Trial by Ordeal is a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a painful task. If either the task is completed without injury, or the injuries sustained are healed quickly, the accused is considered innocent. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, it was considered a judicium Dei: a procedure based on the premise that God would help the innocent by performing a miracle on their behalf. The practice has much earlier roots however, being attested in polytheistic cultures as far back as the Code of Hammurabi and the Code of Ur-Nammu, and in animist tribal societies, such as the trial by ingestion of "red water" (calabar bean) in Sierra Leone, where the intended effect is magical rather than invocation of a deity's justice. 1540s depiction of a 1409 judicial combat in Augsburg (Paulus Hector Mair, Munich cod. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Polytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or divinities. ... An inscription of the Code of Hammurabi. ... The Code of Ur-Nammu is the oldest known tablet containing a law code surviving today. ... This article is in need of attention. ... The Calabar bean is the seed of a leguminous plant, Physostigma venenosum, a native of tropical Africa. ... Look up Magic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The term magic is a Persian loanword into English and may refer to: Magic (paranormal) deals with the manipulation of what the practitioner believes to be genuine paranormal phenomena. ...

In pre-modern society, the ordeal typically ranked along with the oath and witness accounts as the central means by which to reach a judicial verdict. Indeed, the term ordeal itself, Old English ordel, has the meaning of "judgement, verdict" (German Urteil, Dutch oordeel), from Proto-Germanic *uzdailjam "that which is dealt out". This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about witnesses in law courts. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Old English: ) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

In Europe, ordeals commonly required an accused person to test himself or herself against fire or water, though the precise nature of the proof varied considerably at different times and places. In England, ordeals were common under both the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans. Fire was the element typically used to test noble defendants, while water was more commonly used by lesser folk. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon. ... Norman conquests in red. ...

Priestly cooperation in trials by fire and water was forbidden by Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, and replaced by compurgation.^[1]. Trials by ordeal became more rare over the Late Middle Ages, often replaced by confessions extracted under torture, but the practice was discontinued only in the 16th century. Johannes Hartlieb in 1456 reports a popular superstition on how to identify a thief by an ordeal by ingestion practiced privately without judicial sanction. Pope Innocent III (c. ... The Fourth Council of the Lateran was summoned by Pope Innocent III with his Bull of April 19, 1213. ... A certified copy of the Magna Carta March 4 - King John of England makes an oath to the Pope as a crusader to gain the support of Innocent III. June 15 - King John of England was forced to put his seal on the Magna Carta, outlining the rights of landowning... Compurgation, also called wager of law, is a defense used primarily in medieval law. ... Dante by Michelino The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th to 16th centuries (AD 1300–1500). ... For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Johannes Hartlieb (born ca. ... In Anglo-Saxon law, corsned (OE cor, trial, investigation, + snǽd, bit, piece; Latin panis conjuratus), also known as the accursed or sacred morsel, or the morsel of execration, was a type of trial by ordeal consisting in the eating of a piece of barley bread and cheese, totalling about...

Ordeal of fire

This test typically required that the accused walk a certain distance, usually nine feet, over red-hot ploughshares or holding a red-hot iron. Innocence was sometimes established by a complete lack of injury, but it was more common for the wound to be bandaged and reexamined three days later by a priest, who would pronounce that God had intervened to heal it, or that it was merely festering - in which case the suspect would be exiled or executed. One famous instance of the ordeal of ploughshares concerned Emma of Normandy, accused of adultery with the Bishop of Winchester in the mid-eleventh century. If church chroniclers are to be believed, she was so manifestly innocent that she had already walked over the blades when she asked if her trial would soon begin. European Chain Store ... A plowshare (ploughshare or plough share except in North America) is the cutting blade of a plow. ... For other uses, see Iron (disambiguation). ... Gangrene is the necrosis and subsequent decay of body tissues caused by infection or thrombosis. ... Exile (band) may refer to: Exile - The American country music band Exile - The Japanese pop music band Category: ... Queen Emma of Normandy receiving the Encomium Emmae, with her sons Harthacanute and Edward the Confessor in the background. ... This article is about the act of adultery. ... Arms of the Bishop of Winchester The diocese of Winchester is one of the oldest and most important in England. ...

