Paroikos

a feudally dependent peasant in Byzantium in the ninth to 15th centuries. Paroikoi were divided into tenants on private land and state peasants. Those in the first category, who were hereditary holders of land belonging to a feudal lord, paid the lord rent in kind and money and were obligated to perform labor service. They had the right to move and to dispose of their holding with the owner’s consent, in which case all obligations were transferred to the new holder of the plot. They were enserfed in certain parts of Byzantium in the 13th century. State paroikoi, on the other hand, held state land and bore specific obligations to the state, such as supplying the imperial court with provisions and maintaining the state stud farms.