war, or brigandage might leave a person unable to make his own way. In such a case, he could strike a bargain with a lord of a manor. In exchange for gaining protection, his service was required: in labour, produce, or cash, or a combination of all. These bargains became formalised in a ceremony known as «bondage», in which a serf placed his head in the lord’s hands, akin to the ceremony of homage where a vassal placed his hands between those of his overlord. These oaths bound the lord and his new serf in a feudal contract and defined the terms of their agreement.^[17] Often these bargains were severe.

A 7th-century Anglo Saxon «Oath of Fealty» states:

By the Lord before whom this sanctuary is holy, I will to N. be true and faithful, and love all which he loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the laws of God and the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve it, and that he will perform everything as it was in our agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his will.

To become a serf was a commitment that encompassed all aspects of the serf’s life. The children born to serfs inherited their status, and were considered born into serfdom. By taking on the duties of serfdom, people bound themselves and their progeny.

Class system

The social class of the peasantry can be differentiated into smaller categories. These distinctions were often less clear than suggested by their different names. Most often, there were two types of peasants:

1. freemen, workers whose tenure within the manor was freehold
2. villein

Lower classes of peasants, known as cottars or bordars, generally comprising the younger sons of villeins;^[18][19] vagabonds; and slaves, made up the lower class of workers.

Coloni

The colonus system of the late Roman Empire can be considered the predecessor of Western European feudal serfdom.^[20][21]

Freemen

Freemen, or free tenants held their land by one of a variety of contracts of feudal land-tenure and were essentially rent-paying tenant farmers who owed little or no service to the lord, and had a good degree of security of tenure and independence. In parts of 11th-century England freemen made up only 10% of the peasant population, and in most of the rest of Europe their numbers were also small.

Ministeriales

Ministeriales were hereditary unfree knights tied to their lord, that formed the lowest rung of nobility in the Holy Roman Empire.

Villeins

A villein (or villain) represented the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages.^{[dubious – discuss]} Villeins had more rights and higher status than the lowest serf, but existed under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from freemen. Villeins generally rented small homes, with a patch of land. As part of the contract with the landlord, the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord’s fields. The requirement often was not greatly onerous, contrary to popular belief, and was often only seasonal, for example the duty to help at harvest-time.^{[citation needed]} The rest of their time was spent farming their own land for their own profit. Villeins were tied to their lord’s land and couldn’t leave it without his permission. Their lord also often decided whom they could marry.^[22]

Like other types of serfs, villeins had to provide other services, possibly in addition to paying rent of money or produce. Villeins were somehow retained on their land and by unmentioned manners could not move away without their lord’s consent and the acceptance of the lord to whose manor they proposed to migrate to. Villeins were generally able to hold their own property, unlike slaves. Villeinage, as opposed to other forms of serfdom, was most common in Continental European feudalism, where land ownership had developed from roots in Roman law.

A variety of kinds of villeinage existed in Europe in the Middle Ages. Half-villeins received only half as many strips of land for their own use and owed a full complement of labour to the lord, often forcing them to rent out their services to other serfs to make up for this hardship. Villeinage was not a purely uni-directional exploitative relationship. In the Middle Ages, land within a lord’s manor provided sustenance and survival, and being a villein guaranteed access to land, and crops secure from theft by marauding robbers. Landlords, even where legally entitled to do so, rarely evicted villeins because of the value of their labour. Villeinage was much preferable to being a vagabond, a slave, or an unlanded labourer.

In many medieval countries, a villein could gain freedom by escaping from a manor to a city or borough and living there for more than a year; but this action involved the loss of land rights and agricultural livelihood, a prohibitive price unless the landlord was especially tyrannical or conditions in the village were unusually difficult.

In medieval England, two types of villeins existed–villeins regardant that were tied to land and villeins in gross that could be traded separately from land.^[20]

Bordars and cottagers

In England, the Domesday Book, of 1086, uses bordarii (bordar) and cottarii (cottar) as interchangeable terms, cottar deriving from the native Anglo-Saxon tongue whereas bordar derived from the French.^[23]

Status-wise, the bordar or cottar ranked below a serf in the social hierarchy of a manor, holding a cottage, garden and just enough land to feed a family. In England, at the time of the Domesday Survey, this would have comprised between about 1 and 5 acres (0.4 and 2.0 hectares).^[25] Under an Elizabethan statute, the Erection of Cottages Act 1588, the cottage had to be built with at least 4 acres (0.02 km²; 0.01 sq mi) of land.^[26] The later Enclosures Acts (1604 onwards) removed the cottars’ right to any land: «before the Enclosures Act the cottager was a farm labourer with land and after the Enclosures Act the cottager was a farm labourer without land».^[27]

The bordars and cottars did not own their draught oxen or horses. The Domesday Book showed that England comprised 12% freeholders, 35% serfs or villeins, 30% cotters and bordars, and 9% slaves.^[25]

Smerd

Smerdy were a type of serfs above kholops in Medieval Poland and Kievan Rus’.

Kholops

Kholops were the lowest class of serfs in the medieval and early modern Russia. They had status similar to slaves, and could be freely traded.

Slaves

The last type of serf was the slave.^[28] Slaves had the fewest rights and benefits from the manor. They owned no tenancy in land, worked for the lord exclusively and survived on donations from the landlord. It was always in the interest of the lord to prove that a servile arrangement existed, as this provided him with greater rights to fees and taxes. The status of a man was a primary issue in determining a person’s rights and obligations in many of the manorial court-cases of the period. Also, runaway slaves could be beaten if caught.

