The relationship between Lords and Vassals is an important aspect of “The song of Roland”. It is required for understanding time period because it helps explain the hierarchy of the middle ages. Lords being of higher level and their vassals underneath them, the success of the Lords was dependent on the loyalty of their vassals. The text provides many different examples of the Lord and Vassal relationships, which allows the reader to understand the functionality of these partnerships.

While it may seem that the relationship between Lords and Vassals is strictly between human characters, God was also directly involved. Charlemagne even included that God can grant rewards or deem punishments on the basis of loyalty above others. Within the world of this text, to be a vassal was the most honorable role for any man and serve a worthy lord, and interestingly enough since most believed that Charlemagne was chosen by God, that meant that the vassals of the time were serving not just Charlemagne but also God himself. Also during this time, there was no unity between Muslims and Christians but the relationship of Lords and Vassals was ultimately a unifying factor. Without this small unity between the two, history would be very different. It is also important to know that if these partnerships had not existed, everything would crumble because of it. Society in the Song of Roland is surrounded by this idea of partnership and without it, it would not have been the same as there would be  no support for people of greater powers.

Throughout the book, it explains the roles and duties of a vassal. At first it is described that a vassal must be of utmost loyal to his Lord, but it gets more specific later on as far as their duties and responsibilities. It is said by the baron that “A good vassal will never cease to fight as long as he lives”. The count then describes the hope of other vassals saying “may you never belong to a man who would flee before anyone! A very good vassal have wielded you this longtime; never will there be another such in the free land of France”. It is this hope that each vassal praises a Lord of such high accordance and that also the vassal is strong and will never subside on his duties. Later on King Charles recounts his own vassals fighting for him saying “I am so sad on account of all my vassals who have lost their lives for me that I would I were dead”. This helps amplify the importance of these figures in history as it went all the way up to the highest of all classes which was King Charles. Without his vassals, he would have not gotten to where he was in history. A Syrian later describes the Kings loyal vassals saying “We have seen the proud King Charles. His men are resolute and they will not fail him. This represents the presence that the kings good men gave him as it helped him in the public eye. Everyone knew that his vassals were loyal and would protect him at all costs, which ultimately made others more afraid.

Roland specifically is the main vassal of this story. He is the great warrior and is the perfect vassal to his Lord who is the head of the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne. It is even said from Charlemagne that Roland is “a fighter, there’s no vassal like him under the vault of heaven”. An example of pledging his strong allegiance to Charlemagne is when Oliver begs him to blow the horn to receive help in the midst of battle and Roland refuses. He responds to Oliver saying “may it not please God and his angels and saints to let France lost its glory because of me. The emperor loves us when we fight well”. He knew that he could not betray the ruling of his Lord and thus he could not blow the horn even if it meant better results. Another big example of Roland being the perfect vassal appears in the midst of a trap between Ganelon and Charlemagne. Roland of course would do anything for Charlemagne at any cost and so after the dropping of the glove and the ultimate trap that Ganelon performed, he refuses to call for help in the defense of the king. As presented, the reader can tell that Ganelon and Roland are very different as regards to being vassals. Every vassal must be absolutely loyal to his Lord and in return he will receive the Lord’s favor. Ultimately, Ganelon betrayed Charlemagne and on the other hand Roland kept his loyalty until the very end.

In “The song of Roland”, it is described that each vassal was to “pay court” to his Lord and this was achieved in many different ways. He was to listen to complaints, settle disputes, receive embassies, and pretty much anything else that required thoughts and discussion involving his Lord. The support not only came from one side, as these relationships were always intertwined. A lord was to treat his vassals with respect and honor just as they did to him. An example of this would be asking a vassal for advise and then rejecting it, that would be of poor choice on the Lord because that would not be respecting his vassal as he should. These relationships were unbreakable, and they should be without fail. While most of the book reflects on the importance of the vassal being loyal, it is also important to know that it was not all one sided.

Without the strong relationships of Lords and Vassals, history would have been very different. “The song of Roland” helps stress the importance of these close ties and helps the reader understand the hierarchy of the middle age. Without texts like this, it would be hard to understand society back then and be able to read into how people of high power worked together and defended their titles. In this text, the relationship is portrayed as one full of loyalty and of a bond that cannot be broken. It is also expressed as such societal importance as when one would have great vassals such as Charlemagne, others would know and could be more fearful because of it. This text gives readers great insight into hierarchies back then and how it all came together and succeeded.