Paszczyznach

Paszczyznach, more correctly spelled pańszczyzna, refers to the system of serfdom that existed in medieval and early modern Poland and in neighboring areas under Polish influence. In this system peasants were tied to the land and owed labor, rents, or other services to their feudal lords. The term pańszczyzna describes both the set of customary obligations and the social order in which peasants lived, often with limited personal freedom and hereditary dependence on the estate.

The obligations within pańszczyzna varied by region and era but commonly included corvée labor on the lord’s land, maintenance work, and payments in kind or cash. Peasants usually faced restrictions on movement, marriage, and the ability to leave the land without the lord’s permission. While some local customs offered limited protections or concessions, the system generally reinforced the landowner’s control over the peasants and their labor.

Pańszczyzna developed gradually in the medieval period and persisted into the early modern era, evolving under changing legal codes, economic needs, and political structures of the Polish lands and the broader Polish-Lithuanian sphere. Its form in the various territories of the former Polish state differed according to local law and the degree of noble privilege.

Abolition and transformation occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries as part of wider reforms and emancipations across Europe. In Austrian Galicia, serfdom was progressively dismantled after 1848; in Russian-controlled territories it ended in 1861; in other areas reforms continued through the 1860s and 1870s. By the late 19th century, serfdom had largely disappeared, though its legacy shaped land relations, rural demographics, and social hierarchies for many decades.