The personal relation between lord and vassal was established by the double ceremony of homage and fealty. Homage was the act by which the vassal made himself the man (homo) of the lord, while fealty was the oath of fidelity to the obligations which must ordinarily be assumed by such a man. The two were really distinct, though because they almost invariably went together they finally became confounded in the popular mind. The details of the ceremonies varied much in different times and places, but, in general, when homage was to be performed, the prospective vassal presented himself before his future seigneur bareheaded and without arms; knelt, placed his hands in those of the seigneur, and declared himself his man; then he was kissed by the seigneur and lifted to his feet. In the act of fealty, the vassal placed his hand upon sacred relics, or upon the Bible, and swore eternal faithfulness to his seigneur. The so-called "act of investiture" generally followed, the seigneur handing over to the vassal a bit of turf, a stick, or some other object symbolizing the transfer of the usufruct of the property in question. The whole process was merely a mode of establishing a binding contract between the two parties. Below we have: (a) a mediæval definition of homage, taken from the customary law of Normandy; (b) an explanation of fealty, given in an old English law-book; (c) a French chronicler's account of the rendering of homage and fealty to the count of Flanders in the year 1127; and (d) a set of laws governing homage and fealty, written down in a compilation of the ordinances of Saint Louis (king of France, 1226-1270), but doubtless showing substantially the practice in France for a long time before King Louis's day.
Sources—(a) L'Ancienne Coutume de Normandie ["The Old Custom of Normandy">[, Chap. 29.
(b) Sir Thomas Lyttleton, Treatise of Tenures in French and English (London, 1841), Bk. II., Chap. 2, p. 123.
(c) Galbert de Bruges, De Multro, Traditione, et Occisione gloriosi Karoli comitis Flandriarum ["Concerning the Murder, Betrayal, and Death of the glorious Charles, Count of Flanders">[. Text in Henri Pirenne, Histoire du Meurtre de Charles le Bon, comte de Flandre, par Galbert de Bruges (Paris, 1891). Translated by Edward P. Cheyney in Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints, Vol. IV., No. 3, p. 18.
(d) Les Établissements de Saint Louis ["The Ordinances of St. Louis">[, Bk. II., Chap. 19. Text in Paul Viollet's edition (Paris, 1881), Vol. II., pp. 395-398.
(a)
Homage is a pledge to keep faith in respect to matters that are right and necessary, and to give counsel and aid. He who A Norman definition of homage would do homage ought to place his hands between those of the man who is to be his lord, and speak these words: "I become your man, to keep faith with you against all others, saving my allegiance to the duke of Normandy."
(b)
And when a free tenant shall swear fealty to his lord, let him place his right hand on the book[318] and speak thus: "Hear thou this, my lord, that I will be faithful and loyal to you and will keep my pledges to you for the lands which I claim to hold of The oath of fealty you, and that I will loyally perform for you the services specified, so help me God and the saints." Then he shall kiss the book; but he shall not kneel when he swears fealty, nor take so humble a posture as is required in homage.
(c)