villeins

If, as some contend, the condition of enslavement be indicative of descent from Canaan, the rule will render a large portion of the present English and Americans such descendants, for it is only a few years since a multitude of their British ancestors were absolute slaves under the name of "villeins" -- also the same rule will render most of the present Russians, Poles, Georgians,

A condensed anti-slavery Bible argument, by 1845

Another very important distinction between the free tenants and the villeins was the payment of _merchet_ on the marriage of daughters, which signified that the offspring of such marriages would be the lawful property of the lord.

The Customs of Old England

Next to the villeins were the _bordarii_, who lived in _bords_ or cottages, _i. e._ boarded or wooden huts, and ranked as a lower grade of villeins.

English Villages 1892

And I think the comparison with the reaction of the red shirt "villeins" to Newin is somewhat unfair, given that he is still very much alive.

Asian Correspondent: Bangkok Pundit 2009

They became villeins, in short -- serfs bound to the soil by a living wage.

Chapter 13: The General Strike 2010

The villeins of the manorial estates, of the great farms, the mines, and the forests.

A REVIEW 2010

For that matter, the professional men and the artists are at this present moment villeins in everything but name, while the politicians are henchmen.

Chapter 9: The Mathematics of a Dream 2010

The villeins of the cities and towns who do unskilled work and are unprotected by organization.

A REVIEW 2010

I spoke of the professional men and the artists as villeins.

Chapter 9: The Mathematics of a Dream 2010

** Serfs, villeins, and bordars of the world, unite!

Alternative vote yes campaign hitches itself to royal wedding 2011