Talk:Paladin Order/@comment-124.122.255.41-20171007100259/@comment-176.130.31.49-20171223002929

Quite true, but not entirely. The Knights of the Round were not exactly 12, granted that in the most widespread version the table has 12 seats, but there are a lot more knights in the order serving Arthur, 150 if I recall; it is only the 12 best which are considered superior to the others, special. That is because 12 is a reference to the zodiacal number, something which happens very often in Human cultures all accross Eurasia. It is a bother to list them, but know that Arthur and Charlemagne's groups of 12 are such a reference to the Zodiac. And so, IRL Knights embody also a sacerdotal function, in the system of the Indo-European Tripartite Function, and in Medieval Ghibelinism: they are both warriors and ascetics / quasi-priests.

So, considering this, it is no surprise that eventually, American RPGs getting memes from the Freemasons (who claimed being heirs of the Knights Templar...) made them into knights who do holy magic like the priests. The idea of Paladins that those RPG gives is almost right, in a way.