Ancillae (plural) or ancilla (singular) was the term for female house slaves in the

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

, as well as in Europe during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

.Judith M. Bennett & Amy M. Froide,
Singlewomen in the European Past, 1250-1800
' Ancillae was the common title for female house slaves during the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. In Medieval Europe, slavery was gradually replaced by

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

, but a small minority of female slaves long remained common as household servants in wealthy homes. This was most common in Italy, Spain and France. In Europe, it was banned to make Christians into slaves, but allowed to make non-Christians into slaves. Similarly, it was banned to make Muslims slaves in the Muslim world, but permitted to take non-Muslims as slaves. This created a slave trade in which slaves from the Muslim world were sold to Christian Europe, and slaves from Europe were sold to the Muslim Middle East. The merchants of this slave trade were often Venetian merchants. The slaves normally converted to Christianity or Islam respectively after they had been bought, but were still kept in slavery. While it was legal for an ancilla to marry, she as well as her children were still slaves, and because this created legal confusion between the legal guardianship of a husband towards his wife and children, it was not well seen for an ancilla to marry, which kept the slave market going. Most of the ancillae came from the Greek Orthodox Balkans: while Christians, they were not recognized as such by the Catholic church, hence taking them as slaves were considered legal.

References

* Hannah Barker:
That Most Precious Merchandise: The Mediterranean Trade in Black Sea Slaves ...
' * David Eltis, Keith R. Bradley, Stanley L. Engerman, Craig Perry, Paul Cartledge, David Richardson, Seymour Drescher:
The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 2, AD 500-AD 1420
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ancillae House slaves Women's history Medieval women Slavery in Europe Medieval slaves Slavery in ancient Rome Women in ancient Rome Ancient Roman slaves and freedmen Women and slavery