The Last Duel, Eric Jager
When you think of medieval times, what do you think of? Kings and queens, the power of the church? The Wars of the Roses, the Black Death? Or do you think of the complicated feudal system and judicial duels, aka trials by combat? If the latter, this book is for you.
The Last Duel is a nonfiction (well, mostly) recounting of the last judicial duel in France. This duel took place when Jean de Carrouges accused Jacques LeGris of raping his wife, Marguerite. The local count was a friend of LeGris's, so de Carrouges carried his case all the way up to the king, who decreed a judicial duel. Carrouges and LeGris would fight to the death to determine which of them was correct... and Marguerite's life depended on the outcome. If her husband won, everything was fine, but if LeGris won, she would be executed for lying.
First of all, this is a pretty engaging book... once it gets past the formalities. The beginning goes back rather too far for me; we read about de Carrouges' father, to begin with, and while it's actually rather important in setting up the original feud between Carrouges and LeGris, it's told pretty dryly and I found it difficult to follow. It also doesn't really go into the history of judicial duels so much as it talks about this specific one, but that's okay, that's more a matter of scope. The second half of the book, which discusses the actual duel, is much more interesting and went very quickly for me. Even the where-are-they-now epilogue was a good read.
I think my main problem with this book is twofold. First, it's sometimes difficult to tell where Jager's research ends and his speculation begins. He's usually pretty good about saying when he's speculating, but there it is, it can be hard to tell. He's speculating a LOT, too; there's little written evidence of much of this story, though, so he more or less has to. Secondly, there's so little of Marguerite in here. Yes, this took place in the 1300s, and yes, there was little of women in the record, but he's speculating so much anyway and I would have appreciated more of the woman most affected by all of this.
So, long story short, it's an interesting book about an interesting subject, but it's quite narrowly focused and initially dry. Not for those not very interested in this subject.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/395999.html. Please comment over there if possible.
The Last Duel is a nonfiction (well, mostly) recounting of the last judicial duel in France. This duel took place when Jean de Carrouges accused Jacques LeGris of raping his wife, Marguerite. The local count was a friend of LeGris's, so de Carrouges carried his case all the way up to the king, who decreed a judicial duel. Carrouges and LeGris would fight to the death to determine which of them was correct... and Marguerite's life depended on the outcome. If her husband won, everything was fine, but if LeGris won, she would be executed for lying.
First of all, this is a pretty engaging book... once it gets past the formalities. The beginning goes back rather too far for me; we read about de Carrouges' father, to begin with, and while it's actually rather important in setting up the original feud between Carrouges and LeGris, it's told pretty dryly and I found it difficult to follow. It also doesn't really go into the history of judicial duels so much as it talks about this specific one, but that's okay, that's more a matter of scope. The second half of the book, which discusses the actual duel, is much more interesting and went very quickly for me. Even the where-are-they-now epilogue was a good read.
I think my main problem with this book is twofold. First, it's sometimes difficult to tell where Jager's research ends and his speculation begins. He's usually pretty good about saying when he's speculating, but there it is, it can be hard to tell. He's speculating a LOT, too; there's little written evidence of much of this story, though, so he more or less has to. Secondly, there's so little of Marguerite in here. Yes, this took place in the 1300s, and yes, there was little of women in the record, but he's speculating so much anyway and I would have appreciated more of the woman most affected by all of this.
So, long story short, it's an interesting book about an interesting subject, but it's quite narrowly focused and initially dry. Not for those not very interested in this subject.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/395999.html. Please comment over there if possible.