Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Minky. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1: It was six just a few days after Christmas, and
Speaker 1: the ground at the dueling field set up behind the
Speaker 1: Abbey de Saumarine de Champ's, was hard with frost. Thousands
Speaker 1: of people had poured in from Paris for the spectacle.
Speaker 1: They had been there since dawn, rubbing their hands together
Speaker 1: for warmth, watching the rising sun, waiting for the moment
Speaker 1: the event would begin. Stands were erected on either side
Speaker 1: of the field, massive constructions with wooden rails and staircases.
Speaker 1: One stand was for foreign nobles visiting France. They were
Speaker 1: of course seated according to rank. A second stand was
Speaker 1: for members of the French court. The third set of stands,
Speaker 1: the most central, was reserved for the King himself, the
Speaker 1: young Charles the sixth, and his highest ranking nobility. He
Speaker 1: had insisted that the duel be delayed until his return
Speaker 1: from Flanders so he could witness it. Beneath the stands
Speaker 1: for the nobility were benches for merchants and commoners, although
Speaker 1: most of them were forced to stand at ground level,
Speaker 1: face to face with the wooden wall that had been
Speaker 1: built around the dueling arena. They tried to find a
Speaker 1: spot where they could see through the planks of wood.
Speaker 1: The dueling grounds, in a suburb of Paris, were originally
Speaker 1: designed for jousting. They were specially converted for this singular,
Speaker 1: rare event, a judicial duel. Two men had gone to court,
Speaker 1: and the court had been unable to deliver a verdict,
Speaker 1: and so the men were permitted to leave justice in
Speaker 1: the hands of God. It would be a fight to
Speaker 1: the death, and God's favor towards the surviving party would
Speaker 1: reveal who was innocent and who was guilty. The two
Speaker 1: men had originally been friends. One had served as the
Speaker 1: godfather to the other's first son, but years of bitter
Speaker 1: jealousy had ruined their friendship, and then the accusation of
Speaker 1: a final, terrible crime would lead them here. Dressed in
Speaker 1: full armor, bearing lances, axes, swords and daggers, ready to
Speaker 1: kill and ready to die, the men took their oaths
Speaker 1: on chairs, facing one another. The crowd remained silent. Interruptions
Speaker 1: to the duel of any kind, exclamations, shouts, even involuntary
Speaker 1: gasps or coughs were forbidden. On pain of losing a hand.
Speaker 1: This was a spectacle, yes, but it was also a
Speaker 1: legal proceeding. It was God's will speaking through swords. The
Speaker 1: men agreed to the terms and gave their final silent
Speaker 1: prayers and mounted their horses. A page shouted for them
Speaker 1: to ride, and the duel began. I'm Danis Schwartz, and
Speaker 1: this is noble blood. A quick note before this podcast
Speaker 1: begins in earnest. This story includes references to alleged sexual assault.
Speaker 1: Just heads up for any listeners who might be particularly
Speaker 1: sensitive to that content. The France of the hundreds wasn't
Speaker 1: the same as the France we have today. It was
Speaker 1: about a third of its modern size, and less a
Speaker 1: united country than a loosely connected group of individual fiefdoms
Speaker 1: which were ruled over by minor lords. The minor lords
Speaker 1: were then in turn ruled over by overlords. The former
Speaker 1: were knights and squires. Overlords with larger land holdings would
Speaker 1: be counts or dukes, often members of the royal family.
Speaker 1: One of those duchies was Normandy, ruled over by the
Speaker 1: Duke of Normandy. You might vaguely remember from a history
Speaker 1: class at some point, but in ten sixty six, Duke
Speaker 1: William of Normandy crossed the English Channel and defeated King
Speaker 1: Harold in the Battle of Hastings. He's now more commonly
Speaker 1: referred to as William the conqueror, sometimes thought of as
Speaker 1: the first King of England. But what people sometimes overlook
Speaker 1: is the fact that William, now a monarch rivaling the
Speaker 1: King of France, still kept Normandy. For a century and
Speaker 1: a half, Normandy was in possession of the English crown.
Speaker 1: France was eventually able to win it back, but the
Speaker 1: land remained contentious, and when England crossed the channel to
Speaker 1: reclaim it again, some nobles Normandy sided with the English.
