Note 495 — Chapter V · LIMITATIONS ON THE WAGER OF BATTLE.

It is not easy to understand the remark of Olivier de la Marche, in the latter half of the fifteenth century (Traités du Duel Judiciaire, p. 44, communicated to me by George Neilson, Esq.), warning judges that they cannot condemn clerks to the duel except in cases of lèse majesté and those affecting the faith. At that time the faith was exclusively in the hands of the Inquisition, and the canons admit of no exception to clerical immunity in cases of treason. In both matters torture had long before proved itself vastly more efficient than the clumsy and doubtful ordeals.