Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal

by Robert Bartlett

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198219733
• ISBN13: 9780198219736
• Release Date: December 1986
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.8"