Question

Which of the following describe how feudalism in Japan and Europe were different?

Knights were contracted employees, but samurai followed a code of ethics.

Knights were loyal to their lords, but samurai were loyal to the daimyo class.

Knights destroyed themselves if caught, but samurai highly prized their lives.

Knights fought with peasants, but samurai refused to fight against those that were weaker.

Answer 1

Only the first statement is correct.

- 1 is basically right: European knights were vassals who performed military service under a feudal contract (oath) in return for land or privileges; Japanese samurai were members of a warrior class governed by the bushidō code of honor and duty. (Note: knights also had a chivalric ideal, but the social structures and emphasis on an ethical code were stronger and more formalized for samurai.)

- 2 is incorrect: both knights and samurai owed loyalty to their immediate lords (European lords for knights, daimyo or other superiors for samurai), so loyalty to a lord was common to both systems.

- 3 is incorrect: knights did not routinely "destroy themselves if caught," and samurai did not universally prize life over honor—on the contrary, samurai sometimes committed ritual suicide (seppuku) to preserve honor.

- 4 is incorrect: neither side universally refused to fight weaker opponents; both could and did fight peasants or uprisings when required.