Premium Essay

Knights And Samurai Dbq

Submitted By
Words 750
Pages 3
Knights and Samurai: Were They All That Different? Chaos and disorder paved the road for the Knights and Samurai. They may have been from two different land masses, but they were oddly very similar. In Europe and Japan, Lords and Daimyos, a Japanese equivalent of a lord, sought power. To gain such power, they used Knights and Samurai. Their code of honor, social standing, as well as their feeling about death is what made them similar. So, were the Knights and Samurai all that different? The Knight’s and Samurai’s codes of honor focused on similar things. First of all, they pledged loyalty to their master, or faced dishonor. “(I)t became common to speak of the Samurai’s allegiance to his lord as lasting the duration of three lives...an English or French knelt before his lord and pledged loyalty and military support” (Document B). Another way their code of honor is similar is that they had to be kind to others, but bring justice to wrongdoers. “Within his heart [the Samurai] keeps the ways of peace, but without he keeps his weapons ready for use…with great ceremony each Knight took the vows of true knighthood, …show more content…
The main theme of those poems, though, was usually death. Take the poem by samurai Chikamasa, for instance, “One day you are born, you die the next - today, at twilight, autumn breezes blow” or The Song of Roland, “...from the hour of my birth until this day I lie here overcome by death!” (Document F). These poems show what death means to the Samurai and Knights and how they accept it. Another way they learned to accept it was through religious training. “...[the samurai received training in] Zen Buddhism...and [the squire] received some religious training.” (Document C) “ [The Samurai’s allegiance to his lord lasted in] his past existence, his present one, and the next life…” (Document B). The Knights and Samurais allegiance to his lord was until

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Dbq Summary: Samurai And Knights

...Samurai and Knights DBQ Imagine two places in different parts of the world doing almost exactly the same thing and none of them know of the customs. This is what happened in Europe and Japan with their armor,codes,and the feudal society. “Knighthood lies above eternity; it doesn't live off fame, but rather deeds”(OI). The similarities between the knights and samurai can be seen in their armor,training, and the feudal society of both Europe and Japan. First of all, the armor of the knights and samurai was similar. In both cases, it was used to protect the body (Doc.D). They both had helmets that covered the whole face (Doc.D).The samurai and the knights had their armor made out of 8 to 12(Doc.D). The weapons were similar too they both use...

Words: 287 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Samurai Knights Dbq

...roman empire fell then divided among weak kingdoms. Were the samurai and knights similarities greater than differences? The similarities between samurai and knights were greater, than the differences. This can be shown by looking at three areas social problems, training and armor, and code of honor, life, and death. The first area of important similarities was social problems. According to Document A social order in feudal Japan and Europe were very similar. In Japan they had emperor, shogun, daimyo, samurai, peasant farmers, Artisans, trade people, and merchants. The social order in...

Words: 921 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Samurai And Knights Dbq Essay

...armies of warriors, Samurai and Knights, fought to protect their separate leaders. The Samurai and The Knights both had duties they were required to do that were very alike such as: following social systems that brought order in their societies, participating in time-consuming training, and adhere to a certain Code of Honor that shared both similar rules and punishments.     Starting with Social Order in Feudal Japan and Feudal Europe, both countries had quite comparable Social Pyramids. In Japan the pyramid went along the lines of : “Merchants, Artisans, Warriors, Daimyos or Feudal Lords, Shogun, and lastly the Emperor.” (Document A) In Europe the Social Pyramid was very similar going in the order as follows: “Peasant Serfs, Artisans, Knights, Lords, King, and lastly the Pope” (Document A), which was the main ruler...

Words: 700 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Samurai And Knights Dbq Analysis

...Samurai and Knights: Were The Similarities Greater Than The Differences? Samurai and knights were warriors who fought for their lords. The important idea is that from roughly 1000 to 1600 AD in Japan and Europe, samurai horsemen and knight horsemen were the muscle and soul of the warrior class. After studying the documents, I feel that the similarities were not greater than the differences. Even though they lives so far apart the samurai and knights did share some similarities. For instance, they both had a great love and devotion to poetry. Samurai learned/studied poetry in school, and some knights made their living reciting poetry to an audience (Document C). Another example is that samurai and knights both fought on horseback. In the...

