This page is a personal tribute to
FRANCOIS VILLON
The first great modern french poet
Francis I am, which weighs me down
born in Paris near Pontoise town,
and with a stretch of rope my pate
will learn for once my arse's weight
FRANCOIS VILLON was born francois Montcorbier or Francois des Loges in paris in 1431. He took his surname, Villon, from his guardian and benefactor, Guillaume de Villon, chaplain of Saint-Benoit-le-Betourne. He took his baccalaureat from the University of Paris in 1449.
His first clash with the law occured in 1455 when he was involved in a fight with a priest who was killed. Though pardoned for the murder in 1456 that same year he was implicated in the robbery of five golden ecus from the College of Navarre. In that year he wrote THE LAIS.
When a confederate of Villon's confessed to the robbery in 1457 he fled Paris. Much of the rest of his life comes from LE TESTAMENT, under the assumption that it is autobiographical. He was imprisoned by the Bishop of Orleans then set free to celebrate King Louis XI,s progress through the town. LE TESTAMENT speaks of wanderings between say, 1456 and 1461.
In 1462 he is again in prison, the Chatelet, charged with robbery of the College of Navarre. Again released when promising to repay the money. The last known fact is his arrest for brawling, although just an onlooker he was sentenced to death. Parliament set aside the sentence, imposing banishment from Paris
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