Vassal
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
In feudal law. The name given to the holder of a fief bound to perform feudal service. This word was then always correlative to that of "lord," entitled to such service. The vassal himself might be lord of some other vassaL In after times, this word wag used to signify a species of slave who owed servitude, and was in a state of dependency on a su-