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==Origin and function==
Métayage was available under [[Roman law]], although it was not in widespread use.<ref>Cato, Marcus Porcius ''De Re Rustica'' Capitula CXXXVI - CXXXVII</ref><ref>Crook, J.A. (1967) ''Law and Life of Rome: 90 B.C. to A.D. 212'' Cornell Univ. Press: Ithaca, NY. p. 157</ref> It proved useful after the emancipation of Roman slaves as the newly freed peasants had no land or cash (the same phenomenon happened in Brazil and the USA when slavery was banned).
In what is now northern Italy and southeastern France, the post [[Black Death]] population explosion of the late Middle Ages combined with the relative lack of free land made métayage an attractive system for both landowner and farmer. Once institutionalized, it continued long into the 18th Century although the base causes had been relieved by emigration to the [[New World]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}.
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