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Serfdom as a system provided most of the agricultural labour throughout the Middle Ages. Slavery persisted right through the Middle Ages, [2] but it was rare, diminishing and largely confined to the use of household slaves, as well as galley slaves. Parts of Europe, including much of Scandinavia, never adopted serfdom. [why?]
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]
These developments entrenched serfdom and created a rigid social hierarchy. [2] Serfdom became central to the economy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, underpinning its status as one of Europe’s leading agricultural producers. The Commonwealth relied heavily on the export of grain and other agricultural commodities to Western Europe.
Although slavery is usually involuntary and involves coercion, there are also cases where people voluntarily enter into slavery to pay a debt or earn money due to poverty. In the course of human history , slavery was a typical feature of civilization , [ 3 ] and was legal in most societies, but it is now outlawed in most countries of the world ...
The origins of serfdom in Russia may be traced to the 12th century, when the exploitation of the so-called zakups on arable lands (ролейные (пашенные) закупы, roleyniye (pashenniye) zakupy) and corvée smerds (Russian term for corvée is барщина, barschina) was the closest to what is now known as serfdom.
In copyhold, both a landlord and peasant made their best business deal, whereby the peasant got use of the land and the landlord got a fixed annual payment, and both possessed a copy of the tenure agreement. Serfdom did not end everywhere and lingered in parts of Western Europe and was introduced to Eastern Europe only after the Black Death. [34]
The Domar Serfdom Model is a mid-to-late 20th century model that develops a hypothesis concerning the causes of agricultural slavery or serfdom in historical societies. Evsey Domar first presented this model in his 1970 paper, “ The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis” published in the Economic History Review .
Constitution abolishes serfdom. [96] Prussia: The Stein-Hardenberg Reforms abolish serfdom. [96] Michigan Territory: Judge Augustus Woodward denies the return of two slaves owned by a man in Windsor, Upper Canada. Woodward declares that any man "coming into this Territory is by law of the land a freeman." [97] 1808 United States