Feudalism in Europe took place during the Middle Ages, and Feudal Japan occurred during the Kamakura, Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods Feudalism in Europe was a time when knights would fight each other to save the land of their lords, and in Japan, the samurai would do the same in honour of their daimyoi Japanese and European feudalism shared numerous similarities as well as some differences. Strict social classes in both civilizations held almost identical roles, and this meant that people had different ranks in society. Feudalism was not only a political system of protection, but also a period of development in both regions, Feudal Europe, which took place during the Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, and Late Middle Ages, began to progress after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Initially, in 768, after Clovis, a Frankish ruler of the Roman Gaul in 486, died, Charlemagne took over and built a European empiret Charlemagne established new laws, helped spread and strengthen. Christianity, and traveled often throughout the kingdom to ensure that the counts ruled justly. Although Charlemagne was a very successful ruler, Frankish kings were not very powerful, and did not have absolute power. Furthermore, there were different ranks in Feudal Europe; the king was at the top, and then came the wealthy landowners and church members, followed by the knights, and lastly the serfs, who were people who lived and worked on land belonging to a lord or a vassal (knights). As a matter of fact, feudalism in Europe emerged as a way for kings and nobles to hold onto their land, meaning that knights fought on their behalf and defended their property Knights had a code of honour, known as the Code of Chivalry.
The Code of Chivalry told knights what they had to do, and that they had to defend the weak, be courteous to their woman, be loyal to their king and serve God at all times, Not only did the knights have to follow the Code of Chivalry, but they were also obliged to believe in Christianity. Aside from knights and fighting for the property of lords and nobles, poetry thrived in Medieval Europe. Europeans greatly admired epic poems which were generally long tales about warriors, legends and myths, and they also favoured lyric poetry, which were written about love and praising women. Although poetry was very popular, literature was not very common amongst women. Women’s roles were limited because they had no say in marriage and were expected to stay home. Additionally, they were trained in household chores, such as sewing, weaving and farming.
Nonetheless, Feudal Europe was significantly similar to other areas of Europe, and even to countries in Asia. Japanese Feudalism developed out of a weak central government, and lasted for a phase of several centuries. Primarily, there were several emperors who conquered Feudal Japan over the years, however emperors did not have real power. Feudal Japan had different social classes; the emperor was at the top, followed by Shogun, and then came the daimyos, the samurai, the peasants, artisans, and lastly the merchants, The daimyo were very powerful, peasant farmers worked for them, whilst samurais were expected to protect them. Though the daimyo were very powerful, the samurai were also respected and had a high rank in society. The samurai had a code of honour known as the Code of Bushido, which stressed loyalty, bravery and kindness.
Consequently, the samurai were to be deeply religious, and practiced Shintoism. In addition to the Code of Bushido, the duties of peasant farmers and samurai, poetry was popular in Feudal Japan. The Japanese favoured haiku, which is a short poem generally dealing with elements of nature. Unlike the majority of the world, women in Feudal Japan enjoyed a status more equal to that of men. Women could receive inheritance and were allowed to join Buddhist conventions. Also, women had the chance to train in martial arts, and some were even allowed to be samurai warriors. It is evident that the culture and the status of women in Japan would have been very different and unusual in other areas of the world during this period, Feudal Europe and Japan may have shared numerous similarities, but there were aspects that separate the two feudal systems in certain ways.
The two feudal systems shared similar structures such as defending those who had a higher rank in society, and the code of honour for the knights and samurai. The two regions also valued military skill, being deeply religious and the art of poetry. In contrast, they differed in ways that can be seen in the areas of religion, literature, and role of women in society. The impact of European and especially Japanese feudalism is felt today. Surnames based on medieval jobs such as Cook, Baker or Carpenter and the Catholic Churches are seen in modern Europe. Weddings based on Shinto ceremony, haiku and the sense of duty and loyalty towards family still remains strong in Japan today.
