Editing Serfdom (section)

===Ireland===
====Gaelic Ireland====
In [[Gaelic Ireland]], a political and social system existing in [[Ireland]] from the prehistoric period (500 BC or earlier) up until the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquest]] (12th century AD), the {{Lang|ga|bothach}} ("hut-dweller"), {{Lang|ga|fuidir}} (perhaps linked to {{Lang|ga|fot}}, "soil")<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dil.ie/24771|title=eDIL – Irish Language Dictionary|website=www.dil.ie|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512042732/https://dil.ie/24771|url-status=live}}</ref> and {{Lang|ga|sencléithe}} ("old dwelling-house")<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dil.ie/37125|title=eDIL – Irish Language Dictionary|website=www.dil.ie|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=7 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207201610/http://www.dil.ie/37125|url-status=live}}</ref> were low-ranked semi-free servile tenants similar to serfs.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y91ZHuZLCyAC&q=sencleithe&pg=PA294|title=The Story of the Irish Race|first=Seumas|last=MacManus|date= 2005|publisher=Cosimo, Inc.|isbn=9781596050631|via=Google Books|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512042726/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y91ZHuZLCyAC&q=sencleithe&pg=PA294|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/rural-life/an-interesting-life-through-the-eyes-of-a-slave-driver-35409740.html|title=An interesting life through the eyes of a slave driver|website=Independent|date=5 February 2017 |access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112404/https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/rural-life/an-interesting-life-through-the-eyes-of-a-slave-driver-35409740.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Laurence Ginnell]], the {{Lang|ga|sencléithe}} and {{Lang|ga|bothach}} "were not free to leave the territory except with permission, and in practice they usually served the ''[[flaith]]'' [prince]. They had no political or [[Irish clan|clan]] rights, could neither sue nor appear as witnesses, and were not free in the matter of entering into [[contract]]s. They could appear in a court of justice only in the name of the ''flaith'' or other person to whom they belonged, or whom they served, or by obtaining from an aire of the [[Túath|tuath]] to which they belonged permission to sue in his name."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.libraryireland.com/Brehon-Laws/Bothachs.php|title=Bothachs and Sen-Cleithes – Brehon Laws|website=www.libraryireland.com|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516083106/https://www.libraryireland.com/Brehon-Laws/Bothachs.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104507900|title=bothach|website=Oxford Reference|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=7 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207174602/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104507900|url-status=live}}</ref> A {{Lang|ga|fuidir}} was defined by [[D. A. Binchy]] as "a '[[tenant at will]],' settled by the lord (''flaith'') on a portion of the latter's land; his services to the lord are always undefined. Although his condition is servile, he retains the right to abandon his holding on giving due notice to the lord and surrendering to him two thirds of the products of his husbandry."<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095837574|title=fuidir|journal=Oxford Reference|access-date=26 September 2020|archive-date=31 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131233250/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095837574|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tearma.ie/q/fuidir/|title=fuidir|website=téarma.ie|access-date=26 September 2020|archive-date=6 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206003511/https://www.tearma.ie/q/fuidir/|url-status=live}}</ref>