sorry, i forgot who originally wrote this in reply response to my earlier statement, but i have to echo k's comment.
what you refer to is the 'social contract', as many historians like to call it, which formed the basis of feudalism. serfs were bound to their lords, as you say. they had to provide the rents (or skilled labor if they were a blacksmith or mason, etc.) which supported their lords' lifestyle and privileges. in exchange, they essentially were allowed to live.
but they were not--at least not usually--bound in chains. they could leave if they were so resolved. not in broad daylight, of course, and as i said there were many factors which complicated matters. but there was nothing like today's institutionalized controls on a person's movements.
-chris
>Before the Black Death serfs were bound to their lords, not allowed to
>leave, move house or marry with his permission. Serfdom was just another
>name for slavery. Chris.
Only before the Black Death?
>leave, move house or marry with his permission. Serfdom was just another
>name for slavery. Chris.
Only before the Black Death?
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