Western Civilization II / Unit 4 WC2 0319 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Peasants West, Serfs East, and the Enclosure of the Commons
Captions available
The idea
Western peasants owed dues, fees and rents; eastern serfs owed nearly everything, sold by the soul in Russia. From the late seventeenth century nobles enclosed the commons, above all in Britain, and smallholders became landless laborers or fled to the cities.
In practice
Uprisings in Austria and Russia killed thousands of nobles before suppression.
Where people slip
At its extreme, the anchor says, serfdom was slavery.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it