ENGLISH

Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal

By Robert Bartlett

Book information

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Year
1986
ISBN
0198219733, 9780198219736
Google Books ID
v2buAAAAMAAJ
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
19 MB (20445813 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
\193
Time added
2023-09-19 08:56:45

Description

In trial by ordeal the accused was subjected to some harsh test--holding hot iron, being cast into a pool of water--with guilt or innocence decided according to the outcome. Although a strange and alien custom, trial by ordeal has been an important legal procedure in many regions and periods.Robert Bartlett here examines the workings of trial by ordeal from the time it first appeared in the barbarian law codes, tracing its use by Christian societies to its last days as a test of withcraft in Europe and America. He discusses recent theories about the operation and decline of thepractice, shedding new light on both the ordeal as a working institution and the pressure for its abolition.

Similar books