Minstrel, professional entertainer in medieval Europe, skilled at playing instruments, singing, telling stories, and performing acrobatics and other tricks. Many minstrels were employed in houses of the nobility, but the majority were itinerants. After about 1300 they began to form guilds in the towns. Such entertainers were called jongleurs before about 1100, and they were often hired to perform the songs written by troubadours and trouvères.