There wasn’t one thing we can trace serfdom to. The system we usually envision is a product of Charles Martel but before him there were serfs all the way back

There wasn’t one thing we can trace serfdom to. The system we usually envision is a product of Charles Martel but before him there were serfs all the way back into the Roman Empire. It was more a natural evolution/long term trend of the Roman economy away from “slave based” labor.