feudalism: Japan enterprising barons could set up semi-independent lordships, though even there they were not entirely free from the king’s authority In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Crusader States in the Levant exhibited a kind of purified feudal tenure wherein the lords held supreme power in their local realms Until its fall in the mid-13th century, the Norman kingdom in southern Italy exhibited a variant of French Norman feudal relations Medieval historians have revealed wide disparities over distance and time in the structure of social hierarchies and practices of land tenure Caveats such as these have made them question whether the term feudalism is still useful for understanding medieval history Since most historians now use the term with caution, feudalism is probably best used in a narrow sense to describe the relationship between lords and noblemen when they ritually exchanged protection for military and legal support Despite more than a decade of debate, medieval historians still vary in their conclusions about the accuracy of the term feudalism for describing and understanding medieval European society See also feudalism: Japan; Norman kingdoms of Italy and sicily Further reading: Bartlett, Robert The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change 950–1350 Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993; Barthélemy, Dominique “Debate—The ‘Feudal Revolution’ I.” Past and Present (v.152, 1996); Bloch, Marc Feudal Society Trans by L A Manyon Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1961; Ganshof, Francois-Lois Feudalism Trans by Philip Grierson New York: Harper and Row, 1964; Guerreau, Alain L’avenir d’un passé incertain Paris: Le Seuil, 2001; Reynolds, Susan Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994 Alizah Holstein feudalism: Japan When most people think of feudalism, medieval Europe from about the ninth to 15th centuries is most likely to come to mind The term feudalism is of fairly recent origin, coined in the 17th century by lawyers and antiquarians who used it to describe rules of land tenure, legal customs, and political institutions that had survived from medieval times For Marxist historians the key elements of feudalism are the relationships between the feudal landholders and their serfs, whom they compel by force, custom, or law to provide labor, money, or 119 tribute Other non-Marxist historians define feudalism as a system of military and political organizations in which armed warriors or knights served leaders, who in turn provided them with land grants in return for personal service Despite the fact that many of Japan’s governmental structures and institutions were based in part on those of China, Japan’s feudal culture was in many ways more like that of feudal Europe By the 19th century, historians generally agreed that the warriors of Japan were the “Oriental” counterparts to the knights of Europe The roots of Japanese feudalism can be traced back to the seventh century in Japan and extend through the medieval period of Japanese history Japan’s political and economic order did not meet the definition of “full feudalism” until about the year 1300, which is much later than the onset of European feudalism Many of the laws and institutions described as feudal protected privileges of the landholding aristocracy and allowed them to use their power over the peasant class Feudalism from the modern historian’s perspective has taken on negative connotations as being outdated, oppressive, or irrational The primary virtue in the Japanese feudal system was loyalty, because the entire social-political system depended on personal relationships Contrary to the lord-vassal relationships of European feudalism that were based on mutual and contractual obligation, the Japanese emphasized morality Loyalty to one’s lord manifested from a belief that he was the superior moral leader Unlike in China, where familial loyalty was the dominant ideology, in Japan loyalty to one’s lord was paramount This is not to say that family ties were unimportant in medieval Japanese society, as inheritance determined power and prestige as well as property ownership Japanese feudalism also differed from European feudalism in that there was no cult of chivalry that put women on a romantic pedestal as fragile and inferior beings Japanese warriors expected their women to be as strong as they were and accept self-sacrifice as part of their obligation to their lord The Japanese warriors, who were known as samurai, or “servitors,” placed great importance on the military virtues of bravery, honor, self-discipline, and the stoical acceptance of death Seppuku, ritual suicide by disembowelment, became the dominant alternative to dishonor or capture Warrior class-consciousness—a sense of the warrior class as a separate entity—did not materialize until the 13th century when the Kamakura Shogunate (rule by a military generalissimo) took power The new institution created a new category of shogunal retainer that held special privileges and responsibilities and