Rather than this idea of somebody, through the lens of their own experience and acculturation, not understanding their behavior. But whats so amazing about Nicole and what Nicole has brought to the piece is this sense of imagination. . Since Le Gris had briefly served as a church cleric in his youth, he could choose whether he wanted a state trial or church hearing. They leave, with the crowds cheering for de Carrouges. Instead, Elema explains, authorities overseeing trials typically imposed a settlement after the fighters had exchanged a few blows. The film does show that at the same time as Marguerite was pregnant, so was the queen. When Marguerite accuses Le Gris of rape, Jean de Carrouges challenges him to a trial by combat. 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. 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. Spoiler alert: The following story includes details from the historical account behind the new film The Last Duel and narrative twists specific to the film. 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. 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. However, by the time Marguerite's side plays out, there is no question about what happened. 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. The Last Duel ending explained - how close is it to the true story of Marguerite de Carrouges? Jean Le Coq, Le Gris lawyer, stated in his private notebook that Carrouges suffered the first wound, writing that Le Gris attacked his adversary very cruelly. This statement is also supported by Jean Froissart, a member of Count Pierre dAlenons court, and an unnamed monk who wrote Chronicle of the Monk of Saint-Denis. Like, I couldnt have gotten there. According to Marguerite, Le Gris (played in the film by Adam Driver) traveled to her familys chateau in Capomesnil where she was staying on January 18, 1386 and raped her. The True Story Of 'The Last Duel': Historians Still Debate Marguerite 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. There is a brief coda that reveals Marguerite outlived her husband and never remarried. 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. According to Jager, the court may have feared taking sides and arousing even more controversy, deciding instead to grant the knights request, authorize a duel and leave the whole perplexing matter in the hands of God., Five contemporary or near-contemporary chronicles offer accounts of what happened when Le Gris and Carrouges met on December 29, 1386. The True Story Behind the Last Duel | by Nick Howard | The History At the time, Jager explains, trial by combat was believed to be the judgment of God, traditionally looked to heaven to assure a just and fair verdict.. According to Marguerites testimony, Le Gris and Adam Louvel, a squire in the royal court, conspired together to assault her. That meant that Holofcener had to create Marguerites world and inner life from scratch. 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. The Woman in Black | Lapham's Quarterly Marguerite de Carrouges - Wikipedia When would she choose to speak out in this way? Enlightenment thinkers in the 18th century adopted this revision of Le Gris character to advance their own intellectual agendas. Popular historical fiction abetted the theory of mistaken identity, exploiting its shock effect. Famiglietti claimed that Carrouges, after learning that Marguerite had been raped, resolved to turn the rape to his advantage and forced his wife to agree to accuse Jacques of having been the man who raped her. In this view, Marguerite accused the wrong man not in honest error but in knowing collusion (or fearful compliance) with her husband. Given the counts strong relationship with Le Gris and combative past with Carrouges, he was quick to dismiss the claim, even arguing that Marguerite must have dreamed it. Undeterred, Carrouges raised an appeal with the king. 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. In 1384, Carrouges and Margueriteencountered Le Gris at a mutual friends party. It was really trying to understand those types of dynamics and her place within the home and in society.. 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. 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. Mittwoch, 18:30 - 21:00 Uhr und Sonntag, 18:15 - 21:15 Uhr. Die Tanzsportkompetenz im Landkreis Passau If youd rather experience the film first, please save this to read after watching. One identifies the supposed felon as a condemned man about to be executed, the other as a sick man on his deathbed. Schools educate you, and religious services deliver sermons, and movies at their best can generate empathy and generate compassion, says Affleck. Oh, and The characters we'll be discussing are Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver). In short, yes. The duel took place on December 29, 1386, and was presided over by French king Charles VI. Despite the ladys many oaths, and those of the squire, he confided to his journal, No one really knew the truth of the matter.. 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. The Real History Behind Ridley Scott's 'The Last Duel' | History In his alibi, Le Gris himself cited the narrow window of time available for his alleged visit, strictly during daylight hours. de Carrouges, whose wife and son died of an unknown illness, eventually marries Marguerite, a wealthy but reputationally damaged young woman. Like today, sexual assault and rape often went unpunished and even unreported in the Middle Ages. After The Last Duel's real-life story, Marguerite went on to have two more children and settled in Normandy and Paris, enjoying the celebrity status that she and her . 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. In his book Tales of the Marriage Bed from Medieval France, R.C. Although now losing blood, Carrouges mounted a daring counterattack and fought on so stoutly that he managed to throw his opponent to the ground. | READ MORE. But if Marguerites husband and champion lost, thus proving her accusation to be false, she too would be put to death. In 1386, her husband Jean returned from an expedition to Scotland. Advertising Notice Magazines, Digital At the bottom of the social ladder were warriors, priests and laborers, who had limited rights and political influence. At the heart of The Last Duel lies a historical mystery, still not definitively solved over 600 years later: was the noblewoman Marguerite de Carrouges raped by the squire Jacques Le Gris? The trial by combat would decide whether she had told the truthand thus whether she would live or die. 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 Ridley, This is what took place. Because it was such a famous event, there was a record. Cookie Policy 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. 