I would doubt most bards could afford books until after the printing press (~1440). During the middle ages (500-1500) is after the fall of the western roman empire (470) where papyrus stopped coming in for about 600-700 years (1100s) before cheap paper from Spain. I think court musicians were a bit different in “class” someone traveling is unlikely to be bringing a lot of written stuff with them all the time unless they were a weirdo. Once cheap paper and moreso the printing press to allow cheap copying spread then so did literacy. So its hard to definitely say whether the average bard would be literate. I think at the start of the middle ages, no, but by the end of the middle ages, yes.
There are a couple parts of the court music book Orchésographie that I think would be particularly interesting for a bard character.
Court musicians in the late 16th century frequently traveled to where the work was: either following a particular patron or looking to perform where they could. Most of the dances in the book are bransles, a folk dance popular with the “common people,” and formalized when brought to court. As a D&D bard, this would be a cool way to explain why your music is beloved by all, and why they could move in all social circles.
There’s also a part at the beginning that explains how to play the drum and fife for a marching army: how to improvise a melody or change up the drum pattern while keeping the march going. It seems to imply that the court musicians the book was written for were potentially marching with armies, likely playing music in the camps or stops at night.
Probably why most Isekai anime and manga tend to land people in an equivalent of about the 1500s. Like it would be really weird if they were the only person who knew how to read other than the clergy and they only knew how to read Japanese.
I would doubt most bards could afford books until after the printing press (~1440). During the middle ages (500-1500) is after the fall of the western roman empire (470) where papyrus stopped coming in for about 600-700 years (1100s) before cheap paper from Spain. I think court musicians were a bit different in “class” someone traveling is unlikely to be bringing a lot of written stuff with them all the time unless they were a weirdo. Once cheap paper and moreso the printing press to allow cheap copying spread then so did literacy. So its hard to definitely say whether the average bard would be literate. I think at the start of the middle ages, no, but by the end of the middle ages, yes.
There are a couple parts of the court music book Orchésographie that I think would be particularly interesting for a bard character.
Court musicians in the late 16th century frequently traveled to where the work was: either following a particular patron or looking to perform where they could. Most of the dances in the book are bransles, a folk dance popular with the “common people,” and formalized when brought to court. As a D&D bard, this would be a cool way to explain why your music is beloved by all, and why they could move in all social circles.
There’s also a part at the beginning that explains how to play the drum and fife for a marching army: how to improvise a melody or change up the drum pattern while keeping the march going. It seems to imply that the court musicians the book was written for were potentially marching with armies, likely playing music in the camps or stops at night.
Probably why most Isekai anime and manga tend to land people in an equivalent of about the 1500s. Like it would be really weird if they were the only person who knew how to read other than the clergy and they only knew how to read Japanese.