An interesting account of the last sanctioned duel in 14th century France between two former friends. It’s just a pity the author chose to tell this tale via facts and information as opposed to using the intriguing events to fashion a great historical fiction novel.
This is merely a personal opinion. It takes nothing away from the fact that the author has thoroughly researched the source material, only joining the dots or making assumptions when needed (due to there being no surviving documents available).
It begins with two squires — Jean De Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris — jostling for power, land, and favour from their feudal superior. Eventually, Carrouges petty spite and inability to play the political game as well as his rival soon spirals the rivalry out of control.
After embarrassing Le Gris in front of his peers on his return from an ill-fated expedition to Scotland, Carrouges leaves his wife in the company of his mother while he travels to court. Le Gris soon seeks revenge by viciously assaulting Carrouges’s wife in the most heinous fashion and thus begins the journey to the last sanctioned duel in France.
The author does a decent job of mapping out the French legal system. Both combatants pledge themselves to a battle to the death where the loser’s soul will burn for all eternity in the fires of hell (in Carrouges’s case, if killed his wife joins him via burning at the stake).
If you’re in need of some fact-based history, I’d give it a read. It’s only 200 pages and didn’t take long to rattle through. As I’ve stated, it’s just a shame the tale isn’t a historical fiction. Although, with Ridley Scott adapting it into a movie, it’ll be interesting to see if he manages to portray the two combatants as anything other than the self-serving men the author painted them out to be.
Graeme J Greenan 