Trial by Ordeal in Medieval Europe

Added section 6.6: Trials by Ordeal. These torturous and chaotic devices were administered by the Christian Church as a way of calling on God to issue judgement, especially in the 8th-13th centuries. The Church provided a strict framework for their use, and with popular support and Christian King's endorsements, they were used for secular purposes, in a world with no separation between legal systems, religion and the state. www.humanreligions.info/christian_morality.html Only one kind of trial by ordeal is directly described in the Bible; Numbers 5:11-31 has God itself describe how an adultery case should be solved by a priest if there are no witnesses, the wife hides it, and the husband become jealous: by Ordeal of Bitter Water. The woman (of course) must drink water adulterated with ink, alongside a series of ritual steps by the Priest. If she suffers from the water, she is guilty. If she has no symptoms, she is allowed to live and conceive. Ordeals administered by the Christian Church included Ordeal of the Cross, Ordeal of Boiling Water, Ordeal of Red-Hot Iron and Ordeal of Water. In some, innocence is proven if the accused sinks and drowns. The overall results were disfiguration, or cheating, or a rigged test designed to produce the 'right' result by those setting it up. Overall, they were immoral, unreliable to the point of being random, and clearly injust.