Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Duel
(1,031 words)

1. Concept

A duel is an agreed form of single combat, carried out in accordance with a set of rules and with deadly weapons, its purpose being the defense of personal honor. It became popular in the 16th century among male members of the nobility, at first in Spain, Italy, and France, then also in Germany after the Thirty Years' War. Its area of distribution extended across the whole of Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries, including Britain and Russia [3].

M…

Cite this page
Frevert, Ute, “Duel”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_018476>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



▲   Back to top   ▲