On this topic, I've found myself in a state or confusion. The questions I am most interested in are the following:

1. What was the condition of serf like? It is generaly stated that they were forbiden to leave their noble masters, but: Could they be sold apart from their village, subjected to corporal punishments on the lord's decision? Did they have property right? Did serfs' villages have a form of self-government, albeit very limited?

2. What was the condition of personally free, but landless peasants? Did they get a personal parcel from their lord, which could be inherited to their offsprings? Could their lord evict them at any time, or they could be (legally) evicted only if they didn't pay their rents?

How exactly were traced the differences between 'free' peasants and 'unfree' peasants in terms of feudal obligations and duties? Could a village be composed of both 'free' and 'unfree' peasants?

1. Were land-owning peasants exempt from all feudal obligations? What taxes did they pay? Did they own land individually or in common? And, generally, was this category common?

2. What was communal land, of which I have heard in the context of English enclosures?

3. How did serfs become free in Western Europe? Was this due to the Black Death (1346-1353) and massive reducement of their number (as I have read), or is this theory only partially true?

I will be grateful for all responses. As I mentioned before, I am interested in all regional/temporal variations of the topic discussed. They will help me to form a broader image, at least so I believe.

I am from a Post-Soviet country, and hence mostly unaware of peasant conditions in the Western Europe. I know, in general, about the peasant class in Russia and Romanian principalities (the serfdom being foremost there), but I would like to gain a more insigtful look and confirm (or reject) my suppositions.