Dueling in France

“ A fight between two or several individuals…equally armed, for the purpose of proving either the truth of a disputed question or the valor, courage and honor of each comabantanat”. Dueling has been prevalent throughout society from the well known battle of David and Goliath and even in the American old west shoot-outs. Le Duel is Francois Billacois study of duels in France during the modern period. The Duel: Its Rise and Fall in early modern France is a condensed translation into English by Trista Selous. Billacois Strives to investigate all aspects of the phenemon from its development to its decline through examination of its “origin in time, space, and human needs; the phases of its maturity, its decline;” and the fundamental themes of the duel concept. He is successful in providing excellent analysis of the duel in early modern France, but there are some distinguishable issues with his evaluation of the origin of the duel, and of the composing themes of the duel. Billacois arranges the book into four parts. Part one The sixteenth Century: Early stages of the French Duel, Billacois attempts to examine the origin of the non-judicial duel. Part two The Turn of the Sixteenth Century: Disputed Peak, he provides a comprehensive and clear description of all aspects of the duel at the turn of the sixteenth century. Third part After 1650: The Wane and Its Limits, in which he describes the decline of the duel and provides possible causes for it. Part four Towards a Definition of Themes he provides a catalogue of the themes that constitute the mindset established by the duel. The first part, The sixteenth Century: Early Stages of the French Duel is an ineffective part of the book. It is separated into five chapters that define and describe the duel, and tries to examine its origin in France, and to establish its importance to France in particular among western European nations. It concludes with Jarnac’s Duel 1547, that has significant importance to dueling in France.