Doubts remain on the exact date of writing, and the text is potentially composed in several times, but in 1461 a priori in the fall, or even the winter, due in particular to the reference to the deceased King of France mentioned and the fact that we know (even if we do not know why) that imprisoned in Meung-sur-Loire during the summer, he would have been released by the new king amnesting the various common law prisoners during his stay in this city.
And to be contrasted with the Ballade des dames du temps jadis directly preceding this one, where the ancient (and sometimes false) or at least older figures are numerous.
The Ballade des seigneurs du temps jadis is an opposition to the Ballade des dames du temps jadis which it follows in the Testament, where the opposition is obviously on gender, but also on chronology.
The accepted hypothesis being that his potentially imminent death due to his recent incarceration, due to the fact that he was subjected there to torture (with water) reminds him of the recent deaths of famous people (ecclesiastical lords or sovereigns) at the by which he judges himself (for example, he no longer even knows the name of the sovereign of Spain), and whom he compares to real lords, in rhyme ending a stanza or in the despatch, with an exclamation ("!")
However, it remains extremely difficult to know if the historical lords or celebrities of the time of writing are the same as those prevailing today, in particular on the two inaccuracies of the dispatch.
We can also say that to a very large extent, the setting to music (and song) by Georges Brassens on the Ballade des dames du temps jadis could also have been applied to this specific poem, because of the rhythmic and rhyme structure similar.
Using the octosyllable, it obeys the following rules of composition : The Parisian language of the time, sometimes colored with Poitevin expressions of the time that François Villon heard a little, as well as the successive editions explain the apparent non-rigor of the respect of these rules for the modern reader.
Here is the text,[3] its transcription in modern French[3] and in English :[4] Dernier decedé de ce nom, Qui quatre ans tint le Papaliste ?
Encor fais une question : Lancelot, le roy de Behaigne, Où est-il ?
De la même manière, le roi d’Écosse, Qui, disait-on, avait un demi-visage, Vermeil comme une améthyste Depuis le front jusqu’au menton ?
Je n’en parlerai pas plus longtemps ; Ce ne serait qu’un abus.
J'ai encore une question : Ladislas, le roi de Bohême, Où est-il ?
And what of Scots king, James the Second, the one half of whose face from brow right down to chin, so it is reckoned, was amethyst-red from birth?