Fool (eBook)

In Search of Henry VIII's Closest Man

Peter K. Andersson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023
208 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-25063-2 (ISBN)

Infos

The first biography of Henry VIII's court fool William Somer, a legendary entertainer and one of the most intriguing figures of the Tudor ageIn some portraits of Henry VIII there appears another, striking figurea gaunt and morose-looking man with a shaved head and, in one case, a monkey on his shoulder. This is William or Will Somer, the king's fool, a celebrated wit who reportedly could raise Henry's spirits and spent many hours with him, often alone. Was Somer an ';artificial fool,' a cunning comic who could speak freely in front of the king, or a ';natural fool,' someone with intellectual disabilities, like many other members of the profession? And what role did he play in the tumultuous and violent Tudor era? Fool is the first biography of Somerand perhaps the first of a Renaissance fool.After his death, Somer disappeared behind his legend, and historians struggled to separate myth from reality. Unearthing as many facts as possible, Peter K. Andersson pieces together the fullest picture yet of an enigmatic and unusual man with a very strange job. Somer's story provides new insights into how fools lived and what exactly they did for a living, how monarchs and courtiers related to commoners and people with disabilities, and whether aspects of the Renaissance fool live on in the modern comedian. But most of all, we learn how a commoner without property or education managed to become the court's chief mascot and a continuous presence at the center of Tudor power from the 1530s to the reign of Elizabeth I.Looking beyond stereotypes of the man in motley, Fool reveals a little-known world, surprising and disturbing, when comedy was something crueler and more unpleasant than we like to think.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 31.10.2023
• Zusatzinfo: 10 b/w illus.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik
• Schlagworte: artificial fool • Biography • Bishops • boy king Edward VI • Clown • Comedy • comedy history • commoners in court • councillors • court • Court entertainment • court fool • courtiers • court life • court politics • Disability • Disability History • Early Modern England • Edward VI • Elizabeth I • English Renaissance • Fool • Fool: In Search of Henry VIII's Closest Man • freedom of speech • Henry VIII • Henry VIII’s fool. • historical biography • History • history of the English throne in the age of the Tudors • humor in history • Intellectual disabilities • jester • Ladies • legend vs. reality • lords • Mary I • Mary Tudor’s brief and bloody rule • Mental Health • Monarchy • motley • natural fool • Peter K. Andersson • Philosophers • Politicians • portraits of Henry VIII • power and influence • Princeton • Princeton University Press • Renaissance • Renaissance fool • royal companions • Royal History • royal household • royalty • sartorial splendour • Satire • Social hierarchy • Social mobility • stereotypes • The Crown • the dandy • the political turmoil of the sixteenth century • Tudor • Tudor Court • Tudor history • William Somer • Will Somer • Wit
• ISBN-10: 0-691-25063-4 / 0691250634
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-25063-2 / 9780691250632