Editing Vassal (section)

== European vassalage ==
In fully developed vassalage, the lord and the vassal would take part in a [[commendation ceremony]] composed of two parts, the [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] and the [[fealty]], including the use of Christian sacraments to show its sacred importance. According to [[Eginhard]]'s brief description, the ''commendatio'' made to [[Pippin the Younger]] in 757 by [[Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria]], involved the relics of [[Saint Denis of Paris|Saints Denis, Rusticus, Éleuthère]],  [[Martin of Tours|Martin]], and  [[Germain of Paris|Germain]] – apparently assembled at [[Compiegne]] for the event.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.noctes-gallicanae.org/Charlemagne/Annales/Pepin_le_Bref.htm |title=at |publisher=Noctes-gallicanae.org |access-date=2012-02-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091205213132/http://www.noctes-gallicanae.org/Charlemagne/Annales/Pepin_le_Bref.htm |archive-date=2009-12-05 }}</ref> Such refinements were not included from the outset when it was time of crisis, war, hunger, etc. Under feudalism, those who were weakest needed the protection of the knights who owned the weapons and knew how to fight.

Feudal society was increasingly based on the concept of "lordship" (French ''[[Fiefdom|seigneur]]''), which was one of the distinguishing features of the [[Early Middle Ages]] and had evolved from times of [[Late Antiquity]].{{NoteTag|The Tours formulary, which a mutual contract of rural patronage, offered parallels; it was probably derived from Late Antique [[Gallo-Roman]] precedents, according to Magnou-Nortier 1975.}}

In the time of [[Charlemagne]] (ruled 768–814), the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the main form of wealth at that time. Contemporaneous social developments included agricultural "[[manorialism]]" and the social and legal structures labelled — but only since the 18th century — "[[feudalism]]". These developments proceeded at different rates in various regions. In [[Merovingian]] times (5th century to 752), monarchs would reward only the greatest and most trusted vassals with lands. Even at the most extreme devolution of any remnants of central power, in 10th-century France, the majority of vassals still had no fixed estates.<ref>
Ganshof, François Louis, ''Feudalism'' translated 1964</ref>

The stratification of a fighting band of vassals into distinct groups might roughly correlate with the new term "[[fief]]" that had started to supersede "benefice" in the 9th century. An "upper" group comprised great territorial magnates, who were strong enough to ensure the inheritance of their benefice to the heirs of their family. A "lower" group consisted of landless [[knight]]s attached to a [[count]] or [[duke]]. This social settling process also received impetus in fundamental changes in the conduct of warfare. As co-ordinated [[cavalry]] superseded disorganized [[infantry]], armies became more expensive to maintain. A vassal needed economic resources to equip the cavalry he was bound to contribute to his lord to fight his frequent wars. Such resources, in the absence of a money economy, came only from land and its associated assets, which included [[peasant]]s as well as wood and water.