Most serfs worked on manors as farmers. Serfs also worked at other jobs as well, including nearly all unskilled labor. This included forestry, mining, providing labor for building castles and roads, carting, river transportation, and so on.
Some serfs were manorial officers who organized the labors of other serfs and the land they were assigned to work on.
There were serfs who worked at other specialized tasks, including blacksmithing, baking, weaving, spinning, simple carpentry, and making pottery. Many of these people became skilled enough to establish themselves as independent craftsmen.
Serfs were required to work the lord's land for food, as well as taxes and manor labor. The lord was a general governor of his people, set to protect the serfs and settle disputes between them.
In the feudal system, it was primarily the peasants, including serfs, who paid taxes. Serfs were bound to the land and worked for the lord in exchange for protection and the right to work a portion of the land for their own sustenance. They often paid taxes in the form of labor, goods, or a portion of their harvest, while free peasants, who had more rights, also contributed through similar means. Ultimately, the economic burden of taxation fell heavily on those who worked the land.
In medieval society, a serf occupied a lowly and dependent status, often bound to a lord's land and required to work it in exchange for protection and a small plot for their own sustenance. Serfs were not considered free; they could not leave the land without the lord's permission and were subject to various obligations, such as labor and payments. Despite their limited rights, serfs played a crucial role in the agrarian economy, supporting the feudal system that structured medieval life. Their standing was often one of hardship, with little opportunity for social mobility.
In practical effects, it did nothing. Serfs were bound to the land that they worked. When Tsar Alexander II issued the Emancipation Manifesto it freed the serfs but created economic conditions that made it impractical to leave. The Russian government took land from the owners but paid them for it. Then the serfs were required to repay the government with what were called "redemption payments." Typically, redemption took about 49 years. Serfs were free to leave but if they did leave they had no land to work. Many left for the cities to work in factories instead. If former serfs wanted to own their own farms, they had to pay the redemption payments first.
Manorialism
In the Manor System the mutual obligations meat the lord provide military protection for his serfs and the serfs provided labor.
False. Serfs were legally bound to a certain piece of land and obligated to work for the lord who owned that land, but they were not considered slaves as they were not owned by the lord and did have some legal rights and protections.
The Serfs lived under the estates of the Lord, along with Peasants.
Yes, an aristocrat would give serfs land in an agreement that the serf would protect the lord.
a serf is a person who worked on the lord manor and make food
They were called serfs. Since they were not slaves, it is not precise to say they were owned by the lord.
Serfs were bound to the land they worked on and could not leave without their lord's permission. They were required to provide labor, produce, and various payments to their lord, often in the form of a share of the harvest. Additionally, serfs had limited legal rights and could not own property independently. Their status was hereditary, meaning that their children would also be born into serfdom.
false
The lord was angry at the serfs for they weren't doing their job.
The serf's master was a lord. This was not always a title with a specific rank attached to it, so it could have applied to a knight, or even a person of no title at all. The person who organized serfs was often called a reeve. This person was appointed by the lord or elected by the serfs with the lords final approval, depending on the traditions at the particular manor. The reeve was often a serf himself, and acted as the representative of the other serfs to the lord, and of the lord to the other serfs. His job also included assignment of jobs and land.
Serfs did not have fiefs. They were bound to the soil and not allowed to leave it. The arrival of a new lord did not change this. Nevertheless, the serfs were largely free to farm as they pleased. The condition of the serfs was not slavery, but a different sort of thing governed by a sort of contract in which the serfs and the lords each had obligations to the other. The serfs had to pay rent in some form, labor, part of the crop, or money. For his part the lord had to provide a place to live, fields to farm, and protection in such difficult times as war or famine. The serfs were not allowed to leave the land, and the lords were not allowed to force them off of it. The serfs had reeves to organize them. The reeves were also serfs and were often elected by the serfs on a manor. The reeves decided how the serfs would be organized for their common labor, what fields would be tilled and what crops planted, and what parcels would go to which family for their own use.
Serfs were typically bound to the land they worked on and could not leave without their lord's permission. Additionally, they were often required to provide labor or a portion of their agricultural produce to their lord, limiting their personal economic freedom and autonomy. These restrictions effectively tied them to the feudal system, preventing upward mobility.