Trial By Ordeal -- Help me! I'm Innocent!!!!

TRIAL BY ORDEAL – Help me! I’m innocent!!!!!!

Judicium Dei – God will help the innocent.

The Trial by Ordeal was used in Europe until at least the Age of Enlightenment. It was used to determine the guild or innocence of an accused person by subjecting them to a painful task. The innocent person completed the task uninjured or his wounds would heal properly. The guilty would suffer injury or his wounds would fester.

In Europe, it was not uncommon for a person to have to lay hands on a white-hot cross while walking a certain number of steps (usually 9). If his hands came through unscathed or if they healed properly, the person was declared innocent because God had justified him. Other variations of trial by ordeal included the following innovative truth-finding techniques:

Grabbing a stone out of a pot of boiling water (oil was occasionally used) – the innocent would not suffer infection.

Casting the accused into water with a millstone around his neck – the innocent would not sink (the weight of the crime did not press upon the innocent). A variation of this Ordeal was used to determine whether women were witches. They were bound and thrown into the water. The innocent person would sink and, of course, be rescued before drowning. The guilty would float and be taken off to various tortures. It was thought that they floated because they had renounced Christian Baptism. One variation of this Ordeal said that the guilty would sink. In this Ordeal, the guilty was left to drown in the watery depths.

Feeding the accused a morsel of consecrated bread – the guilty would, of course, choke on the holy bread. (The priest would determine the size and relative freshness of the chunk of bread fed to the accused).

Of course, these various Ordeals were done under the close control and supervision of the local clergy. The main idea of Trial by Ordeal was that God would vindicate the Innocent. The Ordeals were done with the pomp and ceremony befitting a religious ritual.

Trial by Ordeal was abolished in England in 1220. It’s replacement? Trial by Jury. Stay tuned to the next blog to consider whether Trial by Jury is a better alternative than Trial by Ordeal and to examine what, if any, differences exist between them.

Blawgerman.