CHAPTER VI

ORDEAL

Trial by ordeal was always possible in London, yet, in later years, rarely practised. The reason of its rarity was, no doubt, the fact that the accused person was in most cases the guilty person. In an age when the judgment of God could be solemnly invoked, when there was absolute belief in the punishments and tortures reserved for the guilty, a man would, as a general rule, hesitate before loading his soul, heavy with the actual crime, with perjuries and the blasphemy of calling upon an offended God to prove his innocence; to invite, that is, the Father of Justice himself to deliver a false judgment. It was this clear and unquestioning faith which made the trial by ordeal possible for the innocent man to claim, and generally impossible for the guilty.

There were many kinds of ordeal.

The first was the ordeal called the corsned, _i.e._ the eating of a small cake of consecrated barley bread. The accused called upon the Lord God to choke him with it if he were guilty. It was believed that in this case his throat would become contracted and his jaws fixed. It was so that Earl Godwin was said to have been adjudged guilty and choked by the Hand of Justice which he had invoked.

The second method, long practised in the case of witches, was the ordeal of cold water. The accused was stripped, his hands were tied crosswise to his feet; he was sprinkled with holy water; he was permitted to kiss the cross; a rope was tied around his waist, and at the distance of two ells from his body a knot was tied; he was then thrown into deep water; if he sank as deep as the knot he was innocent; if not, he was guilty. The administration of the ordeal was not conducted in the bare and simple method indicated above: it was placed in the hands of priests; mass was said before it; there were appropriate psalms and prayers; the accused confessed his sins to the priest; before the whole congregation he called upon God to prove his innocence; he swore upon the holy relics of the church that he was innocent. The function was one of great solemnity, and calculated to impress the minds of the people most deeply.

The ordeal by hot water was, it will be seen, as a mere ceremony, most remarkable. One case will stand for many.

Four men, all belonging to the Ward of Chepe, were accused of robbery and murder; the dead body of the murdered man had been found lying near the Standard in Chepe stripped, and showing gaping wounds; the four men were known to be “roreres,” that is, night wanderers and brawlers; the evidence against them, chiefly circumstantial, warranted their arrest; they claimed to prove their innocence by the ordeal of boiling water.

On the appointed day they were brought out from Newgate and conducted to St. Sepulchre’s Church, where they first confessed and then attended mass, being placed in the body of the church before the altar screen. After mass a short special service was sung for them; they then, one after the other, swore upon the relics that they were innocent; they demanded, singly and one after the other, the proof by ordeal; they solemnly implored the Lord to make manifest their innocence if they were innocent, or to prove their guilt if they were guilty. This done, a procession was formed. The whifflers marched first, followed by the clergy and the singing boys. Then came the prisoners guarded by the sergeant.

They were led out to Smithfield followed by a great crowd; the ordeal was not a function that could be witnessed every day; the Londoners have always turned out in force to witness an execution, or a flogging, or pillory, or any act of justice. On Smithfield, at the east of the Elms, that is, nearly in front of Bartholomew’s Hospital, a fire of wood was burning in an open grate; upon this stood a caldron full of water; the smoke of the fire rolled up round the caldron and was blown hither and thither; with it ascended, or was blown about, the steam of the boiling water; the flames crackled and licked the black sides of the caldron, the water bubbled and overflowed and hissed. Behind the caldron was a gibbet, with ropes for four. It was afterwards observed that of the four men one preserved a cheerful and confident air, the other three were haggard and wan; their limbs dragged as they went.

Arrived at the spot the Sheriff, who was present with the Alderman of Chepe, informed the prisoners—which they knew already—that at the bottom of the caldron lay a round white stone; they would each have to dip an arm into the boiling water and bring out that stone without scalding themselves.

The first to essay the adventure was the prisoner of the cheerful and the confident countenance; the guards took off his doublet; they rolled a thin piece of linen round his arm and sealed it with lead. They then bade him advance. He stepped forward; he stood beside the caldron, his arm raised; the Priest and singing men began a Psalm.

