Vassal

At the base of the hierarchy, peasants worked the land. They could obtain land to support their families in return for rent and labour on their lord’s land, such as ploughing, planting or harvesting. They were not all knights’ vassals: peasant labour obligations were different from the military obligations linking the higher ranks.

A lord granted land to a vassal, who owed loyalty and service in return. This landholding was called a fief. Someone could be a vassal to a person above them while also being a lord to people below them: a knight might hold land from a baron and grant some of it to peasants.

A lord could grant a fief, or holding of land, to a vassal. The vassal promised loyalty and service in return. The Duke of Normandy was himself a vassal of the king, while nobles within Normandy owed obligations to the duke.