No quarter

A victor gives no quarter when the victor shows no clemency or mercy and refuses to spare the life in return for the surrender at discretion (unconditional surrender) of a vanquished opponent. In some circumstances, the opposing forces would signal their intention to give no quarter by using a red flag, however the use of a red flag to signal no quarter does not appear to have been universal among combatants.

Under the laws of war, "....it is especially forbidden....to declare that no quarter will be given". This was established under Article 23 (d) of the 1907 Hague Convention IV - The Laws and Customs of War on Land.

Since a judgment on the law relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials in October 1946, the 1907 Hague Convention, including the explicit prohibition to declare that no quarter will be given, are considered to be part of the customary laws of war and are binding on all parties in an international armed conflict.

Etymology

The term may originate from an order by the commander of a victorious army that they "will not quarter (house)" captured enemy combatants. Therefore, none can be taken prisoner and all enemy combatants must be killed. A second derivation given equal prominence in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is that quarter (n.17) can mean "Relations with, or conduct towards, another" as in Shakespeare Oth. II. iii. 180, "Friends all..In Quarter, and in termes like Bride, and Groome." So "no quarter" may also mean to refuse to enter in to an agreement (relations) with an enemy attempting to surrender. The OED mentions a third possible derivation but says "The assertion of De Brieux (1672 Origines..de plusieurs façons de parler, 16) that it arose in an agreement between the Dutch and Spaniards, by which the ransom of an officer or private was to be a quarter of his pay, is at variance with the constant sense of the phrases give and receive quarter."

No quarter (disambiguation)

No quarter is when a victor shows no clemency or mercy and refuses to spare the life in return for the unconditional surrender of a vanquished opponent.

No Quarter may also refer to:

No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded

No Quarter is a live album by Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released by Atlantic Records on 14 October 1994. The long awaited reunion between Jimmy Page and Robert Plant occurred on a 90-minute "UnLedded" MTV project, recorded in Morocco, Wales, and London, which rated highly on network television. It was not a reunion of Led Zeppelin, however, as former bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones was not present. In fact, Jones was not even told about the reunion by his former band mates. He later commented that he was unhappy about Plant and Page naming the album after "No Quarter", a Led Zeppelin song which was largely his work.

In addition to acoustic numbers, the album features a reworking of Led Zeppelin classics, along with four Middle-Eastern and Moroccan-influenced songs: "City Don't Cry", "Yallah" (or "The Truth Explodes"), "Wonderful One", and "Wah Wah".

The album was #4 on debut on the Billboard's Pop Albums chart.