What is another word for vassals?

Pronunciation: [vˈasə͡lz] (IPA)

Vassals were an integral part of medieval society, serving as feudal subjects of a lord or monarch. However, there are several synonyms that can be used to describe vassals, each with varying connotations. One common synonym for vassals is serfs, which typically refers to a peasant who was bound to a lord's land and obligated to work for them. Another synonym is liegemen, which has a more chivalrous tone and refers to a sworn warrior or knight who pledged their loyalty to a lord. Other synonyms for vassals include retainers, subjects, minions, and even slaves in some contexts. Each of these words provides a different perspective on the complex web of relationships that defined feudal society.

What are the paraphrases for Vassals?

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What are the hypernyms for Vassals?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

Usage examples for Vassals

For if that were so, what chance was there for Dawes, in the power of one of Cetywayo's savage vassals?
"The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley"
Bertram Mitford
It shall appear also that these early settlers must have brought along many foreign tribes, as auxiliaries, vassals or slaves.
"The American Nations, Vol. I."
C. S. Rafinesque
The 4 castes of Indians are distinctly found in nearly all the civilized nations, often modified into priests, nobles, vassals and slaves.
"The American Nations, Vol. I."
C. S. Rafinesque

Famous quotes with Vassals

  • The other classes of which society was composed were, first, freemen, owners of small portions of land, independent, though they sometimes voluntarily became the vassals of their more opulent neighbors, whose power was necessary for their protection.
    Thomas Bulfinch
  • There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.
    John Swinton
  • The Virginians are said to pride themselves upon the peculiar tenderness with which they visit the sceptre of authority on their African vassals.To give liberty to a slave before he understands its value is, perhaps, rather to impose a penalty than to bestow a blessing; but it is not clear to me that the southern planters are duly exerting themselves to prepare the way for that change in the condition of their black populations which they profess to think not only desirable but inevitable.
    Frances Wright
  • Reality is the beginning not the end, Naked Alpha, not the hierophant Omega, Of dense investiture, with luminous vassals.
    Wallace Stevens

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