François Villon, and his countercultural vagabond life, set him apart from the rhétoriqueurs. From the late 1540s on, many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were rejected by the French circle of poets around Pierre de Ronsard (sometimes called La Pléiade), who considered them representatives of an outdated medieval tradition. Some of this disdain may have also been tied to class and chauvinism: many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were non-noble poets and writers working for the court of the Duchy of Burgundy, while Ronsard's circle was entirely French and dominated by nobles. The "Grands Rhétoriqueurs" were utterly forgotten, until a revival of interest by specialists in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their verbal games and aural experimentation have been praised by contemporary literary groups, including the writers of the Oulipo movement. References Simonin, Michel, ed. Dictionnaire des lettres françaises – Le XVIe siècle. Paris: Fayard, 2001. French poets French male poets