The vassalage pyramid: what was it and what were its parts?

This mode of social division showed the power relations in the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages was an obscure but, at the same time, very complex period with regard to the relations between the social classes. Nobles and clergy established relationships of loyalty between them, with some acting as feudal lords and others as vassals, forming complex pyramids of vassalage..

We will see more in depth what this type of social organization was, how one could become a vassal of a feudal lord and how the system eventually collapsed.

The pyramid of vassalage

The majority system of organization in the Middle Ages was feudalism, especially notorious between the ninth and fifteenth centuries in the western part of Europe.

Feudalism was based on relationships of vassalage, which involved various involved various people paying allegiance to feudal lords and, in turn, these feudal lords paid allegiance to nobles with higher titles, such as kings or emperors.such as kings or emperors.

Thus, medieval society was made up of vassal relations, which formed what has been called the vassalage pyramid.

What exactly was a vassal?

The figure of the medieval vassal was that of a person who was obliged to pay a fief, and offer services to his feudal lord.

This vassal was a subject of a nobleman or a member of the clergy who was, governmentally speaking, above him. The nobleman or ecclesiastic was the landownerThe noble or ecclesiastic was the owner of the land, but allowed other nobles of lower rank to exploit the territory, administer it and inhabit it, as long as he complied with various demands of the feudal lord.

How did one become a vassal?

At the beginning of the Middle Ages being a vassal was an acquired condition. The personal pact that was established between feudal lords and their vassals was made effective by means of a ceremony: the investiture of a vassal.. It was on this occasion when the contract of vassalage was made, it was consecrated and the relationship of loyalty began to take effect.

Although there were regional differences and the ceremony was not always the same, the typical image of this type of celebration was that of the one who became a vassal placing his hands on those of the lord and declaring himself "his man", swearing loyalty and paying homage to him. The alliance was sealed by kissing the feudal lord and, subsequently, the lord symbolized the cession of part of his territory by offering him a handful of land.

It must be said that vassalage, which was voluntary at the beginning, gradually became an obligatory relationship .. That is to say, as the feudal lords became more powerful, with greater military influence and with more capacity to declare any wars they wanted, any nobleman who did not have the due protection of a feudal lord risked being the military target of nobles eager to expand their territories.

• You may be interested in "Serfs of the glebe: what were they and how did they live during the Middle Ages?"

Obligations of the vassal

The vassal had a series of obligations to fulfill towards his feudal lord, obligations stipulated in the form of clauses and conditions during the celebration of the investiture. In case of not respecting them, the vassal relationship could be broken..

Among the main ones was the obligation to offer military assistance in case the feudal lord required it: the shield. In fact, the etymological origin of the word "vassal" indicates literally what its most important function was, since this word is cognate of the Celtic root "wasso", which literally means "young squire". this word is cognate of the Celtic root "wasso", which literally means "young squire"..

The noble vassal had to provide his lord with the necessary soldiers and mercenaries in order to protect the feudal properties, bearing the costs of the feat.

In addition, the vassal had to put at the disposal of his feudal lord all the military forces commensurate with the amount of land and possessions. That is to say, if a vassal was rich and powerful, he had to send the proportional part to the level of wealth that he had obtained.. It must be said that with the passage of time some noble vassals became so rich that they refused to send their soldiers to their lord's wars, compensating him with the equivalent payment in cash.

Another of the vassal's obligations was to give "consilium" to his lord, that is, to advise him economically, politically and legally. Along with this, the vassal had to be present in those situations that his lord so required, situations that could be of all kinds and conditions, such as, for example, pilgrimage to the Holy Land, accompanying him on a trip, taking charge of his castle in his absence...

However, it should be emphasized that the vassal relationship was not unilateral, since the feudal lord had to respect and provide for the needs of his vassal.. Among them were military protection, maintenance, judicial defense, as well as allowing him to exploit the lands he had ceded to him, as long as he paid a tribute for it.

Differences between vassalage and servitude

It is very important to understand the difference between the vassals, who were nobles and members of the clergy, and the serfs of the glebe, who were usually extremely poor peasants, members of what in the Enlightenment would be known as the Third Estate. Although vassalage and serfdom were social relations typical of feudalism, they differed in terms of the rights of both parties.

