ABSTRACT
The half-free peasants or villeins have the right of transferring their lands, and render fixed services or payments—the sign of an originally free status. The Italian towns early did away with personal servitude, limited the services and payments of the peasants and introduced cultivation on the shares, not originally with capitalistic designs but to cover the needs of the proprietors. The Rhenish or southwest German peasant thus became in fact his own master, able to sell his holding or transmit it to heirs. The interest of the lords in large holdings led to a law of single inheritance, the lord forcing the assumption of the holding by an heir. The lord himself usually stood out for the law of compulsory inheritance. Manorial law became very strong, making it difficult for the lords to oppress the peasants or increase their obligatory payments.
