17th century, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Spain, Spanish
The 17th century Spanish writer and jurist Cristóbal Suárez de Figueroa lashes out at jesters. A rare example of such strong antipathy, even at the tail-end of the great age of European jesterdom.  Regrettably, he doesn’t really tell us why they irk him so. ...
17th century, Europe, fictive fool, primary source, quotes, Spain, Spanish, stories
Jesters had some overlap with court poets, perhaps partly due to the fact that versifying was a common capability among them. In some cases, this included the capacity to trot out extempore verse, whether making up a rhyme or ditty to entertain or edify. In the case...