Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . ir lords fields. He was their judge as wellas their master and could flog them at will. The serf wasviewed as scarcely more than a beast of burden. From time to time the serfs, infuriated by the hard condi-tions imposed upon them, revolted against their lords. UnderNicholas I over five hundred riots had occurred, and theseseemed to increase rather than decrease, notwithstanding thevigilance of the police. Alexander II, fearful lest the peasants should agai
Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . ir lords fields. He was their judge as wellas their master and could flog them at will. The serf wasviewed as scarcely more than a beast of burden. From time to time the serfs, infuriated by the hard condi-tions imposed upon them, revolted against their lords. UnderNicholas I over five hundred riots had occurred, and theseseemed to increase rather than decrease, notwithstanding thevigilance of the police. Alexander II, fearful lest the peasants should again attemptto win their liberty by force, decided that the government mustundertake the difficult task of freeing forty millions of his sub-jects from serfdom. After much discussion he issued an eman-cipation proclamation, March 3, i8&i,^ on the eve of the great 1 See next chapter, § 144, ??* According to the Russian calendar the date is February 19, for Russia hasnever followed the example of the western nations and rectified her mode ofindicating dates by adopting the Gregorian calendar. WESTERN PORTION OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.
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