Hall

the large principal apartment of the castles and mansions of the Middle Ages. In it the king or the lord of the manor gave audience, administered justice, received and entertained his retainers and guests, and performed all the public acts of feudal life. At one end was a raised platform or dais, on which the table of the lord of the manor was placed, and where his more honored guests sat along with him. The retainers sat at a table which ran along the lower part of the hall.