Trial by fire and water : the medieval judicial ordeal
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Bibliographic Information
Trial by fire and water : the medieval judicial ordeal
Clarendon Press , Oxford University Press, 1986
- : pbk
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Note
Bibliography: p. [167]-169
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
An examination of the workings of trial by ordeal from its first appearance in the barbarian law codes, tracing its use by Christian societies to its last use as a test for witchcraft in modern Europe and America. Trial by ordeal has been an important legal procedure in many periods and regions. This work discusses various recent theories about the operation and decline of the practice. The author also considers some of the general historical problems of understanding a society in which religious beliefs were so fundamental.
Table of Contents
- Part 1: Introduction. Part 2: Early history. Part 3 The workings of the ordeal in its heyday: types of ordeal
- ordeal, testimony, and oath. Part 4 The end of the ordeal and social change: the functionalist case
- the persistence of the ordeal
- exemptions
- the case of England. Part 5 The end of the ordeal - explanations in terms of belief: critics of the ordeal
- clerical interests. Part 6 Trial by battle: a sketch
- battle and ordeal. Part 7 Aftermath: disappearance
- replacement
- recrudescence. Part 8: Further reflections
- Select bibliography. Index.
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