Serfs were the low-standing part of the society, peasants that were slaved in feudalism, and debt-bound workers. They were bought and sold, and the law proclaimed they had to go with the land they worked on.
<u>One of the ways to escape this kind of life was by joining the army.</u> <u>This finally released him of his previous duties and debts, changing his status and making him a part of a distinct social class of military workers. Soldiers had legal rights, unlike serfs, they had the law to protect their ability to defend themselves, and their own civic identity.</u>
