Duel

Julie d'Aubigny (La Maupin), a 17th-century French swordswoman, infiltrated a convent as a novice nun to rescue her imprisoned lover. She placed a dead nun's body in her lover's bed, set the room on fire, and escaped—only to be sentenced to death by burning and flee.

Julie d'Aubigny (La Maupin), a 17th-century French swordswoman and opera singer, defeated three noblemen in duels at a court ball after kissing a woman. Her father, a fencing instructor at Louis XIV's court, had trained her from childhood to surpass adult men.

In 19th–20th century Germany, university students prized facial scars from Mensur, an academic sword duel. Scars symbolized courage and elite status. Some students too afraid to participate sliced their own cheeks or paid doctors to create fake scars.