Medieval Europe began to rise around the sixth century, and feudalism in Japan began around the twelfth century. Medieval Europe took a lot of inspiration from different empires before and around them, such as Rome and Greece. Japan, on the other hand, was an isolated country that took minimal inspiration from other civilizations because of its location; the only place they selectively borrowed from was China. Despite the distance and different influences, medieval Europe and feudalism Japan are similar in many ways, such as the way they chose to govern their societies using the feudal system and the relationships of their rulers. An opposing view of this could be that medieval Europe and feudal Japan are not as similar because of their contrasting …show more content…
Both civilizations relied on the feudal system with a heavy emphasis on loyalty. The rulers were on top, then the nobles (daimyo), knights (samurais), and peasants at the bottom. In the feudal system, each group contributed to society; knights and samurais, for example, offered protection and loyalty, and in return, they received land and food. In both societies, for the feudal system to work, they had to rely on loyalty; the knights and samurai were especially heavily focused on this. Knights would often pledge their loyalty to a noble and protect their land. Similarly, the samurai would pledge their loyalty to the Shogun rather than the Daimyo and serve their masters until they died. Both societies depended on loyalty for feudalism to work. This was an effective way for society back then because of the stability it provided to both civilizations. Another similarity that these two societies share is the relationship between the rulers. The king and the Pope were competing for power to the same extent as the emperor and the shogun. In medieval Europe, both the King and the Pope claimed they had the authority to rule over each …show more content…
The emperor acted more as a figurehead and a puppet for the Shogun, rather than a ruler. Like the Pope, the emperor had religious power but didn’t have the support of the army; however, the emperor was not overthrown because people believed he was a descendant of the Sun God. This was comparable to the Pope since people believed he had close connections with God which gave him a lot of power and prevented anyone from harming him. One notable contrast between feudalism in Japan and medieval Europe was their religion. Medieval Europe was mostly Catholic and only believed in one god; they had a Pope who would give sacraments that allowed people to get into heaven. Without the Pope to perform these sacraments many believed they would not get into heaven, so the people were heavily reliant on the Pope to guide them into Heaven. In contrast, Japan’s religion is a mix of Shintoism and Buddhism. They believed in multiple gods and spirits in nature called kami. Unlike in Medieval Europe, Japanese people didn’t believe in Heaven or an afterlife since they believed in
“Feudalism was a political and economical system in Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century.” Japan also had time periods that can be called feudal age including: Heian, Kamakura and Tokugawa. Medieval Japan shared a lot of similarities with medieval Europe, however, there are also many differences. One of the differences is their warriors who played vital roles fighting for their country in both Europe and Japan. In medieval Europe they had knights, and in medieval Japan they had samurais. European knights and Japanese Samurais were different in training, armor, weaponry, true values and codes.
European feudalism was based on contract and Japanese feudalism was based on personal relationship with the lord and vassal. This helps prove that the differences between European and Japanese feudalism made limited government more likely to develop in the West because a contract limits what the lords and vassals could do. William, the king of English, said, “I command you [the vassal] to summon all those who are under your charge......and bring ready with you those five knights that you owe me[.]”1 This helps prove that European feudalism was based on contract because when you owe someone something, it implies an agreement. The key terms are I command you and owe. The vassal has to send troops because he has to. He is under the rule of his lord. The lord tells his vassal that “[H]e will perform everything [that] was in [their] agreement [because] [he] submitted himself to him and chose his will.”2 This helps prove that European feudalism was based on a contract because a contract implies an agreement. The vassal chose the lord himself, so therefore, the vassal is under the lord's rule and needs to follow the agreement. On Japan's view of feudalism, their feudalism wasn't based on contract. On page 122 and 124 of The Tale of Heike, it implies personal relationships with the lord and vassal. “Despite his predicament, [the lord] still thought of [his vassal].”3 When the lord dies, the vassal kills himself saying, “For whom do I have to fight now?”4 This helps prove that Japanese feudalism was based on a personal relationship with lord and vassal because the lord and vassal actually cared for each other. Even through major problems, the lord and vassal's actions showed how close their relationship was with each other. Also on page 5...
Feudal Japan and Feudal Europe had similarities and differences. Both Feudal Japan and Feudal Europe had professional warriors, for Japan it was the samurai, and for Europe the knights. They both had religious beliefs such as Buddhism and Christianity. Japan was an island and was isolated, whereas Europe wasn’t isolated nor an island. Feudal Japan lasted from 1185-1603, while Feudal Europe lasted from the 9th to the 15th centuries.
For many years, Japan kept themselves distant from the western world and by the 1600s, foreigners had been excelled and Christianity was
Hard and soft, day and night, girl and boy. These are all differences but one that is not mentioned is samurai and knights. Japanese emperors and the imperial court was challenged by the rise of clans. Like Europe, Japan found itself in pieces. In turn, nobles trained warriors who, in exchange for farmland or food and lodging, swore to be loyal to the nobles and to defend them. The warriors from Europe were called knights. The warriors from Japan were called samurai. From 1000 to 1600 CE in Japan and Europe, samurai and knights were the muscle and the soul of the warrior class. Critics may argue samurai and knights are very similar but in reality, they have more differences. They different because of their loyalty and honor, and their training
The samurai were the feudal warriors of ancient Japan. For thousands of years they upheld the code of bushido, the way of the warrior. Samurai were around for thousands of years, but when did they disappear? Does the code of bushido still exist to this day? Exploring the history of the samurai will give an explanation to what has happened to these formidable warriors.
