Mellin de Saint-Gelais

He was close to his uncle Octavien de Saint-Gelais (1466–1502), bishop of Angoulême since 1494, himself a poet who had translated the Aeneid into French.

He returned to France around 1523, and soon gained favour at the court of the art-loving Valois ruler Francis I by his skill in light verse.

[1] He enjoyed immense popularity until the appearance of Joachim du Bellay's Défense et illustration... in 1549, where Saint-Gelais was not excepted from the scorn poured on contemporary poets.

[1] Ronsard accepted Saint-Gelais's apology for this incident, but Du Bellay satirized the offender in the Poète courtisan.

Saint-Gelais was the champion of the style marotique (see Clément Marot) and the earliest of French sonneteers and petrarchist.