We would have looked like two tin cans. They took the idea of damnation seriously. Pointing out that womens voices are actually loud and clear, albeit filtered through the court system and notaries, in many medieval documents, the historian explains, Its a really nice way of sort of flipping our stereotypes of the Middle Ages. The book, exhaustively compiled from existing documents and records, recounts how Carrouges wife, Marguerite, accused Le Gris of rape, leading to the pair fighting to the death with Marguerites own life on the line if it was decided she had lied. Marguerite, who had accused Le Gris of raping her, watched from the sidelines; clad entirely in black, she was keenly aware that her husbands defeat would be viewed as proof of perjury, vindicating her attacker and ensuring her execution by burning at the stake for the crime of bearing false witness. We gave this great filmmaker the opportunity to dramatize the essence of it and make it compelling to an audience, rather than do literally what happened.. (Jager offered feedback on the films script, suggesting historically accurate phrasing and other changes.) Eric Jager is a professor of English at UCLA and the author of four books, including The Last Duel and Blood Royal. We gathered from research that she was really capable and educated, Holofcener says. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission. This is when she is surprised by Adam Louvel (Adam Nagaitis) who asks her to open the door so he can wait, and when she does he reveals that Le Gris is also there to proclaim his love for Marguerite. Lied, by Eugne Lomont, c. 1895. Theres a certain arrogance rooted in that assumption. 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. And yet he raped her so brutally in history, in the truth, so badly there would be no doubt. But whats so amazing about Nicole and what Nicole has brought to the piece is this sense of imagination. (Le Gris and Carrouges both started out as squires and vassals to Count Pierre, but Carrouges was knighted for his military service in 1385.) In reality, the duel would have been decided by two main factors: the weight of the fighters armor and how quickly these relatively old men grew tired. And her court testimony is reduced to nothing more than her husbands scriptas Famiglietti calls itfor destroying his hated rival. Meilan Solly Marguerite tells her story, and she knows that she needs to be extremely consistent, despite this absolutely horrific trauma that shes just gone through, says Skoda. The majority of medieval rape victims lacked the means to seek justice. Mother of Robert De Carrouges. One of the chroniclers talks about an opening joust, but I had to elaborate a little bit on how a joust like that would unfold with lances broken. She has everything to lose. El libro es una crnica milimtrica de los hechos construida como un gran reportaje, muy ricamente contextualizada desde la eterna guerra entre Francia e Inglaterra en aquella poca hasta el. Or did he trip? But the count, infuriated by the accusation against his favorite, declared at a legal hearing that Marguerite must have dreamed it and summarily dismissed the charges, ordering that no further questions ever be raised about it.. The view that Marguerite was lyinga conjecture unsupported by any evidence, apart from Le Gris dubious alibiholds either that she concocted the rape story herself, perhaps to cover an adultery, or that it was extorted from her by her opportunistic husband in order to avenge himself on his rival. This man who has done something horrible and doesnt understand it. Affleck, Damon, Holofcener, Comer and Jager talked us through what is and isnt accurate in The Last Duel and why the filmmakers made the narrative changes they did. Of course, Jean de Carrouges was destined for the life of warfare - this was the common fate for many nobles and their sons in medieval France. 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. 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. Knights were one step above squires, but men of both ranks often served as vassals to higher-ranking overlords. Shes going to face some kind of penalty. Instead of being executed, however, most women on the losing side of rape cases endured custodial or financial [punishment], which in medieval terms is kind of the end of everything anyway, according to Skoda. Jean Froissart, writing after the duel, describes Marguerite praying as she watched the fight, adding, I do not know, for I never spoke with her, whether she had not often regretted having gone so far with the matter that she and her husband were in such grave danger., Elemas interpretation of the sources differs from Jagers comparatively colorful recounting. 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. The last judicial duel in France hinged on whether a woman could be believed. Readers in the US are encouraged to contactRAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673. In particular, Marguerite testified that she saw both men in the light of day, that Louvel specifically mentioned Le Gris by name before the latter appeared shortly afterward, and that she spoke with both men at some length before they attacked her. 