Serfdom was significantly more common than slavery throughout the feudal period. The villein was the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages. Villeins had more rights and status than those held as slaves, but were under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from the freeman. Within his constraints, a serf had some freedom. Though the common wisdom is that a serf owned “only his belly”—even his clothes were the property, in law, of his lord—a serf might still accumulate personal property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their free neighbors, although this was rather an exception to the general rule. A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom.^[29]

Duties

The usual serf (not including slaves or cottars) paid his fees and taxes in the form of seasonally appropriate labour. Usually, a portion of the week was devoted to ploughing his lord’s fields held in demesne, harvesting crops, digging ditches, repairing fences, and often working in the manor house. The remainder of the serf’s time he spent tending his own fields, crops and animals in order to provide for his family. Most manorial work was segregated by gender during the regular times of the year. During the harvest, the whole family was expected to work the fields.

A major difficulty of a serf’s life was that his work for his lord coincided with, and took precedence over, the work he had to perform on his own lands: when the lord’s crops were ready to be harvested, so were his own. On the other hand, the serf of a benign lord could look forward to being well fed during his service; it was a lord without foresight who did not provide a substantial meal for his serfs during the harvest and planting times.^{[citation needed]} In exchange for this work on the lord’s demesne, the serfs had certain privileges and rights, including for example the right to gather deadwood – an essential source of fuel – from their lord’s forests.

In addition to service, a serf was required to pay certain taxes and fees. Taxes were based on the assessed value of his lands and holdings. Fees were usually paid in the form of agricultural produce rather than cash. The best ration of wheat from the serf’s harvest often went to the landlord. Generally hunting and trapping of wild game by the serfs on the lord’s property was prohibited. On Easter Sunday the peasant family perhaps might owe an extra dozen eggs, and at Christmas, a goose was perhaps required, too. When a family member died, extra taxes were paid to the lord as a form of feudal relief to enable the heir to keep the right to till what land he had. Any young woman who wished to marry a serf outside of her manor was forced to pay a fee for the right to leave her lord, and in compensation for her lost labour.

Often there were arbitrary tests to judge the worthiness of their tax payments. A chicken, for example, might be required to be able to jump over a fence of a given height to be considered old enough or well enough to be valued for tax purposes. The restraints of serfdom on personal and economic choice were enforced through various forms of manorial customary law and the manorial administration and court baron.

It was also a matter of discussion whether serfs could be required by law in times of war or conflict to fight for their lord’s land and property. In the case of their lord’s defeat, their own fate might be uncertain, so the serf certainly had an interest in supporting his lord.

Rights

Within his constraints, a serf had some freedoms. Though the common wisdom is that a serf owned «only his belly» – even his clothes were the property, in law, of his lord – a serf might still accumulate personal property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their free neighbours, although this happened rarely.^[30] A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom.^[31]

A serf could grow what crop he saw fit on his lands, although a serf’s taxes often had to be paid in wheat. The surplus he would sell at market.

The landlord could not dispossess his serfs without legal cause and was supposed to protect them from the depredations of robbers or other lords, and he was expected to support them by charity in times of famine. Many such rights were enforceable by the serf in the manorial court.^{[citation needed]}

Variations

Forms of serfdom varied greatly through time and regions. In some places, serfdom was merged with or exchanged for various forms of taxation.

The amount of labour required varied. In Poland, for example, it was commonly a few days per year per household in the 13th century, one day per week per household in the 14th century, four days per week per household in the 17th century, and six days per week per household in the 18th century. Early serfdom in Poland was mostly limited to the royal territories (królewszczyzny).

«Per household» means that every dwelling had to give a worker for the required number of days.^[32] For example, in the 18th century, six people: a peasant, his wife, three children and a hired worker might be required to work for their lord one day a week, which would be counted as six days of labour.

Serfs served on occasion as soldiers in the event of conflict and could earn freedom or even ennoblement for valour in combat.^{[clarification needed]} Serfs could purchase their freedom, be manumitted by generous owners, or flee to towns or to newly settled land where few questions were asked. Laws varied from country to country: in England a serf who made his way to a chartered town (i.e. a borough) and evaded recapture for a year and a day obtained his freedom and became a burgher of the town.

Serfdom by country and location

Americas

Aztec Empire

In the Aztec Empire, the Tlacotin class held similarities to serfdom. Even at its height, slaves only ever made up 2% of the population.^[33]

Byzantine Empire

The paroikoi were the Byzantine equivalent of serfs.^[34]

France

Serfdom in France started to diminish after the Black Death in France, when the lack of work force made manumission more common from that point onward, and by the 18th-century, serfdom had become relatively rare in most of France.

