Freemen Vs Serfs

Freemen were also an important part of the feudal system, and though they were also peasants there were many key differences between them and serfs. One of the main differences between the two was in what they owed their lord. Freemen and serfs did very similar work in the fields (Bennett 99). However unfree peasants, also called villeins or serfs, differed from free peasants in that they had to work for the lord and farm the lord’s demesne (Gies and Gies 205-206). Freemen, instead, worked only on their own fields for their own purposes. They rented the land they farmed, and payed only yearly rent to the lord (Frey 28). Beyond that, they might be asked to attend the manor court or oversee the harvest workers, but that was it (Bennett 154).

Without freemen, the vassal would not have the time or wealth to meet his obligations. Vassals wanted manors because they produced wealth. This wealth was partly why vassals became vassals and agreed to fight. On its own, however, the manor was just land and would not produce anything. This was where freemen farmers came in. Although they did not farm the lord’s demesne, they rented land on the manor. The rent they paid would likely be given in crops, livestock, or some other form of wealth. Because of them and the serfs, vassals got some value out of the land they had. As previously mentioned, freemen also gave vassals the means to fight by giving them the time to train and the wealth needed to purchase equipment. Vassals got something out of the feudal system and were able to give something in return because of the freemen. This had effects on all the levels of feudalism. The king needed something worthwhile to offer lords so they would become his vassals, and because the peasants gave value to the manor they helped with this. In return, he needed his vassals to come to his aid when the land was threatened, which they were able to do because of freemen. Without them, the entire land and its people would be at the mercy of the invaders because the king would not be able to protect his subjects. Thus, the freemen helped the king get what he needed and provide something in return. Feudalism, which was a system of interdependence between people, would not work if one the levels was absent. Freemen, and all other peasants, “were not part of the feudal relationship of vassal and lord, but they supported the entire feudal structure by working the land” (Frey 28). Freemen, therefore, were as integral and important a part of feudal society as the king, vassal, and