A Matter of Honor: Regency Dueling
For you and I the thought of battling to death over an insult might sound - for want of a better word - CRAZY! But to Regency era gentlemen it was a matter of honor, something which was not to be taken lightly.
For men living during this time, and well before, it was more than an over zealous sense of revenge. The honor of a man's name was thought greater than any one life. He would rather die than be dishonored or have his family branded with cowardice for generations to come. Many times in films we also see dueling occur over the shamed honor of a lady. Such as the scene in Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" when Colonel Branden duels Mr. Whilloughby over Liza Williams. Disputes such as these were often settled by dueling but there are a few rules which a gentlemen was expected to abide by.
Issuing a Challenge: The Seconds
When a man felt that his honor had been crossed and wished to challenge his opponent to a duel he would send them a letter telling them to choose their "second". A second was a very close friend or member of the man's family, one who could be trusted to look after the dueler's best interests. Often it was the duty of the seconds to meet and attempt to reconcile any differences in hopes that their friends would not be forced to fight each other. If this was the case then the person who felt they had been wronged could ask for a public apology depending on the severity of the insult. If this apology was offered there was no guarantee that it would be accepted and the duel called off. If the offended person felt the apology not enough or insincere he might choose the duel anyway.
Challenges were taken very seriously and done with the utmost care. The letter of warning was usually always sent the following day, after tempers had been given time to cool. A true gentlemen also never challenged a social inferior. For instance, if a noblemen were to challenge a commoner it would be considered very dishonorable and therefor negate the reason for a challenge in the first place. Age was also taken into account; if there was a considerable age difference between the two men then a duel was not the way to settle things.
Duels were also never a topic to be discussed in front of ladies. If a lady's husband intended to duel, his wife often was not aware of this and would not become aware unless the man was injured or killed. Even if she did know the event was to take place she did not discuss it with her husband.
Weapons
In the case that the apology was not accepted then the gentlemen challenged was allowed his choice of weapons, either a sword or pistol. The pistol was thought to be the more reasonable of the two as some were not schooled in the art of fencing. Despite this, swords were just as common and are often the weapon of choice in those old movies we all love watching. Even on the battle field an apology can still be made and accepted but if not then the seconds would inspect weapons and the duel would begin.
The Outcome
Duels could be fought to one of three different outcomes. To the first blood, until one could no longer stand to fight, or to death. Once this was decided the duel began under the watchful eyes of the seconds who ensured that nothing unfair or dishonorable occurred. Many times the offended man was satisfied without anyone getting seriously injured. Sometimes both men ended up wounded and, depending on their decided outcome, dead. To you and I this would be considered a very unnecessary extreme but according to the code of honor death was preferable to any true gentlemen even if this code meant breaking the law.
Law vs Honor
By the time the Regency came around dueling had been outlawed. Any man caught would be put on trial for murder if he had indeed killed his opponent. You would think this might cut down considerably on the number of duels but in the minds of those whose honor had been tainted the decision between abiding by the law and defending their name was a no-brainer. If a man challenged another and was accepted then they would seek out a secluded spot, often very early in the morning, to carry out their illegal avenging.
Despite these measures not all duels could be kept secret, especially if one of the men was killed. In this case the winner would be put on trial for murder. The problem arises in that all juries were made up of peers. Just as commoners were tried by other commoners, peers of the realm were tried by their fellow peers, many of whom would have acted very much the same had they been in the guilty man's shoes. A case is recorded in which a noblemen made the argument that his actions were gentlemanly and honorable despite them being illegal and he was acquitted of any crime.
Conclusion
However insane dueling may seen to us today this was a different time in which a different man lived. I would be lying if the thought of defending one's honor and the honor of their loved ones did not cause my heart to flutter. Still today we defend our good names but I am thankful it is not to the extent that was carried out during these times.
For more posts in my Regency Blog Series check out:
Links/References:
https://donnahatch.com/regency-duels-affaires-of-honor/
https://alinakfield.com/from-the-historical-research-files-the-art-of-duelling/
http://historicalhussies.blogspot.com/2009/02/regency-duels.html
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