Editing Duel (section)

==Rules==

===Offence and satisfaction===
The traditional situation that led to a duel often happened after a perceived offense, whether real or imagined, when one party would demand satisfaction from the offender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/mysticXN.htm |title=The Mystic Spring (1904) by D. W. Higgins |publisher=Gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca |access-date=2010-05-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216090439/http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/mysticXN.htm |archive-date=2010-12-16}}</ref> The demand was commonly symbolized by an inescapably insulting gesture, such as throwing a glove to the ground before the offender.<ref>Presumably based on [[Romanticism|romantic]] depictions of the age of [[chivalry]].{{clarify|date=April 2015}}
<!--this entire "gauntlet" tangent will only make sense if we can tie it to actual dueling protocol. This isn't the "jousting" article.-->
The custom of "flinging the gauntlet in the face of another Knight" is illustrated in early Italian romances such as ''[[Orlando Furioso]]''
(The Scots Magazine 89/90 (1822), [https://books.google.com/books?id=fFw3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA575 p. 575]), and the English phrase of  "throwing down the gauntlet" occurs in the context of [[Renaissance-era jousting|Tudor-era tournaments]] from the 1540s.
<!--
A reference to the supposedly medieval practice is found in the pseudo-medieval poetry of [[Thomas Chatterton]] (''The Tournament: An Interlude'', purportedly written in the 15th century by "Thomas Rowley"), ''there's mie gauntlette onn mie gaberdyne.''--></ref>

Usually, challenges were delivered in writing by one or more close friends who acted as "seconds". The challenge, written in formal language, laid out the real or imagined grievances and a demand for satisfaction. The challenged party then had the choice of accepting or refusing the challenge. Grounds for refusing the challenge could include that it was frivolous, or that the challenger was not generally recognized as a "gentleman" since dueling was limited to persons of equal social status. However, care had to be taken before declining a challenge, as it could result in accusations of cowardice or be perceived as an insult to the challenger's seconds if it was implied that they were acting on behalf of someone of low social standing. Participation in a duel could be honorably refused on account of a major difference in age between the parties and, to a lesser extent, in cases of social inferiority on the part of the challenger. Such inferiority had to be immediately obvious, however. As author [[Bertram Wyatt-Brown]] states, "with social distinctions often difficult to measure", most men could not escape on such grounds without the appearance of cowardice.<ref>Wyatt-Brown, Bertram. ''Southern Honor: Ethics & Behavior in the Old South''. Oxford University Press, 2007, p.355–356</ref>

Once a challenge was accepted, if not done already, both parties (known as "principals") would appoint trusted representatives to act as their seconds with no further direct communication between the principals being allowed until the dispute was settled. The seconds had a number of responsibilities, of which the first was to do all in their power to avert bloodshed provided their principal's honor was not compromised. This could involve back and forth correspondence about a mutually agreeable lesser course of action, such as a formal apology for the alleged offense.

In the event that the seconds failed to persuade their principals to avoid a fight, they then attempted to agree on terms for the duel that would limit the chance of a fatal outcome, consistent with the generally accepted guidelines for affairs of honor. The exact rules or etiquette for dueling varied by time and locale but were usually referred to as the [[code duello]]. In most cases, the challenged party had the choice of weapons, with swords being favored in many parts of continental Europe and pistols in the United States and Great Britain.

It was the job of the seconds to make all of the arrangements in advance, including how long the duel would last and what conditions would end the duel. Often sword duels were only fought until blood was drawn, thus severely limiting the likelihood of death or grave injury since a scratch could be considered as satisfying honor. In pistol duels, the number of shots to be permitted and the range were set out. Care was taken by the seconds to ensure the ground chosen gave no unfair advantage to either party. A doctor or surgeon was usually arranged to be on hand. Other things often arranged by the seconds could go into minute details that might seem odd in the modern world, such as the dress code (duels were often formal affairs), the number and names of any other witnesses to be present and whether or not refreshments would be served.<ref>Lynn, p. 255, 257.</ref>

===Field of honor===
{{Redirect|Field of honor||Field of Honor (disambiguation){{!}}Field of Honor}}

The chief criteria for choosing the field of honor were isolation, to avoid discovery and interruption by the authorities; and jurisdictional ambiguity, to avoid legal consequences. Islands in rivers dividing two jurisdictions were popular dueling sites; the cliffs below Weehawken on the Hudson River where the [[Hamilton–Burr duel]] occurred were a popular field of honor for New York duelists because of the uncertainty of whether New York or New Jersey had jurisdiction. Duels traditionally took place at dawn, when the poor light would make the participants less likely to be seen, and to force an interval for reconsideration or sobering up.

