François Villon (ca.1431 - ca.1474) was a French poet, thief, and general vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison. It has been claimed that the villanelle is named after him, although few scholars today defend that theory. His question, "Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?", translated by Algernon Charles Swinburne as "Where are the snows of yesteryear?", is one of the most famous non-biblical lines of translated poetry in the English-speaking world. François Villon upload from German wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: François Villon Categories: Author died more than 100 years ago public domain images ... Events February 21 - The trial of Joan of Arc March 3 - Eugenius IV becomes Pope May 30 - In Rouen, France, 19-year old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake. ... Events December 12 - Upon the death of Henry IV of Castile a civil war ensues between his designated successor Isabella I of Castile and her sister Juana who was supported by her husband, Alfonso V of Portugal. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... A villanelle (or occasionally villonelle) is a traditional poem which entered English-language poetry in the late 1800s from the imitation of French models. ... Algernon Charles Swinburne (April 5, 1837 _ April 10, 1909) was a Victorian era English poet. ... A Bible handwritten in Latin, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Life

Villon's real surname is a matter of much dispute; he has been called François de Montcorbier and François Des Loges and other names, though in literature Villon is the sole term used. Villon was born in 1431 in Paris. The singular poems called Testaments, which form his chief if not his only certain work, are largely autobiographical, though of course not fully trustworthy. But his frequent collisions with the law have left more certain records. Events February 21 - The trial of Joan of Arc March 3 - Eugenius IV becomes Pope May 30 - In Rouen, France, 19-year old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

It appears that he was born of poor folk, that his father died in his youth, but that his mother, for whom he wrote one of his most famous ballades, was alive when her son was thirty years old. The very name Villon was stated, and that by no mean authority, the president Claude Fauchet, to be merely a common word and not a proper noun, signifying " cheat " or "rascal", but this seems to be a mistake. It is, however, certain that Villon was a person of loose life, and that he continued, throughout his recorded life, the reckless way of living common among the wilder youth of the University of Paris. He appears to have derived his surname from a friend and benefactor named Guillaume de Villon, chaplain in the collegiate church of Saint-Benoit-le-Bestourne, and a professor of canon law, who took Villon into his house. Claude Fauchet may be either of two notables: Claude Fauchet (1530-1601), French historian Claude Fauchet (1744-1793), French revolutionist This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The historic University of Paris (French: Université de Paris) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganized as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). ...

The poet became a student in arts, no doubt early, perhaps at about twelve years of age, and took the degree of bachelor in 1449 and that of master in 1452. Between this year and 1455 nothing positive is known of him, except that nothing was known against him. Attempts have been made, in the usual fashion of conjectural biography, to fill up the gap with what a young graduate of Bohemian tendencies would, could, or might have done; but they are mainly futile. Events January 6 - Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor. ... Events October - English troops under John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, land in Guyenne, France, and retake most of the province without a fight. ... Events February 9 - Wars of the Roses: Richard, Duke of York dismissed as Protector February 23 - Johannes Gutenberg prints the first Bible on a printing press May 22 - Wars of the Roses: First Battle of St Albans - Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick defeat... Though a Bohemian is a native of the Czech province of Bohemia, a secondary meaning for bohemian emerged in 19th century France. ...

On the June 5, 1455, the first important known incident of his life occurred. Being in the company of a priest named Giles and a girl named Isabeau, he met, in the rue Saint-Jacques, a certain Breton, Jean le Hardi, a master of arts, who was also with a priest, Philippe Chermoye or Sermoise or Sermaise. A scuffle ensued; daggers were drawn; and Sermaise, who is accused of having threatened and attacked Villon and drawn the first blood, not only received a dagger-thrust in return, but a blow from a stone which struck him down. Sermaise died of his wounds. Villon fled, and was sentenced to banishment - a sentence which was remitted in January 1456, the formal pardon being extant, strangely enough, in two different documents, in one of which the culprit is described as "Francois des Loges, autrement dit Villon" ("Francois des Loges, otherwise called Villon"), in the other as "Francois de Montcorbier." That he is also said to have described himself to the barber-surgeon who dressed his wounds as Michel Mouton is less surprising, and hardly needs an addition to the list of his aliases. It should, however, be said that the documents relative to this affair confirm the date of his birth, by representing him as twenty-six years old or thereabouts. June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ... Events July 7 - Joan of Arc acquitted (but she had already been executed). ... The barber surgeon was one of the most common medical practitioners of medieval times - generally charged with looking after soldiers during or after a battle. ...

By the end of 1456 he was again in trouble. In his first brawl "la femme Isabeau" is only generally named, and it is impossible to say whether she had anything to do with the quarrel. In the second, Catherine de Vaucelles, of whom we hear not a little in the poems, is the declared cause of a scuffle in which Villon was so severely beaten that, to escape ridicule, he fled to Angers, where he had an uncle who was a monk. It was before leaving Paris that he composed what is now known as the Petit testament or Lais, which shows little of the profound bitterness and regret for wasted life that can be found in its (in every sense) greater successor, the Grand testament. Indeed, Villon's serious troubles were only beginning, for hitherto he had been rather injured than guilty. This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, etc. ...

