The Untold History of Disabled Jesters

Thank you all for watching my video :) . This is my first video so let me know how I did! I appreciate positive and negative critiques. And although I am a history student, I am also a flawed human being so if I made any errors in my research, feel free to point them out in the comments. Thank you all :))
Patreon: / meekalefay
Sources:
Websites
historicenglan...
www.cs.mcgill.....
www.tudorsocie...
historicenglan...
www.british-hi...
www.rct.uk/col...
elizregina.com...
Journals
www.jstor.org/...
www.proquest.c...
Books
Disability and the Tudors: All the King’s Fools by Phillipa Vincent Connolly
Praisers of Folly: Erasmus, Rabelais, Shakespeare. By Walter Jacob Kaiser
Fools and Jesters at the English Court by John Southworth
Fools and Idiots? Intellectual Disability in the Middle Ages by Irina Metzler
From Idiocy to Mental Deficiency by Richard Neugebauer
Music Credits:
'The Medieval Banquet' by Silverman Sound is under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 3.0) Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: bit.ly/Silverma...
and…
Title: Village Consort
Artist: Always Music
Link: • Medieval Song Village ...
You can also find me on:
Instagram: www.instagram....
Discord: / discord
Business Email: [e-mail]
***Special credit to my lovely graphic design boyfriend for making this thumbnail! Follow @sep.graphics on ig :)) ****

[@grantrick1]

Born too late to hold a highly regarded ceremonial title in an English monarch's court, born just in time to rock to and fro while i watch videos on my silly little computer

[@_gobi_the_goat_8699]

I feel called out right now

[@KindaxPlankish]

yeah why the fuck am i being bullied by a yt comment rn

[@carbunky6098]

Kindred spirits, we all are

[@revolverspsychedelicbreakf8747]

So based Rei with santa hat.

[@Faunadude]

Same

[@vickorpus]

You describing a “natural fool” made me realize the role i fulfill in my family. Being laughed at for my behavior though never fully understanding why

[@Terron-de-pimienta]

Your relatives seem a bunch of jerkass, I'm sorry you have to hold their insensibility. I'm the black sheep/boxing bag of my dysfunctional family too, so I feel you.

[@-Chrome-]

That's your role in life, great that you're taking it so well.

[@franki1990]

@@-Chrome- Everything well at home?

[@-Chrome-]

@@franki1990 Daddy keeps beating me up and I like it, so yup, everything is fine.

[@what76485]

My sister hated it. She thought I was just a disgusting human being who’s life purpose was to embarrass her. And her life purpose became making me have an autism meltdown.

[@noheterotho179]

As an autistic person with a lifelong hyperfixation on jesters ive never felt more attacked

[@Rupninjatrash]

Ever played Spark the Electric Jester? I reccomend the third game!

[@rosykindbunny1313]

There's a jester character in my school play (I don't play him, but I'm a ton of scenes interacting with him), and I think it's starting to give me a bit of a fascination about them. Got any cool facts?

[@lif6737]

@@Brodc Oh no, don't encourage it. There's already too much Pomni...

[@kristinthomsen3175]

She is also autistic. I am as well. It affects each of us differently so maybe you missed it. I think you sadly missed the lesson and history as well. She clearly stated that she would be using historical terms in the video.

[@therussianspudblyad8601]

Im not hearing a no

[@kitwhitfield7169]

My son is autistic, and yes, I can see it. He loves to connect with people, and clowning is one of the main ways he does it: making someone laugh is a way of pleasing them he’s confident he can do. And in fact, he has a sunny and cheerful presence and a sweetness that makes him - well, delightful. He cheers everyone up; his teachers told me that he said ‘GOOD MORNING!’ He loves to be funny with unalloyed joy; he really is a ‘natural’ joker.

[@softlightlaboratory]

My mother abandoned me for parties, and my father abandoned me for drugs then raised by sum 1 else raised me, the hit me yelled at me and didn't explain anything to me or calm me down when I was scared and a kid, just picked me up and through me in the car.picked on for how big I was, picked on for the color of me skin, then picked on for my ski being to light around Mexicans then stop when I said I was one too, never acted like a father even when I called for help when I had a heat stroke he said no and hung up, I was scared, alone and on the streets. Even when I feel down and hurt myself at the park he didn't pick me up just left me there I was sacred alone, and hurt I got up when yhe pain stop. Now I'm fighting to get ssc, I don't like it I wasted 10 years of my life trying to get a job and all of them lasting only months and that $50 in my bank is from my grandpa the guy who raised me wrong I just stop yelling and he thinks life is good, I thought by 25 I would get an apartment by I'm about to be 28 and with only 50 bucks to my name, I did everything I tried and the still call me lazy

