What is "vistarband"

The Icelandic vistarband was a requirement that all landless people be employed on a farm. A man or woman who did not own or lease property had to find a position as a laborer (vinnuhjú) in the home of a farmer. The custom was for landless people to contract themselves to a farmer for one year at a time. The vistarband was in effect from 1490 to 1894 in various forms. Iceland had an unusually large percentage of the population in this kind of bondage—generally about 25% of the population during the 19th century. A somewhat similar institution, the stavnsbånd, existed in Denmark, but only from 1733 to 1788.