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To: SeeSharp
The root of the Saxon word “village” is villain, which means slave.

No. The Root is the Latin word "Villa": a country dwelling. And the concept of the villein, technically a freeman owing labour service to his Lord as rent for his land, only arrived with the Normans.

38 posted on 05/28/2011 2:48:02 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy (Monarchy is the one system of government where power is exercised for the good of all - Aristotle)
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To: Oztrich Boy
Before the departure of the Britons to Brittany Saxons were organized such that they had Nobles and slaves. Pretty straightforward system, and remarkably similar to the organization under the Britons.

After the Britons left the area that became known as Essex, Wessex, West Essex, and East Wessex and became Bretons, the Saxons underwent an extensive metamorphosis and broadened the umbrella of rights.

Most Scandinavian societies up to the 10th or 11th century were pretty much Nobles and slaves.

40 posted on 05/28/2011 3:00:49 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Oztrich Boy
The Root is the Latin word "Villa": a country dwelling.

LOL - Not quite. That's a very colloquial late Latin usage. The word villa, from the Indo-European "weik", actually means farm.

And the concept of the villein, technically a freeman owing labour service to his Lord as rent for his land, only arrived with the Normans.

The word "villein" is from the Latin "villanus", which originally meant farm worker, but which later (after Diocletian) came to mean serf, and serfs are what villeins in Britain were. They were not a free man paying rent with their labor. They were not free to leave.

The word probably came to Britain with the Romans. They certainly practiced serfdom. Neither the word nor the legal institution were introduced by the Normans though. Villeinage was already well established among the Saxons. The Normans certainly continued it though.

53 posted on 05/28/2011 4:24:01 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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