Scott rightly ends The Last Duel on a triumphant note. Even in Le Gris' version, though, Marguerite's attempts to get away seem less flirtatious and more earnest. 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. 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. 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. Marguerite de Thibouville, only daughter of the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. I would call that historically accurate, even though we dont have direct testimony that Marguerite did this or that at the time.. Digital image courtesy of theGettys Open Content Program. The last judicial duel in France hinged on whether a woman could be believed. 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. Are we seeing how others experience things?. The lawsuit reflected very poorly on Carrouges at the court in Argentan and resulted in his further estrangement from Count Pierre's circle. 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. In his own defense, Le Gris claimed that Nicole had found nothing amiss upon her return and didnt believe her daughter-in-laws later allegations. Does he truly believe his innocence at the end? Affleck reflects of Le Gris. Despite the threat of public humiliation and potentially deadly outcome of disclosing ones rape, women like Marguerite spoke out, perhaps as a way of working through their trauma or simply refusing to passively accept [what had] happened to them, says Skoda. Le 29 dcembre 1 386 se droula un duel d'honneur entre deux seigneurs normands", "Who is Marguerite de Carrouges? While this should have added weight to Marguerite's claim, it did not. 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An elaborate example appeared in 1829, just a few years after Du Bois conjecture that the accused squire had been mistaken for a look-alike, in Lhistorial du jongleur, an anonymous collection of medieval tales. 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. 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. The final chapter of the film, told from Marguerites perspective, refers to itself as the truth. But while that section of the story by necessity contains the most dramatization, Jager says he does support the filmmakers conclusion. 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. It was a patriarchal and deeply misogynist [time]. Just in what they were wearing. He also had a reputation as a seduceror worse. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. By taking away the witness and some challenging details, like Le Gris stuffing his hat into Marguerites mouth, the filmmakers were able to more fully explore the notion that Le Gris believed his actions were just. When her husband, Sir Jean de Carrouges, heard of the crime, he . In the six centuries after the quarrel ended, however, the moral that was to be derived from it changed considerably. 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. What does she have to gain from that? 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. 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. From an absolute philosophical point of view, nobody but Jacques Le Gris and Marguerite and those who were in the room know the truth, Jager says. 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. 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. Schools educate you, and religious services deliver sermons, and movies at their best can generate empathy and generate compassion, says Affleck. Despite the claims of naysayers and novelizers, Marguerites testimony suggests that she was almost certainly not mistaken about the identity of her attackers. In the book, Le Gris does say he was in love with her, Holofcener says. If youd rather experience the film first, please save this to read after watching. Nearly everyone believed then and believes now that Marguerite was raped. ), the duel began as a joust on horseback, with lances. Cases had to meet four requirements, including exhausting all other legal remedies and confirming that the crime had actually occurred. (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. Fatality. Her father had sided against the king twice, and. Now, the story of the 1386 trial by combat is the subject of a blockbuster film of the same name. Carrouges immediately began a lawsuit to recover the land-based on an assumed prior claim to it. According to Jager, Le Gris took an immediate liking to Marguerite when Carrouges introduced her to the court in 1384. Meilan Solly If the case is not proven, then [the woman] doesnt just get to walk away, says Skoda. When Marguerite adamantly refused his offer, saying she had no wish for his money, the violence escalated. 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. Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. Like, I couldnt have gotten there. I dont want your money! Marguerite replied. Marguerite de Carrouges accused Le Gris of rape in 1386. 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. 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. 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.. 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. Scott and the films stunt coordinator used the outline of the actual combat to create something slightly more exciting for the screen. The theory of mistaken identity ultimately derives from two sources that began circulating more than a decade after the duel. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Last Duel starts on the day of the duel, but before it shares the results of Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris' fight, the movie shares the three perspectives at the center of why the . Duels of honor, as well as judicial duels authorized by other governing bodies, continued to take place centuries after Carrouges triumph. 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. That resonates. We gathered from research that she was really capable and educated, Holofcener says. Even Le Gris believed she was victimized - just not by him. No institution could long survive so open a confutation, and it was annulled by the Parlement.. 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. 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. He strucks a belly of Le Gris's horse with his axe. 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. [Jager] does a pretty meticulous description of it, but its a decidedly uncinematic duel, Damon notes. 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. 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. The forty-page story Le jugement de Dieu begins with throngs of excited, gossiping Parisians arriving at Saint-Martins field to watch the long-awaited duel. Being caught beneath a horse would mean certain death. 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. Carrouges died roughly a decade after the duel, falling in combat against the Ottoman Turks. 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. Marguerites story must have seemed at least plausible to the magistrates who ordered the duel, something the Parlement had not done for over thirty years in a rape case. 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. By unequivocally believing Marguerite, the screenwriters offer that same sense of empathy to all women who follow her. 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. Historical scandals, much like the contemporary ones filling our tabloids, news sites, and now-ubiquitous Facebook feeds, are built on a widely shared sense of certainty about what really happeneda feeling that often belies the elusive truth. But that doesnt mean that women were silenced. 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. 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. I know that was the same for everyone who was coming toward this project.. Not understanding the effect they were having on someone else. 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. Marguerite was born as Marguerite De Thibouville in Normandy in the year 1362. I gave her a friend, who ultimately betrays her. Though the film portrays Jacques le Gris as guilty of raping Marguerite de Carrouges, this was never definitively proven and the facts of the case remain a topic of heated debate to this day. While this had no material bearing on the plot, it's an interesting detail given that in the film the queen was often panned to as the sole person to sympathise, however quietly, with Marguerite. According to Eric Jager's book The Last Duel, the alleged rape of Jean de Carrouges' wife Marguerite happened on January 18, 1386. 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. It was just the bare minimum description of who she was. To prove her claim true, Matt Damon's Jean challenges Le Gris to trial by combat. Initially, Carrouges brought Marguerites case to Count Pierre. Of course, the movie is about much more than just the duel, as is the true story so here's what went down. The event marked the first meeting between Carrouges wifedescribed by a contemporary chronicler as beautiful, good, sensible and modestand Le Gris. 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. I fought him so desperately, she claimed, that he shouted to Louvel to come back and help him. But this was not included in the film. The dominant belief that women had to enjoy sex in order to conceive further complicated matters, leaving those impregnated by their rapists on even shakier legal ground. French law stipulated that noblemen appealing their cause to the king could challenge the accused to a judicial duel, or trial by combat. 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. A large and powerful man, Le Gris was well educated and very wealthy, though from an only recently ennobled family. And yet he raped her so brutally in history, in the truth, so badly there would be no doubt. The movie does follow the true story rather closely, and with a runtime of two and a half hours, we'd hope so. I came in after Matt and Ben decided to do it this way, but they wanted to make it a little more gray. Or did Carrouges according to one account grab him by the helmet and throw him down? The majority of medieval rape victims lacked the means to seek justice. Privacy Statement Eric Jager is a professor of English at UCLA and the author of four books, including The Last Duel and Blood Royal.