What happens
Francois Villon, a poet and vagabond in fifteenth-century Paris, falls in love with Lady Catherine, a lady of the court of King Louis XI, after she comes to a tavern to meet him. Villon is drawn into a plot involving the grand marshal Tibault and a rebellious Burgundian agent, and he is imprisoned after a brawl. The king, uneasy about his own rule, makes an odd bargain with him. This episode of Lux Radio Theatre was broadcast on August 17, 1936, and stars John Boles and Evelyn Venable, adapted from the play The Vagabond King.
Paris in the fifteenth century, including the Pernoum tavern, a palace, and a prison
Characters: Francois Villon, Lady Catherine, Tristan, King Louis XI, Tibault Dussault, Renee, Margot, Mrs. Havener
Listen for: Villon's verses to Lady Catherine and the king's bargain with the poet
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.