Compare European and Japanese feudalism, identifying structural similarities and key cultural differences.
European feudalism (weeks 19-21) and Japanese feudalism (week 25) developed independently, with no contact between them, yet they share a striking structural similarity: both organized society into a hierarchy exchanging land or position for loyalty and military service, with a warrior class (knights in Europe, samurai in Japan) serving as the system's military backbone. Both warrior classes followed a code of honor -- chivalry for knights, bushido for samurai -- that idealized loyalty, courage, and service to a lord above self-interest.
But the differences matter just as much. European feudalism's king shared real power uneasily with the Church (week 21), which could rival or even outlast royal authority; Japan's emperor kept symbolic and religious authority while giving up almost all real power to the shogun, a cleaner split between "who is sacred" and "who actually rules." European knights fought on horseback within a Christian moral framework; samurai followed bushido within a warrior culture shaped by Shinto and Buddhist traditions. Comparing independently-developed systems like these helps historians ask a bigger question: are hierarchy, land-for-loyalty exchanges, and warrior honor codes a natural response to certain conditions, like weak central government and the need for local defense, rather than something only one culture invented?
Mastery looks like: They can name at least two structural similarities and two differences between European and Japanese feudalism, using specific evidence from both weeks.
Common stumbles: Assuming similarities between the two systems mean one culture copied the other, rather than recognizing independent development in response to similar conditions.