[Illustration: A Court-Fool, of the 15th Century.
Fac-simile of a miniature from a ms. in the Bibl. de l'Arsenal, Th. lat.,
no 125.]
The art of rope dancing is very ancient; it was patronised by the
Franks, who looked upon it as a marvellous effort of human genius. The
most remarkable rope-dancers of that time were of Indian origin. All
performers in this art came originally from the East, although they
afterwards trained pupils in the countries through which they passed,
recruiting themselves chiefly from the mixed tribe of jugglers. According
to a document quoted by the learned Foncemagne, rope-dancers appeared as
early as 1327 at the entertainments given at state banquets by the kings
of France. But long before that time they are mentioned in the poems of
troubadours as the necessary auxiliaries of any feast given by the
nobility, or even by the monasteries. From the fourteenth to the end of
the sixteenth century they were never absent from any public ceremonial,
and it was at the state entries of kings and queens, princes and
princesses, that they were especially called upon to display their
talents.
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