The Real Life Trial By Combat | 60 Seconds Fantasy

Some of the most dramatic moments in George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire are trials by combat. Ritualized duels between an accuser and the accused, or their champions, meant to determine guilt or innocence as judged by the gods. But were trials by combat ever a real thing? Well, the answer is yes. Judicial duels formed part of early medieval legal traditions in France, the Holy Roman Empire, and in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066, particularly when evidence was inconclusive. Much like in Game of Thrones, their outcomes were legally binding, based on the belief that God would grant victory to the party in the right. The most famous and well-documented trial by combat took place in France in 1386, sanctioned by King Charles VI, following an accusation of rape against Jacques Le Gris that could not be resolved through normal legal means. Le Gris was accused by Jean de Carouche of having raped his wife Marguerite. To settle the case, the French parliament ordered a trial by combat, with Marguerite facing execution by burning for perjury should her husband live. The duel, held in a field near a local abbey, drew thousands of spectators, and was even delayed so the king could personally attend, what became known as the event of the century. Both combatants, clad in full-plate armour and armed with lance, sword and badlaxe, swore oaths before God and King, repeating their accusations before mounting their warhorses. The fight opened with a series of mounted charges. Both men proved evenly matched in the joust, breaking free lances before engaging each other on horseback with badlaxes, trading savage two-handed blows. Eventually, Le Gris' superior strength told, and he severed the spine of Carouche's horse, sending him crashing to the ground. Carouche, however, sidestepped Le Gris' follow-up charge and drove a pike into the belly of his opponent's horse. Fighting on foot, Le Gris again gained the advantage, piercing Carouche's thigh with his sword. Instead of delivering the killing blow, however, he made the fatal mistake of stepping back to observe his wounded accuser. Carouche seized the moment, lunged forward and threw Le Gris onto his back. Unable to rise under the weight of his armour, Le Gris was initially protected from Carouche's sword blows, but not indefinitely. Carouche battered him repeatedly until he shattered Le Gris' visor, shouting for him to confess his guilt or face eternal damnation. When Le Gris loudly proclaimed his innocence, Carouche drove his misericord dagger through his throat, killing him instantly. The crowd erupted, the king greeted the victim and Carouche went on to fame and wealth, while Le Gris' body was displayed alongside common murderers and later buried in a commoner's grave. As European legal systems became more codified in the late Middle Ages, trials by combat faded away, although the last one occurred in England in 1818.