Brutal serfdom generally began after the end of the Carolinian era. The death of this empire which had reign over Western Europe for close to two centuries brought in a state of anarchy, and wealthy individuals influenced the formation of serfdoms which provided a cheap source of labor in their agricultural fields (Eddie, 2013). Serfdom was a state in which great and wealthy individuals toiled and fed them, and they were undermined both legally and economically.

Serfdom was a source of cheap and readily available labor during the era of middle ages. However, servitude began to disappear from Western Europe because of the development in populations and economic status which ad improved the living standards of many people. It was also affected by the fencing of large estate fields for livestock grazing. The large tracks of cultivated lands made the area economy of serfs less bearable to the wealthy individuals (Stanziani, 2015). The continued use of money or trade farming by serfs less productive, wealthy individuals could instead hire skilled personnel and paid them using monetary value.

Another recognized that led to the decline of serfdom was the development of industries, with the establishment of profitable enterprises, people wanted to travel to towns to receive higher incomes compared to those they earned while working in the fields. This trend contributed to the growth of cities.

Serfdom became relevant in Eastern Europe later because it was more scattered in population, wealthy lords, therefore, developed a friendly environment to influence migration however became more relevant in Eastern Europe after the Black Death outbreak that hindered movement in the East. The situation led to high land-labor ratio and coupled with sparse population gave the landowners an idea to fix the remaining farmers in their fields (Eddie, 2013). With the abolition of serfdom in western Europe, and the increased demand of agricultural produce, serfdom remained relevant in eastern Europe, so that nobility managed agricultural tracks of land could give more agricultural products to sell in the profitable market for export.

The formula applied in Eastern and Central including the Russian empire, Hungary and Austria leading to poor industrial development and growth of towns in such areas. The second serfdom as it was known to, lasted up to the 19^th century, it was reported to very oppressive and brutal serfs were even denied their rights and freedom (Stanziani, 2015). Most of the countries banned serfdom upon the invasion of the Napoleonic era, except in Russia which was never influenced by the German migratory laws and regulations (Moon, 2014).

Serfdom in western Europe became less practiced, especially after the Black Death brought a decline in rural population and motivated the bargaining power of the serfs, wealthy individuals were also willing to let go their serfs after the introduction of money that could higher more skilled personnel. In England, serfdom was fully brought to a standstill when Elizabeth 1 released all the remaining serfs in 1574. The period of the French revolution led to the abolition of serfdom in many countries of western Europe. In 1784, there was a bill destroying the free rights of nobility which ended their authority and freed everyone who remained bound to the fields (Eddie, 2013). Although serfdom had started to disappear in the middle ages of Europe, it took longer to vanish altogether, and there was persistent forced labor coupled with victimization and brutality.

In the end, serfdom was banned entirely by a directive issued by Tsar Alexzander 11 in 1861, and many educated individuals had suggested the reasons to abolish the vice, such as the fear of revolution by serfs, tending cultural revolution, military need for soldiers and the unprofitability of serfdom.

References

Eddie, S. A. (2013). Freedom’s Price: Serfdom, Subjection, and Reform in Prussia, 1648-1848. OUP Oxford.

Moon, D. (2014). The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia: 1762-1907. Routledge.

Stanziani, A. (2015). Bondage. Labor and Rights in Eurasia from the Sixteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries Markus Cerman (Wien). Historische Anthropologie, 23(2), 316.