predominated. Men went about armed after all not so they could just agree to formal combats at some later appointed time and place, but because they lived in a very violent world where self-defense was a necessity against the daily possibility of personal assault. Going about so armed probably prevented as many of these fights as it aggravated. However, popular culture and fencing histories since the 19th century (a time in which formal duels increased to become the norm at the same time their danger and lethality actually decreased) has tended to emphasize duels among cavalier gentlemen as being the standard of the period. This imprecise view more or less survives still today. 21. Only nobles fought duels. False. Commoners as well as nobles in different parts ofEurope fought different kinds of duels, both official and ad hoc. Judicial duels between commoners often had special rules in place concerning the conditions as distinct from those permitted nobles. Challenges to single combat between commoners, whether as sudden street-fights or more private affairs, both emulated as well as influenced the duels of honor among the aristocracy. 22. The rapier developed to defeat armor. unarmored civilian combat and was not a weapon of war for the battlefield. While it is frequently stated that larger swords were produced to face heavier armorers, the fact is, over time, swords actually got larger as armor use declined estocs ) were a different branch of sword family and not the forerunner of the later rapier. The true rapier developed rather out of