FEUDAL SOVEREIGNTY
The basis of feudal society was usually the landed estate. Here lived the feudal noble, surrounded by dependents over whom he exercised the rights of a petty sovereign. He could tax them; he could require them to give him military assistance; he could try them in his courts. A great noble, the possessor of many estates, even enjoyed the privilege of declaring war, making treaties, and coining money. How, it will be asked, did these rights and privileges arise?
FEUDAL TENURE OF LAND
Owing to the decay of commerce and industry, land had become practically the only form of wealth in the early Middle Ages. The king, who in theory was absolute owner of the soil, would pay his officials for their services by giving them the use of a certain amount of land. In the same way one who had received large estates would parcel them out among his followers, in return for their support. Sometimes an unscrupulous noble might seize the lands of his neighbors and compel them to become his tenants. Sometimes, too, those who owned land in their own right might surrender the title to it in favor of a noble, who then became their protector.
THE FIEF
An estate in land which a person held of a superior lord, on condition of performing some "honorable" service, was called a fief. At first the tenant received the fief only for a specified term of years or for his lifetime; but in the end it became inheritable. On the death of the tenant his eldest son succeeded him in possession. This right of the first-born son to the whole of the father's estate was known as primogeniture. [4] If a man had no legal heir, the fief went back to its lord.
VASSALAGE
The tie which bound the tenant who accepted a fief to the lord who granted it was called vassalage. Every holder of land was the vassal of some lord. At the apex of the feudal pyramid stood the king, the supreme landlord, who was supposed to hold his land from God; below the king stood the greater lords (dukes, marquises, counts, and barons), with large estates; and below them stood the lesser lords, or knights, whose possessions were too small for further subdivision.
PERSONAL SERVICES OF THE VASSAL
The vassal, first of all, owed various services to the lord. In time of war he did garrison duty at the lord's castle and joined him in military expeditions. In time of peace the vassal attended the lord on ceremonial occasions, gave him the benefit of his advice, when required, and helped him as a judge in trying cases.