Duels have always seemed like a dumb way to settle an argument to me, however, it was a popular way to make one’s point and add in a dose of humiliation during the 17th and 18th centuries in Western Europe when it was undertaken using swords. Like fencing. Folks had been using sharp pointy weapons and even axes (!!!) to settle disagreements in somewhat organized settings throughout the Medieval and Renaissance years. Even the early medieval Scandinavians, whom we have all loved for years (once they grew out of their Viking phase) had a style of duel called a holmgang. It was a nasty, brutal, highly regulated, legally recognized way to settle disagreements.
Now we have lawyers. Same, same.
Duels were used to settle arguments about everything from land discrepancies to accusations of theft and the like, but they also became a course of action that a person could take after being insulted or when they felt that their honour had been questioned by another person. (So, they’d try to kill each other?) The duel became seen as not just a way to make your point, but it also proved your willingness to face possible death for the sake of defending your position.
The details of the time, place, dress code, who was invited, and whether refreshments would be served, were all details that would be sorted out by the Seconds who were chosen by each combatant. I suppose those actually doing the duelling were too busy practicing.
Also decided was exactly how the winner would be declared. A duel using swords could be concluded either when one of the duellers drew blood from their opponent, when one was wounded to the point where they could not continue, or when an opponent was killed outright. Take your pick.
As time moved along, the lower classes realized that they had better things to do with their time, so the practice of duelling was left to the upper classes as a way for them to play out their dramas. Although the Church, rulers, and local authorities made duelling illegal, people persisted in the horrendous and rather ridiculous practice.
As you might have guessed, once the pistol was invented, the nature of duelling changed. Swords were put aside, the distance between combatants was necessarily lengthened, and purpose-designed duelling pistols became a fan fav for members of the aristocracy, thus dragging the tradition all the way into the early 20th century.
As guns got involved, another way of ending a duel became commonplace, if not widely accepted. Deloping is the act of ‘throwing the game’ in duelling terms. Since the number of shots fired was limited, often to just one shot each, pointedly shooting one’s pistol into the ground or to aim well away from the opponent was a way to acquiesce and yet not be seen as surrendering. However, Ireland thought this was a ridiculous idea and wouldn’t allow it to be included in their playbook.
On May 3, 1808, two Frenchmen added a whole new twist to duelling when they decided to resolve their difference from two separate hot air balloons 900 yards in the air while shooting at each other. Note: This is could be the poster child for poor judgement.
Monsieur Granpre was in a relationship with a Mademoiselle Tirevit, who was a noted “opera dancer” in Paris. He paid the rent for the mademoiselle’s apartment. Make your own assumptions. However, Mlle Tirevit was apparently seeing a Monsieur LePique on the side. Once Granpre heard about that, he confronted LePique. They decided to settle the matter with a duel and, for whatever reason, concluded that they should duel with firearms from hot air balloons. That two men should think that this was a good idea at the same time, strikes me as astonishing. Even more astonishing was that each was able to find a Second who was willing to accompany them.
They met on a field near the Tuileries in central Paris, along with their Seconds and their hot air balloons (did everyone have one back then?), armed not with pistols (which did not shoot far enough) but with blunderbusses (2’ guns with flared muzzles) (and the choice of discerning pirates). By the time the balloons were ready for lift-off a crowd of excited spectators had gathered, mistaking the spectacle for a race.
The tethers were cut, a cheer arose, and the men floated upwards, keeping their balloons about 80 yards apart. When given a sign from someone on the ground, they began their foolhardy enactment.
M. LePique fired first. As was often the case with firearms, his gun jammed and he wasn’t able to get off a shot. Immediately M. Granpre shot off his own blunderbuss and nailed LePique. Well, he didn’t directly hit M. LePique himself—he hit M. LePique’s balloon, which predictably dropped like a stone, with LePique and his Second meeting their demise rather quickly. Granpre did a bit of grandstanding for the crowd before landing his balloon 21 miles away. Jerk.
There was never any published postscript to this event, but in my mind, the whole episode could have been avoided if someone had just sat Granpre and LePique down and explained to them that Mlle Tirevit was taking both of them for ride. That regardless of who “won” the duel, it was guaranteed that the intriguing mademoiselle would again step out behind their back with someone new. That’s clearly the kind of girl she was. All three of them needed a stern talking to but instead settled this messy business in an even messier fashion.
Thankfully for us, duelling is no longer used as a way to settle disagreements that develop when chicanery is fuelled by ego and overdramatization (although there is plenty of that going around these days!). It isn’t that we have become more civilized or that we have learned to control our tempers from lessons that history has repeatedly shown us, I think that most people would just rather key someone’s car and be done with it.
