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ceorl

The Oxford Companion to British History | 2002 | | Copyright

ceorl is one of the terms used in the early (7th- and 9th-cent.) English laws for the lowest class of freeman. Thus in Wessex his blood-price was 200 shillings: that of other free classes was 600 and 1,200. In Kent his relative status was higher. Even the West Saxon ceorl appears as the head of a free peasant household, owing military service, capable of owning slaves, and with significant legal status. At the same time such men could be in a condition of economic dependence. In the later period the term is one of several used for free peasants, though it occurs in the laws only as meaning ‘husband’. An early 11th-cent. tract on status envisages the possibility of such a man's prospering to attain the rights of a thegn. Nevertheless in the 11th cent. the status of free peasants often fell. It is indicative that by 1300 the word was acquiring its modern sense of disparagement.

James Campbell

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JOHN CANNON. "ceorl." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "ceorl." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-ceorl.html

JOHN CANNON. "ceorl." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-ceorl.html

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ceorl

A Dictionary of British History | 2004 | | Copyright

ceorl is one of the terms used in the early (7th‐ and 9th‐cent.) English laws for the lowest class of freeman. Thus in Wessex his blood‐price was 200 shillings: that of other free classes was 600 and 1, 200. In Kent his status was higher. Even the West Saxon ceorl appears as the head of a free peasant household, owing military service, capable of owning slaves, and with significant legal status. In the 11th cent. the status of free peasants often fell and by 1300 the word was acquiring its modern sense of disparagement.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

JOHN CANNON. "ceorl." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "ceorl." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-ceorl.html

JOHN CANNON. "ceorl." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-ceorl.html

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ceorl

A Dictionary of World History | 2000 | Copyright

ceorl A free peasant farmer of Anglo-Saxon England. In status ceorls were above the SERFS but below the THANES (noblemen), with a WERGILD of usually 200 shillings. They were liable to military service in the FYRD and to taxation. Although they could own land, they were often forced by economic pressures and by reasons of security to place themselves in the control of the richer landowners. After the Norman Conquest their status diminished rapidly and the term ‘churl’ came to mean an ill-bred serf.