Feudalism in Europe & Japan PDF

Notebook Page 6 Feudalism in Europe & Japan AP World History: Modern – Period 1 MANORIALISM (MANOR SYSTEM)  KING NOBLES KNIGHTS PEASANTS/SERFS  Feudalism in Europe Following the fall of Rome in the 5 th century, Europeans lacked a strong, central Authority to govern; to repla...

Notebook Page 6 Feudalism in Europe & Japan AP World History: Modern – Period 1 MANORIALISM (MANOR SYSTEM)  KING NOBLES KNIGHTS PEASANTS/SERFS  Feudalism in Europe Following the fall of Rome in the 5 th century, Europeans lacked a strong, central Authority to govern; to replace the vacuum of power, many small, de -centralized polities developed a system of government known as the manorial system Also known as feudalism, this system was predicated on hereditary lineage and fealty—oaths of loyalty to kings and lords on manors (agricultural estates) in exchange for protection and aid during hardships of those under their authority Below the nobility were professional soldiers known as knights, and at the bottom were serfs—known by some as peasants—unfree laborers who worked the land for knights, nobles, and/or kings in exchange for protection & provision during tumultuous times These serfs or peasants had no freedom of movement or means by which to climb the social ladder Peasants were bound to live on Common Land—land held by the king or nobility—which they could use to subsist on in exchange for paying ‘rent’ in the form of labor, grain, or gold Nobody ‘owned’ private property or goods—they simply ‘rented’ it from the king or lord, and, as such, had little motivation to improve production as all excess product went to the lord of the manor  Medieval European Society Unlike most centralized empires in preceding eras, feudal European states were strictly bound to the theological and political powers of the Catholic Church While the Church itself did provide a set of morals and a sense of unity amongst Europeans, it also had some deleterious and deadly roles to play With Catholicism infused into the state, any objections to the religion—more specifically its religious officials such as the pope, cardinals, and bishops—were considered capital offenses An allegation by a king, noble, or Church official was essentially a guilty sentence to which violent punishment was often subjected, including burning, torturing, and public humiliation Considered ‘divinely-bestowed with wisdom,’ nobles & clergymen enjoyed guaranteed tax, legal, and land-holding protections, privileges, and rights that were denied to commoners Additionally, any unorthodox religious ideas or scientific interpretations that contradicted the beliefs of the Church were ruthlessly silenced or punished Lastly, any religious differences between states, such as Muslim states or later Protestant Christian states, resulted in the mass mobilization of resources and soldiers to deadly, destructive warfare  Japan’s Attempted Transformation While Europeans had struggled to form a strong state system to replace Rome, there existed a similar struggle to establish a centralized state in Japan during the 7th and 8th centuries CE A semi-unified kingdom had claimed control over most of Japan since the 3 rd century CE, however, the central government itself was quite weak compared to other imperial states Powerful clans in the imperial government, as well as regional powers, made the government highly corruptible and effectively de-centralized As such, during the 7th century, the imperial government attempted to make several major reforms in the image of the Chinese imperial system Known as the Taika Reforms, the Japanese attempted to wholly adopt many attributes of Chinese culture & society, including their state system, writing, Confucianism, literature, diet, architecture, etc. While most of the cultural elements of the reforms were effective and long-lasting, attempts to emulate the strong centralized imperial government failed, and the influence of powerful clans and regional governments continued to exercise great power of their own  Feudalism in Japan Despite the presence of some imperial governments that were more influential than others, the period in Japan from the 13th to 17th centuries was largely defined by feudal practices Much like in Europe, the state system in Japan centered mostly around regional powers, while also exercising a rigid class hierarchy based mostly on heredity Even with no knowledge of European state systems, the feudal hierarchy in Japan was quite similar in its overall structure Much like the role of king in Europe, powerful military leaders known as shogun served as regional leaders; these shogun were supported by the loyal noble land-owning class known as the daimyo The professional soldier class of knight, and their codes of chivalry, in medieval Europe were unintentionally mirrored in the Japan soldier class known as samurai The presence and role of the peasant class also functioned similarly with one notable difference: peasants were considered more honorable than the merchant class Whereas in Europe this merchant class would eventually grow in reputation and power, the societies of Japan and East Asian tended to place merchants at the bottom tier of society, criticizing them for profiting from the labor, toil, and effort of others