were prized, as were dwarfs, perhaps the most famous of which being Lord Minimus, who we cover in detail in an episode of our BrainFood Show podcast- Lord Minimus: The Renaissance Dueling Dwarf.Īs for garb, this varied from jester to jester, but in the general case, particularly for Licensed Fools, they typically were clothed in colorful, patchworked and mildly whimsical outfits, potentially including a monk’s cowl, and a pointed, colorful fool’s hat, originally modeled after donkey ears. In both cases, those with physical deformities, such as extreme hunchback, malformed limbs, particularly ugly visages, etc. In any event, there were two popular types of court jesters prominent during the latter parts of Medieval times, the so-called “Licensed Fool” and the “Natural Fool”. The jester name, deriving from the Anglo-Norman “gestour” meaning “storyteller”, wouldn’t come about until around the 16th century.
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Although it should be noted they weren’t called “jesters” at this point, rather usually something like “fool” or “buffoon”. Over the centuries this line of work matured and as we get into Medieval times in the Western world, we start to see court jesters that somewhat fit the common stereotype depicted today. Beyond entertaining the masses, from Egyptian Pharaoh to the first Emperor of China, the wealthy have frequently employed the services of these individuals. To begin with, the job of jester has been around going back to humanity’s earliest recorded history, as well as spanning just about every major culture on Earth. So what was life actually like as a court jester?
![the court jester becomes the king the court jester becomes the king](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5EmCNjcEyLk/hqdefault.jpg)
And as you were often putting them in good humor and otherwise making them happy, it was a position that came with a whole slew of perks. LegitMarmalade asks: Is it true medieval jesters could insult the King in any way they wanted without risk of getting executed?Īlthough you might assume that being made to wear a stupid costume, be mocked, and act like an idiot for the entertainment of fatuous rulers would be a job nobody would want- like the position of Groom of the Stool (a job which initially consisted of directly supplying the necessaries to facilitate a good and clean bowel movement to the King, as well as to monitor said fecal matter and make dietary recommendations based on what you saw there)- the position of court jester was actually an enviable one due to it involving spending so much time with those in power.