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The last duel : a true story of crime, scandal, and trial by combat in medieval France / Eric Jager.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Broadway Books, 2005Copyright date: ©2004Edition: First trade paperback editionDescription: 242 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780767914178
  • 0767914171
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Author's note -- Prologue -- Part one. Carrouges -- The feud -- Battle and siege -- The crime of crimes -- The challenge -- The inquiry -- Part two. The judgment of God -- Oaths and last words -- Mortal combat -- Convent and crusade -- Epilogue -- Appendix : The quarrel's aftermath.
Summary: The gripping, atmospheric true story of the "duel to end all duels" in medieval France: a trial by combat pitting a knight against a squire accused of violating the knight's beautiful young wife. In 1386, a few days after Christmas, a massive crowd gathered at a Paris monastery to watch the two men fight a duel to the death - a trial by combat meant to 'prove' which man's cause was right in God's sight. The dramatic true story of the knight, the squire, and the lady unfolds during the tumultuous fourteenth century, a time of war, plague, and anarchy, as well as of honour, chivalry, and courtly love. The notorious quarrel appears in many histories of France, but no writer has recounted it in full, until now.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 394.8 J24 Available 33111010781447
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE * "A taut page-turner with all the hallmarks of a good historical thriller."-- Orlando Sentinel

The gripping true story of the duel to end all duels in medieval France as a resolute knight defends his wife's honor against the man she accuses of a heinous crime

In the midst of the devastating Hundred Years' War between France and England, Jean de Carrouges, a Norman knight fresh from combat in Scotland, returns home to yet another deadly threat. His wife, Marguerite, has accused squire Jacques Le Gris of rape. A deadlocked court decrees a trial by combat between the two men that will also leave Marguerite's fate in the balance. For if her husband loses the duel, she will be put to death as a false accuser.

While enemy troops pillage the land, and rebellion and plague threaten the lives of all, Carrouges and Le Gris meet in full armor on a walled field in Paris. What follows is the final duel ever authorized by the Parlement of Paris, a fierce fight with lance, sword, and dagger before a massive crowd that includes the teenage King Charles VI, during which both combatants are wounded--but only one fatally.

Based on extensive research in Normandy and Paris, The Last Duel brings to life a colorful, turbulent age and three unforgettable characters caught in a fatal triangle of crime, scandal, and revenge. The Last Duel is at once a moving human drama, a captivating true crime story, and an engrossing work of historical intrigue with themes that echo powerfully centuries later.

"Soon to be a major motion picture" -- Cover.

"A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2004 by Broadway Books"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-233) and index.

Author's note -- Prologue -- Part one. Carrouges -- The feud -- Battle and siege -- The crime of crimes -- The challenge -- The inquiry -- Part two. The judgment of God -- Oaths and last words -- Mortal combat -- Convent and crusade -- Epilogue -- Appendix : The quarrel's aftermath.

The gripping, atmospheric true story of the "duel to end all duels" in medieval France: a trial by combat pitting a knight against a squire accused of violating the knight's beautiful young wife. In 1386, a few days after Christmas, a massive crowd gathered at a Paris monastery to watch the two men fight a duel to the death - a trial by combat meant to 'prove' which man's cause was right in God's sight. The dramatic true story of the knight, the squire, and the lady unfolds during the tumultuous fourteenth century, a time of war, plague, and anarchy, as well as of honour, chivalry, and courtly love. The notorious quarrel appears in many histories of France, but no writer has recounted it in full, until now.

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