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October 15, 2021 7:00 AM EDT. I would have had to have taken this many horses, and I didnt have time to get back. It would have become about whether or not it could have been him, or it must have been somebody else. Image via 20th Century Studios. When would she choose to speak out in this way? In Jagers book, the detailed description of the duel between Le Gris and Carrouges, held on Dec. 29, 1386, was drawn from several sources. ), Whether Carrouges and Le Gris actually ended their quarrel at this point is debatable. The duel took place on December 29, 1386, and was presided over by French king Charles VI. The actor continues, Its an anti-chivalry movie in some sense because the great illusion of chivalry is that it was about [protecting] the innocent female. 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. With the duel concluded, Froissart continues, Jacques Le Gris body was delivered to the executioner of Paris, who dragged it to Montfaucon and hung it there. For months afterward, at the great stone gibbet on the infamous hilltop outside the citys northern gates, this grisly sight greeted any townsman or traveler passing by. 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. 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.. 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. 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. Marguerite de Carrouges : My father told me my life would be blessed with good fortune. 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. The movie follows the claim by Marguerite de Carrouges (Comer) that she is raped by her husband Jean's friend and squire Jacques Le Gris (Driver). The two combatants sat their horses very prettily, writes Froissart, for both were skilled in arms. Does he truly believe his innocence at the end? Affleck reflects of Le Gris. Theres a certain arrogance rooted in that assumption. Your Privacy Rights 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. She has nothing to gain. 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 origins of The Last Duel begin in January 1368, when Marguerite de Carrouges claimed she was raped by Jacques Le Gris, a squire. We gave Ridley, This is what took place. Because it was such a famous event, there was a record. Did Le Gris stumble? Her father had sided against the king twice, and. 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. Or did Carrouges according to one account grab him by the helmet and throw him down? 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. Froissart portrays Marguerite, who had recently given birth to a son, praying to the Virgin as she anxiously awaits her fate. This cruel error moved the Parlement to systematically reject all appeals for the duelThis was the end of judicial combat., A similar story is retailed by the famed eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (191011), which likewise gives the erroneous date of 1385 and has the rapist attacking the lady by night, although here in the guise of her husband as she awaits his return from the Crusadesan implausible bed trick recalling the story of Martin Guerre. This biography of a French peer or noble is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. No one really knew the truth of the matter. The events leading to the duel were described at great length in Jean Froissart's Chronicles (a prose history of the Hundred Years' War written in the 14th century by Jean Froissart) though director Ridley Scott's screenplay was adapted from Eric Jager's The Last Duel book. Skoda adds, Its all too tempting to talk about the Middle Ages as this horrible, misogynist, patriarchal, oppressive society, as a way of even implicitly just saying, Look how far weve come. Whereas to complicate what things looked like in the 14th century complicates what were doing now.. On December 29, 1386, before a crowd presided over by French king Charles VI, Carrouges and Le Gris eyed each other warily. We knew who this woman was generally by the way she spoke out in the time in which she was living in.. A seasoned warrior with more fighting experience than Le Gris, Carrouges quickly rebounded from his injury, gaining the upper hand and pushing his opponent to the ground. By now the case had become a cause clbre. That resonates. The entire royal court was gossiping about the rape, the trial, and the likelihood of a duel. This man who has done something horrible and doesnt understand it. If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information from Rape Crisis England and Wales, who work towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct, on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. 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. I would call that historically accurate, even though we dont have direct testimony that Marguerite did this or that at the time.. They were very religious. Jean de Carrouges was born in Saint-Marguerite-de-Carrouges, Normandy, France in 1330, a vassal of the . I fought him so desperately, she claimed, that he shouted to Louvel to come back and help him. Nicole, in whose care Jean had left his wife, was also absent for part of the day in question, having been called away on legal business to the nearby abbey town of Saint-Pierre. Gross! Terms of Use You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The last judicial duel in France hinged on whether a woman could be believed. Eric Jager is a professor of English at UCLA and the author of four books, including The Last Duel and Blood Royal. A hush fell over the crowd, as they came to the solemn realization that a man had just died before their eyes. Se trata del caballero Sir Jean. 