Serfs
a term applied to a class of laborers existing under the feudal system, and whose condition, though not exactly that of slaves, was little removed from it. Under this system, from the vassals of the king downward, the whole community was subject to certain degrees of servitude, and it was only on condition of specific services to be rendered to his superior that any individual held his fief. In the case of the lower classes this servitude amounted to an al- SERGEANT most complete surrender of their personal liberty. There were two classes of laborers, the villeins and the serfs proper. The former occupied a middle position between the serfs and the freemen. A serf could not be sold, but could be transferred along with the property to which he was attached. The revival of the custom of manumission counteracted the the rapid increase of serfs. A serf could also obtain his freedom by purchase, or by residing for a year and a day in a borough, or by military service. By these various means the serf population gradually decreased. In most parts of the Continent they had disappeared by the 15th century. The extinction of serfdom in England and Scotland was very gradual. Serfdom in Russia was abolished by a manifesto of Alexander II. on March 17, 1861.