Knights of the Round Table

The Knights of the Round Table were those men awarded the highest Order of Chivalry at the Court of King Arthur in the literary cycle, the Matter of Britain.

Related Topics:
Round Table - Chivalry - King Arthur - Matter of Britain

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The Winchester Round Table, which dates from the 1270s, lists 25 names of knights. Every year, Arthur had the Knights return to Camelot on Pentecost. Different stories had different numbers of knights, ranging from only 12 to 150 or more, depending on the version. The first writer to describe the Round Table was Wace, whose Roman de [[Brutus of Britain|Brut was an elaboration of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, but even the earliest writers, including Geoffrey and the Wales|Welsh Arthurian material (see theMabinogion) ascribe to Arthur a following of extraordinary warriors.

Related Topics:
Winchester Round Table - Camelot - Pentecost - Wace

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Sir Thomas Malory describes the Knights' code of chivalry as:

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• To never do outrage nor murder
• Always to flee treason
• To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy
• To always do ladies, gentlewomen and widows succor
• To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows
• Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods
 
Knights of the Round Table: List of Knights of the Round Table ►