14TH CENTURY INSULT WARS

Haw! Here's something Steve Worth turned me on to....it turns out that English poets of the late Middle Ages used to carry on insult wars with each other. One bard, Dafydd ap Gwilyn, was so good at it that the subject of one of his poems is said to have died when he heard it.

I couldn't find a picture of Gwilyn, but here's (above) the next best thing: a picture of Chaucer reading to Edward III. Geez, if biting satire was a popular entertainment at court I can easily understand how someone on the receiving end might give up the ghost.

Anyway, here's the exact poem (below) that had the power to kill a man. If you don't want to read it then watch it on the YouTube video (also below):

A SATIRE ON RHYS MEIGEN

by Dafydd ap Gwilyn