Villein, << VIHL uhn >>, was an agricultural worker whose status was between that of freedom and slavery during the Middle Ages in England. Villeins differed from enslaved people because villeins were not the property of a master. They differed from free people because they were bound to a plot of land that they did not own. In return for the use of this land and protection on it, villeins were required to render certain manual and other services to the lord of the manor. The children of villeins were born into the same bondage as their parents.
Lands held in villeinage often were passed from father to son until the family acquired a right to them by prescription (long use). But the villein still had to serve a master. Villeinage began to decline in the 1100’s, when the villein began to trade labor services for money. In time, the villein became a free tenant who paid rent for land. By the 1500’s, few villeins were left in England.
