Editing Conscription (section)

====Medieval levies====

Under the [[feudalism|feudal]] laws on the European continent, landowners in the medieval period enforced a system whereby all [[peasants]], [[Serfdom#Freemen|freemen]] commoners and [[noblemen]] aged 15 to 60 living in the countryside or in urban centers, were summoned for military duty when required by either the king or the local lord, bringing along the weapons and armor according to their wealth. These levies fought as footmen, sergeants, and men at arms under local superiors appointed by the king or the local lord such as the [[arrière-ban]] in France. Arrière-ban denoted a general levy, where all able-bodied males age 15 to 60 living in the Kingdom of France were summoned to go to war by the King (or the constable and the marshals). Men were summoned by the bailiff (or the sénéchal in the south). [[Bailiff]]s were military and political administrators installed by the King to steward and govern a specific area of a province following the king's commands and orders. The men summoned in this way were then summoned by the lieutenant who was the King's representative and military governor over an entire province comprising many [[bailiwick]]s, seneschalties and castellanies. All men from the richest noble to the poorest commoner were summoned under the arrière-ban and they were supposed to present themselves to the King or his officials.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Arri%C3%A8re+ban|title=arrière-ban|publisher=The Free Dictionary|access-date=17 September 2012}}</ref><ref>Nicolle, D. (2000). French Armies of the Hundred Years' War (Vol. 337). Osprey Publishing.</ref><ref>Nicolle, D. (2004). Poitiers 1356: The capture of a king (Vol. 138). Osprey Publishing.</ref><ref>Curry, A. (2002). Essential Histories–The Hundred Years' War. Nova York, Osprey.</ref>

In medieval [[Scandinavia]] the ''leiðangr'' ([[Old Norse language|Old Norse]]), ''leidang'' ([[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]), ''leding'', ([[Danish language|Danish]]), ''ledung'' ([[Swedish language|Swedish]]), ''lichting'' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]]), ''expeditio'' ([[Latin]]) or sometimes ''leþing'' ([[English language|Old English]]), was a levy of free farmers conscripted into coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defence of the realm.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=D. G. E. |date=1997-01-01 |title=The Dating of the Norwegian leiðangr System: A Philological Approach |url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/nowele.30.02wil |journal=NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution |language=en |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=21–25 |doi=10.1075/nowele.30.02wil |issn=0108-8416}}</ref>

The bulk of the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon English]] army, called the ''[[fyrd]]'', was composed of part-time English soldiers drawn from the freemen of each county. In the 690s laws of [[Ine of Wessex]], three levels of fines are imposed on different social classes for neglecting military service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Attenborough |first=F. L. |title=Laws of the Earliest English Kings |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1922 |isbn=9780404565459 |url=https://archive.org/stream/lawsofearliesten00grea#page/52}}</ref>

Some modern writers claim military service in Europe was restricted to the landowning minor nobility. These [[thegn]]s were the land-holding aristocracy of the time and were required to serve with their own armour and weapons for a certain number of days each year. The historian David Sturdy has cautioned about regarding the ''fyrd'' as a precursor to a modern national army composed of all ranks of society, describing it as a "ridiculous fantasy":

<blockquote>The persistent old belief that peasants and small farmers gathered to form a national army or ''fyrd'' is a strange delusion dreamt up by antiquarians in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries to justify universal military conscription.<ref>Sturdy, David ''Alfred the Great'' Constable (1995), p. 153</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Shinnyodō engi, vol.3 (part).jpg|thumb|Painting depicting a battle during the Ōnin War]]
In [[feudal Japan]] the [[shogun]] decree of 1393 exempted [[money lender]]s from religious or military levies, in return for a yearly tax. The [[Ōnin War]] weakened the shogun and levies were imposed again on money lenders. This [[overlord]]ism was arbitrary and unpredictable for commoners. While the money lenders were not poor, several overlords tapped them for income. Levies became necessary for the survival of the overlord, allowing the lord to impose taxes at will. These levies included ''tansen'' tax on [[agricultural land]] for ceremonial expenses. Y''akubu takumai'' tax was raised on all land to rebuild the [[Ise Grand Shrine]], and ''munabechisen'' tax was imposed on all [[house]]s. At the time, land in [[Kyoto]] was acquired by commoners through [[usury]] and in 1422 the shogun threatened to repossess the land of those commoners who failed to pay their levies.<ref>{{cite book| last = Gay | first = Suzanne | year = 2001| title = The Moneylenders of Late Medieval Kyoto| pages = 111| publisher = University of Hawaii Press| isbn = 9780824864880}}</ref>