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. Dust off your 14th-century French history books, folks. Marguerite, who married Carrouges in 1381, was the only daughter of Robert de Thibouville, who had once committed an act of high treason Jacques Le Gris Le Gris is most famous for being. Death: Immediate Family: Daughter of Robert De Thibouville. But the doubts greeting Marguerites scandalous story, the initial rejection of her claims in court, and the shadow cast over her reputation by the later chronicle accounts are not so different from the skepticism and prejudice faced by more recent victims of sexual assault. Jager counts the film as at least 75 percent historically accurate, maybe more, noting that while evidence may not exist for specific moments, there is a general record that supports the re-creation. So in his deluded sense of pride, Le Gris could believe it was consensual. After the sexual assault, Le Gris told Marguerite, Lady, if you tell anyone what has happened here, you will be dishonored. Marguerite de Carrouges (ne de Thibouville; 1362, Chteau de Fontaine-la-Soret (Eure) c. 1419) was a French noblewoman. Marguerites fate is unknown, though later historians convinced of the falsity of her claims suggested she retired to a convent out of shame. Marguerite de Carrouges, descended from an old and wealthy Norman family, had claimed that in January of that year she had been attacked and raped at her mother-in-laws chteau by a squire (the rank below knighthood) named Jacques Le Gris, aided by one of his closest companions, one Adam Louvel. Marguerite testified repeatedly under oath that on a certain day in January 1386Thursday the eighteenthshe was attacked by the two men, Le Gris and Louvel. Marguerite de Thibouville (a very different character from Comer's Villanelle in Killing Eve) was the only daughter of Robert de Thibouville, a wealthy Norman lord viewed as a traitor for siding against the French king in territorial disputes with England. Women of that status, on these feudal estates, were in charge of a lot of things, especially when their husbands were away at war or on important business. A feature film based on The Last Duel is scheduled to be released in 2021. While it adheres closely to Jagers book, with the script using actual lines and passages from his writing, the filmmakers did make some alterations in order to better shine a light on the concepts of consent and perspective. By the early nineteenth century, the notion that it all had been a case of mistaken identity was firmly established, as typified in an 1824 retelling by Norman historian and politician Louis Du Bois, who explains the supposed miscarriage of justice by speculating that the actual rapist was a squire who doubtless bore some resemblance to the unfortunate Le Gris.. For Carrouges and Le Gris, whose dispute had sparked widespread interest across France, settling the case would have been viewed as either an admission of guilt or [a] false accusation, says Elema. From the mechanics of trial by combat to the prosecution of sexual violence in medieval society, heres what you need to know about the true history behind The Last Duel ahead of the films October 15 debut. A new film from Ridley Scott dramatizes the 1386 trial by combat of a medieval man accused of a horrific crime. Despite the claims of naysayers and novelizers, Marguerites testimony suggests that she was almost certainly not mistaken about the identity of her attackers. French law stipulated that noblemen appealing their cause to the king could challenge the accused to a judicial duel, or trial by combat. Now, the story of the 1386 trial by combat is the subject of a blockbuster film of the same name. There is a brief coda that reveals Marguerite outlived her husband and never remarried. And some, invoking the most popular theory, acknowledge the rape but say that Marguerite mistakenly accused the wrong man, an honest but tragic error that robbed Le Gris of his life, fortune, and good name. But that was from research as well. From a practical perspective, pulling back on the brutality of the moment was also essential for simply getting the audience to sit through the scene. And even if the assailant, as Pintoin claims, had actually (and contra the actual testimony) made his visit late in the day, its wholly unlikely that Marguerite, who must have been very familiar with her husbands complaints against the squire, would have offered a meal and overnight lodging to her husbands rival (or to a man she mistook for the same), especially during her husbands absence. According to testimony later provided by Carrouges and Marguerite, she heard a knock on the door and opened it to find Louvel. 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. This question, posed to Marguerite de Carrouges . For me, why would a woman speak out and say this when her life was at risk? the actress says. He saw the marriage as a chance to get the better of Le Gris as well, for Le Gris had been gifted by Pierre a parcel of land previously owned by Marguerite's father. Digital image courtesy of theGettys Open Content Program. The pair of men tied Marguerite down and physically beat her. I gave her the opportunity to go get a low-cut dress in the style of the queen, which she was later shamed for wearing. It was a patriarchal and deeply misogynist [time]. In the book, Le Gris does say he was in love with her, Holofcener says. But conceptions of rape varied widely, with some commentators arguing that women enjoyed being taken by force and others accusing survivors of falsely accusing men in order to trick them into marriage. Initially, Carrouges brought Marguerites case to Count Pierre. At this point Le Gris himself suddenly entered the chteaus hall (aulam, probably referring to the main chamber or great hall where guests were typically received). One identifies the supposed felon as a condemned man about to be executed, the other as a sick man on his deathbed. Instead, Elema explains, authorities overseeing trials typically imposed a settlement after the fighters had exchanged a few blows. According to Pintoin, Marguerite and her assailant dined together before the attack, and it was while showing him to his room for the night that he assaulted her. 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. Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history. A Judicial Duel, byLieven van Lathem, 1464. Her father had sided against the king twice, and though to many she would seem unmarriageable, for de Carrouges who desperately needed land, wealth and an heir she was a good match. The earlier, more detailed account of the supposed confession, in Pintoins chronicle, not only differs from the other but also diverges sharply from Marguerites official testimony before the Parlement in ways that make its scenario clearly impossible. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Image via 20th Century Studios. Le Gris attorney, the highly respected Jean Le Coq, kept notes in Latin that still survive, allowing us a glimpse into attorney-client discussions. Fatality. And clearly it wasnt.. The combat was decreed on December 29, 1386 in Paris.[3]. Per historian Kathryn Gravdal, a register of crimes recorded in four French hamlets between 1314 and 1399 lists just 12 rape or attempted rape cases, as only virgins or high-status rape victimslike Margueriteactually had their day in court., Those who did report their rapes found the odds really stacked against them, with the onus on the survivor to make a big judicial issue of it as quickly as possible, says historian Hannah Skoda, author of the 2012 book Medieval Violence. Ultimately, that [would have been] a movie about a courtroom evidence drama, Affleck explains. At the time, it was believed a woman could not conceive if she didn't enjoy sex, and therefore her pregnancy was counted against her it couldn't be rape if she was pregnant, because she must have enjoyed it. Marguerite also testified that Adam Louvel was the first to arrive at the chteau, and that he began his visit by urging her to ask her husband to extend the term of an outstanding loan for one hundred gold francs. October 15, 2021 7:00 AM EDT. Furthermore, neither report has ever been independently corroborated, although the existence of two such reports, despite their differing details, may have allowed each to vouch for the other in the minds of those eager to believe them. And for him to have to invoke that at the moment of his death and to protest his innocence [is interesting]. They leave, with the crowds cheering for de Carrouges. More. Beyond the court the dispute was being spoken of as far as the most distant parts of the kingdom, according to the chronicler Jean Froissart. The fly in this ointment is another aspect of Marguerites testimony that has not been given due attentionnamely, the inclusion of Adam Louvel in the criminal charges. Marguerites claim that Louvel mentioned Le Gris by name is especially telling, for it is hard to fit this detail into a plausible scenario in which she is genuinely mistaken, as many have claimed she was, about the identity of her assailants, particularly Le Gris. The entire royal court was gossiping about the rape, the trial, and the likelihood of a duel. Born in 1388, two years after the fatal duel, Juvnal, a bishop, wrote at an even greater remove in time and may have been influenced by Pintoins account. ( 20 th Century Studios ) At the time, the French were engaged in a bitter conflict with the English. Lady, on your evidence I am about to hazard my life in combat with Jacques Le Gris, Carrouges said to Marguerite in the moments leading up to the duel. A large and powerful man, Le Gris was well educated and very wealthy, though from an only recently ennobled family. It's long and gory and ends with de Carrouges stabbing Le Gris through the mouth (in real life, it was the throat), proving Marguerite to have been telling the truth. And then I was judged and shammed by my country. 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.. Seemingly resolving their differences, the men greeted each other and embraced, with Carrouges telling Marguerite to kiss Le Gris as a sign of renewed peace and friendship, according to Jager. He had a witness. Marguerite de Thibouville, only daughter of the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. Even a small mistake, such as misstating the day the attack happened, could result in the case being thrown out and the victim being punished for perjury. Its a moment that underscores the timely nature of the films message: that we cannot be blind to the perspectives of others. Are we seeing how others experience things?. 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. Froissart says simply that Carrouges felled his opponent and, thrusting his sword into his body, killed him on the spot.. 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 . We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Le Coq seems to have had some doubts about his clients truthfulness, while admitting that this was the thorniest of he said, she said cases. What it doesn't detail is that while Marguerite gave birth to a healthy boy, the queen's son was sickly and died not long after he was born. When would she choose to speak out in this way? We dont have transcripts or historical records that say that on a given day [Marguerite] was doing this or something of that nature, but thats completely consistent with what such women did, the author confirms. Marguerites husband, Sir Jean de Carrouges, a reputedly jealous and violent manwhose once close friendship with Le Gris had soured in recent years amid court rivalry and a protracted dispute over landwas traveling at the time of the alleged crime. Even the characters haircuts which have been the butt of some online jokes match up with what we know about the period, according to Jager. She has nothing to gain. 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.. Like, I couldnt have gotten there. There is this paradox of the human experience where oftentimes different people come away from the same situation with different impressions of that. Le Gris was the counts favorite and his administrative right hand. Popular historical fiction abetted the theory of mistaken identity, exploiting its shock effect. It was the equivalent of a kind of forensics case., Damon adds, It was the case about one very evil man doing something everybody recognized was evil. But when he returned a few days later and heard his wifes story, he angrily brought charges against Le Gris in the court of Count Pierre of Alenon, overlord to both men. Known as the judgment of God, these ordeals were thought to have a divinely ordained outcome, with the loser proving his guilt by the very act of defeat. 