Speaker 1: But one incredibly old family that was always loyal to
Speaker 1: the French crown was the Carouge family, As his father's
Speaker 1: oldest son, Jean Carouge the fourth, was well placed to
Speaker 1: live a respectable life among the courts of France. His father,
Speaker 1: Jean the third, was the French equivalent of an English
Speaker 1: Shire reeve or sheriff, and he was the captain of
Speaker 1: the fort at Bilam. Their family line was long, but
Speaker 1: it also carried with it a romantic and scandalous history.
Speaker 1: Rumor had it that a distant ancestor, a man named
Speaker 1: Count Ralph had fallen in love with a sorceress, meeting
Speaker 1: her in the middle of the night at a pool
Speaker 1: in the woods. His indiscretion was discovered by his wife,
Speaker 1: and the next morning Ralph was found dead with his
Speaker 1: throat cut. Somehow, the scorned wife was never actually accused
Speaker 1: of the murder, but the very next day a mysterious
Speaker 1: red mark appeared on her face. A few months after that,
Speaker 1: she had a baby. When that baby, a son named Carl,
Speaker 1: turned seven, the same red mark appeared on his face.
Speaker 1: It was a mark that would carry down in the
Speaker 1: family for seven generations. That first son was nicknamed Carl Larouge,
Speaker 1: Carl the Rhett, Carl Larouge, or Carouge, but that story
Speaker 1: was more a myth than anything. It didn't affect the
Speaker 1: family's respectability, and certainly no one considered it a portent
Speaker 1: of violence to come. The Carouge family had several fiefs
Speaker 1: that they controlled, and in turn they answered to the
Speaker 1: local Count of Perish. At the time Jean Carrouge the
Speaker 1: fourth took his oath of loyalty, the count was a
Speaker 1: man named Robert. The young Jean swore to be loyal
Speaker 1: to him and as was traditional, he kissed the nobleman
Speaker 1: on the lips. But Count Robert died without any heirs,
Speaker 1: and so in thirteen seventy seven parish was inherited by
Speaker 1: his older brother, Pierre de Lanson. Pierre was himself his
Speaker 1: father's third son, and traditionally that would mean limited prospects,
Speaker 1: but Pierre lucked out. His two older brothers had become
Speaker 1: men of the cloth, rising to the esteemed rank of archbishops,
Speaker 1: which was lovely for them but meant they couldn't inherit
Speaker 1: land or titles, and then the death of Pierre's younger brother,
Speaker 1: Robert meant that Pierre inherited all of his lands as well.
Speaker 1: The new count came down to Parchet and established his
Speaker 1: court at Argenta, where Jean Carrouge dutifully joined him. Jean
Speaker 1: was given the mostly symbolic position of court chamberlain, a
Speaker 1: respect of role, and he quickly made friends with another
Speaker 1: of the new count's chamberlain's, a man named Jacques Lagree.
Speaker 1: Lagree was from a slightly less esteemed family. His father
Speaker 1: was a minor squire, but Lagree was well educated, which
Speaker 1: was unusual and which even led to him taking minor
Speaker 1: clerical orders. He was considered affable and usually noted as
Speaker 1: being particularly strong and tall. He was also rumored to
Speaker 1: be a slight womanizer. Him taking minor clerical orders didn't
Speaker 1: forbid him from getting married and bearing at least a
Speaker 1: few heirs. Jean likes Lagree well enough that after he
Speaker 1: got married and had a son, he named Jacques Lagree
Speaker 1: the baby's godfather, a majorly important role in the thirteen hundreds.
Speaker 1: But Jean gar Rouge wasn't the only one charmed by Lagree.
Speaker 1: Count Pierre almost immediately took a liking to him, honoring
Speaker 1: him with court positions and gifts, spending time with him.
Speaker 1: It was obvious to everyone in court that Lagree was
Speaker 1: the Count's favorite and that he would quickly be advancing
Speaker 1: in the political ranks beyond his title of chamberlain. Lagree
Speaker 1: was granted the position of captain at the fourth of
Speaker 1: m and the Count gave him an extravagant gift, an estate,
Speaker 1: a very nice estate called annual Fouqon friendships sometimes fall apart.
