History of the duel
Valery Jacobi. Before the duel. 1877. Sevastopol Art Museum named after P.M. Kroshitsky
Ilya Repin. Duel. 1896. State Tretyakov Gallery
Mikhail Vrubel. Duel between Pechorin and Grushnitsky. Illustration for Mikhail Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time.” 1890–1891. State Tretyakov Gallery
The duel ritual originates in Italy. Either the hot sun heated the blood of the Italians, or the southern temperament did not give rest - from the 14th century, local nobles began to look for a reason for a mortal duel in conflicts. This is how “fighting in the bushes” appeared, when opponents went to a deserted place and fought with the weapons that were at hand. A century later, the fashion for dueling spread across the Italian-French border and spread throughout Europe. “Dueling fever” reached Russia only during the time of Peter I.
For the first time, foreigners, Russian service officers from a “foreign” regiment, found themselves at the barrier in Russia in 1666. Half a century later, fights were banned. One of the chapters of Peter’s Military Regulations of 1715 provided for deprivation of ranks and even confiscation of property for just one challenge to a duel, and participants in the duel faced the death penalty.
Catherine II issued the “Manifesto on Duels,” which equated murder in a duel to a criminal offense; the instigators of the duels were exiled to Siberia for life. But then the fashion for duels was just flaring up, and in the 19th century, when European passions began to wane, it seemed that there was not a day in Russia without a mortal duel.
In the West, the Russian duel was called “barbarism.” In Russia, preference was given not to bladed weapons, but to pistols, and they shot not, as in Europe, from thirty steps, but almost point-blank - from ten. In 1894, Alexander III placed duels under the control of officer courts, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, dueling codes appeared in Russia.
How to organize a duel
Dueling history researcher Alexei Vostrikov explains what to do if you are a Russian nobleman of the first half of the 19th century and you are insulted
Prepared by Yulia Bogatko
Woody Allen and Harold Gould on the set of the film Love and Death. 1975 © ebay.com
Every nobleman had an idea of the dueling norm, everyone knew how it was “supposed” to make a challenge and accept it, in which cases one could accept an apology and not bring the matter to a duel, and if it was inevitable, what weapon to choose, how to behave on the field of honor and so on. But in life, random circumstances, external forces, one’s own weaknesses or ambitions always interfere with ideal schemes. In real duels, the norm is implemented with assumptions, amendments, and sometimes with direct violations of generally accepted rules, although, one way or another, with an eye on them.
Naturally, Lermontov knew very well the unwritten code of dueling rules, which, however, does not mean that in life he himself, much less his heroes, behaved according to the rules. None of Lermontov's duels (neither biographical nor literary) were exemplary. But all of them were carried out and perceived against the backdrop of a norm that was generally known then, and subsequently forgotten.
1. Make sure that your honor (or the honor of those for whom you are responsible - wife, parents, subordinates or serfs) is insulted. Only a nobleman can challenge a nobleman to a duel: an insult from the Tsar can be endured, an insolent merchant can be handed over to the police, a rude servant can be beaten with a stick. In a duel, you must demonstrate that honor is above all else for you - both life and almost inevitable punishment. It is obvious to everyone: without this you cannot be a full member of a noble society.
2. Inflict a formal insult, thereby starting a ritual of a matter of honor and indicating that the conflict has crossed acceptable boundaries. Do it in word (“Sir, you are a scoundrel/boor/scoundrel/coward/liar/boy/child/fool/fool/ignorant”) or, more harshly, in deed, showing that you treat your opponent as an ignoble person who can be hit. But this should not be violence, but a sign of violence: a slap in the face, a blow with a glove, a throw of a glove in the face, a blow with a cane is especially humiliating. After this, no apologies are possible; the offender can only say something like: “It can’t end like this,” “You won’t get away with this,” indicating that he is making a challenge. Leave the company, entrusting all negotiations to your seconds. Don’t flaunt the words “duel” or “satisfaction” - just say something like: “My friend Captain NN will be with you tomorrow at noon” or “I live there and am always at home in the morning.”
3. Choose your second carefully: an invitation is a sign of trust, it’s hard to refuse, so you need to call someone who can definitely handle it. Seconds are responsible for everything: for compliance with the rules of the fight and equality of opponents on the battlefield; for the correspondence of the conditions of the duel with the seriousness of the offense, so that the noble battle does not turn into either a ridicule or a massacre; to ensure that the duel does not attract unnecessary attention; finally, then they will be held accountable to the law along with the duelists. Remember, the first thing a second will do is try to use every noble opportunity to prevent a duel. If you and your opponent do not have suitable seconds or you do not want to condemn anyone to punishment, you can agree on the terms yourself or call someone at the last moment as an assistant.
