 In the later Middle Ages, the Palais de le Cité was the financial and judicial center of the kingdom; the home of the courts of justice and the Parlement de Paris, a high court composed of nobles.The royal offices took their names from the different chambers, or rooms, of the palace; the Chambre des Comptes (chamber of the accounts), was the treasury of the kingdom, and the courts were divided between the "Chambre civile" and the "Chambre criminelle".The tangible symbol of royal power was the large black marble table in the hall of the king, which was used for royal banquets, and also for ceremonial events, the taking of oaths and sessions
of the military high courts.