fools
Had significant roles both in folk festivals and at court from early medieval times through to the sixteenth century. In the former, they were associated with ritual disruption of established order, a role deriving from the New Year ‘Feast of Fools’ revelries, in which church and cathedral hierarchies were reversed, and inferiors temporarily usurped the roles of their superiors. The fool's traditional costume of parti-coloured hood and suit, with bells, a fool's head on a stick, and sometimes ears and a tail, was also adopted by the court fool, or king's jester, the ‘licensed buffoon’ whose foolery was tolerated both for entertainment and on the principle that there is wisdom in madness. His foolery might be ‘natural’, reflecting the genuine stupidity of the simpleton, or ‘allowed’, a more knowing jesting, indulged for its amusement or insightfulness. Famous fools include ... ...
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