A Tale of Two Murders

by Farr, James R.

• ISBN13: 9780822334590
• ISBN10: 0822334593
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-01
• Publisher: Duke Univ Pr

Summary

As scandalous as any modern-day celebrity murder trial, the "Giroux affair" was a maelstrom of intrigue, encompassing daggers, poison, adultery, archenemies, servants, royalty, and legal proceedings that reached the pinnacle of seventeenth-century French society. In 1638 Philippe Giroux, a judge in the highest royal court of Burgundy, allegedly murdered his equally powerful cousin, Pierre Baillet, and Bailletrs"s valet, Philibert Neugot. The murders were all the more shocking because they were surrounded by accusations (particularly that Giroux had been carrying on a passionate affair with Bailletrs"s wife), conspiracy theories (including allegations that Giroux tried to poison his mother-in-law), and unexplained deaths (Girouxrs"s wife and her physician died under suspicious circumstances). The trial lasted from 1639 until 1643 and came to involve many of the most distinguished and influential men in France, among them the prince of Condeacute;, Henri II Bourbon; the prime minister, Cardinal Richelieu; and King Louis XIII.James R. Farr reveals the Giroux affair not only as a riveting murder mystery but also as an illuminating point of entry into the dynamics of power, justice, and law in seventeenth-century France. Drawing on the voluminous trial records, Farr uses Girouxrs"s experience in the court system to trace the mechanisms of power-both the formal power vested by law in judicial officials and the informal power exerted by the nobility through patron-client relationships. He does not take a position on Girouxrs"s guilt or innocence. Instead, he allows readers to draw their own conclusions about who did what to whom on that ill-fated evening in 1638.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
List of Principal Characters	xiii
Prologue: Looking Back	1	(2)
Tales of Two Murders	3	(11)
Passion and the Beautiful Cousin	14	(14)
The Trial Opens: Jean-Baptiste Lantin's Investigation, 1639--1640	28	(12)
A Hat, a Rapier, a Knife, and a Dagger	40	(14)
The House of Giroux	54	(15)
Prison	69	(17)
Poison	86	(11)
Jailbreak	97	(12)
A ``Minister of Vengeance''	109	(13)
Rape?	122	(14)
Attack, Counterattack	136	(14)
The King of Spades	150	(11)
Life or Death? The Day of Reckoning Draws Near	161	(20)
Epilogue	181	(14)
Analytical Essay: The Paradoxes of Power, Law, and Justice	195	(10)
Notes	205	(4)
A Note on Sources	209	(10)
Index	219