Scene of the duel between Onegin and Lensky in the opera "Eugene Onegin". 1947–1953 © Multimedia Art Museum
4. Let the seconds agree on the time. If the insult occurred in public, then any delay can be regarded as cowardice. But if the quarrel is kept secret, then considerations of caution and preparation for the fight may require a delay of several days. If it’s summer, fight at dawn: during these hours, employees serve, and non-employees sleep. If it's winter, fight in the afternoon.
5. Let the seconds agree on a place. Go to nature, where there are no prying eyes. If you are a St. Petersburg resident, Chernaya Rechka or Volkovo Pole are suitable for you; if you are a Muscovite, Sokolniki or Maryina Roshcha are suitable. There you need to find a comfortable, spacious clearing in which none of the opponents will gain an advantage. The main thing is to be on your guard: the departure of a serious company early in the morning to an unfamiliar area arouses suspicion among the authorities.
6. Let the seconds agree on the result. Depending on how serious the offense is, it may be decided that the fight will be stopped after a certain amount of time has passed or after a certain number of shots have been exchanged. The battle can be fought until the first blood or wound, until it is impossible to continue it, and finally until the result is fatal - although such a condition is actually pure bravado: not a single second will allow a seriously wounded principal to fight.
7. Let the seconds agree on a weapon: usually the offended person chooses it. Choose a firearm if you are seriously hurt, a cold weapon if not so much. If you are forced to fight with swords, and you do not know how to fence, there is nothing wrong with refusing: skill is an advantage that is appropriate on the battlefield, but not on the field of honor. But there can be no reason to refuse pistols. If you choose swords (a student can choose a rapier, a hussar or a lancer - a saber), then there is a high chance that the matter will end in a scratch or wound. Pistols equalize the chances of opponents, and stricter rules, such as shooting through a scarf, make the outcome of a duel directly dependent on chance.
Dueling pistol. 1815–1820 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
8. Buy smooth-bore, barrel-loading dueling pistols in pairs at gun stores: the most common are French (Lepage), German (Kuchenreiter), Belgian. In terms of their fighting qualities, reliability and accuracy, they are noticeably inferior to rifled weapons, but are ideal for a duel, equalizing the chances of opponents. Ideally, both seconds bring a pair of pistols and decide on the spot by lot which pair will go into action first, and which pair, if necessary, for the second exchange of shots. In real life, it is not always possible to find not only two, but even one new pair; if so, borrow pistols from friends - even military army ones (Tula), as long as they are the same and not sighted: shooting in a duel with a gun that has been sighted is murder. You can shoot from a personal weapon only if you are seriously offended and want to emphasize that you are defending your honor with the same weapons as the Fatherland.
9. Get things in order. Be prepared that after a duel you will not go home, but to the grave, to the infirmary, to the fortress or to the Caucasus. A noble person will not leave behind unfinished business or unpaid debts. They may require a delay of several days; the seconds will take care of it. However, remember: a person with affairs and debts cannot afford quarrels. To insult someone and then ask for a delay is undignified. Let the seconds agree on the distance between the opponents: it cannot be changed on the spot. A distance of more than fifteen steps (without getting closer) is considered large - choose it if you are peaceful. A distance of eight to fifteen steps is considered normal; it is acceptable for both a formal and a mortal duel. If you're serious, set the distance to less than eight steps (usually three). With it, your only chance to stay alive is to shoot first without your opponent even having time to point the weapon. This chance is infinitesimal, so be prepared for both you and your opponent to be mortally wounded or killed.
10. Have a good night before the fight. If you are a romantic, think about the frailty of life, write a will, poems, letters to your family or beloved woman, put your papers in order. If you are superstitious, don't do any of this: preparing for death means inviting it.
11. Dress appropriately: decently, but not in an official or ceremonial uniform. Carelessness in clothing is a challenge to the enemy and disrespect for the ritual. Clothing should not protect against impact, so you will fencing in only shirts or with a bare torso, and shoot, taking off your watches, wallets, belts and anything in which a bullet might get stuck (except for body crosses and medallions).
