Coffee break story.☕ Some of you may have seen the Ridley Scott film The Last Duel and wondered how true the story is.
☕Coffee break story.☕ Some of you may have seen the Ridley Scott film The Last Duel and wondered how true the story is. On December 29, 1386, before a huge crowd headed by French King Charles VI, former friends Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris met on a field for a highly publicised duel. Jean de Carrouges’ wife, Marguerite, who had accused Le Gris of raping her, watched from the crowd; her husband’s defeat would be seen as proof that she had lied not only about the attack but also during the trial. Her husband’s death during the duel would not only vindicate her violator but would also ensure her execution by burning at the stake for the crime of bearing false witness. But how did these two friends come to face each other in a trial by combat? The two had met while both in the service of Count Pierre d’Alencon; Carrouges was from a noble Norman family, and Le Gris was lower-born. Carrouges was elevated to higher positions, while Le Gris, a favourite of Count Pierre, rose within h