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Vassals were people who had entered into a feudal contract with their lords. As part of the feudal contract, each was required to protect the other. Usually, this meant the vassal gave military support to the lord, but the lord was obliged to support the vassal in the event that the vassal was attacked. In exchange for military support, the vassal got a fiefdom or land grant, which was an estate from which he could get an income.
The feudal system is described by the Feudal Pyramid, which has four basic elements, the king, the lords, the common vassals, and the serfs. It is called a pyramid because each layer was supported by a much larger group that supported it, down to the serfs. The term vassal is sometimes applied only to those below the lords, but the lords were vassals.
The lords or lesser lords
In the feudal system the vassal gives loyalty, labor, and sometimes taxes or a portion of his harvest to his lord.
work the fields
Vassals were people who had entered into a feudal contract with their lords. As part of the feudal contract, each was required to protect the other. Usually, this meant the vassal gave military support to the lord, but the lord was obliged to support the vassal in the event that the vassal was attacked. In exchange for military support, the vassal got a fiefdom or land grant, which was an estate from which he could get an income.
Vassalage is the relationship between the feudal lord and his vassal. Kings had higher lords as vassals, and higher lords had lower lords as vassals. The practice was called subinfeudation.
Lord granted fief to a vassal for military protection and other goods. :)
The feudal system is described by the Feudal Pyramid, which has four basic elements, the king, the lords, the common vassals, and the serfs. It is called a pyramid because each layer was supported by a much larger group that supported it, down to the serfs. The term vassal is sometimes applied only to those below the lords, but the lords were vassals.
The King is usually highest, but then there are Barons and Earls, who are all considered 'lords' of their castle/estate.
The lords or lesser lords
A vassal is someone in a feudal system who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch.So while a warrior in feudal Japan might be someone's vassal, the word vassal does not define him as a warrior.
Feudal tenants are the folks who rent betterments from a feudal landlord.
The vassal was a fat man with a purple beard that had five pounds of spaghetti in his fanny pack
The Feudal lord provides the Vassal with land. The Vassal, in return, vows to fight for the Feudal lord, or serve him in various ways. The serfs who are mostly poor will be needing protection as well as a place to live in (err-- land). Thus, the serfs are usually required to pay taxes or till the vassal's land or serve the vassal. The reciprocal relationship between the feudal lord, vassal, and serf shows that neither can live without the other. Land, on the other hand, is given much importance because a thousand years ago, everybody wanted/needed land. (Territory was a necessity)
In the feudal system the vassal gives loyalty, labor, and sometimes taxes or a portion of his harvest to his lord.
The feudal ceremony in which a vassal received land from a lord was called an investiture. Chivalry was the code of conduct developed by the feudal nobles.