2025/08/25 by Smoczyk-Jackowiak, Idalia
#court poets #courtly feasts #entertainment #jesters #minstrels #music
paper · doi:10.34858/polilog.15.2025.445
Although courtly feasts in fourteenth- and fi fteenth-century England have received substantial scholarly attention, the early Plantagenet period remains comparatively understudied. This article addresses this gap by investigating the artistic and performative dimensions of royal feasts in England at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Given the limited documentary evidence, the study adopts an interdisciplinary methodology combining analysis of treasury accounts, manuscript marginalia, chronicles by Ambrose, John of Salisbury, Alexander Nequam, Bartholomaeus Anglicus, and Saint Albert the Great, alongside literary works by Wace, Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France, Layamon, and Gerald of Wales. The analysis identifi es key forms of entertainment—solemn music, elaborate dance, mime, jesting, dramatic recitations of romances, athletic competitions, jousts, and mêlées—that showcased royal authority and reinforced noble allegiance during major events such as coronations, weddings, religious celebrations, and the knighting of royal sons. Results suggest that while chronicles off er sparse accounts, literary sources provide richer, more nuanced portrayals of courtly ideals and social dynamics. The study argues that despite source limitations, it is possible to reconstruct a complex picture of Plantagenet feasts as strategic cultural performances that communicated power, shaped aristocratic identities, and functioned as instruments of political cohesion in medieval England.