It's often said that the jester is the only one that can speak truth to the king. Historically speaking though, has that ever been the case, using comedy or satire to persuade or inform an absolute monarchy or similar form of authority? : r/AskHistorians

The Portal for Public History. Please read the rules before participating, as we remove all comments which break the rules. Answers must be in-depth and comprehensive, or they will be removed. The history of court jesters is a bit jumbled, not least because their functions varied between different eras and societies, but also because what little source material we have mostly consists of anecdotes and witticisms that a given court's various public and private chroniclers saw fit to write down. Many anecdotes do involve "speaking truth to power," but usually moderated by the jester's ongoing attempt to remain both useful to the monarch on the one hand, and alive and employed on the other. Sometimes this attempt fails spectacularly, as when Archy Archibald, jester to James I of England and by all accounts not very good at his job, told him that he thought the Prince of Wales was more popular with the common people; the ensuing father-son quarrel resulted in Archy being "tossed in a blan

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