LA CAUCHE … There you are, I remembered it. The name I was looking for; the King of the Ribald. His is a curious office, which originated from an institution of Philip II Augustus. He had set up a corps of sergeants for his close guard, all giants, that were called the Ribaldi Regis, the Ribald of the King. Inversion of the genitive or pun, the chief of this guard became Rex Ribaldorum. Nominally, he has command over sergeants such as Perrinet le Buffle amongst others; and it is he, who, every evening at suppertime, tours the royal household to see if all those who entered court but are not to sleep there, have indeed left. But above all, as I told you, I believe, he is responsible for keeping his eye on places of ill repute in every town where the king resides. That is to say, first and foremost, he regulates and inspects the brothels of Paris, which are not few and far between, not to mention the self-employed strumpets who work in the streets set aside for them. Same goes for the houses in which games of chance are played.
What do You think about The King Without A Kingdom?
