Latin West Vs Eastern Empires

A civilization is defined as “an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government have been reached.” During the middle ages, the Latin west and the eastern empires were similar in political, social, and economical aspects. They both had the same reasons to fight in the Crusades, their religions and beliefs both made lasting impacts that influenced our world today, Japan and Europe shared political similarities such as feudalism and social classes, and knights and samurai had the same purpose and followed very similar codes of honor. Both the Latin west and the east are broadly comparable because they show the same core value of a civilization, which is being able to keep order with a successful

As the Qur’an was written in Arabic, it created a common language in the Islamic empire, making communication and trade easier. The economy benefited from the increase in trade which spread goods as well as Islamic ideas, culture, and knowledge. Islam attracted many scholars to big cities like Baghdad, where they studied at the House of Wisdom — a library and academy that included a huge collection of books and manuscripts in a variety of languages. Religion also gave rise to new discoveries such as the invention of the lunar calendar and astronomy because Muslims needed to know the direction of Mecca in order to complete their pilgrimage. Similar to Islam influencing the east, Christianity also shaped medieval Europe. In the Latin west, the Church and the Roman Empire were separate, had two different court systems, and had conflicts with each other over power. Despite the separation, the Church still played a significant role in non religious society. For

Because they both had an aristocratic government and similar social hierarchies, feudal Europe and feudal Japan were socially and politically alike. In Europe, the king was the highest on the feudal pyramid, then nobles and church officials, the knights, and at the bottom were the landless peasants or serfs. There were three types of people in this society; those who fought, those who prayed, and those who worked. Status determined a person’s power and prestige in Europe’s feudal system. Likewise, in Japan’s social hierarchy, the emperor was at the top, then the shoguns, the daimyo, the samurai, and then the peasants and merchants. Both Europe and Japan had societies based on etiquette and a highly refined court. Another similarity in the social pyramid were the knights and samurai — central figures that played important roles in Europe and Japan’s feudal system. The knights were horsemen who worked for the lords and defended their land in exchange for fiefs. They started training as young as seven years old and devoted their entire lives to battle. Samurai literally means “men who serve,” and similar to knights, they were loyal warriors who served their lords and protected their land. Both followed codes that demanded loyalty, bravery, and sacrifice in battle. Knights followed the Code of Chivalry which ordered them to fight bravely in