Villein Law and Legal Definition
A villein is a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord.
“A villein is (or, to be more precise, was):
a. a free common villager or village peasant of any of the feudal classes lower in rank than the thane;
b. a free peasant of a feudal class lower than a sokeman and higher than a cotter;
c. an unfree peasant standing as the slave of a feudal lord but free in legal relations with respect to all others.” [Shaw v. Toshiba Am. Info. Sys., 91 F. Supp. 2d 942, 948 (E.D. Tex. 2000)].
