Serfdom is a social class in a feudal system, by which an agricultural laborer is bound to work under their lord's estate, and may not leave. This practice, while most prevalent in Medieval Europe has a long history that dates back to the beginnings of human civilization, with helots in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, and coloni in the Roman Empire. It persisted and grew through the 13th Century, before beginning to decline during the 14th-16th centuries, due to a growing economy, powerful monarchs, changes in population, and growing numbers of rebellions.
Origins Social institutions similar to serfdom occurred in the ancient world. The status of the helots in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta resembled that of 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 on slaves) to provide labour. The status of these tenant farmers, eventually known as coloni, steadily eroded. Because the tax system implemented by Diocletian (reigned 284–305) assessed taxes based both on land and on the inhabitants of that land, it became administratively inconvenient for peasants to leave the land where the census counted them. In 332 AD Emperor Constantine issued legislation that greatly restricted the rights of the coloni and tied them to the land. Some see these laws as the beginning of medieval serfdom in Europe. However, medieval serfdom really began with the breakup of the Carolingian Empire around the 10th century. The demise of this empire, which had ruled much of western Europe for more than 200 years, ushered in a long period during which no strong central government existed in most of Europe. During this period, powerful feudal lords encouraged the establishment of serfdom as a source of agricultural labor. Serfdom, indeed, was an institution that reflected a fairly common practice whereby great landlords ensured that others worked to feed them and were held down, legally and economically, while doing so.
Prevalence
Serfdom as a system provided most of the agricultural labour throughout the Middle Ages. Slavery persisted right through the Middle Ages, 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. In the later Middle Ages serfdom began to disappear west of the Rhine even as it spread through much of the rest of Europe. The rise of powerful monarchs, towns, and an improving economy weakened the manorial system through the 13th and 14th centuries; serfdom had become rare by 1400. Serfdom in Western Europe declined in the 14th and 15th centuries, partially because of a drop in population. Landowners were forced to improve conditions in order to attract workers. It further declined into the 16th century because of changes in the economy, population, and laws governing lord-tenant relations in Western European nations. The enclosure of manor fields for livestock grazing and for larger arable plots made the economy of serfs' small strips of land in open fields less attractive to landowners. Furthermore, the increasing use of money made tenant farming by serfs less profitable; for much less than it cost to support a serf, a lord could now hire workers who were more skilled and pay them in cash. Paid labour was also more flexible, since workers could be hired only when they were needed. At the same time, increasing unrest and uprisings by serfs and peasants, like Tyler's Rebellion in England in 1381, put pressure on the nobility and the clergy to reform the system. As a result, the gradual establishment of new forms of land leases and increased personal liberties accommodated serf and peasant demands to some extent.
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