As a general rule, most cultures observe the custom of taking prisoners for ransom.
In areas ruled by a lord, even common folk may be ransomed (although they are paid for and released as a group, and their price is far lower
As a general rule, most cultures observe the custom of taking prisoners for ransom.
In areas ruled by a lord, even common folk may be ransomed (although they are paid for and released as a group, and their price is far lower than that of an aristocrat). If their lord fails to pay, the custom is that the prisoners become serfs of their captor. In this circumstance their previous lord loses much status, and it is this, even more than the value of their labor, that is the main incentive to pay.
Lords will generally not make prisoners of free peasants, as they are rebellious and unreliable, and unlikely to have the resources to pay a ransom. They will instead kill them.
Free peasants, by contrast, will generally take prisoners of serfs. They may let them join the community after a certain period. Otherwise the custom is to brand or tattoo them with a distinctive mark and let them go. Anyone with such a mark taking arms against them will be killed on sight.
Free pe