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Samurai And Knights Dbq Essay

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Samurai And Knights Dbq Essay
During the medieval ages, from fifth to fifteenth centuries, a kind of military service grew in Europe and Japan. Both of these warriors fought for their lord and swore loyalty to them, but they were both very different in many ways, one example is their names. The samurai from Japan and the knights from Europe. These warriors were more different because of their armour design, views on death, and hereditary loyalty to their lords. One reason why samurai and knights were different was how their armour was made. The armour knights and samurais used were used for the same purpose, which was to protect themselves during combat, but because samurais and knights fought in different types of wars, their armour was designed differently. Samurai armor …show more content…
Both of these warriors kept an oath of loyalty to their lords and to serve them, but samurai and knights had different obligations, codes, and contracts to follow. Samurai's loyalty to their lords were hereditary (Doc B). Meaning that their contract of loyalty to their lord could last many generations in their family. In contrast, the knights contract was not hereditary and only had to be served by the one who promised to (Doc B). This means that the knight’s family or son was not forced to serve their lord and would be able to discontinue the contract once the knight was done serving. Samurai and knights both had different expectations from each other. Samurais were expected to always put their duty first according to their code of Bushido. This included their family and own personal life. Loyalty and service was the focused point in a samurai's life (Doc E). Whereas knights focused on serving and helping everyone out and not just their lord, according to their code of Chivalry. They focused on being loyal to the king, showing mercy to those who need it, being polite and helpful, and doing no wrong (Doc E).
All in all, samurai and knights have more differences than they do similarities. This includes their armour, views on death, and of course their loyalty to their lords. Although they both had similar loyalty rules, the differences in how they served their lord and others

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