Another form of the ordeal required that an accused remove a stone from a pot of boiling water, oil, or lead. The assessment of the injury, and the consequences of a miracle or lack thereof, followed a similar procedure to that described in the preceding paragraph. An early (non-judicial) example of the test was described by Gregory of Tours in the seventh century AD. He tells how a Catholic saint (Saint Hyacinth) bested an Arian rival by plucking a stone from a boiling cauldron. Gregory accepted that it took Hyacinth about an hour to complete the task (because the waters were bubbling so ferociously), but he was pleased to record that when the heretic tried, he had the skin boiled off up to his elbow. Saint Gregory of Tours (c. ... Saint Hyacinth For the 3rd century martyr, see Hyacinth and Protus. ... Arian may refer to: Arian, being well endowed. ... Three-legged iron pots being used to cater for a school-leavers party in Botswana. ...

• Giovanni da Pian del Carpine narrates that when he visited the Mongol Batu Khan, he was made pass between two fires^[2] to remove possible witchcraft or poisons.

John of Plano Carpinis famous journey—his route is shown in Dark blue (railroad track style). ... Honorary guard of Mongolia. ... Batu Khan (Russian: , Ukrainian: ) (c. ... “Witch” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Poison (disambiguation). ...

Ordeal of water

In English Common Law

In the Assize of Clarendon, enacted in 1166 and the first great legislative act in the reign of the English Angevin King Henry II, the law of the land required that: "anyone, who shall be found, on the oath of the aforesaid [a jury], to be accused or notoriously suspect of having been a robber or murderer or thief, or a receiver of them ... be taken and put to the ordeal of water."^[3] was an 1166 act of King Henry II of England that began the transformation of English Law from divinely-ordained systems of deciding the prevailing party in a lawsuit (such as trial by ordeal or trial by battle), toward a more humanistic evitendiary model, in which evidence and inspection was... Angevin (IPA: ) is the name applied to the residents of Anjou, a former province of the Kingdom of France, as well as to the residents of Angers. ... Rulers with the title Henry II include: Henry II of Castile Henry II of England Henry II of France Henry II of Germany, also Holy Roman Emperor Henry II of Navarre Henry II, Duke of Saxony Henry II of Jerusalem (also Henry II of Cyprus) Henry II, Duke of Bavaria...

Ordeal of hot water

First mentioned in the 6th century Lex Salica, the ordeal of hot water requires the accused to dip his hand in a kettle of boiling water. In 12th Century Catholic churches the priest would demand a suspect to place his hand in the boiling water. If, after three days, God had not healed his wounds, the suspect was guilty of said crimes. [1]. The King of the Franks, in the midst of the Military Chiefs who formed his Treuste, or armed Court, dictates the Salic Law (Code of the Barbaric Laws). ...

Ordeal of cold water

This ordeal has a precedent in the code of Hammurabi, where a man accused of sorcery is to be submerged in a stream and acquitted if he survives. The practice occurred in Frankish law and was abolished by Louis the Pious in 829. The practice did re-appear in the Late Middle Ages, however. In the Dreieicher Wildbann of 1338, a man accused of poaching is to be submerged in a barrel three times, and to be considered guilty if he sinks to the bottom. An inscription of the Code of Hammurabi. ... Magic (also called magick to distinguish it from stage magic) is a supposed way of influencing the world through supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means. ... Louis the Pious, contemporary depiction from 826 as a miles Christi (soldier of Christ), with a poem of Rabanus Maurus overlaid. ... Events Egbert of Wessex conquers Mercia and is recognized as Bretwalda. ... For other uses, see Poaching (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Barrel (disambiguation). ...

