Legal Definitions - laet

LAET

A laet (layt) is a person who belongs to a social class between servile and free in historical times.

In medieval England, laets were people who were not slaves but were not completely free either. They were tied to the land they worked on and had to pay rent to their lord. They were not allowed to leave the land without permission and had to work for their lord for a certain number of days each year.

Another example of a laet is a tenant farmer in feudal Japan. They were not slaves, but they were not free either. They had to work on the land they rented from their lord and had to give a portion of their crops as rent.

The examples illustrate the definition of a laet by showing that they were a social class that was not completely free but also not slaves. They were tied to the land they worked on and had to pay rent or give a portion of their crops to their lord. They had some rights, but they were limited compared to free people.