284 
Aciriculture of Denmark. 
and tliese were soon enriched by the munificent gifts of their 
royal master ; from this period it was rare to sec natives of Den- 
mark in the councils of the King, and after a Avhile the feudal 
lords wore conipcllcd to cede their large ficfs to German favourites 
who had been invited into the country. 
If the Danish noblemen had to some extent oppressed the 
yeoman, yet instances wei-e not wanting where they protected 
him against oppression from without ; but the foreigners felt no 
sucli sympathy. The obligation to remain on the estate of his 
birth (Stavnsbaandet), and the villenage (Iloverie), were the chief 
means employed by the German nobility to subjugate the 
yeoman. 
The " Vornedskab, ' by wliich the yeoman was deprived of the 
liberty of removal from the estate on which he was born, had 
long existed on Scaland, Lolland, and Falster, and the surround- 
ing minor islands, and continued until the eighteenth century. 
In 1702 Frederick IV. did away with this obligation with 
respect to all yeomen or their descendants born since his acces- 
sion, 1699. AH farm-servants from Jutland, or elsewhere where 
" Vornedskab " had not been introduced, were at liberty to settle 
free from " Vornedskab " where it existed ; the lords of the 
manors were forbidden to sell their bondmen, but these could 
purchase their own freedom at a price not to exceed 5Z. lO.v. 
The beneficial effect of the royal clemency was already appai'ent 
when, twenty-two years later, a sudden change took place in the 
King's principles of government, and induced him to issue the 
law of " Stavnsbaand," similar to "Vornedskab," but applicable 
to the whole of the kingdom save the island of Eornholm. In 
1724 a roval decree was issued, in accordance with which all 
males from the age of 14 to 35 were bound tf) remain on the 
estate to which they belonged, and this ordinance was the founda- 
tion of the "Stavnsbaand" (forced tie to homestead). In 1742 
this state of bondage was extended to boys in their ninth year, 
and in 1764 to those in their fourth year ; in 1746 an ordinance 
was issued by which every soldier who had served his time was 
bound to return to the estate whence he had been recruited, and 
there receive a farm on forced lease (Fceste). Although this 
might be supposed to be an advantage, it was entirely the reverse. 
In consequence of the tyranny of the landed proprietors, many of 
the peasants or young yeomen emigrated, and it was only by 
force that they couhl l)e made to take land on lease (Fa-ste). 
The best proof of the depressed state of the country is found in 
tb(! fact that the population decreased very considerably in the 
mi(Ulle of the eighteenth century. 
The system oi" bondage was thus accomplished, and appeared, 
if posiible, more oppressive than before, for the yeomen could 