The smoke and the steam blew this way and that way; the man could not be seen sometimes for the fumes; when the wind blew aside, the people saw him still, hand upraised, watching the boiling water. Suddenly the smoke and the steam were blown aside; he plunged his arm; the smoke was blown back again; but he stood before the officers, the white stone in his hand.

The crowd shouted. The Lord had proved his innocence.

He was set aside; he would be taken back to Newgate; three days afterwards, the covering would be taken from his arm, and if there were no signs of scalding he would be set free.

The next man stepped forward.

He plunged his hand at once; he groped about for the stone; he drew out his hand; he plunged again; he drew it out with a yell of agony. No need to look at the arm searchingly, it was horribly scalded. They hanged him up at once.

The third man was brought forward.

He looked at his companion hanging; he looked at the caldron and the fire. He fell on his knees confessing the crime.

So, likewise, did the fourth man.

So, out of four ropes, three were wanted; and for four of them who were accused, the Lord Himself had pronounced the guilt of three and established the innocence of one.

The fourth method was the ordeal by fire, in which the accused had to lift a red-hot bar of iron without burning his hands, or to walk barefoot over red-hot iron; or to put his hand into a red-hot iron glove; or to pass through a blazing fire with his clothes untouched. In the case of the bar of red-hot iron, the trial took place in the church, and as soon as mass was begun the bar was placed in the coals; at the last collect it was taken off. A stand of some kind was placed near the fire, then a space of nine times the length of the prisoner’s foot was measured off; this made a distance of about seven or eight feet. This space was divided by lines into three. The prisoner had to lift up the bar and to carry it by three steps across the space. His hand was then bound up, and after three days it was examined. If it showed signs of burning he was hanged.

These kinds of ordeal naturally fell into disuse as soon as people began to suspect that there was “management” by the priests; their suspicions began certainly as early as the time of William Rufus, and perhaps earlier. The Normans, indeed, scoffed at all the old ordeals. On one occasion, when twenty prisoners had successfully passed the ordeal by fire, William Rufus laughed at the whole business and ordered them all to be tried. But the ordeal by battle stood on a different footing. In this ordeal there could be no deception and no bribing; the priest had nothing to do with it; the two parties had to fight it out to the death; it was conducted in grim and solemn earnest; it was an appeal and a heartfelt prayer to the Lord of Justice. He was called upon to show the world which was the guilty party. And just as in the ordeal by water, the consciousness of innocence gave a man assurance, and thereby enabled him to undertake the fearful task without confusion or haste, so in the Ordeal by Battle, the consciousness of innocence sent a man into the field doubly armed.

The mediæval view of the Ordeal by Battle is set forth seriously and solemnly by Dante (_De Monarchia_, book ii. chap. x.)[19]:—

“Moreover, what is acquired by ordeal is acquired by Right. For wheresoever human judgment is at fault, either because it is involved in the darkness of ignorance or because there is not a presiding judge, then, lest justice should be left deserted, we must have recourse to Him, who so loved her as Himself to meet her demands with His own blood in death. Hence the psalm, ‘Just is the Lord, and deeds of justice hath he loved.’ Now this is what takes place when by the free assent of either side, not in hatred but in love of justice the divine judgment is sought through means of the mutual clash of strength, alike of mind and body. Which clash, since it was first tried in the single contact of man and man, we call the ordeal.

But we must ever take heed that like as, when it is a question of war, all means should first be tried in the way of award, and only in the last resort should the way of battle be tried (as Tully and Vegetius agree in saying, the one in _Re militari_, the other in the _De Officiis_), and like as in medical treatment, everything else should be tried before steel and fire, and they only in the last resort; so when every other way of finding judgment in a dispute has been exhausted, we are to recur in the last resort to this remedy, forced by a kind of compulsion of justice.

There are then two formal characteristics of the ordeal: one is that which has just now been spoken of; the other the one which was touched upon above, to wit, that the contenders or champions should enter the palæstra, not in hate or love, but in sole zeal for justice, with common consent. And therefore Tully said well in dealing with this matter, but wars, the aim of which is the crown of Empire, should be waged less bitterly.

