The ‘Emancipation’ Duel
In 1892, in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, a duel occurred which the newspapers of the time declared unique. The ‘Emancipation Duel’ was the first duel where the duelists, the seconds and the presiding judge were all women. The only men present were male servants who were ordered to stand some distance away, their backs to the action to prevent them from watching. The reason for this strange order, it was said, was because the duel, which was between Princess Pauline Metternich, the wife of the Austrian ambassador of Paris and Countess Anastasia Kielmannsegg, the wife of the Statthalter of Lower Austria was fought with the duelists stripped to the waist.
The reason for the duel was equally original. Not only was Princess Pauline a diplomat’s wife, but she was also a patron of the arts and charity. In 1892, she was appointed as Honorary President of the Vienna Music and Theatrical exhibition. For the Princess, everything had to be just so. However, she found herself at loggerheads with the president of the Ladies Committee of the Exhibition, Countess Anastasia Kielmannsegg over the arrangement of the flowers at the event. The ladies could not agree and so incensed was the Princess; she challenged the Countess to a duel.
So, the Princess, the Countess, their two seconds, the Princess Schwarzenberg and Countess Kinsky and the president of the fight, Baroness Lubinska (who also happened to be a medical doctor) left for Vaduz to settle the matter. Rapiers were the ladies’ weapons of choice, and they agreed that they would settle the matter with first blood. The fight was over quickly. According to a supposed eyewitness account, after a few parries, the Princess cut the Countess’s nose, an action that so shocked her that ” “in a stereotypical feminine gesture, threw both hands up to her cheeks,” thus allowing the Countess to pierce her forearm.
The fight was stopped, and the Princess declared the winner as she inflicted the first wound. Both newspaper accounts and the witness account agree that the ladies politely accepted the decision and quit the scene on more cordial terms. However, the newspaper accounts omit one detail supplied by the mystery eyewitness. It seemed that the Baroness, in her capacity as a doctor was concerned about post-fight infections that could occur if any soiled cloth was pushed into a wound by a rapier. It was for this reason, according to the eyewitness, that she insisted the ladies fought topless.
According to the eyewitness, as soon as blood was drawn, the two seconds fainted, and the resulting cries were enough to cause the male servants waiting out of sight to ignore their orders and rush to the scene. There, the outraged Baroness attempted to drive them off with her umbrella crying,” avert your eyes, you lustful wretches,” to preserve the modesty of the aristocratic fighters. But is this account reliable? We cannot be sure. However, it certainly makes the emancipation duel doubly unique.
Other female duelists fought over patriotism rather than flowers.