At the fall of the Roman Empire people were desperate for security. People turned to each other and began to live in small communities called manors. Manors were isolated from each other and had to sustain themselves without outside assistance. The manor was the center of feudal life. Another important aspect of feudal society was the church because everyone was a part of the church. To provide order in a feudal society a hierarchy was formed.
At the top of the hierarchy was the king. Kings claimed to be vassals of God which gave them a great deal of power over their kingdom. The king gave out his land to lords who maintained the land for him. In exchange for this land they were expected to fight for the king and protect him in times of war. Lords did not have as much power as the king and the king could revoke their land at any time so they must appease him to keep their power. Below the lords were vassals who normally fought for the monastery. Vassals were near the bottom of the hierarchy and were the foundation for feudal society. They lived to serve their lord and had very few rights, if any. Vassals were normally the warriors and fought to help their lord keep control of his monastery. At the low end of the social scale were poor vassals who lived in small homes clustered around the manor. This cluster of homes was similar to a small village. Everyone in this hierarchy had a job that was important to the success of each manor.
There were six things that vassals had to swear to abide by towards their lord. First was harmless, meaning that the vassal must not harm his lord in his body. Vassals must not reveal secrets or in the fortifications by which his lord is able to be safe. Also, vassals must be honorable towards their lord, not harming him in affairs which are seen to pertain to his honor. Next is a vassal must be useful and helpful. Easy and possible are the last two, so that vassals do not make anything difficult that which his lord could easily do and do not make anything impossible that is difficult.