But if the formal characteristics of the ordeal are preserved (else were it no ordeal) are not they who have gathered together by common consent, under compulsion of justice and in zeal for her, gathered together in the name of God? And if so, is not God in their midst, since He himself promises as much in the Evangel? And if God is present, is it not impious to think that justice may succumb?—justice whom He so loves as is forenoted above! And if justice cannot succumb in the ordeal is not that which is acquired by ordeal acquired by Right?”

A Function, or an Act of Worship, undertaken and carried out in this spirit, cannot be regarded otherwise than most seriously. Let us turn to the actual manner in which the Ordeal by Battle was conducted.

The accused began by denying the whole accusation word by word. He then offered to prove his innocence by his body. If the Judge accepted the offer and decided that the duel should take place, he made the parties exchange gloves. They then had to find pledges that they would appear on the day of battle. Fines were paid to the King for permission to fight, for recreancy on failure to appear, for refusing to fight, for not holding the ordeal properly, or as a bribe to allow a fight.

For the following rules in the preparation of the ground, I am indebted to the learned pen of my friend Prof. Skeat, whose Notes to his _Chaucer_ and his _Piers Plowman_ are a treasure-house of learning:—

“The King shall find the field to fight in, and the lists shall be made and devised by the constable; and it is to be observed, that the list must be 60 paces long and 40 paces broad, set up in good order, and the ground within hard, stable, and level, without any great stones or other impediments; also, that the lists must be made with one door to the east, and another to the west; and strongly barred about with good bars 7 feet high or more, so that a horse may not be able to leap over them.”

It appears that there were an immense number of ordeals by battle; indeed, in such an age, when every man was a soldier, one can very well understand that this method would seem to an innocent man far superior to any form of trial. In one year of Henry the Second’s reign, there were thirty-four ordeals. Not only to an innocent man, but to the guilty the ordeal by battle commended itself; many a sturdy rogue, having little fear of God’s vengeance before his eyes, preferred the chance of battle to the certainty of the gallows; so much was this the case that criminals were sometimes pardoned on condition of fighting so many battles successfully and ridding the country of so many malefactors. The ordeal by battle brought into existence, as might have been expected, a kind of gladiator, the champion or hired fighter, who risked his neck with every fight.

These are the rules for the arming of a knight (_Arch. Journal_, iv.):—

“How a man shalle be armyd at his ese, when he schal fighte on foote. He schal have noo schurte up-on him, but a dowbelet of Fustean lynyd with satene, cutte fulle of hoolis; the dowbelet must be strongeli bounden there the poyntis muste be sette aboute the greet of the arme, and the beste before and behynde: and the gussetis of mayle muste be sowid unto the dowbelet in the bought of the arme, and undir the arme: the armynge poyntis muste be made of fyne twyne, suche as men make stryngis for crossebowes, and they muste be trussid smalle, and poyntid as poyntis. Also they muste be waxid with cordeweneris coode and than they wolle neythir recche nor breke. Also a payre hosyne of stamyn sengille, and a peyre of shorte bulwerkis of thynne blanket to put aboute his kneys, for chawfynge of his lighernes. Also a payre of shone of thikke cordewene, and they muste be frette with smal whipcorde; thre knottis up-on a corde; and thre coordis muste be faste sowid un-to the hele of the shoo, and fyve cordis in the myddille of the soole of the same shoo: and that ther be betwene the frettis of the heele and the frettis of the myddille of the shoo the space of thre fyngris.

Two arme a man: Firste, ye muste sette on Sabatones and tye hem upon the shoo with smale poyntis that wol breke. And then griffus, and then quisses, and then the breche of mayle. And then touletis. And then brest. And then vambras. And then rerebras. And then glovys. And then hange his daggere upon his right side. And then his shorte swerde upon the lyfte side in a rounde rynge, alle nakid, to pulle it oute lightli. And then putte his cote upon his bak. And then his basinet pynnid upon two greet staplis before the breste with a dowbille bokille behynde upon the bak, for to make the basinet sitte juste. And then his longe swerde in his hande. And then his pensille in his hande, peyntid of seynt George, or of oure lady, to blesse him with as he gooth towarde the felde, and in the felde.

