villeinage

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Their inhabitants, in spite of ascetic regulations, found that life was none so hard—at least in comparison with that of serfdom or villeinage; luxuries were not less available than to the laity.

From England under the Tudors by Innes, Arthur D. (Arthur Donald)

The king or the prince who is enslaved by his conscience oweth the duties of villeinage to the worst and hardest of masters.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 16 by Various

The master's counsel contended that slavery was not a condition unsanctioned by English law, for villeinage was slavery, and no statute had ever abolished villeinage.

From The Constitutional History of England from 1760 to 1860 by Yonge, Charles Duke

In spite of the prayers and resolutions and acts of the early fathers, a form of slavery grew up here, but it was milder than the English villeinage: it resembled apprenticeship except in the duration.

From Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence The Best Speeches Delivered by the Negro from the days of Slavery to the Present Time by Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Moore

Through various grades of slavery, serfdom, villeinage, and through various organizations of castes and guilds, the industrial organization has been modified and developed up to the modern system.

From What Social Classes Owe to Each Other by Sumner, William Graham