Une fausse accusation ? Le procès pour viol sur une enfant de 5 ans intenté à Claude Louis dans la prévôté de Nancy en 1719 (Archives départementales de Meurthe-et-Moselle 11B 1812)

On January 16, 1719, in Nancy, Claude Louis was accused of raping a five-year-old girl, Anne de Bourgogne, according to her uncle Charles de Bourgogne, a prominent citizen of the town. After eight days of trial and investigation, the alleged perpetrator was acquitted. The case is interesting for two distinct reasons: firstly, as a case of child rape (no one considered it impossible), and secondly, as a rare instance of a false accusation that the justice system managed to expose, because the documents relating to such a case, having caused harm to an individual, should have been destroyed.