| 释义 |
vassalage, n.|ˈvæsəlɪdʒ|
Forms: α. 4– vassalage (7 -adge, -edge, 8 vasalage), 5–7 vassallage, 5 vassol-, 6 vassailage; 4–5, 7 vasselage (4 vassh-, 5 vess-), 4, 7 vassellage (6 vasell-), 5 vaisselage; 6 Sc. vaslage, -lege. β. 5 wasselage; Sc. 5 wassolage, waslage, 5–6 wassalage, 6 -edge, wassallage, wassilaige.
[a. OF. vassal(l)age, vas(s)elage, vessalaige, etc. (F. vasselage), f. vassal vassal n. So Prov. vassal-, vasselatge, Sp. vasallage, Pg. vassallagem, It. vassallagio, med.L. vassallagium.]
1. a. Action befitting a good vassal or a man of courage and spirit; prowess in battle, warfare, or other difficult enterprise. Obs. exc. arch.
α1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4610 Whan he wendyþ to þe tournament She..byt hym do for hys lemman Yn vasshelage alle þat he kan. 1338― Chron. (1810) 188 Gentille of norture, & noble of lynage, Was non þat bare armure, þat did suilk vassalage. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1671 Riȝt as he wil let it be do, for þat is vassalage. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 12873 Kyng Sarpedoun Was in his tyme a stalworth man, A noble knyȝt of vasselage. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 54 To count all the vasselage that thare was done on ayther syde, it war mervaile to here. c1477Caxton Jason 34 b, Our defendour..whiche hath only in him self more of vaisselage than is in alle Esclauonye. 1508Dunbar Poems vii. 10 Welcum..incomparable knight, The fame of armys, and floure of vassalage. 1565in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 204 And maynie made knightes that never showde anye greate token of their vasellage. 1567Satir. Poems Reform. iv. 141 Deianira hir husband Hercules..Brocht to mischeif, for all his vassalage. 1825Scott Betrothed xxi, Were I to choose some knight of name,..he would be setting about to do deeds of vassalage upon the Welsh.
ironical.c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1667 (Hypsipyle), And of Iason this is the vassellage That in hise dayis nas ther non i-founde So fals a louere goinge on the grounde.
β1375Barbour Bruce i. 290 He had a sone..Þat wes þan bot a litill page; Bot syne he wes off gret waslage. Ibid. x. 268 He knew his worthy wassalage. c1500Lancelot 2708 Thar schew the lord sir ywan his curage, His manhed, & his noble wassolage. c1550Rolland Crt. Venus i. 171 He..in the Net of wanhoip had bene tane, Quhilk causit him want baith welth & wassallage. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 153 He was of tender aige and could not wse no wassaledge nor feit of weiris.
†b. A brave or chivalrous act; a noble or gallant exploit. Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12331 Me þynkeþ hit were no vasselage, Þre til on; hit were outrage! 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 10606 Record off folkys that be sage, Sclaundere ys no vasselage. c1470Henry Wallace i. 158 Thus he conteynde in till hys tendyr age; In armys syne did mony hie waslage. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 887 For that war na wassalage, sum men wald say. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 118 Ane gret navie..landit in orknay and thocht to haue done sum wassallage thair. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1840) I. 23 The Erll of Morray..rejoisit michtellie at this vassalage done be his men. Ibid. 182 The barronis..left the houss, thinking it no vassalage to stay whill thay war slayne.
transf.1570Satir. Poems Reform. xiii. 132 His Fatheris murther also ȝe cleirly knew, Myschantly hangit, ane wickit vassalage.
†c. Pre-eminence, supremacy. Obs.—1
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 176 Is noon so greet encress Off world tresour, as for to live in pees, Which among vertues hath the vasselage.
2. The state or condition of a vassal; subordination, homage, or allegiance characteristic of, or resembling that of, a vassal.
