The lord-vassal system found it’s genesis in feudalism, the system in which lords who ruled granted land and protection to nobility in exchange for mostly military service and loyalty, but also other needed services. These landowners were known as vassals and with their sworn fealty to their king would help expand and maintain the lord’s land. The epic: The Song of Roland showcases the lord-vassal relationship through the lens of two main vassals and their fidelity to their king, King Charles. The epic makes an example of each and the ways in which their actions are considered good and evil. Roland, one of the vassals is used as an example of a good brave vassal with loyalty to the king. While Ganelon is portrayed as evil and wicked for his actions against the king. In Geary, Readings in Medieval History, Volume 1: The Early Middle Ages Fifth edition, A letter that a mother, Dhuoda, wrote to her son, William, is examined in how the mother held many concerns for her son as he was serving as a vassal for King Charles the Bald. The mother writes of the many qualities that make a fine vassal and of the qualities and actions that should never be had or done. In both of these texts the lord-vassal relationship is regarded as a great honour and is almost on the same level as serving God.
In regards to being a good vassal, Dhuoda finds this to be a matter of loyalty above all other traits as she warns her son of the news she had heard about all of the vassals who had rebelled against their lords and of the repercussions they faced. She writes to him saying that he should “be steadfastly and completely loyal to [King Charles] in all things.” Dhuoda argues that the reason for this is simply a matter of appeasing God “as Scripture tells, all honor and authority are given by God”, therefore it is in her son’s best interests to appease God and by that token his lord that he is bound to. In this it can be interpreted that wisdom is one of the keys for a vassal to retain as only making the most wise of decisions can result in a good vassal. The Song of Roland holds a similar portrayal of what it is to be a good vassal as can be seen in the way that the king addresses his vassals at their meeting. When he tells one of them to “‘Go and be seated on [the] white silk cloth; [and to] not say another word, unless [he] bid [them] to’” and the vassal does as he is told, the reader is given a clear picture as to the kind of person a vassal must be. A good vassal is also one who will carry out any order no matter how reckless or foolish it may seem to them, as was the case for Ganelon who was nominated by Roland to meet King Marsile and when Roland said he would go in his place Ganelon proclaimed ‘“You will not go in my place; You are not my vassal and I am not your lord. Charles orders me to carry out his mission. I shall go to Marsile in Saragossa; I shall perform this somewhat reckless act, Before giving vent to my great wrath.”’ Despite Ganelon’s obvious discomfort with the mission before him, he boldly proclaims that it is his duty as a vassal to go and carry out the mission that his lord gave him as any good vassal should. It can be seen through these two texts that the qualities of a vassal remain the same, requiring one who is brave, one who is wise, and above all one who is loyal.
A bad vassal holds those values and qualities opposite that of a good one, resulting in a disloyal man who is not considered to be very wise and is most evil and cowardly. Dhuoda describes these bad vassals in writing to her son as examples of foolish men who go against their lords. Dhuoda describes such actions as “the madness of treachery” and she begs her son to never allow such madness to befall him, as for those that are disloyal are talked about in the most shameful manner and she did not wish for her son to slander his name. Ganelon was one such man who allowed “the madness of treachery” to overcome him and he committed treason resulting in the death of Roland. Ganelon was portrayed as someone one truly evil with the author even going as far as to call him “The evil Ganelon”, such rhetoric is used to skew the way the reader sees Ganelon and input the authors own bias into the story thus creating an example of a bad and evil vassal out of a man who was sent away by Roland and was justly upset with him. This results in a muddling of the term bad vassal as Ganelon despite being loyal to his king was disloyal to a fellow vassal that the king favored and was thus deemed a bad vassal. The epic gets around this idea by painting Ganelon in a truly terrible light and makes it hard for the reader to see the true actions of either side. Therefore the term bad vassal as described by Dhuoda does not truly encompass Ganelon’s actions and places him in the unique position of a false antagonist that is not a true evil vassal as his loyalty to his king is never called into question.
The lord-vassal relationship is one that is portrayed to be a black and white one in which the vassal is subservient to the lord and is always loyal to him, thus making him a good vassal and if he is not then he is a bad vassal. It is idealized as being a perfect system without any real flaws and if one believes flaws exist it is chalked up to it being the fault of a bad vassal. The Song of Roland shows the reader that such a system is quite flawed. Roland and Ganelon are meant to portray two sides of the same coin and this is done through the heroitization of Roland. This is the only reason that Ganelon looks to be the other side of said coin, but in reality they are just two people serving a man who has far too much power for one individual, who is making decisions that are never deemed wrong or immoral by others and thus anyone who is against him is evil in his eyes.
Sources
Burgess, Glyn S. The Song of Roland. Penguin Books, 2003.
MLA (Modern Language Assoc.)
Geary, Patrick J. Readings in Medieval History, Volume I : The Early Middle Ages, Fifth Edition. Vol. Fifth edition, University of Toronto Press, Higher Education Division, 2016.
APA (American Psychological Assoc.)Geary, P. J. (2016). Readings in Medieval History, Volume I : The Early Middle Ages, Fifth Edition: Vol. Fifth edition. University of Toronto Press, Higher Education Division.