Samurais and Knights: Were the Similarities Greater Than the Differences?

 A daughter and a son. Yes, they are two entirely different beings, but still share many similarities when setting the gender aside (of course, differences still can be spotted and seen nevertheless). A daughter and son share parallels with a samurai and knight, though we make them out as two very different warriors, there are more similarities than people think. Around the late 400s CE, the Roman empire of Medieval Europe fell & left a weak, divided kingdom. Around the same time, the Japanese court was facing the rise of clans, and also found itself divided & in pieces. As an attempt to piece back their societies, both created a system known as feudalism. Feudalism consisted of a social class “pyramid” which divided people of different incomes and family backgrounds. In Japan, the warriors of their feudal class were the samurai, and in Europe, the knights. As time went on, the Japanese slowly started developing a feudal system inside of the samurai class. This consisted of a shogun, the head samurai warrior, at the top of the system. It is fair to think of the shogun as more powerful than the emperor, as he held all of Japan's power & strength. The Europeans and knights on the other hand, did not have a position quite like the shogun, as most of their population had converted to Christianity as an attempt to unify their many kingdoms. With both countries and warriors facing similar problems at the same time, many have wondered whether there was a greater amount of similarities or a greater amount of differences between the two. Were the similarities between the samurai and knights greater than their differences? Though there are notable differences between the two, in all, the amount of similarities were greater than the amount of differences.

One reason why the samurais and knights share more similarities is because of their similar social position in their feudal system. According to Document A, a feudal pyramid of the Japanese and European social classes, both the samurai and knight warriors were on very similar “levels” rankings on their feudal status. On the Japanese social pyramid, the Samurai are right in the middle, 3 from the top, and 3 from the bottom. This makes them the average middle class. As for the European pyramid, the Knights are leaning more towards the bottom, having 4 classes above, and 2 below. Though they are not exactly the same in wealth compared to the rest of their country, it is a minor difference, and both still get the same amount of power & wealth. According to the document, both the Samurai and Knights owed loyalty and military service to those of higher social classes in order to earn land & payment. As both were lower class people, both also had to owe some type of service in order to receive the land granted. For the Samurai, they had to owe their time & effort to the daimyos, or feudal lords one class higher. As for the Knights, they owed their time to the lords & lesser lords, also a class higher than themselves. All in all, both warrior classes had extremely similar social status rankings & positioning, and both also owed a service to the class higher than them. With all of the similarities between the Samurai and Knight social class, it is clear that they have more similarities, regardless of the minor differences.

The extremely similar training used to train young Samurai and young Knights is another reason why the Japanese and European have more overall similarities. According to Document C, excerpted adaptations from documentaries, both knight and samurai trainees receive very similar training, and have similar “pathways” to becoming full, battling warriors. Samurai trainees began training in their early childhood, and began by being taught poetry and discipline skills. Once more mature and slightly older, they began studying kendo, Japanese fencing, and Zen Buddhism, the moral Samurai code. Once trainees turned around the age of 14, they officially became samurai, during a ceremony called genpuku. From then on, they were expected to live according to the rules of Bushido, a code developed with influence from Confucius beliefs. The knights had very similar training & teachings, however the Europeans were way less demanding and harsh compared to the Japanese. Just like the samurai, knights training began in early childhood, around 4 - 5, first learning how to ride a pony. After a couple of years (again, once more mature), a knight would become a page, serving his father or close relative. There, he would run errands, learn beginning sword skills, and receive a minimal amount of religious instruction. Once around the age of 14, a page would be eligible to become a squire, whose main focus is to refine skills & accompany their master to battle. Once a squire reaches around the age of 21, he will usually gain approval from current knights, and become a fully fledged knight. All in all, the young samurai and knights are trained in very similar ways, and go through similar phases to become a warrior for their country.

The final reason why knights and samurai share more similarities is because of how similar their armor is. According to Document D, images & descriptions of each warrior's armor, both uniforms consisted of full iron plates covering over 50% of the warrior’s torso. The samurai armor consisted of small iron scales tied together, and bound with armor plates. The samurai code of armor also included a helmet bowl, created from around 10 iron plates, and a 5 piece neck guard. The knight’s armor consisted of tiny metal chains linked together, full metal plates covering the entire body, and head, feet, and hand protection made of steel. Because of all the metal used to create these armor suits, both were decently heavy weighing, but really did have a positive impact on the performance during war. The document also states that both suits of armor are more designed for projectile warfare (arrow throwing, haveling, bullets, etc.). The samurai code of armor features a bare right arm, as an attempt to make it easier for him to draw his bow (the bow is an example of a projectile weapon). As for the knight, his supplied weapons included crossbows and longbows (again, an example of projectile weapons). All in all, the codes of armor had a huge impact on how a warrior performs in battle, and shows how similar the samurai and the knight are, even though they are coming from completely different countries.

Between the Japanese samurai and European knights, the similarities between the two are greater than the differences. The feudal rankings, ways of training the young, and code of armor of the two all share more similarities and mutuality's. Though it may be hard to believe at first, the samurai and the knight do share many, many similarities (just like a daughter and son). Drawing parallels and making connections between the two definitely is not that hard, we just need to set the largest difference aside (originating country).