[@softlightlaboratory]

I just want a girlfriend or best friend, money so I can do what I want to do not force myself to eat the same pork and rice for the last 10 years

[@braedongraham2047]

​@@softlightlaboratory Buddy, that's awful, I'm really sorry that happened. If I could help you in any way I could, but all I can do is give you emotional encouragement. Your life up to this point has been REALLY hard. And it's awful to even read about. However, you CAN and WILL get through this. Within you there is a fire that can never be vanquished; no matter what. You've been working hard toward the life you've dreamed about, and you gotta keep working. Figure out why things aren't going your way, and then try to solve that problem. You can do this; I believe in you. One last thing; this isn't the place to vent like that. Please find a better place to talk about struggles next time, okay?

[@braedongraham2047]

*talk about your

[@truth-is-light1994]

😢

[@crabravekrab1174]

As a disabled jester myself, I find this very informative.

[@katen8345]

As a bit of an autistic myself we claim her

[@bigguy115-fq1hk]

Ah another one of us!

[@alst4817]

As a jester’s hat, I approve of this message

[@giddyspiderboy]

As an autistic king, you are hereby all invited to my court for a feast. :]

[@bomba1905]

As a goblin,

[@annabelle414]

It's a real relief to know that me traveling back in time it doesn't always end in me being either burned at the stake, tortured or put in an asylum, but that I could possibly end up as a wealthy woman's sugar baby by being silly little me.

[@collinbeal]

It likely wouldn't end in any of those. The only ones who endured such punishment are those that openly defied the church, which undermined their authority, or those who performed horrible crimes. Most people in the Medieval period were literate, had a role in society, and lived and traveled with relative ease. Other than during plagues, disease was much less prevalent than the Renaissance up through the Industrial Revolution, where living closely confined alongside animals and their feces resulted in massive epidemics. As long as you stay away from periods and places where religious zealotry was rampant, such as during the Crusades or Black Death, you could live a decently fulfilling life.

[@VJFranzK]

Autistics are known to "not fit into society", this is an interesting theory. It makes sense that an "outsider" would joke about things that others find serious...

[@bethelbethel845]

Can confirm. We definitely do joke about such things. 🤪

[@milascave2]

v: Some autistics are on the verbal side. They would be good with words and thus could make up good jokes. But they were bad at social rules and at being dishonest. Their natural ability to make jokes might be something that they cultivated as a way to achieve social acceptance despite poor. Social skills. OK, I'm talking about myself here.

[@person-iw8qj]

or say completely serious things people think are jokes!

[@Sinc3r3ly]

I still make jokes like that. I got banned from twitter for making a joke about “killing someone” who refueses to communicate in a relationship LMAO Edit: felt the need to clarify; I make this joke a lot where any time someone says “oh so and so is giving me such a hard time what should I do” I’ll reply with “kill them”. No I don’t actually mean it. The joke is while it seems like it’s be the easiest solution it’d be the hardest since you’d have to hide the body or whatever. Since SOME people don’t understand I’m being sincere when I literally say I’m saying it **as a joke**

[@Terron-de-pimienta]

Except because the outsiders/ND that have a different sense of humor are gifteds missdiagnosed as autistics, not real autistic people (since the most of them don't get jokes and lack of the social-spark that tell them when they must still quiet or say an specific witty political thing). I explained all this better in another comment, for more context.

[@augustuslunasol10thapostle]

The fool doesn’t just sometimes give advice from time to time the fool is most of the time the only one who can deliver bad news to the king without dying and can act as one of the most trusted and important advisors to king

[@grain9640]

There was a jester job in Dakota and Lakota tribes of native americans called "Heyoka" who could insult the chief and say stuff in a ridiculous way to be funny but also to prove a point about something important Unfortunately, there are clickbait articles and videos saying "Are you a Heyoka EMPATH??? 10 signs you might be this kind of "sacred clown" empath that was discovered by the native americans" and a bunch of people in the comments like "wow I'm a heyoka!" but it's a specific native american jester thing that has spiritual practices attached and has nothing to do with people that think they are "empaths"

[@lavabiscuits]

​@grain9640 Yeah, it's kinda weird. It's not a zodiac sign. It's like going. "Oh, yeah, people tell me I'm a duke, I'm such a generous person.

[@mrpopeshistoryclass7285]

Im autistic, and in one group I am involved at my college I am no shit known as our Court Jester.

[@rebeccaheim8278]

I hope its truly meant as a compliment. and I suspect it is, and you should take great pride in who you are. Thank you for sharing

[@TheKatarinaGiselle]

@DaathielWTF? No actually, wtf.

