Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Generally, duels in history were fought with weapons that were actually in use, either for self-defense or in war. (The notable exceptions being some of the specialized dueling swords of the 19th century, like the Epee du Combat--but that was clearly a legacy from when swords were carried in public and useful in self-defense).

One of the purposes of the duel is to prove your courage, honor, and formidability. Courage and honor are demonstrated by showing up and risking your life, formidability is demonstrated by winning a fight with a culturally significant or useful weapon.

I imagine in the future, these reasons would remain. Soldiers would duel with a weapon they use in war (probably a secondary weapon or side arm, though to decrease lethality somewhat). Civilians would likely duel with a weapon they carry regularly and could use in self-defense.

In both cases, that might mean duels fought unarmed, but there would have to be strong cultural reasons to use an extremely specialized weapon with no use outside of dueling.

German dueling shield fits into this model how?

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

German dueling shield fits into this model how?

A fair point. I did say, "generally." :) Dueling shields are something of an exception, for sure.

I should have also specified that I was referring to *duels of honor*, rather than *trial by combat* or *judicial duels*.

When the motive shifts from "proving your manly prowess" to "let God decide who is right by aiding the victor" everything I said goes out the window. Same with the husband and wife combat from Talhoffer's fectbuch (where we also see a depiction of dueling shields), where the man stands in a hole with a stick and the woman has a rock in a stocking--no one took pride in being a particular good at fighting his wife from a hole in the ground.

I believe dueling shields were used primarily in the "judicial duel" context rather than the honor duel context. Even so, fighting with shield and a mace (or sword) isn't that far removed from what would qualify as "martial prowess" in the 15th century, no matter how long and spiky that shield is.