In 1779, the reforms of Jacques Necker abolished serfdom in all Crown lands in France. On the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1789, between 140.000^[35] and 1,500,000^[36] serfs remained in France, most of them on clerical lands^[37] in Franche-Comté, Berry, Burgundy and Marche.^[38][39]
However, although formal serfdom no longer existed in most of France, the feudal seigneurial laws still granted noble landlords many of the rights previously exercised over serfs, and the peasants of Auvergne, Nivernais and Champagne, though formally not serfs, could still not move freely.^[40][41]

Serfdom was formally abolished in France on 4 August 1789,^[42] and the remaining feudal rights that gave landlords control rights over peasants were abolished in 1789-93.^[43]

Ireland

Gaelic Ireland

In Gaelic Ireland, a political and social system existing in Ireland from the prehistoric period (500 BC or earlier) up until the Norman conquest (12th century AD), the bothach («hut-dweller»), fuidir (perhaps linked to fot, «soil»)^[44] and sencléithe («old dwelling-house»)^[45] were low-ranked semi-free servile tenants similar to serfs.^[46][47] According to Laurence Ginnell, the sencléithe and bothach «were not free to leave the territory except with permission, and in practice they usually served the flaith [prince]. They had no political or clan rights, could neither sue nor appear as witnesses, and were not free in the matter of entering into contracts. They could appear in a court of justice only in the name of the flaith or other person to whom they belonged, or whom they served, or by obtaining from an aire of the tuath to which they belonged permission to sue in his name.»^[48][49] A fuidir was defined by D. A. Binchy as «a ‘tenant at will,’ settled by the lord (flaith) on a portion of the latter’s land; his services to the lord are always undefined. Although his condition is servile, he retains the right to abandon his holding on giving due notice to the lord and surrendering to him two thirds of the products of his husbandry.»^[50][51]

Poland

Serfdom in Poland became the dominant form of relationship between peasants and nobility in the 17th century, and was a major feature of the economy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, although its origins can be traced back to the 12th century.

The first steps towards abolition of serfdom were enacted in the Constitution of 3 May 1791, and it was essentially eliminated by the Połaniec Manifesto. However, these reforms were partly nullified by the partition of Poland. Frederick the Great had abolished serfdom in the territories he gained from the first partition of Poland. Over the course of the 19th century, it was gradually abolished on Polish and Lithuanian territories under foreign control, as the region began to industrialize.

Russia

Serfdom became the dominant form of relation between Russian peasants and nobility in the 17th century. Serfdom only existed in central and southern areas of the Russian Empire. It was never established in the North, in the Urals, and in Siberia. According to the Encyclopedia of Human Rights:

In 1649 up to three-quarters of Muscovy’s peasants, or 13 to 14 million people, were serfs whose material lives were barely distinguishable from slaves. Perhaps another 1.5 million were formally enslaved, with Russian slaves serving Russian masters.^[52]

Russia’s over 23 million (about 38% of the total population^[53]) privately held serfs were freed from their lords by an edict of Alexander II in 1861. The owners were compensated through taxes on the freed serfs. State serfs were emancipated in 1866.^[54]

Emancipation dates by country

See also

References

Further reading

External links

• Serfdom, Encyclopædia Britannica (on-line edition).
• The Hull Project, Hull University
• Vinogradoff, Paul (1911). «Serfdom» . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).
• Peasantry (social class), Encyclopædia Britannica.
• An excerpt from the book Serfdom to Self-Government: Memoirs of a Polish Village Mayor, 1842–1927.
• The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis, discussion and full online text of Evsey Domar (1970), «The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis», Economic History Review 30:1 (March), pp. 18–32.

КРЕПОСТНОЕ ПРАВО

КРЕПОСТНО́Е ПРА́ВО, со­во­куп­ность юри­дич. норм, за­кре­п­ляв­ших наи­бо­лее пол­ную фор­му за­ви­си­мо­сти кре­сть­ян­ст­ва от фео­да­лов. Вклю­ча­ло за­пре­ще­ние кре­сть­я­нам ухо­дить со сво­их зе­мель­ных наде­лов (т. н. при­кре­п­ле­ние кре­сть­ян к зем­ле, или «кре­пость» кре­сть­ян зем­ле; бег­лые под­ле­жа­ли при­ну­дит. воз­вра­ту), на­следств. под­чи­не­ние т. н. вот­чин­ной (ад­ми­ни­ст­ра­тив­ной и су­деб­ной) вла­сти оп­ре­де­лён­но­го фео­да­ла, ли­ше­ние кре­по­ст­ных кре­сть­ян пра­ва от­чу­ж­дать зе­мель­ные на­де­лы и ог­ра­ни­че­ние в пра­ве при­об­ре­тать не­дви­жи­мость. При­ня­то от­ли­чать кре­по­ст­ни­че­ст­во как сис­те­му со­ци­аль­ных от­но­ше­ний от К. п. как юри­дич. фор­мы их вы­ра­же­ния.

Юри­дич. при­кре­п­ле­ние кре­сть­ян к зем­ле су­ще­ст­во­ва­ло в ран­нем Сред­не­ве­ко­вье толь­ко в Юго-Зап. Ев­ро­пе, в пре­де­лах быв. Рим. им­пе­рии. В Зап. и Центр. Ев­ро­пе кре­сть­я­не на­хо­ди­лись по на­след­ст­ву в лич­ной или су­деб­ной и адм. за­ви­си­мо­сти от сень­о­ров, но, ис­клю­чая дво­ро­вых лю­дей и ра­бов, по­са­жен­ных на зе­мель­ные на­де­лы, не бы­ли юри­ди­че­ски при­кре­п­ле­ны к зем­ле или лич­но к гос­по­ди­ну.

В 10–15 вв. в Зап. Ев­ро­пе не­ко­то­рые эле­мен­ты К. п. (за­прет ухо­да со сво­их зе­мель­ных на­де­лов, на­следств. лич­ная за­ви­си­мость от сень­о­ра и т. п.) сло­жи­лись в от­но­ше­нии отд. ка­те­го­рий кре­сть­ян­ст­ва: вил­ла­ны центр. Анг­лии, ре­мен­сы Ка­та­ло­нии, франц. и юж.-итал. сер­вы, ср.-итал. и сев.-итал. ко­ло­ны и мас­са­рии, юж.-герм. Leibeigenen. К. п. как со­во­куп­ность юри­дич. норм фик­си­ро­ва­лось в сво­дах фео­даль­но­го (обыч­но­го) пра­ва («Бар­се­лон­ские обы­чаи», франц. ку­тю­мы и др.).