About Christmas-time the chapel of the college of Navarre was broken open, and five hundred gold crowns stolen. The robbery was not discovered till March 1457, and it was not till May that the police came on the track of a gang of student-robbers owing to the indiscretion of one of them, Guy Tabarie. A year more passed, when Tabarie, being arrested, turned king's evidence and accused Villon, who was then absent, of being the ring-leader, and of having gone to Angers, partly at least, to arrange for similar burglaries there. Villon, for this or some other crime, was sentenced to banishment: and he did not attempt to return to Paris. For four years he was a wanderer; and he may have been, as each of his friends Regnier de Montigny and Colin des Cayeux certainly was, a member of a wandering gang of thieves. It is certain that at one time (in 1457), and probable that at more times than one, he was in correspondence with Charles, duc d'Orléans, and it is likely that he resided, at any rate for some period, at that prince's court at Chateau Blois. He had also something to do with another prince of the blood, Jean of Bourbon, and there is evidence that he visited Poitou, Dauphine, and elsewhere. Navarre (Spanish Navarra, Basque Nafarroa) is an autonomous community and province of Spain. ... Events University of Freiburg founded. ... Charles of Valois, Duc dOrléans (November 24, 1394 – January 5, 1465) became Duke of Orléans in 1407, following the murder of his father, Louis of Valois. ... The Royal Ch teau de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher d partement in the Loire Valley, in France. ... Poitou was a province of France whose capital city was Poitiers. ... Dauphiné is a former province in southeastern France, roughly corresponding to the present départements of the Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes. ...

But at his next certain appearance he is again in trouble. He tells us that he had spent the summer of 1461 in the bishop's prison (bishops were fatal to Villon) of Meung-sur-Loire. His crime is not known, but is supposed to have been church-robbing; and his enemy, or at least judge, was Thibault d'Aussigny, who held the see of Orléans. Villon owed his release to a general gaol-delivery at the accession of King Charles VII and became a free man again on the October 2, 1461. Events February 2 - Battle of Mortimers Cross - Yorkist troops led by Edward, Duke of York defeat Lancastrians under Owen Tudor and his son Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke in Wales. ... Charles VII the Victorious, a. ... October 2nd is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ...

In 1461, only thirty years old, he wrote the Grand testament, the work which has immortalized him. Even his good intentions must have been feeble, for in the autumn of 1462 we find him once more living in the cloisters of Saint-Benoit and in November he was in the Chatelet for theft. In default of evidence the old charge of the college of Navarre was revived, and even a royal pardon did not bar the demand for restitution. Bail was accepted; however, Villon fell promptly into a street quarrel, was arrested, tortured and condemned to be hanged ("pendu et étranglé"), but the sentence was commuted to banishment by the parlement on the January 5, 1463. The actual event is unknown: but from this time he disappears from history. Events Settlers from Portugal begin to settle the Cape Verde islands. ... Cloister of Saint Trophimus, in Arles, France A Cloister is part of cathedrals and abbeys architecture. ... Ch telet can refer to: The city of Ch telet, Belgium. ... Parlements (pronounced in French) in ancien régime France — contrary to what their name would suggest to the modern reader — were not democratic or political institutions, but law courts . ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events January 5 - Poet Francois Villon is banned from Paris Births January 17 - Friedrich III, Saxon elector (d. ...

Works

Villon was a great innovator in terms of the themes of poetry and, through these themes, a great renovator of the forms. He understood perfectly the medieval ethic, but he often chose to write against the grain of the courtly ideal, reversing the values and celebrating the lowlifes destined for the gallows, falling happily into parody or lewd jokes, and constantly innovating in his language. Still, Villon's verse is mostly about his own life, and it was not a happy life. The Grand Testament (1461), his greatest work, is in some ways a continuation of the Petit Testament (a.k.a Lais, 1456). The 2023 verses are marked by the immediate prospect of death by hanging. With a remarkable ambivalence, it mixes reflections on the passing of time, bitter derision, invective, and religious fervor. This mixed tone of pathetic sincerity stands in contrast to the other poets of the time. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

Critical views

Villon, nearly unknown in his own time, was rediscovered in the 16th century when his works were published by Clément Marot. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Clément Marot (1496-1544), was a French poet of the Renaissance period. ...

Reference

• The introduction and "Life" section of this article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please update as needed.

Movie

The 1938 movie If I Were King, stars Ronald Colman as Francis Villon. Villon is appointed by the King of France, Louis XI, played by Basil Rathbone, to be Constable of France for a week. If I Were King is a 1938 film with Basil Rathbone. ... Ronald Colman (February 9, 1891 – May 19, 1958) was an English actor. ... Kings ruled in France from the Middle Ages to 1848. ... Louis XI Louis XI the Prudent (French: Louis XI le Prudent) (July 3, 1423 - August 30, 1483), also informally nicknamed luniverselle aragne (old French for universal spider), was a King of France (1461 - 1483). ... Basil Rathbone (June 13, 1892 - July 21, 1967) was an English actor. ... The Constable of France (French connétable de France, from Latin comes stabulari for count of the stables), as the First Officer of the Crown, was one of the original five Great Officers of the Crown of France (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chancellor) and Commander in Chief of...

External links

• The Société François Villon (http://globegate.utm.edu/french/globegate_mirror/villon.html) provides extensive links to online copies of the French-language originals of Villon's poems and (farther down the page) links to translations in numerous languages (including English) as well as numerous related materials.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...