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Jester

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For other uses of "Jester", see "Jester" (disambiguation).
"Joker" redirects here. For other uses, see Joker (disambiguation).
"Fool" redirects here. For other uses, see Fool (disambiguation).
"Jokester" redirects here. For the short story by Isaac Asimov, see Jokester (short story).
Depiction of jester at Tübingen castle entrance

A jester, joker, fool, bollocks, or buffoon, is a specific type of entertainer mostly (but not always) associated with the Middle Ages. Jesters typically wore brightly colored clothing in a motley pattern. Their hats, sometimes called the cap ’n bells, cockscomb (obsolete coxcomb), were especially distinctive; made of cloth, they were floppy with three points (liliripes) each of which had a jingle bell at the end. The three points of the hat represent the asses' ears and tail worn by jesters in earlier times. Other things distinctive about the jester were his incessant laughter and his mock scepter, known as a bauble or maharoof.

History

Origins

The origins of the jester are said to have been in prehistoric Western tribal society. Pliny the Elder mentions a royal jester (planus regius) when recounting Apelles' visit to the palace of the Hellenistic King Ptolemy I. However, jesters are mainly thought of in association with the European Middle Ages.

The jester was a symbolic twin of the king.[1] All jesters and fools in those days were thought of as special cases whom God had touched with a childlike madness—a gift, or perhaps a curse. Mentally handicapped people sometimes found employment by capering and behaving in an amusing way. In the harsh world of medieval Europe, people who might not be able to survive any other way thus found a social niche.

Political significance

In societies where the Freedom of Speech was not recognized as a right, the court jester - precisely because anything he said was by definition "a jest" and "the uttering of a fool" - could speak frankly on controversial issues in a way in which anyone else would have been severely punished for, and monarchs understood the usefulness of having such a person at their side. Still, even the jester was not entirely immune from punishment, and he needed to walk a thin line and exercise careful judgement in how far he might go - which required him to be far from a "fool" in the modern sense.

The position of the Joker playing card, as a wild card which has no fixed place in the hierarchy of King, Queen, Knave etc. might be a remnant of this position of the court jester.

Islamic world

In the Islamic world Sufi mystics tell tales of Mulla Nasrudin, the legendary 14th century mystic jester of Tamerlane.

English royal court jesters

19th century engraving of Will Somers, Henry VIII's jester.

All royal courts in those days employed entertainers and most had professional fools of various types. Entertainment included music, juggling, clowning, and the telling of riddles. Henry VIII of England employed a jester named Will Somers.

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). Clowns and jesters were often featured in Shakespeare's plays, and the company's expert on jesting was Robert Armin, author of the book Fooled upon Foole. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Feste the jester is described as "wise enough to play the fool." Indeed, to be successful in the job of King's Fool the holder had to be anything but a fool in the modern meaning of the word.

King James employed a famous 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 himself and insulted too many influential people. Even after his disgrace books were sold in London streets of his jests. He held some influence at court still in the reign of Charles I and estates of land in Ireland. Charles later employed a jester called Jeffrey Hudson who was very popular and loyal. Jeffrey Hudson had the title of Royal Dwarf because he was very 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 Royalist side in the English Civil War. A third jester associated with Charles I was called Muckle John.

End of tradition

The tradition of Court Jesters came to an end in Britain when Charles I was overthrown in the Civil War. As a Puritan Christian republic, England under the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell had no place for such fripperies as jesters. English theatre also suffered and a good many actors and entertainers relocated to Ireland where things were little better (see Irish theatre).

After the Restoration, Charles II did not reinstate the tradition of the Court Jester but he did greatly patronize the theatre and proto-music hall entertainments, especially favouring the work of Thomas Killigrew.

In France and Italy, travelling groups of jesters performed plays featuring stylized characters in a form of theatre called the commedia dell'arte. A version of this passed into British folk tradition in the form of a puppet show Punch and Judy. In France the tradition of the court jester ended with the French Revolution.

As late as 1968, however, the Canada Council awarded a $3,500 grant to Joachim Foikis of Vancouver "to revive the ancient and time-honoured tradition of town fool".[2][3]

Other countries

Stańczyk by Jan Matejko
The jester is the only person at a royal ball who is troubled by the news that the Russians have captured Smolensk. This event happened in 1514.

Poland's most famous court jester was Stańczyk, whose witty jokes were usually related to current political issues, and who later became an important historical symbol for many Poles.

In the 21st century the jester is a character beloved of all with a passion for historical drama, and the cap'n'bells will often be seen worn by participants in medieval style fayres and pageants.

Tonga was the first Royal Court to appoint a Court Jester in modern times, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, the King of Tonga, appointing JD Bogdanoff to the role in 1999.[4] He was later embroiled in a financial scandal.[5]

In 2004 English Heritage appointed Nigel Roder ("Kester the Jester") as the State Jester for England, the first since Muckle John 355 years previously.[6]

In Germany today, 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 more aware of our times, (Zeitgeist) and his sceptre or marotte is the symbol of his absolute and supreme rule.

