![]() ![]() Jodie Comer of "Killing Eve" fame portrays Marguerite de Thibouville. 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. ![]() Only in the final section of the film, when Marguerite is allowed to speak for herself, does the truth of the men’s personalities emerge: Carrouges-a “jealous and contentious man,” in Jager’s words-is mainly concerned with saving his own pride. Carrouges views himself as a chivalrous knight defending his wife’s honor, while Le Gris casts himself as the Lancelot to Marguerite’s Guinevere, rescuing her from an unhappy marriage. Much like Jager’s book, the film doesn’t offer a sympathetic portrayal of either of its leading men. (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 duel’s 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. After Marguerite’s rape, Carrouges petitions the French court to try Le Gris through judicial combat. The film adaptation traces the trio’s relationship from its auspicious beginnings to its bloody end. ![]() The gripping true story of the duel to end all duels in medieval France as a resolute knight defends his wife’s honor against the man she accuses of a heinous crime Buy The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat 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.” (Jager offered feedback on the film’s script, suggesting historically accurate phrasing and other changes.) The third and final section, written by Holofcener, is told from Marguerite’s point of view. The first two chapters of the three-act film, penned by Damon and Affleck, draw heavily on Jager’s research, recounting Marguerite’s rape and the events surrounding it from the perspectives of Carrouges and Le Gris, respectively. ![]() (Le Gris and Carrouges both started out as squires and vassals to Count Pierre, but Carrouges was knighted for his military service in 1385.) At the bottom of the social ladder were warriors, priests and laborers, who had limited rights and political influence. Knights were one step above squires, but men of both ranks often served as vassals to higher-ranking overlords. Barons like Affleck’s character, Count Pierre d’Alencon, owned land and often acted as feudal lords, providing property and protection to vassals-the term for any man sworn to serve another-in exchange for their service. Beneath him were three main ranks of nobility: barons, knights and squires. (Spoilers ahead.) Who’s who in The Last Duel?Ī bit of a crash course on medieval France: At the top of society was the king, advised by his high council, the Parlement of Paris. “You know whether my cause is just and true.” She replied, “My Lord, it is so, and you can fight with confidence, for the cause is just.” And so Le Gris’ trial by combat began.įrom the mechanics of trial by combat to the prosecution of sexual violence in medieval society, here’s what you need to know about the true history behind The Last Duel ahead of the film’s October 15 debut. “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. Marguerite, who had accused Le Gris of raping her, watched from the sidelines clad entirely in black, she was keenly aware that her husband’s defeat would be viewed as proof of perjury, vindicating her attacker and ensuring her execution by burning at the stake for the crime of bearing false witness. On December 29, 1386, before a crowd presided over by French king Charles VI, Carrouges and Le Gris eyed each other warily. ![]()
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