homage

(noun)

In the Middle Ages this was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position.

Related Terms

Examples of homage in the following topics:

  • Aztec Religion

    • Some of the most central deities that the Aztecs paid homage to included:
    • Losers of the game were often ritually sacrificed as an homage to the gods.
    • Every level of Aztec society was affected by the belief in the human responsibility to pay homage to the gods and anyone could serve as a sacrificial offering.

  • Bureaucracies and Formal Groups

    • An illustration made in homage of the original painting by René Magritte depicting the faceless men that comprise bureaucracies.

  • Cambodian Art

    • Classical dance of the royal court used for invocation, for entertainment, and to pay homage;
    • It is performed for invocation of deities and spirits as well as to pay homage to royalty and guests.

  • Feudalism

    • This was done at a formal and symbolic ceremony called a commendation ceremony, which was composed of the two-part act of homage and oath of fealty.
    • During homage, the lord and vassal entered into a contract in which the vassal promised to fight for the lord at his command, while the lord agreed to protect the vassal from external forces.

  • The Republican Party

    • The party's founding members chose the name "Republican Party" in the mid-1850s as homage to the values of republicanism promoted by Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party.

  • Danish Intervention

    • Christian IV receives homage from the countries of Europe as mediator in the Thirty Years' War.

  • New Guinean Wood Carvings

    • A bisj pole is a ritual artifact that can be erected as an act of revenge, to pay homage to the ancestors, to calm the spirits of the deceased, and to bring harmony and spiritual strength to the community.

  • The Election of 1924

    • The party that went forward with Davis in 1924 was decidedly Wilsonian, as clearly indicated by the published party platform that read in part, “We, the representatives of the Democratic Party, in national convention assembled, pay our profound homage to the memory of Woodrow Wilson.”

  • Arabian Cities

    • Up to the 7th century, this journey was undertaken by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine and drink from the Zamzam Well.

  • Expansion Under the Umayyad Caliphates

    • Although the Umayyad Caliphate did not rule all of the Sahara, nomadic Berber tribes paid homage to the caliph.