Their working clothes were gaudy and showy. The ministrers, at the court of James I Aragon (1387-1396), instrumental inheritors of the ancient jongleurs tradition, dressed in a livery of white cloth with a badge of silver. The five jongleurs of Charles the Noble, of Navarra (1387-1425), wore clothes of Bristol-green cloth. The “ministriles” at Jaén meanwhile, who ‘gladdened’ Constable Miguel Lucas (1461), dressed in clothing of blue velvet.

There are many different definitions of jongleur, because there were so many different jongleurs, with a thousand and one differing abilities and cultural upbringings. But put bluntly, jongleurs were those who exercised the craft of amusing and entertaining the people.

John I, who is not by chance called ‘the Musician’ in addition to ‘the Hunter’, was one of the greatest patrons of the Middle Ages, accommodating hundreds of jongleurs at his prestigious court, ministrers together with sophisticated singers of polyphony. From early childhood he had at his disposal the female jongleur Caterina, and he himself had a cornamuse decorated with royal crests. Crowds of instrumentalists and jongleurs arrived at the Aragonese court from the principal European nations - France, Italy, England, Scotland, Portugal and Bohemia. These musicians met up with, and kept up with each other at fairs, which above all took place in Flanders during Lent, when, as was the case with prostitutes, they were not able to exercise their trade. The exchange of international experiences was extremely intense. King John the Musician writes to the Marchese di Villana “Our instrumentalists have, by our orders, taught six new songs to your instrumentalists. And when our instrumentalists, who are now spread through the schools, return, send yours to us so that they might teach as many to ours.”

Every type of contemporary musical instrument was featured at the court of the musician king, be it of the category designated “high” such as bombard, trumpet, clarinetto, añafil and flute, together with various types of drum, or of those that were called “low”, stringed instruments, harps, viola da gamba, guitar, lute and psaltery.

In the Court Ordinances of his father, Peter IV the Ceremonious in 1344, four jongleurs were planned for, two to play the trumpet, one the timpanum and the other the trombetta. At times the jongleurs followed their sovereign into battle, as is the case of the jongleur Pino de Nello, who was with the Aragonese troops when they conquered the island of Sardinia.

Jongleurs and troubadours

The jongleur tradition had a very strong impact upon the literary and musical troubadour society that flourished in the langued’oc in the South of France. It also, however, influenced the considerable trouvère tradition in the langued’oc. There are 2542 troubadour texts and 264 troubadour melodies, and in this output, particularly in their execution, the role of the jongleur was central. In the vidas (lives) of the troubadours it appears that about a third of them were jongleurs, and at least seven were women. The noble knight declaimed verse, just like the “ham-actors”. This same William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, who died in 1126, and is considered to be the earliest example of a troubadour, imitated the jongleurs, and going incognito into hostelries, wrote and sung verse.

The troubadour was considered to be of much greater social standing than the jongleur. The distinguishing features between jongleurs and troubadours were often dubious. The Gascon jongleur, Marcabru, considered his trade to have equal standing with the troubadours, whilst troubadours such as the noble Arnaut Daniel did not disdain comparing themselves to jongleurs.