Insight and analysis from renowned writers and thinkers. "Do you swear on your life that what you say is true?". Still, the theory cannot plausibly account for Louvels having named Le Gris while in conversation with Marguerite. 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. He had a witness. A hush fell over the crowd, as they came to the solemn realization that a man had just died before their eyes. That was at the root of everything. Theres a certain arrogance rooted in that assumption. By now the case had become a cause clbre. [4] The case dragged on for some months until ultimately Count Pierre was forced to visit his cousin King Charles VI to officially confirm his ownership of the land and his right to give it to whomever of the followers he chose. Medieval law treated rape as a horrific crime on par with other capital offenses. In the book, Le Gris does say he was in love with her, Holofcener says. According to court documents and testimony, Le Gris accomplice, Adam Louvel (Adam Nagaitis), participated in the rape. Her father had sided against the king twice, and. Holofcener adhered to historical fact in terms of how Marguerite spoke, what she did and how she behaved, but the rest is a dramatization. Really embracing the kind of freedom that gave her. 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.. It was just the bare minimum description of who she was. 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. According. In 1384, Carrouges and Margueriteencountered Le Gris at a mutual friends party. Barred from bringing a case against Le Gris herself, Marguerite had to rely entirely on her husband to mount legal action. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. De Carrouges sued Pierre for the land and lost, which only put him further on the outs with the count. 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. 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. The Real History Behind Ridley Scott's 'The Last Duel' | History So there was just no doubt for me that this woman was telling the truth. 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. The pair enjoyed a close friendship that soured when the count showered lavish gifts of land and money on Le Gris, fomenting Carrouges jealousy. Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf - Wikipedia 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. 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. A century and more after the philosophes had popularized the theory, it solidified as hard fact in authoritative encyclopedias. 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. I gave her a friend, who ultimately betrays her. 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. If there are reasons for believing in the possibility of Le Gris innocence, the doubtful story of a belated confession by another man certainly is not and never has been one of them. Rape Crisis Scotlands helpline number is 08088 01 03 02. And not just any death. We wanted to examine that. 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. Now, the story of the 1386 trial by combat is the subject of a blockbuster film of the same name. (Jager offered feedback on the films script, suggesting historically accurate phrasing and other changes.) 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. And in fact it was a code, a manner of behavior that denied womens basic humanity.. 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. 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. HIP/Art Resource, NY. Advertising Notice 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 True Story of 'The Last Duel' - Carrouges-Le Gris 1386 Duel 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. 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. Image via 20th Century Studios. On December 29, 1386, before a crowd presided over by French king Charles VI, Carrouges and Le Gris eyed each other warily. Eventually, you have the two men on the ground, fighting with hand weapons rather than lances.. 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. 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. Marguerite de Carrouges : My father told me my life would be blessed with good fortune. The Woman in Black | Lapham's Quarterly I'm married. The knights victory saved both him and his wife, earning the formerly notorious couple wealth and prestige. Louvel then,. Of course, the movie is about much more than just the duel, as is the true story so here's what went down. She was born to nobleman Robert De Thibouville, who was notorious for siding AGAINST France in territorial. So in his deluded sense of pride, Le Gris could believe it was consensual. 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". 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.. She continued shouting for help, she says, until silenced by Le Gris hood. 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. The accused was Jacques Le Gris, who was said to have raped Jean de Carrouges's wife, Marguerite . 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. I want justice! 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. When her husband, Sir Jean de Carrouges, heard of the crime, he . 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. 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 moral was plain: Le Gris rose in the world and then suddenly fell, he dominated but finally was vanquished, he committed a crime in secret and was publicly exposed. Welcoming the Official (detail), by Leonid Solomatkin, 1867. Yet Adam Louvel reportedly confessed to nothing, not even under torture. 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. Are we seeing how others experience things?. 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. So it wasnt so much about hewing fastidiously to historical truth, because that wouldnt have served the narrative needs we were as interested in, as much as illuminating the fact that the vestiges of the sexism and misogyny of the patriarchy we live with now come from a place that was Western civilizations codified value system.. She has to relive it over and over againand she gets it right.. If the case is not proven, then [the woman] doesnt just get to walk away, says Skoda. Carrouges immediately began a lawsuit to recover the land-based on an assumed prior claim to it. 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. After Marguerites rape, Carrouges petitions the French court to try Le Gris through judicial combat. Readers in the US are encouraged to contactRAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673. Marguerite's story: the true tale behind The Last Duel 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. But then, just moments after Carrouges has killed Le Gris on the battlefield, a dusty courier rides up with the astounding news that another man has confessed to the crimenews that is now too late to save the innocent Le Gris. 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. Halloween Kills, the latest entry in the blockbuster horror franchise, and period drama The Last Duel face different fates in theaters this weekend. Marguerite said no. The film adaptation traces the trios relationship from its auspicious beginnings to its bloody end. 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. The True Story Behind the Last Duel | by Nick Howard - Medium By the union of Marguerite . The theory of mistaken identity ultimately derives from two sources that began circulating more than a decade after the duel. According to Jager, Le Gris took an immediate liking to Marguerite when Carrouges introduced her to the court in 1384. These details are wholly at odds with Marguerites court testimony about her assailants daytime visit, whose timing (if not its specific allegations) was corroborated by her mother-in-laws departure that morning and her return a few hours later that same day. Directed by Ridley Scott, the movie stars Matt Damon as Carrouges, Adam Driver as Le Gris and Jodie Comer as Carrouges second wife, Marguerite. But that doesnt mean that women were silenced. Two separate alibis are harder to disprove than one. Only in the final section of the film, when Marguerite is allowed to speak for herself, does the truth of the mens personalities emerge: Carrougesa jealous and contentious man, in Jagers wordsis mainly concerned with saving his own pride.