Speaker 1: The two men, Jean Carrouge and Jacques Lagree, we're about
Speaker 1: the same age, and they have been more or less
Speaker 1: social equals until they weren't they're slow drift away from
Speaker 1: one another became even more pronounced. In thirteen eighty, when
Speaker 1: Jean was dealing with personal tragedy. Both his wife and
Speaker 1: his only child, the son that Lagres had once held
Speaker 1: as godfather, died. Torn apart by grief and frustration and
Speaker 1: at his middling position in Count Pierre's court, Jean Carouge
Speaker 1: went off on a military campaign to try to bolster
Speaker 1: his reputation. Over the five months that he was serving
Speaker 1: under the king's command, John did manage to raise his
Speaker 1: profile slightly, and he became known as a respectable soldier.
Speaker 1: But also in the time of way, Jehan came to
Speaker 1: understand the painful truth of the risk he was taking
Speaker 1: out on the battlefield. He had no living heirs, and
Speaker 1: if he died, the Carouge name would die with him,
Speaker 1: all of the property, the reputation that his family had
Speaker 1: built up for generations. It would disappear, inherited by someone else,
Speaker 1: someone with a different family name and a different family line.
Speaker 1: So when Jean Carouge returned home after half a year away,
Speaker 1: it was with the determination that he would find a
Speaker 1: bride as quickly as possible, and he did a young
Speaker 1: woman named Marguerite de Thibe, likely still a teenager at
Speaker 1: the time. Marguerite was described by contemporary sources as being
Speaker 1: wealthy and very beautiful. The latter was a perk. The
Speaker 1: former was essential for Jean Carouge. Though he had a
Speaker 1: good family name, he didn't quite have the wealth to
Speaker 1: match Marguerite in that regard was a perfect fit for him.
Speaker 1: Her family was rich, but their reputation was a little tarnished.
Speaker 1: His father was a Norman who had sided with the
Speaker 1: English in the fight against the French king. A marriage
Speaker 1: with the karuga Is, an old and loyal family, would
Speaker 1: help bolster Marguerite's family's reputation. Jacques Lagree wasn't present at
Speaker 1: the wedding, nor at any of the celebratory festivities that followed,
Speaker 1: but the relationship between Jean and Lagree would soon become
Speaker 1: even more strained. In marrying Marguerite Thibeville, Jean Carouge was
Speaker 1: especially hoping that her dowry would include her father's lovely
Speaker 1: estate at Anneure Faucon. There was only one problem. Those
Speaker 1: lands had been purchased by Count Pierre a few years
Speaker 1: prior for eight thousand livres. Jean tried to wrestle the
Speaker 1: lands back from Pierre, even going so far as to
Speaker 1: take him to court. The issue became so heated that
Speaker 1: eventually Pierre had to go to his cousin, the king,
Speaker 1: to once and for all established the formal written royal
Speaker 1: approval for the purchase of the lands. And here's the kicker.
Speaker 1: Perhaps you remember, Count Pierre had already given the land
Speaker 1: away as a gift to his favorite chamberlain, Jacques Lagree.
Speaker 1: So the relationship between Jacques Lagree and Jean Carorouge at
Speaker 1: this point was bitter, and from this point on, the
Speaker 1: relationship between Jean and Count Pierre would be downright antagonistic.
Speaker 1: Over the next three years, the two men would be
Speaker 1: embroiled in legal battle after legal battle. After the death
Speaker 1: of his father, Jean would sue the Count again because
Speaker 1: Jean had been expecting to inherit his father's position as
Speaker 1: captain of the castle at Bilm. After the death of
Speaker 1: his father, Jean sued the Count again because Jean had
Speaker 1: been expecting to inherit his father's position as captain of
Speaker 1: the Fort of Biln. That was traditionally how things went
Speaker 1: at the time, and for what it was worth Lagree
Speaker 1: had already been made captain of a fort, but disliking
Speaker 1: Jean Carrouge, the count passed him over, and the Count
Speaker 1: would spite him yet again when he would deny Jean
Speaker 1: permission to buy a few neighboring fiefs to expand his holdings.
Speaker 1: All the while Jens resentment and jealousy towards Lagris simmered
Speaker 1: a very slight that Count Pierre made toward him, Jean
Speaker 1: imagined Lagres behind it, whispering in the Count's ear, influencing
Speaker 1: him against him. But even pre enemies can sometimes find
Speaker 1: ways to mend fences, and in thirteen eighty three, Jean
Speaker 1: Carouge and Jacques Lagree found themselves at the same party
Speaker 1: thrown by a squire named Jean Crispin. The two men
Speaker 1: saw each other from across the room. They were both
Speaker 1: wearing their family colors, Causian red with silver accents and
Speaker 1: Lagree in silver with red. They shook hands and Jean
Speaker 1: politely introduced Lagree to his wife, Marguerite, for the first time.
