At 11:16 PM 5/5/96 -0700, Sandy wrote:

Actually, no. When I used to edit a magazine, I commissioned an article about how much "tax" slaves, serfs, etc. paid. That is, how much of what they produced, did they get to keep; how much went to their masters. The surprising, cross-cultural answer my researcher/writer found was that they got to keep everthing they produced except 5-10%. That's a lot better, percentage-wise, than for modern "tax slaves."

It was fairly common for serfs to have to provide direct manual labor on their landlord's farm for 1-2 days per week, depending on the lord, plus of course if there was a war you often got drafted (depending on how much you were needed as a farm laborer.) # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, stewarts@ix.netcom.com, +1-415-442-2215 # goodtimes signature virus innoculation