Description
Book SynopsisAs a popular history [it] has considerable merits and offers a number of interesting suggestions. SPECULUMGoes deeper than the history of a profession: it suggests a new way of looking at the exercise of power useful and rewarding. Eric Christiansen in the DAILY TELEGRAPH Originally the word `minstrel' meant `littleservant to the king'and the crux of the profession was versatility musical skills were never enough in themselves. Fools, acrobats, singers, conjurors and puppeteers, this is the first book to tell the whole of the minstrels' story and put it into a developing historical perspective.
Trade ReviewAs a popular history [it] has considerable merits and offers a number of interesting suggestions. * SPECULUM *
Table of ContentsWho were the minstrels?; "Tota Joculatorum Scena"; the Anglo-Saxon tradition - Widsith and the early harpers; Norman jongleurs and buffoons - Taillefer and Rahere; minstrels in the age of chivalry - Stephen to John; the King's minstrels - Henry III to Edward II; Sir Orfeo - later harpers and the English romances; minstrels and the Hundred Years' War; minstrels of the towns; on the road; parting of the ways, the final phase - Henry VI to Henry VIII. Appendices: royal harpers and fools; hunting and minstrelsy; some records of blind harpers and other blind minstrels.
