The Court Jester

When a fisherman’s wife claims she wouldn’t mind if he lost a certain... appendage, he decides to put her loyalty to the test. What follows involves a drowned priest, a strategic swap, a bag of beans…

A noblewoman is seduced by a strange knight bearing magical gifts. When her husband finds out, he leaves her. So she gets even. Disguised as “Sir Henry,” she wins tournaments, her husband’s trust, an…

A young man boasts he could handle twelve wives. He marries one. She ruins him.

When the village captures a wolf, he suggests, “Give him a wife.”

Le valet aus .xii. Fames (The fellow with a dozen wive…

A young wife meets her priest in the bushes. Her husband finds the bed empty. What follows is a knife, a near-confession, and a last-minute excuse involving fertility rituals, apostolic dirt, and wal…

When a young man falls in love with a newlywed, he hires a crafty old neighbor named Auberée to help. What follows includes a planted surcoat, a fake miracle, and one of the most elaborately staged r…

Two moneychangers. One wife. A tub full of regret.

In Les .ii. changeors (The two Moneychangers), a clever woman turns the tables on her husband’s friend—who’s also her not-so-secret lover—with nothin…

When no angels or demons show up to claim his soul, a dead peasant takes matters into his own hands and walks straight into Heaven. Saint Peter tries to kick him out. So does Saint Thomas. Then Saint…

A cloistered girl sees a crane. She wants it. The young man carrying it names his price—one she doesn’t understand, but pays all the same. As the bird comes and goes, so too do questions of innocence…

When his sick wife asks for a priest, a knight gets curious. He dresses in robes, sneaks in as a confessor, and listens in. What he hears breaks his heart—or maybe just his pride.

Too bad she knew it …

A weary butcher stops in a priest’s village with nothing but a stolen sheep and a lot of nerve. By morning, he’s seduced the maid, seduced the priest’s mistress, sold the priest his own animal’s hide…

On Christmas Day, the Court Jester brings you the story of two partridges, not on a pear tree, but in…a shrubbery!

A peasant roasts two perfect partridges. His wife eats them both. When the priest sho…

On the Christmas Special of The Court Jester, I bring you monsters for Christmas.

Grab your beverage of choice and let me take you to medieval Iceland, on a cold and stormy Christmas Eve. And to hear …

And we’re back to pervert priest territory!

This one sets his sights—and his purse—on a young merchant’s daughter. But when a cunning mother swaps in a seasoned professional named Alison, things heat …

On their wedding night, Marion lets one rip—and Walter loses his damn mind.

Is she lying? Is she cursed? Is love even real when it smells like that? 

Gautheron et Marion is a medieval sex farce where …

A blacksmith’s wife wants a sample of the help’s famously gigantic tool—but the smith has other plans.

One of the raunchiest fabliaux ever forged, Le Fevre de Creeil is featuring a legendary penis de…

He vanishes into the woods each week. She steals his secret and thinks she’s safe. But the beast comes back.

Marie de France's Bisclavret is a chilling Breton lai of love, loss, and the dark things t…

Before The Bachelor, before Judge Judy, there was this: a courtroom drama, complete with witnesses, deliberation, and an uncle with a riddle about genitals. 

Le Jugement des cons is a medieval tale of…

On this bonus episode of The Court Jester, I met with Eleanor and Luke and we talk about things medieval, and about fabliaux and comedy old and new.

Give their podcast, We're Not So Different, a foll…

A wandering squire made a bet he could seduce the sorrow right out of a grieving widow—and of course, he was right. This is the horniest act of grave desecration ever written down in medieval French.

…

In this fabliau, a starry-eyed young woman dreams of flight—and a cunning student offers to equip her with the necessary “tail.” What follows is a cautionary tale of misplaced trust, high aspirations…