In medieval Japan and medieval Europe, the feudal system was dominated by the lords. The feudal system was a highly stratified social structure, but if you had a lord, they were the person who essentially owned the land that the vassals were overlooking and that the fiefs were working on. Knights and barons could also be lords. Feudalism was a mix of military and legal customs that arose in medieval Europe and medieval Japan, although these two periods of medieval times were in different time periods.