day
appointed," says Brantome,[58] "the lady came to witness the spectacle in
her chariot; but the king made her descend, judging her unworthy, because
she was criminal in his eyes till her innocence was proved, and caused her
to stand upon a scaffold to await the mercy of God and this judgment by
the battle. After a short struggle, the Sieur de Carrouges overthrew his
enemy, and made him confess both the rape and the slander. He was then
taken to the gallows and hanged in the presence of the multitude; while
the innocence of the lady was proclaimed by the heralds, and recognised by
her husband, the king, and all the spectators."

[58] _Memoires de Brantome touchant les Duels_.

Numerous battles of a similar description constantly took place, until the
unfortunate issue of one encounter of the kind led the French king, Henry
II., to declare solemnly that he would never again permit any such
encounter, whether it related to a civil or criminal case, or the honour
of a gentleman.

This memorable combat was fought in the year 1547. Francois de Vivonne,
lord of La Chataigneraie, and Guy de Chabot, lord of Jarnac, had been
friends from their early youth, and were noted at the court of Francis I.
for the gallantry of their bearing and the magnificence of their retinue.
Chataigneraie, who knew that his friend's means were not very ample, asked
him one day in confidence how it was that he contrived to be so well
provided? Jarnac replied, that his father had married a young and
beautiful woman, who, loving the son far better than the sire, supplied
him with as much money as he desired. La Chataigneraie betrayed the base
secret to the dauphin, the dauphin to the king, the king to his courtiers,
and the courtiers to all their acquaintance. In a short time it reached
the ears of the old Lord de Jarnac, who immediately sent for his son, and
demanded to know in what manner the report had originated, and whether he
had been vile enough not only to carry on such a connexion, but to boast
of it? De Jarnac indignantly denied that he had ever said so, or given
reason to the world to say so, and requested his father to accompany him
to court and confront him with his accuser, that he might see the manner
in which he would confound him. They went accordingly; and the younger De
Jarnac, entering a room where the dauphin, La Chataigneraie, and several
courtiers were present, exclaimed aloud, "That whoever had asserted that
he maintained