Jacques Vallée, Sieur Des Barreaux

Jacques Vallée, Sieur Des Barreaux was a French poet, born in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire. His great-uncle, Geoffroy Vallée, had been hanged in 1574 for the authorship of a book called Le Flau de la Foy. His nephew appears to have inherited his scepticism, which on one occasion nearly cost him his life; the peasants of Touraine attributed to the presence of the unbeliever an untimely frost that damaged the vines, and proposed to stone him. His authorship of the sonnet on "Penitence", by which he is generally known, has been disputed, notably by Voltaire.