Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 February 1898 — ORIGIN OF DUELING. [ARTICLE]

ORIGIN OF DUELING.

The Practice Arose in Anglo-Saxon Countries in 059. The Wager of Battle, which, first instituted by the Lombards in (559, was introduced into England by William to supersede to some extent the old ordeals by fire and water, was the origin of duelling in English-Speaking countries. Whenever the Itinerant judges held Idea/ such as were convicted of murders, felonies, or breaches of King's peace,- through having been taken in the very act, were condemned to undergo the ordeal by water. When, however, the prisoner was brought to trial, “charged only by the voice of public fame or at the prosecution of a private individual,” he might plead not guilty, and declare his readiness to defend his innocence with his body. In this case the combatants, provided with a leathern target and a stout stave an ell in length, were compelled to fight till one was either killed or unable to continue to combat, or the night supervened. This law was still in force at the commencement of the present century, and enabled Abraham Thornton to escape his just desert for the murder of May Ashford. In the court of chivalry the combatants, armed with sword and dagger, and clothed in defensive armor, fought till one was either disabled or cried “craven!” when he ‘■‘was stripped of his armor on the spot where he lay, was dragged by horses out of the lists, and immediately hanged or beheaded in the presence of the mareschal.” The first recorded battle by single combat was that fought before William 11., in 1096. between Geoffrey Baynard and William, Earl of Eu, when the latter, being defeated, was blinded, and suffered mutilation.