The design of the nobility as a noble estate went on in Europe, starting from the 15th century. And immediately those who realized themselves noble, carried away by duels, this cross between suicide and murder.
Foreign fashion
At first, the duelists hid in the woods. Then they fought everywhere: on the streets, in parks, even in royal palaces. At the end of the 17th century, pistols "ousted" swords and foils in duels, equalizing the physical capabilities of the fighters, and the elite of Europe was seized by a real dueling fever. Everybody fought: seedy noblemen from the provinces and crowned heads; military and civilian; old and young.
More people died in duels than in battles!
The kings tried to stop this orgy on the grounds that the nobles could sacrifice themselves only for the sake of kings. Nothing worked.
And in Russia the nobles were then serfs of the highest nobility. They did not even dream of any nobility; only foreigners hired here fought. The first duel took place in 1666 in Moscow between the Scotsman Patrick Gordon (later he became Peter's general) and the Englishman Major Montgomery.
Noble, with coats of arms and titles, our nobility became the will of Peter I, and he immediately forbade dueling: “Whoever perpetrates against this, he certainly, as the caller, and who comes out, has to be executed, namely, hanged. [If] one of them [in a duel] is wounded or killed … then they will be hanged by their feet after death. " Seconds and witnesses were also to be executed.
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Peter I thoroughly intimidated the nobles: there were practically no duels before Catherine II. And Catherine gave freedom to the nobles! Having become independent from the state, our nobles sensed how noble they really are. Even the poorest "Akaki Akakievich", by his way of life very far from the higher bosses, who lived luxuriously with the labors of serfs, nevertheless understood that he was "of the same blood" with them.
The nobility became a closed caste with its own unwritten code of honor.
In Europe, by this time, the dueling fever was over. Fights became rare and, if I may say so, humane: in a duel with swords, the fight was fought until the first wound; when dueling with pistols, the distance was set at 30-40 steps. Most of the fights ended with light scratches or even bloodless.
It was at this time that the fever of duels covered Russia.
Shoot to death
The Russian duel, in comparison with the European one, was distinguished by extreme cruelty.
There were no clear rules. If the Europeans fired from a distance that reduced the risk of death, then the Russians - usually from 10-15 steps, and sometimes from three! And they agreed in advance to shoot "to the result," that is, to death. Sometimes they shot themselves, getting up alternately with their backs to the cliff, in order to die even with a weak wound. They often did without seconds and almost always without a doctor.
It is not surprising that both opponents often perished in the battle for honor.
The honor of a nobleman is a vague concept. Lies, cowardice, unfaithfulness to the oath, theft threatened the loss of honor. This is good and right. But, having sworn allegiance to the empress and having in their moral baggage the inadmissibility of theft, the higher nobles robbed the budgets of entire provinces! Corruption was monstrous, as everyone knew, including the empress, but they were not called to a duel for this, but on the contrary: the embezzler considered himself insulted if someone hinted at his embezzlement. "Honor" did not concern either the country or the people.
The highest dignitaries turned the duel into a means of reprisal. Potemkin, the favorite of Catherine II, having learned that the empress admired the handsome prince Pyotr Golitsyn, persuaded Colonel Shepelev to challenge Golitsyn to a duel. He chose an excuse, Golitsyn could not refuse, and Shepelev stabbed him, according to Pushkin, "treasonably".
In gratitude, Potemkin married his niece Nadezhda to the murderer, providing her with a considerable dowry, and greatly promoted Shepelev in the service.
Moreover, Potemkin himself did not accept challenges to a duel. Life was more precious to him than honor.
Since they remembered Pushkin: in his "The Captain's Daughter" Shvabrin, under the guise of a duel, intended to kill Grinev, and in order not to be caught, he did not want seconds. A typical case!
For any nonsense, they could summon a person, and do not dare refuse: you will be considered a coward and you will lose honor. Moreover, it was assumed that the weapon was chosen by the summoned. But the choice of weapon was important, and therefore the instigators sought to be the called party. What is needed for this? Just insult the enemy, and now he is forced to challenge himself. The real instigator chooses a weapon and kills the person. Where is the honor?
Lunin, a famous brute, deliberately looked for reasons for duels. As they would say now, he was a maniac. He approached a stranger and said: “Dear sir! You said this and that. " - "Dear sir, I did not tell you anything." - "How, you say that I lied?" … The duel is ready.
The duelists knew two main methods of shooting: aiming at the nose and at the thigh. If "in the nose", then, in advance, wish the enemy death. To mark "in the thigh" meant a desire to wash off the insult without killing. But those who aimed at the thigh sometimes missed and hit the stomach. Is it any wonder that maniac duelists like Tolstoy the American always shot in the stomach and cited it as a miss. Murder, but you can't prove it …
In the era of Alexander I, as the researchers note, the duel began to turn into a means of political struggle, a way of settling scores, or into a kind of show, with the help of which bully people created the necessary opinion about themselves.
Decembrists' bully
The future Decembrists quite often reduced political debates to duels. Something like this: "Only a dishonest person can think differently." - "I think otherwise! So, in your opinion, I am a dishonest person? " And they go out to shoot each other. Noble honor had nothing to do with these games; there was a shooting of competitors in the battle for power, which they intended to seize.
The well-known poseur, duel maniac A. Yakubovich in October 1818 shot himself in Tiflis with Griboyedov. He shot Griboyedov in the palm of his hand, and later spread false rumors about him, dishonoring him. Even later, during the speech of the Decembrists, he volunteered to kill Nicholas I, and when he came to the tsar, he promised to appease the rebels. Deceived both sides. What kind of "honor" is there …
In the first half of the 19th century, the duel began to degrade after the notorious honor of the nobility. The scoundrels, having received a slap in the face, wiped themselves off or reported to the police. It happened even worse: in 1832, in Tver, Pushkin's acquaintance, Alexander Shishkov, had a falling out at a ball with Chernov and challenged him to a duel. He refused, and Shishkov slapped him in the face, and Chernov ran home, returned with a dagger and stabbed Shishkov at the porch.
Duels finally turned into a farce both in Russia and in Europe.
Honor ended, and with it the duel turned into fiction.
Grievances washed away in blood
Russian nobles, and especially officers, called each other on the slightest pretext. For example, our great poet Pushkin took part in duels 29 times, but he was never even wounded. The only time a duel with his participation ended in blood - it was the same duel with Dantes, which killed the poet. At the beginning of the 19th century, perhaps, there was not a single nobleman who did not participate in a duel.
At first, the Russian emperors reacted sharply to the duels. However, already under Alexander III and Nicholas II, they were officially allowed: it was believed that the duel contributes to raising morale and officer honor.
It is believed that from early 1800 to 1917, up to 10,000 people died in duels. But it is likely that there were many more victims of honor and social conventions …
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 7, Dmitry Kalyuzhny