marguerite de carrouges cause of death marguerite de carrouges cause of death

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. But if Marguerites story is true and Le Gris was guilty as charged, why did the squire increase his risk of being found out by bringing an accomplice in the first place? Managed by: Boaz Pijp. A feature film based on The Last Duel is scheduled to be released in 2021. 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 his youth, Jean served in the retinue of . The third and final section, written by Holofcener, is told from Marguerites point of view. Le Gris, a large and powerful man with a reputation as a womanizer, is too self-centered to acknowledge the unwanted nature of his advances and too self-assured to believe that, once the deed is done, Marguerite will follow through on her threat of seeking justice. (Le Gris and Carrouges both started out as squires and vassals to Count Pierre, but Carrouges was knighted for his military service in 1385.) 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. 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. Your Privacy Rights 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. Carrouges immediately began a lawsuit to recover the land-based on an assumed prior claim to it. 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. 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 film adaptation traces the trios relationship from its auspicious beginnings to its bloody end. 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. The entire royal court was gossiping about the rape, the trial, and the likelihood of a duel. 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. Mother of Robert De Carrouges. 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. 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. Charles I de Lorraine, duc d'Elbeuf (Joinville, 18 October 1556 - Moulins, 4 August 1605) was a French noble, military commander and governor during the French Wars of Religion.The son of the most minor cadet house of the children of Claude, Duke of Guise, Elbeuf initially lacked the prominence of his cousins, however his succession to the Rieux inheritance made him important. The last judicial duel in France hinged on whether a woman could be believed. Seemingly resolving their differences, the men greeted each other and embraced, with Carrouges telling Marguerite to kiss Le Gris as a sign of renewed peace and friendship, according to Jager. 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. But this was not included in the film. They pinned me down and stuffed a capucium [a hood] over my mouth to silence me. People tend to think of the Middle Ages being less sophisticated than they actually are, but theres this this huge, fascinating legal tradition thats the origin of pretty much all of Western legal tradition, Elema says. 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. 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. 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. 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. Warning, The Last Duel spoilers follow. Marguerite de Thibouville (a very different character from Comer's Villanelle in Killing Eve) was the only daughter of Robert de Thibouville, a wealthy Norman lord viewed as a traitor for siding against the French king in territorial disputes with England. For Affleck and Damon, The Last Duel was an opportunity to not only depict a compelling historical event but to reflect on how traces of that system of patriarchy linger today. The greatest departure from Jagers book comes during the rape itself. She has everything to lose. They took the idea of damnation seriously. 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. DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK. For me, why would a woman speak out and say this when her life was at risk? the actress says. She refuses his advances, after which he rapes her. Part One of this article examined the famous judicial duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris, which was held in Paris in 1386. 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. 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. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. As might be expected, the deadly trial by combat before the huge crowd of spectators unfolds with genuine drama and suspense. 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. This question, posed to Marguerite de Carrouges . 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. I came in after Matt and Ben decided to do it this way, but they wanted to make it a little more gray. Rather than this idea of somebody, through the lens of their own experience and acculturation, not understanding their behavior. Later encyclopedia entries echoed this view, seemingly solidifying the question of Le Gris innocence. In real life, as in the film, de Carrouges has to first ask Count Pierre for a trial, which is obviously biased in favour of Le Gris. 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. 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 . On December 29, 1386, before a crowd presided over by French king Charles VI, Carrouges and Le Gris eyed each other warily. 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.. 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. 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. 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. And two suspects are harder to convict than one, unless they can be turned against each other. 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. What sets this version apart, besides its unusual length, is how quickly the judicial error on the battlefield is revealed by the sudden arrival of the truth. Rather than a belated discovery taking many yearsas in the chroniclesits just a matter of minutes from Le Gris death to the proof of his innocence. After the sexual assault, Le Gris told Marguerite, Lady, if you tell anyone what has happened here, you will be dishonored. Halloween Kills, the latest entry in the blockbuster horror franchise, and period drama The Last Duel face different fates in theaters this weekend. Part Two will use the medieval sources to reconstruct what really happened in the combat, using . More, On the use and misuse of civility. Unable to rise due to the weight of his body armor, Le Gris resisted Carrouges calls to confess, declaring, In the name of God, and on the peril and damnation of my soul, I am innocent of the crime. Enraged, Carrouges delivered the death blow, perhaps by stabbing Le Gris exposed neck or thighs. Dust off your 14th-century French history books, folks. 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. In reality, instead of mourning, the King held a series of banquets and parties that culminated in the duel between Le Gris and de Carrouges. Of the judicial duels that actually took place, few ended in death. Character description. 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.. Many skepticsincluding chroniclers, historians, partisans, and even historical novelistshave cast doubt on the official verdict. In Marguerite's version, which the movie frames as 'the truth' (rather than the truth according to whomever) her protests are loud and clear as she screams for help. Meilan Solly We knew who this woman was generally by the way she spoke out in the time in which she was living in.. de Carrouges, whose wife and son died of an unknown illness, eventually marries Marguerite, a wealthy but reputationally damaged young woman. The pair of men tied Marguerite down and physically beat her. Two aspiring knights stood side by side, one welcoming his first son and heir, the other acting as his godfathervirtually a family member, according to historian Eric Jager. Did Le Gris stumble? | So in his deluded sense of pride, Le Gris could believe it was consensual. A century and more after the philosophes had popularized the theory, it solidified as hard fact in authoritative encyclopedias. 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. 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. Marguerite de Carrouges : My father told me my life would be blessed with good fortune. 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. She probably had strangle marks. In the six centuries after the quarrel ended, however, the moral that was to be derived from it changed considerably. Just in what they were wearing. Her story is detailed and persuasive, and she ran such a great risk to speak up at a time when women were supposed to keep silent about such things. 