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In the Germanic society of the first century, followers owed fealty and military service to their chief and, in turn, the chief owed maintenance and protection to them. There was also the oath of fealty by followers in this society. Therefore we can see this relationship as an antecedent of feudal vassalage. This was called comitatus in Germania written by a Roman historian Tacitus. In the Celtic society of the first century BC. There were warriors called ambactus. They followed a chief whose status was cavalier. In ancient Roman society as early as the Age of Kings, there had been the system of clientele. But it was buccellarii that prevailed in the later Roman Empire. This was private armed guards influenced by the Germanic comitatus. We can see in the early Merovingian documents that the ancient forms of vassalage and patronage system continued to exist and was extending to all the sides of Western Europe. But since the middle of the 7th century, although ancient vassalage survived, new developments of vassalage appeared. A rite of creating benefice was arranged. And we witness a change that a lord gave a land to his armed follower for his fealty and military service. But the first half of the 8th century marked the epochal turning point in the formation of feudal vassalage. Pippin II, mayor of the Merovingian palace and his son Charles Martel deprived the Church of vast lands in order to create cavalry on a large scale and granted to their vassals as beneficium to assure their fealty and military service. Thus fief, genuine beneficium which was combined with military service as a cavalier was generated by the initiative of the authorities. (Donga University / gyyee@dau.ac.kr)