Output details
30 - History
University of St Andrews
Chapter title
Die spätmittelalterliche bäuerliche Unfreiheit in Südwestdeutschland im europäischen Vergleich
Type
C - Chapter in book
DOI
-
Publisher of book
Bibliotheca Academica Verlag
Book title
Freiheit und Unfreiheit : Mittelalterliche und frühneuzeitliche Facetten eines zeitlosen Problems
ISBN of book
978-3-928471-87-9
Year of publication
2010
URL
-
Number of additional authors
0
Additional information
-
Interdisciplinary
-
Cross-referral requested
-
Research group
None
Proposed double-weighted
No
Double-weighted statement
-
Reserve for a double-weighted output
Yes
Non-English
Yes
English abstract
The essay examines the survival of serfdom in much of southern Germany, which had changed its character and purpose from the manorial villeinage of the Middle Ages. Far from being an anomaly, the essay argues that serfdom survived throughout much of western Europe into the early modern period (the situation in eastern Europe is a separate issue). Moreover, serfdom was perfectly compatible with agricultural innovation and the rise of a market economy. Although increasingly regarded as personally degrading, serfdom, by creating a uniform subjection, could in certain circumstances pave the way for the rise of citizenship under public law.
