Vassal

Vassal
For other uses, see Vassal (disambiguation).
English Feudalism
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci
(Harold makes an oath to Duke William)
King Harold becomes the vassal
of Duke William of Normandy
(Bayeux Tapestry)
Fee
Overlord, Vassal
Enfeoffment
Subinfeudation
Feoffee
Feudal land tenure
Fealty, Homage
Feudalism in England
Feudalism
v · monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held as a fiefdom.[2] The term can be applied to similar arrangements in other feudal societies. In contrast, a fidelity, or fidelitas, was a sworn loyalty, subject to the king.[3] A Vassal works under a baron who works under the king. The king usually has 5 Barons

Contents

Western vassalage

In a fully developed vassalage, the lord and the vassal would undertake a commendation ceremony, composed of two parts: the homage and the fealty, including the use of Christian sacraments to show its importance. Such refinements were not included from the outset, however: according to Eginhard's brief description, the commendatio made to Pippin in 757 by Tassillo, duke of Bavaria, involved the relics of Saint Denis, Saint Rusticus and Saint Éleuthère, Saint Martin and Saint Germain, which had apparently been assembled at Compiègne for the event [1].

Feudal society was increasingly based on the concept of "lordship"— in French the seigneur— which was one of the distinguishing features of the Early Middle Ages, and had evolved out of Late Antiquity.[4]

In Charlemagne's time, the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the main form of capital at that time: contemporaneous social developments included agricultural "manorialism" and the social and legal structures labelled— but only since the 18th century— "feudalism". These developments proceeded at different rates in various regions. In Merovingian times, only the greatest and most trusted vassals would be rewarded with lands. Even at the most extreme devolution of any remnants of central power, in 10th century France, the majority of vassals still had no fixed estates (Ganshof 1964).

The stratification of a fighting band of vassals into an upper group composed of great territorial magnates, strong enough to ensure the inheritance of their benefice to the heirs of their family, and a lower group of landless knights attached to a "count" or "duke", might roughly be correlated with the new term "fief" that was superseding "benefice" in the 9th century. The social settling out process also received impetus in fundamental changes in conducting warfare. The example of the Huns resulted in the supersession in the Romanised world of disorganised infantry by cavalry, armies became more expensive to maintain. A vassal needed economic resources to equip the cavalry he was bound to contribute to his lord to fight his frequent wars. Such resources, in the absence of a money economy, was only to be found in land and its associated assets, which included peasants, as well as wood and water.

Difference between "vassal" and "vassal state"

Many empires have "created" vassal states out of cities, kingdoms, and tribes that they wish to bring under their auspices without having to conquer and/or govern. In these cases, "vassalage" (or suzerainty) just means forfeiting foreign policy independence in exchange for full autonomy and perhaps a formal tribute. A lesser state that might be called a "junior ally" would be called a "vassal" as a reference to a domestic "fiefholder" or "trustee", simply to apply a common domestic norm to diplomatic culture. This allows different cultures to understand formal hegemonic relationships in personal terms, even among states using non-personal forms of rule. Imperial states that have used this terminology include the Romans, Mongols, and British.

See also

Compare

  • Manrent, Scottish Clan treaties of offensive and defensive alliance
  • Gokenin, vassals of the shogunate in Japan
  • nöken (plural: nöker) was the Mongol term for a tribal leader acknowledging another as his liege

Notes

  1. ^ Hughes, Michael (1992). Early Modern Germany, 1477-1806, MacMillan Press and University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, p. 18. ISBN 0-8122-1427-7.
  2. ^ F. L. Ganshof, "Benefice and Vassalage in the Age of Charlemagne" Cambridge Historical Journal 6.2 (1939:147-75).
  3. ^ Ganshof 151 note 23 and passim; the essential point was made again, and the documents on which the historian's view of vassalage are based were reviewed, with translation and commentary, by Elizabeth Magnou-Nortier, Foi et Fidélité. Recherches sur l'évolution des liens personnels chez les Francs du VIIe au IXe siècle (University of Toulouse Press) 1975.
  4. ^ The Tours formulary, which a mutual contract of rural patronage, offered parallels; it was probably derived from Late Antique Gallo-Roman precedents, according to Magnou-Nortier 1975.

References


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  • vassal — vassal, ale, aux [ vasal, o ] n. • 1283; « homme vaillant et brave » 1080; lat. médiév. vassallus, du gaul. vassus → valet ♦ Au Moyen Âge, Homme lié personnellement à un seigneur, un suzerain qui lui concédait la possession effective d un fief. ⇒ …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • vassal — vassal, ale (va sal, sa l ) s. m. et f. 1°   Celui, celle qui relève d un seigneur à cause d un fief. •   L obligation de tout vassal envers son seigneur fut de porter les armes et de juger ses pairs dans sa cour, MONTESQ. Esp. XXX, 17. •   Dans… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • Vassal — Freguesia de Portugal …   Wikipedia Español

  • vassal — Vassal, qui tient quelque chose d aucun à foy et hommage, Cliens, Posþsessor fundi inferioris, Beneficiarius, Possessor praedij clienteþlaris. B. És anciens Romans il se prent pour le contraire du souldoyer, d autant que cestuy ci prent souldée,… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Vassal — Vas sal, n. [F., fr. LL. vassallus, vassus; of Celtic origin; cf. W. & Corn. gwas a youth, page, servant, Arm. gwaz a man, a male. Cf. {Valet}, {Varlet}, {Vavasor}.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Feud. Law) The grantee of a fief, feud, or fee; one who holds …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Vassal — Vas sal, a. Resembling a vassal; slavish; servile. [1913 Webster] The sun and every vassal star. Keble. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • vassal — (n.) mid 15c. (c.1200 as a surname) tenant who pledges fealty to a lord, from O.Fr. vassal, from M.L. vassallus manservant, domestic, retainer, from vassus servant, from O.Celt. *wasso young man, squire (Cf. Welsh gwas youth, servant, Bret. goaz… …   Etymology dictionary

  • vassal — VASSAL. s. m. Celuy qui releve d un Seigneur superieur à cause d un fief. Il est son vassal. c est mon vassal …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • vassal — [vas′əl] n. [OFr < ML vassalus, manservant, extension of vassus, servant < Celt: for IE base see VALET] 1. in the Middle Ages, a person who held land under the feudal system, doing homage and pledging fealty to an overlord, and performing… …   English World dictionary

  • Vassal — Vas sal, v. t. To treat as a vassal; to subject to control; to enslave. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • vassal — index dependent Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

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