ABSTRACT
The word 'duel' usually brings to mind images of men of status meeting at dawn to face each other with pistols or swords in accordance with the rules of aristocratic honor. Illustrative of encounters is a sword fight that took place on the streets of Augsburg in 1642. Recently, however, historians have begun to pay closer attention to the code of honor that governed violent encounters between ordinary townsmen, sometimes termed 'popular duels.' Prior to the eighteenth century, there was little to distinguish popular dueling among commoners from spontaneous swordplay between those of higher station. To ignore Kratzer's taunts in a public arena would both have compromised Morhardt's honor and masculine reputation and rewarded his adversary's inappropriate behavior. Morhardt knew that if Kratzer was dying, reconciliation with his victim was important to his own chances for social rehabilitation. The goal of their narrative was to convince the authorities that the killer acted honorably and the victim died well.
