The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France

When the French decide to counterattack England through Scotland with the help of the Scottish king, Carrouges decides to join the expedition. Jager speculates Carrouges was hoping to profit from loot taken from England, possibly earn a knighthood, and “abandon for a while the scene of his recent embarrassments at Count Pierre’s court in Argentan” (42). However, it was a risky venture for Carrouges since after five years of marriage Marguerite had still not given birth to an heir. Still, Carrouges departed for Scotland, and while he was gone Marguerite stayed at her father’s estate, Fontaine-le-Sorel.

From the start, the campaign in Scotland led by Admiral Jean de Vienne went poorly, in no small part because King Robert of Scotland was reluctant to work with the French. Still, Carrouges was part of the army that looted the lands of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland in northern England. “As fear and alarm galloped everywhere, Jean de Carrouges and his comrades threw themselves into the maelstrom of war, slaughtering enemy soldiers and civilians alike, seizing livestock, and carrying off any valuables” (47). The English counterattacked and pillaged and burned the Scottish capital of Edinburgh and other Scottish lands. While still pillaging northern England, the Scots and French forces were defeated.