Medieval Europe | Feudal System
What was the main thing lords gave to knights and nobles in exchange for military service?
Land (or a fief)
What was the most powerful religious institution in Medieval Europe?
The Catholic Church (with the Pope as its head)
What devastating disease swept through Europe in the 1340s and killed roughly one third of the population?
The Black Death (Bubonic Plague)
Japan is an island nation made up of four main islands. Name any one of them.
Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, or Shikoku
What single crop was by far the most important food source in feudal Japan?
Rice
What was a peasant called who was legally bound to the land and could not leave without their lord's permission?
A serf
What was the series of holy wars launched by Christian Europe called, where they tried to recapture Jerusalem?
The Crusades
Why did medieval peasants have to spend several days a week working on their lord's fields for free?
It was part of their duty in exchange for being allowed to live and farm on the lord's land
What type of terrain covers approximately 70–80% of Japan, making flat farmland very scarce?
Mountains
In feudal Japan, peasants paid their taxes not in coins but in what form?
Rice
What is the name of the system where land, loyalty, and military service were exchanged between a king, lords, and knights?
The feudal system
What did it mean if the Pope 'excommunicated' someone — and why was it so feared?
It meant they were thrown out of the Church and could no longer be forgiven for their sins -- people believed this meant they would go to hell
What was the name of the professional association that controlled the quality and prices of goods made by skilled craftsmen in towns?
A guild
How did Japan's geography as an island nation protect it for much of its history?
The surrounding sea acted as a natural barrier, making invasion very difficult
In feudal Japan, rice was used instead of coins to pay wages and taxes. What does this tell us about rice's role in the economy?
Rice acted as money/currency — it was so valuable and essential that it replaced coins as the main way of measuring and exchanging wealth
What power did a lord have over peasants who broke rules or committed crimes on his land?
The lord could put them on trial and punish them himself — peasants had no right to an independent court
What was the name of the tax — equal to one tenth of a person's income — that peasants paid to the Church
A tithe
What term describes the strict code of honourable behaviour that a knight was expected to follow?
Chivalry
Why did Japan's mountainous landscape make it difficult for one ruler to control the whole country?
Mountains isolated regions from each other, making communication and military control very difficult; local lords could dominate their own areas
Why did controlling rice paddies give lords (daimyo) enormous political and military power?
Rice was the main currency; whoever controlled rice could pay samurai wages, feed armies, and dominate the local economy
In the ceremony of 'homage', a vassal knelt before their lord and swore to do two things. What were they?
Loyalty (fealty) and military service
What was the name of the special Church court that investigated and punished people accused of heresy?
The Inquisition
Name two ways in which the Black Death changed the power balance between lords and peasants in the long term.
Fewer peasants meant lords competed for labour; peasants could demand higher wages or better conditions; serfdom began to decline
What creative farming technique did Japanese peasants use to grow rice on steep hillsides?
Terraced rice paddies — they carved stepped flat platforms into the hillsides to hold water for growing rice
Explain how Japan's geography and the importance of rice combined to create the feudal system's power structure.
Scarce flat land made rice paddies extremely valuable; lords who owned paddy land controlled food and wealth, which gave them power over both peasants and samurai