Carrouges brought legal proceedings against Le Gris before King Charles VI who, after hearing the evidence, authorised a trial by combat to determine the question.

When Count Pierre moved his court to Argentan, Le Gris lent him 3,000 livres and, in reward, was confirmed as Seigneur (Lord) of Exmes, and given a valuable estate at Aunou-le-Faucon.

Carrouges had returned from the wars with a new bride, Marguerite de Thibouville, daughter of a controversial Norman squire who, until recently, had owned Aunou.

The eventual result was that Carrouges was isolated from the court and subjected to three years of legal struggles over land with Count Pierre, who denied him the purchase or inheritance of several estates.

[9] A rapprochement between the two men was achieved in the winter of 1384, when Carrouges and Le Gris were both invited to the estate of a mutual friend, Jean Crespin, to celebrate the birth of his son.

[13] According to Marguerite de Carrouges' testimony, a squire in Le Gris' employ named Adam Louvel had knocked on the door of the chateau and demanded entry.

All the servants were attending to Dame Nicole de Carrouges, who was visiting a neighbouring town on legal business, and so Marguerite was alone when Louvel called.

Each stepped before the Parlement in turn and presented their case for the King and court, Carrouges throwing down his gauntlet in a challenge and Le Gris picking it up, signifying his acceptance of the duel.

[18] Following the declarations, a number of high-ranking noblemen stepped forward to act as seconds in the duel for both men, including Waleran of Saint-Pol for Carrouges and Philip of Artois, Count of Eu for Le Gris.

As people of low birth, Louvel and the servants were all subject to torture to test the veracity of their testimony, but none gave evidence against Le Gris and the case continued through the summer and into September without conclusion.

[21] Le Gris then provided alibis for the entire week in question, establishing his whereabouts in testimony backed up by several other squires of the court of Count Pierre.

Finally, he attempted to demonstrate in court that it was physically impossible for him to have ridden in winter from Argentan to Capomesnil, where the crime supposedly took place, in a single day, a round trip of approximately 50 miles (80 km).

Finally, Carrouges himself offered counter-testimony in court that a healthy, strong man with long experience of horsemanship and a stable full of horses like Le Gris could certainly have made the 50 mile trip without difficulty, even accounting for the snow.

[23] Faced with such conflicting accounts and unable to reach a conclusion, the Parlement announced on 15 September that the two men would fight to the death on 27 November 1386 to decide guilt in the case.

[13] King Charles VI, who was on campaign with his court in Flanders, ordered the duel to be postponed until 29 December as he did not want to miss what was rapidly becoming the event of the season.

According to the chronicles, the claimants entered the field last and before all present repeated their accusations against the other and swore oaths guaranteeing their honesty before the King, Parliament, and God.

At the marshal's signal, silence descended over the field and both knights spurred their horses and charged, their lances each striking the other's shield but not causing significant damage.

[28] Again, Le Gris' superior strength gave him an advantage, pushing Carrouges back before thrusting his blade through his opponent's thigh.

His son Guillaume Le Gris paid over 200 francs for masses to be said for his father, "a man of noble memory," and continued to pay similar sums for at least ten years after his death.

[31] Count Pierre too retained favourable memories of his advisor, taking revenge by blocking Carrouges' efforts to purchase more land or expand his influence in Normandy.

[15] The duel was one of the last trials by combat ever permitted by the Parlement de Paris or the French Kings and the guilt or innocence of its participants has been a source of great debate among historians and jurists.

[6] During the Enlightenment, the duel was revisited by Boucher d'Argis, who repeated this story of the anonymous criminal's confession in Diderot's Encyclopédie, and by Voltaire in his Histoire du Parlement de Paris.

[33] Legal studies conducted in the 2000s by French jurists generally considered it likely that Le Gris was the real culprit based on Marguerite's evidence, although none, of course, could prove so conclusively.