17th century, Europe, fooleum, Germany
It is unlikely that historical jesters wore the stock costume of ‘cap and bells’ so visible in medieval and some later iconography, and so prevalent in the Western conception of the court jester. Â So I was delighted and intrigued to spot this 17th century...
16th century, Europe, fictive fool, fooleum, Netherlands, painting, primary source
The second in our peeping-through-fingers series is almost identical in stance and props to the anonymous ‘Laughing Jester’ recently featured, including the coxcomb-ass-ear-cap, the glasses half-revealed, and the marotte or fool-stick. In this case the...
17th century, court accounts, England, English, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Stuart
In Europe, court account books are a mine of information concerning payments, in cash and kind, made to jesters. This gives us some insight into the extent to which they could be cared for, if not downright cossetted, and some indication of their clothing, which was...
16th century, England, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
This extract from the State Papers of Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603) provides a curious, passing reference to an anonymous jester in the French entourage, notable for being ‘richly dressed’ including a gold chain worth 700-800 crowns, and with, it appears, a...
15th century, 16th century, 17th century, bibliography, England, Europe, historical figure, research, Scotland, Stuart, thesis
This thesis makes a strong contribution to our understanding of several aspects of the fool, building on earlier work by Jessica Secmezsoy-Urquhart and covering the period 1488-1649. Geographically, it zooms in on the Stuart (Stewart) court’s relationship with...
14th century, Europe, France, French, historical figure, primary source, quotes
European court account books yield rich details concerning the kind of clothes provided to fools and jesters. They also provide insights into the apparently generous provision commonly made for them, raising serious doubts concerning the occasional notion that jesters...
