vassalage
/ˈvæsəlɪdʒ/
noun
- The state or condition of being under the control or authority of a more powerful person, group, or country.
- Many workers felt trapped in a kind of economic vassalage to their employers.
- The treaty reduced the once-independent nation to a state of vassalage.
- The small kingdom was forced into vassalage by its powerful neighbor.
- In medieval times, the relationship between a lord and a person who served him and received land or protection in return.
- The knight swore an oath of vassalage to his king.
- In the feudal system, vassalage was a formal bond of loyalty and service.
- Land grants were the foundation of vassalage in medieval Europe.
- A group of people who are under the authority of a lord or ruler.
- The king summoned his vassalage to prepare for war.
- The entire vassalage gathered to pay tribute to the emperor.
- The lord's vassalage included both knights and peasants.
Synonyms