Speaker 1: Lagree was charmed onlookers remarked how taken he had seemed
Speaker 1: by Marguerite. The next year, Carouge went on another campaign
Speaker 1: to bolster his reputation. Though that military expedition itself was
Speaker 1: a failure, and Carouge lost five of his nine men
Speaker 1: along with a good amount of his money, he still
Speaker 1: came out fairly well in terms of his reputation. He
Speaker 1: was even awarded a knighthood on the field of battle.
Speaker 1: Now Jean was technically higher rank than Jacques Lagree, who
Speaker 1: was still a squire, but John was also close to bankrupt,
Speaker 1: and by the time he returned to Parchet he was
Speaker 1: exhausted and resentful, especially once he became aware of how
Speaker 1: much higher Laguis Starr had risen socially in the time
Speaker 1: he was gone, and how much money Lagree had been
Speaker 1: given by generous noblemen. Jean was barely home a fortnight
Speaker 1: before he had to continue on to Paris in order
Speaker 1: to collect his back wages. He left his wife, Marguerite,
Speaker 1: staying with his own mother, her mother in law, Nicole.
Speaker 1: It was during this brief trip that everything would change.
Speaker 1: Jacques Lagree would allegedly commit the crime that would send
Speaker 1: him and Jean Carrouge on the unstoppable path towards battle
Speaker 1: to the death. Marguerite recounted the story later on January
Speaker 1: eighty six, Jacques Lagree squire, a man named Adam Lovell,
Speaker 1: knocked on the door. Typically, a servant would have answered
Speaker 1: the door, but Marguerite's mother in law was attending to
Speaker 1: business in the next town over, and she had taken
Speaker 1: most of the servants with her, and so Margaret opened
Speaker 1: the door herself to find Lovell, who bowed deeply and
Speaker 1: informed her that Jacques Lagree had come to call on her.
Speaker 1: Jacques knew that her husband was away, he loved her,
Speaker 1: and he wanted to see her. Marguerite told the squire
Speaker 1: that she had no interest in seeing Lagree, but Lagree
Speaker 1: came forward anyway and forced himself through the door. He
Speaker 1: offered Marguerite money in exchange for sex, which she refused,
Speaker 1: and then Jacques Lagree raped Marguerite on her bed while
Speaker 1: his squire helped hold her down. He told her that
Speaker 1: he would kill her if she told anyone, and then
Speaker 1: he left and closed the door behind him. Marguerite was silent,
Speaker 1: drowning in the shame and terror, until her husband returned
Speaker 1: a few days later. She barely looked at him throughout
Speaker 1: dinner and couldn't offer more than a word. The rest
Speaker 1: of the evening while they prepared for bed. Only after
Speaker 1: everyone in the house was asleep that night did Marguerite
Speaker 1: fling herself on to her knees at the side of
Speaker 1: her husband's bed. Weeping, she told him everything that had happened.
Speaker 1: Barely able to contain his rage, John summoned a group
Speaker 1: of his friends courtiers, including his mother and Marguerite's family.
Speaker 1: This was, after all, her virtue and their honor on
Speaker 1: the line. Marguerite repeated her story exactly how it happened
Speaker 1: to the assembled group. Should you have told me a falsehood,
Speaker 1: Jan said to his wife, nevermore shall you live with me?
Speaker 1: Marguerite shook her head. Everything she had said was true.
Speaker 1: Then Jean said, stoically, the squire shall die. The brain
Speaker 1: trust of friends and family that John had assembled filed
Speaker 1: formal charges against Lagres at Count Pierre's court, but neither
Speaker 1: Jean nor Marguerite went to the count in person. They
Speaker 1: were well aware that there was no chance that Count
Speaker 1: Pierre would ever rule against his favorite in favor of
Speaker 1: a man he hated, and they were right. Count Pierre
Speaker 1: dismissed the charges almost immediately, and so Jean Carrouge took
Speaker 1: his grievance to the king. The King of France at
Speaker 1: this time was a young Charles the six a man
Speaker 1: we've talked about in this podcast, particularly in the context
Speaker 1: of the tragic Ball of the Burning Men, a party
Speaker 1: during which several of his courtiers would burn to death
Speaker 1: when their wild man costumes caught on fire. But that
Speaker 1: tragedy would still be several years in the future at
Speaker 1: this point, and it would be several more years after
Speaker 1: that before Charles the sixth madness would emerge. At this point,
Speaker 1: he was just a young king willing to hear out
Speaker 1: the accusations from one night against one squire. The case
Speaker 1: met before Parliament on July nine, eighty six. Jacques Lagree,
Speaker 1: denying everything, outraged at the very accusation, hired a man
Speaker 1: widely considered to be the best lawyer of the time,
Speaker 1: a man named Jean the Cook. The Cook's notes are
Speaker 1: one of historian's main sources of details for the proceeding
Speaker 1: of the trial. His notes also mentioned for the record
Speaker 1: that even though he was defending Lagree, he had doubts
Speaker 1: as to whether Lagres was actually as innocent as he claimed.
