ordeal by combat

trial process

Also known as: judicial combat, ritual combat, trial by battle, trial by battle, trial by combat(Show More)

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July 1, 2026

Quick Summary

Ordeal by combat, also known as judicial combat or wager of battle, was a trial process where the outcome of a personal battle between parties or their champions was believed to reveal divine judgment. This method was based on the supernatural powers intervening to ensure the triumph of right, rather than the strength of the combatants. While the purpose was not punitive, a defeated combatant could face severe consequences, such as hanging or burning for criminal offenses, or having a hand cut off and property confiscated in civil actions. This form of trial was common in the European Middle Ages.12

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ordeal
In ordeal by combat, or ritual combat, the victor is said to win not by his own strength but because supernatural powers have intervened on the side of the right, as in the duel in the European Middle Ages in which the “judgment of God” was…
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In ordeal by combat, or ritual combat, the victor is said to win not by his own strength but because supernatural powers have intervened on the side of the right, as in the duel in the European Middle Ages in which the “judgment of God” was…
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evidence
Nonrational sources of evidence
Trial by battle had much the same origin. To be sure, the powerful man relied on his strength, but it was also assumed that God would be on the side of right.
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Trial by battle had much the same origin. To be sure, the powerful man relied on his strength, but it was also assumed that God would be on the side of right.
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procedural law
Medieval European law
…proof should be used: ordeal, judicial combat between the parties or their champions, or wager of law (whereby each side had to attempt to obtain more persons who were willing to swear on their oaths as to the uprightness of the party they were supporting). Such a system might resolve…
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…proof should be used: ordeal, judicial combat between the parties or their champions, or wager of law (whereby each side had to attempt to obtain more persons who were willing to swear on their oaths as to the uprightness of the party they were supporting). Such a system might resolve…
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champion
…feature of Anglo-Norman law was trial by battle, a procedure in which guilt or innocence was decided by a test of arms. Clergy, children, women, and persons disabled by age or infirmity had the right to nominate champions to fight by proxy.
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…feature of Anglo-Norman law was trial by battle, a procedure in which guilt or innocence was decided by a test of arms. Clergy, children, women, and persons disabled by age or infirmity had the right to nominate champions to fight by proxy.
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