Who Instituted The Round Table?
While King Arthur is credited with being the first person to use the Round Table, the first usage of the term ‘Round Table’ was by Robert Wace, a monk from France. He used the term in his work Roman de Brut, which is a poem inspired by History of the Kings of Britain, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth. The Round Table was apparently first used by King Arthur when he wanted to confer with his knights. There are quite a few distinctive features relating to the use of the round table, which highlighted the superiority of the king over the knights who sat at the table. For one, the King’s seat was not on the same level as the round table; it was located higher. This was to show that the King was at an exalted position compared to the knights, always placed higher than them. Another aspect of the round table was that there was no head. What this effectively meant was that all the knights were equal, and there was none superior in position than the other; only the king superior to all of them.
