The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France

Oh my, is this really non-fiction? What a page-turner :)

This is a story of a trial by combat, a duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris. The year is 1386. If the prologue doesn’t hook you, I don’t know what will.

We begin with the historical background – king this and duke that, this conquest, that war, intrigues, betrayals, marriage alliances. In unskilful hands, this sort of thing is usually text book boring, but Eric Jager writes so well that it feels like an adventure.

The everyday lives, the descriptions of castles, homes, clothes, weapons, feasts, legal processes are very vivid. It transports you back in time.

The rape of Marguerite, lady Carrouges, is very tough to read about. I could feel her terror and her show more helplessness. There was also rage. Telling the world (which meant being interrogated many times) and seeking justice took a lot of courage, too.

“Only a few medieval women had the means to raise their voices in protest against the idea that women even enjoyed being taken by force.”

“The prosecution and punishment of rape often depended on the victim’s social class and political clout.”

And it wasn’t really a question of sexual violence as a crime – it was “a property crime against her male guardian.”

Trial by combat is not the best way to obtain justice, but Marguerite and Jean had probably decided that they didn’t have a choice. I did wonder how you go about making such a decision, knowing that if your husband lost, you would die too, as someone accused of bearing false witness…

There are so many fascinating details in The Last Duel:

- Jacques de Gris’ lawyer, Jean Le Coq, kept a professional diary, and it’s one of the oldest surviving casebooks.

“Le Coq, clearly a close observer of people, also notes in his journal that the squire once asked him ‘whether I had doubts concerning him, because he saw me thinking.’ “

- Among other things not allowed during the duel were “any arms that have been forged with spells, charms, enchantments, or any other evil acts”.

And then...

“The two warriors sped toward each other, the sharp steel points of their lances flying through the air before them like deadly missiles. The combined weight of horse, man, armor, and lance put nearly a ton of galloping momentum behind each tip.”

From a contemporary chronicle:
“A feeling of great fear seized all those witnessing the battle. All mouths were stopped; people hardly breathed.”

No, I couldn’t breathe either. show less

I had never heard of the Carrouges-Le Gris affair before this book (unsurprising, as I have hardly made a study of late 1300s France) but I found this book on a secondhand bookshop shelf and was intrigued. It was a bit dry and slow of pace, but most definitely interesting.

The history told is well-backed-up, pieced together in the places where there is no surviving record (or there was only a mystery even at the time) and clearly shown what is known for sure, what is supposition, where there are gaps in the record.

Eric Jager presents a story with remarkable depth of focus, but also breadth, where appropriate - where wider history and culture come into play, he expands upon them duly and most informatively yet without wandering off show more topic.

The people introduced through the story are given a remarkable amount of character, some of it clearly drawn from their actions, record, and interpersonal relationships, some of it supposition, but it makes the story come to life even more. I'm glad I picked up the book, I learned many interesting things from it.

It also reflects somewhat on later, and even current, perceptions - of crimes (certain crimes), accusations, perpetrators, and particularly of women who accuse their assailants.

(I've seen people claim it was obvious what the outcome of the duel would belong before it was told; I do not feel it was, I was unsure even during the retelling of the duel itself, and even if it were . . . it's a historical examination, the outcome is a matter of record. I wouldn't necessarily condemn the book for that.) show less

Fascinating look at trial by combat in 14th century France. When the wife of a nobleman alleges rape, it only adds fuel to a long simmering dispute between her husband and the accused. Although the odds are stacked against the married couple, they persist in their quest for justice, even if they must stake their lives on the outcome.

Fantastic! Transportive to a place and time, gripping story, strong characters and informative. And to be released as a film by Ridley Scott next month (which I didn't know before reading). Continues to be widely read for 15 years and culturally influential, this is one of the great classic stories of the Middle Ages. Some reviewers raised questions how far Jager strayed from the sources, it is a valid concern given how Hollywood this story feels, but, he is a professor, and on topics I know something about didn't see any real problems. Sometimes reality can seem like fiction, we should not downplay dramatic events to make it seem authentic. The Middle Ages could be violent, and this was a violent episode, but it was a single rape and show more death, compare with our own times (eg. today a man shot and killed 4 people randomly in their home etc), this was no more violent. It concerns justice, and how that was accomplished, in a formal and institutionalized way, different from what are used to but not something to judge negatively ("Dark Ages") anymore then we might judge the Romans and Greeks, and our own times. show less

I was surprised by this book. I thought it was going to be a historical narrative; it is historical but it is not told in a narrative fashion but rather in a linear non-fiction style that belies a documentary feel.

I've yet to watch the movie.

The beginning is slow; there are a lot of setups, back story, genealogy, and heraldry to get through prior to the actual incident itself. And you have to wonder at the competence of the knights/Lords in question overall with some of the petty grievances and backhanded things they supposedly did to each other to make it get to the point where there was no other way to get even than assaulting a woman for revenge.

There are a few illustrations throughout this very short book; they all look to be taken show more from illuminated manuscripts of the time. They are lovely accompaniments to the information.

Jager does a great job of keeping himself out of the tale as well. Sometimes, an author who is exploring a historic event finds it necessary to introduce their person as a character or dive into their explorations and research habits which leads to a ramble for a while. Jager does not do this. While he provides his own thoughts, they are subtle and included appropriately {academically} in place with the progression of the facts rather than becoming their own narrative.

I would recommend this to readers interested in historic crime, trials, and combat. The actual combat scenes were thorough and intense; I enjoyed them!

**All thoughts and opinions are my own.** show less

The story of the Last Duel focuses on the last "legalised" duel to be held in medieval France in which one man seeks justice through trial by combat.

The two protagonists are a knight and a squire. First, these are misleading titles. Both are military men of comparable age; both men were - in the few years prior to the duel - of the rank of squire. One man was knighted on the field of battle - the other on the field of justice - therefore at the time of the duel both men were of equal rank. The title of squire or "escuier" was ascribed to a "battle hardened veteran" rather than the romanticised vision of a youth attending to his master. Though squire did serve their superiors, the context, in this case, as with the title of knight, is show more purely a military one.

Now to the protagonists themselves. There was a long period of friendship between the two, which slowly dissolved as one received preference over the other; and one felt that he was more deserving of preferment than the other. Tensions finally boil over when one man accuses the other of rape and violence against his wife, culminating in the long drawn-out process of having the case examined and pondered before (to the delight of all), the duel to the death is granted.

Jager goes to great lengths to fill in the background information on those involved and to enlighten the reader on the intracies of medieval French politics and law. In bringing the suit forward, the women herself, if her testimony proves false, faces a most grusesome end - to be burnt alive - and her champion, certain death. There is no half measures - at the end of the day, someone will die.

I have been wanting to read this book for some time since it was recommended to me about four years ago. And I highly recommend it myself. show less

True story of the last trial by combat in medieval France. It was written very accessibly, not dry and dusty at all. It almost felt like a novel. It was interesting to see how the judicial system worked and very interesting to see how women and rape were perceived at the time. I highly recommend it. In fact I wouldn't mind reading it again, which for a history narrative is rare as duck's teeth.