[@TitaniusAnglesmith]

@@rebeccaheim8278 I get it sometimes in the negative way unfortunately. Not even autistic though, just a bit older and rather different than my peers. Come to think of it, I don't even know why I hang out with some of these guys.

[@KissSlowlyLoveDeeply-pm2je]

they all probably hate you lol

[@lizardycrow2304]

I got diagnosed with autism (and adhd also) quite recently and it is sadly funny how previous doctors would not want to give me proper diagnosis because of my love to perform on stage (I was participating in many singing contests and plays in my town), and now I understand how their doubts didn't make ANY sense considering that performance most of the time was my only way to communicate with people without scaring them and making them think I'm weird. Performance gave me so much confidence firstly because of being separated and disconnected from the audience by the huge gap and saying/singing something rehearsed beforehand that won't cause some unpleasant reaction. Clueles and illiterate bafoons. They didn't see that I have dat clown in me.

[@Big_Caesar1]

You were probably difficult to diagnose because you sound very high functioning, it happens often

[@danielhutchinson6604]

Is this my Beautiful Wife? Is this my large automobile? How did I get Here? .............Byrne

[@DarronBirgenheier]

I know from experience that hearing "You're SO weird!" and "You should go on a speaking tour!" from the same person that you just met can make for a stimulating encounter. Performing the "Natural Fool" for an audience that one will only have to be in front of for a measured time is an addictingly powerful event for SOME of us on the Spectrum. I was diagnosed with ASD at age 53, a little under two years ago...

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

I was diagnosed at the age of 28 (I'm 42 now), and I thought that was unusually old. I've never heard of anyone being diagnosed in their 50s! Better late than never!

[@DarronBirgenheier]

@@MatthewTheWanderer I've heard of cases of people being diagnosed as late as in their 90s!

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

@@DarronBirgenheier Wow, really? I guess I haven't done any research on the topic.

[@indesomniac]

i'm autistic and have always resonated with jesters so i love learning about this. i could not at all tell this was your first video!! great work! :D

[@GeneralKenobi69420]

Most functional, least neurodivergent furry

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

Wow, this is her first video!? Yeah, I had no idea, either! Quite impressive!

[@Tlal0c]

given that the first man to be officially diagnosed with autism recently passed this month this video is very well timed, audio mixing between you and the background music is very pleasant, and the lighting is good, the area you record in is very soothing as well.

[@abbystarheart1]

Rip my mans Donnie Trip😔🤙 grandpappy 'tism will be fondly remembered by so many

[@PineappleSoysauce]

​@abbystarheart1 "grandpappy 'tism" 😂💀 I never knew about this person, so these were interesting comments to read.

[@TheAncientAmbassador]

The story of Will and Henry Viii is so heartwarming. Imagine how mant times he kept this King's head and temper still and even. How many ill decisions he had cast away. The world needs more of us, both leading and advising those in power. May the dictators of today receive delightful guiding folly!

[@PossumMedic]

Possum crew! 🙌‍

[@Kaliko250]

Suddenly me wanting to be a jester/clown when I was a kid makes a lot of sense

[@Isissa125]

Tbh I haven't read the full text in question but the quote "I was discharged for idiocy .. I am an official idiot" is the exact same energy as myself & my autistic/adhd/mentally ill friends make about being Legally Disabled. Like calling disability parking plaques "my dissability license so everyone knows im legally disabled"

[@cybwer]

it's so cool learning how well jesters were relatively treated, especially because of how they're depicted in more recent media

[@freeloading_toad]

I am neurodivergent and I had incredible stage fright as a child, especially on my main instrument. I was very different from other girls my age and I learned to tone down my behavior a lot to blend in, or more accurately, to disappear. Everyone saw me as a frightening person to be around due to my frequent and sudden meltdowns, and even my friends thought I was weird and selfish. I had a few friends and just as many bullies, and in middle school especially it was very easy for them to get away with taunting me and provoking me to an outburst. But when I became drum major in high school, I discovered how amazing and addictive hamming it up was. I was incredibly entertaining to watch for how stiff and militaristic I was, and I developed a routine that made the audience cheer and laugh. When to went to study music in college, I began to dress more outlandishly depending on the mood demanded for the day and it made me stand out. To this day I love being a sight to behold for others even when running errands or at my low-key restaurant job. If I was sent back in time to the medieval era, I would definitely strive to be a jester

[@officialspoodle]

This is inspiration for me to act more like myself; thanks

[@charleneong]

Well now i'm curious as to the different ways autistic people were perceived throughout history, in different cultures. Also, disability history -- specifically mental health issues -- as a whole is so interesting and i'm glad that YT's algorithm actually did something good by recommending this channel

[@qkranarchist3015]

I was contemplating this. As a minority faith practitioner and from an anarchist history going back generations, I feel like "documented history" can mean the concentrated populations and ones specifically owning the documentation tools and libraries. Whereas, the vast majority of people live away from these ppl. So my hypothesis is vast majority of people could have been living more intimately with neurospectrum diversity without issues. It is the powerful and manipulative castle/aristocracy that had a twisted relationship with difference. 🤔 My speculation is based on personal experiences. I'm from a very large extended family that was almost always rural and so many of us are neurodivergent. Also I married a rural, indigenous person from S. Asia who's also neurodivergent with extended undiagnosed family. We seem fine when we're in our rural communities. It's our interactions in urban work and community that was terrible.

