<P> In England the Domesday Book, of 1086, uses bordarii (bordar) and cottarii (cottar) as interchangeable terms, "cottar" deriving from the native Anglo - Saxon tongue whereas "bordar" derived from the French . </P> <P> Status-wise, the bordar or cottar ranked below a serf in the social hierarchy of a manor, holding a cottage, garden and just enough land to feed a family . In England, at the time of the Domesday Survey, this would have comprised between about 1 and 5 acres (0.4 and 2.0 hectares). Under an Elizabethan statute, the Erection of Cottages Act 1588, the cottage had to be built with at least 4 acres (0.02 km; 0.01 sq mi) of land . However, the later Enclosures Acts (1604 onwards) removed the cottars' right to any land: "before the Enclosures Act the cottager was a farm labourer with land and after the Enclosures Act the cottager was a farm labourer without land". </P> <P> The bordars and cottars did not own their draught oxen or horses . The Domesday Book showed that England comprised 12% freeholders, 35% serfs or villeins, 30% cotters and bordars, and 9% slaves . </P> <P> The last type of serf was the slave . Slaves had the fewest rights and benefits from the manor . They owned no tenancy in land, worked for the lord exclusively and survived on donations from the landlord . It was always in the interest of the lord to prove that a servile arrangement existed, as this provided him with greater rights to fees and taxes . The status of a man was a primary issue in determining a person's rights and obligations in many of the manorial court - cases of the period . Also, runaway slaves could be beaten if caught . </P>

Why was it difficult for a person to escape their caste