TY - BOOK ID - 103250644 TI - Forms of servitude in Northern and Central Europe : decline, resistance, and expansion AU - Freedman, Paul AU - Bourin, Monique PY - 2005 VL - 9 SN - 9782503516943 9782503539102 2503516947 PB - Turnhout : Abingdon : Brepols ; Marston [distributor], DB - UniCat KW - Land tenure KW - Land tenure. KW - Leibeigener. KW - Leibeigenschaft. KW - Peasants KW - Peasants. KW - Serfdom KW - Serfdom. KW - History KW - Geschichte 1200-1600. KW - To 1599. KW - Europe. KW - Germany. KW - Göttingen <2003>. KW - Mitteleuropa. KW - Nordeuropa. KW - Peasantry KW - Agricultural laborers KW - Rural population KW - Marks (Medieval land tenure) KW - Villeinage KW - Servitude KW - Forced labor KW - Slavery KW - Agrarian tenure KW - Feudal tenure KW - Freehold KW - Land ownership KW - Land question KW - Landownership KW - Tenure of land KW - Land use, Rural KW - Real property KW - Land, Nationalization of KW - Landowners KW - Law and legislation KW - Acqui 2006 KW - Servage KW - Histoire KW - Europe UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:103250644 AB - It was once assumed that nearly all agricultural labourers in medieval Europe were serfs. Serfdom was distinct from slavery in that serfs could contract legitimate marriages, hold personal property and could not be moved around at will. Historians more recently moved away from examining servile condition and its implications and focused on the seigneurial regime and village society with little regard for the influence of status.In the Middle Ages and indeed in all pre-industrial societies, the vast majority of the population tilled the land. We are still not in a good position to evaluate how noble and ecclesiastical landlords received revenues from lands they were only indirectly engaged in farming, despite this being a basic factor that governed medieval society. What kind of agricultural system provided the impetus for economic growth that so dramatically increased the number of cities and volume of trade?There is no modern, synthetic book on medieval serfdom that compares regions or draws general conclusions about it. This work attempts such a synthesis and also shows avenues of future research, but most importantly it is intended to reorient attention to the importance of serfdom in the structure of medieval society. ER -