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The Significance of the Round Table in King Arthur's Court
Everybody knows the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table. But did you know the significance of why a round table? It is an interesting thing and it says a lot about the values that were developing during the Middle Ages. The Middle ages were a very tumultuous and difficult period to live in. There was war, barbarian hordes, plague, famine, the crusades, and many other things. The normal mode of operation was to take something by force. This is what the kings, knights and lords did. They fought, battled, killed and took what they wanted. In short there was little value placed on the individuals without power. But through this there was a shifting in the belief systems of people and knighthood played a key role in this shifting. Along with the development of chivalry came the belief in the worth of the individual whether or not he held land or weapons. And the Round table is a good example of this raising of the individuals value. The round table was meant to shift power from just the king who normally sat at the head of the table and spoke so everyone listened. With a round table it was symbolic of the fact that all the people seated at the table had equal weight and equal say in matters. It was almost democratic. It wasn't a true democracy; the king was still the king and only knights were at the table. But it was a move toward the belief that everyone is important and everyone equally valuable.
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