60. Jacques le Gris Rapes Marguerite de Carrouges, Normandy, January 1386

This illustration of a judicial trial by combat is a German illustration from 1540 of a trial in Germany in 1409. So, it’s a few decades later than the French trial of 1386, and it’s in Germany, not France, and the combatants have no horses, and the dueling site is in a town square rather than the grounds of a monsastery. Other than those things, though, this is totally an accurate representation of our subject. ( Bayrische Staatsbibliothek Cod. icon. 393 — Jörg Breu der Jüngere and Paulus Hector Mair)

In 1386, Marguerite de Carrouges accused Jacques le Gris of having raped her, and though the French Parliament could not come to an agreement as to whether or not le Gris was guilty, we know that he was, because Marguerite’s husband Jean killed le Gris in a trial by combat, so that’s settled. Although le Gris’ descendants would keep trying to convince everybody that actually somebody else raped her.  The evidence for this was either nonexistent or unconvincing. The case is currently known both because of the 2004 book The Last Duel, by Eric Jager, which was then made into a 2021 film, The Last Duel, directed by Ridley Scott. We discuss the historical record of the crime and the trials, and Michelle discusses the film (Spoiler Alerts!), which, as usual, she has a lot of opinions about. Oh, and by the way, it wasn’t actually the last French judicial duel. Near the end though, and the title is great!

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