...Feudalism Feudalism was the medieval model of government predating the birth of the modern nation-state. Feudal society is a military hierarchy in which a ruler or lord offers mounted fighters a fief(medieval beneficium), a unit of land to control in exchange for a military service. The individual who accepted this land became a vassal, and the man who granted the land become known as his liege or his lord. The deal was often sealed by swearing oaths on the Bible or on the relics of saints. Often this military service amounted to forty days' service each year in times of peace or indefinite service in times of war, but the actual terms of service and duties varied considerably on a case-by-case basis. Factors such as the quality of land, the skill of the fighter, local custom, and the financial status of the liege lord always played a part. For instance, in the late medieval period, this military service was often abandoned in preference for cash payment, or agreement to provide a certain number of men-at-arms or mounted knights for the lord's use.In the late medieval period, the fiefdom often became hereditary, and the son of a knight or lesser nobleman would inherit the land and the military duties from his father upon the father's death. Feudalism had two enormous effects on medieval society.(1) First, feudalism discouraged unified government. Individual lords would divide their lands into smaller and smaller sections to give to lesser rulers and knights. These lesser noblemen...
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...Feudalism In 1066, Feudalism was established in England by William the Conqueror, and lasted a couple hundred years. “[It] organized society during a violent and lawless time after the fall of the Roman Empire” (pg. 10), often known as the Medieval, or Dark, Ages. Feudalism “… developed an economic, military, and government system that has never been duplicated in any other time or place in the world” (pg. 9). Even though those three systems had been created, there were still many problems with the structure as a whole, such as taxing the poorest class. Within the Feudal system there was an order of power that started with the Pope, followed by the King, Nobles, Vassals (Knights), Freemen, Yeomen, servants, and, at the very bottom, peasants/serfs. “… [The King of] England, for example, divided [his] entire [kingdom] into fifty of sixty fiefs…” (pg.9), or parcels of land, and granted them to Nobles and Vassals, who would have then provided military services back to him in times of up rise. Not only did serfs work the land given to the Nobles and Vassals, but they also had large taxes placed on them by the King. These unreasonable taxes, along with the lack of a set body of laws led to a slow decline in Feudalism. Overall, Feudalism was a one-time system that “… helped European civilization lift itself out of the Dark Ages” (pg.10). It lasted just long enough for the economy to level out, and for a new system of military services to be...
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...Feudalism in both Western Europe and Japan stressed the importance of warriors and the warrior code along with the significance of the separate, yet coexisting, parts of society and their reliance on each other. However, the Japanese focused more on morality and fulfilling their societal obligations whereas Europeans thought duty to their elders, betters and, most importantly, God was more crucial. Although feudalism in both Japan and Europe emerged due to political instability the reasons, processes, and results differed greatly. In both Europe and Japan feudalism stressed the values and morals of warriors and their obligatory protection of people. The people of W. Europe felt it necessary for the warriors to "defend all the people" (Doc 1)....
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...Feudalism At its very base, feudal system was a bond in which people are linked in chain of the mutual obligations to each other. The forms and conditions of the bond were always different regarding time and place, but the object of the bond in feudalism was always the same – exchange land for military service. The first usage of land-military service exchange, which became a foundation for feudalism, was made by Charles Martel (Frankish military and political leader, who defeated Muslims at the Battle of Tours; Charlemagne’s grandfather) in the 8th century. He was the first who came up with an idea to give away land (what he had in abundance) for exchange to his followers for their military service, instead of trying to raise money for the army support. During feudalism, flourishing of communities called manors took place. Manors were usually consisted from lord’s home with barns, mills, churches, and villages for peasants with pastures, and woodlands. Everything was under lord’s security and control. Although in manor everybody was connected in ties of obligations from the lowest title (peasants) to the highest (lord, king), and everyone had explicit commitments to someone else, not everybody had equal obligations. Lord was the superior title in the manor (the only person above the lord was king). The lowest title was peasant, also known as serf. Serfs had obligations to everyone above them, but didn’t have anybody under them. They were semi-free, meaning that they weren’t...
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...Constantinople (1204), the empire broke up to parts and power of the centralized state sharply fell. Feudal lords started being exempted from its guardianship, and in Byzantium the feudal ancestral lands close to the West European was formed. Even after restoration of unity of the empire and return of Constantinople (1261) states hadn't any more forces to resist to sharply increased power of the feudal aristocracy. The empire was more and more split up for destinies, and functions of the government gradually passed to feudal lords. But even in the period of feudal dissociation the central power didn't lose completely the positions, because of constant military danger. Why the term feudalism in relation to Byzantium raises doubts? And why we can't tell about the Byzantine feudalism, how about primary concept of feudalism?...