The day that the Pelaunt and the defendant shalle fighte what they shal have with hem into the felde.

A tente muste be pight in the felde Also a cheyre Also a basyne Also vj loves of bread Also ij galones of wyne Also a messe of mete, flesshe or fisshe Also a borde and a peyre trestelis, to sette his mete and drynke on Also a borde clothe Also a knyf for to kutte his mete Also a cuppe to drynke of Also a glass with a drynke made Also a dosen tresses of armynge poyntis Also a hamyr and pynsones, and a bicorne Also smale nayles a dosene Also a long swerde, shorte swerde, and daggar Also a kerchief to hele the viser of his basinet Also a penselle to bere in his hande of his avowryre.

In the case of knights, we see that the weapons were those in customary use, and the duel was a fight with spears and with sword; in the case of the common sort, it was a very different thing. The gallows stood in readiness for the vanquished man; the weapons were staves armed at the end with iron shaped like a ram’s horn. There was a strict rule about the dress of the combatants, which was to be of white wool; they were bare-headed and bare-footed; their heads were shaved to avoid giving a chance for either to catch the other by the hair. In a certain duel on record the combatants first broke their staves and then fought with fists and claws and feet and teeth, especially with their teeth; they tore each other’s garments and the flesh beneath, until at last one got the other down and gouged out both eyes with his thumbs. After this there was nothing to be done but to surrender and to be carried to the gallows there to be hanged.

In the year 1350, just after the visitation of the Black Death, occurred the famous Ordeal by Battle between John de Viscomte and Thomas de la Marche. The quarrel arose in the East, where both these knights were engaged in the war then going on between the Armenians, the Cypriotes, and the Rhodians on one side, and the Saracens on the other. John de Viscomte was a cousin of the King of Cyprus and Thomas de la Marche was a natural son of Philippe de Valois, King of France. Charges were brought by the former that the said Thomas had been guilty of perjury, treason, and forgery. The particulars of the accusation do not concern us. Thomas denied the whole and challenged the accuser to single combat. It is not exactly clear why the battle was not fought out in Cyprus or in Rhodes; probably both parties desired to make as much as possible of the quarrel and of the battle; probably the case was felt to be one which interested the whole of Christendom; however that may be, it was agreed to refer the matter to the King of England as the most worthy and honourable Prince in all Christendom. The knights, therefore, arrived in England at the beginning of September 1350 with letters from the Kings of Armenia and Cyprus containing a statement of the case, and inviting the King to allow the Ordeal by Battle to take place in his presence.

The day was fixed for the 4th of October; the battle to be fought out in the Lists in his Palace of Westminster. The combatants appeared on the day appointed, fully armed and on horseback. The King, the Prince of Wales, and a great concourse of people were present. The oaths were administered and the battle began. Sir John, leaping from his horse, determined to fight on foot; in which he was followed by his adversary. Stow says that they began by running “at the tilte.” The following is Stow’s account of the fight, with the tragical conclusion:—

