Knights of the Round Table facts for kids

The Arming and Departure of the Knights, one of the Holy Grail-themed 19th-century tapestries by Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, and John Henry Dearle

King Arthur and his knights in a 14th-century Italian manuscript of the Vulgate Cycle's Quest for the Holy Grail

The Knights of the Round Table were characters in the legends about King Arthur. They were the best knights in King Arthur's kingdom, and lived in King Arthur's castle, Camelot. They were called the Knights of the Round Table because of a special table that was in Camelot, that was round instead of rectangular. This meant that everyone who sat around it was seen as trustworthy and equal.

Code of chivalry

King Arthur's knights, gathered at the Round Table

In order to become a Knight of the Round Table, a knight had to prove he was chivalrous (polite) enough. In the legend, the knights swore a Code of Chivalry, which is much like an oath is today. This meant that they promised to uphold the rules given to them once they became a Knight of the Round Table.

Sir Thomas Malory wrote a book based on the legend of King Arthur. It was called Le Morte d'Arthur. In it, he wrote his version of the Code of Chivalry:

• To never do outrage nor murder (not to assault or murder anybody)
• Always to flee treason (do not commit treason, a crime against your country or king)
• To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy (Do not be mean. Grant mercy to those who ask, even in combat.)
• To always do ladies, gentlewomen and widows succor ('succor' is an old word for help; this means that the knight must promise to help women if they need it.)
• To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows (never 'harm' women.)
• Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods (do not ever join in fights over anything less than God or country)
• To fear God and maintain His Church

List of the Knights of the Round Table

Queen Guinevere bidding farewell to Sir Lancelot

In different stories, there are different numbers of knights, ranging from 12 to more than 150. The Winchester Round Table shows 25 Knights. Most of the people believe that these are the knights of the round table:

Related pages

• Round Table

Images for kids

• 

  Piety: The Knights of the Round Table about to Depart in Quest of the Holy Grail by William Dyce (1849)

• 

  "Queen Guenever's Peril." Alfred Kappes' illustration for The Boy's King Arthur (1880)

• 

  Calogrenant at the fountain in the BN MS fr.1433 manuscript of Yvain ou le chevalier au lion (c. 1325)

• 

  The attributed arms of "Dodinet le Sauvaige"

• 

  The attributed arms of "Herec le fils Lac"

• 

  The attributed arms of "Exclabor ly Viescovtiens"

• 

  Giflet throwing Excalibur into the lake in a 1470 illustration for the 13th-century romance La Mort du roi Arthur

• 

  The attributed arms of "Lucam le Bouteillier"

• 

  The attributed arms of "Mellienderis"

• 

  The attributed arms of "Securades"

• 

  "Sir Segwarides rides after Sir Tristram." F. A. Fraser's illustration for Henry Frith's King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (1912)

• 

  His attributed arms

• 

  Le Morte d'Arthur scene of Guinevere with some of her unarmed knights before they are ambushed by Maleagant, as depicted in Queen Guinevere's Maying by John Collier

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Caballeros de la Mesa Redonda para niños