

Bezig met laden... The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in… (origineel 2004; editie 2005)door Eric Jager
WerkdetailsThe Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France door Eric Jager (Author) (2004)
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![]() Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Artfully rendered history of scandal and the french legal system at a time of societal instability, disarray, and upheaval. Chock full of firsthand evidence, this work's defenses are impenetrable. The author does a superb job of portraying the Middle Ages. This is shelved as non-fiction, but if you read Jager's notes, you realize that he's ...extrapolated from the existing texts. The narrative he tells is gripping, but I can't trust anything in the text here, and therefore cannot recommend it. I really enjoyed this true account of a duel to the death in Medieval France. The wife of Jean de Carrouges was attacked and her husband took her case all the way to the King and Parliament and received the right to duel his wife's attacker to the death. I agree that the best part was the duel itself which was fascinating, hard to believe such things actually took place. 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. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
"The gripping, atmospheric true story of the duel to end all duels in medieval France- a trial by combat pitting a knight against a squire accused of violating the knight s beautiful young wife. In 1386, a few days after Christmas, a massive crowd gathered at a Paris monastery to watch the two men fight a duel to the death - a trial by combat meant to prove which man s cause was right in God s sight. The dramatic true story of the knight, the squire, and the lady unfolds during the tumultuous fourteenth century, a time of war, plague, and anarchy, as well as of honour, chivalry, and courtly love. The notorious quarrel appears in many histories of France, but no writer has recounted it in full, until now. " Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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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 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. (