“Two minstrels too many?”: The remunerated musician of the 16th century, from status symbol of the court to social outcast

Rouse, Andrew C. (2002) “Two minstrels too many?”: The remunerated musician of the 16th century, from status symbol of the court to social outcast. Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 47 (1-2). pp. 99-110. ISSN 1216-9803

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Abstract

Contemporary sources use the word “minstrel” to describe a wide social range of musical entertainers. Legal and other documents of the period provide a rich social tapestry of these late medieval entertainers, and point to the beginnings of the schism between court and country and the attitude(s) of Tudor society/ies to those whom they paid to sing to them. The paper investigates how the minstrel's art was exploited and abused by non-minstrels, and how this contributed to the stigmatization of these “musical vagabonds”.

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