Velasquez painted portraits of several of the 110 dwarves on King Philip IV of Spain’s payroll Van Dyck paired English queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669) with her trusted dwarf, Sir Jeffrey Hudson, a.k.a. Perhaps the most familiar jester is Will Sommers, who served three successive British monarchs, most notably Henry VIII. “If you were a big shot and used to being able to scare the hell out of people, wouldn’t you have respect for some funny chap who wasn’t scared of you and didn’t mind saying what he thought you ought to hear even if you didn’t like it?” “I can assign no reason for these pieces of deformity,” wrote Lady Mary Montague, a well-traveled, 17 th century aristocrat, “but ‘tis the opinion all absolute princes have, that ’tis below them to converse with the rest of mankind and, not to be quite alone, they are forced to seek their companions amongst the refuse of human nature – these creatures being the only part of their court privileged to talk freely to them.”īeatrice Otto, author of Fools Are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World, takes a different view.

He told the formidable Queen Elizabeth I “more of her faults than most of her chaplains.” And yet she adored him. Actor-fencing master-playwright Richard Tarlton had been a swineherd before being brought to the English court, where his “happy unhappy answers” made him a favorite.

Jesters almost always hailed from the lower classes, which gave them a different perspective and often, a vital detachment. Some were keepers of secrets not safely committed to paper, others gatekeepers between a monarch and his supplicants, still others were trusted envoys. Many held positions of privilege and considerable influence, accompanying sovereigns on war campaigns, to treaty negotiations and weddings.

Though they were often referred to as “royal fools” the jester’s role was far more complex than that of a prancing dwarf or hunchback (being physically “challenged,” though not all were, was considered a jester attribute) decked out in a silly cap and jangling bells. For centuries, jesters were a common sight in the courts of emperors, kings, sultans, dukes, caliphs, Tzars, the occasional Kaiser, Cardinal and Archbishop, various 19 th century nobles, and at least one Pope.

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