In vassalage, both parties were usually part of privileged estates, in addition to the fact that a contract was signed.In vassalage, both parties were usually part of privileged estates, and a bilateral contract was signed between equals. Both were free citizens with broadly recognized rights. On the other hand, in serfdom, a feudal lord allows peasants to live on his land, but these peasants must work the land in subhuman conditions. They are not free citizens, they are attached to the land where they live, they cannot leave it, and they are not remotely equal to the feudal lord.

The few differences between servitude and slavery are that in servitude there are some recognized rights, such as the right to marry whomever you want or the right to life. The feudal lord gives them shelter and protection, but they must participate in his feats as soldiers.

Structure of the vassalage pyramid

During the Middle Ages, as the vassalage relations between the different estates of the society of the time took shape, the increasingly complex structure of the vassalage pyramid began to take shape. Roughly speaking, the structure of this pyramid had the following links:

• Emperor and kings
• High nobility (counts, marquises and dukes)
• Middle nobility (lords)
• Lower nobility (barons, viscounts, knights, hidalgos, infanzones and escuderos)

At the top, as long as there was no emperor above him, was the figure of the king who, technically, was the owner of all the lands in his kingdom. Thus, all the nobles who lived in them were below him, offering him loyalty, tribute and soldiers when necessary.

It must be said that the figure of the medieval king is not that of an absolutist king as the European kings of the Enlightenment might have been..... The medieval king, despite being the ruler of his kingdom, did not have absolute control over his lands. Although his noble vassals were obliged to comply with the clauses stipulated during the ceremony of homage, in turn, the rights they had over part of the king's lands meant that the monarch had increasingly limited power.

The rest of the links in the vassalage pyramid were made up of people who were both vassals and feudal lords of other vassals. That is to say, the same person could be subject to the power of a noble of higher rank but, at the same time, have vassals, who were nobles of a lower rank than his own.

The lowest part of society was represented by the common people, especially peasants, who could work for the lands of the nobles.who could work for a lord's lands as serfs. They were not technically vassals, but rather medieval versions of what is understood as slaves.

The End of Vassals and Vassalage

The vassalage pyramid began to collapse at the very top, when Charlemagne's empire faced internal disputes among his heirs in the ninth century. Although the Middle Ages had only begun relatively recently, this was already an indicator of how fragile the structure can be if one of the links disappears, in this case the emperor's. At the same time, these heirs of Charlemagne began to lose power by ceding rights to their vassals.

At the same time, these heirs of Charlemagne began to lose power by ceding rights to their vassals. Thus, and related to what we were commenting before, the kings had a power limited by the existence of the high nobility and, in turn, the high nobility ceded rights to the estates below it. The nobles began to lose the power to untie the fiefs to the vassals, passing from titles that were obtained from the nobility to the vassals.The nobles began to lose the power to untie fiefs to vassals, moving from titles obtained by ceremony to titles obtained hereditarily, without those above them being able to decide freely whether or not to eliminate them.

The dissolution of the bond that the vassals had with their lords was legally legitimized after a few centuries, when the kings were formally recognized as emperors of their kingdoms. The kings were vassals of the pontiff, but not of the emperors.The kings were vassals of the pontiff, but not of the emperors, something that, although it had not been completely fulfilled, was taken for granted in the first centuries of the Middle Ages. The same happened with some members of the nobility, creating states that, despite not being governed by kings, were recognized as independent.

The vassalage pyramid officially collapsed with the arrival of the late Middle Ages, when vassal relations were almost completely dissolved, although the existence of noble titles was respected. The crisis occurred in the 14th century, manifesting itself in the form of a very clear separation between the high and low nobility.. In addition, the figure of the king gained much power, moving towards the absolutist monarchies so characteristic of the Modern Age.

Bibliographical references

• Cantor, N. (1993) The Civilization of the Middle Ages: A Completely Revised and Expanded Edition of Medieval History. Harper Perennial, United Kingdom.