Feudalism

A political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century, based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.

In this video lesson we will be exploring the causes of Japan returning to isolation. Although Japan had problems organizing their country, they still let Europeans come to the country to exchange goods.

The dynamics that undermined feudalism expressed themselves from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. There began to emerge what Cristóbal calls feudal re-urbanization. The growth of commerce and industry created a class of free merchants and artisans, an incipient bourgeoisie that needed certain liberties, such as movement from place to place, the making of contracts, and the buying and selling of goods, which could not be exercised under feudal conditions of servitude. The new cities emerging in feudal rural territories made evident the need for the transformation of feudalism.

Feudal Japanese society was dominated by the samurai warrior class. Although they made up only about 10% of the population, samurai and their daimyo lords wielded enormous power.