The page of Barreaux, Jacques des, English biography
Biography
Jacques Vallée, Sieur Des Barreaux (16 December 1599 – 9 May 1673) 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 Joy. 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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Vall%C3%A9e,_Sieur_Des_Barreaux
(Editor of this page: P. T.)