VALVASSORE. — Usually it means “vassal of a vassal,” but the term has had a somewhat different value according to the times and places. In Italy, etymologically, the *valvassori* were the *vassi vasorum*, that is, the vassals of the king’s vassals, those who in the 10th century were called *milites secundi ordinis*.
However, in the Edict *De beneficiis* of 1037 by Conrad II, mention is made of our *maioribus valvasoribus et eorum militis*, that is, those vassals who in the same document are called *seniores* in competition with their *milites*; then Conrad II also makes a distinction between *maiores valvasores* and *minores valvasores*: the affairs of the *maiores* are resolved before the king’s tribunal, those of the *minores* before the tribunal of the *seniores*. Thus one speaks of the *usus maiorum valvasorum* in giving their horses and arms to their *seniores*. Therefore, after the bishops, abbots, marquises, and counts, there is a feudal class that is divided into *valvasores maiores* and *valvasores minores*. The former are those who later appear under the name of *capitanei*, while the latter more properly retain the name of *valvassore*. In the *Consuetudines feudales* of the 12th century, after March 4, the *minores* more properly retain the name of *valvassore*.
VALVA and SULMONA, DIOCESE OF. — Crypt of the Cathedral (11th century).