Court Jesters in Western Europe
The Surprising Accuracy of the Modern Perception of these Comedians
Though many modern perceptions of historical events tend to get shrouded or distorted with the passing of time, the person of the jester has remained surprisingly intact.
If one were to attempt to find a common thread which runs consistently through studies in history it very well might be this: As more and more time elapses between a certain historical event and the later study of it as “history,” it is a general rule that the “popular” perception of this event (usually as passed down by oral history and tradition) becomes either exaggerated or otherwise distorted from truth. For instance, what is commonly known to even children about pirates these days (to use a popular example in present popular culture) is generally quite far from the truth, being that it was most likely far less glamorous than how it is so often shown, and those who engaged in it were surely far less lovable.
The Exception to the Rule
This being said, it is refreshing to suddenly stumble across a very well-known piece of history which has actually withstood the test of time.
Consider ye olde court jester. The fool. The original clown.
Now, on the surface, it certainly seems as if the jester of medieval times should have suffered the same fate as has befallen the rest of history in oral tradition. In fact, it seems to be the ideal candidate for such extravagant dilutions of history. If any position within a kingdom seems more ripe for exaggeration and the propagation of questionable stories, it should be him, should it not?
The fact is, however that this simply not what we find in history.
From what is known today, the original court jester, a position which flourished in Europe (mainly England) all the way up until the sixteenth century, was a position filled by “special cases” in the kingdom – a man, blessed (or cursed, as it was often thought) with a strong childlike sense of humor.
For the king and other nobility during the middle ages and early Renaissance period, these jesters would sing and dance and tell jokes and riddles in order to entertain the courts of royalty (exactly how it is so often portrayed). They traditionally wore brightly colored clothes in a motley (that is, somewhat random and disheveled) pattern, and a hat (called a coxcomb) which was made of cloth and very floppy, hanging down in three points, at the end of each was often a bell.
Surely, thinks the average non-historian, that last part must have been made up by some clever author or filmmaker! No. In fact, it‘s all true.
The Earliest Known Jesters
In addition to this traditional jester, which flourished during the Middle Ages (when, one would suppose, people were in need of cheering up more than ever, due to the crusades and the black death and all), they are also found, though in slightly different forms, in such diverse places as the Middle East and, earlier, in Rome during the time of Pliny the Elder (first century A.D.).
What Were Jesters “Fools are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World.”
“Medieval Renaissance Jesters: A Fool and his Clothing.”
