Nightbringer | The Arthurian Online Encyclopedia

Twelve Rules of the Round Table


Giovanni Boccaccio’s De Casibus Virorum Illustrium enumerates twelve basic rules that formed the Round Table’s code of honor and service.

  1. To never lay down arms.
  2. To seek after wonders.
  3. When called upon, to defend the rights of the weak with all one’s strength.
  4. To injure no one.
  5. Not to attack one another.
  6. To fight for the safety of one’s friends.
  7. To give one’s life for one’s country.
  8. To seek nothing before honor.
  9. Never to break faith for any reason.
  10. To practice religion most diligently.
  11. To grant hospitality to anyone, each according to his ability.
  12. Whether in honor or disgrace, to make a report with the greatest fidelity to truth to those who keep the annals.

Source
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium | Giovanni Boccaccio, 1355-1374