Swords, the sound of buckshot or the sound of buckshot is a common thing in sorting out relations in duels among the nobles, in which very famous historical figures have succeeded, and poets, and hussars, and musketeers, but they were all men. Now it is difficult to imagine that during the Baroque and Renaissance times, it turns out that there were many duels in which women also took part, choosing at the same time a variety of methods of settling scores. And I must say that these fights were more bloody than men's.
Do not communicate with God, so be beaten
16th century, Italy, St. Benedict's convent. Two women of noble birth apply for shelter. Maybe initially their goals were godly, only in the end everything continued to sort things out with the use of daggers. When the novices of the monastery managed to burst into the room, one of the duelists had already passed away from God, and the other, according to her condition, only had time to confess.
Passion of the 17th century - women's duels became "fashion"
In this century in Europe, representatives with temperament began to call each other to the barrier more often for various reasons. The arguments were "super-serious": the same outfits, an unfriendly look, but if the topic was love rivalry - there is no mercy! The dueling codes of men were not a decree for the ladies, and in four out of five cases one of the participants died, while the mortality rate for men was below forty percent.
Promotional video:
Don't kill, so scratch
Women's duels were distinguished by their sophistication and unpredictability, although sometimes the duelists did not know how to hold their weapons correctly, and they had no time to “study”. It is clear that luck was more often on the side of the more experienced in handling weapons. If the goal was not to send the rival to another world, the ladies tried to inflict as many mutilations on the enemy as possible, for example, to disfigure the face as much as possible. Not only nails could be used, but also special ladies' knives.
Catherine II - juvenile duelist
An attempt to clarify the relationship with swords is also in the biography of Empress Catherine the Great. She was still in a transitional, as they would say now, age quarreled with her second cousin Anna. The two princesses started a duel, but fortunately both cooled down a little, and everything ended well.
Russia did not lag behind Europe
Arriving in Russia and becoming an empress, Catherine nevertheless did not forget the European fashion for female duels, and she herself was a participant more than once as a second. The motto of Catherine II was the phrase "before the first blood", which, in principle, for that time was the most humane. In the 19th century, duels also penetrated into ladies' salons, and noble women from the capital took part in them.
Development of "fashion" - strip duel
At the same time, it has become fashionable in Europe to hold women's fights half-naked, and then in the nude. It can be logically assumed that this idea was often offered to ladies by men, who, at the same time, themselves were not averse to being seconds. Although it is clear that in those days clothes strongly constrained movement, and the one who was half-naked had more chances to win, and therefore to live, had more.