DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION: PRE-HISTORY



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 The question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents.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

Document 2

Document 3

Document 4

Document 5

Document 6

Document 7

Document 8

Document 9

Document 10

DOCUMENT 11

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 ; 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 ; 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)

-----------------------

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.

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.

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.”

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.

SLAVS

HUNGARIANS

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.’”

[pic]

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.”

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.

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.

VIKINGS

INVASIONS OF WESTERN EUROPE: 700 – 1000 C.E.

Feudalism Developed in Gray Areas

muslims

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.”

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.”

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download