The top structure of the society includes the Shoguns, Daimyos and Samurais. ‘Shogun’ was the title granted by the Emperor to Japan’s top military commander (Web-japan.org, 2013). Initially Emperors controlled the country but over time Shoguns became more powerful than the Emperor and took over the whole government, the Shogun was generally the real ruler of the country until 1867 when feudalism was abolished (Web-japan.org, 2013). Daimyos were the lords and their roles were to manage and maintain the law, collect taxes and aiding in armed forces for the Shogun (Ask.com, 2013). Samurais were the members of the military class, they were the warriors of traditional Japan. The roles of the Samurais were to protect and serve their daimyos or lords usually in wars (Answers.yahoo.com, 2013).
Tokugawa and his politicians created some policies to keep japan from rebelling and try to control over the society. They divided the feudal lords into three categories: Fudai, Shimpan and Tozama daimyos.
Feudalism helped large land owners protect their land from Germanic invaders and Vikings. In Feudalism the Nobles promised to help fight the kings enemies. The King gave land to nobles under him. The Nobles were called Vassals of the King and the Vassals fought for their King and other Nobles who were Knights. A serf was someone who farmed the lands and serfs had to pay rent and taxes to nobles. The King gave fiefs that were large land grants to Vassals. Vassals also gave fiefs to Knights and Knights gave protection to serfs. Knights were heavily armed soldiers who rode horsebacks. The manor was isolated. Mostly all of the people in the Feudal system lived on the manor which included the castle, church, village, and the surrounding farm land
Feudalism is a system of land ownership and duties that were used in the Middle Ages. Under feudalism, all the land in a kingdom was the king's. However, the king would give some of his land to the lords or nobles who fought for him. Rulers in all society wanted to create law and order and ensure that people make good use of the society’s resources. That is why feudalism was created. Monarchs had to accept limits on their own personal power. They also needed to respond to expectations that other groups in society have a say in decision-making. People began to use medieval courts for problems that had previously been solved by trial by combat.
Everyone had a place in a feudal society. Below the Monarchs were the most powerful lords-Dukes and Counts- who held the largest fiefs. Each of these lords had vassals in turn they had their own vassals. Sometimes a lord was also a vassal to a more powerful lord but had less powerful ones below him. Because vassals often held fiefs from more than one lord feudal relationships grew very complex. A vassal who pledged loyalty to several lords could have serious problems if his lords quarreled with one and other.
Because they were on the completely opposite sides of the globe, the Spanish Encomienda system and the Japanese Feudalist system were remarkably different. Two differences were that the Japanese Feudalist system had one person at the top, in sharp contrast with the Spanish Encomienda which had a group of people at the top and another was that the Spanish Encomienda system divided its society by ethnicity, not simply by power as did the Japanese. One parallel between the two hierarchies was that foreigners were placed at the bottom of the hierarchy in both Japanese and Spanish societies. Because the Japanese and Spanish societies had almost no contact with one another due to the geographical distance between the two, they are for the most part, completely different apart from a few nuances.
I believe we can all agree that Japanese samurais and European knights are two of the most skilled and famous forms of warriors in history, right? Well both warriors began their trade at a very young age, and went through multiple stages of training throughout their lives. They both had a code of honor basically, but they differed from one another in quite a few ways. The big question is, “Were the similarities greater than the differences?”. Right off the bat I began to ponder the technicalities of the answer to this question. Before I get too scrambled up in the technicalities, let’s discuss some these differences and the similarities and figure out how this plays out. Before we conduct this discussion, let’s review our key terms. A clan is a group of close-knit and interrelated families. Feudalism was a political and economic system that flourished in Europe from the 9th to the 15th century, based on higher classes giving random services and items in exchange for something else. Knights were men who served their lord as a mounted soldier in armor. Samurai’s were members of a powerful military social class in feudal Japan. A shogun was a hereditary commander-in-chief in feudal Japan. Chivalry was the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code. Bushido was the code of honor and morals developed by the Japanese samurai.
Common law duty of care In English tort law, an individual may owe a duty of care to another, to ensure that they do not suffer any unreasonable harm or loss. If such a duty is found to be breached, a legal liability is imposed upon the tortfeasor to compensate the victim for any losses they incur. Generally, a duty of care arises where one individual or group undertakes an activity which could reasonably harm another, either physically, mentally, or economically. Where an individual has not created a situation which may cause harm, no duty of care exists to warn others of dangerous situations or prevent harm occurring to them; such acts are known as pure omissions, and liability may only arise where a prior special relationship exists to necessitate
Although scholars dispute its roots, Feudalism was mostly seen in Frankish lands around the 9th and 10th century. ("Feudalism: History of Feudalism in Europe." Infoplease.) The system was first introduced as a means of protection for the king. However, as time grew the opportunity to use it as means of exchange for services between the king and vassal was found. Instead of just forcing people into the king’s army the idea of giving fiefs to those who would pledge their life to service the king was decided on. Likewise, vassal, or the knights saw the advantages they had that could be used to their advantage.