Trial by Ordeal or No Deal

The following is a list from the book Uncle John's Bathroom Reader History's Lists.

No DNA. No fingerprints, No jury. For judges in medieval Europe, every trial was he said, she said. so they sometimes looked for divine intervention to determine guilt or innocence. If you were accused of a crime, you might be asked to prove your innocence through one of these ordeals.

1. GLOWING IRON

An iron rod was heated until it was red-hot and, after an elaborate series of prayers and blessings, the accused carried it a distance of nine feet. His hands were then wrapped and inspected three days later. The logic was that God would protect the innocent and his hands would be healing. If his hands were festering, he was guilty.

2. BOILING WATER

The accused would be asked to plunge his hand into a cauldron of boiling water (that had been blessed by a priest) and pull out a pebble or other object. As with the glowing iron, the accused’s hand would be bound and inspected three days later. If it was healing, he was found innocent; if it was’t, the verdict was guilty.

3. COLD WATER

The accused’s hands and feet were bound and he was tossed into a river or pond. In the early Middle Ages, it was believed that God protected the innocent, so he would float, following the logic of other ordeals. But by the end of the Middle Ages, the reasoning was inverted. The new idea was that, since the water was blessed and thus served as a baptism for the accused, it would reject the guilty, making them float. This left the innocent to sink and hope for a quick rescue.

4. THE CROSS

This ordeal was to settle disputes. Both parties faced the cross and extended their arms to the sides, imitating the shape of the cross. Whoever was the first to tire and put his arms down was in the wrong, since God would give strength to the righteous.

5. THE BLESSED MORSEL

The accused was given Communion in a church before the alter. If he could swallow the blessed bread without choking, he was found innocent.  

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The article above was reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader History's Lists. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts.

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