FEUDALISMS
COMPARED:
MEDIEVAL JAPAN
AND WESTERN
EUROPE
WHAT IS FEUDALISM?
Political and economic system in
Medieval Western Europe, Zhou
China, and Shogunate Japan
whereby a lord grants lands and
protection to a vassal in exchange
for loyalty, military service.
TERMS:
LORD, VASSAL, FIEF
PAST INFLUENCES
FEUDAL EUROPE
Christianity
Classical Rome
German Heritage
JAPAN
Imperial China
Confucianism
RISE OF FEUDALISM
In Europe:
External invasions; ineffectiveness,
lack of national, centralized authority;
arose prior to 1000 CE; dead by 1500 CE
In Japan:
Isolation of emperor, his family in capital;
Rivalries between Court nobility, provincial
lords and clans; arose around 1100 CE,
died with Meiji Restoration in 1867 CE
POLITICAL STRUCTURES
In Europe:
Multiple states, fragmented;
decentralized, competing
political entities; multiple loyalties
In Japan:
Centralized, military dictatorship;
no overlapping, multiple loyalties
FEUDAL JAPAN
FEUDAL STATES
FRANCE
H.R. EMPIRE
FEUDAL
SOCIETY
Social hierarchy based on noble
aristocracy, land ownership, birth;
social divisions based on types of
labor, gender; society
largely rural with few
cities; 3 major classes
THOSE WHO FIGHT
Feudalism was a local military
solution to a national political
reality. Warriors had to
furnish weapons, horses
Lord - Daimyo
Knights - Samurai
Fief - Shugo
GREAT LORDS
DAIMYO
• Hereditary nobles
• Independent realms
• Local administration
• Local justice, taxes
• Feudal armies, castles
• Constant warfare
CODES OF CONDUCT
Bushido and Chivalry
Samurai means servant;
bushido means Way of
the Warrior; be loyal, fight,
die for lord; koku payment
Chivalry derived
from Cheval (horse)
- knights furnished own
horse, armor; paid; defend women,
church, poor, fight as last resort
THOSE WHO PRAY
JAPAN
Numerous faiths: Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism
Zen Buddhism became samurai favorite
Clergy, faith only had limited influence
FEUDAL EUROPE
Age of Faith: Church, Pope paramount
Church owns land, part of government
Church administers education, social welfare
Church leadership open to all classes, women
THOSE WHO WORK
JAPAN
Peasants produce food
Possessed some rights to land
Villages self-governing
Protected by daimyo, samurai
FEUDAL EUROPE
Serfs = lowest class
1/3 to 1/5 of produce to lord
Few rights, often did not own land
Often used as soldiers
GENDER ROLES
FEUDAL EUROPE
Aristocratic women isolated,
marginalize in roles. If woman
managed land, became nun, acquired rights.
JAPAN
Aristocratic women were more equal
to husbands; owned land without male
interference; could inherit, sue;
samurai women encouraged to fight.
ECONOMICS
BOTH
Agriculture dominant
Not monetarized economies
Manorialism
Shoen
Self-sufficient
Serfs
Wheat
Shoen traded
Peasants
Rice
THOSE OUTSIDE
Towns, Merchant, Artisans:
In Europe, became wealthy and
influential - defied the system. In
Japan, considered lowest class gained some influence under
Tokugawa Shoguns
URBAN LIFE
JAPAN
Castle towns
Guilds
FEUDAL EUROPE
Free cities, leagues
Merchants, guilds
Town charters
Learning centers
DIFFERENCES
JAPAN
Emperor, Shogun
Centralized feudalism
Religion not in government
Group loyalty
FEUDAL EUROPE
The Pope, the Papacy
Shared common faith
Feudal contract(s)
DIFFERENT ENDS
EUROPE
Monarchs asserted authority: taxes, weapons
Commerce, middle class ended feudalism
Fratricidal warfare decimated aristocracy
Charters(grant of overseas territories) , advisory parliaments expanded
JAPAN
Feudalism ended voluntarily
Feudalism remained strong throughout
Ended as a result of West, Meiji Restoration
Samurai, culture absorbed into mainstream
By the 15th Century
Europe
Japan
Kingdoms became increasingly
centralized( England, France,
Spain and Portugal)
Italian city-states( Venice,
Florence, Genoa, Milan) became
the center of Mediterranean trade
(Spice trade)
A new spirit of exploration led
many new alternative routes of
exploration and would be financed
through new banking institutions
New culture would transform
Western Europe into a rebirth or
Renaissance
Would be increasingly isolated and withdrawn from
world trade
Under various shogunates (1185-1603) Japan
would become increasingly decentralized
under feudal civil unrest, The Tokugawa
Shogunate (1600-1868)would finally centralize
Japan in the port of Edo (now Tokyo) where
they would close their doors (Toku go-away) to
foreigners and forbid Japanese from leaving.
This would limit Japanese technological
progress while the “West” became more
powerful . The ports would eventually
be “opened up” bt the “West” in
1857.
Comp
From 600-1450 in both Japan and Western Europe, the lack of a centralized government led
To the rise of a system where landed aristocracy would exchange land for military protection
For loyalty and service (feudalism), both would lead to the rise of a militaristic warrior class
(Samurai and knight) whose code of loyalty (Bushido and Chivalry) would emphasize the importance
Of discipline and honor in warfare. Western Europe, however, would be dominated by the hegemony
Of the Roman Catholic Church leading the decline of feudalism due to the Crusades and the trade it
Brought to Western Europe. Japan, however, would have multiple faith of Neoconfucianism, Taoism
And Zen Buddhism seamlessly blending with the indigenous Shintoism to remain isolated by
The Tokugawa Shogunate until forcibly open by the United States’ Matthew Perry in 1857,
LINKS
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
Internet East Asia History Sourcebook
www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/eastasiasbook.html
Knight/Samurai - Lord/Daimyo
www.smith.edu/fcceas/curriculum/berkwood.htm
Comparative Feudalism Project
http://www.ccsd.edu/south/social/feudalism.html