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Jehanne was virtually unknown in the French city of Dijon during the winter of 1472, when she was the victim of an atrocious act of violence.
At that time, she was in an advanced stage of pregnancy.
What happened next — analyzed by historian Sara McDougall in her new book, Justice for Jehanne — offers a surprising perspective on medieval justice that challenges preconceived ideas about the era.
Warning: This article contains disturbing details about sexual violence.
Based on records from an investigation into the attack, the book takes the form of a medieval detective story, raising questions such as: what really happened that night? And who was the woman at the center of events?
Who was Jehanne?
Born in Lorraine, in northeastern France, to a humble family, Jehanne had traveled south to Dijon.
At that time, identity was a poorly defined concept. In 1472, she declared to the investigator that she was "about 32 years old."
As births were not registered, no one could know their age exactly. She claimed to be married: she was the "wife of Jehan de Relanges".
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At that time, the way one dressed determined, above all, how a person should be treated. Jehanne's outfit, it seems, demanded a certain amount of respect.
According to witnesses, she was dressed elegantly. The long headpiece that carefully covered her golden hair when she went out in public indicated her status as a respectable married woman.
A reign of terror
In Dijon, those were violent times, marked by war.
There were intense battles between Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and King Louis 11 of France. The city lived under the imminent threat of an invasion, while the monarch advanced through Burgundian territory.
To protect Dijon, the duke positioned mercenaries around the city walls. However, those men, violent and without any commitment to the law, imposed their own reign of terror on the population.
"There were constant problems: men going out at night looking for potential victims to extort, abuse, kidnap or hold captive for ransom," explains McDougall to the BBC.
"The city authorities were very dissatisfied with the situation. This was a major point of conflict between the city and the Duke."
It is still possible to see some medieval buildings in Dijon.
The crime
On the afternoon of January 3, 1472, Jehanne and the woman who was giving her lodging heard a loud knock on the front door.
Two local men were outside and demanded that the two accompany them.
When they refused, one of the men ran to a nearby inn to recruit some of the duke's mercenaries.
According to Jehanne's report, the men dragged her to a nearby field and attacked her. They shouted that it didn't matter if she was pregnant: they had heard that the child she was expecting was a priest's and therefore illegitimate.
Jehanne described how the men tried to have "carnal relations" with her as she resisted in the snow.
The advanced stage of the pregnancy and her intense resistance ended up preventing this from happening.
She said she was beaten, thrown face down and felt absolute terror for the health of the baby she was expecting.
What happened next is surprising, considering our modern view of the Middle Ages.
There is a widespread belief that rape and sexual violence were so stigmatized that female survivors were often marginalized by their communities and ended up being pushed into prostitution.
This idea originates from a well-known book, entitled Medieval Prostitution (first published in 1988 and updated in 2010), by historian Jacques Rossiaud.
McDougall, a history professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, decided to check Rossiaud's account. His starting point was a brief mention by the historian of a pregnant woman — whose name was not revealed — who had been a victim of sexual violence committed by mercenaries in Dijon.
According to Rossiaud, initially, the woman felt so ashamed that she did not have the courage to report what happened to the authorities.
He also stated that many other survivors of sexual violence ended up, like her, in brothels.
The case seemed to correspond to a large extent with that of Jehanne.
However, when McDougall began to investigate—painstakingly examining 70 densely written parchment pages preserved in Dijon's municipal archive—a very different story came to light.
Detailed investigation
The details of Jehanne's statement were recorded by an investigator working for municipal authorities: Jaques Borestel.
Upon learning that mercenaries had kidnapped and assaulted a pregnant woman, Borestel immediately began gathering information about the victim and the alleged perpetrators of the crime.
His first interview with Jehanne took place the day after the attack. He found her in bed, shaken by what had happened and worried about the baby.
Jehanne told Borestel, without hesitation, the details of the attack, as well as all the information she could remember about the attackers. The next day, she gave birth to a girl.
Jehanne's decision to share her story was unusual. There were many reasons why she wouldn't be so sincere.
The city didn't exactly have an exemplary criminal justice record.
Technically, kidnapping and assault were punishable by death. However, most crimes went unpunished.
In short, Jehanne had little to gain from filing a complaint.
Thanks to the information she provided, Borestel was able to quickly capture most of the attackers.
