The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis is a historical tale about sixteenth century identity fraud and the authors who wrote about the Martin Guerre trial.
As a historian, Davis uses several forms of writing as her resources including “letter and diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, family histories…plays, lyric poems, and stories.” Davis realizes that these types of resources come with over-exaggerations, gaps, and contradicting perspectives, subsequently she supplements these with the use of her knowledge of the French government, geography, business practices and the legal system of the sixteenth century. Throughout the book, Natalie Davis interprets the events that led up to Arnaud du Tilh stealing the identity of Martin Guerre and Bertrande de Rols either being an accomplice or fooled by Arnaud du Tilh. The interesting part occurs when Davis examines how identity fraud could be accomplished and drawn out for years. “In a time without photographs, with few portraits, without tape recorders, without fingerprinting, without identity cards, without birth certificates, with parish records still irregular,” identity …show more content…
The authors during the sixteenth century were more connected to the events of Martin Guerre and followed the story as the trial happened or closely after the trial ended. Most citizens were unable, however, to document the trial because it was closed to the public until the verdict was decided. Jean de Coras was one of the exceptions as one of the presiding judges of the Martin Guerre trial and a prominent legal writer. Even so, Davis argues that his accounts don’t line up completely with other documentation from Guillaume Le Sueur who published a pamphlet telling the “story from the arrival of the Guerres in Artigat to the execution of Arnaud du Tilh. No matter how few or many people witnessed the same event, there will be
As a historian, Davis uses several forms of writing as her resources including “letter and diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, family histories…plays, lyric poems, and stories.” Davis realizes that these types of resources come with over-exaggerations, gaps, and contradicting perspectives, subsequently she supplements these with the use of her knowledge of the French government, geography, business practices and the legal system of the sixteenth century. Throughout the book, Natalie Davis interprets the events that led up to Arnaud du Tilh stealing the identity of Martin Guerre and Bertrande de Rols either being an accomplice or fooled by Arnaud du Tilh. The interesting part occurs when Davis examines how identity fraud could be accomplished and drawn out for years. “In a time without photographs, with few portraits, without tape recorders, without fingerprinting, without identity cards, without birth certificates, with parish records still irregular,” identity …show more content…
The authors during the sixteenth century were more connected to the events of Martin Guerre and followed the story as the trial happened or closely after the trial ended. Most citizens were unable, however, to document the trial because it was closed to the public until the verdict was decided. Jean de Coras was one of the exceptions as one of the presiding judges of the Martin Guerre trial and a prominent legal writer. Even so, Davis argues that his accounts don’t line up completely with other documentation from Guillaume Le Sueur who published a pamphlet telling the “story from the arrival of the Guerres in Artigat to the execution of Arnaud du Tilh. No matter how few or many people witnessed the same event, there will be