Feudalism in Europe & Japan

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing European and Japanese feudalism, social structures, and key historical terms from AP World History Period 1.

Manorial System

A decentralized system of government in post-Rome Europe, also known as feudalism, predicated on hereditary lineage and oaths of fealty between lords and subjects in exchange for protection and aid.

Manors

Agricultural estates governed by kings and lords under the medieval European manorial system.

Knights

Professional soldiers in medieval Europe positioned below the nobility in the social hierarchy.

Serfs

Unfree laborers at the bottom of medieval European society who worked the land for knights, nobles, and kings with no freedom of movement or social mobility.

Common Land

Land held by the king or nobility in medieval Europe that serfs could use to subsist on in exchange for paying rent in the form of labor, grain, or gold.

Taika Reforms

Major 7th-century Japanese reforms that attempted to adopt attributes of the Chinese imperial system, including its state system, writing, Confucianism, literature, diet, and architecture.

Shogun

Powerful military leaders who served as regional leaders in feudal Japan.

Daimyo

The loyal noble land-owning class in feudal Japan that supported the shogun.

Samurai

The professional soldier class in feudal Japan, serving a role similar to knights in medieval Europe.

Japanese Merchant Class

The group positioned at the bottom tier of feudal Japanese society, criticized for profiting off the labor, toil, and effort of others.