), the duel began as a joust on horseback, with lances. When her husband, Sir Jean de Carrouges, heard of the crime, he . The theory of mistaken identity ultimately derives from two sources that began circulating more than a decade after the duel. He strucks a belly of Le Gris's horse with his axe. Marguerite said no. Insight and analysis from renowned writers and thinkers. 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. Two separate alibis are harder to disprove than one. It was really trying to understand those types of dynamics and her place within the home and in society.. It was a patriarchal and deeply misogynist [time]. It was just the bare minimum description of who she was. She continued shouting for help, she says, until silenced by Le Gris hood. Ben Affleck co-wrote the script with Damon and. Over the next several months, famous lawyers were hired, witnesses were summoned, and testimony was gathered. 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.
The True Story Behind The Last Duel and History's Attempt to Erase It The more complicated her story, the more vulnerable it was to challenge; including Adam Louvel in the charges simply added to her burden of proof. P.T. 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. 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. 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. 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? After Marguerites rape, Carrouges petitions the French court to try Le Gris through judicial combat. Carrouges views himself as a chivalrous knight defending his wifes honor, while Le Gris casts himself as the Lancelot to Marguerites Guinevere, rescuing her from an unhappy marriage. 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. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. Marguerite was born as Marguerite De Thibouville in Normandy in the year 1362. And one includes the ladys penitential retreat to a convent, while the other omits this finale. 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. 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. 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. 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. That was really sad. The Last Duel is now available to watch in cinemas. When Jean came back from Paris, he decided to take revenge on Jacques. Adam Driver was 38 when he played Jacques le Gris, who was 56 at the time of his death. Toward a history of creativity and beef. 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).
The True Story Behind the Last Duel | by Nick Howard - Medium They took the idea of damnation seriously. The Last Duel ending explained - how close is it to the true story of Marguerite de Carrouges? 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 . If her husband lost she would be found guilty of perjury. I will not be silent, she responds, teary-eyed but defiant. 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. Skoda and Elema argue that Marguerites case exemplifies the complexity of medieval society, which is often painted in broad, reductive strokes. 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. 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". That July, at the old royal palace on the le de la Cit, the knight formally challenged the squire, throwing down the gauntlet, as witnessed by the young Charles VI, many other royals, and the magistrates of the Parlement of Paris, the nations highest court. 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. 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. Jean Froissart, writing after the duel, describes Marguerite praying as she watched the fight, adding, I do not know, for I never spoke with her, whether she had not often regretted having gone so far with the matter that she and her husband were in such grave danger., Elemas interpretation of the sources differs from Jagers comparatively colorful recounting. 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.. Matt Damon as Jean de Carrouges IV in The Last Duel.
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. 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. I came in after Matt and Ben decided to do it this way, but they wanted to make it a little more gray.
Jacques le Gris | Villains Wiki | Fandom But when he returned a few days later and heard his wifes story, he angrily brought charges against Le Gris in the court of Count Pierre of Alenon, overlord to both men. 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. The screenwriters changed the scene to allow for more nuance. Birthdate: estimated between 1321 and 1381. And yet there can only be one truth. I want justice! 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). If your husband hears of it, he may kill you. 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. 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. 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. By the union of Marguerite . Get our L.A. I fought him so desperately, she claimed, that he shouted to Louvel to come back and help him. A hush fell over the crowd, as they came to the solemn realization that a man had just died before their eyes. I dont want your money! Marguerite replied. Of course, the movie is about much more than just the duel, as is the true story so here's what went down. Of the judicial duels that actually took place, few ended in death. Did Le Gris stumble?
Marguerite de Carrouges - Wikipedia Eric Jager is a professor of English at UCLA and the author of four books, including The Last Duel and Blood Royal. Marguerite remained silent of her ordeal for several days, until her husband's return on the 21 or 22 January. There were three chroniclers who gave detailed accounts of the sword phase of the fight, and they have slightly different accounts of how Carrouges managed to get Le Gris on the ground, Jager says. 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. 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. [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 J. PaulGettyMuseum, Los Angeles. But the count, infuriated by the accusation against his favorite, declared at a legal hearing that Marguerite must have dreamed it and summarily dismissed the charges, ordering that no further questions ever be raised about it.. What does she have to gain from that? 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.
Medieval trial by combat: the real history behind The Last Duel 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. | READ MORE. When would she choose to speak out in this way? This man who has done something horrible and doesnt understand it. Even Le Gris believed she was victimized - just not by him. HIP/Art Resource, NY. Marguerite de Thibouville, only daughter of the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, married Jean de Carrouges in 1380. 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. 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. And in fact it was a code, a manner of behavior that denied womens basic humanity.. Damon and Affleck took the dialogue directly from Jagers book. 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. Scott rightly ends The Last Duel on a triumphant note. Duels of honor, as well as judicial duels authorized by other governing bodies, continued to take place centuries after Carrouges triumph. 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.
Ultimately, that [would have been] a movie about a courtroom evidence drama, Affleck explains. 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.. 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.
The Last Duel Ending Explained: Who Won The Duel, And - CINEMABLEND She was the only daughter of Jeanne de Bois Hroult and the highly controversial Robert de Thibouville, a Norman lord who had twice sided against the French king in territorial conflicts. He had a witness. Schools educate you, and religious services deliver sermons, and movies at their best can generate empathy and generate compassion, says Affleck. 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. 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. They were very religious. Marguerite replied that she had no wish to speak with Le Gris, and that Louvel should stop his overtures at once. In Le Coqs words, his client attacked his adversary very cruelly and did it on foot, although he would have had the advantage if he had done it on horseback. By drawing blood, writes Elema for the Historical European Martial Arts and Sports Community, Le Gris prevented the king from halting the duel, as once the scales had tipped in one fighters favor, no one could stop the fight without the appearance of partiality.. Its also significant that the Parlement of Paris found Marguerites story credible enough to vacate Count Pierres official exoneration of Le Gris and to authorize the rare judicial duel, whose official purpose, however doubtful the procedure may seem today, was to determine the truth in cases where witness testimony and other evidence was insufficient for reaching a verdict. 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. In short, yes. The first two chapters of the three-act film, penned by Damon and Affleck, draw heavily on Jagers research, recounting Marguerites rape and the events surrounding it from the perspectives of Carrouges and Le Gris, respectively. 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. A Note to our Readers Things come to a head when de Carrouges goes to Paris and his mother in law takes most of (if not all) the servants from the house with her, leaving Marguerite alone. It is one thing to slander, another to accuse. 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. 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. 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. 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).