In the modern judicial system, the innocence or guilt of an accused may be established based on the evidence brought against him or her. In ancient and medieval societies, however, a different way of determining a person’s innocence or guilt was used. This was called the ‘trial by ordeal’. This method involved having the accused do something dangerous or even life-threatening. If the accused survived the ordeal, he or she is (usually) proclaimed innocent. If guilty, the individual would perish.
Judgment by God
The intention of the trial by ordeal is to leave the judgment of an accused in the hands of a higher force. In European societies during the Middle Ages, a concept known as the iudicium Dei (meaning ‘the judgment of God’) was the basis for the trial by ordeal. It was believed by societies during that time that God would intervene and protect an innocent person during a trial by ordeal, whilst punishing a guilty individual.
It has been argued that a trial by ordeal could have been much like a Medieval version of a polygraph test. Peter T Leeson provides an example of how it may work in the case of someone having been accused of stealing a neighbor’s cat, for example: “The court thinks you might have committed the theft, but it’s not sure, so it orders you to undergo the ordeal of boiling water. Like other medieval Europeans, you believe in iudicium Dei – that a priest, through the appropriate rituals, can call on god to reveal the truth by performing a miracle that prevents the water from burning you if you’re innocent, letting you burn if you’re not.”