involved. As the commendation ceremony expresses submission and
‘homage’done to the Lord, it manifests the proper codes of honour.^52
The commendation is nevertheless a mutual contract between two
free agents. The vassal normally expresses his intention using the
reflexive phrase‘commends himself (se commendat) to the power of
another’.^53 In the act of commendation, the vassal places his hands
between the hands of the lord (se commendare per manus); thus he
‘comes into the hands’of the lord. Other relevant acts include an oath
of fealty (fides,sacramentum) and a kiss.^54
In the religious texts discussed below,commendooften remains the
act of the lord/God since God commends the faithful. Remarkably,
the feudal phrase of the vassal (se commendare) is normally replaced
byagnoscoorrecognosco. This may reflect the warning of 2 Cor. 10:18
not to commend oneself. Thus we obtain a religiouscommendatio,
starting with God‘commending’the servant and continuing with the
servant‘recognizing’God. As in the feudalcommendatio, the lord’s
act of commending is accompanied by benefits or gifts to the servant.
The idea of commendation became pronounced in church law. The
best known examples concern the problematic practice of designating
parishes or other church property for protégéesin commendam, that
is, as a reward that does not require personal pastoral duties but is
taken care of by other tenants.^55 For our study, it is most important to
note that the practices of commending property, giving and receiving
a benefit, and entering a relationship between lord and vassal were
established realities of the medieval period. While our texts are more
concerned with the metaphorical applications of this legal reality, it is
important to be aware of the social practice.
In sum,commendatioexpresses a many-sided but fairly coherent
conception in which people enter into the relationship of lord and
servant. In this relationship, the lord gives and the servant receives
material or immaterial gifts. The event of giving and receiving estab-
lishes an allegiance that can be expressed as a bond between patron
and client or lord and vassal. This allegiance determines the vassal’s
acts even when the lord is not physically present, like the dead person
incommendatio morientumor God in 2 Cor. 10:18. In addition to
allegiance, the act of commendation establishes appropriation or
attachment: the vassal is attached to the benefit granted by the
(^52) Ganshof 1979, 52–3, 72–82. (^53) Ganshof 1979, 66–7, 71–2.
(^54) Ganshof 1979, 26–7, 72–9. (^55) Herman 1996–7.
62 Recognition and Religion