Introduction: The dueling trend in European history began to prevail in the Middle Ages, usually between knights or nobles for trivial matters, and in 19th-century Europe, this dueling trend resurged, even the British prime minister, the US president involved.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > romantic European tradition</h1>
Duels include the biblical duels between David and Goliath, which were prevalent in ancient Greek times, most notably in Homer's epics, a duel between Hector, the first warrior of Troy, and Achilles, the first greek warrior, during the Trojan War, in which Hector was killed by Achilles, and his body was humiliated by Achilles dragged behind a chariot around the city.
In ancient Roman times, dueling became a very famous entertainment. The robust prisoners of war or criminals captured by the Romans from all over the world were trained to fight to the death in the arena to provide savage entertainment for the people. This bloody duel became the most popular entertainment for the Romans at that time, and the existing Colosseum could accommodate 80,000 spectators at the same time. There are several forms of fighting, one-on-one fighting, and collective fighting with groups of beasts. They end up surviving or dying, and the losers are either killed or released in the collective cry of the audience.
In the Time of the Vikings, duels replaced law When there was a dispute between two Vikings, a circle was drawn on the ground, and then the two Vikings engaged in a freehand duel in the circle, and the verdict was entirely determined by the outcome of the duel. This trend was very popular among knights in the European Middle Ages, perhaps because their lords ordered them to duel their opponents in order to maintain their reputation, or because of some trivial matter.
Many medieval knights died as a result of meaningless duels, and the custom of knightly jousting appeared in the 14th and 16th centuries. Participating knights are generally armed with three weapons: spears, one-handed swords, and a dagger (Rondel). The knight who knocked the opponent off his horse during the match is the winner of the round. If two contestants dismount at the same time, the game is considered a draw, and the game will be decided by the sword. If neither is knocked down, the victory goes to the side with the more serious damage to the spear. This kind of competition is not easy to be injured because the knights are wearing armor, but there are also accidents, king Henry II of France, at the wedding of his daughter, and his captain of the guard, he is stabbed in the eye by a wooden spear without a gun, and dies of sepsis ten days later. Another branch of dueling became fencing in modern Olympic competitions.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > famous duelists </h1>
Early duels usually used dueling swords. Dueling pistols were also frequently used after the 18th century. Wealthy aristocrats were often willing to pay a lot of money for dueling pistols.
The situation before a duel is usually as follows. After one party is insulted or claims to be insulted for the sake of provocation, the other party will be challenged by doing insulting gestures, such as throwing gloves in front of the other party. So the person who was slapped by the gloves either accepted the challenge or admitted the humiliation and picked up his gloves and returned them to him. After the challenge is presented, each side designates a "deputy" who decides on a "place of glory" that is not disturbed, and the purpose is also to avoid disturbing. The deputy is also responsible for checking that the weapons of both sides are roughly equivalent and proving the fairness of the duel. As long as the duel is fair, both sides of the duel are generally not charged. Only gentlemen have the right to honor, so only gentlemen allow duels. If a gentleman is offended by a man of lower status, he may punish him with a flogging staff, a short horse whip, or a whip, or let his servant do the work for him.
Throughout the 19th century, it became fashionable to use pistols for duels.
In the United States, in 1804, the famous Federalist Alexander Hamilton was seriously injured by Aaron Burr, then vice president of the United States, and died the next day. Andrew Jackson, a former U.S. Army general and seventh U.S. president, is also known for his duels. On 30 May 1806 he killed the famous duelist Charles Dickinson, leaving himself with a chest wound that remained unhealed for the rest of his life.
In 1829, the Duke of Wellington, who had defeated Napoleon at the time, became prime minister and engaged in a duel with an opposition member of parliament, and when it was time to open fire, Winchilsea's arm was not yet raised, and Wellington was already aimed at him. Wellington's bullet flew past the right side of Winchilsea's body, far from it.
Goncharova, the wife of the great Russian poet Pushkin, and a French exile, Red Apricot, often danced together, and pushkin received an anonymous letter insulting him, in which he laughed at him as a turtle. On February 8, 1837, Pushkin could not bear it, and for the sake of honor, he engaged in a duel with Dantes, resulting in serious injuries to the abdomen and his death two days later. Dantes was accused of cheating in the duel, but he married Pushkin's wife's sister and became a French minister and senator.
Canada's last lethal duel took place in 1833, a pistol duel in which Robert Leon challenged John Wilson about an evaluation of a local female teacher. After Lyon was killed, Wilson married the female teacher.
In 1864, Mark Twain, at the instigation of a friend, challenged another local newspaper editor in a duel. He chose an experienced deputy. During the practice time before the duel, Mark Twain's assistant successfully bragged about the writer's pistol skills in front of the opponent, causing the opponent to withdraw in fear, so that the writer successfully avoided a duel and won the honor.
There are also some very interesting duels:
In 1808, two Frenchmen engaged in a "balloon duel" over Paris. The two sides shot each other on hot air balloons, and the balloon of the last duelist was broken and fell to his death with his deputy.
Some duelists deliberately choose strange weapons, such as billiard balls, howitzers, long-handled sledgehammers, and a pile of pig dung, to show contempt for the duel.
