A minstrel was a bard who played songs to tell stories about other places or about historical events of the Middle Ages. Initially, minstrels were simply servants at Court (the name means literally "little servant"), and entertained the Lord and Courtiers with chansons de geste or their local equivalent. As the courts became more sophisticated, they were eventually replaced by the troubadours, and many became wandering minstrels, performing for common townsfolk. In this guise, minstrelsy was still well liked until the middle of the Renaissance. A bard is a poet and singer, with the particular meaning differing for various countries and epochs. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The chansons de geste, Old French for songs of heroic deeds, are the epic poetry that appears at the dawn of French literature. ... For the article about the night club in West Hollywood, California, see: Troubadour (nightclub). ... By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance The Renaissance was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...

Minstrel music, popular in the USA from the 1830s until the early 20th century, was a type of banjo music performed by both black and white musicians with black-painted faces. (Even the black musicians had to black up to match the exaggerated make-up used by the white performers.) The music was an imitation of a style developed by Afro-American plantation slaves, who had been trained to play Irish fiddle music to entertain their masters, but who then developed a style of their own. Typical minstrel tunes were Dixie and The Camptown Races. Minstrel shows are now considered racist, as they mocked the misfortunes of Afro-American slaves, but their legacy of bluegrass, country and old-time musical forms remains. See American roots music for a broader discussion of these genres. The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, is an indigenous form of American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, usually performed by white people in blackface. ... Events and Trends Dutch-speaking farmers known as Voortrekkers emigrate northwards from the Cape Colony. ... The banjo is a string instrument, derived from banjar, an African string instrument. ... Blackface is a style of theatrical makeup that originated in the United States, used to affect the countenance of an iconic, racist, American archetype, that of the darky or coon. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Wiktionary has a definition of: Slavery Slavery can mean one or more related conditions which involve control of a person against his or her will, enforced by violence or... An African-American drinks out of a water fountain marked for colored in 1939 at a street car terminal in Oklahoma City. ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music with its own roots in the English, Irish traditional music and Scottish traditional music of immigrants from the British Isles (particularly the Scotch-Irish immigrants of Appalachia), as well as the music of African_American slaves. ... Country music, once known as country and western music, is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... Old-time music, a traditional style of American music, has roots in Irish, Scottish and African folk music. ... American roots music is a broad category of music including country music, bluegrass, gospel, ragtime, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Tejano and Cajun and Native American music. ...

See also

• Thomas Ercildoun

Thomas of Ercildoun or Thomas the Rhymer (1220 - 1297) was a Scottish minstrel to whom is ascribed Sir Tristrem, a rhyme or story for recitation. ...

External links

Minstrel Music History on "Musical Extravaganzo" (http://www.freewebs.com/minstreltune/minstrelhistory.html)