Reviews tagging 'Gore'
The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager
2 reviews
linddykal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Gore, Violence, and Sexual violence
catherine_t's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-paced
5.0
In 1386, at the height of the Hundred Years' War, a French knight, Jean de Carrouges, accused a squire, Jacques Le Gris, of brutally raping his wife, Marguerite. When his lord, Count Pierre, ruled in favour of Le Gris (a court favourite), Carrouges went to the king and the Parlement in Paris, where he demanded a trial by combat: a judicial duel.
This is history that reads like a novel. Jager gives the reader a ripping story, building from Carrouges' and Le Gris' earlier days to the climactic moment when the two men face each other on the field of battle. I had a hard time putting it down.
The sad thing is, though Marguerite is central to the story, because she left no written record herself, she is something of a cipher. Even her testimony at the trial isn't recorded. Jager has pieced together what evidence there is and gives us at least a little something to hold onto as we read.
This is a slim volume, but it's a story--a history--well told.
This is history that reads like a novel. Jager gives the reader a ripping story, building from Carrouges' and Le Gris' earlier days to the climactic moment when the two men face each other on the field of battle. I had a hard time putting it down.
The sad thing is, though Marguerite is central to the story, because she left no written record herself, she is something of a cipher. Even her testimony at the trial isn't recorded. Jager has pieced together what evidence there is and gives us at least a little something to hold onto as we read.
This is a slim volume, but it's a story--a history--well told.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gore
Moderate: Rape
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