This ordeal became also associated with the witch-hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries, and demonologists would develop inventive new theories about how it worked. Some argued that witches floated because they had renounced baptism when entering the Devil's service. Jacob Rickius claimed that they were supernaturally light, and recommended weighing them as an alternative to dunking them. King James I (and VI of Scotland) claimed in his Daemonologie that water was so pure an element that it repelled the guilty. A late witch process to include this ordeal took place in Szegedin, Hungary in 1728 (Böhmer, ius eccles. 5.608). A witch-hunt is a search for suspected witches; it is a type of moral panic. ... Demonology is the systematic study of demons. ... This article is about the Christian religious act of Baptism. ... This is an overview of the Devil. ... Location: 46° 15′ 0″ N 20° 10′ 0″ E Szeged  listen (in Serbian Segedin, in Polish Segedyn, in Romanian Seghedin, in Slovak Segedín) is the fourth largest city of Hungary, the regional centre of South-Eastern Hungary and the capital of Csongrád county. ... Events Astronomical aberration discovered by the astronomer James Bradley Swedish academy of sciences founded at Uppsala The founding of the University of Havana (Universidad de la Habana), Cubas most well-established university. ...

Gregory of Tours (died 594) recorded the common expectation that with a millstone round his or her neck, the guilty would sink: "The cruel pagans cast him [Quirinus, bishop of the church of Sissek] into a river with a millstone tied to his neck, and when he had fallen into the waters he was long supported on the surface by a divine miracle, and the waters did not suck him down since the weight of crime did not press upon him." (Historia Francorum i.35) Saint Gregory of Tours (c. ... Events Births Empress Kogyoku of Japan = Empress Saimei Deaths Gregory of Tours, bishop and historian Categories: 594 ... The interior of a functional water mill The basic anatomy of a millstone. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... For other uses, see Miracle (disambiguation). ...

The ordeal of water is also contemplated by the Vishnu Smrti (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 7, tr. Julius Jolly), chapter 12, which is one of the texts of the Dharmaśāstra. [2] The Sacred Books of the East is a monumental, 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious writings, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. ...

Ordeal of the cross

The ordeal of the cross was apparently introduced in the Early Middle Ages by the church in an attempt to discourage judicial duels among the Germanic peoples. As in the case of such duels, and unlike the case of most other ordeals, the accuser has to undergo the ordeal together with the accused. They stand on either side of a cross and stretch out their hands horizontally. The one to first lower his arms loses. This ordeal was proscribed by Charlemagne in 779 and again in 806. On the other hand, a decree of Lothar I, recorded in 876, rules its abolition so as to avoid mockery of Christ. Justinians wife Theodora and her retinue, in a 6th century mosaic from the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. ... Trial by combat, trial by battle, or judicial duel were names of a form of ancient and medieval dispute resolution, little used today, in used two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right. ... Thor/Donar, Germanic thunder god. ... Charlemagne (left) and Pippin the Hunchback. ... Events Offa of Mercia beats Cynewulf of Wessex and takes Bensington. ... Events April 12 - Nicephorus elected patriarch of Constantinople, succeeding Tarasius. ... Lothar (in older English texts, sometimes Lothair) (795 - March 2, 855), Holy Roman Emperor, was the eldest son of the emperor Louis the Pious and his wife Irmengarde (Ermengarde), daughter of Ingramm (Ingerman), the Duke of Hesbaye. ... Events Seiwa is succeeded by Yozei as emperor of Japan. ...

Ordeal of ingestion

Main article: corsned

• Franconian law prescribed that an accused was to be given dry bread and cheese blessed by a priest. If he choked on the food, he was considered guilty. This was transformed into the ordeal of the eucharist (trial by sacrament), mentioned by Regino of Prüm ca. 900: the accused was to take the eucharist after a solemn oath professing his innocence. It was believed that if the oath had been false, the criminal would die within the same year.
• Numbers 5:12–27 prescribes that a woman suspected of adultery should be made to swallow "the bitter water that causeth the curse" by the priest in order to determine her guilt. The accused would be condemned only if 'her belly shall swell and her thigh shall rot'. It can be found in the Torah (where it is known as the Sotah) and the Old Testament (Numbers 5:12-31). One writer has recently argued that the procedure has a rational basis, envisioning punishment only upon clear proof of pregnancy (a swelling belly) or venereal disease (a rotting thigh). ^[4], but a more likely origin is the connection of ascites with oath-breakers in the Ancient Orient (see Hittite military oath).
• Some cultures administer the poisonous calabar bean to attempt to detect guilt. If the defendant vomits and their stomach rejects the bean, he or she is proclaimed innocent. If the defendant dies or becomes ill, he is considered guilty.