Speaker 1: Lagreise family perhaps also doubt being his innocence. Tried to
Speaker 1: get him to insist on being tried through the Church, which,
Speaker 1: because he was a cleric in the Minor Orders, would
Speaker 1: be his right. The Church probably would be more sympathetic
Speaker 1: to him and it would remove the option of deadly
Speaker 1: trial by combat, But Lagris refused. He was innocent, he said,
Speaker 1: and he wanted to challenge the accusations against him directly.
Speaker 1: Before the men presented their cases, Jean Carrouge threw a
Speaker 1: glove to the floor, literally throwing down a gauntlet, challenging
Speaker 1: Lagree to a duel. Lagres picked it up, symbolically accepting.
Speaker 1: The king ruled that a trial by combat would only
Speaker 1: be permitted if the court could not come to a
Speaker 1: definitive verdict. In the meantime, they heard the evidence. Adam
Speaker 1: Lovell and all of Lagree's servants testified, all defending their
Speaker 1: master against the accusations against him. When Jacques Lagree testified
Speaker 1: himsel elf, he talked about how Jean had always been
Speaker 1: jealous of him and how he was famous for having
Speaker 1: a temper. He said that he believed Jehan had made
Speaker 1: up this entire story, and threatened to beat his wife
Speaker 1: if she didn't go along with it. Plus, it would
Speaker 1: have been impossible for him to ride that far fifty
Speaker 1: miles round trip in one evening in the snow, and besides,
Speaker 1: he had an alibi. I'm cross examination those last points
Speaker 1: hit a bit of a snag. Lagres admitted that a
Speaker 1: man of his resources and riding ability would in fact
Speaker 1: have been able to ride fifty miles round trip, even
Speaker 1: in the snow. And slightly more damning, one of the
Speaker 1: men who was supposed to corroborate his alibi couldn't make
Speaker 1: it to court because he himself had been arrested in
Speaker 1: Paris during the trial, arrested for rape. But the most
Speaker 1: important testimony of all came from Marguerite herself. Mar Great
Speaker 1: was visibly pregnant when she took the stand, although because
Speaker 1: medical science at the time believed that a woman couldn't
Speaker 1: conceive from rape, that wasn't considered a relevant piece of evidence.
Speaker 1: But the very fact that Marguerite was telling the world
Speaker 1: what had happened to her at all was considered powerful evidence.
Speaker 1: It would be scandalous and shameful to her family. Why
Speaker 1: would a woman ever go through all of this if
Speaker 1: it wasn't true? The court deliberated, and they came to
Speaker 1: their decision, or rather their nondecision, the case would be
Speaker 1: left in the hands of God. Jean Carrouge and Jacques
Speaker 1: Lagree would have a trial by combat, and it wasn't
Speaker 1: just the men's lives at stake. If Lagree was victorious,
Speaker 1: Marguerite would burn at the stake for perjury. The duel
Speaker 1: was originally scheduled for November of that year, but King
Speaker 1: Charles demanded that it be pushed back until December twenty nine,
Speaker 1: when he would be back from a campaign in Flanders.
