Editing Vavasour

{{about|the feudal rank|other uses}}
{{Feudal status}}
A '''vavasour''' (also '''vavasor'''; [[Old French]] ''vavassor'', ''vavassour''; [[French language|Modern French]] ''vavasseur''; [[Italian language|Italian]] ''valvassore'', ''varvassore''; [[Late Latin]] ''vavassor'') is a term in [[feudalism|feudal law]]. A vavasour was the [[vassal]] or [[leasehold estate#History|tenant]] of a [[feudal baron|baron]], one who held his tenancy under a baron, and who also had tenants under him.

==Definition and derivation==
The derivation of the word is obscure. It may be derived from ''vassi ad valvas'' (at the folding-doors, valvae), i.e. servants of the royal antechamber. [[Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange|Du Cange]] regarded it merely as an obscure variant of ''vassus'', probably from ''vassus vassorum'' "[[vassal]] of the vassals".<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Vavassor|volume=27|page=962}}</ref> Alternative spellings include vavasor, valvasor, vasseur, vasvassor, oavassor, and others.

In its most general sense the word thus indicated a mediate vassal, i.e. one holding a [[fief]] under a vassal. The word was, however, applied at various times to the most diverse ranks in the feudal hierarchy, being used practically as the synonym of vassal. Thus [[tenants-in-chief]] of the crown are described by [[Emperor Conrad II]] as ''valvassores majores'',<ref>Lex Lamgob. lib. iii. tit. 8, 4.</ref> as distinguished from mediate tenants, ''valvassores minores''.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Gradually the term without qualification was found convenient for describing sub-vassals, tenants-in-chief being called ''capitanei'' or ''barones''; but its implication, however, still varied in different places and times. [[Henry de Bracton|Bracton]] ranked the ''magnates seu valvassores'' between [[baron]]s and [[knight]]s;<ref>[[Henry de Bracton]], ''De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae'', lib. i. cap. 8, 2.</ref> for him they are "men of great dignity," and in this order they are found in a charter of King [[Henry II of England]] (1166). But in the ''[[regestum]]'' of King [[Philip II Augustus]] of France we find that five vavassors are reckoned as the equivalent of one knight.<ref>[[Philip II Augustus]], ''[[Regestum]]'', fol. 158.</ref> Finally, Du Cange quotes two charters, one of 1187, another of 1349, in which vavassors are clearly distinguished from nobles.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Vavasours subdivide again to vassals, exchanging land and cattle, human or otherwise, against [[fealty]]. - ''Motley''.<!-- rescued from "References" section, but what does this mean, and who is Motley? -->

==In fiction==
* Used as a Christian name (Colonel Vavasour Devorax) in the novel ''A Crowning Mercy'' by [[Bernard Cornwell]] and Susannah Kells (aka Judy Cornwell).
* Used twice as a surname by [[Dorothy L. Sayers]], once in ''[[Murder Must Advertise]]'' (Miss Ethel Vavasour, Jim Tallboy's girlfriend), and once in ''[[Have His Carcase]]'' (Maurice Vavasour, a pseudonym of the murderer).
* Used as a surname by [[John Banville]] in ''[[The Sea (novel)|The Sea]]'' (Miss Vavasour).
* Used in Arthurian Romances, by [[Chretien de Troyes]] in ''Perceval: The Story of the Grail'' (Everyman Classics 1991). "You can say that the vavasor who fitted on your spur taught and instructed you." p.&nbsp;397.
* Vavasor is a surname in Anthony Trollope's ''[[Can You Forgive Her?]]''
* Used in ''[[The Sandman (Vertigo)|The Sandman]]'' graphic novel (1989, issue 10) as well as [[The Sandman (TV series)|its television adaptation]] (2022, episode 7)
* Vavasor is the surname of a ''[[Some Girls (TV series)|Some Girls]]'' character - Holli Jane Vavasor, played by Natasha Jonas.
* Used as the Christian name of Sir Vavasour Firebrace, a proud baronet, in [[Disraeli]]'s ''[[Sybil (novel)|Sybil]]''.
* Used in [[William Morris|William Morris']] [[The Well at the World's End]] where King Peter's subjects are described as "sturdy vavassors" who would not accept "masterful doings".

==In popular culture==
In the 1980s [[TV series]] ''[[The Paper Chase (TV series)|The Paper Chase]]'', Season 2, Episode 16 ("My Dinner with Kingsfield"), Contract Law Professor Charles W. Kingsfield plays the word "vavasor" and earns 60 points in a [[Scrabble]] game with his student James T. Hart while staying at Hart's residence during a snowstorm that has immobilized Kingsfield's car. He defines the word to Hart (who has never heard it before) as a "medieval term for 'tenant slightly below a baron.{{'"}}<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulNNhKnKSEs&list=PLEtwdb0nlBARyUWdIPMVYeurpeVoYrJ-u&index=16 ''The Paper Chase,'' Season 2, Episode 16: "My Dinner with Kingsfield" (YouTube)]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Feu (land tenure)|Feu]]
* [[Mesne lord]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Feudalism in France]]

[[he:ווסור]]