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Comparing samurai and knights
Comparing samurai and knights
Comparing samurai and knights
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Were the Similarities Greater Than the Differences? Do you know someone in the military? A loved one, a friend, do you know what they go through? I may not, but I do know about the harsh training and war that occurred for the Samurais and Knights. In Europe and Japan the empires were falling and Clans were taking over Japan. The government came up with an idea to create feudalism. There was an agreement in both Europe and Japan that exchanged land for protection. The similarities between Samurai and Knights were greater than the differences. This can be shown by looking at the three most similar areas: social position, training and armor, and life, honor, and death. The Samurai and Knights has their differences, but were the similarities greater than those differences.
The first area of important similarities was the social position. According to Document
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According to Document C “Japan Memoirs of a Secret Empire”, talks about how the samurai and knights both started training at a young ages. The knights started training at ages 4-5 a little earlier than the Samurai who started training at 6-7. The Samurai training only lasted until they were 14 unlike the knights whose training lasted until they were 21. Although, the samurai training was shorter they still covered all the important areas. They also had similar armor and both consisted of metal. The samurai had a little bit more movement in their arms, but the armor was used for the same reasons, protection. Document D by Terry Bennett says, “Samurai did not wear armor on their right arm so they could easily draw their bow.” These similarities were significant because without these things both classes would lose the battle every time, and if they didn’t have armor they would get killed, and these similarities is one of the reasons the two groups are so alike. Both of the classes were so a like that’s it’s hard to acknowledge their
Even though knights and samurai have many similarities, they have their differences. Knight’s armor and weapons were different. The knights also had different training. Lastly, they followed different codes. The little differences that set knights and samurai apart give knights an advantage in a one on one
A samurai warrior was a member of a powerful Japanese military. On the other hand, a knight warrior was a man of noble birth who after a couple stages, would be raised to honorable military rank. While knights and samurais have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the samurai and this can be seen in their armor, beliefs, and their training techniques. The first way that samurais have an advantage is with their armor. In document D written by Terry Bennett it says that the knights have pure metal on them which weighs from 40-60 pounds.not only do the knights have tons of weight, but they also put armor on their horses which slowed them down a whole lot.
In the non-fictional book, The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama and the fictional poem, “ The Suicide Note” by Janice Mirikitani has character(s) that lose something valuable. From both book and poem I can related to the loss that I have endured during my life. However, the loss of both are different for The Samurai’s Garden, Matsu loss her sister from leprosy and Sachi loss her best friend. In “The Suicide Note” the Asian-American student’s family loss their daughter because they think she was never good enough.
In the article which is from “Japan; Memories of a Secret Empire” in document C it states “The rigorous training (of samurai)... began in childhood.” In the second passage which was adapted from “Warrior Challenge” it states “A prospective knights training began at age four or five.” As you can tell they both started training at a very young age. Samurai and Knights had very different armour, and looked very different, but they both had the same concept. In the article “Knight from Art Resource” found in document D it states “In samurai armour small iron scales were tied together, lacquered, and then bound into armour plates.” In the second paragraph from the article it says “Knights wore armour made of chain mail.” The similarities are their armour was very heavy, and they all shared the same purpose which is to protect the warrior or the
Many people often see little similarity between the country of Japan and Europe. However, there are actually several similarities between these two countries. In fact, Reischauer and Jansen note that Feudal Japan had departed so far from East Asian norms that it was more similar to medieval Europe than it was to China. Thus, the knight of Europe and the samurai of Japan despite a lack of contact with one another shared several common elements. This was a result of many similarities social and cultural influences experienced by the two distant countries.
Document C states that trainees did physical training, poetry, and spiritual discipline in school. They also studied Kendo, the moral code of the samurai, and Zen Buddhism. At age 14, the trainees officially became samurai in a ceremony called genpuku. On the other hand, knights began at age 4 or 5 with learning to ride a pony. Then, he would be sent to serve as a page to his father’s lord at age 7 or 8. There, he practiced with wooden and blunted swords. They also practiced with riding a horse and religious practice. At age 14, they could become a squire. Squires were obligated to fight other men, and help his master knight. If a squire had approval from the knight, they could become a knight themselves. This shows that knights and samurai had a similar training when they were younger. Document E proves that they had to live a similar lifestyle. Samurai followed bushido, which was the way of the samurai. Bushido said that they had to serve their master, be loyal to their friends, and devoting himself to his duty. Knights were obligated to follow chivalry, which said to do no bad deed, be loyal to the king, to give mercy to those who want it, and to be courteous to women. Therefore, samurai and knights both had similar
In the book Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Karl Friday focuses on war in early medieval Japan. A central thesis could be the political primacy of the imperial court. (Lamers 2005) This is the tenth through fourteenth centuries, before the samurai became prominent in Japan and were trying to form themselves into more of what we think of them today. Friday focuses on five aspects of war in his book; they are the meaning of war, the organization of war, the tools of war, the science of war, and the culture of war.
