农奴制(serfdom)
中世纪欧洲佃农被束缚在承袭的一块土地上对地主唯命是从的状况。农奴与奴隶的区别在於，奴隶的买卖与土地无关，而农奴只有在所劳作的土地被转手以後，农奴才会更换主人。约从2世纪起，罗马帝国原来由一批批奴隶耕作的大片私有土地已被打散，交由农民耕种。这些农民便开始依靠较大的地主，以免受乱世之害，而发誓效忠於领主也成为一种普遍行为。332年君士坦丁一世要求佃农为地主提供劳务，并使得农奴制合法化。农奴不能结婚，不能改变职业，在没有地主允许的情况下，也不能迁移，还必须把收成的大部分上交给地主。中央集权的政治势力的发展，由黑死病造成的劳动力短缺，以及14～15世纪的地方农民起义使得西欧的农奴逐渐被解放。而在这一时期，东欧的农奴制却变得更加坚实，奥匈帝国的农民直到18世纪末才得以解放，俄国的农奴1861年得以解放。亦请参阅feudalism。
English version：
serfdom
Condition in medieval Europe in which a tenant farmer was bound to a hereditary plot of land and to the will of his landlord. Serfs differed from slaves in that slaves could be bought and sold without reference to land, whereas serfs only changed lords when the land they worked changed hands. From about the 2nd century AD, large privately owned estates in the Roman empire that had been worked by slaves were broken up and given to peasant farmers. These farmers came to depend on larger landowners for protection in turbulent times, and swearing fealty to a proprietor became common practice. In 332 Constantine I established serfdom legally by requiring the tenant farmers to pay labor services to their lords. As serfs, they could not marry, change occupations, or move without their lord's permission, and they had to give a major portion of their harvest to their lord. The development of centralized political power, the labor shortage brought about by the Black Death, and endemic peasant uprisings in the 14th-15th century led to the gradual emancipation of serfs in Western Europe. In Eastern Europe serfdom became more entrenched during that period; the peasants of the Austro-Hungarian empire were not freed until the late 18th century, and Russia's serfs were not freed until 1861. See also feudalism.
