37 pages • 1 hour read
Eric JagerThe Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Rituals, Oaths, and Ceremonies
Throughout The Last Duel, Jager calls attention to the significance of oaths and rituals in medieval politics and law. In the 14th century when The Last Duel takes place, governments are becoming more centralized and stronger, and law codes are becoming more comprehensive and complex. However, ceremonies and oaths retained a lot of significance in defining and reinforcing legal, social, and political responsibilities and relationships. For example, rituals and vows solidified the bonds between peasants and nobles and their overlords. These not only represented legal and social obligations but “cemented the mutual bonds holding society together” (10).
Oaths and rituals come into play constantly during the events chronicled in The Last Duel. These were vital to mundane events, like weddings or judicial executions, but also to rare events like the judicial duel. Carrouges and Le Gris’s duel is surrounded by planned, ritualistic events, including a procession, formulaic pronouncements by a herald, an inspection of the weapons, and a spiritual consecration of the duel with prayers and holy objects. The rituals and vows surrounding the judicial duel had the practical purpose of preparing the combatants and ensuring a “fair fight” (157). However, they also had the purpose of reminding observers and all involved that the fight was a sacred event invoking God’s intervention and that it had parameters set by the laws of the kingdom.
Women’s Experience in Medieval Europe
The experiences of Marguerite de Thibouville are central to The Last Duel. While medieval chroniclers and many modern writers had focused on the conflict between Carrouges and Le Gris, Jager draws more attention to Marguerite. In particular, he dispels the idea that she made a false accusation, the “myth devised by a chivalrous age to save the lady’s honor while at the same time explaining what many people at the time believed to have been a terrible miscarriage of justice” (205). Instead, he draws attention to the ways Marguerite and upper-class women of the time in general were deeply restricted by the customs and laws of the Middle Ages, though they could exercise their own agency. For example, noblewomen usually did not choose their husbands, were expected to give birth to heirs, were strictly punished if they committed adultery, and—like Marguerite—expected to “maintain a ladylike demeanor and behave with perfect proprietary” (25). Further, did they have many legal rights without a male relative or legal guardian. However, they did manage their husbands’ households and often had at least some political influence. In some parts of Europe, women were even allowed to fight duels.
Jager presents Marguerite as an example of how a noblewoman could navigate the patriarchal system to work for her despite all the roadblocks. She used her society’s concept of honor to convince her husband to press her accusation of rape for her and took her accusation all the way to the Parlement of Paris. Still, if her husband died in the duel, she would be charged of making a false accusation of rape and executed. Overall, Marguerite is an example of a noblewoman whose life was heavily limited and controlled. At the same time, she had ways of asserting herself, although not always without great risk to herself.
Violence
Jager presents the 14th century as a violent era and Normandy as a particularly violent region, though he does argue against the idea of a “lawless Middle Ages” (69). Although it was a very violent affair, even the judicial duel that takes place between Le Gris and Carrouges was strictly regulated, requiring permission from the Parlement of Paris and an extensive legal process. However, even though rape was considered a felony, rape victims often did not come forward out of fear for their reputations or the consequences of “making the crime public” (70-71). Finally, war did not spare civilians, even women from sexual assault by soldiers or children from being massacred.
Jager suggests that the story of The Last Duel reveals the violence marring the history of Normandy, a region of France Jager describes as “a bloody crossroads of war since antiquity” (10). Both Carrouges and Le Gris were warriors and grew up in the militant culture of the Norman nobility. Although his exact motives are unknown, Le Gris apparently used violence against Marguerite to avenge himself on some perceived insult from Carrouges. Then, it is through violence, albeit heavily regulated and contained violence, the judicial duel provides Marguerite and Carrouges the means to prove the truth of the charge of rape in the eyes of the world. Jager even sees the legacy of this violence, as “Normandy has a long, cruel, and bloody history, and still today strangers are potential enemies until they are proven friends” (202).