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. 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. Marguerite was forced to watch from a wooden tower on the battlefield (also in view of the many spectators who came to watch) while chained to the floor, awaiting her potential death sentence. . Halloween Kills, the latest entry in the blockbuster horror franchise, and period drama The Last Duel face different fates in theaters this weekend. In an entry on duels, the Grand dictionnaire universel (186677), overseen by respected editor Pierre Larousse, describes the 1386 affair as one of the most remarkable in history, claiming that the wide belief in its injustice helped to bring the custom of trial by combat to a speedy end. In the film, however, Pierre is still dismissive of him and Le Gris is still the favourite, which only angered de Carrouges more after their so-called reconciliation. Things come to a head when de Carrouges goes to Paris and his mother in law takes most of (if not all) the servants from the house with her, leaving Marguerite alone. 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. Marguerite de Thibouville, only daughter of the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. January 18th, 1386, Marguerite was left alone at her home, and a man named Adam Louvel arrived claiming that Le Gris was outside and wanted to see her. If your husband hears of it, he may kill you. The trial by combat would decide whether she had told the truthand thus whether she would live or die. That was really sad. By the union of Marguerite and Carrouges, de Thibouville hoped to restore his family's status[1] while Carrouges was hoping for an heir from the young Marguerite, whom contemporaries described as "young, noble, wealthy, and also very beautiful". ), the duel began as a joust on horseback, with lances. Two separate alibis are harder to disprove than one. And yet he raped her so brutally in history, in the truth, so badly there would be no doubt. El ltimo duelo, la ltima pelcula de Ridley Scott, habla de muchas cosas, pero sobre todo de la vida de tres personas cuyo destino qued en manos del azar. Its strange that so many authorities seem to have been untroubled by the obvious factual errors in these reports, their mutual inconsistencies, or the lack of any corroborating evidence. Some argued that shed falsely accused Le Gris, either mistaking him for someone else or acting on the orders of her vindictive husband. Only Le Gris alibi survives in the court records, but if Louvel had separate witnesses who placed him elsewhere at the time of the crime, their testimony would have exonerated Le Gris as well, just as Le Gris alibi would have helped exonerate Louvel. The combat was decreed on December 29, 1386 in Paris.[3]. Scott and the films stunt coordinator used the outline of the actual combat to create something slightly more exciting for the screen. 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 . The movie ends with Marguerite playing with her son, seemingly at peace with her life. Much as Le Gris is said to have silenced Marguerite with his hood, a legion of clerics, historians, and partisans managed to muffle and stifle her story with vague rumors and inconsistent reports that have shrouded the matter almost to the present day. 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. 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. Despite the claims of naysayers and novelizers, Marguerites testimony suggests that she was almost certainly not mistaken about the identity of her attackers. 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. 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. Recognizing the courtier, who claimed to have come to ask a favor and warm himself by the fire, she allowed him to enter the house, at which point he turned the conversation to Le Gris, saying, The squire loves you passionately, he will do anything for you, and he greatly desires to speak to you. Alarmed by the sudden shift in tone, Marguerite attempted to rebuke Louvel, only to turn around and see Le Gris, whod snuck in through the unlocked door. If the case is not proven, then [the woman] doesnt just get to walk away, says Skoda. I'm married. 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. Carrouges, now in control, shouted one word at his enemy: Confess. Death: Immediate Family: Daughter of Robert De Thibouville. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 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. I know that was the same for everyone who was coming toward this project.. A Note to our Readers 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.. Part Two will use the medieval sources to reconstruct what really happened in the combat, using . Other accounts provide more technical detail, even suggesting that Le Gris slipped on his opponents blood. Her husband is abusive what would be the consequences of this? Say nothing, and I will keep quiet, too. In response, Marguerite said, I will keep quiet. Ultimately, Carrouges victory was a result of Le Gris being literally unable to get up. 