The jester in other media

In writing and theatre

(see Shakespearean fools below)

In film and television

  • Giacomo "King of Jesters, and Jester to the King" played by Danny Kaye in the 1956 film musical The Court Jester
  • Timothy Claypole, a character in the BBC children's television comedy programme Rentaghost of the 1970s/80s, was a Jester (played by the late Michael Staniforth).
  • The Photojournalist from Apocalypse Now is often seen as a harlequin figure.
  • Funnyman, A UK horror movie about a demonic jester, The Funny Man, with a varied and imaginative repertoire of homicidal techniques and an irreverent sense of humour.
  • Jester, the Court jester of King Cradock in the TV series Jane and the Dragon.
  • Jester - The puppet in the Puppet Master films

In comic books and animation

In video games

Others

  • A jester, based on the Shakespearean jesters and unofficially named Elvis, is the logo of the financial website The Motley Fool.
  • James Root, guitarist for metal band Slipknot, wears a Jester-like mask on stage.
  • The Jester, a poker term used to describe a suited Jack/Seven - named after the poker player "The Jester" as it is his favourite hand.
  • Lee Civico-Cambell (poker player and actor - star of "A Jester's Tale", "Gaylon Peglegg: Exorcist" and "The Harvest") is known as The Jester.
  • Jesters Honorary Social Club is a 2-year social club at Mississippi University for Women, at Columbus, MS.
  • Bob Dylan is often referenced as the 'jester' who stole the 'king's (Elvis Presley's) crown in the song American Pie.
  • "Script for a Jester's Tear" is the title of the first LP (1983) by a British rock band Marillion.
  • "The Jester Race" is the title of an album by the Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames.
  • The Fool is the main and title character of a series of 12 books called "The Fool Series". He has also been used in over 200 role-plays over the internet.
  • The Fool is a Trump card in a Tarot deck.
  • The Jester is the mascot for Finnish ice hockey team Jokerit Helsinki based out of Helsinki, Finland.
  • "The Jester" is a song on the Sum 41 album Underclass Hero.

Shakespearian jesters

The "Shakespearian fool" is a recurring character type in the works of William Shakespeare. Shakespearian fools have included:

The jester as a symbol

In Tarot, "The Fool" card of the Major Arcana (card 0, in Rider-Waite numbering, card 22 in Belgian decks, and sometimes unnumbered) represents the Spirit, God, the Monad; The Lord of the Universe; the Absolute Being. Other permutations include: Eternity, Life Power, Originating Creative Power, the Will of God, the Essence or Essential Self, Tao, Aether, Prana, Akasha, the Void, the White Brilliance, the Radiant Field of God, Omnirevelation, the Universal Light, Boundless Space, Superconsciousness, the Inner Ruler, the Plenitude, the Unmanifest, the Ancient of Days (repeated in manifest form within Key 9, the Hermit), Mysterium Magnum, the Sun at a 45 degree angle in the Eastern Heaven—always increasing, never decreasing.

The tarot depiction of the Fool includes a man, (or less often, a woman), Juggling unconcernedly or otherwise distracted, with a dog (sometimes cat) at his heels. The fool is in the act of unknowingly walking off the edge of a cliff, precipice or other high place. This image represents a number of human conditions: innocence, ignorance, heterodoxy, freedom, great cheer, freedom from earthly desires or passions but also perversity, audacity, truth, confidence, or cultural power.

The root of the word "fool" is from the Latin follis, which means "bag of wind" or that which contains air or breath.

In literature, the jester is symbolic of common sense and of honesty, notably King Lear, the court jester is a character used for insight and advice on the part of the monarch, taking advantage of his license to mock and speak freely to dispense frank observations and highlight the folly of his monarch. This presents a clashing irony as a "greater" man could dispense the same advice and find himself being detained in the dungeons or even executed. Only as the lowliest member of the court can the jester be the monarch's most useful adviser.

Use of the term in Israeli politics

At political debates in contemporary Israel the term "court jester" (Hebrew: ליצן החצר) is used (especially on the Left side of the spectrum) as a term of abuse for supposed dissidents who keep their criticism within limits set by the political establishment. Specifically, it is used for those who express criticism of government policies while also seeking government budgets for artistic or academic projects.

Buffoon

In similar vein, Buffoon is a term for someone who provides amusement through inappropriate appearance and/or behavior. (In Australian colloquial slang Buffoon comes close in meaning to the term dag).

Strictly, a buffoon describes a "ridiculous, but nevertheless amusing person." In broader terms, a buffoon is a clown-like, publicly amusing person, such as a court jester. In the more modern sense, the term is frequently used in a derogatory sense to describe someone considered a public fool, or someone displaying inappropriately vulgar, bumbling or ridiculous behavior that is a source of general amusement.

The term may originate from the old Italian "buffare", meaning to puff out one's cheeks. Robin Williams conjectures in the movie Toys that the word "is a combination of the words 'buffer' and 'fool.' Or perhaps 'buffamotus,' he who carries the pickle."

Historical quote

A "tired and emotional" Earl of Rochester was involved in an amusing incident in a poem presented to the king, when he said:

-

Poor Prince, thy prick, like thy buffoons at Court, will govern thee because it makes thee sport

Look up buffoon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jesters.

Notes

  1. ^ Hyers 96, p.113
  2. ^ New York Times, May 14, 1968
  3. ^ http://considerthis.onlinedemocracy.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=345
  4. ^ http://www.thenoodlebowl.com/jesters/images/reality/jddecree.jpg
  5. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3141297.stm
  6. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3545218.stm

References

  • Welsford, Enid: The Fool : His Social and Literary History (out of print) (1935 + subsequent reprints): ISBN 1-299-14274-5
  • Otto, Beatrice K., “Fools Are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World,” Chicago University Press, 2001
  • M. Conrad Hyers The Spirituality of Comedy: comic heroism in a tragic world 1996 Transaction Publishers ISBN 1560002182
  • Doran, John A History of Court Fools, 1858
  • Billington, Sandra A Social History of the Fool, 1984

See also

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