The Prince of Fools

During the Reign of French King Charles VI, a fierce struggle for power develops between the king’s brother, Louis d’Orléans, and his cousin, Jean de Bourgogne. When the latter instigates the murder of the former in 1407, the conflict degenerates into a civil war between Burgundians and Armagnacs.

In the midst of this blood-drenched background, a mysterious comedian and proto-anarchist nicknamed the “Prince of Fools” schemes to save the innocent, punish the villains, and undermine the aristocratic order invisibly and subtly through the medium of plays.

The Prince of Fools was initially published in 1887 prefaced (or possibly extensively rewritten?) by Gérard de Nerval’s editor, Louis Ulbach, who claimed to have located the manuscript, which was itself based on an unproduced play by Nerval.