Whichever theory may be the correct one, the position, economic, legal, and political, of villeins in the thirteenth century has been ascertained with certainty.
The majority of the nobles with one parcel lived in separate noble villages, although some of them lived together with villeins in the same settlements.
They sank down the economic hierarchy, swelling the numbers of unfree villeins or serfs, forbidden to leave their manor or seek alternative employment.