Couple observations:
The Duellists was a great movie. I also read the Joseph COnrad short story. Excellent.
Was reading that pugilism eventually lead to the demise of the duel. Lawsuits eventually lead to the demise of pugilism as a means of settling matters.
But the politeness thing: sue, people would be more polite, or at least think twice, but does duelling really decrease violence? Can't it also cause more violence? Your seconds, your cousin, your friend or brother gets pissed as a result of the original duel and starts up a new duel - vendetta cultures are rarely peaceful. Is a duelling culture a vendetta culture?
Best thing I ever read on duelling is this:
Sports of The Times (circa 1972) (From NY Times)
The Fencing Master, by Robert Lipsyte
"Now take this country," said George Santelli. "I call you names. You
give me a good punch in the nose. I, being 72 years old, would have
no chance against you in a fist fight. So, I call a lawyer. I sue.
Ah. Childish."
He touched his nose, a beak of great power and majesty above a white
moustache, and waited for the traffic noise to subside on Sixth
Avenue, directly beneath the fourth-floor window of his famous
salle-d'armes.
"A duel would solve many problems," he continued. "We have insulted
each other. We have common friends who cannot invite us to the same
parties. It becomes very difficult. So, we have a duel with sabres."
"It is not very dangerous. We each bring a doctor, and two seconds.
The best fencer among them directs the duel, ready to leap in should
either of us become angry or lose control. We have a chance to show
courage, save face, derive satisfaction, gain new respect for each
other. We shed a little blood, earn a few stitches, throw our arms
about each other and drink champagne."
He stretched his tall, still supple body, and raised an arm that, in
its day, was said to have borne the strongest sabre in Europe. "Paul
Lukas, the actor, came to my father's salle in Budapest. He had
insulted his producer, and he had been challenged. We had a week to
prepare him for the duel, so I concentrated on teaching him to parry
the blow to the head and return it. Secretly, we blunted the sabers
so Lukas's face wouldn't be disfigured. The duel went well. They
hacked at each other and raised welts. The doctor squeezed a drop of
blood from one of the producer's welts, and everyone was very happy."
Salle Santelli
Santelli's father, Italo, ran one of Europe's most famous salles
d'armes, a training center for aristocrats and Olympic athletes in an
age and in a country that still admired the swordsman. The Hungarian
Government had brought Italo to Budapest in 1896 from his native Italy
and subsidized his school. In 1924, George was brought here by the New
York Athletic Club. He was fencing master there for 25 years.
Santelli has been the dominant figure in American fencing for many
yeaears, He coached the Olympic teams from 1928 through 1952,
revolutionized technique, and exerted an incomparable spiritual force
with his singleminded and selfless dedication to his sport.
Through Salle Santelli, which he opened after World War II, he broke
the racial and class restrictions of fencing by encouraging Negroes
and holding free classes for public high school students. Tonight, in
a rare tribute in this sport, Santelli will be honored at the Statler
Hotel.
Santelli admits to having fought only one duel himself, an affair of
great complexity. During the 1924 Olympics in Paris, a dispute arose
between an Italian fencer and an official. A witness was necessary and
Italo Santelli's testimony led to the disqualification of the
Italian fencer, and a scandal. The captain of the Italian team, Adolfo
Cotronei, wrote a newspaper article denouncing Italo as a renegade
and a liar. Italo, 61 years old, challenged Cotronei, who was about 30.
On a Barge Off Abazia
George, unearthing an obscure rule in the dueling code that allowed a
son to replace his father under certain circumstances, met Cotronei
on a barge in the waters off Abbazia, between Trieste and Fiume.
"We really fenced," said Santelli, staring out his salle window at the
Women's House of Detention. "We did not hack. It lasted perhaps
three and one-half minutes. He came down like this, so I parried and
riposted and struck him on the side of the head. He was temporarily
blinded, and so the duel was stopped. He required 12 stitches.
The men met again, at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, and Cotronei
stood dinner and drinks, absurdly proud of his scar, the slight
squint in his left eye, and the monocle he wore.
"I do not believe," said Santelli, "that there should be dueling in
this country at this time. Americans think who won? who lost? and this
is not dueling, dueling is saving face and gaining satisfaction. It
grows from the culture."
His lips parted for large teeth. "But I must say that dueling was an
educational thing. It taught many people to behave properly. You have
to prepare for a duel, spend money on equipment, pay the fencing
master, pay the doctor, suffer the wounds. The next time you think
twice before you call a man an insulting name."
