Remensa

Remensa 

a peasant serf in medieval Catalonia who was subject to the malos usos (feudal obligations), including the remensa —a sum that had to be paid to the lord at the time of the serfs departure. The amount of the remensa was set by the lord, who retained the land the serf had lived on. The status of remensa peasant was hereditary and was acquired by an individual who married a remensa peasant or who purchased a manse for which the remensa was due.

Remensa peasants existed in Catalonia as early as the tenth and 11th centuries but are first mentioned in legal documents dating from the first quarter of the 12th century. Such peasants were most numerous during the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 13th century, a series of decrees by the various cortes placed them completely under the jurisdiction of the lords. The status of remensa peasant was abolished in 1486 by the Sentencia de Guadalupe.

REFERENCES

Piskorskii, V. K. Krepostnoepravo ν Katalonii ν srednie veka. Kiev, 1901.
Arskii, I. V. Ocherki po istorii srednevekovoi Katalonii do soedineniia s Aragonom (VIII-XII vv.). Leningrad, 1941.
Mil’skaia, L. T. Ocherki iz istorii derevni ν Katalonii X-XII vv. Moscow, 1962.