Serfdom in Poland: Difference between revisions

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In the early days of the [[Kingdom of Poland (Piasts)|Kingdom of Poland]] in the 10th–11th century, under the [[Piast Dynasty]], the [[social class]] of [[peasantry]] was the among the several classes to develop.<ref name="bardach34-36"/> The peasants had the right to leave the land, ownership of the land, and to justice, in exchange for certain obligations towards their [[feudal]] lords.<ref name="bardach34-36"/>
In the early days of the [[Kingdom of Poland (Piasts)|Kingdom of Poland]] in the 10th–11th century, under the [[Piast Dynasty]], the [[social class]] of [[peasantry]] was the among the several classes to develop.<ref name="bardach34-36"/> The peasants had the right to leave the land, ownership of the land, and to justice, in exchange for certain obligations towards their [[feudal]] lords.<ref name="bardach34-36"/>


In time, more peasants became dependent on those feudal lords.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> This occurred in various ways including king awarding some lands with its inhabitants to a lord, debts, and peasants asking a local lord for protection.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> There were numerous groups of peasantry who had varying levels of rights, and their status changed over time.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> Around late 12th century, peasantry could be divided into the free peasants (''wolni'' or ''liberi''), with the right to leave and relocate; and subjects (''poddani'' or ''obnoxii''), without the right to leave.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> For the first few centuries of Polish monarchy, until around 14th–15th century, the least privileged class of the ''poddani'' were the ''[[Slavery in Poland|niewloni]]'', formed primarily from the [[prisoners-of-war]], whose status was similar to that of the [[slave]]s.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> All peasants who owned land had to perform services or deliver goods to their feudal lords.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> In time, and with the development of [[currency]], most of those services evolved into payment of monetary [[Renting|rent]], which became the dominant form of service around 14th–15th century.<ref name="bardach98-100"/>
In time, more peasants became dependent on those feudal lords.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> This occurred in various ways including the king granting lands together with inhabitants to a lord, [[debt bondage]], and peasants subjecting themselves to a local lord in exchange for protection.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> There were numerous groups of peasantry who had varying levels of rights, and their status changed over time, gradually degrading from a [[yeoman]]-like status to full [[serfdom]].<ref name="bardach39-42"/> Conversely, the least privileged class of the bondsmen, the [[Slavery in Poland|niewolni]] or outright [[slave]]s (formed primarily from [[prisoners-of-war]]), gradually disappeared over the same period. Around late 12th century, peasantry could be divided into the free peasants (''wolni'' or ''liberi''), with the right to leave and relocate; and bonded subjects (''poddani'' or ''obnoxii''), without the right to leave.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> All peasants who held land from a feudal lord had to perform services or deliver goods to their lord.<ref name="bardach39-42"/> In time, and with the development of [[currency]], most of those services evolved into payment of monetary [[Renting|rent]], which became the dominant form of service around 14th–15th century.<ref name="bardach98-100"/>


==15th–18th centuries==
==15th–18th centuries==

Revision as of 08:25, 13 April 2012

The origins of serfdom in Poland are traced to early days of the Kingdom of Poland in the 10th–11th century.

Serfdom became the dominant form of relation between peasants and nobility in the 17th century, and was a major feature of the economy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was abolished on Polish territories during the period of partitions of Poland.

10th–14th centuries

In the early days of the Kingdom of Poland in the 10th–11th century, under the Piast Dynasty, the social class of peasantry was the among the several classes to develop.[1] The peasants had the right to leave the land, ownership of the land, and to justice, in exchange for certain obligations towards their feudal lords.[1]

In time, more peasants became dependent on those feudal lords.[2] This occurred in various ways including the king granting lands together with inhabitants to a lord, debt bondage, and peasants subjecting themselves to a local lord in exchange for protection.[2] There were numerous groups of peasantry who had varying levels of rights, and their status changed over time, gradually degrading from a yeoman-like status to full serfdom.[2] Conversely, the least privileged class of the bondsmen, the niewolni or outright slaves (formed primarily from prisoners-of-war), gradually disappeared over the same period. Around late 12th century, peasantry could be divided into the free peasants (wolni or liberi), with the right to leave and relocate; and bonded subjects (poddani or obnoxii), without the right to leave.[2] All peasants who held land from a feudal lord had to perform services or deliver goods to their lord.[2] In time, and with the development of currency, most of those services evolved into payment of monetary rent, which became the dominant form of service around 14th–15th century.[3]

