![King Arthur](photos/King.Arthur.jpg)
In
Arthurian legend, the table of Arthur, Britain's legendary king identified
as Arthwyr Pendragon, told of King Arthur's having a round table made
so that none of his barons, when seated at it, could claim precedence
over the others. The literary importance of the Round Table, especially
in romances of the 13th century and afterward, lies in the fact that
it served to provide the knights of Arthur's court with a name and
a collective personality.
The fellowship of the Round Table became comparable to, and in many
respects the prototype of, the many great orders of chivalry that
were founded in Europe during the later Middle Ages. |