Ordeal Formulas |
The two methods of proof used in early Germanic law were compurgation and ordeal. In compurgation the accused swore to his own innocence together with a group of "oath-helpers." Two typical kinds of ordeal-in their Christianized form --- are described in the following liturgical formulas. Types of Ordeals: Hot Water, Cold Water, Hot Iron, Trial by Battle, Compurgation.
Last
Judgment Tympanum --- St Foy, Conques, France
1050-1120
After the accusation has been lawfully made, and three
days have been passed in fasting and prayer, the priest, clad in his sacred
vestments with the exception of his outside garment, shall take with a tongs the
iron placed before the altar; and, singing the hymn of the three youths, namely,
"Bless him all his works," he shall bear it to the fire, and shall say this
prayer over the place where the fire is to carry out the judgment: "Bless, 0
Lord God, this place, that there may be for us in it sanctity,
chastity, virtue and victory, and sanctimony, humility, goodness,
gentleness and plentitude of law, and obedience to God the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost." After this, the iron
shall be placed in the fire and shall be sprinkled with holy water; and while it
is heating, he shall celebrate mass. But when the priest shall have taken the
Eucharist, he shall adjure the man who is to be tried ... and shall cause him to
take the communion. Then the priest shall sprinkle holy water above the iron and
shall say: "The blessing of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost descend
upon this iron for the discerning of the right judgment of God." And straightway
the accused shall carry the iron to a distance of nine feet. Finally his hand
shall be covered under seal for three days, and if festering blood be found in
the track of the iron, he shall be judged guilty. But if, however, he shall go
forth uninjured, praise shall be rendered to God.
Ordeal of the Cold Water
Consecration to be said over the Man: May omnipotent
God, who did order baptism to be made by water, and did grant remission of sins
to men through baptism: may He, through His mercy, decree a right judgment
through that water. If, namely, thou art guilty in that matter, may the water
which received thee in baptism not receive thee now; if however, thou art
innocent, may the water which received thee in baptism receive thee now. Through
Christ our Lord.
Afterwards He Shall Exorcise the Water Thus: I adjure the water, in name of the Father Almighty, who did create thee in the beginning, who also did order it to be separated from the waters above,. . . that in no manner receive this man, if he be in any way guilty of the charge that is brought against him; by deed, namely, or by consent, or by knowledge, or in any way: but make him to swim. And may no process be employed against the water, and no magic which may be able to conceal that (fact of his guilt).
Ordeal of Boiling Water, 12th or 13th
Century
Let the priest go to the church with the prosecutors
and with him who is about to be tried. And while the rest wait in the vestibule
of the church let the priest enter and put on the sacred garments except the
chasuble and, taking the Gospel and the chrismarium and the relics of the saints
and the chalice, let him go to the altar and speak thus to all the people
standing near: Behold, brethren, the offices of the Christian religion. Behold
the law in which is hope and remission of sins, the holy oil of the chrisma, the
consecration of the body and blood of our Lord. Look that ye be not deprived of
the heritage of such great blessing and of participation in it by
implicating yourselves in the crime of another, for it is
written, not only are they worthy of death who do these things, but they that
have pleasure in them that do them.
Then let him thus address the one
who is to undertake the ordeal: I command you, N., in the presence of
all, by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, by the tremendous day of
judgment, by the ministry of baptism, by thy veneration for the saints, that, if
you are guilty of this matter charged against you, if you have done it,or
consented to it, or have knowingly seen the perpetrators of this crime, you
enter not into the church nor mingle in the company of Christians unless you
will confess and admit your guilt before you are examined in public judgment.
Then he shall designate a spot in
the vestibule where the fire is to be made for the water, and shall first
sprinkle the place with holy water, and shall also sprinkle the kettle when it
is ready to be hung and the water in it, to guard against the illusions of the
devil. Then, entering the church with the others, he shall celebrate the ordeal
mass. After the celebration let the priest go with the people to the place of
the ordeal, the Gospel in his left hand, the cross, censer and relics of the
saints being carried ahead, and let him chant seven penitential psalms with a
litany.
