the.com/jester
the only court employee licensed to call the king an idiot
means A professional fool or entertainer, especially one kept at a medieval court to amuse with jokes, antics, and pointed wit.
from From the Old French gestour, a teller of gestes — meaning deeds or tales, the same root behind the heroic 'chansons de geste.' So a jester was originally a storyteller, a reciter of grand exploits; only later did the word slide from epic narrator to comic performer, the laughter eventually outweighing the legend. It traces back to Latin gesta, 'things done.'
- legal immunity
- mockery protected as official advice
- henry viii
- his jester Will Somers outlasted six queens
- motley logic
- clashing colors signaled a fool's free speech
- truth smuggler
- jokes delivered news courtiers feared to speak
- tarot legacy
- became the Fool, card zero, infinite potential
rigoletto — tragic opera jester character created by verdi in 1851, hunchbacked court fool at the duke of mantua's court
will sommers — real jester to king henry viii of england, famous fool who entertained the court in the 1530s-1540s
triboulet — jester to french king louis xii and francis i, inspiration for hugo's novel and verdi's rigoletto