For the 19th century American form of music and performance known as minstrelsy, see minstrel show. The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits variety acts dancing, and Music,

For the chocolate sweets sold in the UK, see Minstrels (chocolate)

Owain Phyfe, a modern-day minstrel plays for an audience at a Renaissance fair in 2003. Minstrels are Milk chocolate buttons with a hard glazed shell sold in the UK and Ireland Owain Phyfe is a vocalist instrumentalist composer and the founder of Nightwatch Recording which concentrates on Renaissance and Medieval music

A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories about distant places or about (real or imaginary) historical events . Etymology The word is a Loanword from descendant languages of Proto-Celtic *bardos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gwerh2 Though minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty and high society. As the courts became more sophisticated, minstrels were eventually replaced at court by the troubadours, and many became wandering minstrels, performing in the streets and became well liked until the middle of the Renaissance, despite a decline beginning in the late 15th century. A troubadour ( IPA:, originally) was a composer and performer of Occitan Lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100&ndash1350 The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Minstrelsy fed into later traditions of traveling entertainers, which continued to be moderately strong into the early 20th century, and which has some continuity down to today's buskers or street musicians. Busking is the practice of performing in Public places for Tips and Gratuities.

History

Initially, minstrels were simply servants at Court (the name means literally "little servant"), and entertained the lord and courtiers with chansons de geste or their local equivalent. The chansons de geste, Old French for "songs of Heroic deeds lineages" are the epic poems that appear at the dawn of French literature The term minstrel derives from Old French ménestrel, menesterel, menestral, French, which is similar to ménestral, Italian ministrello, menestrello, from Middle Latin ministralis, ministrel, "retainer," Latin minister, "attendant," "retainer," "minister," from minor, "less. Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. "

In Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest, the professional poet was known as a scop ("shaper" or "maker"), who composed his own poems, and sang them to the accompaniment of a rude harp. The History of Anglo-Saxon England covers the history of Early medieval England from the end of Roman Britain and the establishment of Anglo-Saxon A ags scop was an Old English poet the Anglo-Saxon counterpart of the Old Norse non [[skald]]. The harp is a Stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. Another type of performers, in a rank much beneath the scop, were the gleemen, who had no settled abode, but roamed about from place to place, earning what they could from their performances. Late in the 13th century, the term minstrel began to be used to designate a performer who amused his lord with music and song.

In a complex way involving invasions, wars, conquests, etc. , two categories of composers originated. Poets like Chaucer and John Gower appeared in one category wherein music was not a part. Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. John Gower (c 1330 – October 1408 was an English Poet, a contemporary of William Langland and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. Minstrels, on the other hand, swarmed at feasts and festivals in great numbers with harps, fiddles, bagpipes, flutes, flageolets, citterns, and kettledrums. Bagpipes are a class of Musical instrument, Aerophones using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag The flute is a Musical instrument of the Woodwind family Unlike other woodwind instruments a flute is a Reedless wind instrument that produces its A flageolet is a Woodwind Musical instrument and a member of the fipple flute family The cittern (occasionally spelled " cithern " is a stringed instrument of the Lute / Guitar family dating from the Renaissance. Timpani (also known colloquially as kettledrums or kettle drums) are Musical instruments in the percussion family

As early as 1321, the minstrels of Paris were formed into a guild. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers A guild of royal minstrels was organized in England in 1469. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Minstrels were required to either join the guild or to abstain from practicing their craft. Some minstrels were retained by lords as jesters who, in some cases, also practiced the art of juggling. A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster, or buffoon is a member of a profession that came into popularity Juggling is a physical human skill involving the movement of objects usually through the air for entertainment (see Object manipulation) Some were women, or women who followed minstrels in their travels. Minstrels throughout Europe also employed trained animals, such as bears. Minstrelsy in Europe died out slowly, having gone nearly extinct by about 1700, though isolated individuals working in the tradition were said to exist well into the 19th century. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar

See also

• Thomas Ercildoun
• James Beattie, author of the poem The Minstrel. Not to be confused with Thomas Rymer, a 17th century English historian Professor James Beattie ( October 25, 1735, Laurencekirk &mdash August 18, 1803, Aberdeen) was a Scottish scholar
• Minstrels' gallery (also found in wind)

External links

Owain Phyfe on Myspace, with music and videos

• Stella Fortuna: Medieval Minstrels (1370), from Ye Compaynye of Cheualrye Re-enactment Society. A minstrels' gallery is a form of Balcony, often inside the Great hall of a Castle or Manor house, and used to allow Musicians (originally Photos and Audio Download.