Things Your Persona Might Have Known

Homage & Fealty

by Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester

Fealty is the simpler of the two terms. Anyone who held land of a lord or held an office was required to swear fealty, which, simply put, was an expression of loyalty to one's overlord sworn on holy relics, thus invoking divine sanction. Church officials usually swore it to their bishops; even peasants sometimes swore it. Fealty was essentially a one-way transaction; it did not mean that the lord extended protection to the person swearing it or adopted him into his household; rather, it was more of an assurance of obedience. After the swearing of fealty, when property was involved, the lord would often give over some symbolic item-- a clump of sod, perhaps, or a stick-- to signify the handing over of the property. In the case of an office, the symbols of the office would be invested on the officer. Oaths of fealty were frequently renewed.

In contrast, homage was a once-only act between two people. Fealty might be renewed, but homage lasted until one of the two people died. Homage was much more than simple loyalty, for in this ceremony one person "became the man" of another; hence, the name homage, which is derived from the Latin homo or the French homme, meaning "man." The ceremony involved is quite evocative of this very personal bond: the vassal, sometimes kneeling, would placed his clasped hands between the hands of the lord, and declare himself to be the "man" of the lord; then, the two would kiss each other on the mouth (sometimes called the "kiss of peace") as a symbol of accord and friendship. The ceremony of fealty then followed. Homage was a two-way street. The lord extended protection and benefits to those who swore homage; in return, the vassal would render services (often military). As the Middle Ages progressed, homage began to lose some of its meaning and became less and less a personal bond and more and more a political one. As the earlier ideas of homage began to break down and a man might swear homage to several lords, the idea of liege homage developed, starting in about the eleventh century --the idea being that one's liege lord was the one whose homage superceded all others. (in the case of great lords, liege homage to the king was usually required.)

In one place, however, homage did retain a great deal of significance: in relation to the household, or, as it was usually called in the Middle Ages, the familia . The familia consisted of a lord's (or lady's) closest personal servants, household officials, and military personnel, as opposed to the larger group of people who might owe homage and/or fealty. Here homage obviously meant a great deal, since these people's fortunes were closely tied in with those of their lord or lady, and vice versa. The familia of a great magnate could very well number in the hundreds.

What does all of this mean for us, though? Fealty is simple. No personal bond is required. But homage gets hairy. That's why in the Middle, homage is done to the Crown, rather than to a specific King and Queen. (unfortunately, this causes the act of homage to lose much of its personal significance, but the idea is still there). In the Middle Ages, peasants usually did not do homage to the king and seldom did so for their immediate overlord. Knights and gentry might do homage to their lord, but only occasionally to the king. Great barons (earls, dukes, counts, etc.), however, were expected to do homage to their lord. This is why in the SCA, Peers are specially singled out in the homage ceremony. As nobles, their oaths are particularly valued and desired.

I've been talking mostly about public homage and fealty here. In the SCA, other venues for homage and fealty exist, though in more private ways. Squires can swear fealty (and do homage, though they rarely call it this) to their knights; members of households might enter into such relationships, and private fealty and homage might be sworn to one's Baron or Baroness. A caveat, however -- these terms are not jokes. Don't use them unless you know what's involved. Our modern society has pretty much lost the idea of the sanctity of a oath (much to our detriment, I think). You can be loyal without ever involving homage and fealty. For me, these terms are very personal and are not to be used lightly.