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. Her father had sided against the king twice, and. By the union of Marguerite . 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. That resonates. 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. Flawless Victory. 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. Are we seeing how others experience things?. This biography of a French peer or noble is a stub. A 1306 royal decree based on ancient precedent allowed the duel as a last resort for nobles involved in capital casese.g., murder, treason, and rapebut by now judicial duels were extremely rare. According to Jager, Le Gris took an immediate liking to Marguerite when Carrouges introduced her to the court in 1384. He challenged Jacques to a duel to the death in the king's court. 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. 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. 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. I want justice! The theory of mistaken identity ultimately derives from two sources that began circulating more than a decade after the duel. Being caught beneath a horse would mean certain death. 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? It is incumbent on us to be good people, to overcome that and to see more broadly and with empathy, Affleck says. Directed by Ridley Scott, the movie stars Matt Damon as Carrouges, Adam Driver as Le Gris and Jodie Comer as Carrouges second wife, Marguerite. Privacy Statement I think the film makes the right choice [in portraying her story]., Comer agrees. 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. If youd rather experience the film first, please save this to read after watching. He also had a reputation as a seduceror worse. 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. The story is told three times, once from each character's point of view, so some events are repeated while others are only told once as the story is so close to the events of history as they were recorded, we'll only specify when those two things diverge (which they don't often do, except in the imaginings Scott and the actors create for the characters' internal lives). ), Whether Carrouges and Le Gris actually ended their quarrel at this point is debatable. Her father had sided against the king twice, and though to many she would seem unmarriageable, for de Carrouges who desperately needed land, wealth and an heir she was a good match. But if Marguerites husband and champion lost, thus proving her accusation to be false, she too would be put to death. (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. 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. When Jean came back from Paris, he decided to take revenge on Jacques. Her husband is abusive what would be the consequences of this? And some, invoking the most popular theory, acknowledge the rape but say that Marguerite mistakenly accused the wrong man, an honest but tragic error that robbed Le Gris of his life, fortune, and good name. According to court documents and testimony, Le Gris accomplice, Adam Louvel (Adam Nagaitis), participated in the rape. Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history. Marguerites fate is unknown, though later historians convinced of the falsity of her claims suggested she retired to a convent out of shame. No one really knew the truth of the matter. In short, yes. It was really trying to understand those types of dynamics and her place within the home and in society.. Readers in the US are encouraged to contactRAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673. 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. When he leaves he says she should tell no one, especially her husband because he might kill her if he finds out. 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. As it turns out, the description of the event in Eric Jager's book The Last Duel is rather different from the five surviving medieval accounts of the fight. Despite the claims of naysayers and novelizers, Marguerites testimony suggests that she was almost certainly not mistaken about the identity of her attackers. 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. 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. The film is based on the true story of the last legally permitted duel (hence the title) fought in France. . There is a brief coda that reveals Marguerite outlived her husband and never remarried. 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. Like, I couldnt have gotten there. 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. And in fact it was a code, a manner of behavior that denied womens basic humanity.. De Carrouges sued Pierre for the land and lost, which only put him further on the outs with the count. Is history repeating itself? In the book, Le Gris does say he was in love with her, Holofcener says. The combat was decreed on December 29, 1386 in Paris. Far from echoing these Enlightenment-era assessments of Marguerites misguided intentions, the film adaptation of The Last Duel presents the noblewoman as its protagonist, the truth teller [whose account is] so much more resonant, strong and evident than her male counterparts, as Affleck tells GMA News. We would have looked like two tin cans. She has to relive it over and over againand she gets it right.. Really embracing the kind of freedom that gave her. 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. 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. After dismounting, Carrouges and Le Gris fought on foot with swords, both very valiantly. But Le Gris managed to get within Carrouges defenses and wound him in the thigh. Two separate alibis are harder to disprove than one. Pierre favours de Carrouges' friend Le Gris, and the friendship between the men begins to deteriorate. 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. 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. 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. The contest between Carrouges and Le Gris would turn out to be the last judicial duel sanctioned by the Parlement of Paris. That meant that Holofcener had to create Marguerites world and inner life from scratch. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 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. Barred from bringing a case against Le Gris herself, Marguerite had to rely entirely on her husband to mount legal action. 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. But other than that, I made up a lot. They were very religious. So there was just no doubt for me that this woman was telling the truth. 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. 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. There is still a trial, though, and just as in reality, Marguerite is now pregnant. The origins of The Last Duel begin in January 1368, when Marguerite de Carrouges claimed she was raped by Jacques Le Gris, a squire. As Damon tells the New York Times, this segment is kind of an original screenplay because that world of women had to be almost invented and imagined out of whole cloth., The gripping true story of the duel to end all duels in medieval France as a resolute knight defends his wifes honor against the man she accuses of a heinous crime. Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer star in Ridley Scotts return to historical epic form, written by Damon, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener. The film shows Le Gris stripped and hanged by the ankle in the town square. I would call that historically accurate, even though we dont have direct testimony that Marguerite did this or that at the time.. 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. Cookie Settings, The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat, Historical European Martial Arts and Sports Community. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. While this should have added weight to Marguerite's claim, it did not. Ultimately, Carrouges victory was a result of Le Gris being literally unable to get up. Marguerite de Thibouville, only daughter of the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. Of course, the movie is about much more than just the duel, as is the true story so here's what went down. 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. Diderots Encyclopdie and Voltaires Histoire du Parlement de Paris used the 1386 affair to denounce the supposed ignorance and cruelty of the Middle Ages.