В 12–15 вв. в хо­де рас­ши­ре­ния прав кре­сть­ян на ку­п­лю-про­да­жу зем­ли, вы­ку­па ими осн. феод. по­вин­но­стей, ут­верж­де­ния фик­си­ро­ван­ной де­неж­ной рен­ты, а так­же раз­ви­тия ви­дов зе­мель­ных дер­жа­ний, от­лич­ных от фео­даль­ных, кре­сть­яне Зап. Ев­ро­пы ос­во­бо­ди­лись от кре­по­ст­ной за­ви­си­мо­сти.

В Центр. и Вост. Ев­ро­пе рас­про­стра­не­ние К. п. оп­ре­де­ли­ло рост по­ме­щичь­е­го хо­зяй­ст­ва, ори­ен­ти­ро­ван­но­го на про­из-во то­вар­ной с.-х. про­дук­ции, в кон. 15–17 вв. В Вос­точ­ной (За­эльб­ской) Гер­ма­нии К. п. сло­жи­лось по­сле Кре­сть­ян­ской вой­ны 1524–26 и по­лу­чи­ло осо­бен­но пол­ное раз­ви­тие в 1-й пол. 17 в. (наи­более тя­жё­лые фор­мы при­ня­ло в Мек­лен­бур­ге, По­ме­ра­нии, Вост. Прус­сии). В Венг­рии К. п. бы­ло за­кре­п­ле­но в Уло­же­нии 1514, из­дан­ном по­сле по­дав­ле­ния До­жи Дьёр­дя вос­ста­ния 1514. В Поль­ше нор­мы К. п. за­фик­си­ро­ва­ны в Петр­ков­ском ста­ту­те 1496. К. п. в этом ре­гио­не рас­про­стра­ня­лось на осн. мас­су кре­сть­ян. Оно пред­по­ла­га­ло мно­го­днев­ную (до 6 дней в не­де­лю) бар­щи­ну, ли­ше­ние кре­сть­ян боль­шин­ст­ва вла­дель­че­ских и лич­ных прав, со­про­во­ж­да­лось со­кра­ще­ни­ем кре­сть­ян­ской за­паш­ки или обез­зе­ме­ле­ни­ем час­ти кре­сть­ян. От­ме­на К. п. на тер­ри­то­рии Вост. и Центр. Ев­ро­пы про­ис­хо­ди­ла в хо­де ре­форм кон. 18–19 вв. (в 1781–82 в Че­хии, Мо­ра­вии, Край­не, в 1785 в Венг­рии, в 1807 в Прус­сии, в 1808 в Ба­ва­рии, в 1820 в Ме­к­лен­бур­ге и Гес­сен-Дарм­штад­те, в 1848 в Га­ли­ции, в 1864 в Ру­мы­нии и т. д.).

На Вос­то­ке ин­сти­тут К. п. вви­ду от­сут­ст­вия раз­ви­то­го бар­щин­но­го хо­зяй­ст­ва и свя­зан­ной с ним от­ра­бо­точ­ной рен­ты не по­лу­чил рас­про­стра­не­ния. См. так­же Фео­да­лизм.