[@shanegooding4839]

Worked with an autistic dude for over 15 years and he is absolutely the funniest and realest person I have ever known. Every day he says something that makes me laugh or impresses me with his ability to react to situations that many folks out there struggle to deal with.

[@coreywilliams4678]

When you said, "I was born in the wrong time period." I physically felt that

[@brokenfoxproductions]

I'm really surprised that this is your first video, you did a really great job. As an autistic person myself, I honestly like this theory and it makes a lot of sense to me. I think it'd be really cool if more people actually studied the rule that disabled people had in different periods in history, but fear rising about it like this is always fun.

[@totallynotadiscoball5745]

I had no idea people with ASD/cognitive impairments were so fetishized for their views of the world. Also really funny that some royalty revered their words as words of God. I didn’t know what to expect but I liked this video a lot! Looking forward to more ^-^

[@colbyboucher6391]

...Of course it's also believed that stories of children being taken by faeries and replaced with fakes was an explanation for disabled kids too, so :/

[@BelindaShort]

There's a reason that so many television characters are ASD coded

[@robokill387]

The mayans also viewed disabled people, both mentally and physically, as highly spiritual and holy. Some depictions of their gods have been interpreted as having down syndrome physical features. That is a controversial idea, but some archaeologists believe it.

[@pleaseelaborate3163]

​@@BelindaShortI honestly think that's because a lot of writers are autistic themselves and accidentally make autistic coded characters when writting from their own life experiences

[@nickleback3695]

Autistic people aren't intelligent enough to write books 😂😂😂 This is an insult to writers, to compare them to retarded people

[@remrem-gx3ml]

the best way to describe how we were treated was like children. pure, dont know any better, innocent. "oh him? thats dave not all of his dogs are barking but hes a good lad."

[@jkarakhanyan]

This is so awesome! I remember when you were 7, you told me you wanted to be a KZbinr. I was horrified at that time but I have to say I take it all back. I was wrong. You are incredible and I’ve never been so happy to be wrong! Keep it up!

[@forrestpatterson6053]

Yo that’s awesome!

[@rebeccaheim8278]

Little Lady, if this was your first video then I must say I believe you are a natural. Truly Delightful! Please, continue to share much more in the future. You presented quite a lot of really interesting material that Ive never heard mentioned before. You seem to have a real gift for story telling. And a way of teasing out the hidden details that add color and vibrancy to your story. I will look forward to more.. Thank you

[@toobeeornottoobee]

That’s proof you should never listen to anyone who questions your goals! just follow your dreams and you really will go far!

[@wachyfanning]

Hearing that something I've been ostracized for my whole life could be valued in such a way is really enheartening. While you clearly know more about history than just disability history, I would be interested in seeing more about the history of disabilities.

[@mcziggydelamcmuffin5016]

I got diagnosed with Autism just 9 months ago and I'm in my late 20s. It's all really weird to me but I've always been passionate about history, so this is quite comforting to learn about. Thanks, I even hit the bell

[@ChestersonJack]

How did I never see this? I wrote a thing for my friends last year on natural fools versus artificial fools, and how the fool ties into what we categorize as autism today. Even the painting with William and Jane was part of it! I’ve always loved William Somer and looked up to the legacy of him.

[@aliendeathrocker]

That sounds really interesting, did you happen to put it online anywhere? It would be really cool to read.

[@shadowa00]

This is the most wholesome history lesson.

[@aa_batterybloomin1305]

Jesters = OG Autism Rizz

[@spark1128]

As a fellow autist I can say that what autism looks like can be very diverse so I find it interesting to learn about other autistic people’s experiences. For me, I struggle a lot with all of my senses but my extravagance has also made me quite popular since It kinda became part of my character.

