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Reviews tagging 'Rape'
The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager
12 reviews
eliasaurus's review against another edition
informative
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Violence
geenween's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence and Rape
berylbird's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
4.0
More fascinating than I expected, I was caught up in the history and the plot. Jean de Carrouges defends his wife, the Lady Marguerite's honor in what is known as the last duel. In actuality, the last duel was fought in 1547. Marguerite charges that Jean de Carrouges's one-time friend, Jacques Le Gris, raped her while her husband was away. At the time Marguerite was staying with her mother-in-law. Nicole, the mother-in-law had left for a few hours with all the household servants save one, who could not be found at the time of the crime. The history of how the two men had fallen out and become enemies, then reconciled at a friend's party with Carrouges insisting his wife, Marguerite kiss Le Gris in the spirit of reconciliation, then later becoming embittered again, makes for intriguing reading. The pages fly by.
The report of the duel itself is most captivating. People had to keep silent under threat of death for calling out, quite unlike spectator sports today. Of course, a man's life is at stake, for the duel is a fight to the death. During this time (the 1380s), it was believed that whoever survived the duel was shown by God to be the truthteller and the man that died was shown to be the criminal. Afterwards, the fallen man's body is dragged through the streets. Author Eric Jager shows the strengths and weaknesses of each man. Carrouges, a smaller man, has more military experience. Le Gris, a larger and stronger man, had enough wealth to choose a more expensive warhorse. Both men wore the same weapons. "The combatants already wore swords and daggers on their belts, and each had slung his second, longer sword from a saddle-ring, along with his ax. The unwieldy lance, left for last, was seized from the saddle and rammed upright into its fewter." Charles VI bade Marguerite climb onto a scaffold to watch the duel and where she can be seen by all the spectators. If Carrouges does not survive the duel, she is to be burned at the stake.
This is a compelling history.
The report of the duel itself is most captivating. People had to keep silent under threat of death for calling out, quite unlike spectator sports today. Of course, a man's life is at stake, for the duel is a fight to the death. During this time (the 1380s), it was believed that whoever survived the duel was shown by God to be the truthteller and the man that died was shown to be the criminal. Afterwards, the fallen man's body is dragged through the streets. Author Eric Jager shows the strengths and weaknesses of each man. Carrouges, a smaller man, has more military experience. Le Gris, a larger and stronger man, had enough wealth to choose a more expensive warhorse. Both men wore the same weapons. "The combatants already wore swords and daggers on their belts, and each had slung his second, longer sword from a saddle-ring, along with his ax. The unwieldy lance, left for last, was seized from the saddle and rammed upright into its fewter." Charles VI bade Marguerite climb onto a scaffold to watch the duel and where she can be seen by all the spectators. If Carrouges does not survive the duel, she is to be burned at the stake.
This is a compelling history.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Violence
have_a_doris_day's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death, and Misogyny
katie_brady's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
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
sba2x's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
khlystmaniac's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, and Violence
yuna's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Interesting moments, and I'm curious to see what departures the film takes from the book. Did read a bit slow and felt like it was padded out in places to hit book length.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Rape, and Animal death
tatiannaskye's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Going into this book I didn’t know what to expect, maybe a nonfiction book that read like fiction but I was totally wrong. The book itself was very informative, though was somewhat confusing in some places. Not gonna lie there were times where I was like, “what the fuck am I reading”, but there were also times where I was like, “holy shit that’s insane”. Overall the book was both a hit and miss, it had great parts and terrible parts. Was it worth reading? Yes. Would I read it again? Mmm maybe (it depends). All jokes aside, I am glad I read this book before watching the movie (even though I have yet to watch the movie, but I’ll probably update this review when I do)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Animal death, Torture, War, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Death
Just a lot of stuff you’d imagine in the last 1300s.