Question

"To William most glorious duke of the Aquitanians, bishop Fulbert the favour of his prayers. Asked to write something concerning of fealty, I have noted briefly for you on the authority of the books the things which follow. He who swears fealty to his lord ought always to have six things in memory; what is harmless, safe, honourable, useful, easy, practicable."
This passage describes:
a. The duties of serfs.
b. The duties of vassals.
c. The duties of the nobility.

Answer 1

Hint: This is an excerpt taken from a letter written by Fulbert of Chartres, who was a religious leader in France in the 11th century to the Duke William V of Aquitaine. Feudal society in France emerged around the 9th and 10th century, it was a system of land ownership. The land was assigned by the King to rich nobles, army commanders, among others.

Complete answer: - This excerpt describes the duties of a vassal towards his Lord.
- In the feudal society, the land was owned by the Lord, who could give his land to anyone he wished. The vassal was a person who was given land by the Lord in exchange for military service. Vassals were knights who provided military support to their Lord when needed.
- Vassal duties in feudal society were mainly of four types: - Military, Court, Taxes and incidents.
Military duties included providing troops to the Lord when needed, it also included working on building fortifications, bridges etc. if needed.
Court times included giving advice to the Lord and providing security when the Lord visited the king.
Tax duties included special tax or aids; the vassals were obliged to aid their Lord with financial aid when needed.
Incidents included allowing the Lord to hunt in his land, and/or housing and feeding the Lord and his party when he visited.

Thus, the correct option is (b).

Note: In the Feudal society, the Lord also had duties towards his Vassal, which included providing him with land or fief, peasants and labourers to work and take care of that land, protect him and give him justice in his court. By 1789 however, the feudal system was abolished in France by the National Assembly citing the miserable and chaotic conditions the peasants had to endure.