Slaves in the context of "Slave raiding"

Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves by their owners. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most widely used term is gratuitous manumission, "the conferment of freedom on the enslaved by enslavers before the end of the slave system".

The motivations for manumission were complex and varied. Firstly, it may present itself as a sentimental and benevolent gesture. One typical scenario was the freeing in the master's will of a devoted servant after long years of service. A trusted bailiff might be manumitted as a gesture of gratitude. For those working as agricultural labourers or in workshops, there was little likelihood of being so noticed. In general, it was more common for older slaves to be given freedom.

A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or paddling. When it is inflicted on adults, it may be inflicted on prisoners and slaves, and can involve methods such as whipping with a belt or a horsewhip.

Physical punishments for crimes or injuries, including floggings, brandings, and even mutilations, were practised in most civilizations since ancient times. They have increasingly been viewed as inhumane since the development of humanitarianism ideals after the Enlightenment, especially in the Western world. By the late 20th century, corporal punishment was eliminated from the legal systems of most developed countries.

The sebri (Serbian Cyrillic: себри) was the lower-half social class, commoners, of the medieval Serbian state. The status of the groups comprising the class was regulated in medieval code of laws, such as Dušan's Code (1349). It included several groups, mainly divided into:

• The meropsi (меропси) or merophe (меропхе), dependent farmers. Other terms included zemljanin ("earthen [man]", from zemlja, "land"), Srbljin (from the Serb ethnonym), or zemljani ljudi ("earthen folk"). They served either the ruler, the church, or nobility. Medieval sources allows for understanding the legal position of the church's meropsi, while that of the ruler's and nobility's meropsi is deemed insufficient. The fact that there were three groups implies that their status was not identical, however, it has been established that their status did essentially not differ.
• The vlasi (власи) or pastiri (пастири), dependent shepherds. The multitude and likely prevalence of Vlachs (Romanized remnants; see Vlachs in medieval Serbia) among the shepherds made the term "Vlachs" a synonym for shepherds, similarly as the term Srbljin was sporadically used for farmers. The status of the vlasi was basically equal to the meropsi.
• The otroci (отроци), a type of medieval slaves. This group was closest to having complete deprivation of rights, similar to slaves (robovi), although this has for long and persistently been disputed in scholarship. The lord could free his otroci from that status, which points to similarity with slave status.
• The dependent (or rural) craftsmen and sokalnici (сокалници). The craftsmen and sokalnici had a special status, which is unclarified from available sources.
• Partially also the rural clergy.