History - 3 Answers
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1 :
Whatever they were told. They were essentially slaves whose only right was their connection to the land they occupied and part of its produce.
2 :
There were various kinds of serfs in the Russian Empire before their liberation in 1861. By the way don't forget that there was no serfdom in some vast Russian areas at all (for example Siberia or region adjacent to the Black Sea where free Russian-Ukrainian kozaks lived ). So, serfdom existed primarily in the central area of the European part of Russia. Serfs belonged to the state (that is a Czar), private owners, monasteries. They usually worked as farmers but not necessarily. During winter times some of them went to work to cities and towns as carpenters, blacksmiths etc. (usually their owners would let them go since serfs paid them a chunk of their earnings). Some rich owners organized theaters with serfs as actors (the most famous Volkov's theater in Yaroslavl). Starting with Peter the Great (died in 1725) and his massive industrial drive state serfs' labour was used at the state (Czar-owned) plants and factories. Some of serfs were quite rich themselves (what made their owners rich) running "their own" enterprises and sometimes managing to negotiate their and their families' freedom. Of course in spite of their wealth and education (some were very well educated on the whim of their owners) their legal status was practically the one of slaves
3 :
Mainly farm work.. Working the lands, producing grain etc. for the owners of the land.
