jester

Latin, joculator; joculatrix.

Two jesters are recorded in Domesday Book, one a Welshman (GLS W4), the other a woman (HAM 1,25), this being one of the few occupations for women mentioned in Domesday. The Welshman was a royal jester; the woman had been jester to the Earl Roger who had forfeited his lands for rebellion in 1075.