A commendation ceremony (''commendatio'') is a formal

ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...

that evolved during the

Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

period to create a bond between a

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

and his fighting man, called his

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

. The first recorded ceremony of ''commendatio'' was in 7th century France, but the relationship of ''vassalage'' was older, and predated even the medieval formulations of a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

class. The lord's "man", might be born unfree, but the ''commendatio'' freed him. When two men entered into a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

relationship, they underwent the ceremony. The purpose of the commendation was to make a chosen person a vassal of a lord. The commendation ceremony is composed of two elements, one to perform the act of homage and the other an oath of

fealty An oath of fealty, from the Latin (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Definition In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fealty" also r ...

. In some countries, such as the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

, the commendation ceremony came to be referred to as

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian kn ...

Etymology

The word vassal ultimately comes from the

PIE A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

root *upo "under". Becoming in the

Proto-Celtic language Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. ...

*wasso- "young man, squire," literally "one who stands under," thence into: Welsh ''gwas'' "youth, servant,"

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

''goaz'' "servant, vassal, man," and Irish ''foss'' "servant". The Celtic word was taken into medieval Latin ''vassallus'' "man-servant, domestic, retainer." In

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th

Act of homage

The would-be vassal appeared bareheaded and weaponless as a sign of his submission to the will of the lord and knelt before him. The vassal would clasp his hands before him in the ultimate sign of submission, the typical Christian prayer pose, and would stretch his clasped hands outward to his lord. The lord in turn grasped the vassal's hands between his own, showing he was the superior in the relationship, a symbolic act known variously as the (Latin), (German), or (Norwegian). The vassal would announce he wished to become "the man", and the lord would announce his acceptance. The act of homage was complete. The physical position for Western Christianity">Western Christian Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic Ch ...

prayer that is thought of as typical today—kneeling, with hands clasped—may originate from the commendation ceremony. Before this time, European Christians prayed in the ''orans'', which is the Latin, or "praying" position that people had used in antiquity: standing, with hands outstretched, a gesture still used today in many Christian rituals. The gesture of homage (though without any feudal significance) survives in the ceremony for conferring degrees at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Eginhard Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; ; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita Karoli Magni'', ...

records the solemn commendation ceremony made to Pippin by Tassilo, duke of Bavaria in 757, ("commending himself in vassalage between the hands" (''in vasatico se commendans per manus''), he swore—and the word used is "''

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

a''"—, placing his hands on the relics of the saints, which had apparently been assembled at Compiègne for the solemn occasion, and promised fidelity to the king and to his sons: the relics touched were those of Saint Denis, Saint Rusticus and Saint Éleuthère, Saint Martin and Saint Germain, a daunting array of witnesses. And the men of high birth who accompanied him swore likewise "...and numerous others", Eginhard adds.

Oath of fealty ceremony

The vassal would then place his hands on a Bible, or a saint's relic, and swear he would never injure the lord in any way and to remain faithful. An example of an oath of fealty (German ''Lehneid'', Dutch ''leenpligt''): "I promise on my faith that I will in the future be faithful to the lord, never cause him harm and will observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit."

Significance of commendation

Once the vassal had sworn the oath of fealty, the lord and vassal had a feudal relationship.

References

*Rouche, Michel, "Private life conquers state and society," in ''A History of Private Life'' vol I, Paul Veyne, editor, Harvard University Press 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Commendation Ceremony Feudalism

Etymology

Oath of fealty ceremony

Significance of commendation

See also

References