born unto him by the aforesaid Bertrande de Rolls, under pretence of
marriage falsely asserted by him, having thereto assumed the name and
person of the aforesaid Martin Guerre, by this mans deceiving the
aforesaid de Rolls; and moreover the court has exempted and exempts from
this trial the aforesaid Martin Guerre and Bertrande de Rolls, also the
said Pierre Guerre, uncle of the aforesaid Martin, and has remitted and
remits the aforesaid Arnauld du Thill to the aforesaid judge of Rieux, in
order that the present sentence may be executed according to its form and
tenor. Pronounced judicially this 12th day of September 1560."

This sentence substituted the gallows for the decapitation decreed by the
first judge, inasmuch as the latter punishment was reserved for criminals
of noble birth, while hanging was inflicted on meaner persons.

When once his fate was decided, Arnauld du Thill lost all his audacity.
Sent back to Artigues, he was interrogated in prison by the judge of
Rieux, and confessed his imposture at great length. He said the idea
first occurred to him when, having returned from the camp in Picardy, he
was addressed as Martin Guerre by several intimate friends of the latter.
He then inquired as to the sort of life, the habits and relations of,
this man, and having contrived to be near him, had watched him closely
during the battle. He saw him fall, carried him away, and then, as the
reader has already seen, excited his delirium to the utmost in order to
obtain possession of his secrets. Having thus explained his successful
imposture by natural causes, which excluded any idea of magic or sorcery,
he protested his penitence, implored the mercy of God, and prepared
himself for execution as became a Christian.

The next day, while the populace, collecting from the whole
neighbourhood, had assembled before the parish church of Artigues in