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. I think the film makes the right choice [in portraying her story]., Comer agrees. Shortly before Jean departed for Paris, he and Le Gris confronted one another in the court of Count Pierre dAlenon (played by Ben Affleck); Le Gris learned around this time that Jean would be leaving Marguerite alone. Jean was an influential man in lower Normandy, being a vassal of the Count of Perche and a veteran soldier in his service. (Le Gris and Carrouges both started out as squires and vassals to Count Pierre, but Carrouges was knighted for his military service in 1385.) Jean de Carrouges and the last French duel Jean strode over to his proud, weeping wife, bowed and clasped her to him as the crowd roared its approval. De Carrouges sued Pierre for the land and lost, which only put him further on the outs with the count. 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. Marguerite de Carrouges was a real woman who lived in 14th century France. 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. For some, Jacques Le Gris became a martyr, a man sentenced to a brutal death by a backwards and superstitious legal system which demonized him. He had been rewarded for his long military service in the Hundred Years' War . 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. 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 films shifting viewpoints underscore the thorny nature of truth in Marguerites case, which divided observers both at the time and in the centuries since. Jean de Carrouges - Wikipedia 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). According to court documents and testimony, Le Gris accomplice, Adam Louvel (Adam Nagaitis), participated in the rape. From the start, Le Gris had an advantage in the trial. Marguerite's 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. The film adaptation traces the trios relationship from its auspicious beginnings to its bloody end. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Smithsonian, Los Angeles Review of Books and Comment. And her court testimony is reduced to nothing more than her husbands scriptas Famiglietti calls itfor destroying his hated rival. 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. Le Gris stock rose in the court, and he received special treatment and gifts from Count Pierre, including the lavish Arnou-le-Faucon estate, which had once been owned by Marguerites father. She was married to Jean de Carrouges (son of Jean de Carrouges and Nicolette Bouchard) about 1380. But that doesnt mean that women were silenced. 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. 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. They pinned me down and stuffed a capucium [a hood] over my mouth to silence me. Just in what they were wearing. If the film missteps, it is because it does not allow Comer, and consequently Marguerites narrative, more screen time. Of course, the movie is about much more than just the duel, as is the true story so here's what went down. Read more: 15 Unsung Moments From American History That Historians Say You Should Know About. 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.. 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. 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 beyond the mystery itself is the surprising way that Marguerites story was transformed and all but erased in the centuries after the events of the film, reinterpreted to serve intellectual agendas with little consideration for the life at the center of the tale. The movie presents two versions of the rape in Le Gris' version her protests have an edge of teasing to them, and hark back to a previous scene in which he chased a woman around the table before having consensual sex (sort of, given the power dynamic at play and the complete lack of agency women have in their world). Say nothing, and I will keep quiet, too. Marguerite appeared to agree, but after Le Gris tossed her a small leather bag of coins, she replied: I dont want your money! Behind the Enlightenments exoneration of Le Gris were its arguments against the use of torture in judicial proceedings. A bit of a crash courseon medieval France: At the top of society was the king, advised by his high council, the Parlement of Paris. What does she have to gain from that? 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. What happened to Marguerite de Carrouges after the duel? 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. 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. Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. Following Robert dAlenons death, the Counts brother, Pierre, took over the court. I will have justice!. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. 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. That resonates. Marguerite replied that she had no wish to speak with Le Gris, and that Louvel should stop his overtures at once. Marguerite (Thibouville) de Thibouville (abt. 1360 - abt. 1424) - WikiTree 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. Insight and analysis from renowned writers and thinkers. Le Gris was killed in the fight and therefore found guilty; nevertheless, he was afterwards found innocent by the culprit of the crime, who declared Le Gris innocent as he laid dying. More, The interrogation of Nikolay Bukharin.More. When de Carrouges returns home he demands sex, but Marguerite refuses and tells him about the rape, fuelling de Carrouges' anger against his friend. They were right Le Gris decried Marguerites accusations as false and inflammatory, and Count Pierre took his side, clearing him of the charges. She was formerly known by her maiden name as Marguerite de Thibouville. After months of futile investigation by the French courts, including Marguerites powerful testimony and a counter-witness by Le Gris, the courts had no other choice but to let the duel proceed, allowing God to decide the victor. Though its unanimously agreed that Carrouges was victorious over Le Gris in the duel, there are various accounts to what took place on Dec. 29, 1386. After Marguerites rape, Carrouges petitions the French court to try Le Gris through judicial combat. [4], Marguerite de Carrouges accused Jacques Le Gris of rape,[5][6] leading to one of the last judicial duels permitted by the French king and the Parliament of Paris (the actual last duel occurred in 1547[7] opposing Guy Chabot de Jarnac against Franois de Vivonne). According to Jager, Le Gris took an immediate liking to Marguerite when Carrouges introduced her to the court in 1384. 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. