A History of Agriculture in India v2.c56.3

v2.c56.3

'Since the dues and rents exacted by the landlords were usually fixed by immemorial custom and did not fluctuate, and since the general increase in money caused a rise in prices, many landlords—nobles, abbeys, and bishops—faced serious financial loss if not ruin. These in order to keep their serfs from running away to the towns and if possible to increase their revenues were forced to enfranchise serfs and to accept money rent. Since the process of emancipation was primarily the result of economic change, it was more rapid and widespread in the regions where commercial development was most advanced. Accordingly, in western and central Europe, by A.D. 1300, a substantial proportion of the peasants were in reality tenant farmers, not serfs in the older sense. In eastern Europe, on the other hand, serfdom was more general and lasted longer.