How dangerous was it to be a jester? - Beatrice K. Otto

1,238,064 views ・ 2023-08-01

TED-Ed


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10th century jester Jing Xinmo
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may have overstepped when he got chased by a dog,
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then teasingly told the Chinese emperor
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that he shouldn’t let his kids go around biting people.
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The emperor took offense and trained an arrow on Jing.
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But instead of begging for his life, Jing cracked another joke.
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Luckily, this pun landed— so the emperor’s arrow did not.
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Contrary to common belief,
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jesters weren't just a medieval European phenomenon,
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but flourished in other times and cultures.
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The first reliably recorded jester is thought to be You Shi,
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of 7th century BCE China.
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He declared that, as a jester, his words could not give offense.
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This privilege was important to the jester’s position—
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but was sometimes violated.
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Jesters had unique relationships to power:
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they could be viewed as objects of mockery
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and also as entertainers and trusted companions.
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People became jesters by various routes.
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They could be appointed due to physical or neurological differences,
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plucked from a pool of entertainers, or recruited by a traveling courtier.
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Such was the case when a royal servant
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wrote King Henry VIII’s chief minister in the 1530s.
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He recommended a young boy to replace the king’s aging jester, Sexten,
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with the assurance that he’d be much more pleasant than Sexten ever was.
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Some jesters boasted unique talents, like Roland the Farter,
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of Henry II’s 12th Century court.
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Every Christmas, he performed a special routine,
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the finale of which was a simultaneous jump, whistle, and fart.
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Additionally, jesters could influence important decisions.
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For example, if the clowns of the Tübatulabal nation
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of the Sierra Nevada mountains
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thought a chief was leading poorly,
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they could apparently get the elders to appoint a new one.
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And, of course, Jing Xinmo knew how to sway the Chinese emperor.
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A local magistrate once requested that the emperor stop trampling farmland
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during his hunting sprees.
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Infuriated, the emperor had the magistrate hauled before him.
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Jing facetiously suggested that the magistrate be put to death immediately
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and that the emperor let the peasants starve
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instead of harvesting the land and paying taxes,
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all so he could gallop about freely.
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Presumably seeing the absurdity of his own behavior,
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the emperor laughed and pardoned the magistrate.
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In 1596, a French man was condemned to death.
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But Mathurine, one of the relatively few female jesters on record,
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intervened in return for payment.
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With her help, the man’s wife successfully pleaded with King Henry IV
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for her husband’s life.
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Although rare, jesters were sometimes fired or even killed
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for taking their mockery or criticism too far.
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In 1638, Scottish jester Archy Armstrong
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worsened his already contentious relationship
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with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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The Archbishop had recently revised the Scottish Book of Common Prayer—
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an act that garnered strong opposition and incited riots.
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Taking the opportunity to further humiliate him,
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Archy asked the Archbishop, “Who’s the fool now?”
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For which he was banished from the court.
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Three years later, after the Archbishop’s arrest,
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a pamphlet began circulating that ridiculed him,
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which was said to be the work of none other than Archy.
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Meanwhile, some jesters openly mocked their royal bosses without consequence.
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11th century Persian jester Talhak suggested the sultan was a cuckold,
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implying his wife was unfaithful to him.
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One day, as the sultan rested his head on Talhak’s knee,
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he is said to have inquired, “What is your relation to cuckolds?”
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To which Talhak replied, “I am their pillow.”
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And when 19th century Persian shah asked whether there was a food shortage,
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jester Karim Shir’ei joked,
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“Yes, I see Your Majesty is eating only five times a day.”
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Even when rulers were considered divinely appointed,
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some jesters managed to speak truth directly to power,
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and reveal— in so many riddles, jokes, or skits—
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who the real fools were.
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