Louvel then added a greeting from Jacques Le Gris, who he said greatly admired her and was eager to speak with her. (Writing for History News Network, Jager explains that the ferocious logic of the duel implied that proof was already latent in the bodies of the two combatants, and that the duels divinely assured outcome would reveal which man had sworn falsely and which had told the truth.) Marguerite, as chief witness in the case, will be executed if her husband loses the duel, thereby proving both of their guilt. Beneath him were three main ranks of nobility: barons, knights and squires. Marguerites fate is unknown, though later historians convinced of the falsity of her claims suggested she retired to a convent out of shame. More. And not just any death. Cookie Policy 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. 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. French law stipulated that noblemen appealing their cause to the king could challenge the accused to a judicial duel, or trial by combat. In the film, however, Pierre is still dismissive of him and Le Gris is still the favourite, which only angered de Carrouges more after their so-called reconciliation. Not understanding the effect they were having on someone else. 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. According to Jager, Le Gris took an immediate liking to Marguerite when Carrouges introduced her to the court in 1384. "Do you swear on your life that what you say is true?". The pair enjoyed a close friendship that soured when the count showered lavish gifts of land and money on Le Gris, fomenting Carrouges jealousy. 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. Marguerite is the most important and most heroic person in the story, make what happens to her after the duel . 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. Carrouges, now in control, shouted one word at his enemy: Confess. Despite the ladys many oaths, and those of the squire, he confided to his journal, No one really knew the truth of the matter.. A century and more after the philosophes had popularized the theory, it solidified as hard fact in authoritative encyclopedias. Theres a certain arrogance rooted in that assumption. According to Eric Jager's book The Last Duel, the alleged rape of Jean de Carrouges' wife Marguerite happened on January 18, 1386. 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. She has to relive it over and over againand she gets it right.. I fought him so desperately, she claimed, that he shouted to Louvel to come back and help him. The True Story Behind Ridley Scott's The Last Duel - Film School Rejects 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. Froissart portrays Marguerite, who had recently given birth to a son, praying to the Virgin as she anxiously awaits her fate. We knew who this woman was generally by the way she spoke out in the time in which she was living in.. I gave her a friend, who ultimately betrays her. After the sexual assault, Le Gris told Marguerite, Lady, if you tell anyone what has happened here, you will be dishonored. Marguerite de Carrouges : My father told me my life would be blessed with good fortune. He had a witness. 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 films shifting viewpoints underscore the thorny nature of truth in Marguerites case, which divided observers both at the time and in the centuries since. Just over a decade later, however, the two men,Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris, met on a field in Paris for a highly publicized duel to the death. In the winter of 1386, a French noblewoman by the name of Marguerite de Carrouges found herself at the centre of a criminal case that electrified Paris, captivated the king and culminated in blood being spilled before an enormous crowd in a field just outside the French capital. The film is based on the true story of the last legally permitted duel (hence the title) fought in France. Ben Affleck co-wrote the script with Damon and. 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. Because rape was viewed less as an act of sexual violence than a property crime against the victims husband or guardian, rapists often avoided harsh penalties by paying a fine to the man in question. According to testimony later provided by Carrouges and Marguerite, she heard a knock on the door and opened it to find Louvel. (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. In reality, the duel would have been decided by two main factors: the weight of the fighters armor and how quickly these relatively old men grew tired. 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. Its a moment that underscores the timely nature of the films message: that we cannot be blind to the perspectives of others. 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. 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). Meanwhile, Le Gris continued to rise in Pierre's esteem. 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. 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. The last judicial duel in France hinged on whether a woman could be believed. 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. The Last Duel stars Jodie Comer, Matt Damon and Adam Driver as three people who changed the course of French history. Sir Jean de Carrouges : I am risking my life for you! Marguerite de Thibouville, only daughter of the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. More, On the use and misuse of civility. 'The Last Duel' true story: What's fact and what's fiction? - Los 'The Last Duel' Ending, Explained - Was Marguerite Telling The Truth? No one really knew the truth of the matter. That meant that Holofcener had to create Marguerites world and inner life from scratch. People/Characters: Marguerite de Thibouville | LibraryThing And one includes the ladys penitential retreat to a convent, while the other omits this finale. 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. 