Fealty

Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste.

For the journalist, see Mick Fealty.

"Oath of Fealty" redirects here. For the novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, see Oath of Fealty (novel).

An oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a religious object such as a Bible or saint's relic, thus binding the oath-taker before God.

In medieval Europe, fealty was sworn between two people, the obliged person (vassal) and a person of rank (lord). This was done as part of a formal commendation ceremony to create a feudal relationship.

Fealty and homage are a key element of feudalism. Under the feudal system, the smallest unit of land a fief could own was called a fea or fee, giving rise to the term freehold.

The term is also used by English-speakers to refer to similar oaths of allegiance in other feudal cultures, as with medieval Japan.

See also: homage