Prior to the emancipation of the serfs by Alexander II. in 1861, the Russian peasants were serfs, either of the State, or of a great landowner. The State serfs were practically free, with the exception that they could not change their domicile, but they were permitted, on payment of a small fee, to leave their villages, subject to the due payment of their share of the village taxes. The serfs of the nobles were more like slaves. Some of them were taken as house servants, others remained in the villages and rendered certain services to the lord in return for the land which he surrendered to the village commune. The house serfs were practically chattels, and were not infrequently sold.
Seringapatam, Treaty of.
A treaty signed in 1792 at the close of the third Mysore War, by which Tippu Sahib surrendered Dindigul, Baramahal and Malabar, and agreed to pay a war indemnity of three crores of rupees to the British and thirty lacs to the Mahratta States.
Serrar del Consiglio.
A measure passed in Venice in 1298 providing that no citizens should be eligible for election to the Grand Council except the families of senators then in office. The Government was thus established on purely aristocratic lines.
Servian Capitulation.
A treaty signed in 1375 between Mourad I, Sultan of Turkey, and Lazar, Despot of Servia, by which Servia acknowledged the suzerainty of Turkey and agreed to pay an annual tribute.
Settled Lands Act.
An Act passed in 1882, introduced by Lord Cairns, removing many of the restrictions and difficulties existing in dealing with entailed estates.