Fool's literature was a literary tradition in
medieval Europe
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
in which
the stock character of a fool was used as an allegory to satirize the contemporary society.
"Fool's literature"
''Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
''
Notable examples
* ' (1410, ''The Ring''), a satirical poem by Heinrich Wittenwiler
* ''Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam'' (1494; ''Ship of Fools
The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...
''), a poem by the German satirist Sebastian Brant
Sebastian Brant (also Brandt) (1458 – 10 May 1521) was a German humanist and satirist. He is best known for his satire '' Das Narrenschiff'' (''The Ship of Fools'').
Biography
Brant was born in Strasbourg to an innkeeper but eventually enter ...
*''Moriae Encomium, sive Stultitiae Laus'' (1509, ''The Praise of Folly
''In Praise of Folly'', also translated as ''The Praise of Folly'' ( la, Stultitiae Laus or ), is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in June 1511. Inspired by previous works of the Italian hum ...
''), by Erasmus of Rotterdam
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
*''Narrenbeschwörung'' (1512; ''Exorcism of Fools''), ''Die Schelmenzunft'' (1512); ''Die Gäuchmatt'' (1519, ''Fools' Meadow''), ''Die Mühle von Schwindelsheim und Gretmüllerin Jahrzeit'' by Thomas Murner
Thomas Murner, OFM (24 December 1475c. 1537) was an Alsatian satirist, poet and translator.
He was born at Oberehnheim ( Obernai) near Strasbourg. In 1490 he entered the Franciscan order, and in 1495 began travelling, studying and then teaching ...
See also
*Picaresque novel
The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...
*Maqama
''Maqāmah'' (مقامة, pl. ''maqāmāt'', مقامات, literally "assemblies") are an (originally) Arabic prosimetric literary genre which alternates the Arabic rhymed prose known as '' Saj‘'' with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical ...
*Sotie A ''sotie'' (or ''sottie'') is a short satirical play common in 15th- and 16th-century in France. The word (compare modern ''sottise'') comes from the ''sots'', "fools", who appeared as characters in the play. In the plays, these fools would make o ...
References
Literary genres
Medieval literature
Satirical works
Fictional characters by role in the narrative structure
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