What is the difference between a peasant and a serf in medieval Europe

Serfs were peasants who farmed the feudal lords’ fields and paid them certain dues in return. These dues were usually in the form of labor on the lord’s lands. The possession of the land was heritable. When a serf working the fields died, his son would have to pay a feudal relief to the Lord to prove his fealty in order to inherit the right to use the land. Serfs were bound to the land and could be sold with it into the service of the next owner of the land.

In the feudal society, peasants were poor, rural farmers; they were either the owners of their own farms or laborers. The social structure of peasantry can be categorized into further smaller groups. Freemen and villein are the most common types of peasants.

Though some peasants owned their own land, they too had to pay taxes; taxes were either in the form of money or crops. Although they were not bound to the land like peasants, they had to work in the lords’ field two or three days each week. However, peasants were a one step above from a serf, in the social hierarchy.