Speaker 1: He didn't want to miss what was quickly becoming the
Speaker 1: most exciting event of the year. Between the time that
Speaker 1: the trial happened and the duel would take place, both
Speaker 1: Marguerite and King Charles his wife, the young Queen Isabeau,
Speaker 1: gave birth to sons. Marguerite's son was healthy, but the
Speaker 1: young Prince was ill, and he died just a day
Speaker 1: before the duel was scheduled to take place. Rather than
Speaker 1: shroud the palace in mourning, King Charles the six, perhaps
Speaker 1: already showing an early stage of madness, became frenzied. He
Speaker 1: demanded an endless dream of parties and festivities that would
Speaker 1: culminate in the massive event of the judicial duel. The
Speaker 1: stands were teeming with people, noblemen, both French and from
Speaker 1: around Europe. Separate stands were built for women with specially
Speaker 1: made aisles to make it easier for ladies overcome from
Speaker 1: the blood or violence to excuse themselves. On the ground,
Speaker 1: peasants and merchants elbowed each other to try to get
Speaker 1: better views. Marguerite wore black and she sat in the
Speaker 1: carriage overlooking the field where the duel would be taking place.
Speaker 1: Her husband approached her moments before he went to the field. Lady,
Speaker 1: from your accusation and in your quarrel, I am thus
Speaker 1: adventuring my life to combat Jacques Lagree. He said, you
Speaker 1: know whether my cause be loyal and true. Marguerite, knowing
Speaker 1: full well with this battle risked for both of them, replied,
Speaker 1: my lord, it is so, and you may fight securely
Speaker 1: for your cause is good. Both men that came onto
Speaker 1: the dueling ground from opposite sides, wearing full metal armor,
Speaker 1: each was armed with a lance, a long sword and
Speaker 1: at and a dagger. They each also carried with them
Speaker 1: a jug of wine, some bread coins to pay for
Speaker 1: the use of the field. And a fodder for their
Speaker 1: horse on the off chance at the battle would require
Speaker 1: them to stop for the night and then start again
Speaker 1: the next morning. Sitting on throne like chairs on raised platforms,
Speaker 1: both men swore an oath in front of the silent crowd.
Speaker 1: This was a legal proceeding. Anyone who disturbed the duel
Speaker 1: by entering the field of battle would be put to death.
Speaker 1: Anyone who disturbed the proceeding by shouting or crying out
Speaker 1: would risk losing a hand. So though the field was
Speaker 1: teeming with spectators, it was an eerie and silent place.
Speaker 1: Soon it would only be filled with the sound of horses,
Speaker 1: hoofs and clashing metal. Both men prepared, adjusting their lances,
Speaker 1: mounting their horses, and then a herald cried out, do
Speaker 1: your duty, and the duel began. They charged at each other,
Speaker 1: both with their lances drawn, and both broke their lances
Speaker 1: on the other's shield. They continued to loop around on
Speaker 1: their horses, this time swinging their battle axes at one another. Lagree,
Speaker 1: the stronger man was able to get a killing blow
Speaker 1: with his axe to the neck of Caruge's horse, but Cauge,
Speaker 1: leaping safely from his dying mount, was able to kill
Speaker 1: Agrees horse from the ground. Now the men were facing
Speaker 1: off on foot with their long swords. Carug slipped and
Speaker 1: fell to the ground, and Lagree approached and managed to
Speaker 1: stab him in the thigh. But even bleeding and writhing
Speaker 1: in pain, John was determined. Still on the ground, his
Speaker 1: thigh in open wound, he grabbed Lagree by his armor
Speaker 1: and pulled him off balance. Lagree fell onto his back,
Speaker 1: his armor two v to allow him to rise again.
Speaker 1: Now Jean Carrouge had the upper hand. He tried to
Speaker 1: stab Lagree through his metal armor, but the plating was
Speaker 1: too thick, and so Jean straddled his enemy and used
Speaker 1: the handle of his small dagger to break the face
Speaker 1: plate on the front of Lagrez's helmet. With his sharp
Speaker 1: dagger inches from Lagree's eye, Jean Carorouge asked Lagree to
Speaker 1: confess what he did in the name of God, and
Speaker 1: on the peril and damnation of my soul, I am innocent,
Speaker 1: Jacques Lagree responded. Jean Carrouge didn't need to hear anything else.
Speaker 1: He stabbed Lagree in the neck and killed him. Stumbling,
Speaker 1: he rose to his feet. Have I done my duty?
Speaker 1: He asked? The court. Still shaking, he pulled off his
Speaker 1: helmet and knelt before the king. For his victory, King
Speaker 1: Charles gifted him a thousand livres and an annual income
Speaker 1: of two dred livres a year. Still weary, woozy, and exhausted,
Speaker 1: caruge was cleaned up and he went to greet his wife. Together,
Speaker 1: they rode in the carriage to Notre Dame in Paris,
Speaker 1: where they knelt in prayer side by side to thank
Speaker 1: God for their victory. Winning the judicial duel would make
Speaker 1: Jean Carouge something of a national celebrity. He would receive
Speaker 1: another six thousand livres in gold, and the king would
Speaker 1: give him a prestigious position in the royal household as
Speaker 1: a chevalier donner or a bodyguard for the king. It
Speaker 1: was a raise both in income and in social standing.
