Butthenewimpetusgiventoresearchhascauseditsoriginatorstooverleapthemselves，asitwere。Theyhaveoccupiedsoexclusivelythepointofviewwhencethemanorofthelatermiddleagesisvisiblethattheyhavedisregardedtheevidencewhichcomesfromotherquartersinsteadoffindinganexplanationwhichwillsatisfyallthefacts。Theinvestigation’fromtheknowntotheunknown’hasitsdefinitedanger，againstwhichonehastobeconstantlyonone’sguard：itsobviousdangeristodestroyperspectiveandignoredevelopmentbycarryingintothe’unknown’ofearlytimesthatwhichisknownoflaterconditions。Altogethertheattempttooverthrowsomeoftheestablishedresultsofinvestigationastoraceandclassesdoesnotseemtobeahappyone。Andso，althoughgreatworkhasbeendoneinourfieldofstudy，itcannotbesaidthatithasbeenbroughttoaclose——’bisandieSterneweit。’Manythingsremaintobedone，andsomeproblemsareespeciallypressing。Thelegalandtheeconomicalsideoftheinquirymustbeworkeduptothesamelevel；manorialdocumentsmustbeexaminedsystematically，ifnotexhaustively，andtheirmaterialmadetofitwiththeevidenceestablishedfromothersourcesofinformation；thewholefieldhastobegoneoverwithaneyeforproofandnotfordoctrine。Areviewoftheworkalreadydone，andofthenamesofscholarsengagedinit，iscertainlyanincitementtomodestyforeverynewreaperinthefield，butitisalsoasourceofhope。Itshowsthatschoolsandleadingscholarsdisplaceoneanothermoreundertheinfluenceofgeneralcurrentsofthoughtthanofindividualtalent。Thefermenttowardstheformationofgroupscomesfromtheoutside，fromthemodernlifewhichsurroundsresearch，formsthescholar，suggestssolutions。Moreover，theoreticaldevelopmenthasacontinuityofitsown；allthestrengthofthismanifoldlifecannotbreakorturnbackitscourse，butisreducedtodriveitforwardinevernewbendsandcurves。Thepresenttimeisespeciallypropitioustoourstudy：onefeels，asitwere，thatitisripeningtofar-reachingconclusions。SomuchhasbeendonealreadyforthisfieldofenquiryinthedifferentcountriesofEurope，thatthehopetoseeinourageageneraltreatmentofthesocialoriginsofWesternEuropewillnotseemanextravagantone。Andsuchatreatmentmustformasitwerethecorner-stoneofanyattempttotracethelawofdevelopmentofhumansociety。Itisinthisconsciousnessofbeingbornebyamightygeneralcurrent，thatthesinglescholarmaygatherhopethatmaybuoyhimagainsttheinsignificanceofhisforcesandthedrudgeryofhiswork。
VillainageinEngland：EssaysinEnglishMediaevalHistorybyPaulVinogradoff1892
FirstEssayThePeasantryoftheFeudalAge。
ChapterOneTheLegalAspectofVillainage。GeneralConceptionsIthasbecomeacommonplacetoopposemedievalserfdomtoancientslavery，oneimplyingdependenceonthelordofthesoilandattachmenttotheglebe，theotherbeingbasedoncompletesubjectiontoanowner。Thereisnodoubtthatgreatlandmarksinthecourseofsocialdevelopmentaresetbythethreemodeshithertoemployedoforganisinghumanlabour：usingtheworkingman1asachattelatwill，2asasubordinatewhosedutiesarefixedbycustom，3asafreeagentboundbycontract。Theselandmarksprobablyindicatemolecularchangesinthestructureofsocietyscarcelylessimportantthanthosepoliticalandintellectualrevolutionswhichareusuallytakenastheturning-pointsofancient，medieval，andmodernhistory。
Andstillwemustnotforget，indrawingsuchdefinitions，thatwereachthemonlybylookingatthingsfromsuchaheightthatalllesserinequalitiesandaccidentalfeaturesofthesoilarenolongersensibletotheeyesight。Infindingone’swayoverthelandonemustneedsgoovertheseveryinequalitiesandtakeintoaccounttheseveryfeatures。If，fromageneralsurveyofmedievalservitude，weturntotheactualconditionoftheEnglishpeasantry，sayinthethirteenthcentury，thefirstfactwehavetomeetwillstandinverymarkedcontrasttoourgeneralproposition。