The Siege Perilous was a seat, similar to a throne, that would shatter and catch the rider upon whom it passed judgement for unworthiness causing severe injury or death by the resulting shrapnel. It only allowed the best knights to sit in it: one who was pure of heart, chaste and without arrogance. Other knights sitting on the seat were either destroyed or thrown off. The Siege Perilous often appears in Arthurian legends.