Challenge: Gladiators in the British Empire

Would it have been possible for a tradition of publicized duels to arise in the British empire?

Could these evolve into gladiator-style matches in a Coliseum in London?
 
Would it have been possible for a tradition of publicized duels to arise in the British empire?

Yes.

Could these evolve into gladiator-style matches in a Coliseum in London?

No.

I think that it may have been entirely possible for duels to have drawn large crowds and even charged admission. However, due to backlash against duels, this would have to have been quasi-legal and purely a lower-class entertainment. (despite the fact that duels were often between upper-class opponents)

Any commercialization of dueling beyond a wink-nudge sort of thing is going to draw too much of a backlash, in my opinion. Religious types and the type to bemoan the loss of promising or notable men already oppose them, and a large increase in dueling deaths would probably result in laws restricting it.
 
Not to mention that the entire concept of dueling was about private/personal concerns of "honor".

Although for nonlethal duels, the thought comes up of having a fencing equivalent to modern professional boxing. I'm not entirely sure how you'd get that going, but it would advert the concerns about dueling to the death being technically murder and certainly received as such at times.
 
What about the animal-fighting part, then? The British did have direct access to exotic mammals and reptiles from Africa and Asia.
 
What about the animal-fighting part, then? The British did have direct access to exotic mammals and reptiles from Africa and Asia.

Bear-baiting was quite popular, often with dogs as opponents. It wouldn't be impossible for it to develop into a sport like bullfighting, I suppose - human opponents going up against a bear in the ring. The problem is that bears are considerably more dangerous.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
Bear-baiting was quite popular, often with dogs as opponents. It wouldn't be impossible for it to develop into a sport like bullfighting, I suppose - human opponents going up against a bear in the ring. The problem is that bears are considerably more dangerous.

Cheers,
Ganesha

Probably possible so long as the "fights," like bullfighting, were staged in such a way that the animal always died and the human virtually never did except when something went badly wrong.
 
The Brits did go in for bloodsports in a big way, bareknuckle boxing was very popular as were bear and bull baiting and all sorts of other animal fights. They also has public executions and floggings.

Perhaps with all this sort of thing they had little need for gladiators.
 
The Brits did go in for bloodsports in a big way, bareknuckle boxing was very popular as were bear and bull baiting and all sorts of other animal fights. They also has public executions and floggings.

Perhaps with all this sort of thing they had little need for gladiators.

I think the key here is church condemnation or lack thereof. Animals have no souls. Convicts get their just desserts. But gladiator fights? Not to mention that even with a very classicist culture of upper society, aping the famous Pagan-Roman gladiatorial fights is probably not going to go over very well, because people would realize it's very, very close to being human sacrifice.

It's not that the 18th century British public wasn't that bloodthirsty, I just think it would offend the society's religious sensibilities.
 
Not to mention that the entire concept of dueling was about private/personal concerns of "honor".

Although for nonlethal duels, the thought comes up of having a fencing equivalent to modern professional boxing. I'm not entirely sure how you'd get that going, but it would advert the concerns about dueling to the death being technically murder and certainly received as such at times.
Perhaps set up specifically to highlight the latter point?
Maybe as one of William Wilberforce's projects?
 
The closest I can come to a public gladitorial event would be some sort of competition for places at Sandhurst (or prior to 1813 at Marlow and / or Woolwich) were potential cadets have to duel against eachother for a limited number of places.

If this were to have taken place (particularly from 1720 with the opening of Woolwich) it may have been a practice taken up by West Point and / or Saint-Cyr.
 
The closest I can come to a public gladitorial event would be some sort of competition for places at Sandhurst (or prior to 1813 at Marlow and / or Woolwich) were potential cadets have to duel against eachother for a limited number of places.

If this were to have taken place (particularly from 1720 with the opening of Woolwich) it may have been a practice taken up by West Point and / or Saint-Cyr.

You could also have trial by combat evolve into a more popular judicial function - in other words, have occasional public trials by combat.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
But the other half is the gladiators. Where do you get those?

Convicts, the insane, homeless, so and so forth....wasnt the best time to be any of them in those days, and i could see at least the convict lot getting this gig
 
The Brits did go in for bloodsports in a big way, bareknuckle boxing was very popular as were bear and bull baiting and all sorts of other animal fights. They also has public executions and floggings.

Perhaps with all this sort of thing they had little need for gladiators.


Is that kind of how American football matches are rarely followed by riots in the stands? Either that or the audience is just too lazy and well-fed to riot, or just wants to get to their car before the Big Traffic. Maybe.

On the other hand, it could be like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup genesis kind of thing, fencing collides with barre knuckle fights somehow, and, shazam, looks like gladiator contests. To stay closer to fencing, the blades could be heavy like real swords but lacking a lethal edge, so that armor is still a very good idea, but, death is not a necessary result for the contest.

The armor and shield thing could get pretty interesting. I'm envisioning an almost steampunk minimalist look, matte black helmet and armor with no adornment, similar oval shield, "Cestus" or weighted-knuckle sap gloves too.


I realized a moment ago that this is a country that embraced um jousting and other stuff with swords etc. It isn't that huge a stretch, or am I wrong?
 
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