table ronde

...In places where there was no economic relationship of paying for drinking and lodging, this mutual hospitality out of kindness was an essential social institution for travelers. In the early stages when kings and princes appeared in society with their retainers, the retainers' reward for their loyalty to the king (military service) was a meal, and in many cases this was a joint meal and banquet between the lord and his retainers (Tacitus, Germania, Chapter 14), and the lord and his retainers were considered ``table ronde'', like King Arthur's ``Knights of the Round Table''. In the immature monetary economy, the king's income was in kind, whether it was plunder, gifts, or tributes, and the king had no choice but to consume it in kind. ...

*Some of the terminology that mentions "table ronde" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…料金を取って飲酒させ宿泊させる経済関係がない所では，好意によるこの相互接待は，旅する者にとって不可欠の社会制度であった。王侯が従士Gefolgeをかかえて社会に現れてくる初期の段階においては，従士たちの王侯への忠誠(軍事奉仕)に対する給付は食卓であり，多くの場合これは主君と従士たちの共同飲食＝饗宴であり(タキトゥス《ゲルマニア》14章)，主君と従士は，アーサー王の〈円卓の騎士〉のように，〈食卓仲間table ronde〉と考えられた。貨幣経済の未成熟のもとで，王侯の収入は略奪にせよ贈与にせよ貢納にせよ，現物でなされ王侯もこれを現物で消費するしかなかったからである。…

※「table ronde」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報