DIVORCE BY COMBAT

Question

In medieval Germany, husbands and wives could fight in a marital duel in order to legally settle their disputes.

Interestingly, the man had to fight in a hole with one of his arms tied behind his back. The woman was allowed to move freely within the arena but had to wear cloth containing weights. As for her weapon, she was usually given a sack filled with rocks. The man was provided with three clubs. However, if he touched the side of the hole during combat, he had to forfeit one of his clubs.

Married couples were usually given a month or two to settle their differences prior to combat. The duel would only take place if they could not compromise and make peace with each other. If the husband lost the duel, he would have his head cut off. If the wife lost the duel, she would be buried alive.

Justin · Accepted Answer

One could say they took "till death do us part" seriously...

Steve · Answer

How'd you know who lost,  first to 21? Were these timed? Were the tickets affordable; were the adverts funny? ...

Geo · Answer

At least divorce is a short painful process here.

Du · Answer

My first take on the picture without context was: circus with two clowns.

Raymond · Answer

That's the jankiest thing I've seen in a long time, & yet I've had a few dreams about this sort of thing.

Eric · Answer

If you go back and check out Medieval German Twitter you can see tweets by men complaining about the inherent "sexism" of the practice ("why is the hole so deep?" "only three clubs?" "only one arm?" "can i tag out and have one of my fantasy football buddies replace me?")

Dylan · Answer

Bruh 😂 
this is terrible but who else thinks this would be a fun court case to watch

DIVORCE BY COMBAT

History Community

How'd you know who lost, first to 21? Were these timed? Were the tickets affordable; were the adverts funny? ...

At least divorce is a short painful process here.

My first take on the picture without context was: circus with two clowns.

That's the jankiest thing I've seen in a long time, & yet I've had a few dreams about this sort of thing.

If you go back and check out Medieval German Twitter you can see tweets by men complaining about the inherent "sexism" of the practice ("why is the hole so deep?" "only three clubs?" "only one arm?" "can i tag out and have one of my fantasy football buddies replace me?")

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