Today, a creative con man convinces himself. The
University of Houston's College of Engineering
presents this series about the machines that make
our civilization run, and the people whose
ingenuity created them.
You may've seen the movie,
The Return of Martin Guerre. It was
about an event 440 years ago in southern France.
Court records tell how Martin and Bertrande de Rols
were wed as teenagers -- how, after years of little
sexual interest in the lovely Bertrande, Martin
finally sired a son -- how he then ran off and left
them both. Years later a look-alike named Arnaud du
Tilh showed up and convinced everyone he was
Martin, returned.
Arnaud charmed the villagers and fooled them. He
became a responsible citizen, a good father, and a
truly loving husband. He gave Bertrande the
marriage Martin had never given her.
Recently Richard Gere and Jodie Foster retold the
story in the movie Sommersby. The
movie was pretty accurate -- although southern
France became the American South after the Civil
War.
The historical Arnaud was denounced by Martin's
uncle, but not until Arnaud tried to take control
of Martin's inheritance. The uncle put pressure on
Bertrande to accuse Arnaud of deceiving her. She
probably contrived her accusation so she'd lose the
case and still satisfy her angry in-law.
Arnaud stood up against scores of witnesses through
two trials. He was on the edge of winning his case.
Then, as if by magic, the real Martin turned up.
He'd lost a leg fighting for the King of Spain, who
rewarded him with a sinecure post. The game was up;
the judge had to condemn Arnaud to death by
hanging.
Arnaud died as well as he had lived the last four
years of his life. He confessed his deceit and
insisted on Bertrande's innocence. He begged Martin
not to be harsh with her, for she had truly been
deceived. He died saying he still loved her. If the
two had been in collusion, he died without
betraying her.
And Bertrande? Well, she was condemned to live with
the lesser man. For Martin had returned
mean-spirited and petulant. The second trial judge
was deeply disturbed by the story of Martin Guerre.
He sat right down and wrote a book about it. He
leaves us with a fine study of moral ambiguity and
human complexity. The trial had raised unanswerable
questions about the complicity of Bertrande and
about the sudden return of Martin. He questioned
the rules of evidence. Eye-witnesses had been
terribly wrong, while hearsay evidence had been
accurate.
But primarily the judge struggled with Arnaud. His
deceit had been brilliant theatre from start to
finish. It'd been a work of genius, prodigious
memory, and cool courage. In the end, he had
utterly transformed himself into the very thing he
pretended to be. He'd become Martin, enlarged and
complete. He'd become that whole person that any of
us might well wish to be.
I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston,
where we're interested in the way inventive minds
work.
(Theme music)
Zemon-Davis, N., The Return of Martin
Guerre. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1983.
The trial judge's account of the trial is given in:
Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable, du Parlement de
Tolose, Contenant une histoire prodigieuse, de
nostre temps, avec cent belles, & doctes
Annotations, de monsieur Maistre Jean de Coras,
Conseiller en ladite Cour, & rapporteur du
proces. Prononce es Arrestz Generaule le xii
Septembre MDLX. Lyon: Antoine Vincent, 1561. Avec
Privilege du Roy. (Quarto.)
The Engines of Our Ingenuity is
Copyright © 1988-1997 by John H.
Lienhard.
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