The Case of Martin Guerre: Wherein the Real Martin Returns – Part 4/4 (1556-1560)
At the Parliament of Toulouse, a legal expert and judge named Jean Coras was charged to report on the case and make recommendations on the sentence. Although he decided to trust blood relatives above any other witnesses, minor contradictions even here, as well as legal technicalities, frustrated his ability to reach a decision. The new Martin argued his case with eloquence, convincing Coras of Bertrande’s innocence and that Pierre had forced her into perjury.
That, along with Coras’ established distrust of Pierre after the admission that he had lied about representing Bertrande in his initial accusation, saw Coras lean in favor of the accused. It didn’t help that Pierre also admitted to having participated in a failed conspiracy to kill the new Martin. Coras’ trust in Pansette, or the new Martin, only grew as the accused was able to recall perfectly almost every detail of Martin Guerre’s life. In addition, Bertrande was a reputable woman and Martin’s sisters were just as trustworthy – not to mention that they bore a physical resemblance to him! Believing firmly in the old Roman principle that it was “better to leave a guilty person unpunished than condemn an innocent one”, Coras decided to overturn the verdict at Rieux.
Thus, the Criminal Chamber of Parliament was ready to carry out Coras’ recommendations, when the most extraordinary thing happened: right outside the very building where the trial was being held, there appeared a man, hobbling on a wooden leg – and he introduced himself as Martin Guerre. Although in questioning the man, the new Martin could answer questions better than the old Martin, in the end it was Martin’s sisters – and eventually Bertrande – who conceded that this man was, indeed, the Martin Guerre who had left Artigat twelve years before.
It turned out that Martin Guerre had left Artigat and made for Spain, serving as a Cardinal’s lackey and later enrolling as a soldier in the Spanish army, even though Spain was a sworn enemy of France. It was during a siege against a northern French city that Martin was hit by a bullet from a French arquebus, forcing the amputation of his leg.
And so, Arnaud de Tilh was sentenced to death for fraud on September 12, 1560, finally confessing: after committing a series of petty thefts in Gascony, he had left the area to serve in the army of Henry II in Picardy. It turned out that this was the exact same area that Martin Guerre was in, fighting for Spain, and around 1553, Pansette left Picardy to return home. On his was back, he made a stop in a village near Artigat, where several friends of Martin’s mistook him for the missing peasant Martin Guerre.
Where he spent the next three years is unknown, however it is likely that he spent this time taking advantage of his highly photographic memory and clever acting skills, learning all that he could about Martin’s life and past surroundings – fully intending to establish himself as the new owner of Martin Guerre’s substantial landholdings and inheritance.
Why the real Martin returned when he did is a mystery, but in the end, Pansette was sentenced to hang for his crimes of fraud. Bertrande was spared, both because she was a woman and because Pansette begged the judges to accept that he had deceived her and that she was innocent. As he stood waiting for the gallows, Pansette apologized to everyone for deceiving them – and was hanged, with Bertrande forced to watch, in front of Martin Guerre’s house in Artigat later that week.
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