[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Sir Jean de Carrouges

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1396 Jean de Carrouges, a French knight, was killed in
combat by the Ottomans at the Siege of Nicopolis. Among thousands of other
French soldiers and their allies who died in this debacle, the death of a
minor knight might seem insignificant. Jean, however, is better known for
his part in a famous French judicial duel.

On 18 January 1386, Jean's wife Marguerite was raped by a man-at-arms named
Jacques le Gris. Le Gris denied the charges, and was protected by the
powerful Count Pierre of Alençon. Unable to obtain satisfaction against Le
Gris by legal means, Carrouges challenged his enemy to a judicial duel to
the death. Their combat was held in Paris on 29 December 1386 before King
Charles VI (later known as "Charles le Fou", or "Charles the Mad").
Carrouges defeated and killed Le Gris by stabbing him in the neck with a
dagger after breaking open his visor. The event is mentioned in Froissart's
Chronicles, though the fatal wound is described as a sword thrust to the
body.

The whole story was explored by UCLA Professor Erik Jager in his book THE
LAST DUEL, A TRUE STORY OF TRIAL BY COMBAT IN MEDIEVAL FRANCE. Jager got
one thing wrong: this wasn't the last judicial duel in France, though it
certainly is among the most famous. The book was later made into a 2021
movie, THE LAST DUEL, starring Matt Damon as Carrouges. [I own the book,
and recommend it highly, but I have not seen the film.]

The Wikipedia story is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_Carrouges .

A summary of the film is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Duel_(2021_film) .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.