No-one will want to deny that it is the most grievous offence that can be done to an upright and right-minded person when one’s honour and reputation is damaged by people who cannot master their own unbridled passions since, in accordance with calm and rational understanding and natural reasoning, there is nothing more precious or valuable after life itself than the maintenance of honour and reputation. Council of Justice Judgement (1782) 1 The defence of honour as a key element in violent physical conlict over matters of reputation is well documented in the history of Europe and its colonies. The familiar picture is of a victim of insulting words or deeds that have challenged his reputation (for it was usually a male) who responds with violent action against the perpetrator. Extensively studied as a cause of armed conlict in the ritual of the European duel, honour was also a common element in less formalized outbreaks of public violence. 2 There is growing evidence that honour deined as a ‘right to respect’ was not conined to social elites; indeed, reputation among one’s equals and the right to defend one’s honour and to receive respect from others were central to the social ordering of many early modern societies, encompassing both genders and all ranks, including servants and slaves. 3 Honour and respect 5 ‘Unbridled Passions’, honour and status in late eighteenth- century Cape Town Nigel Worden 9781472519474_txt_prf.indd 89 21/12/13 2:02 PM