Subject: Narr jester
Culture:German, central European
Setting: Reformation, Europe 16thc
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Oppenheimer tr. 2001 p lx
"Vagabonds and wayfarers were well known in Europe since at least the eighth century, when Charlemagne issued an edict against 'magones et cogciones qui sine omni lege vagabundi vadunt' [peddlers and hucksters who wander about lawlessly as vagabonds], tricking and deceiving people right and left. Undeterred by Charlemagne's attitude, vagabondage increased hugely. By 1250, it was an organized way of life. By 1400, it had become an established, if risky, profession of sorts, especially east of the Rhine, with masses of itinerants, many of them rogues, knaves, thieves, and mendicant friars, as well as quack doctors and idle mercenary soldiers, flooding the roads. They benefitted from obligatory religious alms-giving and also ... from rustic innocence" ....
"The jester is an elusive character. The European words used to denote him can now seem as nebulous as they are numerous, reflecting the mercurial man behind them: fool, buffoon, clown, jongleur, jogleor, joculator, sot, stultor, scurra, fou, fol, truhan, mimus, histrio, morio. He can be any of these, while the German word Narr is not so much a stem as the sturdy trunk of a tree efflorescent with fool vocabulary. The jester's quicksilver qualities are equally difficult to pin down, but nevertheless not beyond definition.
* Bewhuebner 2022-04-21 online
"Jesters in Medieval Europe were decidedly more involved with affairs of state than were jesters in other time periods and location. Oftentimes, a monarch or high ranking official would search for a jester to keep at court. The court jester of medieval times was usually allowed to speak his mind freely, while no everyone else had to wait for the monarch's permission to speak. Many times, the jester would use his chance at free speech to criticize the monarch openly, where no one else could. Thus, a function of the jester was to act as a critic, and many stories exist to support the fact that kings did indeed pay heed to the criticism of the court jester.
"The jester's ability to speek [SIC] freely also came into play when tense matters were being discussed. Quite frequently the jester would diffuse heated discussions by inserting humorous statements, thereby avoiding any unnecessary confrontations.
"The most recognized of the jester's duties is probably his duty to provide entertainment at court functions. Quite frequent are the modern depictions of the jester's antics at court. Many jesters were adept at singing, playing an instrument, or performing any number of unusual routines for the entertainment of the royal court and it's guests."
* Oppenheimer tr. 2001 p lxiv-lxv
"Enid Welsford distinguishes neatly between the professional buffoon, the court fool, and the mythical buffoon as definite types. The professional buffoon, whose origins she locates in ancient Greece, is the parasitical entertainer willing to heap any absurdity on himself for a meal. He is 'neither the unconscious fool, nor the conscious artist who portrays him; he is the conscious fool who shows himself up, chiefly for gain, but occasionally at least for the mere love of folly.' ... The court fool, on the other hand, is either a clever and nasty rogue, entertainer, and sometimes politician; or the sort of pitiful cripple whose physical and mental deformities would, in modern times, require medical attention; or he is the court dwarf. All three were kept as pets in a sense, though the first of these types enjoyed a freedom proportionate to his cleverness .... The mythical buffoon, by contrast, is a fictional character often comprised of the materials of legend. His humorous, vicious, and sometimes charming behavior results from his attitude: a palatial, chilly skepticism."
Costume
* Bewhuebner 2022-04-21 online
"Jesters have fallen victim to a modern day stereotype. By-and-large, they are viewed as having been dumb people who were adept at clownish activities such as juggling or gymnastics and who wore flamboyant outfits. Though some may have fallen into this category, many jesters were quite smart, using their wit as a tool to help diffuse tense situations at the royal court. The clothes stereotype has the most support, however, as many jesters did wear clothes that made them stand out from the crowd. Comical costumes and three-pointed hats are thought to have been the common outfit of the jester, but the three-pointed hat was probably an allusion to earlier times when jesters would instead wear donkey ears and a tail."
* Lee 1995 p140
"The artificials were they who for whatever perverse reason chose the career of clowning. These are the fellows we all recognize as jesters and their unofficial uniform is an amalgam of all the symbols of folly of which we have spoken.
"The cap o' bells is topped with the ears of an ass and quite often the randy rooster's comb as well. The clown's motley garment is not only a stylized patchwork of rags but leaves and other natural substances."
Scepter
* Lee 1995 p140
"The bauble he weapons in his hand, constructed of his own misplaced head on a shaft affixed with an air-filled bladder, is none other than a king's sceptre and portable phallus."