Words: 370 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Samurai And Knights Dbq Analysis

...Title: The Two Ancient Titan Warriors Samurai and knights, going man to man, stabbing and slashing, ripping and tearing. Though this battle sounds of epic proportions, it never took place. But, what if this event actually did take place? More importantly though, what are samurai and knights? Samurai were fierce, agile warriors from Feudal Japan. Knights, on the contrary, are bulky, strong warriors from Medieval Europe. Though these two protectors lived far away from each other, they were both created around the same time. However, if these two titans were to engage in a duel, the samurai would win because of his great armor, physical training, and mental training. Samurai are superior to knights because of their specialized armor. Some pieces...

Words: 654 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Samurai Knight Dbq Analysis

...In a battle against the knight and samurai my vote would go to the knight. The reasons why I think the knight would win will be explained in this essay. This essay will be based on their training, weapons and armor, and their honor codes. The first way the knight have an advantage is in weapons and armor. In document D written by Terry Bennett it says “not only was their body covered but they wore helmets, gloves, and shoes of steel.”So the knights were completely covered in armor. Another piece of evidence that supports this is also in document D and it says “ Samurai did not wear armor on their right arm…”. Therefore the samurai’s arm was very vulnerable and it was easy to cut off leaving them not able to use their weapons properly. The...

Words: 344 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Knights And Samurai Dbq Essay

...Knights and Samurai were a big part of their society's success and defense. They each fought in hard, and fierce combat. Knights grew up and were raised in any location in the continent of Europe. They defended their kings and queens empire among ferocious invaders. Samurai, trained and grew up in ancient Japan. They also defended their lords empire against anyone who challenged them. With that said, there were still many differences among both figures. Some of those differences include, job enrollment, there childhood and training, and the armor they used. As you read on, I will explain the many differences among the top two warriors of the middle ages. To get started, Knights and Samurai of the middle ages used very different types of armor and gear. According to ( Document D ), it reads “samurai armor was consisting of small iron scales lacquered together and tied with either silk or leather cords.” another fact to relate to is the fact that samurai gear and armor weighed only up to 15-25 pounds. This is way different than the opposing figure of the knights because Knights of the middle ages wore up to 50-60 pounds of armor across combat and battle. The way the armor was constructed was still very different too, it consisted up of huge Steel plates that covered every inch of the knight's body. Unlike the samurai, knight’s even wore boots...

Words: 551 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Samurai And Knights Dbq Essay

...defend them in battle.” Before this, warlords would fight each other to claim land and had threatened to destroy your way of life. Knights and Samurai were the saviors of the nobles and people. Some may argue that Knights and Samurai were extremely different, although they are very much alike. The Samurai and Knights had similar training methods and had similar codes of honor. For Samurai and Knights, the training was very similar. First off, they both started their training at a young age. From the source of the PBS series tilted, “Warrior Challenge” it states that, “ [A] prospective knight’s training [began at the age of four or five] “ (Doc. C) and from the PBS series titled, “Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire” states that, “The rigorous training (of samurai)...began in childhood…” (Doc. C) These two pieces of evidence show that both the knights and samurai had started their training at a young age. This was probably because they could soak in all of the skills while they were young. Also, the warriors of Europe and Japan practiced with a...

Words: 677 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Dbq Compare And Contrast Samurai And Knights

...The loud clunk of swords was all you could hear from the mile away. Brutal screams are deafening as a small family watches from a distance. Although samurai and knights seem very different, they were mostly alike. Their armour and format in which they did tasks/practices was also indistinguishable from each other. Many individuals think that samurai and knights were very different, but this is simply not accurate. Two crucial similarities between the knights and samurai was that they made alluring paintings and poetry, along with promises that they arranged before their death. First of all, both samurai and knights made the beautiful poetry and splendid artwork that people today may see in museums currently. As located in Document F, Samurai Death Poem, is about how one samurai discussed how short a lifespan really is. Also found in the same document, A Knight’s Death, it talks about how they wish they could have more time on Earth. They both have made different points in their poetry, but they came up with the same message. Both samurai and knights wanted to send a signal through the paintings that they created. A majority of the art was about life and landscapes. Art was an escape away from the battlefield, they could just simply...

Words: 560 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Samurais Vs Knights Dbq Essay

...the civilians. He will be a knight, the warrior class of Europe. It started out similarly for a samurai, the warrior class of Japan. Despite these similar beginnings, samurais and knights were different because they trained differently, had different armor, and their view on death was different. Training was different for samurais and knights. First of all, they had different ages of advancement. For example, in Japan one could become a samurai at age 14, while he had to be at least 21 in Europe (Document C). This is different because to become a knight, a trainee would need to became a page and a squire first, while someone could just be fighting at 14 in Japan. A samurai and a knight...

Words: 469 - Pages: 2