Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/471

 The Age of Disorder ; Fetcdalism 40 1 Section 6j. Neighborhood Warfare in the Middle Ages One has only to read a chronicle of the time to discover that The feudal brute force governed almost everything outside of the Church, tafned'oniy^ The feudal obligations were not fulfilled except when the lord was ^^ ^°^^^ sufficiently powerful to enforce them. The oath of fidelity was constantly broken, and faith was violated by both vassal and lord. It often happened that a vassal was discontented with his The breaking lord and transferred his allegiance to another. This he had bon/ a right to do under certain circumstances, as, for instance, when his lord refused to see that justice was done him in his court. But such changes were generally made merely for the sake of the advantages which the faithless vassal hoped to gain. The records of the time are full of accounts of refusal to do homage, which was the commonest way in which a vassal re- volted from his lord. So soon as a vassal felt himself strong enough to face his lord's displeasure, or when the lord was a helpless child, the vassal was apt to declare his independence by refusing to recognize as his lord the one from whom he had received his land. We may say that war, in all its forms, was the law of the War the law feudal world. War formed the chief occupation of the restless ^^orjd nobles who held the land and were supposed to govern it. An enterprising vassal was likely to make war upon each of the lords to whom he had done homage ; secondly, upon the bishops and abbots with whom he was brought into contact, and whose control he particularly disliked ; thirdly, upon his fellow vassals ; and lastly, upon his own vassals. The feudal bonds, instead of offering a guarantee of peace and concord, appear to have been a constant cause of violent conflict. Every one was bent upon profiting by the permanent or temporary weakness of his neigh- bor. This chronic fighting extended even to members of the same family ; the son, anxious to enjoy a part of his heritage immediately, warred against his father, younger brothers against