1. FEUDALISMS COMPARED: MEDIEVAL JAPAN AND WESTERN EUROPE

2. 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.

3. TERMS:
LORD, VASSAL, FIEF

4. PAST INFLUENCES FEUDAL EUROPE Christianity Classical Rome
German Heritage
JAPAN
Imperial China
Confucianism

5. RISE OF FEUDALISM In Europe: In Japan:
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

6. POLITICAL STRUCTURES In Europe: Multiple states, fragmented;
decentralized, competing
political entities; multiple loyalties
In Japan:
Centralized, military dictatorship;
no overlapping, multiple loyalties

7. FEUDAL JAPAN

8. FEUDAL STATES
FRANCE
H.R. EMPIRE

9. 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

10. THOSE WHO FIGHT Lord - Daimyo Knights - Samurai Fief - Shugo
Feudalism was a local military solution to a national political reality. Warriors had to furnish weapons, horses
Lord - Daimyo
Knights - Samurai
Fief - Shugo

11. GREAT LORDS DAIMYO Hereditary nobles Independent realms
Local administration
Local justice, taxes
Feudal armies, castles
Constant warfare

12. 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

13. Church owns land, part of government
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

14. THOSE WHO WORK JAPAN FEUDAL EUROPE 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

15. 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.

16. Not monetarized economies
ECONOMICS
BOTH
Agriculture dominant
Not monetarized economies
Manorialism
Self-sufficient
Serfs
Wheat
Shoen
Shoen traded
Peasants
Rice

17. 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

18. URBAN LIFE JAPAN FEUDAL EUROPE Castle towns Guilds
Free cities, leagues
Merchants, guilds
Town charters
Learning centers

19. DIFFERENCES JAPAN FEUDAL EUROPE Emperor, Shogun Centralized feudalism
Religion not in government
Group loyalty
FEUDAL EUROPE
The Pope, the Papacy
Shared common faith
Feudal contract(s)

20. DIFFERENT ENDS EUROPE JAPAN
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

21. 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 ( ) Japan would become increasingly decentralized under feudal civil unrest, The Tokugawa Shogunate ( )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.

22. Comp
From 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,

23. Knight/Samurai - Lord/Daimyo Comparative Feudalism Project
LINKS
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Internet East Asia History Sourcebook
Knight/Samurai - Lord/Daimyo
Comparative Feudalism Project