Righteousness, honor, loyalty, power! These are all characteristics of both the skilled samurai, and the powerful knights. Both of these classes of people were known for how they obeyed their codes strictly, and punished themselves for even the slightest form of misdemeanor towards their code. They were the people everybody aspired to be, and were painstakingly revered. .
The knights were people of very high stature in society. To be a knight, one would have to be a noble, or an upstanding person to an extent that even the king knew who you were. They followed a code called Chivalry which came from Christianity. This code bound them to their duties, and made sure that they kept their morals. Knights controlled land and the land was managed by peasants. Also, it was the peasants who mostly fought the battles. The knights led them into the battle though.
The samurai were elite Japanese warriors. Though the knights" code was strict, it did not compare to that of the samurai. This code was called Bushido. Bushido was a set of rules, both moral and physical, that led to ritual suicide if broken. This suicide was called Seppuku. The main way that this was carried out was by the cutting of the stomach, otherwise known as disembowelment. .
In conclusion, both the knights and samurai were very alike other than how strict the codes they followed were. Both classes were honorable and obeyed their codes strictly as not to be punished severely for doing so. They were revered during their time, and will still be revered during ours. .