Кре­по­ст­ное пра­во в Рос­сии. С на­чаль­ным эта­пом фор­ми­ро­ва­ния К. п. свя­зы­ва­ют ог­ра­ни­че­ние с сер. 15 в. для не­ко­то­рых ка­те­го­рий кре­сть­ян отд. вот­чин пра­ва пе­ре­хо­да в др. вот­чи­ны в те­че­ние не­де­ли до и по­сле Юрь­е­ва дня осен­не­го (26 но­яб. ст. ст.). Срок вы­хо­да, ука­зан­ный в гра­мо­тах сер. 15 в., под­твер­ждён в ка­че­ст­ве об­ще­го­су­дар­ст­вен­ной нор­мы Су­деб­ни­ком 1497 (см. в ст. Су­деб­ни­ки 15–16 вв.), ко­то­рым так­же ус­та­нов­лен раз­мер вы­ход­ной по­шли­ны («по­жи­ло­го»). Юри­дич. оформ­ле­ние К. п. ста­ло ин­тен­сив­ным с кон. 16 в., с вве­де­ни­ем за­по­вед­ных лет (нач. 1580-х гг., ко­гда бы­ли за­пре­ще­ны в ря­де ре­гио­нов лю­бые пе­ре­хо­ды кре­сть­ян), а так­же уроч­ных лет (1597), т. е. 5-лет­не­го сро­ка, в те­че­ние ко­то­ро­го вла­де­лец мог за­кон­но вер­нуть сво­их бег­лых кре­сть­ян. Не­ко­то­рые ис­сле­до­ва­те­ли к кон. 16 в. от­но­сят на­чаль­ный этап фор­ми­ро­ва­ния К. п. По­зе­мель­ное за­кре­поще­ние кре­сть­ян свя­за­но с уси­ле­ни­ем гос. об­ло­же­ния при од­но­вре­мен­ном рез­ком со­кра­ще­нии тяг­ло-на­дель­ной паш­ни и чис­лен­но­сти тру­до­во­го на­се­ле­ния. При этом по­зе­мель­ная кре­пость рас­про­стра­ня­лась на глав кре­сть­ян­ских дво­ров. Сыск и воз­вра­ще­ние бег­лых бы­ли в сфе­ре ча­ст­но­го пра­ва; за­ко­ном пер­во­на­чаль­но не пре­ду­смат­ри­ва­лись санк­ции за при­ём и дер­жа­ние бег­лых (впер­вые ус­та­нов­ле­ны в 1607 – штраф в поль­зу го­су­дар­ст­ва и «по­жи­лое» ста­ро­му вла­дель­цу бег­ло­го). В го­ды вос­ста­нов­ле­ния хо­зяй­ст­ва по­сле Смут­но­го вре­ме­ни был под­твер­ждён 5-лет­ний срок сыс­ка. Для отд. ду­хов­ных, а позд­нее (1637) и свет­ских вла­дель­цев он был уве­ли­чен до 9 лет, в 1641 – до 10 лет для бег­лых и 15 лет для вы­ве­зен­ных кре­сть­ян. В 1-й пол. 17 в. на­ча­лась про­да­жа кре­сть­ян без зем­ли (санк­цио­ни­ро­ва­на ука­за­ми 1675, 1682 и 1688). В 17 в. вы­ра­ба­ты­ва­лась ср. це­на кре­сть­я­ни­на, не за­ви­сев­шая от це­ны зем­ли. Со­бор­ное уло­же­ние 1649 вве­ло бес­сроч­ное и лич­но-по­том­ст­вен­ное при­кре­п­ле­ние всех ча­ст­но­вла­дельч. кре­сть­ян (в т. ч. бо­бы­лей) к зем­ле (на­де­лу) с ус­та­нов­ле­ни­ем штраф­ных санк­ций за при­ём бег­лых и по­сле­дую­щей прак­ти­кой их гос. сыс­ка. При этом кре­по­ст­ные кре­сть­я­не ещё ос­та­ва­лись субъ­ек­та­ми в отд. сфе­рах дей­ст­вия пра­ва, они всту­па­ли в сдел­ки внут­ри име­ний и за их пре­де­ла­ми, бы­ли ма­те­ри­аль­но от­вет­ст­вен­ны по су­ду за свои дей­ст­вия, мог­ли вы­сту­пать сви­де­те­ля­ми, ист­ца­ми, от­вет­чи­ка­ми в вот­чин­ном, зем­ском, а от­час­ти и в гос. су­де. Их убий­ст­во или уве­чье в ря­де слу­ча­ев под­па­да­ло под уго­лов­ное пре­сле­до­ва­ние, за их «бес­че­стье» по­ла­гал­ся штраф. Со 2-й пол. 17 в. вво­ди­лись те­лес­ные на­ка­за­ния для кре­сть­ян, не под­чи­няв­ших­ся во­ле зем­ле­вла­дель­ца. В кон. 17 в. за фео­да­ла­ми бы­ло при­зна­но пра­во брать кре­сть­ян­ских де­тей в дво­ро­вые.

В 1783–85 в свя­зи с пре­дос­тав­ле­ни­ем прав рос. дво­рян­ст­ва укр. стар­ши­не ка­зац­кой бы­ло за­кре­по­ще­но и жив­шее на её зем­лях укр. кре­сть­ян­ст­во. Рас­про­стра­не­ние К. п. на ок­раи­ны Рос. им­пе­рии про­хо­ди­ло и пу­тём пе­ре­се­ле­ния кре­по­ст­ных кре­сть­ян по­ме­щи­ка­ми на по­жа­ло­ван­ные им зем­ли в юж. степ­ных и за­волж­ских гу­бер­ни­ях. Для кре­по­ст­ных кре­сть­ян вво­ди­лись за­пре­ты или ог­ра­ни­че­ния в сфе­ре пред­при­ни­ма­тель­ст­ва: всту­пать в от­ку­па и под­ря­ды (1731), за­во­дить су­кон­ные фаб­ри­ки (1734). По­ме­щи­кам бы­ло пре­дос­тав­ле­но пра­во по­ку­пать дво­ро­вых для от­да­чи в рек­ру­ты, а так­же про­да­вать др. по­ме­щи­кам для этой це­ли сво­их кре­сть­ян (1747); ссы­лать не­угод­ных дво­ро­вых лю­дей и кре­сть­ян (в воз­ра­сте не стар­ше 45 лет) в за­чёт рек­ру­тов в Си­бирь на по­се­ле­ние (1760; еже­год­но ссы­ла­лось 5–6 тыс. чел.; ме­ра рас­смат­ри­ва­лась как спо­соб ос­вое­ния рос. ок­ра­ин) и ка­торж­ные ра­бо­ты (1765), за­клю­чать кре­сть­ян в тюрь­мы (1775). При про­да­же кре­сть­ян или их ссыл­ке в Си­бирь раз­ре­ша­лось раз­лу­чать ро­ди­те­лей и де­тей (1760). Про­да­жа и по­куп­ка кре­по­ст­ных без зем­ли не бы­ли ог­ра­ни­че­ны ни­чем, кро­ме за­пре­ще­ния тор­го­вать ими за 3 мес до рек­рут­ско­го на­бо­ра (1766) (это не ка­салось по­жи­лых и ма­ло­лет­них) и при кон­фи­ска­ции или про­да­же име­ний с аук­цио­на (1771). Вско­ре по­сле за­пре­ще­ния всем кре­стья­нам под стра­хом уго­лов­но­го на­ка­за­ния по­да­вать про­ше­ния на Вы­со­чай­шее имя (1765) кре­по­ст­ным кре­сть­я­нам под стра­хом на­ка­за­ния кну­том и ссыл­ки в бес­сроч­ную ка­тор­гу бы­ло от­дель­но за­пре­ще­но по­да­вать че­ло­бит­ные с жа­ло­ба­ми на жес­то­кость по­ме­щи­ков (1767). В 1782 по­ме­щи­кам раз­ре­шено от­пус­кать на во­лю боль­ных и пре­ста­ре­лых кре­сть­ян, т. е. из­бав­лять­ся от со­дер­жа­ния не­тру­до­спо­соб­ных. Ре­ше­ние по­ме­щи­ка о на­ка­за­нии кре­сть­ян бы­ло без­апел­ля­ци­он­ным и при­во­ди­лось в ис­пол­не­ние не­мед­лен­но. За­кон пре­ду­смат­ри­вал на­ка­за­ние са­мо­го по­ме­щи­ка толь­ко за смерть кре­по­ст­но­го от ис­тя­за­ний. К кон. 18 в. про­цесс оформ­ле­ния К. п. за­вер­шил­ся: кре­по­ст­ные кре­сть­я­не фак­ти­че­ски бы­ли пол­ной соб­ст­вен­но­стью по­ме­щи­ков, ко­то­рые мог­ли от­нять у них всё иму­ще­ст­во, их са­мих с семь­я­ми или от­дель­но от них про­дать, за­ло­жить, по­да­рить, вме­ши­вать­ся в де­ла кре­сть­ян­ско­го са­мо­управ­ле­ния.

