Minstrel

Initially, minstrels were simply treats at court, and entertained the lord and courtiers with chansons de geste or their local equivalent.

In Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest, the professional poet was known as a scop ("shaper" or "maker"), who composed his own poems, and sang them to the accompaniment of a harp.

Late in the 13th century, the term minstrel began to be used to designate a performer who amused his lord with music and song.

Minstrels, on the other hand, gathered at feasts and festivals in great numbers with harps, fiddles, bagpipes, flutes, flageolets, citterns and kettledrums.

Minstrels in Europe died out slowly, having gone nearly extinct by about 1700, although isolated individuals working in the tradition existed even into the early 19th century.