Identity Theft 101: The Case of Martin Guerre – Part 1/4 (1556-1560)
The tale of Martin Guerre is one of the most intriguing stories about everyday people to come down through history: it is a stranger-than-fiction tale of identity theft in the 16th-century, and it happened in an average, unassuming village in the French countryside. This is the story of the return of Martin Guerre.
Born Martin Daguerre around 1525 in French Basque country, Martin’s parents moved the family – Martin, his younger brother, and both parents – to the village of Artigat when he was two years old for reasons unknown to history. After the move, the Daguerres changed their name to Guerre and tried their best to adapt to the customs of their new neighbors, and it was during this time that Martin’s four sisters were born.
The family spent time learning the local language, Provencal French, and eleven years later – when Martin was almost 14 years old – he was married to a girl from a neighboring peasant family that was financially well established and highly respected in the local community. Bertrande de Rols was transferred with a substantial dowry to boot: a vineyard, bed with feather pillows, linen and wool sheets, a bed cover, cash, and other valuable household items. Following traditional Basque custom, Martin and his new wife moved in with Martin’s father: the young lord was to live with the elder lord and be his subordinate. Regardless of tradition, it was a good arrangement in the first place as Martin and his new bride were only just shy of their fourteenth birthdays.
Unfortunately for the two of them, Martin turned out to be impotent and thus was unable to consummate the marriage. Still, the Guerre family remained hopeful, and Martin continued to grow to become a very active young man, enjoying acrobatics and becoming very adept at swordplay. Meanwhile, Catholic canon law stated that an unconsummated marriage could be dissolved after three years, and Bertrande’s family pressured the young woman to separate – however, the Guerres continued to consult local ‘wise women’ and healers who eventually came up with a solution: they had the local priests sing four masses, took communion, and ate special cakes that allegedly would break the spell that Bertrande had come to believe was preventing them from consummating the marriage.
Whether Martin’s impotence was the result of a spell or not, it was not long after this ‘spell-breaking’ that Bertrande conceived their first child and gave birth to a boy. However, Martin was still unhappy – he detested Artigat, and couldn’t stand living under his father’s power. He felt confined by the routines, the daily fields, and even his marriage, and even tried at one point to leave and join the King’s army – and was only stopped when his father learned about the plan.
Then one day in 1548 – perhaps in retribution, or perhaps simply out of spite – Martin took some grain that belonged to his father, without asking permission. In traditional Basque custom, theft from a family member was the gravest crime of all. Realizing what he’d done, Martin left Artigat, leaving his patrimonial inheritance, his parents, siblings, wife and newborn son. Bertrande, it seemed, was in a catastrophic situation – without proof of her husband’s death, she couldn’t remarry, and without knowing whether Martin was alive or dead, she had no place in French peasant society as either a widow or a wife. How was she to be taken care of and how would she afford the means to live?
Time moved on… but one day in 1556 – almost eight years later – a man appeared in the village, presenting himself as the long-lost Martin Guerre…
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Tomorrow: The return of Martin!
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