Editing Duel (section)

===Renaissance and early modern Europe===
During the early [[Renaissance]], dueling established the status of a respectable [[gentry|gentleman]] and was an accepted manner to resolve disputes. [[File:Dueling engraving.jpg|thumb|240px|Dueling remained highly popular in European society, despite various attempts at banning the practice.]]

The first published ''[[code duello]]'', or "code of dueling", appeared in [[Renaissance Italy]]. The first formalized national code was that of France, during the [[Renaissance]]. From the late 1580s to the 1620s, an estimated 10,000 French individuals (most of them nobility) were killed in duels.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Englund |first=Peter |title=Den oövervinnerlige: om den svenska stormaktstiden och en man i dess mitt |date=2000 |publisher=Atlantis |isbn=978-91-7486-999-6 |location=Stockholm |pages=593 |language=Swedish}}</ref>

By the 17th century, dueling had become regarded as a prerogative of the [[aristocracy]], throughout Europe, and attempts to discourage or suppress it generally failed. For example, King [[Louis XIII|Louis XIII of France]] outlawed dueling in 1626, a law which remained in force afterwards, and his successor [[Louis XIV]] intensified efforts to wipe out the duel. Despite these efforts, dueling continued unabated, and it is estimated that between 1685 and 1716, French officers fought 10,000 duels, leading to over 400 deaths.<ref>Lynn, p. 257.</ref>

In [[Ireland]], as late as 1777, a code of practice was drawn up for the regulation of duels, at the Summer [[assize]]s in the town of [[Clonmel]], [[County Tipperary]]. A copy of the code, known as 'The twenty-six commandments', was to be kept in a gentleman's pistol case for reference should a dispute arise regarding procedure.<ref name="Hamilton 1829">{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/onlyapprovedguid00hami |title=The only approved guide through all the stages of a quarrel |publisher=Millikin |year=1829 |edition=([[Internet Archive]]) |location=Dublin |access-date=29 June 2009}}</ref>