Divine and Human Justice: Trials by Ordeal in Medieval European Courts
https://doi.org/10.17803/2542-2472.2025.36.4.026-033
Abstract
Ordeals were a common means of proof in medieval litigation. Their nature and legal content are often characterized as irrational, and their rationality and applicability are commonly rejected. This study aims to identify the rational component of ordeals in the context of their era, offering deeper insight and new research perspectives. It reveals that the use of ordeals was based on circumstances that could be rationally justified and that ordeals can be understood as a form of evidence distinct from testimony and documentary proof. Practiced in Europe from the 4th to the 13th centuries, they were a widespread judicial procedure, sometimes supported by regulatory frameworks, and were used when no other methods of proof were available. The Church generally regarded them with distrust and, beginning in the 13th century, began to ban them outright, leading to their gradual demise. This development coincided with the emergence of modern state and legal institutions centered on sovereign public power.
About the Author
E. Yu. Kalinina
Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Elena Yu. Kalinina, Dr. Sci. (Law), Associate Professor; Professor, Department of Theory of Law and Civil Law Education, Law Faculty
St. Petersburg
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Review
For citations:
Kalinina E.Yu. Divine and Human Justice: Trials by Ordeal in Medieval European Courts. Russian Law Online. 2025;(4):26-33. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17803/2542-2472.2025.36.4.026-033
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