Serfdom and economic development, c. 1000 - 1861

Organised by

• Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies

Serfdom played a central role in economic divergence between eastern and western Europe from the medieval period to the late nineteenth century. Yet we still lack a comprehensive analysis of this key institution. This masterclass introduces a new research project supported by the Leverhulme Trust (2024-7) on the rise, existence, and ultimate decline of serfdom in Europe between c. 1000 and 1861. Did geographical resource endowments cause serfdom? Was serfdom an efficient solution to problems in the pre-modern economy? Can serfdom be explained by distributional struggles among contending social groups? Did serfdom matter? This masterclass will explore how serfdom varied across time and place, how it interacted with state, community and market, and how it shaped the long-term development of the European economy.