Feudalism with The Lords and Vassals

934 Words2 Pages

Feudalism is a lord-vassal relation with a fief or as called land. During this time there were many rulers with violent conflicts. The kind of relationship the two men worked out in practice depended on power, wealth, and personal qualities such as ingenuity, daring, and ruthlessness. To avoid discord and violence, lord and his dependant had to constantly negotiate new agreements to deal with each crisis as it arose. There were three points of evidence that supported the relations on security and violent conflicts. The three points are loyalty, land/fief, and power. By the eighth century, the Germanic society of warriors led by chiefs had been formalized into relationships between lords and vassals (The West, pg. 166). Vassals swore loyalty and obedience to their lord, and in return the lord promised to protect his vassal and sometimes granted him land (The West, pg 166). In the disorder of the ninth and tenth centuries, lords gained extensive political and legal rights over the communities in their lands (The West, pg 166). Although in theory feudalism created a hierarchy of authority, in actuality the situation was more complex (The West, pg 166). The lords only called on their vassals to resist invaders. The fief was part of the oath between the lords and the vassals. In my opinion, I believe the relations of lords and vassals fell apart, because of their wealth and power.

The loyalty used between the lords and their subjects were based on dependence. Feudalism transformed kings into the lords of other lords, in which maintaining royal authority was difficult. Kings sought to ensure loyalty by granting favors to loyal vassals and by emphasizing the sacred character of kingship, in the process enhancing the idea of kings...

... middle of paper ...

...iminate the competition. Since the lords were higher on power they put limits on the violent conflicts and the vassals provided security for the lords. The reason of this is so the vassals would get rewards for helping their superiors. If the vassals did not provide security for the lords, then they would be put to death. Count William was very loyal to his word for giving rewards. So many of his vassals did what he asked them to do to receive their just rewards. This goes to show a person how power works during feudal times.

In conclusion, with all the conflicts and chaos going on in the Carolingian Dynasty, it mainly fell apart because of their greed for fiefs. The vassals became to overconfident with greed that they tried to take over one another. Most of the fortress were destroyed because of unresolved conflicts.

Works Cited
The West, page 166

More about Feudalism with The Lords and Vassals

Open Document