![]() ![]() ![]() Ever loyal to the crown, he helped to get the queen back to safety in France. In spite of his size, he was skilled horseman and solider. Jeffrey travelled with Queen Henrietta Maria when she fled to Holland and returned with her to England to fight on horseback for the royalists during the Civil War. Jeffrey was a talented ‘dwarf jester’ who was encountered by Charles I when the jester jumped out from under a pie crust. They would dance and prance through the streets, some even carrying their infants on their backs.īy the Elizabethan period, jesters were beginning to move away from performing in houses to becoming comic actors on the stage and by the 17th century, it was becoming quite dangerous to have a royal patron, as Jeffrey Hudson was to discover. They were generally the ones to don the classic jester’s costume of a hood with ears and multi-coloured tunics, and tie bells to their shoes or clothes. These were groups of amateurs who performed at Christmas or at fairs and festivals. The third class of fools were the members of the ‘Fool Societies’ particularly popular in France. Read more: Kidding/not kidding – a medieval sense of humour.Some even juggled swords or lances in front of the enemy, taunting and baiting them until those with a hottest tempers broke ranks and charged prematurely to avenge the insult and kill the fool, which would weaken their defensive position. When the two armies took up their opposing positions in preparation for battle, the jesters would cavort up and down on foot or horseback between them, calming the nerves of their own men by making them laugh at jokes, singing bawdy or insulting songs and calling out mocking abuse to their enemies in order to hearten their own soldiers and demoralise the opposition, rather like modern football supporters before a match. In the early Middle Ages their job was to wage psychological warfare, boosting their army’s morale the night before with songs and stories. Jesters also had a vital role to play in the battle themselves. Read more: 10 dangers of the medieval period.Unfortunately for the jesters, the enemy did sometimes ‘kill the messenger’ as an act of defiance (especially if they regarded the terms being offered as an insult) and some used a catapult or trebuchet to hurl the unfortunate messenger (or his severed head) back into his own camp as a graphic illustration of what they thought of the message. One traveller complained that no one gave him rabbit-trimmed robes or costly gifts, because he couldn’t play instruments, tell jokes and stories, juggle, dance, or fart a tune – which suggests that jesters were required to be multi-talented.īut being selected as the personal jester of a medieval king or nobleman came with a serious health warning jesters were often required to go to the battlefield with their masters to carry messages between the leaders of warring armies, demanding that a city surrender to a besieging army or delivering terms for the release of hostages. Of course, most fools weren’t lucky enough to come to the attention of the king. Tom le Fol – Tom the Fool – performed at the marriage feast of Edward I’s daughter Elizabeth and was given a fee of 50 shillings this was a fortune, since a skilled thatcher could expect to earn only 2½ pence a day and you could buy a goose for 1½ pence. Those who were lucky enough to be employed by royalty were provided with their own horse and servants. ![]() However, by the 13th century, some talented jesters were beginning to achieve superstar status. Both King Edward II and Edward III had a succession of fools and called them all ‘Robert’ regardless of their real names. ![]()
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