[@MythologywithMike]

I was fortunate to have my advisor at college specialize in disability history. I didn't pursue it as a career or focus but it was so fascinating to learn about. And you're right, the discipline does tend to focus more on physical disabilities rather than mental ones. I wrote a big paper on how PTSD was viewed by society from WWI to the present and my prof said I was one of the only papers he'd seen like that up to that point. I can't believe this is your first video, it's so well researched! You've definitely earned the views & subscribers (myself included). I'm looking forward to seeing this channel grow

[@SkylersNewChannel]

Unfortunately bluntness, especially calm bluntness is seen as hostility and people become intimidated by it. It's quite annoying. And Holy shit when you said you were born in the wrong generation I screamed output 😂 Me too gorgeous gal but that's a conversation for another day 😁💙

[@anonymouswitness3835]

YES I've always related to the fool archetype. I was somewhat familiar with this history so when I was wearing my jester hat at the renfaire and somebody was like, "say something funny," I was like, nono, not that kind, I'm a natural fool. :3

[@TheSoftestGirlYouKnow]

Disability history isn't something I've given much thought to, but I would love to hear more! Thanks for making this. It would be cool to learn about other people who were likely autistic throughout history, too! ^__^

[@cmcg9035]

Jane Foole, the 1st female jester of an English ruling monarch, is a fascinating figure. Nice job on your 1st video! I am curious as to what happened to her and Will Sommer during the austere Edward IV's reign. When Mary I came to the throne, the sumptuousness of the court once again came back. Maybe it's in this thread that the jesters were given luxurious clothes. And because I'm a "PITA" teacher, a couple of details: The "Jane Seymour" portrait at 13:44 is Anne of Cleaves, the 4th wife of Henry and the luckiest one. Catherine of "Aragon" was his 1st wife, who was not related to the King of Gondor. The "Catherine Parr" portrait shown at 18:01 is a portrait of Mary I. Thanks for the video!

[@valiumaggaline]

as a jester myself, this is a great video many thanks

[@OutlawSpaceWizard]

I've not even watched this yet, but as an aspie ive had this feeling that the jesters place is where many of us fall. No one ever pays the fool much mind, people don't really trust the fool, but don't fear him too much. because, ahh I am but a fool. The fool hears everything. People slup up around the fool. let out thier secrets. The Fool knows the nature of kings and indeed of man .

[@WSWC_]

Great video, feel like a lot of us can relate with the fool archetype and a well thought out video essay on the topics history, especially in the medieval period is just a treat to watch. Can't wait to see what else comes up on the channel, thank you for putting effort into what you do it really shows

[@AM-kr4pv]

If you want to hear something pretty autistic - it felt like it was becoming unavoidable that I'd have to come out to my therapist as non-binary for any of what I was saying to make sense but... historically I've had a hard time explaining that stuff. But she was helping me get diagnosed as autistic and she was a millennial so I felt like gathering a bunch of memes and bits of art into a collage would do better than me using my clumsy words at capturing something so indefinable. One of my images that I included was the painting of Stańczyk the "sad jester". Lol. Also I grew up crunchy/woo/idk what to call it but one of my mum's friends at her birthday once told me "you've clearly lived on earth many times already" (aka you're so wise for someone so young, you must have been reincarnated a lot already lmao). Which is waaay too close to the idea of us being close to god. I do wonder if the whole indigo child thing was bigger when I was young if she'd have latched onto that. So I don't feel like that thing has died out remotely.

[@AshChiCupcak]

I've also been told way too many times I'm an "old soul", especially when I was young. And unfortunately I'm old enough to fall into the indigo child thing but that was all before I even knew I could be autistic so I was desperate for answers. It's nice that there's SO much more information available now, especially for people who aren't a white male.

[@R0S3inC0NCR33T]

i've heard it too. I'm pretty sure the "old soul" thing is just yet another word for autism by people who don't know what autism is/refuse to believe that someone they love might be on the spectrum

[@kevinbissinger]

We're called old souls because we're forced to be extremely self-aware and hypervigilant because of the CONSTANT rejection

[@madelaki]

ugh everyone is so concerned about what gender or what non-gender they are nowadays. who cares. you don't need to identify as "non-binary" or as anything at all, just live your life

[@drumb6261]

​@@madelakihi! Uhm, shut up please!

[@Melissa0774]

I wish someone would make a documentary about the unintentional portrayal of high functioning autistic people (people with what was formerly known as Aspergers) in American movies and TV shows over the past 70 years, before it was a known thing. This would also make a great topic for a video on this channel. You should do it. You should talk about how they were portrayed and how society represented them and interpreted their behavior, since they didn't know that autism is a thing. They didn't know that it was actually autism that they were portraying. The best example I think of is the Henery Bemus character, played by Burgiss Meridith on the Twilight Zone episode, Time Enough at Last. If you watch that episode now, it's so blatantly obvious that he's supposed to be an autistic man. But at the time when they made the show, they didn't know what that was. Old TV shows and movies are full of unintentional portrayals of autistic people, like that. In the Twilight Zone episode, he's a bank teller who gets fired from his job because he doesn't pay attention to customers and annoys them by trying to talk to them about his obsessive interest. All he wants to do is just read books about his special interest all day and never do anything else. His wife hates him and is extremely abusive. At the end there is a nuclear blast that kills everyone on earth except him because he just happened to be in a bomb shelter when it happened. He's happy that he doesn't have to deal with other people anymore and that he now has unlimited time to do nothing but read books all day every day. But then he finds himself unable to do that because his glasses break so he can't see the books and he cries out, "it's not fair!" You need to do a video about this Twilight Zone episode, at least, if nothing else.

