Which French poet made a 1508 reference to 'poisson d'avril'?

French poet Eloy d’Amerval made the 1508 reference to “poisson d’avril.”

The phrase appears in d’Amerval’s 1508 work Le Livre de la deablerie. “Poisson d’avril” literally means “April fish” and is the French expression associated with an April fool or April Fools’ prank. The reference is often described cautiously as possibly the first known mention connected with the celebration.

D’Amerval was not only a poet but also a composer, singer, and choirmaster active in Renaissance France. Very little is known about his personal life, but records place him in musical institutions linked to the French royal court and the Loire Valley.

The date does not prove that April Fools’ Day began in 1508. Historians debate the holiday’s origins, and earlier or competing references may exist depending on how the phrase and custom are defined. The familiar theory linking the celebration to France’s 1564 calendar reform is also incomplete, because references to April-related fooling predate that reform.