A Judicial Duel, byLieven van Lathem, 1464. I will not be silent, she responds, teary-eyed but defiant. Adam Driver was 38 when he played Jacques le Gris, who was 56 at the time of his death. Word of the scandalous affair spread far and wide via merchants, soldiers, itinerant clergy, and others who carried the latest tidings along the rutted roads to far-flung towns and villages. And then I was judged and shammed by my country. It was just the bare minimum description of who she was. Some have echoed Count Pierres dismissive decree, saying that Marguerite made it all up, perhaps to cover up an affair with another man. In Jagers book, the detailed description of the duel between Le Gris and Carrouges, held on Dec. 29, 1386, was drawn from several sources. Meet the real woman who inspired The Last Duel", "L'histoire vraie de Jean de Carrouges et Jacques Legris, hros du film "Le dernier Duel" de Ridley Scott", "Vivonne et Jarnac, le dernier duel judiciaire en France", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marguerite_de_Carrouges&oldid=1117212348, This page was last edited on 20 October 2022, at 14:07. Terms of Use And one includes the ladys penitential retreat to a convent, while the other omits this finale. On a freezing December day in 1386, at an old priory in Paris that today is a museum of science and technologya temple of human reasonan eager crowd of thousands gathered to watch two knights fight a duel to the death with lance and sword and dagger. Le Gris window arrived on January 18, when Marguerite happened to be left alone with just one maidservant. We would have looked like two tin cans. Her father had sided against the king twice, and. Jager, for his part, tells Medievalists.net that he never would have embarked on writing this book if I had not believed Marguerite. Le Gris lawyer, Jean Le Coq, arguably summarized the case best, noting in his journal that no one really knew the truth of the matter.. On the morning of 18 January 1386, Dame Nicole de Carrouges departed her chateau at Capomesnil for the neighbouring town of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives where she had legal business to attend to. ( 20 th Century Studios ) At the time, the French were engaged in a bitter conflict with the English. She married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. In the end the city expelled the contagion, and the body politic was cleansed. Charles I de Lorraine, duc d'Elbeuf (Joinville, 18 October 1556 - Moulins, 4 August 1605) was a French noble, military commander and governor during the French Wars of Religion.The son of the most minor cadet house of the children of Claude, Duke of Guise, Elbeuf initially lacked the prominence of his cousins, however his succession to the Rieux inheritance made him important. And the lords of France delighted to see it, for they had come to watch the two men fight. Besides the resolution to a deadlocked legal case, the duel also provided eagerly anticipated blood sport for the nobility. Diderots Encyclopdie and Voltaires Histoire du Parlement de Paris used the 1386 affair to denounce the supposed ignorance and cruelty of the Middle Ages. But a public accusation of rape, at the time a capital offense and often a cause for scandalous rumors endangering the honor of those involved, could have grave consequences for both accuser and accused, especially among the nobility. Yet the case does reveal the way in which scandal, as a cousin to the word slander (both derive from the Old French escandle), ultimately resides in the spoken or written word, whether in the gossip of neighbors or the hearsay of the chronicler. Louvel then added a greeting from Jacques Le Gris, who he said greatly admired her and was eager to speak with her. de Carrouges also says that she must have sex with him, as Le Gris can't be the last person to have 'known' her Marguerite is, effectively, raped again. Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France, "L'affaire Marguerite de Carrouges, un procs qui a agit toute la France", "Un jour, une histoire. Knights were one step above squires, but men of both ranks often served as vassals to higher-ranking overlords. Marguerite had no one who could confirm her story: her husband Jean de Carrogues (played by Matt Damon) had set out on a journey to Paris to collect some desperately needed funds and the. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. Still, the theory cannot plausibly account for Louvels having named Le Gris while in conversation with Marguerite. Medieval law treated rape as a horrific crime on par with other capital offenses. (Le Gris and Carrouges both started out as squires and vassals to Count Pierre, but Carrouges was knighted for his military service in 1385.) Matt Damon as Sir Jean de Carrouges in 20th Century Studios The Last Duel., Matt Damon as Jean de Carrouges and Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges in The Last Duel., Adam Driver as Jacques Le Gris in The Last Duel., Adam Driver, left, as Jacques Le Gris, and Matt Damon, as Jean de Carrouges, face off in The Last Duel., Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges in The Last Duel., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Halloween kills at the box office with a new horror record, as Last Duel gets slayed, Review: Ridley Scotts epic The Last Duel rebukes the patriarchy in every era, The Scream 6 publicity stunts hit closer to home, prompting 911 calls in Sonoma, Review: Andrea Riseborough and campy Please Baby Please deconstruct gender and the 1950s, Bruce Willis steps out with friends after announcement of dementia diagnosis, Gayle King surprises Angela Bassett with her Whats Love Got to Do With It dress, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Review: Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre is classic Guy Ritchie and not in a good way, Review: The teen drama Palm Trees and Power Lines tells a searing story of abuse, Review: The documentary Ithaka attempts a difficult defense of Julian Assange, Jonathan Majors dubs Michael B. Jordan Michael B. Handsome at Walk of Fame ceremony, Review: Natural beauty and a touching ecological tale center the female-forward Blueback. The trial by combat would decide whether she had told the truthand thus whether she would live or die. In real life, there was another complicating factor de Carrouges bought land and was forced to turn it over to Pierre, blaming Le Gris for it. Upon hearing of the encounter, the outraged Carrouges summoned his circle of courtiers and friends, including his mother and most of Marguerite's family, and a council was convened where Marguerite repeated her account of the rape. Marguerite de Thibouville, only daughter of the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. Given Nicole de Carrouges' sketchy behavior, removing any witness that might ID the perpetrator (nearly the entire household) from the chateau, and given that two sources report other men confessing to the crime, I think Nicole and Jean de Carrouges conspired . Though Scotts film and its source text afford the fight the weighty title of the last duel, Le Gris trial by combat was far from the last duel to ever take place. The squire then threw her onto a bed but could not hold her down without help from Louvel, who rushed back into the room on Le Gris orders to help his friend subdue and finally rape Marguerite. Damon and Affleck took the dialogue directly from Jagers book. When would she choose to speak out in this way? Le Gris said nothing. Mother of Robert De Carrouges. Le Gris final moments appear to have been grisly even by the standards of the day: The monk of Saint-Denis, who served as Charles VIs official historian, reported that Carrouges killed his enemy with great difficulty because he was encased in armor. In accordance with tradition, authorities dragged Le Gris body to the gallows and hung him as a final insult to his sullied reputation. As per the rules of the duel, whoever loses the battle would be proven guilty of his crimes. Only in the final section of the film, when Marguerite is allowed to speak for herself, does the truth of the mens personalities emerge: Carrougesa jealous and contentious man, in Jagers wordsis mainly concerned with saving his own pride. The film shows Le Gris stripped and hanged by the ankle in the town square. For Affleck and Damon, The Last Duel was an opportunity to not only depict a compelling historical event but to reflect on how traces of that system of patriarchy linger today. Enlightenment thinkers Diderot and Voltaire favored Le Gris cause, decrying his barbaric and unjust trial by combat as an example of the supposed ignorance and cruelty of the Middle Ages, writes Jager. And not just any death. In Le Coqs words, his client attacked his adversary very cruelly and did it on foot, although he would have had the advantage if he had done it on horseback. By drawing blood, writes Elema for the Historical European Martial Arts and Sports Community, Le Gris prevented the king from halting the duel, as once the scales had tipped in one fighters favor, no one could stop the fight without the appearance of partiality.. Marguerite herselfnow pregnant, perhaps as a result of the rapecame to Paris and testified in great detail about the alleged attack by Le Gris and his accomplice. And her court testimony is reduced to nothing more than her husbands scriptas Famiglietti calls itfor destroying his hated rival. Her father had sided against the king twice, and. They were very religious. Apart from the dubious, sketchy, and inconsistent reports in the two chronicles, no external evidence for this hazy legend has ever been offered in support of the oft-told tale of a last-minute confession by the true culprit. What sets this version apart, besides its unusual length, is how quickly the judicial error on the battlefield is revealed by the sudden arrival of the truth. Rather than a belated discovery taking many yearsas in the chroniclesits just a matter of minutes from Le Gris death to the proof of his innocence. For me, why would a woman speak out and say this when her life was at risk? the actress says. As she argues, Instead of a duel that was long and drawn out and involved many different weapons and a whole variety of exciting scenarios, it seems to have been a very short affair that shocked the audience., Two likely eyewitnessesthe author of the Chronicle of the Monk of Saint-Denis and Le Coqagree that Le Gris landed the first blow, piercing Carrouges thigh with his sword. Greeting Marguerite, he declared that she was the lady of all the land, that he loved her the most and would do anything for her. Legal historian Ariella Elema, whose PhD research centered on trial by combat in France and England, says judicial duels were most common in cases where the evidence was really unclear and it was difficult to solve the [matter] by any other means. Such clashes had become increasingly rare by the late 14th century, with lawyers largely using the prospect of duels to incentivize individuals to settle cases out of court. When Marguerite told Le Gris that he must not speak to her in this way, he seized her by the hand, forced her to sit down beside him on a bench, and told her that he knew all about her husbands recent money troubles, offering to pay her well. Digital Spy participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. In 1380 Carrouges married Marguerite de Thibouville (Jodie Comer), daughter of the controversial known traitor Robert de Thibouville who had sided against multiple French Kings in. They took the idea of damnation seriously. Barons like Afflecks character, Count Pierre dAlencon, owned land and often acted as feudal lords, providing property and protection to vassalsthe term for any man sworn to serve anotherin exchange for their service. | Marguerite claimed that Nicole took with her nearly all of the household servants, including a maidservant whom Jean had specifically instructed never to leave Marguerites side, thus leaving Marguerite virtually alone.. Instead, Elema explains, authorities overseeing trials typically imposed a settlement after the fighters had exchanged a few blows.
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