European Feudalism

Feudalism was a social system where the lords had a section of land; they had vassals to take care of the land in exchange for military service. The peasants would then live on the land of the vassals and do the labor work. Overtime this system began breaking down however, Japan and Western Europe both used feudalism with many similarities and differences. Both Japan and Europe were built on a system of hereditary classes. This included the nobles, warriors and tenant farmers. Those who were born a peasant would grow up to be nothing other than a peasant as well. Those who were born into families of the lords would become a lord in the future. The warriors were the most important class, in Europe they were called knights and in Japan they were called samurai. The knights and samurais rode on horses using swords and armor. They had servants working under the land that the lords gave them. In return the knights and samurais had to serve in the military and protect

Japanese feudalism was based on a Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucius focused on morality and filial piety. European feudalism was based on the Roman Imperial laws and customs. A big difference between the two was the land-ownership. European knights gained land from their lords as in return for their military service. They had full control of the farmers who worked that land. However, the Japanese samurais did not own any land. Instead, the daimyo used a part of their money from taxing the peasants to pay the samurai a salary, which was usually paid in rice. Another difference that Japan and Europe had was the women in the countries. Samurai women were expected to be strong like the men. However, in Europe women were considered to be fragile and protected by the knights. In addition, the samurais were cultured and artistic. They composed poetry and calligraphy. Knights were usually illiterate and would rather