[@BrambleWood]

lol , as an ND myself, born in a time before autism was widely understood, i was just the naughty boy who got good grades, the schools and my parents tried to beat the "naughtiness" out of me, and progressed to the "idiot" who entertained my peers in the pubs by my lack of PC or inhibition filters, getting away with all sorts of antics because i was "entertaining". I for one am not at all insulted by this video, i just think you "nailed it"

[@anyalazor7978]

Unfortunately, eugenics is still very much alive, it didn't go anywhere, it's not in the past:( Thank you for a very interesting video! As a disabled person I'm always interested to learn more about disability history

[@loreman7267]

I've often thought some of my ancestors might have been jesters. Both my dad (RIP) and myself loved to make people laugh, and it was that ability that made me friends in late high school (which was pretty lonely before). We also had some musical talent, which just adds to the idea.

[@macewindu6069]

Wowza, that was a great first video. It sad tho this area of history is soo poorly covered. Looking out for more content!! Also a pop filter would be perfect :D

[@Meekalefay]

yup i noticed that after recording lol

[@charlieguy6872]

​@MeekaS-ef4mr you can make one from a coat hanger and some old tights :)

[@charlieguy6872]

​@MeekaS-ef4mr you can make one from a coat hanger and some old tights :)

[@PlanckRelic]

Vocal pop was less noticeable for me than unintentional taps on the mic body. Condensers can be very sensitive

[@insertcheesypunhere]

im autistic and playing a jester in a play. i had to click on this. edit: omfg i wish i had this video when i started this play. my character is definitely different from this kind of person but it would've been so fun to play. the fact that this is your first video is a great sign for things to come.

[@SkylersNewChannel]

Its foolish to believe a fool can be too wise to be a fool. Fools fooling themselves into believing they aren't foolish fools as well. Foolishness I say

[@Sylkis89]

I appreciate the legendary Stańczyk Gąska as the background for the channel! The one, the only, the jester of jesters. The memory of him is massive part of the Polish culture even nowadays :)

[@Sylkis89]

I wish you told his story in the video though as it's fascinating as well how wildly important he was in the court and how symbolic he would become later due to his impact with Matejko including him as a character in some of his most important paintings, yet at the same time he'd be abused in the streets, children throwing eggs at him and so on...

[@Queerlien]

I never would have imagined this is your very first video! I've watched a couple others and I really enjoyed all of these. Disability history seems like such an overlooked subject, thank you for bringing it to light. As an autistic woman myself it's really fascinating to think about how life could have been back in medieval times. Also, are yotubers just modern day jesters? 🤔 Many of my faves are on the spectrum 😂

[@Kiwi-hl2to]

HOLY SHIT THIS WAS YOUR FIRST??? WITH THE QUALITY OF THE VIDEO I THOUGHT YOU WERE A SEASONED KZbinR. OH MY GOD. LITERALLY BEST OF LUCK TO YOU

[@bloodsucker5485]

You're a great essayist! Would you ever consider doing a video on the extreme ableism those with personality disorders face, especially those with cluster b personality disorders?

[@SwampyTackitt-pm7sq]

Omg yessss! As a minor who is clinically suspected to have bpd I feel like such a monster due to the stigma of the disorder. I don't even lash out at others often at all (I internalize it) but I SILL feel like a monster T^T

[@MisterNiles]

I'm pretty sure I'm a high masking jester. Thanks for the video. I'm sad that there are only three so far and I look forward to more. I love what you're doing here. The only issue I have with your videos so far is the noise from plosives and handling of the microphone. It's a mix of sensory sensitivity and being a slightly picky, retired audio engineer. But still... Pretty great for a first video.

[@premodernist_history]

Yay! I love discovering quality social history on KZbin. Awesome video!

[@premodernist_history]

Interesting points about Michael W. Dols. You didn't put him in the list of sources. Was it his book Majnun? I haven't read it. Dols is famous in Middle East history circles for being an early pioneer of social history in the field of premodern Middle Eastern history.

