Medieval Japan: islands, shoguns and samurai, compared with feudal Europe

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Japan and Europe compared (cards A to D; the oath is quoted exactly, the rest is in our words). Card A, a compare chart. Top ruler: in Japan an emperor with little power, while a shogun held military power; in Europe a king whose power over the great lords was very limited. Lords: in Japan daimyo ruled their provinces; in Europe great lords ruled the tenants on their lands. Warriors: in Japan samurai, bound by loyalty to their lord; in Europe knights and vassals, bound by an oath of homage and fealty, usually for 40 days of active service. Farmers: in Japan rents were paid mostly in rice; in Europe tenants and serfs worked the land and paid rents in money or in produce. Card B, a French oath of homage from a medieval law book, in the English translation of Oliver J. Thatcher and Edgar H. McNeal (1905), p. 363: "Sir, I enter your homage and faith and become your man by mouth and hands…, and I swear and promise to keep faith and loyalty to you against all others, and to guard your rights with all my strength." Card C, a note on a code: in Japan a warrior ethic grew in this age. The word bushido came into use later, and much of the writing about the samurai's code was set down in later centuries. Card D, a note on labels: the word feudalism was given to these systems by later writers, and practices differed from place to place and from century to century.

2. 1.

   Using card A, which statement is a similarity between warriors in Japan and in Europe, Ren asks?

   • In both places, warriors were bound to a lord by loyalty or an oath
   • In both places, warriors served for 40 days of active service each year
   • In both places, warriors paid rents in rice to their lords on the first of each year
   • In both places, farmers held the highest rank, above the lords and the warriors
3. 2.

   Which statement about farmers is supported by card A, Tala asks?

   • European tenants paid rents mostly in rice, while Japanese farmers paid in money or produce
   • Farmers in both places paid rents just in rice, because rice was the main crop
   • Farmers in Japan paid no rents, because samurai worked the land themselves
   • Japanese farmers paid rents mostly in rice, while European tenants paid in money or produce
4. 3.

   Card B is an oath from a French law book, translated in 1905. What should Zee remember about it as a source?

   • It shows duties set down in a law book, in an English translation made in 1905
   • It is worthless, since the English words were written in 1905 and not in the Middle Ages
   • It is a modern historian's summary of how oaths worked, written in 1905 for students
   • It shows exactly how each knight behaved, since a law book records real events
5. 4.

   The oath in card B says "against all others". What does that show about the loyalty it describes, Ari asks?

   • It shows the vassal promised to farm the lord's land, since the oath mentions hands
   • It ranks loyalty to this lord ahead of duties to other people
   • It shows the vassal promises loyalty to each lord in the land equally
   • It shows the vassal gave up other duties, including those to family and village
6. 5.

   A student writes, "Samurai and European knights were the same." What in card A challenges that, Bo asks?

   • Knights swore an oath of homage with set service, while samurai were bound by loyalty to their lord
   • Samurai and knights were different, because samurai lived in Japan and knights lived in Europe
   • Nothing, since both groups were warriors who served a lord and so were the same
   • The ranks of the top rulers, since an emperor and a king are not the same
7. 6.

   Card C says much writing about the samurai's code came in later centuries. What should Esme do with that writing?

   • Ignore it, since a code written about later centuries has nothing to do with earlier samurai
   • Treat it as a later description of an ideal, and check it against records from the 1200s
   • Treat it as a record of how each samurai behaved, since the code was well known
   • Trust it over records from the 1200s, since later writers had more time to study
8. 7.

   Card A says European knights usually owed 40 days of active service. About what part of a 365-day year is that, Jun asks?

   • About 11 percent, since 40 divided by 365 is about 0.11
   • About 1.1 percent, since 40 divided by 365 is about 0.011
   • About 40 percent, since 40 days is 40 out of a hundred
   • About 9 percent, since 365 divided by 40 is about 9
9. 8.

   Does card B agree with card A's description of European warriors, Kira asks?

   • Yes: card A says knights swore homage and fealty, and card B is an example of such an oath
   • No, since card B is a French oath and card A describes European warriors in general, as a group
   • Yes, and so card B shows that knights in Europe swore exactly these words
   • No, since card B talks about farmers' rents while card A talks about knights
10. 9.

    Card D says feudalism was a label given by later writers. What follows for the claim "Japan had feudalism like Europe", Milo asks?

    • The comparison is a tool, so check details such as rank, oaths and farmers
    • The claim is settled by card A alone, since it lists the ranks side by side
    • The claim is false, since a label made by later writers cannot describe either place
    • The claim is true, since later writers used one label for both places
11. 10.

    In both Japan and Europe the top ruler had little power over lords. What was a likely result, Noah asks?

    • The top ruler held local power, since the lords could not control the warriors who served them
    • Lords and their warriors held local power, since the top ruler could not control them
    • The weak ruler made farmers rule, since lords had no power over farmers
    • The lords paid rents to the top ruler, who then paid the warriors in money