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. The origins of The Last Duel begin in January 1368, when Marguerite de Carrouges claimed she was raped by Jacques Le Gris, a squire. It is one thing to slander, another to accuse. A new film from Ridley Scott dramatizes the 1386 trial by combat of a medieval man accused of a horrific crime. As Jager explains, With a motive, revenge against the knight, and a means, the seduction of his wife, all [Le Gris] needed now was an opportunity.. 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. All who loved him were in a great fright, adds the chronicler in what is the narrative equivalent of a cinematic reaction shot. The story of the duel inspired Ridley Scott's 2021 film The Last Duel based on the 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager in which she was played by Jodie Comer. ), Whether Carrouges and Le Gris actually ended their quarrel at this point is debatable. Gangsters in a patrol wagon, New York, c. 1935. 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. 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. 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. 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. They leave, with the crowds cheering for de Carrouges. Character description. Which we talked about, but it just became so absurd., Affleck adds, It hinged on the weight on the armor and the fact that once you fell, you couldnt get up and you were like a trapped lobster. Managed by: Boaz Pijp. 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. 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. By now the case had become a cause clbre. Le 29 dcembre 1 386 se droula un duel d'honneur entre deux seigneurs normands", "Who is Marguerite de Carrouges? By the union of Marguerite . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Really embracing the kind of freedom that gave her. ( 20 th Century Studios ) At the time, the French were engaged in a bitter conflict with the English. 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. 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 had no one who could confirm her story: her husband Jean de Carrogues (played by Matt Damon) had set out on a journey to Paris to collect some desperately needed funds and the. 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 . Marguerite de Carrouges : No. 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. I would call that historically accurate, even though we dont have direct testimony that Marguerite did this or that at the time.. When Jean came back from Paris, he decided to take revenge on Jacques. 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. Directed by Ridley Scott, the movie stars Matt Damon as Carrouges, Adam Driver as Le Gris and Jodie Comer as Carrouges' second wife, Marguerite. (Le Gris and Carrouges both started out as squires and vassals to Count Pierre, but Carrouges was knighted for his military service in 1385.) 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). We knew who this woman was generally by the way she spoke out in the time in which she was living in.. He also had a reputation as a seduceror worse. Her husband is abusive what would be the consequences of this? But this was not included in the film. We gave Ridley, This is what took place. Because it was such a famous event, there was a record. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 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. One ground for skepticism about these two reportsapart from their priestly sources, notoriously suspicious of womenis that each tells a substantially different story. Cookie Settings, The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat, Historical European Martial Arts and Sports Community. Thibouville was a Norman lord who had twice sided against the French king in territorial conflicts, betrayals he was lucky to survive, albeit in reduced circumstances. 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. 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. Le Gris said nothing. 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. 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. 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. 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. Le Gris was the counts favorite and his administrative right hand. Halloween Kills, the latest entry in the blockbuster horror franchise, and period drama The Last Duel face different fates in theaters this weekend. From a practical perspective, pulling back on the brutality of the moment was also essential for simply getting the audience to sit through the scene. The penalty for bearing false witness is that you are to be burned alive, an official tells Marguerite in the movies trailer. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The Last Duel is now available to watch in cinemas. Initially, Carrouges brought Marguerites case to Count Pierre. As per the rules of the duel, whoever loses the battle would be proven guilty of his crimes. 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. [3] The two men seized her by the arms and legs, she testified, and dragged her up a nearby stairway, while she struggled and shouted for help. 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. Meilan Solly Later encyclopedia entries echoed this view, seemingly solidifying the question of Le Gris innocence. Marguerite de Carrouges : My father told me my life would be blessed with good fortune. She has everything to lose. 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. More. And yet there can only be one truth. The third and final section, written by Holofcener, is told from Marguerites point of view. The combat was decreed on December 29, 1386 in Paris.[3]. So the mistaken-identity theory has in its favor Marguerites relative unfamiliarity with Le Gris physical appearance at the time of the alleged rape in January 1386, over a year after Marguerite had first met and seen Le Gris at Crespins. Directed by Ridley Scott, the movie stars Matt Damon as Carrouges, Adam Driver as Le Gris and Jodie Comer as Carrouges second wife, Marguerite. Ultimately, that [would have been] a movie about a courtroom evidence drama, Affleck explains. I thought I was going to suffocate, and soon I couldnt fight them anymore. Carrouges, without whom his wife could not even bring a case, resolutely rode off to Paris to appeal for justice to the king. The nonfiction work catalogs the events leading up to Frances last government-sanctioned trial by combat, held between Jean de Carrouges and his former friend, Jacques Le Gris. Thats the research we did and the legend of the story he thought he was in love with her and did not rape her. Barred from bringing a case against Le Gris herself, Marguerite had to rely entirely on her husband to mount legal action. Marguerite was born as Marguerite De Thibouville in Normandy in the year 1362. Matt Damon as Jean de Carrouges IV in The Last Duel. Although now losing blood, Carrouges mounted a daring counterattack and fought on so stoutly that he managed to throw his opponent to the ground. Does he truly believe his innocence at the end? Affleck reflects of Le Gris. 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. More, On the use and misuse of civility. Skoda and Elema argue that Marguerites case exemplifies the complexity of medieval society, which is often painted in broad, reductive strokes. Or did Carrouges according to one account grab him by the helmet and throw him down? She has to relive it over and over againand she gets it right.. She probably had strangle marks. 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. 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. 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. Privacy Statement [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). 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. Welcoming the Official (detail), by Leonid Solomatkin, 1867. 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.. 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 one includes the ladys penitential retreat to a convent, while the other omits this finale. 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. But if Marguerites husband and champion lost, thus proving her accusation to be false, she too would be put to death. Medieval law treated rape as a horrific crime on par with other capital offenses. 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.