Trial by Combat
man. Yet his duties as a knight did not disappear and he died
on the battlefield in 1396 at the age of 66 during combat against
the Ottoman Turks. Of Marguerite’s fate little is known, but it is
suspected that she outlived her husband by several years.
Despite falling out of fashion, for many centuries and in
many countries trial by combat was never officially banned. In
1597 the last certain case of trial by battle occurred in Britain
when Adam Bruntfield, having accused James Carmichael of
murder, slaughtered him in a battle. Although this is considered
to be the last indisputable case there are a number that may
have occurred afterwards, as well as a few near misses. In 1631,
Charles I personally intervened to stop a duel between Lord Reay
and David Ramsey. As Allan Chilvers wrote in The Berties of
Grimsthorpe Castle: “His [Charles I ]willingness to sanction it in
the first place, and the evidence this provided of his interest in
and approval of the court’s proceedings, was another boost of self
confidence for its practitioners.” During the 17th and 18th century
unsuccessful attempts were made to abolish the practice, and the
‘wager of battle’ was finally outlawed in 1819.
Trial by combat was finally abolished due to a last ditch
attempt by one Abraham Thornton to free himself from suspicion
of murder. On the 26 May 1817, Thornton had attended a dance at
Tyburn House in Warwickshire where 20-year-old Mary Ashford
was also in attendance. At around midnight the two were seen
walking home together but the following morning at 7am she
was found dead in a pit of water. At the initial trial Thornton was
acquitted and it was only when Ashford’s brother, William, raised
an appeal that he was again brought before the court. Casting
his glove dramatically to the floor Thornton proclaimed himself
not guilty and declared: “I am ready to defend the same with my
body.” The court, deciding that Thornton was within his rights to
demand a confrontation, set him free when Ashford turned down
the challenge. Almost immediately, the case provoked Parliament
to revoke the concept of the wager of battle.
These days trial by combat is something usually reserved for
popular fiction. Bizarrely, New York is one of the few places where
trial by combat remains part of the legal system. Lawyer Richard
A Luthmann twice sought trial by combat
to resolve cases before being disbarred
this year, although neither resulted in
any violence. These days trial by combat
is likely to live on as nothing more than
a historical curiosity.“New York is one of the few places
where trial by combat remains part
of the legal system”
Trial by water
The most famous use of this ordeal
comes from witch trials, but it
could be applied to anyone thought
to have committed a crime.
Defendants would be bound and if
they sank, they were innocent (and
usually retrieved rather than being
allowed to drown). A trial by water
might also mean hot water, with
a defendant having to keep their
hand submerged. If they avoided
blistering, they were free.Trial by cross
Rather than involving crucifixion, as
the name might suggest, this was
actually an ordeal of endurance
where the accuser and accused
had to stand with their arms out
horizontally on either side of a
cross. The person who held the
position longest was deemed in the
right. It was used to replace trial
by combat by Charlemagne, which
was the only other ordeal that saw
accuser and accused face off.Trial by bean
A West African version of the trial
by ordeal came from the Calabar
bean, which came to be known
as the ‘lie detector bean’. The
bean was highly poisonous, acting
similarly to a nerve agent, but if the
accused was innocent then God
would save their lives. Actually,
the bean is usually only poisonous
if chewed, so swallowing it whole
could mean the person would
survive the trial.Trial by
sacred morsel
You might not think eating bread
and cheese would prove someone’s
guilt or innocence, but that’s what
the sacred morsel was meant to do.
Eating it without choking proved
your innocence but one famous
example saw Godwin, Earl of
Wessex, die while eating the sacred
morsel having denied involvement
in the death of Edward the
Confessor’s brother, Alfred.All^images:^ ©Alamy©^ GettyImages‘WTF?!: An Economic
Tour of the Weird’
by Peter T Leeson is available now