Involved in criminal behavior. Mysteries, hidden jokes, slang.

Motifs: "carpe diem", "ubi sunt", "memento mori" and "danse macabre".

Innovator in terms of the themes of poetry and, through these themes, renovator of the forms. He understood perfectly the medieval courtly ideal, but he often chose to write against the grain, reversing the values and celebrating the lowlifes destined for the gallows, falling happily into parody or lewd jokes, and constantly innovating in his diction and vocabulary; a few minor poems make extensive use of Parisian thieves' slang. Still Villon's verse is mostly about his own life, a record of poverty, trouble, and trial which was certainly shared by his poems' intended audience.