Jane Foole

Jane Foole, also known as Jane The Foole and Jane, The Queen's Fool (fl. 1543-1558), was an English court jester. She was the jester of queen Catherine Parr, queen Mary I of England and possibly of queen Anne Boleyn. She has been called the only depicted female court jester.

Henry the Eighth and His Family (1545). The man at the far right is the jester Will Somers, and the woman at the far left has been suggested to be the jester Jane Foole.

Today entertainers sometimes perform as Jane in Renaissance-themed entertainments such as Renaissance faires.

Personal life

Jane's full name, birth year and background are unknown. Beden the Fool also appears in the notes and it has been suggested that Beden was her surname. In the accounts of Anne Boleyn, bills for caps to her "female jester" are recorded in 1535–36.[1] The name of this female jester is not mentioned but may have been Jane. Jane is believed to have had a learning disability.[2]

Career

Jane was a well liked jester at the court of Catherine Parr, where she is mentioned by name as Jane Foole in 1543.[3] She is believed to have been depicted at the painting of Henry the Eighth and His Family (1545): while the man on the far right on the picture is identified as her colleague, court jester William Sommers, the woman at the far left has been identified as several people, Jane among them. Jane was the jester of Mary I before she became queen and continued as her court jester until Mary's death. She had an apparently favoured position with Mary and was given a valuable wardrobe, and an unusually large number of shoes. Her head was shaved just like the heads of male jesters.

As well as Jane, Mary also employed Lucretia the Tumbler and Will Sommers as jesters. It has been suggested that Jane was married to Will Sommers, but this has not been confirmed. It is not known what happened to her after Mary's death in 1558.

References

  1. ↑ Fraser, Antonia (1995). Henrik VIIIs sex hustrur. pp. 255 & 394. ISBN 978-91-37-10713-4.
  2. ↑ "The King's Fools - Disability in the Tudor Court". Historic England.
  3. ↑ Fraser, Antonia (1995). Henrik VIIIs sex hustrur. pp. 255 & 394. ISBN 978-91-37-10713-4.
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