What is the medieval system where a vassal swears loyalty to a lord called?

The story behind the answer

The correct choice names the formal ceremony in which a vassal knelt before a lord, placed his hands between the lord’s hands, and pledged service and loyalty. That ceremony is distinct from fealty (the spoken oath), from feudalism (the broader social system), and from a fiefdom (the land or jurisdiction granted).

It comes from the idea of “becoming the lord’s man” (Latin homo), and typically ended with the kiss of peace, after which the lord invested the vassal with a fief. These public rituals bound power through personal ties, anchoring medieval governance long before impersonal states or written contracts dominated. In tangled politics, a knight might perform this act to several lords, with a single “liege” bond taking priority in conflicts.