For some time before the mid-18th century, swordsmen dueling at dawn often carried lanterns to see each other. This happened so regularly that fencing manuals integrated lanterns into their lessons. An example of this is using the lantern to parry blows and blind the opponent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.classicalfencing.com/articles/Angelo.php |title=How to Defend a Monopoly |publisher=Classicalfencing.com |date=2006-03-26 |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-date=2012-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127235900/http://www.classicalfencing.com/articles/Angelo.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> The manuals sometimes show the combatants carrying the lantern in the left hand wrapped behind the back, which is still one of the traditional positions for the off-hand in modern fencing.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://pages.sbcglobal.net/blyle/Angelo/46.png |title = The Guard of the Sword & Lanthorn, opposd by the Sword & Cloak|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100525024932/http://pages.sbcglobal.net/blyle/Angelo/46.png |archivedate=May 25, 2010}}</ref>

===Conditions===
At the choice of the offended party, the duel could be fought to a number of conclusions:
* To first blood, in which case the duel would be ended as soon as one man was wounded, even if the wound was minor.
* Until one man was so severely wounded as to be physically unable to continue the duel.
* To the death (or {{lang|fr|à l'outrance}}), in which case there would be no satisfaction until one party was mortally wounded.
* In the case of pistol duels, each party would fire one shot. If neither man was hit and if the challenger stated that he was satisfied, the duel would be declared over. If the challenger was not satisfied, a pistol duel could continue until one man was wounded or killed, but to have more than three exchanges of fire was considered barbaric, and, on the rare occasion that no hits were achieved, somewhat ridiculous.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}}

Under the latter conditions, one or both parties could intentionally miss in order to fulfill the conditions of the duel, without loss of either life or honor. However, doing so, known as [[deloping]], could imply that one's opponent was not worth shooting. This practice occurred despite being expressly banned by the Irish {{lang|it|[[code duello]]}} of 1777. Rule XII stated: "No dumb shooting or firing in the air is admissible in any case&nbsp;... children's play must be dishonourable on one side or the other, and is accordingly prohibited."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/dueling/CodeDuello.pdf |title=Code duello |via=Secretary of State of Missouri |access-date=2014-05-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904223840/http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/dueling/CodeDuello.pdf |archive-date=2014-09-04}}</ref>

Practices varied, however, but unless the challenger was of a higher social standing, such as a baron or prince challenging a knight, the person being challenged was allowed to decide the time and weapons used in the duel. The offended party could stop the duel at any time if he deemed his honor satisfied. In some duels, the seconds would take the place of the primary duelist if the primary was not able to finish the duel. This was usually done in duels with swords, where one's expertise was sometimes limited. The second would also act as a witness.

===Pistol duel===
[[File:Yevgeny Onegin by Repin.jpg|thumb|The fictional pistol duel between [[Eugene Onegin]] and Vladimir Lensky. Watercolour by [[Ilya Repin]] (1899)]]

There were various methods of pistol dueling. The mode where the two duelists stood back-to-back, walked away from each other for a set number of paces before turning and firing was known as the "French" method.<ref name="Hoptin-2011-80">Hoptin (2011), p. 80</ref> Another method required the duelists to stand still at an agreed distance and fire simultaneously on a signal – this was the type of duel favored in Britain.<ref name="Hoptin-2011-80" /> A variant of this required the duelists to take turns to shoot, with the challenger shooting first or the right of first shot being decided by a coin toss.<ref name="Hoptin-2011-85-90" />

The distance at which the pistols were fired might depend on local custom, the wishes of the duelists or sometimes the severity of the insult. The American dueling code of 1838 suggested a distance between 10 and 20 [[Pace (unit)|paces]].<ref name="Hoptin-2011-81">Hoptin (2011), p. 81</ref> There were incidences of pistol duels taking place at just two or three paces, with a virtual certainty of one or both duelists being injured or killed.<ref name="Hoptin-2011-82">Hoptin (2011), p. 82</ref>

A method popular in Continental Europe was known as a ''barrier duel''<ref name="Hoptin-2011-85-90" /> or a duel {{lang|fr|à volonté}} ("at pleasure");<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kinard |first=Jeff |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60395313 |title=Pistols: an illustrated history of their impact |date=2003 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=1-85109-475-X |location=Santa Barbara, California |pages=31 |oclc=60395313}}</ref> it did not have a set shooting distance. The two duelists began some distance apart. Between them there were two lines on the ground separated by an agreed distance – this constituted the barrier and they were forbidden to cross it. After the signal to begin, they could advance towards the barrier to close the distance and were permitted to fire at any time. However, the one that shot first was required to stand still and allow his opponent to walk right up to his barrier line and fire back at leisure.<ref name="Hoptin-2011-85-90">Hoptin (2011), pp. 85–90</ref>

Many historical duels were prevented by the difficulty of arranging the "{{lang|la|methodus pugnandi}}". In the instance of [[Richard Brocklesby]], the number of paces could not be agreed upon;<ref name="MCR">{{cite journal |journal=Medico-Chirurgical Review |title=Eccentric medical men |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBgCAAAAYAAJ&q=Richard+Brocklesby+duel+number+of+paces&pg=PA332 |date=1 April – 30 September 1839 |access-date=19 April 2011 |volume=XXXI}}</ref> and in the affair between [[Mark Akenside]] and Ballow, one had determined never to fight in the morning, and the other that he would never fight in the afternoon.<ref name="MCR" /> [[John Wilkes]], "who did not stand upon ceremony in these little affairs", when asked by [[William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot|Lord Talbot]] how many times they were to fire, replied, "just as often as your Lordship pleases; I have brought a bag of bullets and a flask of gunpowder."<ref name="MCR" />