Duels d'Histoire

Duelle

Duels of History

Duelos históricos

Historyczne pojedynki

Donne a duello - Sfide nella Storia

From Lucrezia Borgia to Malinche to Marie Curie: Women’s contributions have often been downplayed or misrepresented in the history books. Duels of History (re)tells their stories.

Could the Spanish have conquered Mexico without the help of Malinche, a Native American slave who became Hernan Cortés' translator? Enslaved by the Mayas and then the Spaniards, doomed to be sacrificed, Malinche made herself indispensable by becoming the conquistadors' interpreter.

Malinche vs Moctezuma

Could the Spanish have conquered Mexico without the help of Malinche, a Native American slave who became Hernan Cortés' translator? 

How did communist activist Angela Davis become an icon in her relentless fight against Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California? The young African-American became a target for Reagan, who made it his mission to save his country from the "red peril" and wanted her sentenced to death.

Angela Davis vs Ronald Reagan

In her battle against Ronald Reagan, activist Angela Davis became the icon of an entire generation.

Why does the figure of revolutionary socialist Rosa Luxemburg continue to shine whilst Friedrich Ebert, Social Democrat and President of the Weimar Republic, remains a traitor to the German people?

Rosa Luxembourg vs. Friedrich Ebert

Friedrich Ebert and Rosa Luxemburg comrades on the left - and yet became bitter enemies.

Did French Queen Marie-Antoinette really betray her adopted country? And was Robespierre a dictator or a democrat?

Marie-Antoinette vs Maximilien Robespierre

In 1913, Camille Claudel, one of the most acclaimed artists of her time, was committed to a psychiatric asylum for insanity. She accused world-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin of persecuting her. They had enjoyed a passionate relationship, but things had turned sour, and she blamed him for all her problems and accused him of trying to steal her works.

Camille Claudel vs Auguste Rodin

Sculptors Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel had a passionate affair, but things turned sour.

How did Marie Curie's love affair with the married physicist Paul Langevin divide France? Jeanne Langevin, cheated on and humiliated by her husband with the world's most famous scientist, was determined to take revenge. She turned a personal story into a political battle, which would have consequences for the Nobel Prize winner's career.

Marie Curie vs Jeanne Langevin

How did Marie Curie's love affair with the married physicist Paul Langevin become a national story that divided France?

Did the sentencing to death of Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, enable the Chinese Communist Party led by Deng Xiaoping to absolve itself of the crimes of the Great Helmsman? Accused of counter-revolutionary crimes after Mao's death, she embodied the hard left of the Chinese Communist Party, which Deng is determined to get rid of to make way for his modernisation plan

Jiang Qing vs Deng Xiaoping

Jiang Qing represented the old ways of the Chinese Communist Party, so she had to go.

Why is Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, still viewed as a Machiavellian manipulator? By marrying into the family her father wanted to forge an alliance with, she became forever associated with the worst scandals of Renaissance Italy.

Lucrezia Borgia vs Pope Alexander VI

Why is Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, still viewed as a Machiavellian manipulator? 

How did a simple tennis match between a woman, tennis star Billie Jean King, and a man, ex-player Bobby Riggs, become a television phenomenon and change the face of women's sport?

Billie Jean King vs Bobby Riggs

Two thousand years after the fact, can we really say that Messalina and Agrippina, two empresses of Roman antiquity, were the criminals and depraved women described by chroniclers of the time?

Messalina vs Agrippina

Were the two empresses of Roman antiquity really the criminals and depraved women described by chroniclers of the time?

Duels of History

All videos

Duels of History

Malinche vs Moctezuma

Duels of History

Angela Davis vs Ronald Reagan

Duels of History

Rosa Luxembourg vs. Friedrich Ebert

Duels of History

Marie-Antoinette vs Maximilien Robespierre

Duels of History

Camille Claudel vs Auguste Rodin

Duels of History

Marie Curie vs Jeanne Langevin

Duels of History

Jiang Qing vs Deng Xiaoping

Duels of History

Lucrezia Borgia vs Pope Alexander VI

Duels of History

Billie Jean King vs Bobby Riggs

Duels of History

Messalina vs Agrippina