Japan lasted from 1185-1603. During that time Japan had emperors, shoguns, daimyos, samurai, and peasants who were all apart of a social class, and all together it was called the Samurai Society. The emperor was just a figurehead for the shogun. The shogun was a powerful military leader that ruled in the emperor’s name. Daimyo were powerful landlords. The daimyo often led armies of samurai. These samurai were trained professional warriors who served daimyo and shoguns. The samurai had to follow a certain code of rules for samurai called Bushido. One of their rules included to always have self-discipline to become a good samurai. The samurai warriors wore light armor, helmets (usually shaped like an animal), and had two swords around their waist. Their armor had a lot of detail and color to it, like their unique helmets. After the samurai comes the peasants, which included farmers and fishermen. They usually always work, then pay takes to the shogun. They usually gave the shogun what they earned from working like food or crops. What made their jobs a bit difficult was their topography. Japan’s topography included many mountains, undersea volcanoes, and barely any flat land to farm on. The Japanese didn’t only work they also practiced their religion. For example, they practiced Confucianism, Buddhism (...
One of the major changes during that time portrayed in the book was the declining samurai class. During the time of the story Japan had been at peace for a while and the fighting samurai class were starting to become redundant, and started to lose the traits that made them samurais. There are a few examples of the presence
During the Medieval era, lasting from the 5th century to the 15th century, warfare was considered a way of life. In warfare, the knights were recognized as one of the most powerful warriors on the battlefield. These knights, or mounted warriors, were considered deadly because they could move extremely fast and deal enormous damage to infantry by charging into them. Loyal only to their feudal lords, knights went on conquests, but also stayed in their castle defending their lords. This was important because in feudalism, the lord was at the top of the hierarchy. In order to be the elite of the army, knights needed advanced weaponry and armor. They wore the latest armors and wielded the latest lances and swords which, in the 1300s started to be made out of steel. These warriors were the head of the armies of the medieval armies of Europe.
The difference between a good knight and bad knight was very clear in medieval times. Here are a few examples of a how a good knight would conduct himself and act. The amount of Prowess a knight showed was a huge deal that gained other competitor’s respect and maybe even a lady’s respect. Courtly Love was another thing that a good knight would show to his lady. Lastly, a good knight would protect the people around him under danger or certain circumstances. Sir William is a better example of a knight because he displays all three traits.
Around the same time period different parts of the world were following the same government system, feudalism. Because of this system, two warriors arose, samurai and knights. Both had similar codes of honor, and both were extremely loyal, passionate, and skilled fighters. Knights came from Europe and provided feudal lords loyalty and military service, in exchange for land and power. Samurai, on the other hand, were from Japan, but also owed loyalty and military service to feudal lords known as daimyos. Considering the similarities between the two warriors, many people wondered of they were actually more similar than different. That’s at first glance. In reality, these two warriors are very unique with their beliefs, codes and loyalty, the
...e respect, honor, and loyalty make this difference for me, but there is something to be said about the comparison. I find that the knights are very efficient, great warriors, and are very similar to samurai’s in a lot of ways. They both wear armor, they both train from a young age, and both are taught about honor, loyalty, and respect; but samurais are taught more effectively in their training, and the Japanese concepts were better. So to answer the essential question of this essay, I would say that there is certainly a large amount of similarities between the two warriors, but if you would consider the samurai’s skills that are better, or enhanced; to be differences, than I would have to conclude with no. The ‘differences’, are far too great in my opinion to say that the similarities are so great that they are almost the same, because they are very different indeed.
Knights were an important part of society and feudalism in the Middle Ages, knights were soldiers of the Lord or King and their first priority was to the person he served.Feudalism is the form of government and organization that held medieval society together and kept them from complete chaos. Knights upheld the laws and served their Lord, they made oaths and agreements and both the Lord and knight depended on each other. Feudalism made sure that everyone got what they needed by making oaths and agreements that keep loyalty to the Lord, so if you did something for someone they do something for you, and knights were a key part of feudalism because they kept law and order and protected the Lord.
There are many historical aspects of the Japanese, but the most interesting is the history of the Samurai. In Japans history war played a large role in the country. Controlling clans fought for parts of the land and overall control of the country. These clans were powerful families that resided in the country and who all wanted power and control of Japan for themselves. The families that would be in control were known as Shoguns. These shoguns would have warriors that fought for them if any of the other clan families would try to attack him in order to overthrow him and take his power from him. The Samurai followed a code that developed from Chinese beliefs when in battle. The Samurais code was known as the Bushido. This code was also known as “The Way of The Warrior” which was the main belief s...