Fool's literature

Fool's literature was a literary tradition in medieval Europe in which the stock character of a fool was used as an allegory to satirize the contemporary society.[1]

Notable examples

• Der Ring [de] (1410, The Ring), a satirical poem by Heinrich Wittenwiler
• Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam (1494; Ship of Fools), a poem by the German satirist Sebastian Brant
• Moriae Encomium, sive Stultitiae Laus (1509, The Praise of Folly), by Erasmus of Rotterdam
• Narrenbeschwörung (1512; Exorcism of Fools), Die Schelmenzunft (1512); Die Gäuchmatt (1519, Fools' Meadow), Die Mühle von Schwindelsheim und Gretmüllerin Jahrzeit by Thomas Murner

See also

• Picaresque novel
• Sotie

References

1. "Fool's literature", Encyclopædia Britannica