[4] In his childhood he had been an eyewitness of the English invasion of 1358, he had been present at the siege of Reims in 1360 and seen the march on Chartres, and he had witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Brétigny.
His satires were also directed at corrupt officials and clergy but his sharp wit may have cost him his job as Bailli of Senlis.
[5] Besides giving rules for the composition of the kinds of verse mentioned in the title he enunciates some theories on poetry.
[6] His one long poetic work, Le Miroir de Mariage, is a 12,103-line satirical poem on the subject of women.
[7] He also wrote about the decline in morals of his time, and also of the worsening state of affairs during the late middle ages, mentioning war, famine and disease.