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verydazedragon's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
The duel was interesting, but I feel like the book should have ended when the duel did. There was a lot of superfluous details that didn’t necessarily lend context to the story. Could have been better.
pharoah's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great read. I appreciated the insight to the times and how people were then, compared to now and how some things change while other things are pretty much the same. I found the tale fascinating and would recommend anyone read it - to learn about something you didn't know before? why not?
timgrubbs's review against another edition
medium-paced
5.0
Story of the most extreme type of legal dispute…to the death…
The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager follows the history of the last legally sanctioned duel in medieval France.
This book was wonderful. I liked the movie it inspired a lot, but the book had so much added detail.
To start, it sets the stage for love during this period of medieval France with constant wars with England, the history of Jean de Carrouges’s family, and other relevant notes on the period. The book is peppered with reproductions of art, locations, and even documentation relevent to the story.
From there we begin the long suffering life of Jean de Carrouges, his many struggles to live up to his family, his military experience, and his difficulty at being successful in life. The movie omitted a few details of his background as well as other events depicted in the movie (showing a few things out of context or in the wrong order but that doesn’t detract from the overall story and it’s not a significant issue).
Jean de Carrouges’s story intertwines with that of Jacques Les Gris, a colleague at court and eventual rival in the local community. We don’t get a huge. Backstory for Les Gris, only the aftermath of his rise in status seemingly at the same time de Carrouges continues to decline.
A sizable section is then given to the story of Jean de Carrouges wife Marguerite (with her family story and matrimony covered earlier) and the first encounter with Jacques Les Gris, followed by the events surrounding the rape that led to the duel in the title.
There’s a lot of time given to French law of the time, how de Carrouges and his allies made their plans, lots of name drops of various folks involved, and every step of the way that Carrouges could legally request a trail by combat as a means of “justice”. It’s very interesting how long and complicated the situation is, as well as the breakdown of major events that impacted dueling laws as well as how the nobles in France needed to go about pursuing legal matters civilly or criminally.
Finally…the duel itself, with coverage of those involved, the rules for both the audience and participants (no standing or shouting is a big rule), and what each knight was armed with. The chapter breaks down the key parts of the combat and eventual victor.
A sizable epilogue chapter covers the survivors, the French involvement in the crusades, and how they are remembered in documentation.
All very interesting form an honor, legal, and medieval standpoint.
I highly recommend both the book and movie.
The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager follows the history of the last legally sanctioned duel in medieval France.
This book was wonderful. I liked the movie it inspired a lot, but the book had so much added detail.
To start, it sets the stage for love during this period of medieval France with constant wars with England, the history of Jean de Carrouges’s family, and other relevant notes on the period. The book is peppered with reproductions of art, locations, and even documentation relevent to the story.
From there we begin the long suffering life of Jean de Carrouges, his many struggles to live up to his family, his military experience, and his difficulty at being successful in life. The movie omitted a few details of his background as well as other events depicted in the movie (showing a few things out of context or in the wrong order but that doesn’t detract from the overall story and it’s not a significant issue).
Jean de Carrouges’s story intertwines with that of Jacques Les Gris, a colleague at court and eventual rival in the local community. We don’t get a huge. Backstory for Les Gris, only the aftermath of his rise in status seemingly at the same time de Carrouges continues to decline.
A sizable section is then given to the story of Jean de Carrouges wife Marguerite (with her family story and matrimony covered earlier) and the first encounter with Jacques Les Gris, followed by the events surrounding the rape that led to the duel in the title.
There’s a lot of time given to French law of the time, how de Carrouges and his allies made their plans, lots of name drops of various folks involved, and every step of the way that Carrouges could legally request a trail by combat as a means of “justice”. It’s very interesting how long and complicated the situation is, as well as the breakdown of major events that impacted dueling laws as well as how the nobles in France needed to go about pursuing legal matters civilly or criminally.
Finally…the duel itself, with coverage of those involved, the rules for both the audience and participants (no standing or shouting is a big rule), and what each knight was armed with. The chapter breaks down the key parts of the combat and eventual victor.
A sizable epilogue chapter covers the survivors, the French involvement in the crusades, and how they are remembered in documentation.
All very interesting form an honor, legal, and medieval standpoint.
I highly recommend both the book and movie.