It may come as a surprise to some, but the rap battle has its roots in the 5th century. In those times, Flyting was publicly practiced as an entertaining form of insult-hurling. The courts of James IV and V of Scotland employed professional Flyters, who would amuse the royals by systematically insulting each other in verse. These insults would often be of a highly sexual nature, sometimes even veering into the scatological One famous exchange was The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie from the early 16th century. Its 128 lines include such gems as:
Gray-visaged gallows-bird, out of your wits gone wild, Loathsome and lousy, as wet as a cress, Since you with worship would so fain be styled, Hail, Monsignor! Your balls droop below your dress.
You can read the whole thing here. Though Flyting was most associated with Scotland, the English practiced it too, most notably to insult enemies. Flyters were commissioned to write offensive verse which would then be directed at opposition armies.
