Comparing Medieval Europe And Feudalism Japan

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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

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