the.com/court jester
The only employee allowed to tell the king he's an idiot and keep his head.
means A professional fool kept by royalty to entertain with jokes, music, and satire, often granted surprising license to mock the powerful.
from From 'court' (a royal household, from Latin 'cohors,' an enclosed yard or retinue) and 'jester,' from Old French 'gestour,' a teller of 'geste' — tales of deeds and adventures, rooted in Latin 'gerere,' to carry on or perform. The jester began as a storyteller and slid, by way of wit and grimace, into the licensed clown of legend.
- job security
- mockery was literally in the contract
- real power
- often the king's most trusted truth-teller
- famous name
- Will Somers advised Henry VIII bluntly
- decline
- died out as free press took the job