SHOOT-OUT A pair of boxed duelling pistols by Trulock & Sons. There was a time during the 18th and 19th centuries when no affluent gentleman would be without a pair of such weapons for those occasions when honour demanded satisfaction.
WHAT IT IS Putting your life on the line as a matter of honour
WHY YOU WON’T DO IT It’s illegal, and these days sparring can be done much more safely on social networking sites
For centuries, duelling was the favoured method by which posh people (who should really have known better) settled disputes among themselves. Originally this highly ritualized form of armed combat involved swords, but the pistol later became the weapon of choice. And while you might still be tempted to end your arguments as decisively, there really are better methods.
These days, duelling is illegal virtually everywhere on the planet – even where it’s not directly prohibited by legislation, you will likely find yourself charged with murder, attempted murder or grievous bodily harm. That said, some people never learn. For instance, in 2002 Peruvian congressman Eittel Ramos took umbrage at something said by vice president David Waisman and challenged him to a pistol duel. Waisman, not unreasonably, politely turned him down.
SHOOT-OUT A pair of boxed duelling pistols by Trulock & Sons. There was a time during the 18th and 19th centuries when no affluent gentleman would be without a pair of such weapons for those occasions when honour demanded satisfaction.
In times past, however, this sort of rationality seems to have been in rather short supply. So it was that in 1804 a ‘beef’ between Aaron Burr, then vice president of the USA, and his political rival Alexander Hamilton culminated in the former shooting the latter dead. Burr avoided facing charges, although the incident also killed his political career. Yet at around this time the duel was still considered so vital to settling disputes and maintaining social order that it was guarded by a set of strict rules known as the ‘Code Duello’.
In order to trigger a duel, one party had to be sufficiently offended to lay down a challenge and ‘demand satisfaction’. This was classically done by casting a glove (or gauntlet) onto the floor. At this point, a contest could be avoided if the ‘challenged’ issued an apology to the challenger for the perceived affront. Even if the challenger had outdone the original slur with a retort of his own, it was the initial slight that required the first apology.
Assuming that an apology was not forthcoming and the challenge was taken up, the challenged person now had the right to select weapons. Anybody with a bit of common sense would have gone for something like pea-shooters or a round or two of ‘scissors, paper, stone’, but, somewhat mystifyingly, the sword and the pistol were always more popular.
Each duellist appointed a ‘second’, a trusted friend who made sure things were organized properly and weapons prepared and ready. The seconds might also have striven to smooth over the dispute even at this late stage.
The traditional time for a duel was dawn. This timing, along with the selection of a remote ‘field of honour’, ensured a degree of privacy and, crucially, also gave time for combatants to sleep things off if a challenge was issued when they were a little the worse for wear.
If fighting with swords, the duel could be to the death, until one party was bloodied, disabled or disarmed, or until an apology was offered. If using pistols, the combatants stood back-to-back before walking a set number of paces, turning and firing.
Duelling pistols were, to some extent, designed to miss. They had smooth-barrelled interiors (unlike the grooved barrels of rifles) and used smooth shot, making it hard to be truly accurate. Although the duelling code forbade deliberate misfiring, the duel could be called off if both parties remained unhurt after the first shot. No duel went beyond three rounds – not least because if no one was hit by then, it started to look a bit embarrassing.
In fact, the historical record suggests that the vast majority of duels did not result in fatalities, and a good proportion ended with both parties unscathed but with honour restored. In these more civilized times, of course, we’re more likely to settle things over a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake – or failing that, call in the lawyers.
TO THE DEATH This engraving depicts a duel in the Bois de Boulogne to the west of Paris. Duelling in France was outlawed by Louis XIII as early as 1626, and this convenient park became a popular rendezvous for those who wanted to settle scores without the intervention of the law. The last recorded duel in France was a sword fight between two parliamentarians in 1967.