In Anglo-Saxon law, corsned (OE cor, trial, investigation, + snǽd, bit, piece; Latin panis conjuratus), also known as the accursed or sacred morsel, or the morsel of execration, was a type of trial by ordeal consisting in the eating of a piece of barley bread and cheese, totalling about... Reginon or Regino of Prüm (? - 915) was a medieval chronicler. ... The Book of Numbers is the fourth of the books of the Pentateuch, called in the Hebrew ba-midbar במדבר, i. ... The bitter-water ordeal belongs to the relatively rare category of tests by poisonous concoctions and potions, and is described in the Bible in the book of Numbers, chapter five. ... Template:Jews and Jewdaism Template:The Holy Book Named TorRah The Torah () is the most valuable Holy Doctrine within Judaism,(and for muslims) revered as the first relenting Word of Ulllah, traditionally thought to have been revealed to Blessed Moosah, An Apostle of Ulllah. ... Nashim (Women) is the third order of the Mishnah (also of the Tosefta and Talmud), containing the laws related to women and family life. ... The Hittite military oath is a Hittite of two cuneiform tablets. ... The Calabar bean is the seed of a leguminous plant, Physostigma venenosum, a native of tropical Africa. ...

Other ordeal methods

• A Burmese ordeal tradition involves the two accused persons to light a candle, with the winner being the owner of the candle that outlasts the other's.^{[citation needed]}

• An Icelandic ordeal tradition involves the accused walking under a piece of turf. If the turf falls on the accused's head, the accused person is pronounced guilty.^{[citation needed]}

For other uses, see Candle (disambiguation). ...

Parodies of trials by ordeal

A humorous parody, illustrating the absurdity of trials by ordeal, is included in the Monty Python film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. A crowd of medieval villagers bring a woman to Sir Bedevere, accusing her of witchcraft. The villagers admit that they gave her a fake nose and had dressed her up to appear more like a witch. Sir Bedevere, not fully convinced, proposes a non sequitur test to determine whether or not she is a witch: witches burn, and so does wood, so witches are made of wood; wood floats on water, and so do ducks, therefore, if she weighs as much as a duck, she is a witch. (She does, and is carried off by the villagers to be burned, adding, "It was a pretty fair cop"—that is, that she was rightly accused and properly tried.) Monty Python, or The Pythons,[2][3] is the collective name of the creators of Monty Pythons Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. ... Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin), and directed by Gilliam and Jones. ... How Sir Bedivere Cast the Sword Excalibur into the Water. ... Non sequitur is Latin for it does not follow. ...

See also

• Oath
• Running the gauntlet

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Running the gauntlet (alternative spellings gantlet and rarely gantlope or gantelope) is a form of physical punishment by which a person is compelled to run through a double line of soldiers who attempt to strike him or her as they pass. ...

References

• H. Glitsch, Mittelalterliche Gottesurteile, Leipzig (1913).
• Kaegi, Alter und Herkunft des germanischen Gottesurteils (1887).
• Henry C. Lea Superstition and Force (Greenwood, 1968; reprint of 1870 edition.)
• Sadakat Kadri The Trial: A History from Socrates to O.J. Simpson (Random House, 2006).
• Ian C. Pilarczyk, "Between a Rock and a Hot Place: Issues of Subjectivity and Rationality in the Medieval Ordeal by Hot Iron", 25 Anglo-American Law Rev. 87-112 (1996).
• Robert Bartlett, Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal, New York: Clarendon Press, 1986.
• William Ian Miller, “Ordeal in Iceland,” Scandinavian Studies 60 (1988): 189-218.

External links

• Encyclopædia Britannica Online "Ordeal"
• http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ordeals1.html
• http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/water-ordeal.html
• "Ordeals". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.