Talk:Code duello

Is the term "pugilism" really necessary here? I might be ignorant, but to me it is not synonymous with boxing; it is a sport involving padded sticks, a la American Gladiators or the military bayonet training. ThePedanticPrick 19:44, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

During the Renaissance?

Cheaters would be shot, usually out of hand.

Personal pistols didn't come into wide use in Europe until the Renaissance ended. The flintlock mechanism didn't even exist until the mid-1600s. I think this statement was just thrown in to stroke someone's ego. Someone who didn't bother to wonder if their claim was grossly anachronistic. --75.58.66.29 06:33, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Problems with Irish Code Duello illustration

I have removed the illustration.

The problem is not one of fair use or copyright; the illustration in question was lifted directly from Down the river: or, Practical lessons under the code duello, by George W. Hooper. That book was published in 1874, and is obviously now public domain.

The problem is that the book is comes from is not a dispassionate, carefully researched work on duelling. Rather, it's a satire. The illustrations were clearly not intended to be accurate depictions of real events; instead they, like the text, are intended for humor. Among the other illustrations are:

1) a pompous man who has slipped on the wet ground and is sliding on his ass down a mudbank;

2) a chronic drinker rescued from near-drowning after falling overboard from a ship (even though unconscious, he still clutches his bottle in one hand); and

3) a group of men, parties to a duel, utterly perplexed and staring at a paper lying on the ground. The men are so caught up in the ritualist minutiae surrounding "affairs of honor" that, when a formal written statement is passed from the representatives of one side to the other side's representatives, and the paper is accidentally dropped as it's passed between hands, the men can only ponder -- under Code Duello, whose responsibility is it to pick it up off the floor?

As for the illustration in question, it's presented in the Wikipedia article without the caption that accompanied it in Hooper's book -- "it is the most beautiful ceremonty I ever witnessed." Kinda gives it a whole new meaning, doesn't it.

Furthermore, the image, even apart from the caption and the context of Hooper's book, is simply not credible as a depiction of a real event. The offender's pose is reminiscent of a penitent in church, and he seems far too calm for a man who is about to have the flesh flayed from his back. For that matter, everyone seems far too calm.

In short, these are not accurate depictions, were never intended to be regarded as accurate depictions, and should not be regarded as such. Using this illustration to depict a Code Duello apology is no different than taking the cartoon on the cover of "The New Yorker" magazine's July 21, 2008 issue (Obamas in terrorist garb), then using it, divorced from that context and without any explanation, as a generic depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama.

For those wishing to verify any of this, Hooper's book is online at

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=APF7327

... and the illustration is question is on page 54B. (On a side note, it's a pretty funny book, if you can get past the 19th-century purple prose, and if you're interested in duelling, code duello, etc.) Unguts (talk) 22:44, 28 April 2009 (UTC)Unguts, 4-28-09

Worthiness?

A concept I have read about, but have no knowledge of, is worthiness to duel. If someone was far beneath you in station, you were not obligated to acknowledge their accusation. I've seen references to sending a couple of ruffians over to beat the man who accused a higher person of dishonesty (the poor being essentially without honor or worthy only of contempt). Can anyone document whether this is true or not? 155.213.224.59 (talk) 18:33, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

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