fealty
/ˈfiːəlti
/noun [mass noun] historical
1A feudal tenant’s or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord: they owed fealty to the Earl rather than the King...
- The Anglo-Saxons used oaths not only to swear fealty to feudal lords, but also to ensure honesty during legal proceedings and transactions.
- By that I mean a vassal/lord relationship in which the former swears fealty to the latter in return for control of the lands which he owns.
- No, what's important is your unswerving fealty to the Lord.
1.1Formal acknowledgement of loyalty to a lord: a property for which she did fealty...
- In 920 Edmund had accepted Raegnald's fealty and thus acknowledged his status.
- Llwelyn was forced into a humiliating surrender that included relinquishing control over the eastern part of his territory and an acknowledgment of fealty paid to Edward I annually.
- Homage and fealty performed by the great men after the coronation were arguably of greater practical importance than the ceremony itself.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French feau(l)te, fealte, from Latin fidelitas (see fidelity).