The life of one of France’s most eminent medieval poets remains shrouded in mystery, which is hardly surprising for a man who lived in the mid 15th century and was not either a noble, a cleric, a famous mercenary fighter or a great land owner. We must rely on Villon’s own writing, which is helpfully autobiographical in nature and from some of the criminal records of the time. Aubrey Burl’s task then is not an easy one, but in erring perhaps a little too much towards a popular biography he has produced an entertaining but not always balanced read.

Much of the information about Villon comes from his poetry, especially his Magnum Opus The Testament, which stretches to 205 stanzas and contains within it; ballads, songs and rondeau. A biographer one would think should be asking himself; how reliable a witness would a convicted criminal be, who uses his pen to pour out his scorn against his enemies in verses of biting satire? However in the absence of very little other information Burl tends to take Villon very much at his word and perhaps this is the sensible option. Burl’s wide reading of: I suspect mainly secondary sources has enabled him to piece together a story of Villon’s “colourful” life, but how accurate a story remains uncertain.

Using Villon’s own poetry as a source for details of his life has led Burl to surmise on the many characters named in The Testament and he takes the opportunity to indulge in some criticism of the poetry. Burl is clear that Villon is the great French poet of the middle ages and his love of the poetry should encourage many readers to seek out Villon’s works for themselves, especially as Villon’s poetry is shot through with realism and shuns the courtly allegorical style that was in vogue at the time. Much of it can appeal to the modern reader, however Burl warns his readers in no uncertain terms that any translation of metrical verse will lose far too much of the original:

“The difficulty, already stated, is that it is impossible to make an accurate translation of a great poem into a different language. There are impassable barriers: the order of the words, their meaning, the scansion, the rhyme scheme and the rhymes themselves.”

While all of this may be arguable, it feels disjointed, even out of place in a book that purports to be a biography and uses the words of the poet as a major source for details of his life. I think this is the main issue I have with Burl’s book, it tries to be everything at once: literary criticism, biography and thoughts on medieval life, but at times the balance seems not quite right. It is as though the book has been rushed and so lacks some focus.

The book does succeed in painting a lively portrait of medieval Paris and the horrors of the ravaged countryside around it. Villon lived most of his life far away from the rich and patronised men of arts and Burl emphasises his criminal connections. Villon was convicted of murder and robbery and he used the patois of the criminal gangs in some of his poetry and so Burl is on fairly safe ground with most of his conjectures even if he pushes them a little far at times.

I think this book provides much useful background for people interested in Francois Villon, his poetry and medieval Paris. It is an entertaining read and might serve to interest the more casual reader. A three star read ( )

Wonderful ( )