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. French law stipulated that noblemen appealing their cause to the king could challenge the accused to a judicial duel, or trial by combat. Still, the theory cannot plausibly account for Louvels having named Le Gris while in conversation with Marguerite. 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. Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. Over the next several months, famous lawyers were hired, witnesses were summoned, and testimony was gathered. And two suspects are harder to convict than one, unless they can be turned against each other. Ultimately, that [would have been] a movie about a courtroom evidence drama, Affleck explains. When Marguerite adamantly refused his offer, saying she had no wish for his money, the violence escalated. The burden of proof lay almost entirely on victims, who had to prove theyd resisted the rapists advances while recounting their testimony in precise detail. The film adaptation traces the trios relationship from its auspicious beginnings to its bloody end. 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. If Carrouges won the duel, the couple would go free, their claims vindicated. As might be expected, the deadly trial by combat before the huge crowd of spectators unfolds with genuine drama and suspense. Le Gris window arrived on January 18, when Marguerite happened to be left alone with just one maidservant. More, On the use and misuse of civility. And not just any death. He likewise claims that Marguerite had been deceived about her attackers identity, although the supposed truth comes out under rather different circumstances: Later it was discovered that [Le Gris] had not really done it, but that it had been done by another, who died of illness in his bed and, at the moment of death, confessed before others that he had done the deed.. Rape Crisis Scotlands helpline number is 08088 01 03 02. There were three chroniclers who gave detailed accounts of the sword phase of the fight, and they have slightly different accounts of how Carrouges managed to get Le Gris on the ground, Jager says. Her father had sided against the king twice, and. Le Gris attorney, the highly respected Jean Le Coq, kept notes in Latin that still survive, allowing us a glimpse into attorney-client discussions. 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. One ground for skepticism about these two reportsapart from their priestly sources, notoriously suspicious of womenis that each tells a substantially different story. He challenged Jacques to a duel to the death in the king's court. Are we seeing how others experience things?. For me, why would a woman speak out and say this when her life was at risk? the actress says. We knew who this woman was generally by the way she spoke out in the time in which she was living in.. But other than that, I made up a lot. We gave Ridley, This is what took place. Because it was such a famous event, there was a record. These events have gotten a cinematic depiction in Ridleys Scotts new medieval epic, The Last Duel, written by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener and now playing in theaters nationwide. Adam Driver was 38 when he played Jacques le Gris, who was 56 at the time of his death. The latter explanation is the very one that Le Gris put forward in his own defense, and it has been echoed by at least one modern historian as recently as 1992. Its a moment that underscores the timely nature of the films message: that we cannot be blind to the perspectives of others. Saturday October 16 2021, 12.01am BST, The Times R idley Scott's spectacular new film begins with a Norman noblewoman, Marguerite de Carrouges, being robed in black, fettered to a scaffold in. The origins of The Last Duel begin in January 1368, when Marguerite de Carrouges claimed she was raped by Jacques Le Gris, a squire. The nonfiction work catalogs the events leading up to Frances last government-sanctioned trial by combat, held between Jean de Carrouges and his former friend, Jacques Le Gris. In January 1386 while Jean de Carrouges was away traveling, Marguerite claimed she . The synopsis of the film lays out the basis for what would be the final (official) duel in French history, but as with most 'based on a true story' stories, there are always gaps between reality and fiction. We begin with Jean de Carrouges, who after successful war campaigns for the king of France, finds himself falling out of favour with Count Pierre (Ben Affleck). In the film, it is revealed mid-trial that if de Carrouges loses at the hand of Le Gris, Marguerite will also be killed by being stripped naked, put in an iron collar and set on fire. After the sexual assault, Le Gris told Marguerite, Lady, if you tell anyone what has happened here, you will be dishonored. 