England gets first jester for 350 years

STONELEIGH (Reuters) - Nigel Roder has beaten six rivals by public acclaim to become England's first official jester for more than 350 years, succeeding Muckle John who lost his job when King Charles 1 was beheaded in 1649.


"This is a real job. He will have to amuse and provoke -- although failure to do so will no longer risk beheading," Tracy Borman, events director of English Heritage, told Reuters on Saturday.


Unlike court jesters of old, Roder will be able to negotiate his salary, and his initial contract with English Heritage -- to divert the public from the tedious daily grind -- will run from March to October 2005.


Roder -- professional name Kester the Jester -- juggled and diaboloed his way to victory over a diverse field that included a poetry-reading Frenchwoman in the contest near Warwick.


"It feels good. I am a national fool now. It is the best thing a man can be," he said after his victory.


Jesters of the past, though figures of fun at the royal court, were often highly intelligent men whose quick wit and sharp tongue both diverted the monarch and reminded him of his mortality.


Success could bring fame and fortune, but failure could result in shame, pain and even death. Two jesters, Will Somers under the quick-tempered King Henry VIII, and Tarlton under his younger daughter Elizabeth I, were household names in England during their lifetimes.


Many of William Shakespeare's plays feature fools both as buffoons and as rapier-tongued deflators of bombast -- notably in Twelfth Night and King Lear.


The role of court jester died out in Europe in the 18th century, though their roles were taken up by comedians and satirists. "It is about time we had a jester again. We could do with one," Borman said.