Trial by Ordeal Was a Real Legal Procedure
An ordeal is a painful experience. In medieval law it was a formal trial by fire or water, abolished in 1215.
An ordeal is a painful or testing experience. Medieval English law meant it literally: trial by ordeal required an accused person to carry hot iron or be submerged in water, with the outcome read as divine judgement. The Fourth Lateran Council forbade clergy from participating in 1215, which effectively ended the practice.
- A painful experience. *A terrible ordeal.*
- A medieval trial. *Trial by ordeal.*
- Ordeal by fire — a severe test. *An ordeal by fire.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | ordeal | A long ordeal. |
| Plural | ordeals | Repeated ordeals. |
| Related | deal | Deal out justice. |
| Related | trial | A fair trial. |
| Related | judgement | Divine judgement. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The interview was an ordeal.Figurative.
- Trial by ordeal ended after 1215.When clergy were forbidden to take part.
- Ordeal contains the word *deal*.Meaning to deal out.
Forms of medieval ordeal
- Hot iron — carrying a heated bar, with the wound inspected days later
- Cold water — being submerged, with sinking taken as innocence
- Boiling water — retrieving an object from a cauldron
- Ordeal of the morsel — swallowing bread, mainly for clergy
- Abolished — clergy were forbidden to officiate in 1215, and the practice collapsed
From Old English *ordal*, a judgement, from a Germanic compound meaning what is dealt out.
Why did trial by ordeal end?
Because the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 forbade clergy from taking part, and without a priest to bless the proceedings it lost its authority.
What replaced it in England?
Trial by jury, which expanded rapidly to fill the gap left by the abolition of the ordeal.