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. Which, to us, was more interesting and, to us, ultimately made it more about an examination of an entire system that was assaulting this woman from the moment she was born.. I will have justice!. What was in the film was the pair's reconciliation, which took place in 1384 in which Le Gris and de Carrouges agreed to put the past behind them, and de Carrouges introduced Le Gris to his wife Marguerite. I'm married. By unequivocally believing Marguerite, the screenwriters offer that same sense of empathy to all women who follow her. 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Jordan Michael B. Handsome at Walk of Fame ceremony, Review: Natural beauty and a touching ecological tale center the female-forward Blueback. In the six centuries after the quarrel ended, however, the moral that was to be derived from it changed considerably. A Judicial Duel, byLieven van Lathem, 1464. And thats one of the things we didnt focus as much on: They truly believed God would make happen whatever was the fair thing to happen, so it would be Gods will. As noted in the 1850s by the Norman historian Alfred de Caix, one of the few to credit her story, Marguerites testimony is impressively circumstantial and detailed. Certain details in her account raise serious problems for the mistaken-identity theory. If the mistaken-identity theory is wrong, that forces us back onto the sharp horns of a dilemma: Was Marguerite lying, or was she telling the truth? A similar report with a significant difference of detail appears in Jean Juvnal des Ursins Histoire de Charles VI, written no earlier than the 1420s and perhaps closer to 1430. Carrouges views himself as a chivalrous knight defending his wifes honor, while Le Gris casts himself as the Lancelot to Marguerites Guinevere, rescuing her from an unhappy marriage. Some argued that shed falsely accused Le Gris, either mistaking him for someone else or acting on the orders of her vindictive husband. He had a witness. But Marguerite certainly made an impression on Le Gris, who likely still held a grudge against his litigious former friend: After running into the newly knighted Carrouges in January 1386, Le Gris sent a fellow courtier, Adam Louvel, to keep an eye on Marguerite, whod been left behind with her mother-in-law while Carrouges traveled to Paris. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The majority of medieval rape victims lacked the means to seek justice. Being caught beneath a horse would mean certain death. Louvels naming of Le Gris just prior to the squires own arrival would seem to put Le Gris indisputably thereunless Marguerites story was a deliberate fabrication. Marguerite, who found herself pregnant soon after the attack, largely left this fact out of her account, either due to uncertainty over the childs paternityhe may have been conceived before Carrouges left for Parisor an awareness that making this claim would weaken her testimony in the eyes of the court. Of course, as was likely true in real life as well, no one in the film seemed to care about Marguerite's fate; after all, a crime of rape against a wife was considered a crime against the husband, and a property crime at that since women were mere objects to be possessed. Birthdate: estimated between 1321 and 1381. 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. While some touched by scandal may resurrect their lives and reputations, others never will: what happened, or is said to have happened, may follow them even through the pages of history. 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.. 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. A large and powerful man, Le Gris was well educated and very wealthy, though from an only recently ennobled family. The story of the duel inspired Ridley Scott's 2021 film The Last Duel based on the 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager in which she was played by Jodie Comer. To prove her claim true, Matt Damon's Jean challenges Le Gris to trial by combat. Jager chronicled how the former friends relationship devolvedand the woman and rape allegation at the center of the conflictin the 2004 nonfiction book The Last Duel. 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.. With the understanding that your truth may not be somebody elses truth. The Parlement ultimately failed to reach a verdict, and in September it officially ordered a trial by combat, wherein theoryGod would assure a just outcome. 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. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. De Carrouges sued Pierre for the land and lost, which only put him further on the outs with the count. It is one thing to slander, another to accuse. The duel took place on December 29, 1386, and was presided over by French king Charles VI. He strucks a belly of Le Gris's horse with his axe. Readers in the US are encouraged to contactRAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673. Image via 20th Century Studios. Thibouville was a Norman lord who had twice sided against the French king in territorial conflicts, betrayals he was lucky to survive, albeit in reduced circumstances. The film is based on the true story of the last legally permitted duel (hence the title) fought in France. He doesnt even recognize it. 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.