Speaker 1: If you happen to recall from the episode on Charles
Speaker 1: the sixth and his madness, later in Charless life, he
Speaker 1: would have an episode of madness in the woods, lashing
Speaker 1: out at those around him. John would actually be one
Speaker 1: of those men who at the time managed to subdue him.
Speaker 1: Jehan would continue to try to get the estate a
Speaker 1: new le foucant again and again the estate that he
Speaker 1: had so desperately wanted for so long. But Count Pierre
Speaker 1: would never yield, and he would never forgive Jean Carrouge
Speaker 1: for killing his friend Jacques Lagree. As for Jacques, after
Speaker 1: he died on the battlefield, his corpse was dragged to
Speaker 1: the gallows. He already dead, was hanged. Hanging after all
Speaker 1: was the sentence for rape, and by virtue of losing
Speaker 1: the duel, Jacques Lagree had been found guilty. That's the
Speaker 1: story of the bloody trial by combat between Jean Carrouge
Speaker 1: and Jacques Lagree. But keep listening after a brief sponsor
Speaker 1: break to hear a little bit more about how the
Speaker 1: story has been told throughout history. And on a quick
Speaker 1: personal note, I just want to thank everyone who's supported
Speaker 1: the show and listened to it. I've had a wonderful
Speaker 1: year getting to create these stories and write them and
Speaker 1: read them, and I'm looking forward to being able to
Speaker 1: continue doing it in two. If you want to support
Speaker 1: the show, we have a Patreon, Patreon dot com slash
Speaker 1: Noble Blood Tales where I publish episode scripts for the
Speaker 1: episodes and also do mini series. I'm going over episode
Speaker 1: by episode with my friends of the Showtime show The
Speaker 1: Tutors and the c W show Rain. Also, if you
Speaker 1: want to support me, I have a book available for preorder.
Speaker 1: It's a young adult novel called Anatomy, a love story
Speaker 1: about the dawn of surgery in nineteen century Edinburgh. And
Speaker 1: if you're interested sort of in the bloody history of
Speaker 1: this podcast, I really think it will interest you. Also,
Speaker 1: I think there are a few spots left on the
Speaker 1: common grounds Pilgrimage that I'm leading this spring to London
Speaker 1: and Sussex discussing Mary Shelley and Frankenstein. I am so excited.
Speaker 1: It's an amazing company that I'm doing it with. It's
Speaker 1: a few days of just reading and walking and talking
Speaker 1: and writing. There's a link to sign up in the
Speaker 1: episode bio. The duel between Jean Carrouge and Jacques Lagris
Speaker 1: was infamous. In the generations to come, there would be
Speaker 1: countless accounts of what had taken place, in addition to
Speaker 1: countless scholars and legal minds who attempted to figure out
Speaker 1: whether Jacques Lagar was actually guilty or whether he was
Speaker 1: falsely accused. Two religious chronicles recount a story about Marguerite
Speaker 1: on her deathbed confessing that the rape had actually been
Speaker 1: at the hands of another man. But those stories are
Speaker 1: just hearsay and conjecture, and there's no real evidence of that.
Speaker 1: Even still, up until the nineteen seventies, the Encyclopedia Britannica
Speaker 1: published those claims in their account of the trial, which
Speaker 1: was described in their entry for the word duel. Even now,
Speaker 1: certain aspects of the story as it's retold aren't exactly true.
Speaker 1: Take the title of the brand new Ridley Scott film
Speaker 1: about this event and the book it was based on,
Speaker 1: the Last Duel. Though this was one of the last
Speaker 1: major trials by combat, the actual last duel in France
Speaker 1: would be two hundred years later in fifte Noble Blood
Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and
Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Minky. The show was written and hosted
Speaker 1: by Dana Schwartz. Executive producers include Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams,
Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. The show is produced by rema Ill
Speaker 1: Kali and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is on social media
Speaker 1: at Noble Blood Tales, and you can learn more about
Speaker 1: the show over at Noble Blood Tales dot com. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.