This master's thesis examines the history of mentalities of serfs in the pre-modern era. A theoretical chapter on mentalities and an overview chapter on the situation of serfs in the pre-modern era are followed by an empirical section in which three types of sources are examined: village legal instructions (Weistümer), probate inventories, and folk literature. Mentalities can be defined as a set of beliefs and habits of thought that guide and control the thinking of a community. The origins of the development of the status of serfs in the pre-modern era date back to the crisis of the 14th century. The population decline at that time and the subsequent resurgence largely shaped social developments in the centuries to come. Peasants of the pre-modern era valued and protected nature as it provided them with the material for their survival. They placed only God above nature, and living in unity was also important to them. Luxury meant something to those who could afford it. In addition to religious and natural motifs, traces of older mythological motifs and superstitions can be found in the folk literature of the time, and the blessings tell us what people feared the most. The research gives a small insight into the mentalities of serfs in the pre-modem era and provides guidelines for further research.
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