German Chancellor Bismarck challenged the then-famous Dr. Rudolf Filschau and senators. The weapon chosen by the doctor was two sausages, one of which was vaccinated with Vibrio cholerae, and the duel was fought by the two of them to eat a sausage at random, and Bismarck immediately conceded defeat and canceled the duel.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > female duels with bare arms</h1>
Beginning in the middle of the 16th century, the personal participation of women in duels for honor is also recorded in historical records, and there are duels between women and men, but more often than not, duels between women, which are called "petticoat duels".
In 1792, a "petticoat duel" was reported in London, and the protagonist of the duel was Almeria. Mrs. Braddock and Mrs. Elphinstone began when Mrs. Elphins insulted Mrs. Braddock's age during the debate, saying that Mrs. Braddock was older than she herself said. In order to resolve the conflict, the two ladies dueled in Hyde Park. At first, pistols were used as weapons for duels, and neither woman was hurt by the bullets, but Mrs. Braddock's hat was not so lucky. A duel with a sword was then chosen, this time with Mrs. Elphins' arm cut off.
The most interesting female duel in history took place in 1892.
In August 1892 in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, Princess Pauline Metternich and Countess Kellmansig quarreled over the flowers for the upcoming concert, and the two sides decided to solve the problem by dueling. The duel was arranged by The Baroness Lubinska, who was well known in the medical community at the time. Before the duel began, the Baroness believed that the reason why many of the insignificant minor wounds caused by the duel often caused decay was because the tip of the sword brought the cloth strip of cloth into the wound. So she made a "fashionable" suggestion: in order to prevent this danger, all clothes above the waist of both sides should be taken off during the duel. It is said that this duel was the only one in history to be bare-chested, and all the people involved in both sides, including the two masters and assistants, were women.
On the day of the fateful decision, after the mediation had failed, the two ladies began a duel, and after several feints and stabs, the princess's brutal slash made the countess's nose bleed a little. Seeing the other party bleeding, the frightened princess covered her cheeks with her hands in a feminine posture. Just then, the countess suddenly pounced on the princess and stabbed her right forearm with a sword. Seeing the blood flowing again, the assistants on both sides fainted in fright. The servants and coachmen who were ordered to stand in the distance with their backs to the scene of the duel heard the shouts and rushed to help. The Baroness Lubinska, however, concluded that they were motivated more by lustful motives, beat them with her umbrella and shouted, "Take your eyes off, take your eyes off— you womanizers!" ”
This naked duel was unprecedented, and soon caused people to gossip and reverie, and it became a theme in the works of many painters and writers in the future. In most of the works, however, their interest in the duel was clearly focused on the duel naked, without mentioning two important points of the duel: who the winner of the duel was (Princess Metternich) and why they were holding weapons to duel. The naked upper body apparently eclipses these "details".
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > german duels that survive to this day</h1>
In Germany in the 18th and early 20th centuries, there was a non-lethal duel between students and young people, who used leather to protect their bodies and necks, and then their eyes were protected by metal mesh. This duel replaced fighting and was popular among Prussian students. The principle of dueling is simple, that is, to cut a long wound on the opponent's face. Lieutenant Colonel Skolzner during World War II, his facial scars were left over from duels he fought as a student. It was also one of his few defeats. But it also became a sign of his courage. When Goebbels was in school, because of his physical disability, when he had the courage to launch a duel against others, he was ridiculed and rejected.
In 2004, the Financial Times reported exclusively on the organization and activities of today's Student Dueling Groups in Germany. About 200 student dueling groups reportedly still exist across Germany. The group was called the Hanovera Sorority, and its members were mostly Caucasians from German high society, all male. These members usually have scars on their left foreheads caused by duels, as both sides of the duel often use their right hands to make swords. The scar is thought to be an imprint of German ancestry, indicating that the man came from a family of culture, courage and masculinity.
In recent years, the method of joining a student dueling group is slightly different from that of a century ago, and not all applicants can do so. New members are mostly introduced through elders. Due to the cult of brotherhood, the members of the Duel Organization wear uniforms, eat and live together, and often sing songs related to themes such as honor, women, and Germany. Dueling equipment is ancient.
In the duel, both sides wear black steel goggles with dark steel mesh, which are vintage shapes from two hundred years ago. There is also a piece of steel on the bridge of the nose, and a thick cotton sheath is worn around the neck to prevent the carotid arteries from being injured in the duel. The duelist wears armor and gloves weighing up to 7 kilograms on the upper part.
This set of equipment is designed to prevent duelists from being stabbed by swords, which use traditional European swords, 86 cm long and extremely light. The duelist will have a companion on the left, wearing a defensive mask and armor to prevent both sides from injuring the opponent below the eye, otherwise it will be an honorable duel and may cause permanent damage to the body. Another partner to the right of the duelist, wearing a neck sheath and mesh gloves, after four rounds of attacks, swabs the sword with a yellow cloth soaked in alcohol to reduce infection when injured.
The entire duel lasted only five minutes. If a duelist is injured at the end, the doctor rushes forward to stitch up the wound on the spot.