13. Carrouges claimed his former friend raped Marguerite while he was absent in Paris
In early 1386, Jean de Carrouges traveled to Paris, hoping to obtain funds owed to him from his most recent military campaign. Marguerite did not travel to Paris with him. In January, Le Gris first heard that Carrouges had accused him of raping Marguerite. According to Marguerite, a servant of Le Gris’s, Adam Louvel, entered the home of Carrouges’ mother, where she had been staying and announced Le Gris was outside. When she declined to receive him, Le Gris and Louvel forcibly entered the home, where Marguerite was alone, and the former raped her with Louvel’s assistance. There were no servants in the house, they were attending Carrouges’ mother as she attended to business in another town. Carrouges demanded a trial in the Court of Count Pierre, though Marguerite refused to appear.
She argued that Count Pierre’s decision would be foreordained, with Le Gris being exonerated. She was correct. Count Pierre found Marguerite’s tale implausible and cleared Le Gris. Carrouges then took his complaint to the Court of King Charles VI, demanding his right of trial by combat. The King ordered the case to be heard before the Parlement of Paris, a body of nobles and churchmen. There, the visibly pregnant Marguerite related her story. The learned men of the medical profession announced to the court that pregnancy was immaterial to the case, as it was impossible for a woman to become pregnant as a result of a rape. Although there is evidence that Le Gris’s own lawyer, Jean le Coq, considered his client guilty of the charge, Le Gris insisted he was innocent. When Carrouges demanded his right of trial by combat before the court, Le Gris accepted.