The last judicial duel in France hinged on whether a woman could be believed — this is her story.

In this remarkable Lapham's Quarterly article from Eric Jager, he tells the story of Marguerite de Carrouges, the person behind the last trial by combat Paris ever saw, drawing interesting parallels between society's response to sexual abuse then and today. After almost 650 years, have they changed much?

Lapham’s Quarterly goes into the past to help us make sense of the present. It dives into history, finding the roots of education, science, literary, political, and economic thinking. 

The woman in black