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. (Rapists sometimes escaped punishment by marrying their victims.) Far from echoing these Enlightenment-era assessments of Marguerites misguided intentions, the film adaptation of The Last Duel presents the noblewoman as its protagonist, the truth teller [whose account is] so much more resonant, strong and evident than her male counterparts, as Affleck tells GMA News. While the films version, which only involves Le Gris, is brutal to watch, the reality was far rougher, leaving Marguerite with tangible marks of the crime. They still spoke out, and they still fought against the grain.. You are risking my life, so you can fight your enemy and save your pride. There [wasnt] going to be a settlement without one of them losing their reputation., After hearing both parties testimony, the Parlement of Paris agreed to authorize a duelFrances first trial by combat for a rape case in more than 30 years. This biography of a French peer or noble is a stub. (Writing for History News Network, Jager explains that the ferocious logic of the duel implied that proof was already latent in the bodies of the two combatants, and that the duels divinely assured outcome would reveal which man had sworn falsely and which had told the truth.) Marguerite, as chief witness in the case, will be executed if her husband loses the duel, thereby proving both of their guilt. Gross! You know whether my cause is just and true. She replied, My Lord, it is so, and you can fight with confidence, for the cause is just. And so Le Gris trial by combat began. And thats ultimately why this version of the movie is more interesting to us than a movie where you prove Well, based on the evidence, he did it, and either youre a monstrous villain or youre wrongfully accused.. As might be expected, the deadly trial by combat before the huge crowd of spectators unfolds with genuine drama and suspense. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. In court, he also claimed to have seen Marguerite only twice in his entire life: during the Parlements official inquiry, and also not less than two years earlier at a social gathering at the home of a mutual friend, Jean Crespin, where Carrouges and Le Gris apparently put aside their recent quarrels and Carrouges ordered his wife to kiss Le Gris as a sign of renewed friendship. The lawsuit reflected very poorly on Carrouges at the court in Argentan and resulted in his further estrangement from Count Pierre's circle. The movie ends with Marguerite playing with her son, seemingly at peace with her life. Eventually, you have the two men on the ground, fighting with hand weapons rather than lances.. And two suspects are harder to convict than one, unless they can be turned against each other. Yet Adam Louvel reportedly confessed to nothing, not even under torture. de Carrouges, whose wife and son died of an unknown illness, eventually marries Marguerite, a wealthy but reputationally damaged young woman. Holofcener adhered to historical fact in terms of how Marguerite spoke, what she did and how she behaved, but the rest is a dramatization. It was just the bare minimum description of who she was. Le Gris, a large and powerful man with a reputation as a womanizer, is too self-centered to acknowledge the unwanted nature of his advances and too self-assured to believe that, once the deed is done, Marguerite will follow through on her threat of seeking justice. If her husband lost she would be found guilty of perjury. [Jager] does a pretty meticulous description of it, but its a decidedly uncinematic duel, Damon notes. Forced into an upstairs bedroom, she tried to escape by running through a door at the other end of the room but was blocked from doing so by Le Gris. Wife of Sir Jean De Carrouges IV, Chevalier d'Honneur. Say nothing, and I will keep quiet, too. In response, Marguerite said, I will keep quiet. Does he truly believe his innocence at the end? Affleck reflects of Le Gris. The mortal combat, set for December 29, promised to be the seasons highlight in the capital, as thousands of Parisians flocked to see it, and the young king and his court took their places in colorful viewing stands set up alongside the field at the monastery of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. Some have suggested that her husband forced the story out of her to avenge himself on Le Gris, his former friend turned rival at court. The pair enjoyed a close friendship that soured when the count showered lavish gifts of land and money on Le Gris, fomenting Carrouges jealousy. Pierre favours de Carrouges' friend Le Gris, and the friendship between the men begins to deteriorate. In Marguerite's version, which the movie frames as 'the truth' (rather than the truth according to whomever) her protests are loud and clear as she screams for help. This happened, she said, in the morning hours at the modest chteau of her widowed mother-in-law, Nicole de Carrouges, on a remote Normandy estate known as Capomesnil, about twelve miles southwest of Lisieux. Marguerite remained silent of her ordeal for several days, until her husband's return on the 21 or 22 January. de Carrouges knows that even the King is biased against him, and decides to ask for a trial by duel, in which God decides the outcome by letting the liar die. 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. 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. 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. The event marked the first meeting between Carrouges wifedescribed by a contemporary chronicler as beautiful, good, sensible and modestand Le Gris. 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.
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