Superstition and Force Essays on the Wager of Law, the Wager of Battle, the Ordeal, Torture
CHAPTER XV.
CONDITIONS OF THE ORDEAL.
It is a regular judicial procedure 383 Compounding for ordeals 383 Ordeal for defeated accuser 385 Absence of testimony usually a prerequisite 386 Usually a means of defence 389 Used in failure of compurgation 390 Sometimes regarded as a punishment 391 Its use in extorting confessions 394 Practically amounts to torture 395 Influence of imagination 396 Champions in ordeals 398