Land reforms were done in the Austrian Empire following the liberal revolutions of 1848. In 1849, the newly elected Constituent Assembly gave the peasants title to their holdings with no further obligation to the landlords (this is in contrast to the previous Land reform in the Habsburg monarchy, which sought to liberate the peasants but required them to pay rents). Differences in types of tenure were eliminated, and the distinction between noble and peasant land was obliterated. Nobles were also released from any obligation to the peasants.