Serfs

a category of direct producers in medieval Western Europe. During the formative period of feudalism there were two types of serfs—those who constituted a stratum of late classical Roman society, occupying a position similar to that of Roman slaves, and those who constituted a stratum of Teutonic society, with their actual status determined by the relations of patriarchal slavery among the Germans. During the period of developed feudalism the serfs constituted a category of dependent feudal peasants extremely limited in their civil and economic rights.