Jedi High Council

The Jedi High Council, also known as simply the Jedi Council, was the governing body of the Jedi Order. It was made up of twelve Jedi Masters, one of which bore the title of Grand Master. The council sat in one of the polished towers of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, within the Jedi Council Chamber. In the last decades of the Galactic Republic, Mace Windu and Yoda were the senior members of the High Council, with the latter serving as Grand Master.

Shortly before the end of the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine forced the Jedi Masters to allow Anakin Skywalker a seat on the Council, though they refused to grant him the rank of Master. Meanwhile, he manipulated Anakin, telling him that Council was not trustworthy and was plotting against him. Palpatine's manipulations were inadvertently aided by the Council itself, who, through Obi-Wan Kenobi, asked Anakin Skywalker to spy upon him, something that Anakin felt was against the Jedi Code.

Although it was known that some wayward Jedi used blasters, their use was never condoned by the Council.

Non-canon appearances

 * William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First