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Wikipedia would have you believe the contrary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_peasants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_peasants "Stadtluft macht

• Anthony-G 8y ago
  I knew the experience of European serfs varied a lot in terms of freedoms and obligations to their lord but everything I’d read until now about life in feudal Europe lead me to understand there was very little mobility – and particularly so for the lower classes. That Wikipedia article provides an interesting counterpoint so thanks for that. I’d also only come across “a year and a day” as the pre-marriage trial period that a couple would spend together in the tradition of hand-fasting – and the old common law standard regarding attribution of cause of death. I was not aware that it also served as the length of time that escaped serfs would be legally freed if they managed to survive that long.