Martin Guerre
Martin Guerre (* 1524 in Hendaye , † after 1560 ) was a French farmer in the 16th century . He disappeared without a trace, in his place, after several years, a con man pretended to be the missing person and was able to deceive both the wife and the whole environment. After the real Martin Guerre returned, the impostor was executed . The facts of the case have been the subject of numerous books and films.
Historical facts
Life before disappearing suddenly
Martin Daguerre was born in the Basque city of Hendaye around 1524 . In 1527 his family moved to Artigat , a south-west French village in the Pyrenees . There the family changed their name to Guerre. At the age of fourteen, Martin was married to Bertrande de Rols, a daughter from a wealthy family. Bertrande gave birth to a son after eight years of childless marriage. In 1548 , Martin suddenly disappeared after his father accused him of stealing grain . The Catholic law in France forbade the abandoned wife from remarrying.
Appearance of the "new Martin"
In the summer of 1556 a man appeared in Artigat who posed as Martin Guerre. He was able to convince most of the inhabitants of the village with his similar appearance and detailed knowledge of the life of Martin Guerre. His uncle, four sisters and Bertrande also believed his claims, although doubts remained. The "new" Martin Guerre lived with Bertrande and her son for three years. During this time they fathered two daughters, one of whom, however, died as a toddler. Martin claimed the inheritance from his father, who had since passed away, and sued his uncle Pierre Guerre over the inheritance.
Pierre Guerre, now married to Bertrande's widowed mother, became suspicious again and began to doubt the identity of his alleged nephew. He and his wife tried to convince Bertrande that her husband was a cheat. A soldier in Artigat claimed that the dubious Martin was an impostor. As an argument he used that the real Martin lost a leg in the war. Pierre Guerre tried to kill the "new" Martin, but Bertrande intervened and was able to prevent her stepfather from the act.
In 1559 the "new" Martin was accused of arson and of illegally impersonating Martin Guerre. During this time, Bertrande stayed by his side. In 1560 he was acquitted of the charges.
Court hearing in Rieux
In the meantime, Pierre Guerre had asked around and found out the real identity of the impostor. It was Arnaud du Tilh, a man of bad repute from the nearby village of Sajas . Pierre then opened a new trial against the new man, pretending to be acting on Bertrande's behalf. Pierre Guerre and his wife forced Bertrande to support the prosecution and they eventually gave in.
In 1560 the trial took place in Rieux . Bertrande testified that at first she really identified the stranger as her husband, but had now recognized his true identity. Bertrande and the accused man independently told an identical story about their intimate life prior to 1548 . During the trial, the defendant suddenly turned to Bertrande and asked her to comment on her previous testimony: If she could swear that he was not her husband, then he would like to consent to the execution. Bertrande remained silent. During the trial, the statements of 150 witnesses were recorded. While some of the witnesses (including the four sisters of Martin Guerre) recognized the defendant as the real Martin Guerre, the other part identified the defendant as Arnaud du Tilh. Many could not clearly determine the identity of the accused and remained neutral. Even so, the alleged Martin Guerre was sentenced to death .
Appointment in Toulouse, appearance of the real Martin
The alleged Martin Guerre immediately appealed the judgment to the parliament in Toulouse . Bertrande and Pierre were arrested on false charges and perjury. The alleged Martin was eloquent in his case, and the judges in Toulouse tended to believe his version of the story. He claimed that Bertrande was forced to perjury by her greedy stepfather, Pierre. The judges verified his statements by asking him questions about his past. The supposed Martin Guerre was able to answer all questions. His answers were carefully analyzed twice and no contradictions could be found. But before the acquittal could take place, the real Martin Guerre suddenly appeared with a wooden leg during the trial. The judges questioned both Martins about Martin Guerre's past.
The Martin with the wooden leg was better able to answer questions about his past than his opponent and also gave more details that the wrong Martin had forgotten during the questioning. The final proof was the comparison of the two Martins with the family of Martin Guerre. Pierre, Bertrande and Martin Guerre's four sisters identified the man with the wooden leg as the real Martin Guerre.
