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Comparing Feudalism In Medieval Japan And Medieval Europe

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Feudalism in Medieval Japan and Medieval Europe
Medieval Japan started in 1185 AD and ended in 1868 AD, this time included the Kamakura, Ashikaga, Sengoku-Jidai and the Tokugawa periods. Medieval Europe started with the Early Middle Ages in 476 CE, the High Middle Ages from 1000 to 1300 CE and the Late Middle Ages from 1300 CE to around 1500 CE. In the Japanese bakufu system, the emperor was the highest position then the shogun, daimyo, samurai, peasants, artisans and merchants. On the other hand, Medieval Europe’s highest social class was the pope then king, barons & archbishops, knights, craftsmen, farmers and at the bottom was the peasants. The purpose for feudalism in these times was to give order, it's also helped with protection, wealth, …show more content…

This essay will compare and contrast the Japanese emperor to European pope and Japanese peasants to European peasants. In both the European feudal system and the Japanese Bakufu system, the pope and emperor were on the top of the social pyramid. They both had many similarities, for example, they both had very close connections with God and most of their power revolved around that. In Medieval Europe the pope was God’s representative on earth and he was head of the Catholic Church. Likewise, the emperor in Japan was the religious leader and was a descendant from the Sun Goddess. It was believed by the people of Japan that only the emperor could communicate with God. The pope had the power to send a person to heaven or hell and could promise the redemption of all of a person’s sins (Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd, 2011). Also since the land was thought to belong to the God’s, people would travel to the Holy Land just to see …show more content…

One difference between the two classes was that peasants in Medieval Japan were much more respected whereas European peasants were treated poorly with little respect and no acknowledgment. In Japan, the other social classes appreciated the peasants work because they knew how important they were in society. The peasants provided the towns supply of rice and weapons and they also worked on the farms. In Europe, the peasants were given just enough food to survive, they lived in poor houses, had little clothes and had a very basic diet with little to no variety. Due to this most peasants died before the age of thirty (Nelson, 2016). Apart from this, both of the classes of peasants also had similarities between each other. One similarity included the fact that in return for food and weapons, the above classes would give them protection. In Europe, the peasants received protection from the above classes like the knights in return for food (Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd, 2011). This is similar to the Japanese peasants who were given protection from the samurai in return for their work (KidsKnowIt, 2016). The European peasants were also owned by the knights; they then gave the peasants protection whilst the peasants game them food. Peasants during both of these time periods had similarities and differences even though they were located on different

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