DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION: TWO
FEUDALISMS COMPARED –
JAPAN & WESTERN EUROPE
DIRECTIONS
The following question is based on the accompanying documents. (The documents have
been edited for the purpose of this exercise). The question is designed to test your ability to
work with and understand historical documents. Write an essay that:

Has relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the documents.

Uses all or all but one of the documents.

Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible and
does not simply summarize the documents individually.

Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors’ points of view.
ESSAY PROMPT
Compare political, economic, and social institutions and conventions in Shogunate Japan
and feudal Western Europe.
Based on the following documents, decide to what extent feudalism was similar and
different in Japan and Western Europe. What types of additional documentation would be
useful to determine the specific rights and duties the various social classes possessed within
both societies?
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In world history, many societies and regions have experienced feudalism. Besides Zhou
China (11th to the 3rd century BCE), the only two instances in which feudalism dominated a
culture for centuries were Western Europe (8th to the 15th century CE) and Japan (8th to
the 17th century CE). In both instances, feudalism arose as central power declined and
military threats increased; consequently, regional nobles and landholders came to
dominate the system. In both regions, political feudalism was built upon economic
foundations and supported by the spiritual realm.
DOCUMENT 1
A Poem by Adalberon, Bishop of Laon, CE 945
“The ecclesiastical order forms one body, but society is divided into three orders. The
nobles are the warriors and the protectors of churches. They defend all the people,
great or small, and as a matter of fact, they protect themselves. The unfree is the other
class. This unfortunate group possesses nothing without suffering. Therefore the City
of God, which is believed to be one, is divided into three: some pray, others fight, and
the others work. These three groups live together and could not endure separation.”
DOCUMENT 2
The Hundred Article Code of Chosokabe, 1597
6. Lords and vassals, priests and laymen, noble and mean, high and low, must all keep
from allowing the rules of [Buddhism] to suffer disgrace.
7. It should be the primary concern of everyone to train himself unceasingly in military
accomplishment. Those who excel their fellows should be given additional income.
The military code [Bushido] is contained in a separate document.
47. As to fiefs throughout the realm: the crop yield should be apportioned two-thirds to
the vassal samurai and one-third to the farmer.
60. With regard to farmers, foster them solicitously in their official capacity. Do not
require extra taxes and work in addition to the regular exactions from them. But if
[the regular annual tax] comes even a little short, [village elders and landowners will
receive prompt and severe punishment.
DOCUMENT 3
Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, a sermon and letter, 12th century
“Everyone knows how secular lords rule over peasants, bondsmen, and bonds-women.
For they are not content with the customary and proper servitude owed to them, but
mercilessly claim for themselves things along with people. They not only demand the
usual taxes, but plunder their goods three or four times a year or as often as they like.
They afflict them with countless services and impose heavy burden and unbearable
burden on them. In this they often oblige them to leave their own soil and to flee. And
what is even worse, they do not hesitate to sell these people for a worthless price, that is
for money.”
DOCUMENT 4
Regulations regarding the Takama Market [ichi], 1415
1. The four boundaries of the ichi shall be within the confines of one cho.
2. Anyone who is not a member of this ichi cannot sell or purchase within the confines
of this one cho.
3. Within the marketplace, only samurai and officials connected with the temple shall
be permitted to receive orders and perform their duties.
4. Every year, fees for exhibiting merchandise, and rental for the houses and grounds
must be paid.
DOCUMENT 5
Aragonese feudal oath of allegiance to the king, c. 12th century C.E.
“We who are as good as you and together are more powerful than you, make you our
king and lord, provided that you observe our fueros (rights) and liberties, if not, not.”
DOCUMENT 6
Song of Roland, popular romantic ballad of 12th century France
“Roland is brave and Oliver is wise, and both are good men of their hands; once
armed and a horseback, rather would they die than flee the battle. When Roland sees
that battle is close upon them he waxes fiercer than a lion or a Leopard. He calls to the
Franks, among them is no coward. For his liege lord a man ought to suffer all hardship,
and endure great heat and great cold, and give both his blood and his body. If I die here,
may he to whom it shall fall say ‘This was the sword of a goodly vassal.’”
DOCUMENT 7
Japanese Edict of Change of Status, 1591
1. If there should be living among you men who were in military service, who have
assumed the identity of a townsman or farmer, he must be expelled.
2. If any farmer abandons his fields and engages in trade or offers himself for hire for
wages, not only is he to be punished, but also his fellow villagers. If there is anyone
who neither serves in the military nor cultivates land . . . expel him.
DOCUMENT 8
Jinno Shotoki, (Chronicle of the Direct Descent of Gods and Sovereigns), by Kitabatake
Chikafusa, a samurai-historian, mid-14th century C.E.
