Knights of the Round Table: Knighthood in History and in Medieval Arthurian Legend

Abstract

For many, stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table serve as a representation of the Middle Ages. The image of the knight in shining armor defending the castle is perhaps one of the most enduring impressions of the period. The extensive canon of King Arthur, often called Arthurian legend has survived because it was one of the most consistently written-about subjects in medieval literature. As the centuries went on, the focus of Arthurian literature shifted from King Arthur himself to his ever-growing roster knights, some of the most famous being Lancelot Du Lac and Sir Gawain. However, knights were not just these fictionalized heroes, they were a real and powerful military class that made up much of the nobility throughout the Middle Ages. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the fictional knight of medieval literature to the real knights these characters were based on. Specifically, by looking at the body of Arthurian literature from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in comparison to knights of the same period. This study will look at knighthood and Arthurian legend in the context of medieval society and culture. Showing that while there are considerable differences, ultimately knighthood and the literature of knighthood influenced one another.