15th–18th centuries

Around 14th and 15th centuries, the right to leave the land became increasingly restricted, and peasants became tied to the land.[3] Proper serfdom evolved in Poland together with the development of noble (szlachta) manorial estates known as folwarks,[4] and with the export-driven grain trade (so-called Polish or Baltic grain trade) economy.[5] Corwin notes that year 1496 (Statutes of Piotrków) marks the proper beginning of the serfdom era in Poland, [6] and similarly Magosci points to a series of related legislation around the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.[7]

It was tied with the decrease in monetary rent, replaced by physical labor, demands for which increased over time.[4] Whereas in the early days of serfdom in Poland, the peasant might have been required to form less than three weeks in a year for his lord, in the 16th century, a weekly service of 1–2 days become common, and in the eighteen century, almost all of peasant time could have been requested by the lord, with extreme cases requiring a peasant to labor eight days a week (which in practice meant that the male head of the family worked full time for the lord, leaving his wife and children working on the peasant's family land, and even then they had to help him occasionally).[5] Simultaneously, peasantry rights (to own land, to leave it, to independent, royal justice) were reduced.[4] 1521 marked the end of the peasant right to complain to the royal court.[5] By the mid-16th century no peasant could leave the land without explicit permission of the lord. [4] The situation of individuals who did not own land also worsened (migrant peasant workers), as several laws attempted to force them to become peasants (serfs).[4] They were also forced to partake in various monopolies of their local lords (such as to buy drinks only in the tavern owned by the lord, or use only the lord's owned mills).[4] Due to increased population, and impact of certain laws, individual peasant estates became steadily smaller.[4] This resulted, particularly from the second half of the 16h century, in increased impoverishment of the peasantry, banditry and the occasional peasant uprising.[4] This phenomena was also witnessed in several other Central and Eastern European countries, and was known as the "second serfdom" or "neo-serfdom".[5][8]

Reversal of those trends begun in the 18th century, as part of various reforms aiming the revitalize the ailing governance and economy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[9] Some serfs became emancipated by their owners, who replaced the physical labor rent with monetary one.[9] It became illegal for a lord to murder a serf, and the peasants regained some right to land ownership.[9] Those reforms reached culmination with the Constitution of May 3, 1791, which declared that the government would protect the peasantry, and encourage the use of contracts between peasants and their lords.[10]

Abolition

Main article: Abolition of serfdom in Poland

Abolition of serfdom in Poland occurred over a period of time, primarily in the 19th century, a time in which independent Poland existed no more, and thus various reforms were taking place at different paces in the Austrian partition, Prussian partition and the Russian partition. Serfdom was abolished in Prussia in 1807, in Austria in 1848, in Russia in 1861, and in Congress Kingdom of Poland, in 1864.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.34-36
  2. ^ a b c d e Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.39-42
  3. ^ a b Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.98-100
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.200-207
  5. ^ a b c d Norman Davies (1982). God's Playground, a History of Poland: The origins to 1795. Columbia University Press. pp. 280–285. ISBN 978-0-231-05351-8. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  6. ^ Edward Henry Lewinski Corwin (1917). The political history of Poland. Polish Book Importing Co. p. 108. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  7. ^ Paul Robert Magocsi (11 May 2010). A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples. University of Toronto Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-4426-1021-7. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  8. ^ Robert Bideleux; Ian Jeffries (12 October 2007). A history of Eastern Europe: crisis and change. Psychology Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-415-36626-7. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  9. ^ a b c Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.291-292
  10. ^ Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.307-308
  11. ^ Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.389-394

Further reading

  • A. Kamiński, "Neo-Serfdom in Poland-Lithuania," Slavic Review 34:2 (1975): 253~268 JSTOR
  • Piotr Gorecki, "Viator to Ascriptititus: Rural Economy, Lordship, and the Origins of Serfdom in Medieval Poland.", Slavic Review, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Spring, 1983), pp. 14–35 JSTOR
  • Robert Millward (1982). An economic analysis of the organisation of serfdom in eastern Europe. University of Salford. Retrieved 3 April 2012.

External links

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