Slavery in Medieval Europe.

by PsychoticHusky

Was slavery a thing during the medieval times in Europe? I see a lot of slavery refered in times like the Roman Empire and senturies XVI and XVII, but never in movies nor books.

idjet

Yes. You might be interested in my posts linked below; here is a copy of the summary:

Slavery existed in western Europe through 11th century, there was nothing racial about it.

*Frankish and Carolingian society was built on tremendous slavery

*vikings took Anglo-Saxons into slavery

*vikings took Slavs into slavery

*Moslem raiders took slaves from raids on southern France (Provence and the Rhone)

And slaves were not just 'taken' but also sold, all of the above crossed into sales of the slaves into the other territories. There are numerous references to Frank merchants shifting slaves into Moslem Spain, particularly in the 10th and 11th century when we begin to see the post Carolingian pressures on domestic economy transform the nature of the Frank manse. Slaves were a commodity that could be converted to capital.

Once the slave was no longer a viable economic model (ie fixed expense to the estate), we see the conversion of the slave into various forms of serfdom and peasantry which were more flexible cost types (ie variable expense). This didn't all happen at once, and it didn't all happen the same way across western Europe.

[What are the major difference and similarities between a peasant living in southern France in 800 and one living in 1300?] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/34kzuv/what_are_the_major_difference_and_similarities/cqvxhcv)

[Mediterranean Slavery in the Middle Ages] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1v5j6t/mediterranean_slavery_in_the_middle_ages/ceowt4y)