17th century, England, Europe, fooleum, historical figure, painting, portrait, primary source, Stuart
Thomas (or Tom) Killigrew (1612-83) was an actor, theatre manager and acknowledged jester to Charles II (r. 1660-85) – there is a reference in the court accounts to payments made to him for lengths of rather sumptuous cloths such as velvet and damask, explicitly...
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...
17th century, England, English, Europe, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
One class of stories about jesters concerns their capacity to make the king concentrate on doing his job rather than being distracted by perhaps more pleasurable activities. Thomas (Tom) Killigrew (1612-83) was a courtier-jester, as well as being a theatre manager...
