Duel facts for kids
A duel is a fight between two people who have similar deadly weapons and have agreed to a set of rules before the fight takes place. The fight is usually about a matter of honor. The goal of a duel is not usually to kill the opponent but to restore the honor of the man who declared the duel. Duels are not official laws, they are carried out by individuals.
Duels were practiced from the 15th to 20th century in Western societies. For example, in 1804 in the United States the politicians Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had a duel. Since the American Civil War, all U.S. states have criminalized dueling, with punishments for dueling ranging from not being allowed to run for public office to the death penalty. Dueling was outlawed because groups against dueling formed and were successful.
Rules
Duels could be fought with swords or pistols.
The person who felt offended or dishonored had to "challenge" his opponent to a duel. This was usually done by throwing his glove down in front of the opponent or by hitting him in the face with a glove. Each person had to then find a person to be his "second". The job of the seconds was to choose a place to duel and to decide whether or not the weapons were equal.
The person who declared the duel got to choose when the duel would be finished. Common endings to duels were:
- until one person was injured, even if the injury was minor
- until one person could no longer fight because he was too hurt
- until one person was killed or injured so badly that he would soon die
- duels with pistols could be ended after the first shot, even if no one was hit. Most pistol duels did not go longer than 3 shots
Images for kids
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The Code Of Honor—A Duel in the Bois De Boulogne, Near Paris, wood-engraving after Godefroy Durand, Harper's Weekly (January 1875)
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Depiction of a judicial combat in the Dresden codex of the Sachsenspiegel (early to mid-14th century), illustrating the provision that the two combatants must "share the sun", i.e. align themselves perpendicular to the sun so that neither has an advantage.
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Commemorative poster for the fourth centennial of the Disfida di Barletta, the Challenge of Barletta, fought on 13 February 1503 between 13 Italian and 13 French knights all shown wearing full plate armour.
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Minamoto no Yoshihira and Taira no Shigemori (Japan in 1159)
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German students of a Burschenschaft fighting a sabre duel, around 1900, painting by Georg Mühlberg (1863–1925)
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An anti-dueling sermon written by an acquaintance of Alexander Hamilton.
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Pistol dueling as an associate event at the 1908 London Olympic Games
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The fictional pistol duel between Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky. Watercolour by Ilya Repin (1899)
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Depiction of the pistol duel of Alexander Pushkin vs. Georges d'Anthès, January 1837
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Wild Bill Hickok's duel with Davis Tutt became the quintessential quick draw duel in US history.
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An Act for the punishing and preventing of Duelling (1728), Massachusetts Bay Colony
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Gada (mace) duel between Bhima and Duryodhana
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Depiction of the duel of Miyamoto Musashi vs. Sasaki Kojirō
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See also
In Spanish: Duelo para niños