1594Nashe Terrors of Night Wks. (Grosart) III. 266 Much more may I acknowledge all redundant prostrate vassailage to the royall descended Familie of the Careys. 1605Camden Rem. 4 Acknowledging no superiours, in no vassalage to Emperour or Pope. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iv. 182 He was a worthy man in his generation, had not his vassalage to the Pope ingaged him in cruelty against the poor professors of the truth. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 252 Let us not then pursue..our state Of splendid vassalage. 1709Steele Tatler No. 46 ⁋2 The only Part of Great Britain where the Tenure of Vassalage is still in being. 1756Nugent Gr. Tour, Germany II. 15 The peasants are all in a state of vassalage to the nobility. 1774Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 294 Tyranny more often than protection was the attendance on their vassalage. 1807G. Chalmers Caledonia I. iii. iv. 347 They acknowledged their vassalage..by receiving rulers, from the Scandian peninsula. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 461 That they had no right..to reduce to vassalage the native Princes, who had always been treated..as independent. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiii. 312 William's vassalage for England will be still more nominal than his vassalage for Normandy.
attrib.1791Paine Rights of Man 82 Submission is wholly a vassalage term, repugnant to the dignity of Freedom.
b. In semi-personified use.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. ii. 40 Like vassalage at vnawares encountring The eye of Maiestie. 1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. ix. 410 For trewe kinges this inscribe of soveraigntie, that vassalage backe startes at maiestie.
c. In the phrase to hold (lands) in vassalage.
1747Carte Hist. Eng. I. 195 Who being tired with beating Cerdic consented at last that he should hold a great part of the west of him in vassalage. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. I. ix. 186 The prince..offered..to hold his kingdom in vassalage under the Crown of England. 1791T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 284 Several good families held their estates in vassalage of feudal Chiefs.
3. Subjection, subordination, servitude; service. Freq. const. to.
a. To a person or persons.
1595T. P. Goodwine Blanchardyn ii. Ded., [A] most worthy Patrone; to whose vasselage..bountifull rewardes haue bound me during life, in all obseruancie. 1604T. Wright Passions v. §4. 231 Man is bound both by nature, grace, gratitude, vassaladge..to loue, honour, and blesse thee. 1622Wither Philarete (1633) K j b, Who, beforetime held in scorne, To yeeld Vassalage, or Duty, Though unto the Queen of Beauty. 1793Burke Obs. Conduct Minority Wks. 1842 I. 626 This insolent claim of superiority on their part, and of a sort of vassalage to them on that of other members. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 1 How our country, from a state of ignominious vassalage, rapidly rose to the place of umpire among European powers. 1878N. Amer. Rev. CXXVII. 100 The revelation it makes of the condition of the solid South; its continued vassalage to the reckless and dangerous class.
b. To some influence, esp. of a detrimental kind.
1612T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 14 It must worke in vs a..watchfulnes against all sinn, which bringeth such vassaledge vpon vs. 1665Glanvill Def. Van. Dogm. 13 An attempt to redeem the free-born spirits of Men, from an unworthy vassallage to so stigmatiz'd an Authority. 1742Blair Grave 598 Human Nature groans Beneath a Vassalage so vile and cruel. 1767Dr. Dodd Poems 8 Princes..unfortunately great, Born to the pompous vassalage of state. 1833Lytton Godolphin 24 All round bore the seal of vassalage to Time. 1849Coleridge Shaks. Notes (1875) 126 The subservience and vassalage of strength and animal courage to intellect and policy. 1871Lowell Pope Pr. Wks. 1890 IV. 11 English literature..showed the marks..of an artistic vassalage to France.
4.
†a. The authority of a superior in relation to a vassal. Obs.
1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 140 Lots, Sales, Homages, rights of Vassalage, Forrests, Ponds, Rivers. 1670Devout Commun. (1688) 81 How many slaves under the vassallage of an enemy fare better than thou! 1681H. Nevile Plato Rediv. 37 This Vassallage over the People, which the Peers of France had, being abolisht.
b. An estate or fief held by a vassal.
1855Milman Lat. Chr. ix. viii. IV. 190 The Countship of Foix, with six territorial vassalages.
5. A body or assemblage of vassals.
1807Wordsw. White Doe ii. 30 But now the inly-working North Was ripe to send its thousands forth, A potent vassalage, to fight In Percy's and in Neville's right. 1826Blackw. Mag. XX. 416 The assembled vassalage were all still as death. 1849J. Grant Kirkaldy xx. 230 Kirkaldy, whose garrison was probably recruited from his own vassalage.
Hence † ˈvassalage v., = vassal v. Obs.
1648Royalist's Defence 38 Refusing to acknowledge it His duty to bee governed by them His Subjects, and..to vassalage unto those Rebels Himselfe, His Royall Posterity, and all the rest of the people. 1662R. Mathew Unl. Alch. 59 What man labouring to fulfil his desire, is not ten times further off by being vassalag'd more thereunto? |