“For this therefore were these two worthy souldiers appointed to fight, which they performed within the listes of the King’s pallace at Westminster, on Mondaye nexte following after the feaste of Saint Michael, where Thomas, in declaration of hys innocencie, in that he was accused of, overcame his enemie, but yet killed him not, for he could not, because he was not able to wounde hym beyng so armed, with anye kynde of piercing weapon, except it were in hys face whiche was bare. For after that they hadde runne at the Tilte, and foughte on foote, as they were striving together on the grounde, wyth certaine prickes bothe shorte and sharpe, then called Gadlings, being closed in the joints of his right gauntlet, the sayde Thomas struck the sayde John in the face, and sore wounded hym: but on the other side John hadde no suche kinde of weapon, wherewyth hee myght hurte Thomas face, and therefore cryed out aloude moste horribly, wherupon by the King’s commaundemente the combatte was ended, and the victory adiudged to Thomas, who gave the sayde John being thus overcome, to the Prince of Wales for a Captive, and offered up his owne armoure to Sainte George in Sainte Paules Churche at London, wyth great devotion. These matters beyng thus finished, the Cipres man is manumitted and sette at libertie as a free man againe. And Thomas thinking boldly to goe into the presence of his brother the Frenche King, toke hys journey thyther, and at his coming, founde the sayde King and the nobilitie of Fraunce greatlye offended, and in indignation against him, for that he agreed that the combat shoulde be tried before the King of England. Wherefore Thomas thinking secretly with him selfe howe to winne the false friendship of his brother, became desirous to shewe that therein he hadde done well among all other things he greatelye praysed the nobilitie of Edwarde and his worthy fame spredde over all the worlde, and also the justice whiche he used in judging, not accepting the person of the manne of Cipres (yea thoughe he loved the Kyng himselfe verye well), neyther suffered him to be preferred before me, which am a French manne, and brother, and friende to thee my Lorde Kyng of Fraunce, judge over the sayde King Edwarde my adversarie. Also the Earle of Ewe highly praysed the King of England, for that he hadde receyved greate comforte and commoditye at hys handes during the tyme of hys Captivitie in Englande, shewing also howe farre that good Kyng hadde banished envie and hatred from hys hearte, who at a time of justyng beyng in the fielde at that exercise, and the Kyng also, was commaunded by the Kyng himselfe to beare awaye the price and pricke from them all. These commendations did the French Kyng envie at, and for indignation, he most wickedlye commaunded the setters forth of those prayses to be beheaded. And for to colour the matter the better he fayned that the Earle used too much familiaritie with the Queene his wife, and that his brother was guiltie of treason against the King of Fraunce, bycause he committed his cause and the combat to be tryed by the judgement of the King of England. After he had thus murdered his brother, he tormented his wife to death by famine, who was daughter of the noble King of Boheme, lately slaine in battayle by Geffery.”

On the 7th of June 1380 another Ordeal by Battle was held. It is a very singular story, and reads as if the guilty man were prevented from making a good fight by the knowledge of his guilt. Fabyan and Stow both refer to the incident, but only briefly; Holinshed is the authority for the fuller details. The accuser, Sir John Annesley, charged Thomas Catrington, Esquire—Fabyan calls him Carton—with having betrayed and sold to the French the castle of St. Sauveur in Normandy, of which he was Governor. He brought the charge before the Court of the Constable of England sitting at Westminster, concluding by throwing down his gauntlet and offering to justify the words in open duel. Catrington denied the charge and accepted the duel.

In the year 1384 another Ordeal of Battle took place in the Palace Lists, which, like the last, resulted in the death of the unjust. The case was this:—One Mortileto de Vilenos, a gentleman of Navarre, brought a charge of treason against John Welsh, an English gentleman, stating that the treason had been committed while Welsh was Governor of Cherbourg. They fought it out on St. Andrew’s Day, the result being the overthrow of Mortileto, who then confessed that his charge was without foundation, but that it was invented in revenge for the seduction of his wife by Welsh. He was therefore by the King’s command hanged immediately, though the Queen, Stow says, made earnest intercession to have his life saved.

Madox (_Exchequer_, i. 550) furnishes an account of an Ordeal by Battle with an illustration of the manner of combat:—

“Now we are speaking of Duels, I will lay before the Reader a pretty remarkable Case of a Duel that was fought in the Reign of K. Henry III. between Walter Bloweberme, an Approver, and Hamon le Stere; together with a Draught or figure of the Duel, as it was drawn at that time. The Case was this. Walter Bloweberme appealed Hamon le Stere of Robbery: alleging that they were together at Winchester, and there stole Cloaths and other Goods; whereof Hamon had, for his Share, two Coats, to wit, one of Irish Cloth, and the other a Party-coat or Cloth of Abendon and Burell of London: and that he (the said Walter) was in Fellowship with the said Hamon in the said Robbery, he offereth to prove by his Body, as the Court shall award. Hamon came and denyed the whole. And saith that he will defend himself by his Body. Whereupon it was awarded, that there should be a Duel between them. A Duel was struck. And Hamon being vanquished in the Combat, was adjudged to be hanged. It was found that Hamon had no Chattels to forfeit to the King.”

