Jean Favier (1932–2014)

How on earth do you retrace the life of Francois Villon (1431-?) when everything about him has been mostly lost and/ or the only sources that we have are meagrily scarce... to say the least!? Well, like Jean Favier does here: by relying on conjectures. A daring gamble? Not really.

Jean Favier, of course, was no average historian. One of the most eminent and brilliant specialists of the medieval era (e.g he directed the National Archives of France; taught at the Sorbonne; wrote countless books show more on the period and that embraced no less countless sub-specialised subjects etc.) the author clearly knows his stuff. His is a vast and deep knowledge upon which he fully relies, in fact, to try and sketch Villon's biography, no matter how skeletic. For instance, if we don't know anything about the chaplain who raised him as his son, we know, however, how chaplains used to live then, and so Jean Favier just draws on these other sources to attempt parallels. Sketchy it might be, but it nevertheless offers a wide picture of 15th century Paris which is as engrossing as it can be, from our vantage point, alien.

This, though, is not an history book about medieval Paris, but the biography of a poet living on the margin, a clerc who graduated in arts yet would be dragged down into a life of delinquency and petty criminality, a man who will be sent to jail numerous time, before disappearing from history following a death penalty (by hanging) which was commuted into banishment. What about it?

There is Villon the man. Jean Favier, here, is quick to remind us that, contrary to some later legends and other myths would suggest, he was far from being an hardened criminal or, as was suggested at times, part of the Coquillards, one of these most notorious and infamous gangs of the era. He surely was found guilty of murder at barely 26, and it's his involvement in another murder that would lead to his death penalty commuted into banishment in his later life (his accomplices weren't so lucky...). But, stabbing during fights and scuffles were not uncommon back then, as most people used to carry daggers to walk streets that were everything but entirely safe. Villon, a regular of shaddy taverns, merely got unlucky -so to speak.

There is, then and most importantly, Villon the poet. Jean Favier's passion, here, transpires at every page. If the topics that Villon dealt with (e.g. poverty, death, many unfortunate love, and ridiculing -in his case, virulent- of some contemporaries) and the imageries that he used (relying widely on the literature of the time) were everything but original, what demarcated Villon indeed was his language: the reliance on puns, innuendos, double-entendre, a constant and smart dancing between the 15th century French of the common people and the slang of the then underworld. This, of course, is what makes Villon still difficult 'to get', as most of his in-jokes can only fly past modern readers. Nevertheless, Favier offers some very enlightening explanations, clarifying otherwise obscure allusions when any.

Clocking at 500 pages, needless to say, this is not for the faint-hearted! Having said that, it being an engrossing portrait of medieval Paris as much as an inquisitive biography of a controversial poet, a man who had a life as mysterious and shadowy as the urban legends that will later tail his name, it's an absolute must read for anyone interested in Villon's work and, beyond, French medieval poetry. show less

An excellent study of medieval commerce unfortunately ruined for English-speakers by a translation that strips out the footnotes of the original.

CHARLEMAGNE

Il y a le Charlemagne de l'histoire et celui de la légende, l'homme qu'il fut et le personnage construit au fil des siècles. L'homme et son oeuvre sont d'une diversité qui touche au paradoxe. L'empereur à la barbe fleurie fut un chef de guerre sans pitié, un défenseur de la foi, l'initiateur d'une renaissance intellectuelle, d'un système monétaire qui dura mille ans et l'organisateur d'un véritable Etat. Pas un domaine n'a échappé à son ardeur réformatrice que ses show more conquêtes ont étendue à un immense empire : tous les éléments d'une légende étaient réunis, le temps a fait le reste. show less

Ce livre est vraiment, vraiment bien. Je le recommande. Il est d'une grande richesse et nous apprend beaucoup sur cette période. J'en prévois une relecture, toujours accompagnée de l'arbre généalogique des rois de France et d'Angletterre.