Long before Joseph Pujol took Europe by storm with a his all-fart stage performance, Roland the Farter made an even better living in 12th-century England. In some ways you could call him a court jester, because he performed for the amusement of the king, but Roland was a specialist. He could fart on command, and apparently did it very well. It's not clear which king Roland served, believed to be Henry II, or possibly Henry I, or maybe even Richard the Lionheart. Whichever king it was, Roland was paid well, with the grant of an estate of around 100 acres called Hemingstone Manor in Suffolk. This grant came with one stipulation: Roland was to perform once every year at the king's Christmas feast, and that performance was to include one jump, one whistle, and one fart.
We also don't know how long Roland worked for his king before such a deal was struck, but it was a sweet pension for so little work. The estate didn't even revert back to the crown upon Roland's death, but rather it passed to Roland's son. Read about Roland the Farter at Historic Mysteries. -via Strange Company
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Sigh... Could have been a millionaire if only I'd been born at the right time.
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