An oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a religious object such as a Bible or saint's relic, often contained within an altar, thus binding the oath-taker before God.

In medieval Europe, fealty was sworn between two people, the obliged person (vassal) and a person of rank (lord). This was done as part of a formal commendation ceremony to create a feudal relationship.

Fealty and homage are a key element of feudalism.

The term is also used by English-speakers to refer to similar oaths of allegiance in other feudal cultures, as with medieval Japan, as well as in modern political contexts.

Tom Vasel (born on September 8, 1976) is a well known podcaster and reviewer of board games. Vasel co-hosts a long-running and popular gaming podcast titled The Dice Tower, and as of 2011^[update] has posted over 1200 reviews on the internet database BoardGameGeek.

As of August 2003^[update], Vasel taught mathematics at the International Christian School in Uijeongbu. He assumed the role of Pastor of Uijongbu Baptist Church, succeeding Pastor Rick Kelley in March 2007. After leaving South Korea, he has worked as a teacher in Florida.

Since May 2005, Vasel has co-hosted The Dice Tower, a podcast about board games and wargames. Originally, Vasel represented players who prefer designer games, while Joe Steadman advocated for those who prefer wargames. Steadman left the show in May 2006 after the 50th episode. Vasel, hosting alone with occasional input from Sam Healey for a few shows, rearranged the format to include recorded segments by guest reviewers and players. Gradually Healey began to take a larger role and was eventually promoted to co-host. Healey has since left the show and been replaced by the show's voice-over man, Eric Summerer.

Mick Fealty (born 1959) is a blogger and communications consultant and founding editor of the Northern Ireland-based blog Slugger O'Toole.

Fealty was born in Belfast and grew up in Holywood, County Down, but now lives in Dorset, England. He was blogger in residence for The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper and is an occasional contributor to the The Guardian newspaper's Comment is Free site.

He has also written for The Irish Times, The Financial Times, The Observer, Prospect Magazine, the Sunday Independent and Belfast Telegraph. He was a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Governance at Queen's University Belfast between December 2004 and August 2008.

He works as a consultant on online engagement and works with a range of public, voluntary and private sector organisations. He has given talks for London-based Editorial Intelligence, the US Institute of Medicine, the Reuters Institute at Oxford University, and the UTV.

Publications include: A Long Peace: the future of Unionism in Northern Ireland (2003); Public Diplomacy, Cultural Interventions & the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California (2009).