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...Although feudalism is taught as a simple legal and military exchange between a lord and a vassal to children in middle school, in actuality it is more complex. Feudalism has been greatly debated by historians because the terms ambiguity has caused an inadequate evaluation of Medieval European social relationships. In “The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe,” Elizabeth A.R. Brown rejects feudalism because it lacks a concrete definition that is accepted and implemented by all historians, and because feudalism is set as a standard to compare countries. Consequently, conflicting definitions and narrow analysis cause historians to inaccurately describe Medieval European society. Feudalism constantly causes confusion...
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...Question: What steps did Japan take to reform its system of feudalism to a more modern form of government? The 18th through 19th century was truly an imperialistic era orchestrated by military superiority by the West. In the interest of avoiding battles they undoubtedly would have lost, East Asian nations signed lopsided treaties that benefited the West. Not only did the treaties open East Asian ports for trade, a demand the West insisted on, but in some cases they included land cessions to the West. The Japanese, having witnessed the demise of the once great Qing Dynasty, were determined to avoid the same destructive folly in their homeland. Japan embarked on a thorough introspection and restructuring that resulted in a modern form of government. Japan was in a new era and they would soon become East Asia’s greatest power. The Shogunate unintentionally sparked the beginning of the restoration period in Japan when he reversed the nation’s long standing sakoku—closed door policy. Many of the samurai and nobles thought the Shogun was showing weakness when he conceded to America’s demands and signed an unequal treaty favoring the West. The first step towards reform began when Japanese troops seized the Imperial Palace and convinced the young Emperor that the Shogun must be overthrown in order to usher in a new imperial era of leadership in Japan. This led to the Boshin War which was a civil war led by imperial forces to uproot the Shogun and his supporters. The Shogun submitted...
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...Japanese and Medieval societies were similar in the way that they both revolved around Feudalism. However, there were differences between the two. For example, Japanese feudalism was based on one philosopher while European feudalism was based on Roman laws and customs. Feudalism can be described by ownership of land. Both Europe and Japan have non landowning and landowning systems. In both Japan and Europe their class systems were the same. With that said, because of constant warfare, warriors were the most important class for both Japan and Europe. The warriors of Europe were called “knights,” and “Samurai,” in Japan. As in Japan, Europe also used swords, rode horses into battle, and wore armor. These war tactics were probably the smartest...
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...Manorialism was the geographical equivalent of feudalism, making the geography work with the system of class. It mainly worked for the serfs and their lords. It was their economic geography of class. Depending the class due to feudalism, you would also lived in a particular area. There was the manor, it was the lord’s estate and land, and with it came his laws on how the land should be maintained. When the vassals would buy the land, the lord overall dictated what they could do with it and what he could do with it. The serfs and peasants, living on this manor, had to obey the lord’s orders to continue to live on it; the serfs had to due certain duties that the lord demanded in order to keep their pay and residence within the fief. These tasks...
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...When you think of Japan and Europe during feudalism, there’s a good chance you probably think of two very different environments. While that isn’t necessarily a false statement, feudal Japan and Europe were more similar than you think. What they say is true great minds think alike. While warriors in feudal Japan and Europe had their similarities, they also had their differences. European warriors were known as “knights”, while Japanese warriors were “samurai.” Both knights and samurai had a code of ethics they were to follow; the codes that the knights had to follow was chivalry, and the samurai were bound by bushido. Both European and Japanese warriors wore armor. However, their armor had very many differences. For example, knights typically...
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...Feudalism was a complex system introduced in medieval Europe and Asia, and was also used in both Europe and Japan. It was a dominant social system in which nobility held lands from the crowns in exchange for military service. Through this system, vassals were the tenants of the nobles, while the peasants were to live their lord’s land and give him labor and a share of the product. Though feudalism was a similarity practiced throughout Japan and Europe, they also have many differences. Many of these similarities and differences occur in areas such as politics, economics, social and religious aspects of each respective country’s culture. Japan and Europe shared similarities and differences in their political cultures during medieval times. While...
