Slavery Through Ages by Nardo Don;

Author:Nardo, Don;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC

the serfdom of the Middle Ages. Some of these men may already have been deeply in debt to the landowner before they arrived on his estate. From that time onwards . . . they had to [give the owner] a huge proportion of the crops they were allowed to produce on his land, or sometimes served directly as part of his labor force. In return, they hoped to be able to rely on their new landlords to chase the government’s tax collectors away.37

The wealthy landlords who employed these quasi-serfs were extremely successful, so much so that they survived Rome’s political collapse. They went on to become some of the earliest medieval lords, with their manor houses, extensive fields and orchards, and large numbers of serfs to maintain them. It made no sense to enslave these workers. After all, if the landowners did that, they would have to feed and clothe them, whereas free serfs were expected to feed and clothe themselves. Hence, serfdom made more economic sense in that situation.

The Trans-Saharan Slave Network

As long as that particular situation remained the norm, the need for slaves remained nearly nonexistent in medieval Europe. However, outside of Europe during this period, slavery was still alive and well. Several of the societies that flourished along Europe’s borders, especially those of the Arabs and other Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa, maintained small but profitable traditional slavery systems.

Most of the slaves exploited in these lands were obtained from sub-Saharan Africa. This came about in part because Islamic law states that Muslims cannot enslave one other. To find slaves, therefore, Muslim merchants and slave catchers had to go to foreign lands, and they were pleased to find a plentiful source of black Africans dwelling not far south of the vast Sahara Desert’s arid reaches.

After capturing a group of Africans, the traders sold them to home and farm owners in the Middle East and North Africa, where many of the newly enslaved individuals toiled as field hands, domestics, and mine laborers. Other black slaves were coerced into converting to Islam and served in Muslim armies. There, over time, because of their intelligence and courage, they were entrusted with a great deal of responsibility and military authority. Bamber Gascoigne points out one surprising outcome of this trend:

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