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. Character description. 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. 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? She has to relive it over and over againand she gets it right.. Holofcener adhered to historical fact in terms of how Marguerite spoke, what she did and how she behaved, but the rest is a dramatization. (Jager offered feedback on the films script, suggesting historically accurate phrasing and other changes.) If youd rather experience the film first, please save this to read after watching. 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.. Born into a noble Norman family around the 1330s, Carrouges met Le Gris, a lower-born man who rose through the ranks by virtue of his own political savvy, while both were serving as vassals of Count Pierre. Directed by Ridley Scott, the movie stars Matt Damon as Carrouges, Adam Driver as Le Gris and Jodie Comer as Carrouges second wife, Marguerite. It was a patriarchal and deeply misogynist [time]. Pierre favours de Carrouges' friend Le Gris, and the friendship between the men begins to deteriorate. 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. After many preliminary ceremonies decreed by tradition (an arms inspection, a series of solemn oaths, the requisite dubbing of Le Gris as a knight to make the combatants equal in rank, etc. The fate that awaited Marguerite if her husbands attempts failedbeing burned at the stake for bearing false witnessrepresented an extreme example of the potential repercussions faced by accusers. 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 historical record tends to favor men, so not much is known about the real Marguerite beyond her familys legacy and her role leading up to the duel. 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. Or did he trip? By the time the criminal trial was underway in the summer of that year, Marguerite was noticeably pregnant. The J. PaulGettyMuseum, Los Angeles. Jean de Carrouges (1330-25 September 1396) was a French knight who was best known for his 1386 duel with Jacques Le Gris (who was accused of raping his wife Marguerite de Carrouges) in the last judicial duel permitted by the Parliament of Paris; he was later slain at the Battle of Nicopolis. The movie does follow the true story rather closely, and with a runtime of two and a half hours, we'd hope so. The greatest departure from Jagers book comes during the rape itself. Yet Adam Louvel reportedly confessed to nothing, not even under torture. 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. 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. At the time of the attack, Jean de Carrouges was away on a trip to Paris from which he would return a few days later. 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. The story goes that on January 18, 1386, Marguerite's mother-in-law, Dame Nicole de Carrouges, left the family chateau on business with most of the household servants. Readers in the US are encouraged to contactRAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673. Initially, Carrouges brought Marguerites case to Count Pierre. Its also significant that the Parlement of Paris found Marguerites story credible enough to vacate Count Pierres official exoneration of Le Gris and to authorize the rare judicial duel, whose official purpose, however doubtful the procedure may seem today, was to determine the truth in cases where witness testimony and other evidence was insufficient for reaching a verdict. Marguerite said no. Advertising Notice 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. Louvel then,. de Carrouges, whose wife and son died of an unknown illness, eventually marries Marguerite, a wealthy but reputationally damaged young woman. Welcoming the Official (detail), by Leonid Solomatkin, 1867. The Last Duel True Story: Marguerite de Carrouges' Accusation Jean de Carrouges' wife was a controversial figure as the daughter of Robert de Thibouville, a Norman lord who had notably sided against multiple French kings in territorial disputes. Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer star in Ridley Scotts return to historical epic form, written by Damon, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener. I think the film makes the right choice [in portraying her story]., Comer agrees. HIP/Art Resource, NY. Popular historical fiction abetted the theory of mistaken identity, exploiting its shock effect. Cases had to meet four requirements, including exhausting all other legal remedies and confirming that the crime had actually occurred. She adds, If theres any gap between the act and making people aware [of it], that raises huge questions.. 