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Sir Jean de Carrouges IV (c. 1330s – 25 September 1396) was a fourteenth-century French knight who governed estates in Normandy as a vassal of Count Pierre d'Alençon and served under Admiral Jean de Vienne in several campaigns against the English and the forces of the Ottoman Empire. He became infamous in medieval France for fighting in the last judicial duel permitted by the French king and the Parlement of Paris. The combat was decreed in 1386 to contest charges of rape Carrouges had brought against his neighbour and erstwhile friend Jacques Le Gris on behalf of his wife Marguerite. It was attended by much of the highest French nobility of the time led by King Charles VI and his family, including a number of royal dukes. It was also attended by thousands of ordinary Parisians and in the ensuing decades was chronicled by such notable medieval historians as Jean Froissart, Jean Juvénal des Ursins and Jehan de Waurin. Described in the chronicles as a rash and temperamental man, Carrouges was also a fierce and brave warrior whose death in battle came after a forty-year military career in which he served in Normandy, Scotland and Hungary with distinction and success. He was also heavily involved in court politics, initially at the seat of his overlord Count Pierre of Alençon at Argentan, but later in the politics of the Royal household at Paris, to which he was attached as a ''chevalier d'honneur'' and Royal bodyguard in the years following the judicial duel. During his life he conducted a long trail of legal and financial dealings which infuriated his contemporaries and may have invited violence against himself and his family. The truth of the events which led him into public mortal combat in the Paris suburbs may never be known, but the legend is still debated and discussed 600 years later. ==Early life== Carrouges was born in the late 1330s in the village of Saint-Marguerite-de-Carrouges as the eldest son of knight and minor noble Sir Jean de Carrouges III and his wife Nicole de Buchard.〔Typically for the period, Jean de Carrouges' name is subject to an array of spellings: Froissart calls him "Jean de Caronge" (sometimes anglicised in translation to John) while the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' calls him "Jean Carrouge". Other sources, including the ''Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys'', use "Jean de Carrouges", as does Jager, whose wide range of research indicates this to be the correct spelling.〕 Carrouges III was an influential man in lower Normandy, being a vassal of the Count of Perche and a veteran soldier in his service.〔Jager, p.11〕 Carrouges III had been rewarded for his long military service in the Hundred Years War with a knighthood and the title of Viscount of Bellême, a rank that came with command of a vital hill castle overlooking the town as well as the role of sheriff in the vicinity, a post carrying significant financial and social rewards.〔Jager, p.16〕 Carrouges IV grew up within his father's domain, centred around the village of Carrouges where the family maintained their own hereditary castle.〔Jager, p.14〕 He followed his father into the armed service of the Counts of Perche and served in several minor campaigns against the English and ''routiers'' in Normandy. Following his majority at age 21, he was given a parcel of the family lands to administer and became interested in solidifying and expanding the family holdings. In 1367 the family castle and the village of Carrouges were destroyed by English soldiers and a new castle was built on a hilltop nearby, under instructions from Charles V of France.〔 In the early 1370s, Carrouges IV married Jeanne de Tilly, a daughter of the Lord of Chambois whose dowry included lands and rents vital to Carrouges' ambition of expanding his family estates. Shortly after their wedding Jeanne gave birth to a son, whose godfather was a neighbour and close friend of de Carrouges, Squire Jacques Le Gris. In 1377, Pierre d'Alençon inherited his brother Robert's county of Perche and with it the castle of Bellême. In addition, he gained the fealty of his brother's vassals, including the Carrouges father and son as well as Jacques Le Gris. The younger Carrouges and Le Gris soon joined the court circle of the Count, centered around the town of Argentan.〔 It was at Argentan that the friendship between Carrouges and Le Gris began to deteriorate, as Le Gris rapidly became a favourite of Count Pierre. While Carrouges was overlooked, Le Gris was rewarded for service to the Count, inheriting his father's lordship of the castle at Exmes and being granted a newly purchased estate at Arnou-le-Faucon. Carrouges became jealous of his friend and the two men soon became rivals at the court.〔Jager, p.20〕 A year after entering Count Pierre's service, tragedy struck Carrouges as both his wife and son died of unknown but natural causes. In response, Carrouges left home and joined the service of Jean de Vienne accompanied by a retinue of nine squires.〔Jager, p.22〕 With this force, under the overall command of King Charles V, Carrouges distinguished himself in minor actions against the English in Beuzeville, Carentan and Coutances in a five-month campaign, during which over half his retinue were killed in battle or by disease.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jean de Carrouges」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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