From bondage to freedom: serfdom and its decline in medieval England

Serfdom was a generic form of social relations which was widespread across Europe and Asia in the last millennium, although its exact nature varied from place to place. English serfdom peaked in the 12th and 13th centuries, then dissolved over the next century with the arrival of the Black Death, whereas it was reimposed in Russia: consequently, England took its first tentative steps to liberal modernity, while Russia was still enserfed in the 19th century. This course looks at all aspects of English serfdom and considers the causes of its decline.

Course details

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Start Date
2 Aug 2026
Duration
5 Sessions over one week
End Date
8 Aug 2026
Application Deadline
28 Jun 2026
Location
International Summer Programme
Code
W45Am28

Tutors

Professor Mark Bailey

Professor of Later Medieval History, University of East Anglia

Aims

This course aims to:

  • provide a good understanding of the nature of serfdom in thirteenth and early fourteenth-century England
  • reconstruct the chronology of serfdom’s decline during the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the explanations for that decline
  • explore how the decline of serfdom contributed to the development of the modern world

Course content

In c1200 around one half of the rural population of England, and around one half of all peasant land, was servile or 'unfree'. It follows from this simple statistic that serfdom exerted a major influence upon medieval English society, shaping people’s attitudes and even the productive capacity of the economy. The decline and effective disappearance of serfdom by c1500 liberated the land and labour markets and removed a major obstacle to the transition from feudalism to agrarian capitalism, and the beginnings of the modern world.

This course will explore the nature of serfdom at its peak in England during the 13th and early 14th centuries, using a wide range of (translated) original documents to illustrate the major themes. What was the legal theory, and the practical reality, of serfdom? We will also analyse the heated debate between historians over its impact upon the direction and health of the medieval economy in the decades before the Black Death struck in 1348-9.

The 14th century was a tumultuous period in English history, and historians have long argued that landlords attempted to re-impose serfdom in response to the Black Death. The result was increased tension between serfs and lords, culminating in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The complex interactions between lords and serfs, and the evidence for oppression and resistance, will be considered before charting the chronology of the decline of serfdom, and attempt to establish the reasons for its decline. In doing so, it will consider the implications of its decline for the transition of Western Europe from feudalism to agrarian capitalism, and the beginnings of the modern world.

What to expect on this course

Lectures will be accessible and well-illustrated through a PowerPoint presentation, which will be made available as a PDF via the VLE subsequently. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions, not least through collaborative discussion of source materials provided as part of the lectures.

Course sessions

  1. Serfdom in England
    A general introduction to describe the broad contours of serfdom, to explain why serfdom is important to historians, and to compare it with other systems of European serfdom in the last millennium.
  2. Serfdom and villeinage 1180 to 1348
    English serfdom, aka villeinage, emerged as a by-product of the common law from the 1180s, but its practice was different from its legal theory. We explore the gap between theory and practice, and consider why legal norms were not social norms.
  3. Serfdom, reaction and rebellion, 1350 to 1400
    The Black Death struck in the late 1340s and posed both an opportunity for the elite to reimpose it in line with legal theory and an existential threat to its existence. The state attempted to tighten controls over labour with coercive new legislation, sparking resistance and rebellion. The half century after the Black Death proved the turning point for serfdom.
  4. Case studies
    A collaborative session in which we will consider the lives and trajectories of serfs on various English manors in the wake of the Black Death.
  5. The decline of serfdom and the 'transition debate'

A concluding session drawing all the strands of the course together to explain why serfdom declined in England in the later medieval ages; why it was reimposed during the same period in areas of eastern Europe; and the implications for the journey of humankind to liberal modernity.

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

  • understand the nature and importance of serfdom as a social institution
  • understand the sources and evidence available for research into serfdom
  • understand why serfdom declined in late medieval England

Required reading

Bailey, M, Serfdom in Medieval England: Theory and practice 1200 to 1500 (Manchester University Press, 2025)

Hatcher, J, English Serfdom and Villeinage: Towards a Reassessment, Past and Present, Volume 90, Issue 1, 1981, pp 3-39. (Available on the VLE)

Hilton, R H, The Decline of Serfdom in Late Medieval England (Historical Association, 1983)

Miller, E and Hatcher, J, Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change 1086-1348 (Routledge, 1978)

Ogilvie, S, Economics and History: Analysing Serfdom, History in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Cambridge University Press 2022), pp. 329-53. (Available on the VLE)

Rigby, S H, English Society in the Later Middle Ages (Palgrave Macmillan, 1995)