To be sure, the supreme lord had the power to raise even a villein to the rank of noble, after he had proved his superior elevation of mind by heroic achievements; but what superhuman exertions did not those achievements call for; what a concourse of fortuitous circumstances rarely occurring, so as to render almost illusory the hope of rising held out by the feudal theory!
"Irish Race in the Past and the Present"
Aug. J. Thebaud
The process by which the villein became a hired labourer is obscure and an attempt was made to check it by the Statute of Labourers at the time of the Black Death.
"The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI."
Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton
After Jan's birth Bockel married the woman and bought her her freedom from the villein status that was hers by heredity.
"German Culture Past and Present"
Ernest Belfort Bax