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Similarities and differences between feudal Japan and Europe
Samurai vs knights dbq
Knights and samurai dbq
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Who Would Win? Samurai or Knights?
By: Chloe
The European Knights and Japanese Samurai were two talented societies. They could each hold their own ground if anything bad were to happen, but only one could be the best. If we were to put Medieval Europe and the Japanese Samurai geographically right next to each other, the Samurai would emerge victorious. Medieval Japan was a very talented society. Constantly coming up with new technology and fighting styles, however the reason Japan would win the duel was due to, Japan’s lightweight multitude of weapons, intelligent social hierarchy, and its Code of Conduct. Japan had a variety of weapons each of them had a different purpose. The Katana was the Samurais main sword. Having a blade around 3-feet long, which was folded at least a hundred times, so it could easily penetrate through tough armor. If the Samurais and Knights were to have a battle, the Knights in their 100 pound armor, constantly being restricted in many ways, could not dodge the Katana. With the samurais unbelievable skills, they could easily slice through the weak spots made on the the Knights armor. According to Ernle Bradford in his book The Shield and the Sword “it is one of the mysteries in the history of armour how the crusaders can
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Meaning you were classified by what job you did, or if you were born into a wealthy family and were automatically put into that class. Japan was very militant in the Medieval Era. They had an Emperor, however the Shogun (militant leader) was the one who was in charge. Compared to Europe, if you did something wrong, or proved unloyal you wouldn’t go pray to god to forgive you of your sins, you would have to face the Shogun or Daimyo. This suggests that Japan didn’t tolerate anybody speaking out or doing something wrong. Meaning, that everyone was in check and doing everything right. Leading up to a good functional
The first way that knights have an advantage is their armor. In document D written by the DBQ project It says that the knights sword was longer and stronger than that of the samurai. The knights would be able to fight from a farther distance, which allows them to strike the samurai without the samurai being able to hit them. Another piece of evidence that supports the claim is in document D, written by the DBQ project. It says, “Knights began to wear complete suits of plate armor, constructed from metal.” None of their body was exposed, whereas the samurai’s arms were exposed. Although armor is important, it isn't
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.
The first way that samurai have an advantage in battles are their weapons. In the History Channel Warriors Video by Terry Schappert, A Katana measures about 42 inches of length. The Katana has a slight curve in the blades used for slashing instead of stabbing. The handle is wrapped in sting ray skin and bound with silk or leather so the samurai won’t lose his grip. This shows that the Katana is a strong and is a stable weapon, perfect for a battle. Another piece of evidence that supports this claim is in the History Channel video Warriors Video written by Terry Schappert, A samurai uses the tip of the
European knights wore armor that is made of metal. Due to the metal armor, their whole body was protected very well, and yet it was too heavy. In addition, it sometimes even limited knight’s vision and breathing ability because of the large protection of the helmet. In contrast, samurai’s armor was very light compared to the knight’s. “Samurai wore armor that is made of leather and steel laced together with silk cords.” Therefore, samurai was able to move quickly and agilely. However, samurai’s armor had less protection for their body, making them more vulnerable than knights. Their weapons had some differences as well. The primary weapons of knights were the long lance and the sword, but they also used poleaxe, dagger, and mace. The sword was always the foundational weapon of knights, whereas, the sword was not the one of the major weapons for samurais. Samurais primarily used the bow and arrow and the Yari that is, “One of the Japanese traditional blades in the form of a
"(Doc. A) The beliefs Japanese grew up with were that the Emperor was sublime and his empire should be followed everywhere nerveless by everyone. They were trained to be dedicated; willing to do anything to please their superior. “An old order... (European and American)... is now crumbling.
...imply by looking at the length and quality a sword, Kenkichi backed down. The sword was essentially an extension of the samurai body during battle. Katsu not only displays great swordsmanship throughout his story, but he shows deep reverence for his sword, befitting of a samurai warrior.
The top structure of the society includes the Shoguns, Daimyos and Samurais. ‘Shogun’ was the title granted by the Emperor to Japan’s top military commander (Web-japan.org, 2013). Initially Emperors controlled the country but over time Shoguns became more powerful than the Emperor and took over the whole government, the Shogun was generally the real ruler of the country until 1867 when feudalism was abolished (Web-japan.org, 2013). Daimyos were the lords and their roles were to manage and maintain the law, collect taxes and aiding in armed forces for the Shogun (Ask.com, 2013). Samurais were the members of the military class, they were the warriors of traditional Japan. The roles of the Samurais were to protect and serve their daimyos or lords usually in wars (Answers.yahoo.com, 2013).
...h their swords. […] All lived by a code that valued death over defeat. They were the samurai, the elite warrior class who ruled Japan for nearly 700 years, leaving an indelible mark on a land [Japan][…].” (O’Neill 101) This quote taken from a National Geographic publication is one of many others that speak of the tenacity of the samurai. Noble and aggressive, the samurai wield their swords with killing intent, confident that a simple strike from their blades can cause certain death to their foes. This was the primary reason the Katana is made in such a way. It is to create a weapon of absolute destruction. An implement comprising of aspects that symbolize elegance and devastation, the Katana not only is the finest weapon ever made, it is also a beautiful work of art (Yumoto n.p.).
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 (...
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.
Today we have military to protect but back thousands of years go the only thing ancient civilizations had were Knights and Samurai, Fierce warriors that were loyal to their leader and fought with honor. Samurais and Knights do have many similarities, however their differences are much greater. Catharina Blomberg proclaims in “The Heart of a Warrior: Origins of and Religious Background of the Samurai System in Feudal Japan”, “The Life of a Samurai was not his own but belonged entirely to his lord, and it was the duty of a (samurai) to consider this at all times”. This proves that knights and samurai are more different because knights did not belong to their lord. A knight had an agreement between them and their lord but the lord did not have
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
In also shows that the Japanese samurai were warriors of the shogun rulers during feudal times and they were fearsome in combat and were fast on horseback. In the movie the Samurai wore armor made of metal plates and leather, held together by cords and buckles, carrying their sword or bow. The movie shows Samurai were the only people in Japan who could carry swords and they wore their hair tied back at the top of their head in a knot. The brow and crown, at the top of the head, were shaved bare to represent that they were a
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...
...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.