The dispute arose from an injury Townshend was deemed to have done Bellamont the previous year when he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. On 2 February 1773, four peers – Lord Townshend, the Earl of Bel/amont and their seconds Lords Ancram and Ligonier – assembled in Marylebone Fields on the outskirts of London to determine an affair of honour. Guns aren’t what they used to be.(COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND) So while it might soon be legal to challenge one to a duel in Canada-it’s unclear when the legislation might pass, though it’s making its way through Canada’s House of Commons-maybe keep it at that. Today, of course, we carry much deadlier weapons. A lot of duels-like Pierre’s duel with a suspected lover of his wife in War and Peace-ended with a loser who was merely injured. But death wasn’t the only outcome back then, since those pistols could easily jam or misfire, and were not nearly as accurate as modern firearms. This would mean that, yes, it may once again legal to challenge someone to a duel in Canada, though any ensuing consequences (assault with a deadly weapon? murder, maybe?) would still be very much illegal.ĭuels, as you probably know, were a mainstay of the 18th and 19th centuries, most famously in the case of Aaron Burr, who shot and killed Alexander Hamilton because of something the latter said at a New York dinner party. Under the proposal, Section 71 would be removed entirely. This week, a member of Parliament introduced legislation to update antiquated sections of that code. The penalties for breaking this law are up to two years in prison-but that might be about to change. Mund/Public Domainįor over a century, it’s been illegal in Canada to “challenge or attempt by any means to provoke another person to fight a duel, attempt to provoke a person to challenge another person to fight a duel, or accept a challenge to fight a duel,” according to Section 71 of the country’s Criminal Code.
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