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. Nearly everyone believed then and believes now that Marguerite was raped. Many skepticsincluding chroniclers, historians, partisans, and even historical novelistshave cast doubt on the official verdict. Still, The Last Duel does stick closely to historical fact. 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. 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. 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. 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. And in fact it was a code, a manner of behavior that denied womens basic humanity.. 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. 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. On the whole, however, the events follow history. 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. This tangled and still-controversial case leaves many tantalizing questions, not least of all why Jacques Le Gris did it, if indeed he did. Toward a history of creativity and beef. When he leaves he says she should tell no one, especially her husband because he might kill her if he finds out. The Last Duel: What Happened To Every Character In Real Life - ScreenRant Being caught beneath a horse would mean certain death. 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. The True Story Behind the Last Duel | by Nick Howard - Medium A feature film based on The Last Duel is scheduled to be released in 2021. 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. 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. She was born to nobleman Robert De Thibouville, who was notorious for siding AGAINST France in territorial. 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. 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. Her father had sided against the king twice, and. La violacin que provoc el juicio por combate ms meditico de la Edad If Carrouges won the duel, the couple would go free, their claims vindicated. 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. 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. And if the Parlement of Paris could not establish even the basic facts, theres little chance of our discovering hidden motives all of these centuries later. No institution could long survive so open a confutation, and it was annulled by the Parlement.. I would call that historically accurate, even though we dont have direct testimony that Marguerite did this or that at the time.. Get our L.A. 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. Le Gris quickly turned violent, forcing her upstairs and enlisting Louvel to help restrain her as she desperately fought back. 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. Le Gris said nothing. At this point Le Gris himself suddenly entered the chteaus hall (aulam, probably referring to the main chamber or great hall where guests were typically received). 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 entire royal court was gossiping about the rape, the trial, and the likelihood of a duel. The Last Duel (2021) - Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges - IMDb 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. The pair of men tied Marguerite down and physically beat her. The Last Duel true story | Real history behind Ridley Scott movie 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. The film adaptation traces the trios relationship from its auspicious beginnings to its bloody end. 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. Still, the theory cannot plausibly account for Louvels having named Le Gris while in conversation with Marguerite. 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. Meet the real woman who inspired The Last Duel", "L'histoire vraie de Jean de Carrouges et Jacques Legris, hros du film "Le dernier Duel" de Ridley Scott", "Vivonne et Jarnac, le dernier duel judiciaire en France", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marguerite_de_Carrouges&oldid=1117212348, This page was last edited on 20 October 2022, at 14:07. Ultimately, that [would have been] a movie about a courtroom evidence drama, Affleck explains. In the book, Le Gris does say he was in love with her, Holofcener says. 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. 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. ), the duel began as a joust on horseback, with lances. The penalty for bearing false witness is that you are to be burned alive, an official tells Marguerite in the movies trailer. Le Gris window arrived on January 18, when Marguerite happened to be left alone with just one maidservant. Are we seeing how others experience things?. Wife of Sir Jean De Carrouges IV, Chevalier d'Honneur. de Carrouges, whose wife and son died of an unknown illness, eventually marries Marguerite, a wealthy but reputationally damaged young woman. 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. 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 Last Duel, Part 2: Death by Sodomy | HROARR To prove her claim true, Matt Damon's Jean challenges Le Gris to trial by combat. And her court testimony is reduced to nothing more than her husbands scriptas Famiglietti calls itfor destroying his hated rival. This question, posed to Marguerite de Carrouges . Is history repeating itself? We would have looked like two tin cans. Pierre favours de Carrouges' friend Le Gris, and the friendship between the men begins to deteriorate. He challenged Jacques to a duel to the death in the king's court. Dust off your 14th-century French history books, folks. The J. PaulGettyMuseum, Los Angeles. | READ MORE. Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France, "L'affaire Marguerite de Carrouges, un procs qui a agit toute la France", "Un jour, une histoire. As might be expected, the deadly trial by combat before the huge crowd of spectators unfolds with genuine drama and suspense. 