Few directors have achieved as much success in the modern era by swinging swords on-screen as Ridley Scott. From Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven to Robin Hood and Exodus: Gods and Kings, the Oscar winner has shown immense talent and interest in this primal form of combat. His new movie, The Last Duel, is no exception, showcasing the true story of the last duel sanctioned by the King of France. And more than 700 years later, the battle for the truth behind this historical moment is far from over.
The movie tells the story of French nobleman Sir Jean de Carrouges IV, played by Matt Damon, who battled his neighbor and former rival, Adam Driver’s Sir Jacque Le Gris in trial by combat for allegedly raping and impregnating his wife, Marguerite, in late January 1386 -- a charge Le Gris denied. The first criminal trial ended with Le Gris' acquittal, as the local judge was said to be a friend and sympathetic to Le Gris. The judge then accused Marguerite of making up the story. So convinced it would be a sham trial, Carrouges and his wife didn’t even testify. Instead, he traveled to Paris to appeal to the Parliament and the King.
The Parliament held a trial and heard evidence in the summer of 1386. Still, the lack of other noble witnesses undermined the case, despite compelling and powerful testimony from the pregnant knight’s wife. Lower-class servants questioned at the trial had to be tortured first to ensure they weren’t lying but could support Le Gris’ guilt. The Parliament struggled to reach a verdict.
Carrouges eventually felt the only way to gain justice for his wife, rather than risk Le Gris getting away scot-free, was to seek a "judicial duel." It would be a fight to the death against Le Gris to let God decide who was telling the truth. If Carrouges lost and died, his wife would also be burned alive at the stake for lying. France’s King Charles VI and the Parliament of Paris eventually sanctioned the duel. The prominent Le Gris could have pushed for a final judgment in a church trial instead, which would not have resulted in anyone's death. However, the experienced warrior accepted the terms to battle his nemesis.
Almost a year after the alleged assault, the two men fought before a huge crowd in Paris and the Royal Court, including the King. Parisians watched as they relentlessly engaged in a fierce and bloody battle in late December. When it was finally over, Le Gris was dead. But the controversy didn't die with him. The wealthy Le Gris had hired one of France’s most prominent lawyers at the time, Jean Le Coq, whose detailed records from the case have been the basis for much of the writing about this historical event. As a result, the case has been debated ever since, and its place in French history solidified.
Not long after the dramatic event, the French King banned dueling. Partly because rich, ego-bruised aristocrats were exceptionally good at stabbing and slashing themselves to death out of an elitist sense of pride and duty. But the violent self-culling of the upper-crusted, blue-blood males of French high society was taking an unacceptable toll.
The old Norse and Germanic legal traditions of judicial dueling, which slowly spread across medieval Europe over 1000 years ago, could easily claim over 100 noblemen a year in some countries. So the official practice of legally sanctioned duel’s ended in France, at least for several hundred years. When the French Revolution deposed King Louis XIV and the people’s revolt over-tuned many Royal decrees, they tossed out the ban on deadly dueling.
At the time of the famous 14th-century duel, Le Gris had some notoriety. Not everyone in the crowd was against him. While the majority of the mob and the royals cheered his eventual death and the desecration of his corpse, Le Gris’ supporters and relatives kept up the fight to clear his name. The trial was still being fought in the public eye right up until the end of the 19th century. It’s when the last living relative of Le Gris published a book advocating his ancestor's innocence (although most historians feel Le Gris was likely guilty). While the controversial case is still discussed to this day, it's Ridley Scott who appears poised for victory based on The Last Duel's trailer.
Originally scheduled to open in December 2020, The Last Duel is now set to arrive in theaters on Oct. 15.