"Service settlement" is a favourite phrase of several Polish and Czech medievalists who use it commonly to refer to villages of specialised workers (peasants or craftsmen) serving the exclusive needs of neighbouring fortresses or local manor houses. Polish historians have linked the service settlements to ducal or royal estates and argued that such villages emerged to meet the exclusive demands of Polish dukes or the king and his court. Service settlements were therefore to be found around ducal or royal residences and palaces, located within or outside regional fortresses.