Jester (entertainer)
A jester, often referred to as a court jester or fool, was a professional entertainer during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, serving primarily in royal courts. Their role was to amuse monarchs and their guests through various forms of entertainment, including jokes, singing, dancing, and juggling. Jesters were characterized by their distinctive, colorful attire known as motley, which typically included a three-pointed hat adorned with bells. While they were expected to lighten the mood, jesters also held a unique position that allowed them to offer genuine counsel and critique to royalty, often addressing sensitive topics with humor.
Historically, jesters were not limited to royal courts; some performed in public spaces like streets and markets, gaining recognition and sometimes transitioning to court performances. This profession has roots tracing back to ancient civilizations, where similar roles existed in Egypt and Rome. Notable jesters from history include Will Somers, who entertained King Henry VIII, and the Polish jester Stańczyk, who became a symbol of national pride. While the role of the jester began to decline after the English Civil War in the mid-17th century, their legacy endures in literature and popular culture, including the archetypes found in Shakespeare's works. Today, the tradition of jesters continues through performances and events, celebrating their historical significance in providing levity and insight to society.
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Jester (entertainer)
A jester was a professional clown during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance who amused kings, queens, and their guests by acting silly. A medieval jester, also known as a court jester or fool, entertained royalty at court, festivals, and tournaments by telling jokes, singing, dancing, and juggling. They wore brightly colored garb, known as motley, and a distinctive, three-pointed hat.
A jester was a member of the royal household and the king's personal fool. The jester's job was to lighten the mood at court. They could tease and mock nobility. However, jesters also offered advice and counsel to the king. Some jesters did not serve royalty, but instead performed in streets, markets, and fairs.
Jesters remained a staple of medieval courts until the mid-seventeenth century. Famous jesters in history include Will Somers, Richard Tarlton, Jeffrey Hudson, and Stańczyk. The Shakespearean fool is a popular archetype of jesters in the great writer's plays. Motley-dressed jesters live on through literature and art.
Background
Jesters were known by various names throughout Europe. In addition to fools and clowns, they were also called buffoons; jogleor, as in joker; and joculator, which means juggler. Jesters were primarily men, but some were women. A female jester was called a jestress.
Jesters have a long history, entertaining pharaohs and emperors in ancient times. Court jesters were recorded in Egypt as far back as 2323 to 2150 BCE. They also served royalty in Rome, Greece, China, and India.
The predecessors of medieval jesters were comic actors in Rome. When the role of jester went unfilled, comic actors stepped in. Their eccentric wardrobe likely influenced medieval jesters' costumes. Periodically, Roman emperors targeted comic actors for their outspokenness. The fleeing actors fanned out across Europe, spreading the craft. Jesters started appearing in medieval courts at the beginning of the thirteenth century.
A jester's clothing was made up of different colors and fabrics. Their unique three-pointed hat, with a bell at each point, symbolized the ears and tail of a donkey. Sometimes they carried mock scepters, staffs usually held by kings.
The motley costumes of jesters distinguished them from the rest of the court. Jesters could offend without being offensive. They existed outside the boundaries of class, and could hurl insults as they pleased. They had greater freedom of speech than most members of court did. They could deliver bad news to the king without reproach.
Jesters could be musicians, poets, scholars, or even expelled monks. Performing in the streets, jesters caught the eye of noblemen. If they were funny enough, they would perform in front of the king or queen. If they amused the monarch, they would be asked to stay at court.
In court, jesters helped relieve the stresses of everyday life by providing humor. Besides telling jokes, they were skilled musicians and acrobats. They performed physical comedy as well as juggling and even fire eating. They often had a sharp tongue and quick wit.
Jesters had a special relationship with their monarchs, carrying a lot of influence. Jesters offered advice on political matters, dispensing wisdom where other members of court could not. They could get away with pointing out a king or queen's pride, flaws, or excesses. Jesters' comments often helped monarchs put situations into perspective, and many took their jesters' advice.
Overview
During the Middle Ages, jesters were a fixture at medieval courts across Europe and Asia. The best-known jesters served as confidants to their monarchs, found fame through creative works, and inspired national pride.
