Vassal
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Avassal[1]orliege subject[2]is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to alordormonarch,in the context of thefeudalsystem inmedieval Europe.While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called asuzerain.The rights and obligations of a vassal are calledvassalage,while the rights and obligations of a suzerain are calledsuzerainty. The obligations of a vassal often included military support by knights in exchange for certain privileges, usually including land held as a tenant orfief.[3]The term is also applied to similar arrangements in other feudal societies.
In contrast,fealty(fidelitas) was sworn, unconditional loyalty to a monarch.[4]
European vassalage[edit]
In fully developed vassalage, the lord and the vassal would take part in acommendation ceremonycomposed of two parts, thehomageand thefealty,including the use of Christian sacraments to show its sacred importance. According toEginhard's brief description, thecommendatiomade toPippin the Youngerin 757 byTassilo III, Duke of Bavaria,involved the relics ofSaints Denis, Rusticus, Éleuthère,Martin,andGermain– apparently assembled atCompiegnefor the event.[5]Such refinements were not included from the outset when it was time of crisis, war, hunger, etc.
Feudal society was increasingly based on the concept of "lordship" (Frenchseigneur), which was one of the distinguishing features of theEarly Middle Agesand had evolved from times ofLate Antiquity.[note 1]
In the time ofCharlemagne(ruled 768–814), the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the main form of wealth 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. InMerovingiantimes (5th century to 752), 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.[6]
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 landlessknightsattached to acountorduke.This social settling process also received impetus in fundamental changes in the conduct of warfare. As co-ordinatedcavalrysuperseded disorganizedinfantry,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, came only from land and its associated assets, which includedpeasantsas well as wood and water.
Difference between "vassal" and "vassal state"[edit]
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Many empires have set upvassal states,based on tribes, kingdoms, or city-states, the subjects of which they wish to control without having to conquer or directly govern them. In these cases a subordinate state (such as adependency,residency,client stateorprotectorate) has retained internal autonomy, but has lost independence in foreign policy, while also, in many instances, paying formaltribute,or providing troops when requested. This is a similar relationship to vassals, but vassals holdfiefdomswhich are present in the actual territory of the monarch.
In this framework, a "formal colony" or "junior ally" might also be regarded as a vassal state in terms of international relations, analogous to a domestic "fief-holder" or "trustee".
The concept of a vassal state uses the concept of personal vassalry to theorize formallyhegemonicrelationships between states – even those using non-personal forms of rule. Imperial states to which this terminology has been applied include, for instance:Ancient Rome,theMongol Empire,Imperial Chinaand theBritish Empire.
See also[edit]
- Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire
- Freeborn
- Lehnsmann
- Mandala (political model)
- Suzerainty
- Thegn
- Vavasour,a type of vassal
- Zamindar
- Multiple vassalage
Similar terms[edit]
- Gokenin,vassals of theshogunateinJapan
- Manrent,Scottish Clantreaties of offensive and defensive alliance
- Nöken(plural:nöker) was theMongolterm for a tribal leader acknowledging another as his liege
- Villein,aserf,or low-born worker under feudalism
Notes[edit]
- ^The Tours formulary, which a mutual contract of rural patronage, offered parallels; it was probably derived from Late AntiqueGallo-Romanprecedents, according to Magnou-Nortier 1975.
References[edit]
- Citations
- ^Hughes, Michael (1992).Early Modern Germany, 1477–1806,MacMillan Press and University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, p. 18.ISBN0-8122-1427-7.
- ^"liege subject".The Free Dictionary.Retrieved11 November2020.
- ^F. L. Ganshof, "Benefice and Vassalage in the Age of Charlemagne"Cambridge Historical Journal6.2 (1939:147-75).
- ^Ganshof 151 note 23 andpassim;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.
- ^"at".Noctes-gallicanae.org. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-12-05.Retrieved2012-02-13.
- ^ Ganshof, François Louis,Feudalismtranslated 1964
- Sources
- Cantor, Norman,The Civilization of the Middle Ages1993.
- Rouche, Michel, "Private life conquers state and society," inA History of Private Lifevol I, Paul Veyne, editor, Harvard University Press 1987ISBN0-674-39974-9.
External links[edit]
- .Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). 1911.
