Fealty

Please observe that this is a personal note. It was also written some time ago (not that my opinions have

changed on this). There are as many different conceptions of Fealty as there are of Chivalry. I believe that my

conception is fairly close to a median West Kingdom opinion. This does not necessarily make it a common one

in Lochac. My qualifications for writing this are that I have, a the time of writing, spent 23 years in the SCA. I

have been a landed Baron and have been a Member of the Order of the Pelican for some 17 years. I have a

Queen’s Order of Grace and a whole pile of other awards. I have also spent a lot of time thinking, talking to

others and arguing about this issue. Whether what I say is right for you, only you can judge.

Fealty, however, is not about the jewellery you wear. For a Landed Baron or Baroness, being in Fealty means

that you are in a direct personal relationship to the Crown. You have a right of access directly to the

Sovereign’s ear and they must listen to you. If they do not at least give you a hearing on an issue, it is them that

is at fault, not you. By the same token, you must listen especially hard when the Crown speaks. You have to

obey their words and advise them. Obedience is, however, not blind. If you see the Crown about to break a

Law, or stumble over a precipice, it is your duty not to follow blindly, but to warn them of the consequences of

their actions (after you have done this, you must still obey them). Because of their habit of advising the Crown

(whether wanted or not), Barons and Baronesses will thus not always be popular with the Crown.

My Lady and I were Peers before we became Landed. We have always held that Peers have a similar

relationship to the Crown. There is a big difference however in that for a Peer, the relationship is a personal one

Note that this cannot be compelled. Such an Oath carries the responsibilities of landed Fealty further down the

chain. This relationship is summed up in the words of the Fealty Oath we used in Ynys Fawr which is (briefly)

modelled on period examples.

Oath-taker(s) “Here do I (name) swear fealty to the Baron and Baroness Ynys Fawr, saving only any Fealty that

I may have to the Crown of Lochac. I swear to defend the Barony by any means within my

power, to obey the lawful commands of the Baron and Baroness, to advise the Baron and

Baroness to the best of my ability, and to act in all ways as a true liegeman ought. This I swear

until I formally revoke this oath or the Baron and Baroness depart from their thrones. So swear I,

(name).”

Baron “In our part we swear to serve and protect you, our liegemen, to regard your council, and promote your

person who has sworn fealty to us has voluntarily assumed some of that burden. By placing themselves in

Fealty, they swear to obey and to act “as a true liegeman ought”. By implication, this includes a care for the

lands of the Barony and the health of the group.

Peers may have other people in fealty to them as apprentices, proteges or squires. Unlike those in Fealty to a

landed person, they swear Fealty to a Lord or Lady as a part of their household. Depending on what is sworn,

this may mean obedience et al. This however is a personal alliegance (note that word) and the liegeman (there

is no ungendered expression) is only responsible for themselves and their acts. This is the text of the oath I use

with my proteges. If anyone wishes this role, they must agree to accept my rules. I rarely ask them do things

‘without question’ and when I do it will usually be ‘read this’ and never ‘clean my dishes’.

you the truth in all matters, to have regard to the welfare of yourself and your house as if they were mine, to

treat you fairly and to teach you as much as I am able.

This I swear to do until this agreement is dissolved, or death takes us, or the world does end.

So say I, Baron Hrolf Herjolfssen, Companion of the Order of the Pelican”

One period example of a fealty oath is 757 AD when Duke Tassilo swore homage to King Pippin:

‘… and he commended himself into vassalage by his hands [se commendans in vasatico per manus] and swore

many, indeed numerous oaths, placing his hands on relics of the saints. And he promised to be faithful to King

Pippin and his aforesaid sons, the lords Charles and Carloman, as by law a vassal [vassus] of right intentions

and steadfast loyalty ought to do, and as a vassal ought to be towards his lords.’ (cited in Pullen p20)

What is more, it is possible to be relieved of your vows. He is one Carolingian list that we may perhaps not

it shall be lawful for his vassal to leave him.’ (cited in Pullen p32). Within the SCA we do see formal

renouncements of vows, but often the association is dissolved more informally and symbolised merely by the

return of tokens of fealty.

In conclusion, the giving and taking of an Oath of Fealty is the voluntary assumption by two parties of a series

of relationships. It is a contractual arrangement and, as such, should never be entered into lightly. Both parties

should be well aware of what they are involving themselves in. There are two levels of these Oaths. One is

personal, to a Peer or the Crown. The other is an assumtion of some of the corporate life of the SCA and as a

member of the group. For those who have thought about what it means, and have had an opportunity to swear

to the Crown or Coronet, the usual response is: “I now really feel a part of the Kingdom”. I hope you have this

opportunity, now, or as a Peer.

World editor Georges Duby (1992) (translated Arthur Goldhammer) Harvard University Press, Cambridge,

Massachusetts, ISBN 0 674 40001 1.

Bloch, Marc, translated L. A. Manyon (1975) Feudal Society, (2 vols) London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Leach, Edmund, S.N. Mukherjee & John Ward (editors) (1983) Feudalism: Comparitive Studies Sydney

Association for Studies in Society and Culture, Sydney ISBN 0 949405 01 9

Pullen, Brian (editor) (1966) Sources for the history of Medieval Europe from the Mid-Eighth to the Mid-

Thirteenth Century Basil Blackwell, Oxford.