Fundamental problems of “second serfdom” in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

The second serfdom in Central and Eastern Europe distinguished itself by the rise in these regions from the fifteenth century onward of large dominions, based on corvée and producing for export. The line drawn by the Elbe River separates areas where, in the Low Middle Ages prevailed the Gutsherrschaft (dominion economy based on corvée) and Grundherrschaft (manoir and peasant tenure). The Gutsherrschaft borrowed its form from the High Middle Ages, but occurred for different reasons: first, one must take in account the importance assumed by the export of grains to the markets of the commercial and industrial countries developed in the West; secondly, the cities and the city dwellers in the East were too weak to help the peasants face the demands of a strong nobility. Without support in the other classes, the peasants were unable to resist the pressure of feudal lords eager to boost their yields and succumbed to the harshest forms of feudal dependence.