Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones loves a good bit of on-screen swordplay. But her clashes with Wednesday co-star Jenna Ortega are nothing compared to some real-life historical duels…
Catherine Zeta-Jones says having a sword fight with Jenna Ortega felt “amazing”, as the Daily Star revealed this week. The moody beauties clashed blades on set while filming the new series of Wednesday.
It’s not her first on-screen duel – she also faced Antonio Banderas in 1998 film The Mask of Zorro. Now we take a look at the gruesome history of the real-life tradition.
Duel purpose: Feeling annoyed about pretty much anything at all? At one point in history, that might have been enough to warrant a duel.
These small-scale battles were fought – at first with swords, then later with pistols – between people who felt they had been disrespected.
Fight the power: The tradition arose from ‘trial by combat’ – once considered a legitimate legal process.
Used in cases without witnesses or a confession, it involved an alleged offender fighting their accuser until one of them could be declared the winner, and therefore right. It was introduced to England by William I in the 11 th Century and finally abolished in 1819.
Class warfare: Outside of the courts, duelling was always illegal in Britain. But it was common among the upper classes in the 17 th Century and the authorities usually turned a blind eye.
On the rare occasion winners were arrested for murder, juries often refused to find them guilty – provided they had followed the rules.
Pitched battle: It wasn’t enough to just give your opponent a slap. You had to abide by the code duello, starting by declaring your grievance in public.
At that point, the offending party could either apologise or choose weapons for the duel. Your next job would be to name a meeting point – or “field of honour” – where each side would arrive with a doctor and a stand-in or “second”.
Lin-Manuel labour: One of the most famous duels in history took place between US founding father Alexander Hamilton and then-vice president Aaron Burr. And if you’ve seen the Hamilton musical, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, you’ll be able to sing all about it.
Alexander was gunned down by his political rival after refusing to apologise for calling him “a dangerous man”.
Fighting talk: It wasn’t just men who got involved with duelling. In the famous “petticoat duel” of 1792, Lady Almeria Braddock was apparently enraged when a Mrs Elphinstone accused her of being over 60, rather than ‘not yet 30,’ as she claimed.
They squared up with pistols, then swords, in London’s Hyde Park, where Mrs Elphinstone got a slash to her arm and agreed to apologise.
Head of steam: Andrew Jackson, the seventh US president, was said to have been involved in more than 100 duels. Many of these were in defence of his wife Rachel, who was falsely accused of adultery.
Jackson was almost killed in an 1806 clash with plantation owner Charles Dickinson, but rallied to shoot his opponent dead.
Battle Royale: In August 1892, Austrian princess Pauline Von Metternich fell out with a Countess Anastasia von Kielmannsegg over floral arrangements at an exhibition. Obviously, they decided to settle the row with a duel.
They were rumoured to have fought topless to stop any cuts getting infected – but the princess denied this. Both women were slightly wounded and Pauline was declared the winner.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
