Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:13:34.644Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Job descriptions, nepotism, and part-time work: the minstrels and trumpeters of the court of Edward IV of England (1461–83)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2003

Helen Marsh Jeffries
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The role of the minstrels of the English court has been relatively neglected compared to the attention devoted to the Chapel Royal, and the importance of the reign of Edward IV has been long overlooked. The minstrels disappeared from court life, and we have no modern comparison that might help us to understand their role. The fact that they did not have a prescribed set of daily rituals to perform, as the chapel did, also complicates discussion. Study of the instrumentalists employed by Edward IV reveals information about working practices that can illuminate our view not only of them, but also of the whole royal household. It also helps to clarify the difference between ‘King's Minstrels’ and ‘King's Trumpeters’, a distinction that has been hitherto ignored.

Type
Research Article
Information
Plainsong & Medieval Music , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , October 2003 , pp. 165 - 177
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This article is based on a paper presented at the Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference in Bristol, July 2002.