Feudal Japan: Did you mean...?

The social structure of medieval Western Europe (c. 10th–13th centuries) is often described through the framework of feudal relationships and landholding systems that linked rulers, nobles, and rural communities. In this model, political...

A map of feudal Scotland. Created in 1876 CE.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) was a Japanese military leader who, along with his predecessor Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) and his successor Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), is credited with unifying Japan in the 16th century. Hideyoshi rose from...

Matilda of Canossa (c. 1046-1115), the Countess of Tuscany (r. 1055-1115) and Vice-Queen of Italy (r. 1111-1115), was the final head of the noble House of Canossa following the deaths of her father in 1052 and her elder brother in 1055. One...

Artist's impression of farmers working a field in medieval England, with a castle in the background. Created by Amplitude Studios for the video game Humankind.

Nagasaki, on the northwest coast of Japan’s Kyushu Island, was an important Portuguese trading base from c. 1571 to 1639, and the most eastern outpost of the Portuguese empire. The Portuguese presence transformed Nagasaki from a small fishing...

Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651) governed Japan as the third shogun of the Edo period. He implemented a number of important policies that not only consolidated his family's hold on power but also greatly impacted Japanese society for several...

The samurai (also bushi) were a class of warriors that arose in the 10th century in Japan and which performed military service until the 19th century. Elite and highly-trained soldiers adept at using both the bow and sword, the samurai were...

The Asuka Period (Asuka Jidai) of ancient Japan covers the period from 538 CE to 710 CE and, following on from the Kofun Period (c. 250-538 CE), so constitutes the latter part of the Yamato Period (c. 250-710 CE). For some scholars the period...

In this interview, James Blake Wiener, Co-Founder and Communications Director at Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE), speaks to Emeritus Professor James H. Grayson, Professor of Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield, about the historical...