Prayer over the boiling water:
O God, just judge, firm and patient, who art the Author of peace, and judgest
truly, determine what is right, O Lord, and make known Thy righteous judgment. O
Omnipotent God, Thou that lookest upon the earth and makest it to tremble, Thou
that by the gift of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, didst save the world and by
His most holy passion didst redeem the human race, sanctify, O Lord, this water
being heated by fire. Thou that didst save the three youths, Sidrac, Misac, and
Abednago, cast into the fiery furnace at the command of Nabuchadnezzar, and
didst lead them forth unharmed by the hand of Thy angel, do Thou O clement and
most holy Ruler, give aid if he shall plunge his hand into the boiling water,
being innocent, and, as Thou didst liberate the three youths from the fiery
furnace and didst free Susanna from the false charge, so, O Lord, bring forth
his hand safe and unharmed from this water. But if he be guilty and presume to
plunge in his hand, the devil hardening his heart, let Thy holy justice deign to
declare it, that Thy virtue may be manifest in his body and his soul be saved by
penitence and confession. And if the guilty man shall try to hide his sins by
the use of herbs or any magic, let Thy right hand deign to bring it to no
account. Through Thy only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who dwelleth with
Thee.
Benediction of the water: I
bless thee, O creature of water, boiling above the fire, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, from whom all things proceed; I
adjure thee by Him who ordered thee to water the whole earth from the four
rivers, and who summoned thee forth from the rock, and who changed thee into
wine, that no wiles of the devil or magic of men be able to separate thee from
thy virtues as a medium of judgment; but mayest thou punish the vile and the
wicked, and purify the innocent. Through Him whom hidden things do not escape
and who sent thee in the flood over the whole earth to destroy the wicked and
who will yet come to judge the quick and the dead and the world by fire. Amen.
Prayer: Omnipotent, Eternal
God, we humbly beseech Thee in behalf of this investigation which we are about
to undertake here amongst us that iniquity may not overcome justice but that
falsehood may be subjected to truth. And if any one seek to hinder or obscure
this examination by any magic or by herbs of the earth, deign to ring it to
naught by Thy right hand, O upright judge.
Then let the man who is to be tried, as well as the kettle or pot in which is the boiling water, be fumed with the incense of myrrh, and let this prayer be spoken: O God, Thou who within this substance of water hast hidden Thy most solemn sacraments, be graciously present with us who invoke Thee, and upon this element made ready by much purification pour down the virtue of Thy benediction that this creature, obedient to Thy mysteries, may be endued with Thy grace to detect diabolical and human fallacies, to confute their inventions and arguments, and to overcome their multiform arts. May all the wiles of the hidden enemy be brought to naught that we may clearly perceive the truth regarding those things which we with finite senses and simple hearts are seeking from Thy judgment through vocation of Thy holy name. Let not the innocent, we beseech Thee, be unjustly condemned, or the guilty be able to delude with safety those who seek the truth from Thee, who art the true Light, who seest in the shadowy darkness, and who makest our darkness light. O Thou who perceivest hidden things and knowest what is secret, show and declare this by Thy grace and make the knowledge of the truth manifest to us who believe in thee.
Then let the hand that is to be
placed in water be washed with soap and let it be carefully examined whether it
be sound; and before it is thrust in let the priest say: I adjure thee, O
vessel, by the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and by the holy
resurection and by the tremendous day of judgment, and by the four evangelists,
that is this man is guilty of this crime, either by deed or by consent, let the
water boil violently, and do thou O vessel swing.
After this let the man who is to be tried plunge in his
hand and afterwards let it be immediately sealed up. After the ordeal let him
take a drink of holy water. Up to the time of the decision regarding the ordeal
[a period of three days was allowed to elapse before the hand was examined] it
is good thing to mix salt and holy water with all his food and drink.
Ernest F. Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the
Middle Ages (London: George Bell and Sons, 1910), pp. 314-317
and The Breviary
of Eberhard of Bamberg, ed.
Zeumer in MGH, Leges, 5, Formulae, p. 650, translated
in University of Pennsylvania Translations and Reprints (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1898), Vol 4:, no, 4, pp. 7-9
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(c)Paul Halsall Feb 1996
halsall@murray.fordham.edu