During interrogations, the men denied having attacked Jehanne. Borestel organized a meeting in which she came face to face with the attackers and reiterated her version of events.
Given the absence of confessions, municipal authorities considered it acceptable to resort to "extraordinary" measures.
One of the men was subjected to torture using a method similar to waterboarding. Finally, everyone confessed.
With the confessions in hand, the city determined the appropriate punishment: death. But there was a problem. As they were mercenaries, the men were technically under the duke's jurisdiction.
Shortly before, the Duke had issued a statement condemning the behavior of the mercenaries and stating that he wanted the inhabitants of Dijon to feel safe.
Now he had the opportunity to publicly punish that conduct. Would you take advantage of the opportunity?
Investigating the whistleblower
Shortly afterwards, municipal officials received word from ducal authorities, who recommended the men's release. The municipality resisted, trying to buy time.
Meanwhile, he ordered a new investigation: this time, into Jehanne herself. The intention was not to put her on trial, but to assess her credibility as a whistleblower.
As Borestel bluntly wrote, the goal was to find out whether she was an "honest woman" (married and respectable) or a "woman of ill repute."
Borestel questioned neighbors and others who might have information about Jehanne. Many stated that she appeared to be a respectable woman. No one pointed out or blamed her for the violence she had suffered.
However, details soon emerged that contradicted the version she had initially presented to Borestel.
A neighbor said that two years earlier, Jehanne had given birth to another child in a nearby monastery. It was believed that her father was a priest with whom she shared a room at that time.
Apparently, Jehanne hadn't seen her husband for several years.
Credit, Blaise Dubrocq/Princeton University Press
Borestel met with Jehanne again to confront her with the new information. Since the last conversation between the two, she had received threats from people who defended the mercenaries.
Despite the imminent risk of reprisals, some neighbors and acquaintances helped her find places to hide. Ultimately, she ended up in a hospital, where she worked.
Jehanne confessed to Borestel that she had lied about some things.
She recognized that her husband had abandoned her several years earlier to fight in the war. After that, she met a priest, became his lover and had two children with him.
But did this make Jehanne a "woman with an easy life"?
In his own words, recorded by Borestel: "It was better to use one's own body to earn a living than to resort to robbing people."
A new perspective
This was in keeping with the complex sexual morals of the time. Premarital sexual relations were, in theory, prohibited, but in practice, widely tolerated.
Priests were expected to maintain celibacy, but they had mistresses and illegitimate children.
Prostitution was considered, in theory, a serious moral sin, but it was also widely tolerated.
Premarital sexual relations were, in theory, prohibited.
Jehanne wasn't who he said he was. She was not the demure wife she had initially appeared to be. In fact, she "lived in sin."
But the interesting thing is that it didn't matter.
Even after learning of the new information gathered by Borestel, prosecutors decided to continue the case.
The fact that Jehanne had an illegitimate child with a priest was considered irrelevant. The authorities wanted to see those mercenaries dead.
But another problem arose: the mercenaries were no longer imprisoned.
Ducal authorities claimed that the men were members of the clergy and were therefore subject only to ecclesiastical laws.
Although this was absurd — since members of the clergy were prohibited from carrying weapons — municipal authorities were left with their hands tied. After two months in prison, the men were released.
It's impossible to follow what happened to Jehanne after that.
Did she become a prostitute? It's possible. At that time, there were other women named Jehanne in Dijon who ended up in this situation.
However, the records are too fragmented to say this with certainty.
Regardless of how her story ended, McDougall had the opportunity to learn about this small fragment of Jehanne's life, preserved in a 600-year-old set of court documents.
"I have great admiration for her. I'm very impressed with the way she continued to defend herself."
Despite living in a hostile time, "she considered herself a person with the capacity to act and with options."
"In medieval society, there was no practice of blaming or shaming the victim—as far as I can find—at least," says McDougall.
"Women could file complaints. They were not required to have a perfect memory or to be blameless virgins."
Even after Jehanne filed her complaint, her neighbors came to help her.
Without a doubt, life was extremely difficult for women in the Middle Ages, and some survivors received deplorable treatment.
But Jehanne managed to report a crime, be taken seriously, find support during that ordeal and obtain, at least to some extent, justice.
Regardless of what she did afterwards, at least she was able to take that with her.
This article was originally published by BBC Culture. Read the original English version.
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