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Chicot (c. 1540–1591), real name Jean-Antoine d'Anglerais, was the
jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...
of King
Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...
and later Henry IV. He spoke with the king without formalities.


Biography

Chicot was born in
Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...
in 1540. He had a strong military background, he served as a soldier under Honorat II of Savoy. He then served as a jester under King
Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...
and then later
Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...
. He was the only known jester who led an active political and military life; he was allowed to carry a
rapier A rapier () is a type of sword originally used in Spain (known as ' -) and Italy (known as '' spada da lato a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It wa ...
, and he was also known for his skill with the blade. This is how John L. Motley in his work ''History of the United Netherlands From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Years' Truce, 1609'' describes his death during the campaign of 1591 of Henry IV against the army of Catholic League: 'They .e. Leaguerswere closely followed by Henry at the head of his cavalry, and lively skirmishes were of frequent occurrence. In a military point of view none of these affairs were of consequence, but there was one which partook at once of the comic and the pathetic. For it chanced that in a cavalry action of more than common vivacity the Count Chaligny found himself engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with a very dashing swordsman, who, after dealing and receiving many severe blows, at last succeeded in disarming the count and taking him prisoner. It was the fortune of war, and, but a few days before, might have been the fate of the great Henry himself. But Chaligny's mortification at his captivity became intense when he discovered that the knight to whom he had surrendered was no other than the king's jester! That he, a chieftain of the Holy League, the long-descended scion of the illustrious house of Lorraine, brother of the great Duke of Mercœur,
Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercœur and of Penthièvre (9 September 1558, in Nomeny, Meurthe-et-Moselle – 19 February 1602, in Nürnberg) was a French soldier, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire and a prominent member of the Catholi ...
(1558–1602), as well son of Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur.
should become the captive of a Huguenot buffoon, seemed the most stinging jest yet perpetrated since fools had come in fashion. The famous Chicot, who was as fond of a battle as of a gibe, and who was almost as reckless a rider as his master, proved on this occasion that the cap and bells could cover as much magnanimity as did the most chivalrous crest. Although desperately wounded in the struggle which had resulted in his triumph, he generously granted to the count his freedom without ransom. The proud Lorrainer returned to his Leaguers, and the poor fool died afterward of his wounds.'


In fiction

*
Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
: ** '' La Dame de Monsoreau'' (1846) (a.k.a. ''Chicot the Jester'') ** ''
The Forty-Five Guardsmen ''The Forty-Five Guardsmen'' (''Les Quarante-cinq'' in French language, French) is a historical novel by French writer Alexandre Dumas, written between 1847 and 1848 in collaboration with Auguste Maquet. Set in 1585 and 1586 during the French Wa ...
'' (1847) *Chicot appears also in the novel by Heinrich Mann: Die Vollendung des Königs Henri Quatre (Fulfillment of the King Henry IV). *He also appears as a legendary joker in the
Poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
-themed video game '' Balatro''.


See also

* List of jesters


References


Works cited

* {{Refend


Sources

* Louis Maïeul Chaudon,
Antoine-François Delandine Antoine-François Delandine (5 March 1756 – 5 May 1820), was a French writer. Delandine was born in Lyon. A lawyer at the Parliament of Dijon and the Parliament of Paris, he had a brief political career during the French Revolution when he was ...

Nouveau dictionnaire historique, ou, Histoire abrégée de tous les hommes qui se sont fait un nom par une société de gens-de-lettres.
Société des gens de lettres de France, G. Le Roy, 1786. *Beatrice K. Otto
Fools are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World
University of Chicago Press, 2001. *Doran, John
The History of Court Fools.
R. Bentley, 1858. People from Gascony Jesters Year of birth uncertain 1540s births 1591 deaths