Vassals

Lore & Background

In fully developed vassalage, the lord and the vassal would take part in a commendation ceremony composed of two parts, the homage and the fealty, including the use of Christian sacraments to show its sacred importance. Under feudalism, those who were weakest needed the protection of the knights who owned the weapons and knew how to fight. In the time of Charlemagne, the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the main form of wealth at that time. In Merovingian times, monarchs would reward only the greatest and most trusted vassals 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. The stratification of a fighting band of vassals into distinct groups might roughly correlate with the new term 'fief' that had started to supersede 'benefice' in the 9th century. An 'upper' group comprised great territorial magnates, who were strong enough to ensure the inheritance of their benefice to the heirs of their family. A 'lower' group consisted of landless knights attached to a count or duke.

In Their Own Story

The ambassador from the small coastal duchy arrived at the imperial court with a single sealed letter and a delegation of three. He did not kneel—his instructions were explicit—but he bowed low enough that his forehead nearly touched the marble floor. The Emperor read the letter twice, set it down, and smiled the particular smile that meant the terms had already been decided before the vassal's envoy had crossed the river. "You will pay your tribute on the first of each month," the Emperor said, as though reciting a prayer. "And when I call my sword, yours will be at my side. You understand?"

The ambassador understood. He had read the histories. Every vassal who had refused had become a province within a generation. He accepted, took his seal, and walked back out into the cold. Behind him, the Emperor was already turning to the next letter on his desk, the next small kingdom that had miscalculated the distance between its borders and its survival.

Reader's Guide

The obligations of a vassal often included military support by knights in exchange for certain privileges, usually including land held as a tenant or fief. In contrast, fealty (fidelitas) is sworn, unconditional loyalty to a monarch. 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, came only from land and its associated assets, which included peasants as well as wood and water.

Did You Know?

• The commendation ceremony could involve Christian relics, as when Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria, made commendatio to Pippin the Younger in 757 using relics of Saints Denis, Rusticus, Éleuthère, Martin, and Germain.
• Feudal society was increasingly based on the concept of 'lordship' (French seigneur), which was one of the distinguishing features of the Early Middle Ages and had evolved from times of Late Antiquity.
• The social and legal structures labelled 'feudalism' have only been called that since the 18th century.