Вме­сте с тем го­су­дар­ст­во при­ни­ма­ло ме­ры про­тив зло­упот­реб­ле­ний по­ме­щи­чьей вла­стью, до­пус­ка­ло, при оп­ре­де­лён­ных ус­ло­ви­ях, воз­мож­ность для кре­сть­ян воз­бу­ж­дать ис­ки о сво­ём ос­во­бо­ж­де­нии от кре­по­ст­ной за­ви­си­мо­сти. В 1-й четв. 18 в. вве­де­но пра­ви­ло от­стра­нять по­ме­щи­ка от управ­ле­ния име­ни­ем, ес­ли он ра­зо­рял кре­сть­ян не­по­силь­ны­ми по­вин­но­стя­ми, и ус­та­нав­ли­вать над его име­ни­ем опе­ку, ко­то­рая по­ру­ча­лась бли­жай­шим род­ст­вен­ни­кам, а са­мо­го по­ме­щи­ка на­прав­лять «для ис­прав­ле­ния под на­чал». Ука­зы 1718, 1734, 1750, 1761 и 1767 обя­зы­ва­ли по­ме­щи­ков кор­мить сво­их кре­сть­ян во вре­мя не­уро­жая и го­ло­да, не до­пус­кать их об­ни­ща­ния. С 1722 на по­ме­щи­ков бы­ла воз­ло­же­на от­вет­ст­вен­ность за ис­прав­ную уп­ла­ту их кре­сть­я­на­ми по­душ­ной по­да­ти (по­дать со­би­ра­лась с кре­сть­ян и вно­си­лась в каз­ну са­мим по­ме­щи­ком или его при­каз­чи­ком). За­пре­ща­лось ста­вить кре­сть­ян «на пра­вёж» за дол­ги их гос­по­ди­на. С це­лью пре­сечь ма­хи­на­ции по­ме­щи­ков, за­пи­сы­вав­ших за со­бой во вре­мя про­ве­де­ния ре­ви­зий лиц, не при­над­ле­жав­ших к кре­по­ст­ным кре­сть­я­нам, яко­бы с их со­гла­сия, ука­за­ми 1775, 1781 и 1783 за­пре­ща­лась доб­ро­воль­ная за­пись в кре­по­ст­ное со­стоя­ние. За­ко­но­да­тель­ст­во пре­ду­смат­ри­ва­ло ус­ло­вия, по­зво­ляв­шие кре­сть­я­нам вый­ти из кре­по­ст­но­го со­стоя­ния. Ука­зы 1737, 1743, 1744, 1745, 1770 и 1773 объ­яв­ля­ли воль­ны­ми вер­нув­ших­ся из пле­на, а так­же ино­род­цев, при­няв­ших пра­во­сла­вие. За­кре­по­ще­нию не под­ле­жа­ли пи­том­цы вос­пи­та­тель­ных до­мов и окон­чив­шие АХ. Сво­бо­ду по­лу­ча­ли от­став­ные сол­да­ты – вы­ход­цы из кре­по­ст­ных кре­сть­ян.

