First of all even the term Colon was a regional thing. Little is
common to all of Germany except for the same linguistic
roots. Too many different tribes and too many different
systems developed over the centuries in the various parts of
the empire. As you know central government is a relatively
new phenomenon in Germany and when it came - bang it
blew up.
The English and French had much more practice with a
strong monarchy which also taught the people how to resist
such singleminded power. In Germany authority was
localized and different wherever you went.
So even your Eigenhörigkeit was not common all over
Germany. In the south there was much more individual
freedom and landownership while. In the region I'm most
familiar with, the Niederstift Münster or the Oldenburger
Münsterland, the term Colon changed to Zeller for some
reason but the meaning was the same. In general I see the
distinction only as NOT being a Heuermann or Tagelöhner.
The Colon/Zeller was the farmer who at one time may have
been referred to as a Wehrfester who started a farm from
scratch or resettled an old deserted one. His position was
one of holding the right to inherit the right to work an old Hof.
Only if he did not meet his contractual obligations, which
came with the land, could he be removed from it. On the
other hand, he could not sell or split this land either. So, he
became a steward in a system where property owning was
not really a known concept. Property was used and as long
as all parties in the chain met their contractual obligations the
system did not really permit a change except to the single
heir upon payment of some kind of fee.
The Heuermann status was also very much a contractual
thing but it went more or less from year to year. Again, a
Heuermann also had the right to renewal if he kept his side
of the bargain. So the system was based on a mutual level of
trust one was born into.
So, to answer your question from my sphere of knowledge,
being Leibfrei or not had nothing to do with being a colon.
The Leibfrei status was bought over time until it went away
completely and it really meant more from an economic
standpoint then anything else. The Eigenhörig folks were still
tied to the land because of their obligations up the line while
the Leibfrei people has a different tax status and did not have
to ask anybody as to what they could do with their land. The
whole thing is rather tricky as circumstances always varied
depending on the area and time. You almost have to follow
each individual situation which is not possible because we
have so few records of what the deal was.
Fred
Pelican Lake Motor Coach Resort, Naples, FL 34114
4788 Corian Court; 941-775-7838
941-269-4781 (FL cell) or 215-205-2841 (Philly cell)
FredRump@earthlink.net