WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -vassal, in feudal society, one invested with a fief in return for services to an overlord. Some vassals did not have fiefs and lived at their lord’s court as his household knights. Certain vassals who held their fiefs directly from the crown were tenants in chief and formed the most important feudal group, the barons.

Detailed explanation-2: -A lord was in broad terms a noble who held land, a vassal was a person who was granted possession of the land by the lord, and a fief was what the land was known as. In exchange for the use of the fief and the protection of the lord, the vassal would provide some sort of service to the lord.

Detailed explanation-3: -In England, the feudal pyramid was made up of the king at the top with the nobles, knights, and vassals below him. Before a lord could grant land to a tenant he would have to make him a vassal at a formal ceremony. This ceremony bound the lord and vassal in a contract.

Detailed explanation-4: -The word “vassal” encompasses a wide range of Medieval social obligations. In essence, vassals were subservient to lords, a situation which could entail farming, fighting or administrative duties, and they could be people of low or high social standing.

Detailed explanation-5: -Depending on the relationship, the vassal of a king could have any number of names or titles. In general, such a person might be referred to as a lord, peer, or nobleman.