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. We wanted to examine that. (Spoilers ahead.). By unequivocally believing Marguerite, the screenwriters offer that same sense of empathy to all women who follow her. The Last Duel stars Jodie Comer, Matt Damon and Adam Driver as three people who changed the course of French history. Thats the research we did and the legend of the story he thought he was in love with her and did not rape her. de Carrouges, whose wife and son died of an unknown illness, eventually marries Marguerite, a wealthy but reputationally damaged young woman. Marguerites father, Robert de Thibouville, had once betrayed the king of France, and some may have wondered whether this traitors daughter was in fact telling the truth. 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. If her husband lost she would be found guilty of perjury. All who loved him were in a great fright, adds the chronicler in what is the narrative equivalent of a cinematic reaction shot. But not for as long as you need me to. Tossing a sack of coins at the young woman, Le Gris taunted her, claiming that his friends would give him an airtight alibi. She married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. 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. Given the absence of any witnesses in her own favor, Marguerites accusations against Louvel were a gratuitous and risky addition to her testimony if her story of the attack and rape was indeed a deliberate lie. Rather, it was the last judicial duel sanctioned by the Parlement of Parisa decision possibly motivated by the decidedly unchivalrous nature of the event. 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. 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. 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. Get our L.A. The article offers a garbled, error-strewn version where, in 1385, Le Gris was accused of attacking the lady by night, with his face masked, as she awaited her husbands return from the Holy Land. 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. Le Gris attorney, the highly respected Jean Le Coq, kept notes in Latin that still survive, allowing us a glimpse into attorney-client discussions. The valuable estate of Aunou-le-Faucon, given to his rival Jacques Le Gris two years earlier, had been formerly owned by Carrouges' father-in-law, Robert de Thibouville, and had been bought by Count Pierre II of Alenon for 8,000 French livres in 1377. In the six centuries after the quarrel ended, however, the moral that was to be derived from it changed considerably. 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. Meanwhile, Le Gris continued to rise in Pierre's esteem. I thought I was going to suffocate, and soon I couldnt fight them anymore. 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. Carrouges died roughly a decade after the duel, falling in combat against the Ottoman Turks. And yet there can only be one truth. Flawless Victory. 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. Of the judicial duels that actually took place, few ended in death. 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. She probably had strangle marks. "Do you swear on your life that what you say is true?". Dust off your 14th-century French history books, folks. Marguerite replied that she had no wish to speak with Le Gris, and that Louvel should stop his overtures at once. Centuries later the story of the innocent Le Gris falsely accused and forced to defend himself in a barbaric and unjust trial by combat was further popularized by Enlightenment thinkers. [3] Some have echoed Count Pierres dismissive decree, saying that Marguerite made it all up, perhaps to cover up an affair with another man. Schools educate you, and religious services deliver sermons, and movies at their best can generate empathy and generate compassion, says Affleck. The films version of the brutal fight is a more cinematic variation on what Jager reconstructed in his book, but its reasonably close to what may have transpired. The film is told in three chapters, from the perspectives of Carrouges (Damon), Le Gris (Adam Driver) and Marguerite (Jodie Comer). Marguerite de Carrouges accused Le Gris of rape in 1386. He had a witness. We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. 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. Duels of honor, as well as judicial duels authorized by other governing bodies, continued to take place centuries after Carrouges triumph. Carrouges, without whom his wife could not even bring a case, resolutely rode off to Paris to appeal for justice to the king. 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.. Adam Driver was 38 when he played Jacques le Gris, who was 56 at the time of his 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.. Lied, by Eugne Lomont, c. 1895. It states that Le Gris innocence was later recognized by all, for a man condemned to death by the law confessed to having committed the heinous crime. 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. The third and final section, written by Holofcener, is told from Marguerites point of view. To prove her claim true, Matt Damon's Jean challenges Le Gris to trial by combat. When youre doing scenes where you really want to fight back with Carrouges and tell him what it is you really think, you have to go, Hang on a minute, would she do this? Comer recalls. A feature film based on The Last Duel is scheduled to be released in 2021. Later encyclopedia entries echoed this view, seemingly solidifying the question of Le Gris innocence. 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).