Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of vassal.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • With the murder of Maguiguana in 1897, Mamangana fled to the Transvaal along with many other loyal Nguni vassals from the Magude area, leaving his younger brother Xikwembu to reign in his place.

    Where Women Make History: Gendered Tellings of Community and Change in Magude, Mozambique 2005

  • He is fearful in the midst of his state -- fearful of those he calls his vassals -- those he would crush with his iron glove, and wring dry even as a sponge is wrung.

    The Lord of Dynevor Evelyn Everett-Green 1894

  • This seal is of particular interest, for on it were the words 'Yarsahal, the Elder of Shibahm'; and in an inscription published by M. Halévy, we have the two Yarsahals and various members of this family described as vassals of the King of the Gebaniti.

    Southern Arabia Mabel Bent

  • About the end of 1809 the Emperor summoned all the sovereigns who might be called his vassals to Paris.

    Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of Napoleon Various

  • Then the Countess bade him stay, and calling her vassals together, she commanded all to do homage to him, and took him for her husband in presence of them all.

    Stories from Le Morte D'Arthur and the Mabinogion Beatrice Clay

  • Mongolian chiefs, whom the Chinese call vassals or dependent princes, encamp peacefully on the steppes under their eight _bans_.

    From Pole to Pole A Book for Young People Sven Anders Hedin 1908

  • The abbot, who was equal to the occasion, rang his bells, called his vassals to arms and sent a force to seize the gates of the city that gave on the suburb, to prevent reinforcements reaching the scholars; his retainers then attacked the rioters, killed several and wounded many.

    The Story of Paris Thomas Okey 1893

  • It would not be safe for you to return to your estates, until you are in a position to call your vassals to arms at once; for the king, were he to hear that you were at

    Both Sides the Border A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower Ralph Peacock 1867

  • He would jump on his horse, gallop away, and when he reached home he would order the drawbridge hoisted, call his vassals together, and take down his sword from the wall.

    Over Strand and Field Gustave Flaubert 1850

  • About the end of 1809 the Emperor summoned all the sovereigns who might be called his vassals to Paris.

    The Memoirs of Napoleon Bourrienne, Louis Antoine Fauvelet de 1836

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