Eustache Deschamps (1328-1415) was a medieval French poet. Born at Vertus, in Champagne, he studied at Orleans University and traveled through Europe. His estate was pillaged by the English, in consequence of which he continuously abuses them in his many poems.
Deschamps wrote as many as 1,175 ballads, and he is sometimes credited with inventing the form. All but one of his poems are short, and they are mostly satirical, attacking the English, whom he regards as the plunderers of his country, and against the wealthy oppressors of the poor.
He does not, like Froissart, cast a glamour over the miserable wars of the time but gives a faithful picture of the anarchy of France, and inveighs ceaselessly against the heavy taxes, the vices of the clergy and especially against those who enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
Deschamps excelled in the use of the ballade and the chant royal.
He lays immense stress on the harmony of verse, because, as was the fashion of his day, he practically took it for granted that all poetry was to be sung.
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