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A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events. Jester-like figures were common throughout the world, including Ancient Rome, China, Persia, and the Aztec Empire.
During the post-classical and Renaissance eras, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly coloured clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern.
Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences.
There are various theories about the origin of the term. In Horace, Balatro is used as a proper name: Servilius Balatro.Sat ii. 8. 21 (cited by Allen) An old scholiast derives the common word balatro from the proper name, suggesting that buffoons were called balatrones because Servilius Balatro was a buffoon, though others have since objected to this account. Festus derives the word from blatea, and supposes buffoons to have been called balatrones because they were dirty fellows, covered with spots of mud (blateae) from walking.Pauli Diaconi excerpta ex libris Pompeii Festi de significatione verborum, liber II, sub voce. See also here. Another writer suggests a derivation from barathrum, because they, so to speak, carried their jesting to market, even into the very depth (barathrum) of the shambles (barathrum macelli)Hor. Ep. i. 15. 31. (cited by Allen) Balatro may be connected with balare, "to bleat like a sheep", and hence, to speak sillily. Others have suggested a connection with blatero, a busy-body.Gell. i. 15. (cited by Allen)
Jester-like figures have been common throughout the world. They were known in China, Persia, and the Aztec empire.
Jesters were also occasionally used as psychological warfare. Jesters would ride in front of their troops, provoke or mock the enemy, and even serve as messengers. They played an important part in raising their own army's spirits by singing songs and reciting stories.
Henry VIII employed a jester named Will Sommers. His daughter Mary was entertained by Jane Foole.
During the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I of England, William Shakespeare wrote his plays and performed with his theatre company the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later called the King's Men). and jesters were featured in Shakespeare's plays, and the company's expert on jesting was Robert Armin, author of the book Foole upon Foole. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Feste the jester is described as "wise enough to play the fool".
In Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots, had a jester called Nichola. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, employed a jester called Archibald Armstrong. During his lifetime Armstrong was given great honours at court. He was eventually thrown out of the King's employment when he over-reached and insulted too many influential people. Even after his disgrace, books telling of his jests were sold in London streets. He held some influence at court still in the reign of Charles I and estates of land in Ireland. Anne of Denmark had a Scottish jester called Tom Durie. Charles I later employed a jester called Jeffrey Hudson who was very popular and loyal. Jeffrey Hudson had the title of "Royal Dwarfism" because he was short of stature. One of his jests was to be presented hidden in a giant pie from which he would leap out. Hudson fought on the Cavalier side in the English Civil War. A third jester associated with Charles I was called Muckle John.
Martin Luther used jest in many of his criticisms against the Catholic Church. In the introduction to his To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, he calls himself a court jester, and, later in the text, he explicitly invokes the jester's privilege when saying that monks should break their chastity vows.
In the 18th century, jesters had died out except in Russia, Spain, and Germany. In France and Italy, travelling groups of jesters performed plays featuring stylised characters in a form of theatre called the commedia dell'arte. A version of this passed into United Kingdom Folklore in the form of a puppet show, Punch and Judy. In France the tradition of the court jester ended with the abolition of the monarchy in the French Revolution.
In 2015, the town of Conwy in North Wales appointed Russel Erwood (aka Erwyd le Fol) as the official resident jester of the town and its people, a post that had been vacant since 1295.
In 2004 English Heritage appointed Nigel Roder ("Kester the Jester") as the State Jester for England, the first since Muckle John 355 years previously. However, following an objection by the National Guild of Jesters, English Heritage accepted they were not authorised to grant such a title. Roder was succeeded as "Heritage Jester" by Pete Cooper ("Peterkin the Fool").
In Germany, Till Eulenspiegel is a folkloric hero dating back to medieval times and ruling each year over Fasching or Carnival time, mocking politicians and public figures of power and authority with political satire like a modern-day court jester. He holds a mirror to make us aware of our times (Zeitgeist), and his sceptre, his "bauble", or marotte, is the symbol of his power.
In 17th century Spain, Dwarfism, often with deformities, were employed as buffoons to entertain the king and his family, especially the children. In Velázquez's painting Las Meninas two dwarfs are included: Maria Bárbola, a female dwarf from Germany with hydrocephalus, and Nicolasito Portusato from Italy. Mari Bárbola can also be seen in a later portrait of princess Margarita Teresa in mourning by Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo. There are other paintings by Velázquez that include court dwarves such as Prince Balthasar Charles With a Dwarf.
During the Renaissance Papacy, the Papal court in Rome had a court jester, similar to the secular courts of the time. Pope Pius V dismissed the court Jester, and no later Pope employed one.
In Japan from the 13th to 18th centuries, the taikomochi, a kind of male geisha, attended the feudal lords ( daimyōs). They entertained mostly through dancing and storytelling, and were at times counted on for strategic advice. By the 16th century they fought alongside their lord in battle in addition to their other duties. In Akira Kurosawa
Tonga was the first royal court to appoint a court jester in the 20th century; Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, the King of Tonga, appointed Jesse Bogdonoff to that role in 1999. Bogdanoff was later embroiled in a financial scandal.
In many Sanskrit Indian texts like Abhijnanashakuntalam, Vidushakas are what we can call jesters. In Kama Sutra, a Vidushaka, also known as a Vaihasaka, is defined as a beloved jester trusted by everyone. This character is somewhat skilled in the arts but is primarily known for provoking laughter. The Vidūṣaka is detailed in the Natya Shastra. In the theatres, his character is often depicted as dwarfish, hunch-backed, having large teeth and tawny eyes. He wears a makeup showing a shaven head or a crow's foot pattern imprint on his head. He is a clever confidant who observes and imitates all types of people, uses witty speech to reveal secrets that no one else dares to venture, delivers criticism to even kings through humor so that no one gets offended, maintains good relationship with women and entertains the court.
The root of the word "fool" is from the Latin follis, which means "bag of wind" or bellows or that which contains air or breath.
The Shakespearean fool is a recurring character type in the works of William Shakespeare. Shakespearean fools are usually clever peasants or commoners that use their wits to outdo people of higher social standing. In this sense, they are very similar to the real fools, and jesters of the time, but their characteristics are greatly heightened for theatrical effect. The "groundlings" (theatre-goers who were too poor to pay for seats and thus stood on the 'ground' in the front by the stage) that frequented the Globe Theatre were more likely to be drawn to these Shakespearean fools. However they were also favoured by the nobility. Most notably, Queen Elizabeth I was a great admirer of the popular actor who portrayed fools, Richard Tarlton. For Shakespeare himself, however, actor Robert Armin may have proved vital to the cultivation of the fool character in his many plays.
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