The Duel in European History: Honour and the Reign of Aristocracy

by Victor G. Kiernan

For centuries, the duel played an integral role in the preservation of the aristocratic order in Europe, despite countless attempts by both church and state to ban the practice. The drama of the duel has been romanticized in countless works of literature, and it has been an enduring fixture in films and theater reflecting the period. But how did the duel come to prominence in the first place as the form by which men staked their honor? And how did it develop its allure as a cultural and artistic device? Renowned historian Victor Kiernan explores these questions and more in The Duel in European History.
 
With wit and insight, Kiernan provides an entertaining history of the evolution of the ritual of the duel, beginning with its medieval origins—when it was regarded as a badge of rank—and following the practice up to the early twentieth century, by which time it had come to be seen as an irrational anachronism. Kiernan argues persuasively that the idea of the duel was unique to Europe and its colonies, and, in its contribution to the development of the officers corps, played a key part in shaping European military power. In doing so, he sheds new light on the ascendency of aristocratic classes and the role that their values played in European history.
 
This edition adds new depth to Kiernan’s fascinating historical account, with an original introduction from esteemed historian David Blackbourn, further exploring how and why the duel continues to ignite curiosity and the imagination.
 

Genres: History, War

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Professor Victor Gordon Kiernan was an English Marxist historian and a former member of the Communist Party Historians Group with a particular focus on the history of imperialism. He was Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Moore found “in dueling annals ‘astonishing proofs of the force and prevalence of wayward fashion over sound judgment and reason; of the despotic tyranny and usurpation of the flitting phantom ‘honour’”. Throughout history societies have lived within the walls and under the roof of ideas and conventions slowly drying up into things they could only half or fitfully believe in, but could not break away from, for fear of a disruption of the social fabric. Men are always dying, a Great War essayist wrote, ‘for other people’s opinions, prejudices they have inherited from someone else, ideas they have borrow second-hand. Modern man, more than his ancestors, has an overblown false consciousness, a brain stuffed not mainly with lessons from life, but with the thinking of whole generations and centuries, heavy enough to weigh down the feeble carrier; and today ghostly voices find sponsors to supply them with megaphones.
For the same shabby reasons men have always been killing, as well as being killed.” (Kiernan 328-329)

This book is extremely well-written in a scholarly sense, though perhaps too scholarly and demanding of a text for most laymen with only a passing interest in the subject to enjoy. If you have a background in literature, you will be delighted for the treasures found therein, for, in truth, it has perhaps 20 times more material on dueling gleaned from works of literature than it does from actual historical accounts, though the level of familiarity that Kiernan shows from his selective and erudite use of literary sources is nothing less than completely masterful. Not light reading, but a very important source for study on this topic, martial arts, culture, and the evolution of combat sports in the West in general—for bare knuckle boxing and gloved boxing arose out of dueling culture. I still wish for a more comprehensive study of dueling throughout European and world history—even though this study purports to be a study of dueling in Europe (and it does cover much of European history), the focus is largely on England and Scotland, though France, Germany, Spain, Russia, and Italy are also given substantial coverage. It would be a very important scholarly work indeed that covered dueling throughout the world throughout history.
One of the most interesting qualities of the text is its interrogation of the worth of dueling itself as it was represented and dealt with throughout the ages, and the relationship of this questioning to ideas and ideals of class, nobility, gentility, and violence itself.

[Salma]

لطالما أحببت فكرة المبارزة كفكرة
حيث يكون هناك نبل في المخاصمة و طريقة لاستعادة الشرف ممن قد يتجرأ على اهانتك بطريقة محترمة بينك و بينه
لا يسلم الشرف الرفيع من الأذى
حتى يراق على جوانبه الدم






مو متل عصرنا هلأ
أراذل خلق الله يهينون العباد عالطالعة و النازلة
-_-

[E. Kahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is informative but deceptively old-fashioned. Kiernan's remarks on "Eastern despotism" (contrasted to freewheeling Western aristos) calls back to De Quincey's writings on the Caesars. I was very surprised to find the book was published in 1988, because I would have placed it before WW2 at the very latest.

[Jacob Lehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dryer than I expected considering the subject matter, but helpful consideration of how dueling tied to exclusive privileges in the face of the bourgeois expansion in wealth and power in Europe.

I read this as part of my project to read one book from every aisle of Olin Library at Cornell; you can read my reactions to other books from the project here: https://jacobklehman.com/

A fuller review/reaction will follow on my website.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An in-depth-- sometimes a little too in-depth-- history of the duel in Europe, plus a chapter about the duel in European colonies. The author ties the duel to the ascent and descent of aristocracy, and in a very Marxist take, talks about the way the duel filtered down to the lower classes and how it was used to maintain the ascendency of aristocrats. He argues it's limited to European and European countries for that specific reason. It's a fascinating book, full of interesting anecdotes, but it's also somewhat dry and can be off-putting, especially to the casual reader. There's also a bunch of weirdly Freudian criticism and several unexpected racist bits, like "Eastern despotism" and referring to black people as "Negros," which I would... not excuse but just slap a warning on if the book hadn't been written in 1988. I was expecting 1950s at the earliest.

So if you're really interested in duels and duelling, or in Marxist takes on the rise and fall of European aristocracy, look this book up. Otherwise, probably not your thing.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is packed with anecdotes and references that only someone with both an extensive education in the arts and history, AND with a good memory for trivia will be able to understand. Heck, I've been a Jeopardy! contestant and many of these references go over my head.

When you combine that with some vaguely racist and sexist comments you end up with a book that reads like it was written in 1887 instead of 1987.

The author clearly knew his subject, but it's hard for me to easily recommend this to the lay reader.