There were two civilizations between 800 and 1450 AD called Heian Japan and Medieval Europe. These civilizations were similar in many ways. While they had similarities, they also had differences. When both these civilizations are compared and contrasted, it is evident that they share multiple similarities on aspects such as the process of feudalism, the roles of warriors, religion as the center of daily life, and women's rights, but they differed on the issues of the roles of peasants in feudalism. , residence of landowners, code of conduct of warriors, different religious principles and roles of women in the family. Although medieval Europe and Japan both had feudalism as part of their system of government, they also had similarities and differences in how it was used. Feudalism was a system of local government based on mutual relationships between lords, ships and peasants. Feudalism evolved in medieval Europe due to the constant invasion of the Vikings. This caused kings to be unable to protect their citizens, forcing them to find other means of protection. Commoners turned to local nobles for protection; these nobles had the loyalty of the knights, which they gained when the knight swore his loyalty to the noble for a portion of land. The farmers who worked on the lord's land produced the food and other necessities needed to support the knights who protected the land. A peasant would lose his freedom if he became a serf, but unlike slaves serfs were personally free, they could leave the land with the lord's permission but were tied to the land. Feudalism in Europe was based on personal bonds of loyalty cemented by grants of land rather than loyalty to a governmental system. On the other hand, Japan developed... halfway... or class, but with different rules depending on whether you were a knight or a samurai. In both civilizations women differed in the scope of their rights, women in Japan had more control over the family but in Europe women had more rights in being able to own property and manage it. In religion and monasteries, they were similar in the sense that they had multiple religions, but they differed in one religion that had multiple principles. Women in both civilizations had important historical figures who represented the extent of their rights in any given civilization. In all women had a good amount of rights guaranteed in a given period of time, they were generally similar, although they differed on a small number of topics. If Europe in the Middle Ages was considered a dark age and Heian Japan was similar to them, Japan flourished as Europe would flourish during the Renaissance??