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. And thats ultimately why this version of the movie is more interesting to us than a movie where you prove Well, based on the evidence, he did it, and either youre a monstrous villain or youre wrongfully accused.. Image via 20th Century Studios. Of course, the movie is about much more than just the duel, as is the true story so here's what went down. In his book Tales of the Marriage Bed from Medieval France, R.C. 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. 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. Scott and the films stunt coordinator used the outline of the actual combat to create something slightly more exciting for the screen. By unequivocally believing Marguerite, the screenwriters offer that same sense of empathy to all women who follow her. By now the case had become a cause clbre. Two separate alibis are harder to disprove than one. Soon after, de Carrouges went on a campaign to Scotland and though it was a military failure, he distinguished himself with his courage. The film is told in three chapters, from the perspectives of Carrouges (Damon), Le Gris (Adam Driver) and Marguerite (Jodie Comer). The combat was decreed on December 29, 1386 in Paris. She has everything to lose. 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. In short, yes. A hush fell over the crowd, as they came to the solemn realization that a man had just died before their eyes. Centuries later the story of the innocent Le Gris falsely accused and forced to defend himself in a barbaric and unjust trial by combat was further popularized by Enlightenment thinkers. 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. Just in what they were wearing. 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? There is a brief coda that reveals Marguerite outlived her husband and never remarried. 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. By the early nineteenth century, the notion that it all had been a case of mistaken identity was firmly established, as typified in an 1824 retelling by Norman historian and politician Louis Du Bois, who explains the supposed miscarriage of justice by speculating that the actual rapist was a squire who doubtless bore some resemblance to the unfortunate Le Gris.. 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. Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf - Wikipedia 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. Knights were one step above squires, but men of both ranks often served as vassals to higher-ranking overlords. Comer brought that sense of history into her performance as well, recognizing what was and wasnt acceptable for women of the time. Damon and Affleck took the dialogue directly from Jagers book. Thats the research we did and the legend of the story he thought he was in love with her and did not rape her. I was a good wife. 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. (Le Gris and Carrouges both started out as squires and vassals to Count Pierre, but Carrouges was knighted for his military service in 1385.) As per the rules of the duel, whoever loses the battle would be proven guilty of his crimes. Now, the story of the 1386 trial by combat is the subject of a blockbuster film of the same name. She continued shouting for help, she says, until silenced by Le Gris hood. It was a patriarchal and deeply misogynist [time]. With the understanding that your truth may not be somebody elses truth. 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. 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. That resonates. This biography of a French peer or noble is a stub. I'm married. According. Like, I couldnt have gotten there. Known as the judgment of God, these ordeals were thought to have a divinely ordained outcome, with the loser proving his guilt by the very act of defeat. Part Two will use the medieval sources to reconstruct what really happened in the combat, using . The screenwriters changed the scene to allow for more nuance. 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. 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. When Marguerite adamantly refused his offer, saying she had no wish for his money, the violence escalated. The True History Behind "The Last Duel" - A Tale of Trial by Combat The view that Marguerite was lyinga conjecture unsupported by any evidence, apart from Le Gris dubious alibiholds either that she concocted the rape story herself, perhaps to cover an adultery, or that it was extorted from her by her opportunistic husband in order to avenge himself on his rival. They pinned me down and stuffed a capucium [a hood] over my mouth to silence me. Or did Carrouges according to one account grab him by the helmet and throw him down? [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. The theory of mistaken identity ultimately derives from two sources that began circulating more than a decade after the duel. 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. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. A large and powerful man, Le Gris was well educated and very wealthy, though from an only recently ennobled family. Terms of Use 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. We gave Ridley, This is what took place. Because it was such a famous event, there was a record. Welcoming the Official (detail), by Leonid Solomatkin, 1867. Given Nicole de Carrouges' sketchy behavior, removing any witness that might ID the perpetrator (nearly the entire household) from the chateau, and given that two sources report other men confessing to the crime, I think Nicole and Jean de Carrouges conspired . Marguerite de Carrouges accused Le Gris of rape in 1386. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. The denouement, too, echoes the Grande dictionnaire: Not long after, a criminal arrested for some other offense confessed himself to be the author of the outrage. 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 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. 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. 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.