14th century, 15th century, court accounts, Europe, France, French, historical figure, primary source, quotes
European court and household account books are a gold mine for fool sleuths: they provide details of emoluments paid or provided to jesters, and in many cases give us names of jesters and whom they served, which might not be otherwise recorded. Here a list of...
16th century, Europe, France, French, historical figure, primary source, quotes
We know, often from court account records, that court jesters, particularly of the ‘natural’ fool variety, were sometimes allocated a carer or guardian. Here Thony is described as having had two such carers. Louis de la Proue (whose nickname was ‘La...
17th century, England, Europe, fooleum, historical figure, painting, portrait, primary source, Scotland, Stuart
Thomas (Tom) Derry was a ‘natural’ fool in the service of Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), wife of James VI and I, and hence Queen of Scotland and England. Like many court fools, in particular those considered ‘naturals’ (that is, having some form...
17th century, court accounts, Europe, France, French, historical figure, primary source, quotes
An account of the French court’s expenses for 1622 gives the sum of 1,800 livres for the jester Maître Guillaume, and 1,200 for his female counterpart, Mathurine la Folle. There is no explanation for this disparity, and we can only hope it isn’t an early...
