The Rapier Duel in Sixteenth Century Italy

Abstract

The duel was a complex institution, intertwined with honor and Western society. The author begins with the setting, sixteenth-century Italy, and continues on to the very particular weapon of the rapier. There are four questions this paper asks. The first is, "What did people at the time mean by the word 'honor'?" The second question is, "What did a duel look like?" The third question is, "What is a rapier?" The final question is, "What did people at the time think of these duels?"