January 22

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The peasants at left are tilling and sowing the crop of winter wheat, with the Louvre in the background. Cities during this time were fortified by walls. Of course, the peasants of Artigat were much more isolated than this group; I'm linking to a Wikipedia article about the region where Martin's story is set.

While the beginning of this sequence of events takes place against the backdrop of the struggle between France and Spain called the Italian Wars, the ending, including the demise of Jean Coras, occurs in the context of the French Wars of Religion. One of the ironies of the story is that this man, the chief representative of the law at Arnaud's trial (and the person who issued a sentence of death against him), became the outlaw and the victim of a death sentence ten years later.

Questions:

What was at stake in the trial? What would be at stake in a similar situation today?
What evidence does Bertrande give about the matter, and how does the court weigh that evidence?
What were the other sources of evidence? What value did they have, and what were their limitations?
Do you believe that the imposture could have gone on indefinitely if the real Martin hadn't returned when he did?
Do you agree with Natalie Davis that Bertrande was an accomplice? Is it possible for a wife to have been tricked in this way, in your view?
Why does Davis go into such detail about the personal life of Jean de Coras, especially his feelings for his second wife?
To what extent do you support Davis's belief that Protestantism had a role to play in this drama?
What do we learn from this incident about marriage in the 16th century? what do we learn about peasants?

Laurel Carrington carringt@stolaf.edu
Most recent update: January 22, 2008

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