В свя­зи с рас­про­стра­не­ни­ем сре­ди рос. дво­рян­ст­ва на ру­бе­же 18–19 вв. идей Про­све­ще­ния и гу­ма­низ­ма раз­ви­лось убеж­де­ние в по­роч­но­сти си­сте­мы К. п., ко­то­рое тор­мо­зи­ло раз­ви­тие эко­но­ми­ки, пре­пят­ст­во­ва­ло ро­сту го­ро­дов. Пер­вой по­пыт­кой со сто­ро­ны го­су­дар­ст­ва рег­ла­мен­ти­ро­вать по­вин­но­сти кре­по­ст­ных кре­сть­ян стал указ имп. Пав­ла I от 5(16).4.1797 о 3-днев­ной бар­щине, за­пре­щав­ший по­ме­щи­кам при­ну­ж­дать кре­сть­ян ра­бо­тать на ба­ри­на в вос­крес­ные дни и ре­ко­мен­до­вав­ший ос­таль­ные 6 дней не­де­ли раз­де­лить по­ров­ну, ука­зы­вая, что для ба­ри­на «при доб­ром рас­по­ря­же­нии дос­та­точ­но бу­дет на удов­ле­тво­ре­ние вся­ким хо­зяй­ст­вен­ным по­треб­но­стям по­ло­ви­на этих дней». Не­смот­ря на ре­ко­мен­да­тель­ный ха­рак­тер это­го ука­за, он со­блю­дал­ся на прак­ти­ке, и 4–6-днев­ная бар­щи­на бы­ла ис­клю­че­ни­ем. В 1-й пол. 19 в. про­бле­ма ре­ше­ния «кре­сть­ян­ско­го во­про­са» вы­дви­ну­лась на пер­вый план. Ука­зом о воль­ных хле­бо­паш­цах 1803 пре­ду­смат­ри­ва­лось ос­во­бо­ж­де­ние кре­по­ст­ных кре­сть­ян по обо­юд­но­му со­гла­сию с по­ме­щи­ком за вы­куп с зем­лёй (по это­му ука­зу к 1858 вы­ку­пи­лись на во­лю 152 тыс. душ муж­ско­го по­ла, или 1,5% кре­по­ст­ных). В ре­зуль­та­те кре­сть­ян­ской ре­фор­мы в Ост­зей­ском крае 1804–19 лич­ную сво­бо­ду по­лу­чи­ли кре­сть­я­не Лиф­лян­дии, Кур­лян­дии и Эс­т­лян­дии (зем­ля ос­та­лась в соб­ст­вен­но­сти по­ме­щи­ков). Алек­сандр I за­пре­тил да­вать объ­яв­ле­ния о про­да­же кре­по­ст­ных без зем­ли (1801), про­да­вать кре­сть­ян на яр­мар­ках (1808), от­ме­нил пра­во по­ме­щи­ков ссы­лать кре­сть­ян на ка­тор­гу (1807) и на по­се­ле­ние в Си­бирь (1809). В 1818 Алек­сандр I дал сек­рет­ные по­ру­че­ния 12 са­нов­ни­кам раз­ра­бо­тать про­ек­ты от­ме­ны К. п. (сре­ди ав­то­ров про­ек­тов – А. А. Арак­че­ев, П. А. Вя­зем­ский, В. Н. Ка­ра­зин, П. Д. Ки­се­лёв, Н. С. Морд­ви­нов, Н. Г. Реп­нин). Все эти про­ек­ты объ­е­ди­нял прин­цип по­сте­пен­но­го ос­во­бо­ж­де­ния кре­сть­ян без ущем­ле­ния при этом эко­но­мич. ин­те­ре­сов по­ме­щи­ков. Од­на­ко в свя­зи с из­мене­ни­ем внут­ри­по­ли­тич. кур­са Алек­сандр I в 1822–23 вновь за­пре­тил кре­по­ст­ным кре­сть­я­нам по­да­вать вла­стям жа­ло­бы на жес­то­кость сво­их гос­под, воз­бу­ж­дать ис­ки об ос­во­бож­де­нии, а так­же вос­ста­но­вил пра­во по­ме­щи­ков по сво­ему ус­мот­ре­нию ссы­лать кре­сть­ян в Си­бирь.

Не­об­хо­ди­мость ре­ше­ния «кре­сть­ян­ско­го во­про­са» со всей ост­ро­той вста­ла в цар­ст­во­ва­ние имп. Ни­ко­лая I. При­зна­вая, что «кре­по­ст­ное пра­во в ны­неш­нем его по­ло­же­нии есть зло, для всех ощу­ти­тель­ное», Ни­ко­лай I счи­тал его от­ме­ну преж­де­вре­мен­ной. Им­пе­ра­тор и выс­шие гос. дея­те­ли опа­са­лись, что ос­во­бо­ж­де­ние кре­сть­ян бу­дет со­про­во­ж­дать­ся нар. вол­не­ния­ми, учи­ты­ва­ли не­же­ла­ние по­ме­щи­ков ли­шить­ся «кре­щё­ной соб­ствен­но­сти». Для об­су­ж­де­ния «кре­сть­ян­ско­го во­про­са» Ни­ко­ла­ем I по­сле­до­ва­тель­но бы­ло соз­да­но 9 сек­рет­ных коми­те­тов, из­да­но св. 100 ука­зов, на­прав­лен­ных на смяг­че­ние К. п., но не за­тро­нув­ших его ос­нов. С 1833 не раз­ре­ша­лось про­да­вать кре­по­ст­ных кре­сть­ян с пуб­лич­но­го тор­га «с раз­дроб­ле­ни­ем се­мейств», «удов­ле­тво­рять ка­зён­ные и ча­ст­ные дол­ги», рас­пла­чи­ва­ясь за них кре­по­ст­ны­ми с от­ры­вом их от зем­ли, а так­же пе­ре­во­дить кре­сть­ян в дво­ро­вые, от­би­рая у них на­де­лы. Ог­ра­ни­че­но пра­во по­ме­щи­ков ссы­лать кре­сть­ян в Си­бирь по сво­ему ус­мот­ре­нию (1828). Из­дан указ об обя­зан­ных кре­сть­я­нах (1842), со­глас­но ко­то­ро­му по­ме­щи­ки мог­ли от­пус­кать на во­лю сво­их кре­сть­ян, но кре­сть­ян­ские на­де­лы пе­ре­да­ва­лись не в соб­ст­вен­ность, а в поль­зо­ва­ние кре­сть­я­нам, за что они долж­ны бы­ли вы­пол­нять по­вин­но­сти в поль­зу по­ме­щи­ка. По­ме­щи­кам да­ва­лось пра­во от­пус­кать на во­лю дво­ро­вых по обо­юд­но­му с ни­ми до­го­во­ру (1844). Кре­сть­я­нам по­ме­щичь­их име­ний, про­да­вав­ших­ся с аук­цио­на за дол­ги вла­дель­ца, раз­ре­ше­но вы­ку­пать­ся на во­лю (1847; в 1848–52 пра­вом вос­поль­зо­ва­лись 964 кре­сть­я­ни­на муж­ско­го по­ла). В 1847–48 в гу­бер­ни­ях Пра­во­бе­реж­ной Ук­раи­ны (Во­лын­ской, Ки­ев­ской и По­доль­ской), а в 1855–1861 в бе­ло­рус. гу­бер­ни­ях (Ви­теб­ской, Грод­нен­ской, Мин­ской и Мо­ги­лёв­ской) бы­ли вве­де­ны ин­вен­тар­ные пра­ви­ла, за­фик­си­ро­вав­шие кре­сть­ян­ские на­де­лы и по­вин­но­сти. Имп. Алек­сан­дром II в 1857 на­ча­та под­го­тов­ка к от­ме­не К. п. Она осу­ще­ст­в­ле­на в хо­де кре­сть­ян­ской ре­фор­мы 1861.

