Feudalism in Europe and Japan Essay

Total Length: 973 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 2

Page 1 of 3

Feudalism and Manorialism in Europe and Japan

Europe and Japan together with other parts of the world experienced a period when politics was decentralized. During this period, loyalty was owed to a lord and combat was part of everyday life. Some of the trends that characterized this period include feudalism and manorialism, which manifested differently despite extending across regions. Feudalism and manorialism were two frameworks in which the Japanese and European medieval culture was developed. While feudalism was an economic structure that influenced how land was managed, feudalism was a social structure that was embedded in an exchange of pieces of land for military service. This paper examines how Europe and Japan dealt differently with feudalism and manorialism. The evaluation is conducted on the premise that while trends may extend across geographical regions, they manifest differently as shown in World History. The Basis for European and Japanese Feudalism As previously indicated, feudalism was a social structure embedded on exchange of pieces of land for military service. Europe and Japan had a feudal system that was commonly known as manor, which influenced the emergence of feudalism. Consequently, the basis for European feudalism and Japanese feudalism was the manor feudal system. The definitive feature of this feudal system that contributed to the rise of European feudalism and Japanese feudalism was land ownership (Stearns et al., p.456).
Japanese and European medieval society was characterized with the existence of land owning castes who determined how nobles or the inferior obtained pieces of land.

Despite the existence of manor feudal system in Europe and Japan, the basis for feudalism in these regions differed significantly. Feudalism in Europe emerged from the remnants of the Western Roman Empire. Following the breakdown of the Roman Empire around 500 CE, Europe was left without a strong centralized government (Stearns et al., p.459). The collapse of the Roman Empire implied that there was no central authority to prevent the emergence of local powers. This contributed to the rise in decentralized organization in Europe, which was the basis for European feudalism. On the contrary, the basis for Japanese feudalism is the dyarchy governance system that characterized medieval Japan. This was a two headed political system in which the emperor acted as the spiritual leader of the society while real power was exercised by feudal leaders i.e. daimyo. Role of Religion and Life of Peasants in Both Regions Religion played….....

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


Works Cited

Carrington, Richard. "Feudalism in Japan & Europe." Prezi.com. Prezi Inc., 06 Dec. 2013. Web. 06 Dec. 2018. .

Snell, Melissa. "The Problem With the F-Word (Feudalism)." Thoughtco. Dotdash, 27 Sept. 2018. Web. 06 Dec. 2018. .

Stearns, Peter N., Michael Adas, Stuart B. Schwartz, and Marc Jason Gilbert. World Civilizations: The Global Experience. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2017. Print.

sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Feudalism In Europe And Japan" (2018, December 06) Retrieved April 24, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/feudalism-in-europe-japan-essay

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Feudalism In Europe And Japan" 06 December 2018. Web.24 April. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/feudalism-in-europe-japan-essay>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Feudalism In Europe And Japan", 06 December 2018, Accessed.24 April. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/feudalism-in-europe-japan-essay