William Somers, Henry VIII’s Jester

Thomas Bourchier, the Franciscan martyrologist, writing of the Venerable Thomas Belchiam (d. 3 August 1537) gives the following curious fragment of information: after Belchiam’s death, he says, a congenital idiot named William Sommer went running about the court shouting “The simplicity of one mendicant breaks the pride of the King” (1). In view of Bourchier’s general unsatisfactoriness as a historian one is disposed fo regard with suspicion any of his statements which cannot be corroborated, buk in this instance there i s good reason to believe that his information i s correct, or at least founded on fact.