Download Feudal Europe and Japan

Feudal Europe and Japan
Post-Classical period
Feudal Europe
Fall of Rome
• 476 AD Rome
invaded
• Adios to:
– centralized gov’t
– Loss of Greek and
Roman learning
– common language
– Transportation and
communication halts
Long-Term Effects
• Constant warfare and invasions
• Cities abandoned as economic and
political centers
• Population becomes mostly rural
• Political, economic, and cultural face
of Europe changes
• Feudalism develops
The 4 Stages of Middle Ages in
Europe
• Stage 1 (476-750) –
– Several smaller kingdoms
form after Rome:
• Franks in France
• Visigoths in Spain
• Saxons in Germany
– No unity.
• Stage 2 (750-814) –
Holy Roman Empire
under Charlemagne
defeats Muslims who
had invaded France
through Spain.
Stage 3 and 4
• Stage 3 (815-1050) –
– Carolingian Empire falls
apart
– Feudal system.
• Stage 4 (1050-1300) –
– Rise of national monarchs
– First agricultural revolution
allows for population
increase.
– Trade resumes
– Cities repopulated.
Origins of European Feudal
System
• Central economic feature of Medieval
Europe: strong agricultural base for a
warrior society
• Charles Martel (Carolingian Dynasty)
– grants nobles rights over tracts of land, to yield the income
with which they can provide fighting men for his army
– requires an oath of loyalty in return (8th C)
• Full-fledged European system by the end of the 10th
C.
What exactly is Feudalism
anyway?
• System of land holding that dominated
Western Europe
• Essential part of the political
organization: militarily and
economically
• Appears to have origins in Germanic
tribesFrankish?
European Feudal System
• System at the top:
• King owned the
land (manors);
contracted to
noblemen
(lords/vassals)
– Fielty (aka Oath of
Fidelity)
– Fief
Feudalism for the
Uppercrust
Relationship based on:
1. Regular supply of
troops (Castle Guard)
2. Financial aid in
exchange for the
lands (from the
vassals to the lord)
3. Advice and
participation in
judgments (court
service to the lord)
Manorialism
• Large estates that were
able to meet all of their
own needs
• Smaller farmers ceded
land to nobles for
protection
• Made up of fields, a
small town with a mill
and workshops, a
church, and a castle
Feudalism for the masses
• Seignoralism: Relationship between
vassals and serfs
– They worked the vassal’s land and owed
him a percentage of their food.
Sometimes, they had to work 1-5 weeks a
year in the manor, among other duties.
– He provided military protection.
Feudal Social Pyramid
• Above all
these, is the
POPE
Growth of Towns
• Late Middle Ages
• Developed near monasteries
• Formed by artisans, craftsmen,
merchants (beginning of
guilds): protection
• Formed near junctions of:
rivers, roads, portsTRADE
• Created the Bourgeoisie
NOT THE DARK AGES!
•
Purse cover, from the Sutton Hoo ship
burial in Suffolk, England, ca. 625
Chi-rho-iota page, folio
34 recto of the Book of
Kells, 8th or 9th century
NOT THE DARK AGES!
•
Gospel of St. John title
page, Lindisfarne Gospels,
Northumbria, England, ca.
698-721
Initial R with knight
fighting a dragon,
folio 4 verso of the
Moralia in Job,
Citeaux, France, ca.
1115-1125
Saint Matthew, folio
18 verso of the Ebbo
Gospels, Hautvillers,
France, ca. 816-835
NOT THE DARK AGES!
Scene One, Bayeux Tapestry, Bayeux Cathedral, Bayeux, France, ca. 1070-1080.
Ambrogio,
Lorenzetti,
Peaceful City,
Palazzo
Pubblico,
Siena, Italy,
1338-1339
Feudal Japan
In Japan
• Not much is known about Japan until
around the 5th C. CE
• The evolution of SHINTO (the way of the
spirits)—native Japanese religion; name
adopted to distinguish it from Chinese
influences
• Around the 5th/6th C, rapid adoption of
Chinese influences in Japan
• Beginning around 1165, the feudal
epochShogun Period (Kamakura Period)
Feudal Japan
• DECLINE of
centralized
government by
the 11th C
– Bakufu
• Emperors still
reigned, but
didn’t rule:
provincial lords
named shoguns
had power
More about feudal Japan
• After the 11th C, the
warrior-elite gave
out land in
exchange for
gathering groups of
retainers who owed
loyalty & service to
the lords
– Samurai
Shogunates
• Controlled the
ineffective/puppet
emperors
• Regional leaders’
families; hereditary
titles
• Reciprocal
relationships with
daimyos b/c of
loyalty oaths and
obligations
Three Successive Shogunates
• 1st (Kamakura Bakufu) was
weakened by
Mongolians & fell
• 2nd (Ashikaga Bakufu)
became weakened by
regional wars from
1467-1568
• 3rd (Tokugawa) after
initial strengthening fell
into total decline and
ended by the 18th C.
Feudal Japan
Feudal Codes
• Bushido (Japan)
– Stressed:
• Self-denial
• Indifference to
adversity
• Generosity to the less
fortunate
• Chivalry (Europe)
– Stressed:
• Honesty
• Courtesy
• Defense of the
helpless
What are similarities between
the two regions?
• Europe:
• Japan: