Note 19 — Chapter IV · Trial by Battle.

Coke, III. Inst. 157; I. Russell, Crimes, 495.

That Trial by Battle was introduced into England by the Normans, is now quite generally conceded. “One ordeal the Normans recognized which had no place in English law, namely, the ordeal of battle.” I. Pollock and Maitland’s History Eng. Law, p. 74.

We find that William of Normandy, with his studious desire to preserve English institutions and protect Englishmen, in defining the procedure which should obtain if a Frenchman accused an Englishman, or vice versa, provided that the Englishman whom a Frenchman accused had the choice between battle and ordeal, but if the Englishman accused the Frenchman, the former had the right to compel the latter to join battle, or otherwise the Frenchman could swear away the charge, with oath helpers, according to Norman law. The Englishman was thus recognized as the Norman’s peer, but as was not accustomed to the ordeal by battle, he was given the choice of this procedure, if he preferred to avail himself of it, and the Norman, by a strict rule of justice, was required to purge himself, even though the Englishman would not fight. (Laws of William, c. 6; Forschungen, 328; I. Pollock and Maitland’s History English Law, pp. 89, 90.)

For reference to the trial by battle, during the reigns of William I. to Henry II., see, I. Reeve’s History English Law, pp. 329, 331, and note citing the Mirror.