...in which I share some of my favorite medieval research resources and methods for the benefit of others interested in also writing about the Middle Ages

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Medieval Word of the Day


The Law of a Year and a Day: one of the few ways a villein could win his freedom. If a villein escaped from his manor, took refuge in a chartered town, and was accepted into a guild without being caught and challenged by his manor lord for a year and a day, he was considered free from serfdom.


(An escaped villein had to join a guild, like this shoemakers' guild)

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