Editing Serfdom (section)

===Variations===
Forms of serfdom varied greatly through time and regions. In some places, serfdom was merged with or exchanged for various forms of taxation.

The amount of labour required varied. In Poland, for example, it was commonly a few days per year per household in the 13th century, one day per week per household in the 14th century, four days per week per household in the 17th century, and six days per week per household in the 18th century. Early serfdom in Poland was mostly limited to the royal territories (''[[królewszczyzny]]'').

"Per household" means that every dwelling had to give a worker for the required number of days.<ref>Maria Bogucka, ''Białogłowa w dawnej Polsce'', Warsaw, 1998, {{ISBN|83-85660-78-X}}, p. 72</ref> For example, in the 18th century, six people: a peasant, his wife, three children and a hired worker might be required to work for their lord one day a week, which would be counted as six days of labour.

Serfs served on occasion as soldiers in the event of conflict and could earn freedom or even [[ennoblement]] for valour in combat.{{clarify|date=January 2013|reason=Undue weight? How "occasional" was it?}} Serfs could purchase their freedom, be [[manumission|manumitted]] by generous owners, or flee to towns or to newly settled land where few questions were asked. Laws varied from country to country: in England a serf who made his way to a chartered town (i.e. a borough) and evaded recapture for a year and a day obtained his freedom and became a [[citizen|burgher]] of the town.