17th century, dramatic character, England, English, Europe, play, primary source, quotes, Tudor
Babulo, whose name has an echo of babbling, is the clown servant of Grissell’s father. Â The marquis isn’t upset by his lack of grovelling genuflection, and invites him to live at court, but Babulo is (again) unimpressed, and roundly expresses his career...
16th century, England, English, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Tudor
Sir Thomas More warns of the dangers of having ‘fun’ with the king. More had enough wit and humour to have been himself occasionally likened to a jester, and had his own jester at home. You often boast to me that you have the king’s ear and often have...
16th century, England, Europe, fooleum, historical figure, manuscript, primary source, Tudor
The Psalter of Henry VIII (r. 1509-47) was commissioned by the king who strongly identified with King David. This illumination has him playing the harp, as David did to ward off evil. It also features Will Somers, the king’s long-standing jester, whose...
16th century, England, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tudor
Clod was jester to Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603), and he puns on his own name as part of an elaborate wheeze to talk the queen out of riding in the rain, which none of her attendants felt like doing. This is a good example of the interventions jesters could make, and be...
16th century, England, English, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tudor
The recruitment of fools and jesters was generally informal and meritocratic. They could emerge from a general pool of court entertainers, or somebody, perhaps the person whom they would serve, or a servant or courtier, would have an encounter which might lead to a...
16th century, England, English, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tudor
Court fools seem sometimes to have been recruited in a haphazard talent-spotting manner; this is not the only example of someone noticing a suitable candidate on their travels and making the necessary arrangements for them to be brought to court – the historical...
