Vassalage was the link established between a lord and a vassal.
Vassalage is the relationship that, in ancient times, an individual maintained with his lord . This bond implied loyalty and, in turn, dependence and submission : the vassal had to provide military and political assistance to the lord, who in exchange gave him land for his usufruct.
Vassalage was regulated by a bilateral contract (with obligations for both parties). If the vassal or lord committed a serious breach, the bond could be dissolved. Importantly, the relationship was forged between two free men (a commoner and a noble, or a noble of lower status and a noble of higher status).
Etymological tour
Regarding the etymology of the word vassal, we can say that its most remote origin is found in the terms gwas (in Welsh, "servant" or "young man"), foss (in Irish, "servant") and goaz (in Breton). , " man " or "servant"). On the other hand, this also relates it to the Indo-European root wasso- , which served to denote the concept of "young squire."
From all this arose vassus , the classical Latin term for "servants", which later led to vassallus , already in medieval Latin. In the Gallo-Romance languages there was also vassellitus , a diminutive of vassallus to speak of a "young nobleman", a " page " or a "squire".
Start of vassalage
It all began with a ceremony of homage and investiture , in which said contract was consecrated so that the vassalage relationship began to take effect. In short, the vassal had to place his hands on those of the lord and declare himself "his man", in addition to swearing fidelity to him .
Then, the lord gave the vassal a branch or a handful of earth to symbolize the lands he would cede to him.
In addition to the military service, the vassal undertook to provide his lord with economic assistance and advice; The other, for its part, promised him military protection, judicial defense and maintenance, in addition to the lands.
Vassalage was important in medieval society.
Differences with servitude
There should be no confusion between servitude and vassalage. In the first case, the serf was almost a slave and his feudal lord could sell him along with the land he exploited. In vassalage, the link occurred between people of a similar status.
Despite these differences, it is important to note that vassalage was only voluntary in its early days ; As the lords became more and more powerful, they eventually managed to make this regime mandatory , so that no man could choose not to submit to it.
The pyramid of vassalage
Many times the vassals of a lord were, in turn, lords of other vassals. This means that a person could be a vassal with respect to another, but simultaneously have the privileges of lord before other subjects. In this way, a social pyramid was created headed by the emperor or king.
This pyramid , often called feudal or vassalage , represented a network of feudal-vassal or vassal relations, characterized by the promises explained above.
At the top of a feudal pyramid was the emperor, followed by the kings, the high nobility (counts, marquises and dukes), the intermediate nobility (lords) and, finally, the lower nobility (barons, viscounts, knights, infanzones, squires and hidalgos, among others). At each level of the pyramid the size of the fief was also specific, which could cover, for example, a village, a region or an entire region.
The decline of the system
Historians maintain that vassalage began to fall as empires lost power and authority became decentralized. Many fiefs, in this context, became hereditary .
Finally this social relationship dissolved and other types of political and economic ties began to emerge, often governed by the institution known as the market .