Western Civilization II / Unit 1 WC2 0016 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Who Paid: Peasants, Serfs, the Robot, and Codified Nobility
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The idea
The losers were peasants, most of all in the east, where serfdom hardened in the seventeenth century: the Austrian robot demanded up to one hundred days of labor a year. In France taxes doubled between sixteen thirty and sixteen fifty.
In practice
The military took half of revenue in peace, eighty percent in war.
Where people slip
Tables of ranks codified nobility everywhere; unit 03 meets Peter's.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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