Vassal
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
— In ancient English customs, signified a tenant or feudatary;
— or person who vowed fidelity and homage to a lord, on account of some land, &c., held of him in fee; also, a slave or servant, and especially a domestic of a prince. (Du Cange.) Vassalus (in Scotland) is said to be quasi inferiai' socius, as the vassal is inferior to his master, and must serve him; and yet he is in a manner his companion, because each of them is obliged to the other. (Skene.) The vassal is the person who receives a feudal right; the giver is the superior. (2 Bl. Com. 53.) Jacob. Vassal originally signified a feudal tenant or grantee of land.
It seems doubtf id what the exact relationship was that subsisted between lord and vassal; some writers are of opinion that they stood to each other in the relation of landlord and tenant, and to a certain extent were the companions of each other; while others affirm that the vassal was little better than the slave or bondman of his lord. The state Or condition of a vassal is termed vassalage. (2 Chitt. Bl. Com. 52, note 6.) Broum.