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...number that would lead to its decline in the later middle ages as well yet to find the meaning of “feudal warfare” one has to look first at where this notion came from, and that was Feudalism. Feudalism was a contrasting system dealing with political and military relationships existing among members of the higher social class, Kings, Lords and other owners of large lands in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The Feudal system started by the granting of fiefs, chiefly in the form of land and labor, in return the lord would receive political and military services that was usual sealed by oaths of fidelity, instead of a written out contract. The Lord and vassal would be interlocked in a bunch of mutual rights and obligations, to the advantage of both. Where the lord owed his vassal protection and the vassal owed his lord a specified number of days annually in military service and supplies of goods, and the lord were expected to provide a military for his king. With that “feudal warfare” would arise as Kings would try to obtain more land then each other and expand their territory. As mentioned in class the Carolingian Empire was the first great European dynasty, it would unite all the small Frankish kingdoms that had established themselves in Gaul and this is where the early form of feudalism was used to raise the Carolingian armies. One of the major conditions that lead to the emergence of “feudal warfare” was the successive waves of invades that the different kingdom...
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...Human Services Rachell Jackson BSHS/301 06.08.12 Anne Adamson Human Services Ever since the beginning of time humans always have had needs. The basic needs include food, water, shelter, and clothing. However, as humans there are needs that extend further beyond these basic needs. Ones need to be heard, Ones need to be loved, or ones need to be cared for are examples of needs that go beyond the basic. Throughout life there are obstacles that have to be endured. Unfortunately, as humans there is no perfection, and often times when life throws us an obstacle we cannot overcome by ourselves we need a helping hand. Welcome to the Human Services profession, which is viewed as people helping people. Because humans will always have a need the Human Services profession is not only expected to grow, but also to remain strong. Many people often wonder what exactly does Human Services mean or what exactly do Human Services professionals do. Human Services is an extensive phrase covering a variety of careers, but these careers have one thing in common. They help people meet their needs, physical, and emotional needs that for whatever reason or circumstance cannot be met on their own without assistance. (Martin, Chapter 1, Introduction to the Human Services Profession, 2007) Human Services professionals are caring, and passionate individuals. People who choose to enter the Human Services field have a drive to help others. Human Services professionals...
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...In The Song of Roland we see a constant battle between the Saracens and the Franks. The Saracens, Spain, was ruled by Marsilla and represents the Muslims while the Franks, France, was ruled by Charlemagne and represents the Christians. In The Prince, by Machiavelli, we see an evaluation of how to acquire and maintain good power. It was dedicated to Lorenzo Medici in order to argue what favors a good ruler and what possessions are most valuable for them. Both engage in what is considered a good ruler and the qualities of it. The Song of Roland society is organized in a feudalism way. It is a social structure divided between classes. It is an advantage for society since it provides protection, stability and order to society. It is also a mutual relationship since everyone offers something. Charlemagne, which is parallel to God, looks at loyalty as one of the most important characteristics of a good ruler. He says that loyalty determines everything else in life. Leaders are the ones able to reward or punish people based on their actions. As he provides for his people, his people provides for him. Besides being loyal, The Song of Roland teaches us that a good leader has to be brave in battle and be like the epic heroes from the past. They are considered to have fame,...
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...Feudalism means many things to many people. One camp limits the concept to “the hierarchical relationship between a lord and his vassals” (Lefebvre, 1976, p. 122). In this tradition, “history was not just written from the perspective of the top but was also limited to studies of the top” (Kaye, 1984, p. 73; e.g., Ganshoff, 1964). The critique of this narrow conception of feudalism was spearheaded by, among others, Rodney Hilton (1949, 1973, 1985) and Marc Bloch (1961). Although recognizingthat “feudal Europe was not all feudalized in the same degree or accordingto the same rhythm and, above all, that it was nowhere feudalized completely” (Bloch, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 445), these historians deployed a broader conception that sought “to describe a whole social order whose principal feature was the domination of the rest of society, mainly peasants, by a military landowningaristocracy” (Hilton, 1976c, p. 30).3 This broader conception of feudalism has strongly influenced the worldhistorical perspective since the 1970s (see esp. Wallerstein, 1974). One major exception to this generalization is Giovanni Arrighi (1994, 1998), who in key respects has returned to the earlier, narrower conception of feudalism. In Arrighi’s scheme of things, feudalism is limited to rural social relations in medieval Europe. Although feudal relations are no doubt very relevant to an understandingof English, French, Polish, Swedish and many other “national” histories of the European world[,]...
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