this is back in the midieval times.
2007-03-03 10:10:27 · 7 answers · asked by rgippy12 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Serfs were sort of a medieval agricultural slave. They were tied to manors and worked the land for the lords who owned it. They were "paid" by being permitted to have a place to build a home and land to plant food for their families. The manors were large estates in Europe. They couldn't even marry without the blessing of the lord.
Serfdom in western Europe began to vanish with, first, the incredible population boom that happened between 1000-1300. This time also saw a huge boom in trade, and so the manors had more people then they could handle and so many were turned loose to try their luck in the growing trade centers that gradually became cities.
In the 14th century, the Plague hit and the sudden drop in the serf population led to an instability in the labor market and suddenly serfs were able to demand wages in exchange for their labor.
Russia held onto serfdom for another 300 years after western Europe.
Hope that helps.
2007-03-03 10:28:12 · answer #1 · answered by Monc 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Monc has answered best, and you should give him 10 points. What no one has answered was that serfs were "unfree," but they were not slaves. Serfs were not paid. A serf inherited the right to his plot of land from his father. A serf lived in a house (hut?) on the plot of land that he held from the lord. The serf had the right to live on it and farm it for the lord. The serf could pass the right to farm it on to his son. The lord could not throw him out. The serf owed certain duties, such as to give a certain percentage of his crop to the lord, to farm a certain amount of the lord's land that was the lord's. A serf might have to work on the lord's own land a certain number of days in addition to the days that he farmed his own.
2007-03-03 12:12:58 · answer #2 · answered by steve_geo1 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A farmer spends most of his time in the fields plowing, planting, weeding, and harvesting. Each week he must work three days for the lord of the manor, and three days he can work for us. Sunday, of course, is God's day, and all of the people in the village and the manor go to church. How we welcome that day of rest!
In addition to the work we do for the manor, much of what we produce for ourselves is paid to the lord for services that we need. We must pay to have the wheat ground into flour, pay to use the manor plow, and pay to use the manor oven to bake our bread. A fee must be paid to get married and even a fee when someone dies! In the years when our land does not produce well, we still must pay these fees.
2007-03-03 14:23:07 · answer #3 · answered by aidan402 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
serfs are pretty much slaves the king seed you can live on my land but you must pay me to protect you from mythical creates
2007-03-03 17:37:29 · answer #4 · answered by Sniper 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a serf is a peasant that is tied to the land.. you can guess from thre what they did where the worked and where they lived... if you cannot...well then you know what it is like being a serf
2007-03-03 10:16:14 · answer #5 · answered by bob j 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Almost everyone with European ancestors is descended from these peasant farmers. They comprised over 90% of Europes population. If you are white, these are your ancestors, this is your history.
2007-03-03 14:35:19 · answer #6 · answered by Ken 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are blue skinned and had funny white hats - oh sorry, they're Smurfs.
2007-03-03 17:51:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