Romanian Peasants

Were your Romanian ancestors sometimes described as ‘peasants’? What did it mean to be a peasant?

A general term

To be called a ‘peasant’ (Romanian: Țăran) referred to anyone who lived in a rural village and worked the land and/or raised animals. A peasant was not a member of the ruling class and they probably did not own the land which they worked. It’s an umbrella term as there were different types of peasants.^1,2

Types of peasants

Depending on the time period and region there could be three different classes of peasant:

The serf: (Romanian: Iobag / Hungarian: Jobbágy)

• An unfree peasant. Another term might be ‘chattel slave’.³
  • Depending on the time period and region a serf had few rights granted to them by their Lord (or the State). Children born to a serf were themselves serfs, a practice known as ‘Hereditary serfdom’.^4,5
  • Many serfs were of Romani ethnicity (Romanian: țigani)⁶
    • Romani serfs were divided into three classes:
      • Gypsies belonging to a lord (Romanian: țigani domnești)⁷
      • Gypsies belonging to the monasteries (Romanian: țigani mănăstirești)⁸
      • Gypsies belonging to the Boyars (Romanian: țigani boierești)⁹
  • A peasant could become a serf by:
    • Being born to parents who were Serfs
    • Being unable to pay their taxes to their Lord or State
    • Selling themselves into Slavery to generate income¹⁰
• Responsible for tending a full plot of land (a “session”) owned by their lord capable of sustaining their own family through planting and harvesting crops, gardens and raising animals.¹¹
  • In exchange for being allowed the use of their landlord’s land they were required to pay money to their lord (or the State), perform mandatory uncompensated labour (Hungarian: robot, French: corvée) for their landlord as payment and/or provide the lord a share of their crop/production as payment
• Some serfs worked as skilled tradespeople and domestic servants
• Were owned by their lord in that they could not without the permission of their lord:
  • marry
  • move from their land
  • pass the use of their plot of land to their own children/family
  • learn a trade

The Cottar: (Hungarian: Zsellér)

• A “Landless” Peasant
  • Were responsible for tending a very small plot of land, perhaps only a house and garden which were owned by their lord
    • In exchange for being allowed the use of their landlord’s land they were required to pay money to their lord (or the State) or perform mandatory uncompensated labour (Hungarian: robot, French: corvée) for their landlord as payment. These peasants often worked as general labourers.
• Often poorer than peasants who were Serfs.

The Free Peasant: (Romanian: Nemeș)

• Rarely granted
• Small landowners or lesser nobility
• Depending on the time period, region or relationship with their lord a peasant could achieve this status by:
  • Performing exceptional military or State service
  • Paying the lord
  • Receiving an official decree by the lord or the State or stipulated in the Will of a lord¹²
• Depending on the time period, region or relationship with their lord may have gained the right to:
  • Marry without requiring permission (unless they wanted to marry a serf (slave) in which case they might have been required to become a serf themselves)¹³
  • Move to the land of another Lord without requiring permission from their current lord
  • Own a small amount of land
    • pass the use of their plot of land to their own children/family
• Still required to pay tax or perform mandatory uncompensated labour (Hungarian: robot, French: corvée) for their lord in exchange

References

1. Țăran, Wikipedia, https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C8%9A%C4%83ran, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
2. Serfdom in Moldavia and Wallachia, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom_in_Moldavia_and_Wallachia, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
3. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
4. Serf, Oxford Rerference, https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810105825743, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
5. Serfdom in Moldavia and Wallachia, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom_in_Moldavia_and_Wallachia, Viewed Dec 31, 2025  ↩︎
6. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
7. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
8. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
9. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
10. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
11. Serfdom in Moldavia and Wallachia, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom_in_Moldavia_and_Wallachia, Viewed Dec 31, 2025  ↩︎
12. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎
13. Slavery in Romania, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Romania, Viewed Dec 31, 2025 ↩︎