The account of a dispute about a manor in the Isle of Harty, which was to have been fought out in Tothill Fields, Westminster, but ended very tamely, is given at length in _London in the Time of the Tudors_, p. 391.

In the _Collections of a London Citizen_ there are two Ordeals by Battle, one at least, very grim and horrible:

“And in that same yere (1445) there was an armyrer and hys owne man fought whythe yn the lystys in Smethefylde the last day of Januer, ande there the mayster was slayne and dyspoylyde owte of hys harnys, and lay stylle in the fylde alle that day and that nyght next folowynge. And thenne aftyrward by the kyngys commaundement, he was drawyn, hanggyde, and beheddyde, and hys hedde sette on London Brygge, and the body hynggyng a-bove erthe be-syde the towre....

Also that yere (1455) a thyffe, one Thomas Whytehorne, was take in the Neweforeste be-syde Beuley and put yn preson at Wynchester. And when the day of delyverans com he appelyd many trewe men, and by that mene he kepte hys lyffe in preson. And thoo men that he appelyd were take and put yn stronge preson and sufferde many grete paynys, and was that they sholde confesse and a-corde unto hys fals pelyng: and sum were hongyd that hadde noo frende shyppe and goode, and thoo that hadde goods gate hyr charters of pardon. And that fals and untrewe peler hadde of the kynge every day j d. _ob._ And thys he contynuyd al moste iij yere, and dystryde many men that were sum tym in hys company. And at the laste he appelyd on that outerly sayde that he was fals in hys appelynge, and sayde that he wolde preve hyt with hys hondys, and spende hys lyfe and blode a-pone hys fals body. And thys mater was fulle dyscretely take and hyrde or bothe pelerrys parte, and of the defendente ys parte also. And a notabylle man, and the moste petefullyste juge of al thys londe in syttyng a-pon lyffe and dethe, toke thys sympylle man that offeryd to fyght with the peler, ande fulle curtesly informyd hym of alle the condyscyons of the fyghtyng and duelle of repreffe that shulde be by-twyne a peler of the kyngys, fals or trewe, in that one party, and by-twyne the defendent, trewe or false, in that othyr party. For in cas that the peler prevaylyd in that fyght he shulde he put in preson ayen, but he shulde fare more better than he dyd be fore tyme of fyghtynge, and be i-lowe of the kyng ij d. every day as longe as hit plesyd the kyng that he shulde lyf. For in prosses the kynge may by the lawe put hym to dethe, as for a man sleer, bycause that hys pelyng, fals or trewe, hathe causyd many mannys dethys, for a very trewe man schulde with yn xxiiij howrys make opyn to be knowe alle suche fals hyd thyngys of felony or treson, yf he be nott consentynge unto the same felowschyppe, undyr payne of dethe; and thys peler ys in the same cas, wherefore he moste nedys dy by very reson. Thys ys for the pelers party.