“[After the civil war], it looked as though the emperor would truly rule over the
country again as he had in the past. But Yoritomo’s [first shogun] achievement was
without parallel in history, and it was in fact he who came to exercise total power as he
saw fit. Moreover, since the emperor delegated authority totally to Yoritomo, the
emperor’s own influence declined even more. When Yoritomo, assigned his own feudal
supporters to the various provinces, the authority of the emperor’s provincial governors
was thereby reduced and became merely an empty designation. In addition, the
appointment of the shogun’s stewards to all estates and the other private landholdings
virtually rendered the [centralized imperial] offices meaningless.”
DOCUMENT 9
Pope Gregory VII, his Dictatus Papae, a papal bull, 1075
1. That the Roman church was founded by God alone.
2. That the Roman pontiff alone can with right be called universal.
8. That he alone may use the imperial insignia.
9. That of the pope alone all princes shall kiss the feet.
12. That it may be permitted to him to depose emperors.
19. That he himself may be judged by no one.
25. That he may depose and reinstate bishops.
27. That he may absolve subjects from their fealty to wicked men.
DOCUMENT 10
Guild Regulations for the Shearers of Arras, County of Flanders, 1236
“This is the first ordinance of the shearers, who were founded in the name of the
Fraternity of St. Julien, with the agreement and consent . . . of the mayor and
aldermen.
1. Whoever would engage in the trade of the shearer shall be in the Confraternity of
St. Julien, and shall pay all the dues, and observe the decrees made by the
brethern.
4. And whoever wishes to learn the trade shall be the son of a burgess or he shall live
in the town for a year and a day, and he shall serve three years to learn his trade.
DOCUMENT 11
VIKINGS
SLAVS
HUNGARIANS
MUSLIMS
INVASIONS OF WESTERN EUROPE: 700 – 1000 C.E.
Feudalism Developed in Gray Areas
FOOTNOTES: TWO FEUDALISMS COMPARED
1.
Norton Downs, ed., Medieval Pageant: Readings in Medieval History (Princeton: D. Van Nostrand
Company, Inc., 1964), 93.
2.
David J. Lu, Japan: A Documentary History (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1997), 183-185.
3.
Jeffrey Singman, Daily Life in Medieval Europe (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999), 100.
4.
Lu 1997, 166-167.
5.
Angus MacKay, Spain in the Middle Ages: From the Frontier to Empire, 1000-1500 (New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 1977), 105.
6.
Brian Tierney, The Middle Ages, vol. 1, Sources of Medieval History, 3rd Ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1978), 194-195.
7.
Lu 1997, 194.
8.
H. Paul Varley, trans., A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinno Shotoki of Kitabatake Chikafusa, (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1980, 219.
9.
Tierney 1978, 142-144.
10. C. Warren Hollister, Joe W. Leedom, Marc A. Meyer, and David S. Spear, Medieval Europe: A Short
Sourcebook (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1982), 119.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: TWO FEUDALISMS COMPARED
1. Collcutt, Martin, Marius Jansen, and Isao Kumakura, The Cultural Atlas of the World –
Japan. Alexandria, Va.: Stonehenge Press, 1991.
2. Norton Downs, editor. Medieval Pageant: Readings in Medieval History. Princeton: D.
Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1964.
3. Hollister, C. Warren, Joe W. Leedom, Marc A. Meyer, and David S. Spear. Medieval
Europe: A Short Sourcebook. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1982.
4. Lu, David J. Japan: A Documentary History. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1997.
5. Mass, Jeffrey P. Lordship and Inheritance in Early Modern Japan: A Study of the
Kamakura Soryo System. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989.
6. MacKay, Angus. Spain in the Middle Ages: From the Frontier to Empire, 1000-1500.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1977.
7. On-Line Map Creation [database on line]. Kiel, Germany: Kk+w digital cartography;
available http://www.aquarius.geomar.de/omc/omc_intro.html; Internet.
8. Peter of Blois, Chartres, Letter 154, to Eleanor, Queen of England, 1173. trans. by M.
Markowski. In The Internet Medieval Sourcebook [database on-line]. New York:
Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies; available from
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/eleanor.html; Internet.
9. Riley-Smith, Jonathan, ed. The Atlas of the Crusades. New York: Facts of File, 1991.
10. Singman, Jeffrey. Daily Life in Medieval Europe. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood
Press, 1999.
11. Tierney, Brian. The Middle Ages. Vol. 1, Sources of Medieval History, 3rd Ed. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.
12. Varley, H. Paul, trans. A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinno Shotoki of Kitabatake
Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press, 1980.
VOCABULARY: TWO FEUDALISMS COMPARED
Note: Japanese equivalent concepts and words are in italics.
1. EMPEROR/KING (SON OF HEAVEN)
2. SHOGUN
3. LORD/NOBLE (DAIMYO)
4. CONSTABLE, MARSHALL (SHUGO)
5. VASSAL (JITO)
6. ARMED VASSALS (BUSHIDAN)
7. FIEF (SHOEN, HAN)
8. FEUDAL CONTRACT (ANDO NO KUDASHIBUMI/CHIGYO)
9. KNIGHT (BUSHI, SAMURAI)
10. CHIVALRY (BU, BUSHIDO)
11. LOYALTY (CHU)
12. SERF (DOMIN, pejorative)
13. MANOR (TAHATA: paddy fields, dry fields, gardens; or KUBUNDEN, allotment)
14. PEASANT UPRISING (IKKI)
15. PAPACY/ ECCLESIASTICAL ESTATE
16. CHRISTIANITY (HONJI SUIJAKU-Shinto/Buddhism Synthesis)
17. MONKS (BONZEN) AND MONASTERIES (KOKUBUNJI)
18. NUNS AND CONVENTS (KOKUBUNNIJI)
19. MILITARY ORDERS (SOHEI)
20. CRUSADE
21. GUILD (ZA)
22. MARKET (ICHI)
23. BOURGEOISIE (CHONIN)
24. FARMERS, COMMONERS (HYAKUSHO)
25. TAX, RENT, TITHE (NENGU)