Danse Macabre: François Villon, Poetry & Murder in Medieval France

by Aubrey Burl

Francois Villon is one of the great enigmas of French medieval history. A lyric poet of beauty and depth, he was also a murderer, pimp, thief and denizen of the underworld of 15th-century Paris. The book describes a riotous and debauched student life in medieval Paris and Villon's first steps on a life of crime when he was publicly flogged for writing a scurrilous ballad and later involved in a scuffle which ended with his killing a priest. The rest of his short life was a round of arrests, imprisonment and torture, which is contrasted with his time at the court of Charles, Duc d'Orleans at Blois, one of the most magnificent French chateaux and one of the most civilized and artistic courts in Europe. He was finally implicated in a killing of which he was probably innocent, reprieved by Louis XI in a general amnesty designed to restore Paris' dwindling population but disappeared in the winter of 1463, never to be seen again.

Genres: History, Biography, France, Medieval, Poetry, Medieval History, Nonfiction

242 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2000

Reviews

[Adam McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely cool guy here but just couldn't catch a break

[Albert Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah to journey in the days of Villons, to dance with him around the devil's fart... my heart yearns so...

[Sarai Lillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history itself was interesting, but the way it was presented was terrible, making this an extremely difficult read for myself. But I finished and I would like to read more on Villon, possibly a sampling of his poetry. However, I will NOT be reading anything else by this author.