The defendaunte ys party ys, as that nobylle man, Mayster Myhelle Skyllyng, sayde ande informyde the defender, that he and the peler moste be clothyd alle in whyte schepys leter, bothe body, hedde, leggys, fete, face, handys, and alle. Ande that they schulde have in hyr hondys ij stavys of grene hasche, the barke beyng a-pon, of iij fote in lenghthe, and at the ende a bat of the same govyn owte as longe as the more gevythe any gretenys. And in that othye ende a horne of yryn, i-made lyke unto a rammys horne, as scharpe at the smalle ende as hit myght be made. And there whype they schulde make hyr foule batayle a-pone the moste sory and wrecchyd grene that myght be founde a-bowte the towne, havyng nothyr mete ne drykne whythe, bot both moste be fastynge. And yf hyr frowarde wepyn ben i-broke they moste fyght with hyr hondys, fystys, naylys, tethe, fete, and leggys; hyt ys to schamfulle to reherse alle the condyscyons of thys foule conflycte. And yf the defendent sle that pelers, fals or trewe, the defendent shalle be hangyde by-cause of man sleynge, by soo moche that he hathe i-slayne the kyngys prover, for by hys meny the kynge hadde mony of suche as were appelyd, and that mony that rosse of hyr stuffe or goodys that they hadde was put to the kynge almys, and hys amener dystrybutyd hit unto the pore pepylle. But the kyng may by hys grace pardon the defendent yf he wylle, ys the defendent be welle namyd and of competent governaunce in the toune or citte there at hys abydyng ys; but thys fulle seldon sene by-cause of the vyle and unmanerly fyghtynge. And by reson they shulde not ben beryd in noo holy sepulture of Crystyn mannys beryng, but caste owte as a man that wylfully sleythe hym selfe. Nowe remembyr thys foule batayle, whethey ye wylle doo hyt or noo. And bothe partys consentyde to fyght, with alle the condyscyons that long there too. And the fendent desyryd that the juge wolde sende unto Mylbroke there that he dwellyde, to inquere of hys gydynge and of conversacyon. And alle the men in that toune sayde that he was the trewyste laborer in alle that contre, and the moste gentellyste there with, for he was a fyscher and tayler of crafte. And the peler desyryd the same, but he was not a-bydynge in no place passynge a monythe. And in every place there as inquesyscyon was made men sayde, ‘Hange uppe Thome Whythorne, for he ys to stronge to fyght with Jamys Fyscher the trewe man whythe an yryn rammys horne.’ And thys causyd the juge to have pytte a-pon the defendent,

The maner of fyughtynge of thes ij poore wrecchys by-syde Wynchester.

The peler in hys a-rayment ande parelle whythe hys wepyn come owte of the Este syde, and the defendent owte of the Sowthe-Weste syde in hys aparayle, with hys wepyn, fulle sore wepynge, and a payre of bedys in hys hond; and he knelyd down a-pone the erthe towarde the Este and cryde God marcy and alle the worlde, and prayde every man of forgevenys, and every man there beyng present prayde for hym. And the fals peler callyde and sayd ‘thou fals trayter! why arte thou soo longe in fals bytter be-leve?’ And thenne the defendent rosse upe and hym and sayde, ‘My quarelle ys as faythefulle and alle soo trewe as my by-lyve, and in that quarelle I wylle fyght,’ and with the same worde smote at the peler that hys wepyn breke; and thenne the peler smote a stroke to the defendent, but the offycers were redy that he shulde smyte no more, and they toke a-way hys wepyn fro hym. And thenn they fought to gederys with hyr fystys long tyme and restyd hem, ande fought agayne, and thenn restyd agayne; and thenn they wente togedyr by the neckys. And then they bothe with hyr tethe, that the lethyr of clothyng and flesche was alle to rente in many placys of hyr bodys. And thenn the fals peler caste that meke innocent downe to the grownde and bote hym by the membrys, that the sely innocent dryde owt. And by happe more thenne strengythe that innocent recoveryd up on hys kneys and toke that fals peler by the nose with hys tethe and put hys thombe in hys yee, that the peler cryde owte and prayde hym of marcy, for he was fals unto God and unto hym. And thenn the juge commaundyd hem to cesse and hyr bothe hyr talys; and the peler sayde that he hadde accusyd hym wrongefully and xviij men, and be-sought God of marcy and of forgevenys. And thenn he was confessyd ande hanggyd, of whos soule God have marcy. Amen.

As for the defendent was pardonyd of hys lyfe, leme, and goodys, and went home; and he become an hermyts and with schorte tyme dyed.”