FEUDALISM
A series of contractual relationships between the
upper classes, designed to maintain control over
land.
Feudalism flourished between the tenth and
thirteenth centuries in western Europe. At its
core, it was an agreement between a lord and a
vassal. A person became a vassal by pledging
political allegiance and providing military, polit-
ical, and financial service to a lord. A lord pos-
sessed complete sovereignty over land, or acted
in the service of another sovereign, usually a
king. If a lord acted in the service of a king, the
lord was considered a vassal of the king.
As part of the feudal agreement, the lord
promised to protect the vassal and provided the
vassal with a plot of land. This land could be
passed on to the vassal’s heirs, giving the vassal
tenure over the land. The vassal was also vested
with the power to lease the land to others for
profit, a practice known as subinfeudation. The
entire agreement was called a fief, and a lord’s
collection of fiefs was called a fiefdom.
The feudal bond was thus a combination of
two key elements: fealty, or an oath of allegiance
and pledge of service to the lord, and homage, or
an ACKNOWLEDGMENT by the lord of the vassal’s
tenure. The arrangement was not forced on the
vassal; it was profitable for the vassal and made
on mutual consent, and it fostered the allegiance
necessary for royal control of distant lands.
The bond between a lord and a vassal was
made in a ceremony that served to solemnize the
fief. The vassal knelt before the lord and placed
his hands between those of the lord as a sign of
subordination. Immediately afterward, the lord
raised the vassal to his feet and kissed him on the
mouth to symbolize their social equality. The vas-
sal then recited a predetermined oath of fealty,
and the lord conveyed a plot of land to the vassal.
In the seventeenth century, more than three
centuries after the death of this particular social
practice, English scholars began to use the term
feudalism to describe it. The word was derived
by English scholars from foedum, the Latin form
