Verhandelte (Un-)Freiheit - Sklaverei, Leibeigenschaft und innereuropäischer Wissenstransfer am Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts

The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation is usually not perceived as a slave-holding state. Still, German envoys, merchants, missionaries, and soldiers brought back trafficked people with them - very often via other European countries and colonies. As in neighboring jurisdictions, the legal status of these trafficked persons in Germany was far from clear. Drawing on diverse court cases, this article shows how slave-holders and the enslaved sought legal arguments for their cause by activating networks and searching for precedents beyond the empire's borders. The German case not only documents the explicit affirmation of the slave status but also reveals entanglements with serfdom.