Trial by combat
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Trial by Combat.
banishment, Bolingbroke v Norfolk, castles, Chief Justice Thirning, Chris Given-Wilson, Constance of York, Court of Chivalry, duel, Edmund of Langley, executions, Fourth Lateran Council, France, Henry IV, Henry VII, King’s approver, Normandy, Parliament, Richard II, Sir John Annesley, St. Saviour’s Castle, Thomas Katrington, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, Trial by combat, trial by jury, Tyburn, usurpation, Wars of the RosesYou might think that the Church would have approved of trial by combat. After all, it effectively remitted the cause to God’s judgement – assuming that you believe God intervenes in such affairs, as many people (presumably) did. In fact, as far back as the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 (Canon 18) the Church…
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Trial by combat was a last-ditch method of proving one’s case. Of course, it didn’t prove innocence or guilt, just that one or other of the combatants was luckier/stronger on the day. Nor did trial by water prove a woman innocent of witchcraft, because it killed her no matter what the outcome. If…
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