Oh, the Osman Empire had a completely different societal structures which changed greatly over time, including the roles of janissaries. But the function of the

Oh, the Osman Empire had a completely different societal structures which changed greatly over time, including the roles of janissaries. But the function of the janissaries was similar: not part of the nobility, completely uprooted from their family and social circle, they owed all they had to the Sultan, so they helped him safeguard his power from entrenched power sources — at least that's how it worked during some periods. My original comment was more about feudal Europe in territories of modern France, UK, Germany and to some extent Italy and Spain. Even in medieval Moscovy and Poland things were not quite similar.