Editing Serfdom (section)

===Rights===
Villeins had more rights and status than those held as slaves, but were under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from the freeman. Within his constraints, a serf had some freedoms. Though the common wisdom is that a serf owned "only his belly"{{snd}}even his clothes were the property, in law, of his lord{{snd}}a serf might still accumulate personal property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their free neighbours, although this happened rarely.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hollister|first1=Charles Warren|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5chAQAAIAAJ&q=serf+richer+free|title=Medieval Europe: A Short History|last2=Bennett|first2=Judith M.|date=2002|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-112109-5|page=171|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=19 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319152505/https://books.google.com/books?id=G5chAQAAIAAJ&q=serf+richer+free|url-status=live}}</ref> A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bailey|first=Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLjCAwAAQBAJ&q=manumission+serf&pg=PA64|title=The Decline of Serfdom in Late Medieval England: From Bondage to Freedom|date=2014|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=978-1-84383-890-6|pages=63|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=23 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323081919/https://books.google.com/books?id=SLjCAwAAQBAJ&q=manumission+serf&pg=PA64|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=McIntosh |first1=Matthew |title=A History of Serfdom |url=https://brewminate.com/a-history-of-serfdom/ |website=Brewminate |access-date=17 February 2020 |date=4 December 2018 |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217153144/https://brewminate.com/a-history-of-serfdom/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

A serf could grow what crop he saw fit on his lands, although a serf's taxes often had to be paid in wheat. The surplus he would sell at [[Market (place)|market]].

The landlord could not dispossess his serfs without legal cause and was supposed to protect them from the depredations of robbers or other lords, and he was expected to support them by charity in times of [[famine]]. Many such rights were enforceable by the serf in the manorial court.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}