The Collapse of Slavery and the Rise of Feudalism
This paper will discuss the economic and social effects of the collapse of traditional slavery in Western Europe during the Third through Ninth Centuries AD. The purpose of this paper is to show how this collapse led to the rise of feudal society in Europe during this time, with the serfs taking over the roles of the slaves.
Slavery was prevalent throughout the Roman Republic and Empire. Slaves were usually obtained through warfare, with captured soldiers and civilians being sent back to Roman cities and villages as slaves. These slaves were essentially chattels, goods which could be bought or sold at the whim of their masters. They had no right to leave their masters or choose their work and any children they sired or bore also belonged to their masters. A similar situation existed in the Germanic tribes of Europe, who also procured their slaves through warfare (Duby 31).
By the beginning of the Third Century AD, the Roman Empire was changing dramatically as a socio-political entity. The invasions by the "barbarians," the Germanic tribes in the north, were diminishing the control of the Roman governors over the outlying provinces. The chieftains of these tribes began exercising increasing influence over the inhabitants of these regions and even over the Roman aristocrats who resided in manors in these areas. The hardships which accompanied land travel in pre-industrial times prevented the Roman governors from reestablishing firm control over the regions and the residents of these regions found themselves facing the Germanic tribes alone (Duby 31).
This growing isolation from Rome meant that the importation of Roman slaves to these areas ground to a halt. However, slaves were still needed to provide the labor necessary for agriculture and food production. Although the Roman nobles living in these regions had lost their traditional source of slaves from Rome, they f...