Summary of Eric Jager's The Last Duel

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The idea for this book first occurred to me ten years ago while reading a medieval account of the legendary quarrel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris. I traveled to Normandy and Paris to explore manuscript archives and experience the places where the drama unfolded more than six hundred years ago.
#2 In 1386, thousands of people packed a large open space behind a monastery in Paris to watch two knights fight a duel to the death. The beautiful woman was about to be put to death for having sworn a false oath.
#3 The Middle Ages were a time of constant warfare between Europe’s feuding monarchs. The frequent wars among Europe’s feuding monarchs reduced towns and farmland to smoking ruins, killed or starved the people, and left rulers with huge debts that they paid by raising taxes.
#4 The Kingdom of France, located in Europe, was the center of feudalism. It had endured for nearly ten centuries, but was now desperately fighting for its survival. The English invaded France in 1339, beginning the long, ruinous conflict that would be known as the Hundred Years’ War.

Sujets

• medieval
• Military

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 22 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669357827
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Eric Jager's The Last Duel
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The idea for this book first occurred to me ten years ago while reading a medieval account of the legendary quarrel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris. I traveled to Normandy and Paris to explore manuscript archives and experience the places where the drama unfolded more than six hundred years ago.

#2

In 1386, thousands of people packed a large open space behind a monastery in Paris to watch two knights fight a duel to the death. The beautiful woman was about to be put to death for having sworn a false oath.

#3

The Middle Ages were a time of constant warfare between Europe’s feuding monarchs. The frequent wars among Europe’s feuding monarchs reduced towns and farmland to smoking ruins, killed or starved the people, and left rulers with huge debts that they paid by raising taxes.

#4

The Kingdom of France, located in Europe, was the center of feudalism. It had endured for nearly ten centuries, but was now desperately fighting for its survival. The English invaded France in 1339, beginning the long, ruinous conflict that would be known as the Hundred Years’ War.

#5

In the autumn of 1380, King Charles V died, leaving the realm to his eleven-year-old son, Charles VI. France was then just two-thirds its modern size and less a unified nation than a loose patchwork of separate fiefdoms.

#6

The feudal system was based on land. Land was the most enduring thing a man could pass down to his heirs, and it was the primary source of the nobility’s wealth, power, and prestige.

#7

The Carrouges family, according to legend, was born out of blood and violence. One story tells of an ancestor named Count Ralph who fell in love with a sorceress and kept trysts with her near a fountain in a forest glade. His jealous wife surprised the two lovers with a dagger.

#8

The Carrouges family had a violent past, but by 1380, Jean IV had come into part of his inheritance, including some rent-producing land, at 21. He had to ensure the survival of the family name and pass the estate on to his own heir.

#9

Jean IV’s inheritance included the castle and lands at Carrouges, as well as his father’s captaincy at Bellême and his prestigious post as viscount. He enhanced his wealth and status through a strategic marriage.

#10

Count Pierre of Alençon was one of the richest and most powerful barons in France. He was a cousin to many kings. In 1363, he was sent to England as a hostage along with other young French nobles to ensure the payment of King Jean’s ransom.

#11

Jean III and his father, as Count Pierre’s newly sworn vassals, made frequent visits to Argentan to attend the seigneurial court and take part in military call-ups. Jean III spent most of his time at Bellême, where he was captain of the fortress, and married.

#12

The friendship between Jacques Le Gris and Jean de Carrouges went back many years, and when Le Gris received a very generous gift of land from Count Pierre, his rival, Jean de Carrouges, suffered a calamitous loss.

#13

The Cotentin campaign took Jean de Carrouges all over the peninsula, from northeast Beuzeville to south Carentan. He met many young women during his travels, and tried to find a suitable bride. He wanted a bride who was of noble descent and wealthy, with a dowry that would enrich him and his estate.

#14

In 1380, France crowned a new king, Jean de Carrouges, who had ended his quest for a new wife. His second wife, Marguerite, was a beautiful and virtuous woman.