[@k8g8s8]

Michelle Foucault made this point so well but it was too early for people to listen. Glad people are talking about this and having their own take on it with unique perspectives.

[@erikjrn4080]

Great video! Unusual, but interesting topic. Well researched and well presented. I learned a lot. I've read, heard, and viewed a ridiculous amount of information about Medieval and Renaissance Europe; a video on the topic with much information that's entirely new to me, is very rare to find. Thanks! And subbed!

[@timotei8882]

Loved this video, and especially the jingly jester hood, that definitely gave me some fashion inspiration lmaoo. It's very pleasant to listen to you talk, hope to see much more from you!

[@kantui525]

This is super fascinating, and not a part of history many talk about on the internet. I can't wait to hear what you have to say in future videos!

[@musicfreak1511]

diagnosed neurodivergent myself. This was such a great video, especially impressive being your first! Im fascinated by jesters and thankful to learn more about them from this!

[@pavelmazalek2838]

Hey Meeka, I really enjoyed your video! Your content is top-notch, and I appreciate the effort you put into it. I wanted to mention something about the pronunciation of name Švejk. I'm really aware that pronunciation of words from west slavic languages could be really difficult for everyone who isn't native speaker. So, I don't think it is big deal. Just for sake of clarity the right pronunciation of Švejk is ˈʃvɛjk'. Or rather better for English speaking the transcription could be 'shveik'. Looking forward to more of your content! Keep up the great work!

[@greyfells2829]

Look into how shamanism connects to mental illness, it's a very interesting subject. "The shamanic illness" seems to have served as a blanket-term in many cultures for mental illness that marked someone out as destined to be the emotional and spiritual guide for their community.

[@klb2803]

Jester? I hardly know her

[@lasersharksushi1975]

"Some people ask me if I'm autistic. I'm autistic as shit." - Royal Jester of Elbonia Martin Cabello, 1369

[@existentialcrisisactor]

This an amazing first video! I would pull the music more to the back in editing, but otherwise this was spectacular! Well done and I look forward to more!

[@l.i.l.i.t.h.]

I'm glad I found your KZbin channel! I would have never thought there would be so much information on disabled jesters. The background music is very relaxing; I almost fell asleep, lol. Overall, great video!

[@ethanstiles948]

Really enjoyed this video, hope to see more! Loved how well researched, and thoughtful your presentation was!

[@zoeboey]

Your first video?!?!?!? It's amazing!!! Well constructed and super engaging :DD gonna have fun digging into the sources now hehhe ☺️☺️

[@lidu6363]

At first, I read "the untold history of disabled JESUS" but I am not complaining, perhaps even more excited to watch 😁

[@nestormakhno9266]

“the Middle Ages was very Catholic therefore caring for the disabled was more common” peasants have long killed their wxcess children, the church often condemned this practice but did very little to enforce the law (and when they did it had very little results since this was largely a phenomenon in isolated rural villages). While not every parent killed their children many did and many didn’t even view the baby as being fully human until it was baptized partially for this reason. A lot of cultures didn’t see you as a full person until after infancy btw not just Europeans, this was a common dissociative tactic to cope with the frequent loss of children.

[@marnenotmarnie259]

this is such a good video!!! super interesting and it's kinda refreshing to see someone talking about the positive sides of the history of disabled people. i can't believe it's your first one. i hope you stick with it, cause i'd love to see where you take this channel!!

[@marnenotmarnie259]

also i always end up wishing i remembered when i subscribed to someone so. i'm in the meeka army as of september 2023 and while this channel is at 5.3k subscribers B)

[@haleypirio921]

I mean, we autistic people are fucking hilarious if I do say so myself. Thank you for sharing this fascinating history. I really appreciated you talking about Jane Fool, as disabled women and women in history often get disregarded and ignored. It made me curious about her relationship with the queens, as they obviously adored her. I do worry greatly about her, as disabled women face higher rates of SA. My hope is that the queens has some power to help protect her, and it appears they may have.

[@thehighground265]

For a first video, the video quality and mic quality are pretty good

[@Meekalefay]

I used to make youtube vids when i was 12 😭 so i already had the camera

[@apocako]

This was legit mindblowing. Even more so after reading the comments. Crazy to think of how many of us have naturally come to play some sort of fool role in our lives.

[@ortinso3457]

The will and Henry story was really touching

[@ghostof1898]

As someone with a degree in the medieval period... THANK YOU for dispelling the "dark ages" misconceptions. Keep going with your major dude!

[@YOOTOOBjase]

I've not heard this concept put this way. Thanks for the discussion

[@BRICK101]

Really appreciated this historical analysis and the costumes. Really fun and engaging video!