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? . (At this point, the two men were in their late 50s, which places Damon at close to the right age for his role but Driver a good generation off the mark. Within a few decades, period chroniclers disagreed about the duels details and disputed Le Gris guilt. After the fatal duel, the truth comes out: Sometime later, a criminal on the point of atoning for his other crimes confessed that he was guilty of the odious act of which Le Gris had been accused. ), Whether Carrouges and Le Gris actually ended their quarrel at this point is debatable. 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. 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 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. Le Gris and Carrouges were once very close. His scholarly work focuses on the intellectual history of virtue in Renaissance Naples. A Note to our Readers According to testimony later provided by Carrouges and Marguerite, she heard a knock on the door and opened it to find Louvel. That was at the root of everything. 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. The Last Duel (Spoilers for Duel Outcome) To say that this event was a spectacle would be selling it short. She married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. Or did Carrouges according to one account grab him by the helmet and throw him down? Carrouges III had been rewarded for his long military service in . 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. But the overwhelming likelihood is that she was telling the truth. [2][3], Shortly after his marriage, Carrouges revealed another motive for the union. Le Gris raped me., Le Gris countered with a detailed alibi for not just the day in question but the entire week, calling numerous witnesses to establish his whereabouts in or near another town some twenty-five miles away. He doesnt even recognize it. And for him to have to invoke that at the moment of his death and to protest his innocence [is interesting]. She was the only daughter of Jeanne de Bois Hroult and the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, a Norman lord who had twice sided against the French king in territorial conflicts. As Jean Le Coq, Le Gris lawyer, wrote in his private diary, No one really knew the truth of the matter.. When Carrouges returned home three or four days after Marguerites rape, he found his wife sad and tearful, always unhappy in expression and demeanor, and not at all her usual self. She waited until the two were alone before revealing what had happened and urging her husband to seek vengeance against Le Gris. It was a patriarchal and deeply misogynist [time]. Two separate alibis are harder to disprove than one. 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. Over the next few years, Le Gris climbed further up the ranks, and was eventually initiated into King Charles VIs royal court. 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. Thats the research we did and the legend of the story he thought he was in love with her and did not rape her. Froissart says simply that Carrouges felled his opponent and, thrusting his sword into his body, killed him on the spot.. 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. 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. 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 everything to lose. All who loved him were in a great fright, adds the chronicler in what is the narrative equivalent of a cinematic reaction shot. By unequivocally believing Marguerite, the screenwriters offer that same sense of empathy to all women who follow her. Get the latest History stories in your inbox? 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. Despite how much Marguerite de Carrouges tale resonates today, we must keep in mind L.P. Hartleys words: the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.. Jager writes that following the assault, Le Gris was reported to have told Marguerite that if she were to tell anyone what has happened here, you will be dishonored. By the time the criminal trial was underway in the summer of that year, Marguerite was noticeably pregnant. Charges against Le Gris were brought to Count Pierres court some weeks after the attack, but as the accused was a favorite of the Count, Carrouges and Marguerite were certain that they wouldnt be given a fair trial, and refused to attend the hearing. Matt Damon as Jean de Carrouges and Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges in "The Last Duel." . Image via 20th Century Studios. The Last Duel stars Jodie Comer, Matt Damon and Adam Driver as three people who changed the course of French history. As she tried to admonish the squire, Le Gris appeared, having snuck in after Louvel entered. Carrouges died roughly a decade after the duel, falling in combat against the Ottoman Turks. Carrouges was born in the late 1330s in the village of Saint-Marguerite-de-Carrouges as the eldest son of knight and minor noble Sir Jean de Carrouges III and his wife Nicole de Buchard. When her husband, Sir Jean de Carrouges, heard of the crime, he . It finished when de Carrouges pulled back the visor of le Gris and fatally stabbed him. Marguerite was the daughter of Robert de Thibouville. Eric Jagers 2004 book, The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France, is a case of truth being stranger than fiction. Marguerite de Carrouges (ne de Thibouville; 1362, Chteau de Fontaine-la-Soret (Eure) - c. 1419) was a French. Soon after, de Carrouges went on a campaign to Scotland and though it was a military failure, he distinguished himself with his courage. Holofcener penned Marguerites section, and, given how little historical information there was from the Ladys side of the story, she drew from contemporary conversations about sexual assault and womens rights to imagine her perspective. Still, the theory cannot plausibly account for Louvels having named Le Gris while in conversation with Marguerite. For me, why would a woman speak out and say this when her life was at risk? the actress says. Meanwhile, Le Gris continued to rise in Pierre's esteem. However, Le Gris insisted on his right to testify before Parliament, leaving the door open for Carrouges to request a duel. Does he truly believe his innocence at the end? Affleck reflects of Le Gris. Jean and Marguerite de Carrouges can continue to be a family. The Last Duel hair: Why the movie made Matt Damon look so awful. Though the real duel was between Le Gris and Jean, the film portrays the true conflict as Marguerite de Carrouges versus the political mores of her day, as she struggles to convince those around her, from the Church to her family to the French king to the common peasant, that what she says is true.

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