Servant

A servant does things for other people, in specific his/her master. Servants are generally paid, unlike slaves, who get the chance to avoid a beating or worse.
A servant can be anything from a noble attending upon a king, to a scummy peasant polishing the hooves of the king's horse. The one, however, is a servant of the moment, while the other is probably stuck in service for ever. On the other hand a servant will generally have somewhere to live, and food, whereas outside of service he or she would be fending for themselves, growing their own food and so on.

The Medieval view of servants was quite different from the Victorian era. Whereas in the 19th century servants were not to be seen or spoken to, during the Middle Ages they were people one worked besides daily and thus knew quite well. A lady in charge of running a small manor would not have had the luxury of an army of servants. She would have been required to not only direct her few servants but assist them in their work too.

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