Still from Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon. 1975 © Photo by Moviestore Collection / Rex Features / Fotodom
12. If you might need a doctor, grab him on the way to the duel, but never agree in advance: the doctor is obliged to report the impending duel to the police.
13. Don’t be late: anyone who is late is considered to have avoided the fight. If you were unable to appear on time due to unforeseen and objective circumstances, then the duel is postponed and the rivals receive an additional opportunity for reconciliation.
14. Start the fight.
15. If you are fencing and are wounded, no matter how insignificantly, the fight stops. If you cannot continue the fight, the duel will be declared over regardless of your wishes. If the duration of the fight was limited in time or the number of fights, then after the expiration of the set time the seconds must interrupt the fight, separate the opponents and declare the duel over. However, if blood is never shed, you will be considered a coward, so express your willingness to continue the fight - this will protect you from accusations. If you or your opponent are tired, the seconds have the right to stop the fight - it will be continued the next day under the same or more stringent conditions. After a long and fruitless fencing duel, you or your seconds can suggest changing swords to pistols.
16. Pistols are loaded on site. You can shoot either by command at the same time, or in turn, or at any time at will after the seconds’ command “Shoot!” In the latter case, you have a choice between the possibilities of getting ahead of your opponent or aiming more accurately, but the distance still determines a lot: with a large distance, you can miss, even if you aim carefully; with little, even without aiming, there is a high chance that both opponents will have time to kill or mortally wound each other.
17. You can also shoot not from a place, but from a distance. The seconds will mark two barriers for you and your opponent. The distance between the near barriers will not exceed ten steps, the far ones will be ten to fifteen steps from the near ones; you and your opponent will be placed at the back. At the command “Get together!” or “Get closer!” you can move towards the enemy to the nearest barrier or stay in place, aim and shoot. If you shoot first and miss, your opponent will be able to call you: “To the barrier!” Never try to walk and aim at the same time: you will shoot halfway and half-aimed when you can't stand the tension. If you are inexperienced but careful, stay put and aim better, trusting in the fidelity of your hand and the reliability of the pistol. An experienced duelist will quickly approach his barrier and provoke the enemy into an unprepared shot, and then call him to the barrier and shoot him at point-blank range.
Obelisk in Pyatigorsk at the site of the duel of M. Yu. Lermontov. Photo by Ivan Shagin. 1950s © Multimedia Art Museum
18. You can decide for yourself whether you want to shoot to death (aiming for the heart, head, stomach) or to bleed (in the arm, leg). If for some reason you do not want to shoot at your opponent, you can refuse to shoot or shoot in the air, but this cannot be done first. It is noble to withstand the shot and then retract your shot and apologize, but the opponent is not obliged to accept these apologies, and the fight can continue.
19. After each exchange of shots, you return to your starting positions and the die is cast again. The rules remain the same, but can be tightened if, for example, the opponents believe that they were hampered by the weather. After shots are exchanged, an apology may also be made and accepted.
20. End an argument by ritually marking the end of a matter of honor. If your opponent is killed, his seconds will declare that you acted nobly and according to the rules, or will limit themselves to declaring death and politely exchanging bows with their opponents. If you or your opponent are injured, first aid will be provided and the match will be declared over. If both you and your opponent survived, then you reconcile, if sincerely, then with mutual apologies. If the reason for the quarrel was serious and you are not inclined to apologize, then your seconds will reconcile for you: they will announce that the opponents fulfilled their duty and confirmed their nobility with worthy behavior during the duel.
21. If everything is fine, go to the restaurant. Drink champagne.
Duel Code
Ilya Repin. Sketch for the painting "Duel". 1913. National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan
Unknown artist. Duel of Pushkin and Dantes. Photo: i-fakt.ru
Unknown artist. Duel between Lermontov and Martynov. 2nd half XIX century
There were several dueling codes in Russia, and one of the most famous was the Code of Count Vasily Durasov. The sets of all the rules were similar: the duelist could not suffer from mental illness, he had to firmly hold the weapon and fight. Only opponents of equal status could take part in the duel, and the reason for it was the insulted honor of the opponent himself or the lady. There were no women's duels in Russia, although several cases were known in Europe.
A challenge to a duel followed the insult immediately: a demand for an apology, a written challenge, or a visit from seconds. They protected the duelists from direct communication, prepared the duel itself and acted as witnesses. Being late for a duel by more than 15 minutes was considered avoiding battle, and therefore a loss of honor.
