Villein

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Feudal titles and status

Lord paramount / Territorial lord

Tenant-in-chief

Mesne lord

Lord of the manor / Overlord / Vogt / Liege lord

Esquire / Gentleman / Landed gentry

Franklin / Yeoman / Retinue

Husbandman

Free tenant

Domestic servant

Vagabond

Serf / Villein / Bordar / Cottar

Slave

v t e

Anglo-Saxon status

Cyning (king)

Ealdorman (Earl after c.1000)

Hold / High-reeve

Thegn (thane)

Thingmen / housecarl (retainer)

Reeve / Verderer (bailiff)

Ceorl (churl, free tenant)

Villein (serf)

Cottar (cottager)

Þēow (thrall, slave)

v t e

A villein is a class of serf tied to the land under the feudal system. As part of the contract with the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields in return for land. Villeins existed under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from freemen, and could not leave without his lord's permission. Generally, villeins held their status not by birth but by the land they held, and it was also possible for them to gain manumission from their lords. The villeinage system largely died out in England in 1500, with some forms of villeinage being in use in France until 1789.