Feudal Japan: Did you mean...?

Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693) was a Japanese poet and novelist who played a leading role in creating the so-called ‘floating world’ (ukiyo-zoshi) genre of popular literature in the 17th century. His work was significant because, in...

The decrees of 4 August 1789, also known as the August Decrees, were a set of 19 articles passed by the National Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution (1789-1799) which abolished feudalism in France and ended the tax...

Prince Shotoku (574-622 CE) ruled as regent of Japan from 594 to 622 CE and is one of the most celebrated figures in all of Japanese history. The prince was a great supporter of Chinese culture and Buddhism, spreading both during...

Nijo Castle, located in Kyoto, Japan, was first built in 1603 CE by Tokugawa Ieyasu (r. 1603-1605 CE), founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868 CE). The castle complex is surrounded by a double moat and made up of three distinct...

Oda Nobunaga was the foremost military leader of Japan from 1568 to 1582. Nobunaga, along with his two immediate successors, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), is credited with unifying medieval Japan...

The Minamoto clan was an extended family group which dominated Japanese government and the imperial court in the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The clan famously defeated their arch rivals the Taira in the Genpei War of 1180-1185 CE...

The League of Nations was founded in January 1920 to promote world peace and welfare. Created by the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended the First World War (1914-18), the League provided a forum where nations promised...

Edo Castle was a large castle built by the Tokugawa family in 17th-century Japan. It served as their seat of government for more than 260 years. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Edo became the capital of Japan and was renamed...

The Holy Roman Empire officially lasted from 962 to 1806. It was one of Europe’s largest medieval and early modern states, but its power base was unstable and continually shifting. The Holy Roman Empire was not a unitary state...

Buddhist monasteries have been part of the Japanese cultural landscape ever since the 7th century CE, and they remained both powerful and socially important institutions right through the medieval period. Today...