Comedy Analysis: Medieval Humour

A Jester

The Dark Ages are called that for a reason, and people don't generally associate this era with comedy. However, the Middle Ages were more important to modern-day comedy than most people realise. This was the era when the meaning of the word comedy changed. Before it had been strictly limited to theatre with a happy ending, now it also started to encompass poetry and literature and later on more or less every type of art. This opened the door to the current state of comedy with humour in every medium.

The most famous form of medieval humour may well be the jesters. Employed mainly at the courts they provided entertainment in the form of songs, stories, jokes, acrobatics etcetera. They would also comment on the current state of affairs or contemporary events. Because of the nature of their acts, they can be considered the very first stand-up comedians.

Another strong influence on comedy was the Feast of Fools. This is one name given to a series of festivals organised by the church. On these festivals the lower clergy members were allowed to make fun of their superiors. This resulted in comedy plays, songs, poems etcetera being shown. Also burlesque likely originated here. This feast disappeared during the 15th century, as it was considered to be obscene and objectionable.

During the 12th and 13th century the Elegiac comedy arose. The Elegiac poems were written in a very upper-class form of Latin and the writers enjoyed showing off their skill in Latin. These poems were however always about low-profile, or unimportant subjects. The contrasting high Latin and low subjects result in hilarity.

Although the Middle Ages are not generally associated with humour but as shown, this is unjustified. The Middle Ages were more than just people being hung, drawn and quartered: they formed the start of an upwards development in culture and society as a whole, leading to where we are now.