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Синонимы к фразе «крепостное право»

Какие близкие по смыслу слова и фразы, а также похожие выражения существуют. Как можно написать по-другому или сказать другими словами.

Фразы

• + абсолютная монархия −
• + великие реформы −
• + внеэкономическое принуждение −
• + вольный хлебопашец −
• + выкупные платежи −
• + денежный оброк −
• + жалованная грамота дворянству −
• + крепостная зависимость −
• + крепостное право −
• + крепостное рабство −
• + крепостное состояние −
• + крепостной гнёт −
• + крепостные крестьяне −
• + крупное землевладение −
• + ликвидация крепостного права −
• + масса населения −
• + мелкие собственники −
• + московское государство −
• + национальные окраины −
• + обязательная служба −
• + отмена крепостного права −
• + отменить крепостное право −
• + подушная подать −
• + полное бесправие −

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Написание фразы «крепостное право» наоборот

Как эта фраза пишется в обратной последовательности.

оварп еонтсоперк 😀

Написание фразы «крепостное право» в транслите

Как эта фраза пишется в транслитерации.

в армянской🇦🇲 կրեպոստնոե պրավո

в греческой🇬🇷 κραιποσθνοαι πραυο

в грузинской🇬🇪 კრეპოსთნოე პრავო

в еврейской🇮🇱 כראפוסטנוא פראבו

в латинской🇬🇧 krepostnoye pravo

Как эта фраза пишется в пьюникоде — Punycode, ACE-последовательность IDN

xn--e1aannebegmk xn--80ae0bbf

Как эта фраза пишется в английской Qwerty-раскладке клавиатуры.

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Написание фразы «крепостное право» шрифтом Брайля

Как эта фраза пишется рельефно-точечным тактильным шрифтом.

⠅⠗⠑⠏⠕⠎⠞⠝⠕⠑⠀⠏⠗⠁⠺⠕

Передача фразы «крепостное право» на азбуке Морзе

Как эта фраза передаётся на морзянке.

– ⋅ – ⋅ – ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ – – ⋅ – – – ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ – – ⋅ – – – ⋅ ⋅ – – ⋅ ⋅ – ⋅ ⋅ – ⋅ – – – – –

Произношение фразы «крепостное право» на дактильной азбуке

Как эта фраза произносится на ручной азбуке глухонемых (но не на языке жестов).

Передача фразы «крепостное право» семафорной азбукой

Как эта фраза передаётся флажковой сигнализацией.

Остальные фразы со слова «крепостное»

Какие ещё фразы начинаются с этого слова.

• крепостное право в россии
• крепостное состояние
• крепостное рабство
• крепостное крестьянство
• крепостное хозяйство
• крепостное население
• крепостное состояние крестьян

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Остальные фразы из 2 слов

Какие ещё фразы состоят из такого же количества слов.

• а вдобавок
• а вдруг
• а ведь
• а вот
• а если
• а ещё
• а именно
• а капелла
• а каторга
• а ну-ка
• а приятно
• а также
• а там
• а то
• аа говорит
• аа отвечает
• аа рассказывает
• ааронов жезл
• аароново благословение
• аароново согласие
• аб ово
• абажур лампы
• абазинская аристократия
• абазинская литература

Комментарии

@skvu 04.01.2020 20:54

Что значит фраза «крепостное право»? Как это понять?..

Ответить

@hlkalpa 27.09.2022 02:12

1

Народный словарь великого и могучего живого великорусского языка.

Онлайн-словарь слов и выражений русского языка. Ассоциации к словам, синонимы слов, сочетаемость фраз. Морфологический разбор: склонение существительных и прилагательных, а также спряжение глаголов. Морфемный разбор по составу словоформ.

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