serfs and serfdom 659of Sentencesthen writing solutions to a common set of
problems based on Lombard’s work and unresolved
doubts about answers presented by others.
See alsoPHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY; SCHOLASTICISM
ANDSCHOLASTIC METHOD.
Further reading:G. R. Evans, ed., Mediaeval Com-
mentaries on the Sentences of Peter Lombard: Current
Research(Leiden: Brill, 2002).
Sephardim They were Jewish communities in Muslim
and Christian Spain who followed a particular religious
culture within Judaism in terms of liturgy, legal tradi-
tions, and customs. The word was first widely used in the
eighth century in AL-ANDALUS. The term was applied to
communities outside Iberia, if they were linked somehow
with the Sephardic practices or way of life. The Sephardi
spread far outside Spain after the expulsions of 1492,
especially into the Ottoman Empire and North Africa.
They were known for their active participation in the cul-
ture in which they lived and for their cultivation of litera-
ture in Hebrew and the vernacular, philosophy, the
natural sciences, the HALAKHAH, commentary and inter-
pretation of the TALMUD, biblical exegesis, and Hebrew
grammar. During the Middle Ages they were well known
for their philosophical interest in the heritage of the
ancient world.
See also ASHKENAZ AND ASHKENAZIM;JEWS AND
JUDAISM;JUDAH BENSAMUELHALEVI;MAIMONIDES,MOSES;
NACHMANIDES,MOSES.
Further reading:Yitzhak F. Baer, A History of the Jews
in Christian Spain, 2 vols., trans. Louis Schoffman
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America,
1961–1966); Paloma Díaz Más, Sephardim: The Jews from
Spain,trans. George K. Zucker (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1992); Cecil Roth, The World of the
Sephardim(Tel Aviv: WIZO, 1954).
Sepulcher, Holy SeeHOLYSEPULCHER.
Serbia and Serbs Serb tribes migrated down from the
Carpathian Mountains into the Balkans. They settled
from the ninth century in Rasˇka and BOSNIA. They had
contact with Croatians in the northwest, the inhabitants
of PANNONIAand eventually the Hungarians in the north-
east, and the BULGARSand BYZANTINESin the south. They
accepted Orthodox Christianity through the disciples of
Saints CYRIL ANDMETHODIOS. From the ninth to the 11th
century, CONSTANTINOPLEvainly sought to impose con-
trol over the Serbs, who gained real independence from
the Byzantines during the 12th century. Stefan I the First
Crowned (r. 1196–ca. 1228) declared himself king in
1217 and was recognized by the pope. His brother, SAVA,
became the independent archbishop of Serbia in 1219.
This Serbian kingdom attained its greatest power in the
reigns of Stephen Milutin (r. 1282–1321) and STEPHEN
DUSˇAN(r. 1331–55). The OTTOMANTURKSdestroyed the
Serb army at the BATTLE OFKOSOVOin 1389 and took
over the country for 500 years.
See alsoBAYAZIDI; BULGARIA ANDBULGARS;HUNGARY;
HUNYADI, JOHNCORVINUSMATTHIAS; MURADI; MURADII.
Further reading:Alain Ducellier, “Albania, Serbia and
Bulgaria,” in The New Cambridge Medieval History,Vol. 5,
c. 1198–c. 1300,ed. David Abulafia (Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1999), 779–795; John V. A. Fine,
The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the
Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century(Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press, 1991); John V. A. Fine, The Late Medieval
Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to
the Ottoman Conquest(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 1994); Harold William V. Temperley, History of Ser-
bia(1919; reprint, New York: H. Fertig, 1969); Georgios
C. Soules, The Serbs and Byzantium during the Reign of Tsar
Stephen Dusan (1331–1355) and His Successors(Athenai:
Hetaireia ton Philon tou Laou, 1995).serfs and serfdom The serfs were at the bottom rung
of the agricultural laboring population or PEASANTRY, hav-
ing little freedom from arbitrary demands, or at least
heavy impositions of payments and work by their lords.
Not all peasants were serfs. Some were their lords’ men
and women, practically their physical property. Not quite
slaves, they had to be very subservient to the people who
owned rights over them. They could not own land; all
their property actually belonged to their lords. They
could not move from place to place nor pass property to
their descendants. This status was inheritable. They usu-
ally had to pay a fine to marry and often their lords’
approval of a spouse was a further requirement. The
church condoned their servitude but did not approve of
overt cruelty.
The work involved in agrarian or farming/pastoral
practices, the demographic conditions of rural popula-
tions, the availability of employment alternatives, and
opportunities to run away all affected the real life of these
oppressed peasants. They also suffered the stigma of neg-
ative stereotyping by their more fortunate contempo-
raries. By the end of the Middle Ages, genuine serfdom
had mainly disappeared from Western Europe. That was
not the case in Eastern Europe and in parts of the Islamic
world until the 20th century. Even in Western Europe,
there were attempts to reimpose arduous labor conditions
during labor shortages. It is important to note also that
serfdom was always limited to certain places and times.
See alsoAGRICULTURE; BAN; FEUDALISM AND THE FEU-
DAL SYSTEM; MANORS AND MANORIAL LORDSHIP; MORTMAIN;
SOCIAL STATUS AND STRUCTURE; VILLEIN AND VILLEINAGE.
Further reading:Jerome Blum, Lord and Peasant in
Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century (New
York: Atheneum, 1961); Paul Freedman, The Origins of