Peasant servitude in Mediaeval Catalonia

Abstract

The essay looks at the late-mediaeval serfs in Catalunya Vella who were known as remences, peasants tied to the land they occupied and to their lords by the necessity to “redeem” themselves from servitude in order to obtain the freedom to move away. They also were subject to what were considered degrading payments known as mals usos (“bad customs”). The way such a condition came about, the reason it affected only part of the Principality of Catalonia and the origins of the remences’ revolt of 1462-1486 are the main topics of the article.