It has been long recognized that during the middle ages, the urban lord class such as the nobility and the temples and shrines had gradually declined, and the samurai class had extended their real power in the political and social spheres.
中世に入ると、貴族や寺社などの都市領主層が次第に没落し、武士が政治社会の実権を握っていく時代とする認識は古くから存在した。