to his heirs, by doing there-for to us once a year the service of one _follus_, as long as he lives; and after his death his heirs shall hold it of us, by the service of one pair of gilt spurs to be rendered annually to us."[68] The service (_servitium_) here enjoined means the annual payment of the obligation of the feudal tenure, and therefore if _follus_ is to be taken as signifying "a fool," it only means that Picol was to perform that character on one occasion in the course of the year. In this case, he may have been some fool whom king John had taken into his special favour; but it certainly is no proof that the practice of keeping court fools then existed. It is not improbable that this practice was first introduced in Germany, for Flögel speaks, though rather doubtfully, of one who was kept at the court of the emperor Rudolph I. (of Hapsburg), whose reign lasted from 1273 to 1292. It is more certain, however, that the kings of France possessed court fools before the middle of the fourteenth century, and from this time anecdotes relating to them begin to be common. One of the earliest and most curious of these anecdotes, if it be true, relates to the celebrated victory of Sluys gained over the French fleet by our king Edward III. in the year 1340. It is said that no one dared to announce this disaster to the French king, Philippe VI., until a court fool undertook the task. Entering the king's chamber, he continued muttering to himself, but loud enough to be heard, "Those cowardly English! the chicken-hearted Britons!" "How so, cousin?" the king inquired. "Why," replied the fool, "because they have not courage enough to jump into the sea, like your French soldiers, who went over headlong from their ships, leaving those to the enemy who showed no inclination to follow them." Philippe thus became aware of the full extent of his calamity. The institution of the court fool was carried to its greatest degree of perfection during the fifteenth century; it only expired in the age of Louis XIV. [67] "Geschichte der Hofnarren, von Karl Friedrich Flögel," 8vo. Liegnitz und Leipzig, 1789. [68] The words of this charter, as given by Rigollot, are:--"Joannes, D G., etc. Sciatis nos dedisse et præsenti charta confirmasse Willelmo Picol, follo nostro, Fontem Ossanæ, cum omnibus pertinenciis suis, habendum et tenendum sibi et hæredibus suis, faciendo inde nobis annuatim servitium unius folli quoad vixerit; et post ejus decessum hæredes sui eam tenebunt, et per servitium unius paris calcarium deauratorum nobis annuatim reddendo. Quare volumus et firmiter præcipimus quod prædictius Piculphus et hæredes sui habeant et teneant in perpetuum, bene et in pace, libere et quiete, prædictam terram."--Rigollot, Monnaies inconnues des Evêques des Innocens, etc., 8vo., Paris, 1837.