The imposter was sentenced to death for adultery and fraud. The public pronouncement of the verdict took place on September 12, 1560. While the verdict was being delivered, the false Martin continued to plead his innocence. The play was watched by the young Montaigne . At the end of the trial, Arnaud du Tilh confessed to the crime and the background to his act. After two men mistook him for Martin Guerre, he found out about Guerre's life and decided to take Guerre's place. Two co-conspirators had given him precise details about Guerre's living conditions.
He apologized to everyone involved who he had deceived. Four days later the sentence was carried out publicly and Arnaud du Tilh was hanged in front of Martin Guerre's house . Pierre Guerre and Bertrande were acquitted. The judges believed Bertrande that she had really been deceived by Arnaud du Tilh.
Story of the real Martin Guerre
During the years of absence from his family, Martin Guerre first moved to Spain and served a Catholic cardinal . Later he served as a soldier in Pedro de Mendoza's army. As a member of the Spanish army , he had been sent to Flanders at some point and had taken part in the Battle of St. Quentin on August 10, 1557. He was wounded in the fighting and had to have his leg amputated. Before he returned to his wife, he had lived in a monastery. The reasons for his sudden appearance during the trial remained unknown. Initially, he rejected Bertrande's apologies, accusing her of knowing him better than taking another man.
Interpretations and reactions
The case of Martin Guerre first became known to a wider audience through its inclusion in the collection of criminal cases " Causes célèbres et intéressantes, avec les jugemens qui les ont décidées " compiled by François Gayot de Pitaval on the basis of court files between 1734 and 1743 .
In 1982, The Return of Martin Guerre was filmed with Gérard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye in the leading roles. The historian Natalie Zemon Davis was historical consultant of the film and was fascinated how the movie historical truth in an at least partly fictional story followed it. With the work The True Story of the Return of Martin Guerre, she countered this fictionalization with a historical work. However, here, too, she touches the boundaries of fiction by drawing conclusions about the character of a person from minimal information that can no longer be substantiated with sources.
The Hollywood film adaptation Sommersby (1993) with Richard Gere and Jodie Foster moves the material to the post-war era of the American Civil War . Martin Guerre becomes John Robert Sommersby.
In 1996 the musical Martin Guerre was premiered by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music) and Alain Boublil (libretto).
In 2010, the subject was in reunion with a stranger by Niki Stein moved to the post-war period in Germany.
literature
- Natalie Zemon Davis: The True Story of the Return of Martin Guerre . Translated from American English by Ute and Wolf Heinrich Leube. With an afterword by Carlo Ginzburg. Wagenbach Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-8031-2498-0 (new edition).
- Natalie Zemon Davis: Life courses. Glikl, Zwi Hirsch, Leone Modena, Martin Guerre, ad me ipsum . Translated from American English by Wolfgang Kaiser. 1998, ISBN 3-8031-5161-9 .
- Alexandre Dumas the Elder : Crimes célèbres, Volume 6 (of 8, 1839–41).
- François Gayot de Pitaval, Unheard of Crimes. A collection of famous and strange criminal cases. After the selection and translation published by Friedrich Schiller from 1792–1794 , revised and compiled, Voltmedia, Paderborn 2005, ISBN 3-937229-03-5 .
Fiction:
- Alexandre Dumas : Les deux Diane 1846–47 (novel)
- Janet Lewis : The Wife of Martin Guerre. 1941 (novella), German translation 2018
- ((Günter Kunert)): "Der zwiefache Mann", radio play NDR 1989, 45.55 minutes, repeated by Deutschlandfunk on July 25, 2020, 0.05 am, note in publisher: Deutschlandfunk, "Das Magazin # 07-2020", Page 67, with illustration by J.Wagrez, "Martin Guerre's return"
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Guerre, Martin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French farmer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1524 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hendaye |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 1560 |