[@wa0187]

I cant totally see that. As an autistic person i know a couple other autists who have this type of personality. They are very cheerful and their way of connecting with others is through making them laugh, which i find very sweet

[@ole2107]

Damn, this was your first video?? When I watched it I thought you had prior experience because it was so good, great job! 👍

[@rachelhansen2417]

I had no idea this was your first video! Incredibly well done.

[@justyoureverydaycasualship146]

My only problem with this is that we also have myths like the changeling. Changelings seem to describe children with “abnormal” qualities like being sickly, not growing to the right size, etc. and later behavioral descriptions are of unnatural intelligence, uncanny insight, jumping and dancing while alone. All of these things sound like a coverall description of physical and mental abnormalities as well as infant deaths. The child was believed to have been replaced by a spirit, troll, or devil. There was many ways to deal with a changeling, and while not all put the child at risk, many of the options including leaving the child in the forest in hopes their own child will be returned.

[@TheAmazingDolph]

Glad to see you back! Look forward to your youtube stuff

[@newfacethom]

sick recommendation, just today we talked about physically disabled people present in the court during the renaissance so it was cool to see the other side of it.

[@sucrecube]

Im autistic and one of my special interests is clowns/jesters/etc. It makes me so happy and a bit emotional to know that even in another era i would've been a jester :'o)

[@llamaarmy7501]

I love this! It's kinda comforting to know that in a different time I'd be seen in a good light

[@meerasrinivvasan]

she’s finally back

[@lavenderbaked]

this is the most amazizng video youtube has ever reccmeded to me because i literally only watch videos about a) Autism and b) Tudor England, because those are my special interests - and its the convergence! of the two! omgggg

[@enbyarchmage]

I'm a physically disabled Autistic person who has jesters among my special interests. This video's pretty much BEGGING to be watched by me 😂

[@CristinaGarcia-xx4gy]

This just made me remember this one really old play that we were made to study when I was in school (I'm european). It basically features an angel and a devil, each on charge of a barge, one leading to heaven and one to hell and a sucession of different souls that come in and they decide to which each should go. There are several characters, including the owner of a brothel, a very horrible and dated depiction of a jewish man, among many others. I think the author meant it as a criticism to his society, because literally almost nobody is chosen to board the barge to heaven. The only charactes allowed to go to heaven? The four crusader knights, because holy land and stuff, and "the idiot", the mentally challenged character.

[@tobydandelion]

Hey, could you add captions to this? There were several parts where the automated captions were very incorrect and confusing, lol.

[@EmelieWaldken]

Super interesting video, thank you for the work ! It reminds me a lot of the research I've been doing for years now about how music was often used in rural societies as a way to integrate the disabled (especially the blind).

[@rickymartin4457]

Great vid! Makes me mad how many misconceptions exist about the medieval period, it's actually staggering. Like in popular media, opinion there's almost nothing that can't be corrected. Especially disabled people were often viewed, sometimes even envied, as closer to god. Like they already had a guaranteed ticket to heaven, haha.

[@kaydwessie296]

THIS IS YOUR FIRST VIDEO!? It was absurdly good wtf

[@mariecait]

I’m disabled and an outsider thank you so much for this ❤

[@user-hy4ny8uk2m]

I am so glad I found your channel. I'm not autistic but I have seen shrinks since I was four. Now I'm in my fifty's and have an autistic three year old granddaughter. And history has always been my passion. ❤🎉 I've been diagnosed many different things now it paranoid scitzophrena

[@ruimvdd]

strong debut, and i'm not saying that just because i'm autistic and there's the identification factor here

[@sydisemma]

Rly good video, Meeka. Interesting take regarding fools, jesters and autism. Putting these topics in a historical context gives new depth that I never really knew about. I remember Alan Watts talking about the joker and court jester and, just like you said, that he had the unique position to critisize the king and point out the folly that others did not dare to speak out loud. I did however not know how accurate Watts' statements were but the more I read and watch the more clear it becomes.

[@cattercrown]

I loved this so much, i want more

[@pokemonviolet5418]

As the medieval period progressed, there was a general cultural shift from seeing children as worse versions of adults to seeing them as angels who lost their innocence over time. Some people even heavily romanticized dead children, because they 'never lost their innocence.' It makes a lot of sense that in the latter centuries of the medieval period neurotypical people would romanticize intellectually disabled people in a similar way, given all that infantilization. Anyway, thank you for sharing! Even if it was far from perfect, it's nice to see that people like us did in fact have a place in history

[@WafflePrince]

As a fellow autist, you have my subscription my liege!

[@officialspoodle]

Wow. To imagine a time in which autistic peoples' actions would be accepted and even considered endearing, instead of being something to shun the autistic person for (which I feel still happens today). Beautiful and inspiring.