During the first half of the sixteenth century, Will Somers (or Sommers) became King Henry VIII's beloved jester. Somers had the comedic chops to pull the English king out of his melancholy moods. He and the king engaged in verse capping, in which King Henry VIII supplied the first line of a verse, and Somers responded with a funny, rhyming line. Somers joked about the king's many wives, but also demonstrated tact, advising the king in matters of state. In the early 1600s, Somers was immortalized in plays including Summer's Last Will and Testament and When You See Me You Know Me, and a book, Fool upon Fool.
Professional actor Richard Tarlton jested in British Queen Elizabeth I's court during the latter half of the 1500s. Unlike Somers, who performed solely at King Henry VIII's court, Tarlton also brought his act to private and public banquets. He was a member of the Queen's Men, a touring company of actors formed at Queen Elizabeth's behest. Tarlton gained attention for improvising sarcastic quips, a skill that came to be called tarltonizing.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Polish jester Stańczyk served three of the country's kings: Alexander, Sigismund the Old, and Sigismund Augustus. Stańczyk, known for his wit and wisdom, became a symbol of Poland's national pride. Three hundred years after his death, the 1862 painting Stańczyk by Polish artist Jan Matejko tied the jester to Poland's struggle for independence from Russia.
Jeffrey Hudson served as the jester for England's King Charles I and his wife, Henrietta Marie, during the first half of the seventeenth century. Hudson was a dwarf, fetching the nickname "Lord Minimus" because of his short stature. As a regular prank, Hudson hid inside large pies and popped out, scaring the recipients. Hudson remained jester until Charles I was executed in 1649.
The great British writer William Shakespeare used jesters so effectively in his Elizabethan-era plays that the popular group of characters is called Shakespearean fools. The writer's fools can be divided into two categories: lighthearted clowns who misuse language, and sharp-tongued wits. In Shakespeare's comedies, the fools Dull in Love's Labour's Lost and Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing spout malapropisms, generating laughs. Shakespeare's most famous fool falls into the second category, the Fool in the tragedy King Lear. The Fool acts as King Lear's conscience, sharing his astute observations with the mad ruler and humanizing him.
The court jester met its demise following England's civil war, which ended in 1651. After coming to power, Oliver Cromwell eliminated the post. Other countries followed suit; by the eighteenth century, medieval jesters were all but gone from royal courts.
More than 350 years after the position was abolished, British charity English Heritage conducted a competition in 2004 to install a state jester. The National Guild of Jesters is a group of professional jesters who perform at events throughout the United Kingdom.
The medieval tradition of the jester lives on through literature and art. The jester's eccentric costume is a Halloween staple, still inspiring laughs centuries after jesters brought much-needed levity to royal courts.
Bibliography
Cahn, Victor L. The Plays of Shakespeare: A Thematic Guide. Greenwood Press, 2001.
Griffiths, Emma. "Jesters Get Serious in Name Row." BBC, 23 Dec. 2004, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk‗news/4120607.stm. Accessed 23 May 2017.
"Jester Joust for Historic Role." BBC, 8 Aug. 2004, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk‗news/england/3545218.stm. Accessed 23 May 2017.
Henrich, Jean. Middle Ages: Fun Projects for World History. Social Studies School Service, 2006.
"History of the Medieval Jester." Owlcation, 30 Apr. 2012, owlcation.com/humanities/History-of-the-Medieval-Jester. Accessed 23 May 2017.
Mangan, Michael. A Preface to Shakespeare's Comedies: 1594–1603. Routledge, 2013.
Otto, Beatrice K. Fools Are Everywhere: The Court Jester around the World. U of Chicago P, 2001.
Peterson, Sarah. Medieval Careers in Medieval Times. Volume 1, Lulu, 2013.
Reed, Terry. Book of Fools: An Intelligent Person's Guide to Fops, Jackasses, Morons, Dolts, Dunces, Halfwits and Blockheads. Algora Publishing, 2013.
Tsaneva, Maria. Jan Matejko: 122 Paintings and Drawings. Lulu Press Inc., 2014.
Westfahl, Gary. A Day in a Working Life: 300 Trades and Professions through History. ABC-CLIO, 2015.