The societies of Tokugawa Japan (c.1603-1867C.E.) and medieval Europe (c.1000-1500C.E.) had two things in common; a feudal system. A feudal system is something that features hierarchies or social structures. The feudal system normally starts with a religion, which is at the very top of the social pyramid, then it’s the King or monarch for Europe and the shogun for Japan, then there are the nobles for Europe and the daimyos for Japan. As we go down the pyramid there are the warriors, like the knight in Europe and the samurai in Japan, then there are the peasants. The peasants were included in both eras and are at the lowest part of the pyramid.
In the 1500s and the 1600s the feudal system was beginning to fall. Different countries were trying new different types of governments instead of the dysfunctional feudal system. The feudal system consisted of many different nobles ruling over their own land. It was not a uniform system of ruling over the country. There were small city-states run by a singular ruler.
As merchants travelled from city to city in Europe and in the Middle East, they had to change money from one currency to another. Manorialism was a huge aspect of economic in Europe. It is the name for the organization of the economy in the Middle Ages. The economy relied mainly on agriculture. Manorialism describes how land was distributed and who profited from the land.
The Middle Ages was a period that lasted from about 500 to 1500(OI). There were kings and queens, nobles, knights, and peasants (Doc. 1). People were treated and respected differently according to their class(OI). There were special relationships and responsibilities that everyone had. In the Middle Ages feudalism affected people’s lives economically, socially, and politically.
One of the most important part of Feudal society the oath of Homage and Fealty. The Oath of Homage and Fealty required many things from both the lord and his vassal. The vassal was required to give the king, which he was declaring loyalty to, a certain set of obligations(Nelson). This would provide system between the vassal and the lord that allowed for a smooth economy to run because both the vassal and the king benefit and they have a system of trade. The vassal also had their own set of vassals called sub vassals, that were obligated to give to the vassal in return for a few things.
The Middle Ages was a time that was greatly influenced by a feudalistic society, which led to the power struggle between England and France and the inequality between men and women. The idea of Feudalism,
To begin, both societies were built on hereditary classes where in most cases, children were only allowed to pursue the profession of their parents before them. This allowed for very little social mobility in between the social classes. In these societies, kings and emperors were at the top of the hierarchy. During the Norman feudalistic period, the kings would parcel out land to faithful nobles, in return, the nobles promised the king loyalty, this required the nobles to follow a set of obligations: all nobles had to serve in the military for a certain amount of days every year, nobles were to supply the king with additional knights and soldiers in times of war, nobles were to serve in the kings court and give them advice on political power, and finally, nobles must give the king money on certain occasions. On the other hand, in the Japanese Feudalistic society, powerful samurai armies were raised and trained by local lords of small plots of land.
But, people in Feudalism had more rights and were allowed to do more things than in Caliphate. Even though Islamic Caliphate allowed people to move to other muslim lands, people were able to do most anything they wanted to do in Feudal Europe. Sometimes peasants had to get permission to do things like marry, but they were usually able to do a lot of things. An example of the more rights people could get would be between women in Caliphate and female serfs in Feudalism. Women in Feudal times were able to help with the work and didn’t have to stay at home all of the time and take care of kids.
The political system of England during the Middle Ages was well organized in structure, such as the feudal system, law and order, and the roles in each of the three courts. First, the government in England during the Middle Ages was generally based around the feudal system, which kept the country in secure and in order. It was the basis by which the upper class kept control over the lower class. The very top of the feudal system was the king who was the top leader in the land. The king could not control the entire land all alone, so he divided it up by granting lands or “fiefs” to his most important nobles: his barons, and his bishops.
Medieval England was ruled by a feudal system which ruled over the nobility and peasants. The peasants were underfunded farmers who could barely afford food and the land they lived on. In contrast, the lords of the land lived an aristocratic and luxurious lifestyle. The difference between was gigantic, but how gigantic was it?
Feudalism is a political, economic, and social system based on loyalty, the holding of land and military service. Local Lords formed a strict code of behavior and allegiance which became the foundation of life. On the other side of the world both Europe and Japan developed the Feudalism system due to weak centralized government, lack of resource, shared political value and more. Both of these systems are similar, but at the same time different. In both systems warriors strictly obeyed the code of conduct as a way of life.
During the Middle Ages a new system of government arose; this was called Feudalism. Feudalism came to be, many centuries after the fall of Western Rome in 476. With Western Rome destroyed the Western people couldn’t defend themselves without any form of government shielding them. So, they came up with a government which was Feudalism. The people who created Feudalism were Norman’s which were people from the French Territory, Normandy.
Land owning lords offer area (called a fief) to knights in return for their loyalty and guarantee to protect the lord’s land. Lords constructed castles to shield their territory from outside intrusions. The manorial system is the way in which individuals survive. The lord’s land is called a manor. The lord provides peasants with lodging, farmland, and security.
Middle ages often cited as era which lasted from 500 to 1500 was an amalgamation of classic and modern era. It was a period which was highly dominated by wealthy and powerful people and double standards occurred quite often. During medieval Europe, rural area and people (noblemen and bishops) were under the power of system visionary and scholars called 'feudalism'. The feudal system(society) worked on the parameters of kings, who granted a piece of land called 'fiefs' to noblemen and bishops. Landless peasants who were known as 'serfs' performed most of their work on fiefs like producing and harvesting seasonal crops and grains.
The system of feudalism during the Middle ages allowed the lords and owners of the land to tax the people of their trades. As trades increased taxes became excessive. A single person had no chance of making any objections to the amount of tax the lord demanded. The idea of merchants was created, and this was the promise that they would be the most powerful. The merchants were extremely important in maintaining the economy of the town they worked in.
