Hôtel d’Alençon was the palace associated with Count Pierre of Alençon’s lordly authority and court. Its great hall became the setting for a public hearing over Jean de Carrouges’s accusation against Jacques Le Gris, marking the point at which a local dispute between vassals was formally brought before their lord.

Setting and Function

The book locates the hearing in the great hall of Count Pierre’s palace. Tapestries and carpets adorned the room, and heavy wooden benches furnished the space where the count held court. The hall thus served both as the material setting for a seigneurial proceeding and as a public venue in which the count’s authority over his vassals could be exercised.

The Hearing

In late January 1386, Count Pierre learned that Carrouges was accusing his favorite, Le Gris, of attacking and raping Carrouges’s wife during the knight’s absence. The count began investigating by summoning two respected nobles: Sir Bernard de La Tour, Carrouges’s brother-in-law, and Jean Crespin, a squire and royal forester. Both were familiar with Carrouges’s affairs. They reported that Carrouges and his wife had repeatedly made the accusation known and wished to bring their complaint before the count to seek justice.

Count Pierre agreed to hear them, citing his responsibility to settle disputes among his vassals. He assembled a court of prelates, knights, council members, and other experienced men; some of the prelates had legal expertise. On the appointed day, nobles, clerics, and other courtiers crowded into the hall. News of the accusation and the quarrel had spread from Argentan throughout the count’s domain, and people came despite the bitter cold to see the parties and hear what the court would decide.

The Parties and the Count’s Position

The hearing placed Carrouges and Le Gris before a lord who was required to judge their dispute but was not detached from it: Le Gris was Count Pierre’s favorite, while Carrouges was among his more troublesome vassals. Their unequal standing complicated the appearance of impartiality even as the count convened an experienced group to hear the matter. The palace’s court was therefore not merely a room in which allegations were presented; it was the institutional setting of a judgment shaped by the obligations and relationships of lordship.

From Seigneurial Court to Wider Proceedings

The hearing at Hôtel d’Alençon belonged to the local stage of the case. After Count Pierre’s court found for Le Gris, Carrouges pursued an appeal before the Parlement of Paris. There, the proceedings acquired a broader circle of participants: each principal had to provide six noble pledges to guarantee his appearance, and the affair became a subject of debate at the royal court. The transition from the count’s hall to the higher court shows how a dispute first heard within a vassal lord’s jurisdiction could expand into a matter of national attention.