The grantee of a fief, feud, or fee; one who holds land of a superior, and who vows fidelity and homage to him; a feudatory; a feudal tenant.
Originally the comitatus of German relations where a man would offer his services in return for the protection of a lord. By the 12th century, these contracts had become more formalized, and a vassal generally sought to closely define the terms of vassalage and to make the relationship hereditary as a way of providing for offspring. During the Middle Ages a vassal was a free man who voluntarily exchanged his service, sometimes military service, in exchange for protection. A vassal swore an oath of fealty to the liege lord, who swore a return oath to defend the vassal. This contract, enhanced by the personal bond of homage, tied feudal relationships together and insured a measure of continuity and predictability, stability that allowed society to grow and develop out of the feudal age.
Free man who held land (fief) from a lord to whom he paid homage and swore fealty. He owed various services and obligations. These were primarily military but he was also required to advise his lord and pay him the traditional feudal aids required on the knighting of the lord's eldest son, the marriage of the lord's eldest daughter and the ransoming of the lord should he be held captive.
one who holds a fief (Latin, vassus == servant")
a person who owes homage to a superior
a subordinate or person who holds land from a feudal lord, receiving protection in return for allegiance
a feudal inferior of tenant or a MESNE TENANT, of a TENANT-IN-CHIEF or of the King.
A person who holds a fief granted by a superior, or lord.
a subordinate or dependent of a lord or kind; one member of the suzerain-vassal covenant popular in the Ancient Near East (NIV Study Bible).
"In the feudal system, one holding lands from a superior on conditions of homage and allegiance; a feudatory; a tenant-in-fee ..." Oxford
A freeman or peasant who owes his loyalty to a lord normally because of land or money.
The holder of a small plot of land from a lord. In return for his services, he received protection from the lord.
A vassal or liege, in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a lord, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fief. By analogy it is applied to similar systems in other feudal societies.