Danse Macabre: Francois Villon - Poetry and Murder in Medieval Paris by Aubrey Burl

by Aubrey Burl

Paris in the middle of the fifteenth century was a dark place. In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the city was gripped by famine. Bands of discharged soldiers rampaged, pillaging and raping wherever they went. People were in constant fear of being robbed or having their properties looted. Starving wolves crossed the Seine and killed Parisian babies for food. Above the melee Gilles de Rais--the original Bluebeard--practised his diabolical craft of child abuse and alchemy.Into this world, and in the same year as the execution of France's heroine and hope Joan of Arc, was born François Villon (1431-1463?). He grew up to be one of the great enigmas of French medieval a lyric poet of surprising beauty and depth, he was also a murderer, pimp, thief and denizen of the seething underworld of contemporary Paris.Born into a peasant family, Villon was adopted by a priest and sent to university. Very soon he took his first steps on a life of crime when he was publicly flogged outside the home of a young woman he had slandered. In 1455 he became 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, save for a heady period at the chateau of Charles, Duc d'Orléans, one of the most civilised and artistic courts in Europe. He was finally implicated in a killing of which he was probably innocent. He fled, never to be seen again.This biographical tour de force takes apart the man and his age, seeking out the truth behind the poet's crimes, and the truth within the criminal's poetry. Scandal, iniquity, poverty and great art are here. to read it is to be transported to another world.

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

Unknown Binding

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.