[PDF] The History Of Court Fools eBook

Author : Beatrice K. Otto
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 444 pages
File Size : 31,57 MB
Release : 2001-04
Category : History
ISBN : 0226640914

GET BOOK

In this lively work, Beatrice K. Otto takes us on a journey around the world in search of one of the most colorful characters in history—the court jester. Though not always clad in cap and bells, these witty, quirky characters crop up everywhere, from the courts of ancient China and the Mogul emperors of India to those of medieval Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. With a wealth of anecdotes, jokes, quotations, epigraphs, and illustrations (including flip art), Otto brings to light little-known jesters, highlighting their humanizing influence on people with power and position and placing otherwise remote historical figures in a more idiosyncratic, intimate light. Most of the work on the court jester has concentrated on Europe; Otto draws on previously untranslated classical Chinese writings and other sources to correct this bias and also looks at jesters in literature, mythology, and drama. Written with wit and humor, Fools Are Everywhere is the most comprehensive look at these roguish characters who risked their necks not only to mock and entertain but also to fulfill a deep and widespread human and social need.

Author : Dr. Doran
Publisher : DigiCat
Page : 405 pages
File Size : 50,15 MB
Release : 2022-09-04
Category : Fiction
ISBN :

GET BOOK

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The History of Court Fools" by Dr. Doran. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Author : John Southworth
Publisher : The History Press
Page : 332 pages
File Size : 20,17 MB
Release : 2011-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 0752479865

GET BOOK

Fools have been a feature of virtually every recorded culture in the history of civilization, making significant contributions to the development of early theatre and literary drama. This book offers a reign by reign chronicle of English court fools.

Author : John Doran
Publisher :
Page : 430 pages
File Size : 24,4 MB
Release : 2020-12-22
Category :
ISBN :

GET BOOK

A Jester, Court jester, Trickster or Fool was historically a comedian and entertainer during the medieval and Renaissance eras who was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch. He was employed to bring some lightness to the courts of Medieval Europe, and to take the "edge" of de burden of reigning a country. They oftentimes became the ruler's best friend. Jesters could also give bad news to the King that no one else would dare deliver. Often verbally rope-dancing in the medieval political arena, the fool from the old times can be seen as the predecessor of our modern-day comedian. Notoir Books is a publisher of books on topics of esoteric interests, eccentric memoirs, overlooked history, otherworldly stories and distinctive voices. You can visit us at notoirbooks.com.

Author : Vicki K. Janik
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 571 pages
File Size : 38,59 MB
Release : 1998-05-21
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 0313033579

GET BOOK

Jesters and fools have existed as important and consistent figures in nearly all cultures. Sometimes referred to as clowns, they are typological characters who have conventional roles in the arts, often using nonsense to subvert existing order. But fools are also a part of social and religious history, and they frequently play key roles in the rituals that support and shape a society's system of beliefs. This reference book includes alphabetically arranged entries for approximately 60 fools and jesters from a wide range of cultures. Included are entries for performers from American popular culture, such as Woody Allen, Mae West, Charlie Chaplin, and the Marx Brothers; literary characters, such as Shakespeare's Falstaff, Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, and Singer's Gimpel; and cultural and mythological figures, such as India's Birbal, the American circus clown, the Native American Coyote, Taishu Engeki of Japan, Hephaestus, Loki the Norse fool, schlimiels and schlimazels, and the drag queen. The entries, written by expert contributors, are critical as well as informative. Each begins with a biographical, artistic, religious, or historical background section, which places the subject within a larger cultural and historical context. A description and analysis follow. This section may include a discussion of the fool's appearance, gender role, ethical and moral roles, social function, and relationship to such themes as nature, time, and mortality. The entry then discusses the critical reception of the subject and concludes with an extensive bibliography of general works.

Author : Dorinda Outram
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 14,37 MB
Release : 2019-04-12
Category : History
ISBN : 0813942020

GET BOOK

Unveiling the nearly lost world of the court fools of eighteenth-century Germany, Dorinda Outram shows that laughter was an essential instrument of power. Whether jovial or cruel, mirth altered social and political relations. Outram takes us first to the court of Frederick William I of Prussia, who emerges not only as an administrative reformer and notorious militarist but also as a "master of fools," a ruler who used fools to prop up his uncertain power. The autobiography of the itinerant fool Peter Prosch affords a rare insider’s view of the small courts in Catholic south Germany, Austria, and Bavaria. Full of sharp observations of prelates and princes, the autobiography also records episodes of the extraordinary cruelty for which the German princely courts were notorious. Joseph Fröhlich, court fool in Dresden, presents more appealing facets of foolery. A sharp salesman and hero of the Meissen factories, he was deeply attached to the folk life of fooling. The book ends by tying the growth of Enlightenment skepticism to the demise of court foolery around 1800. Outram’s book is invaluable for giving us such a vivid depiction of the court fool and especially for revealing how this figure can shed new light on the wielding of power in Enlightenment Europe.