Superstition and Force Essays on the Wager of Law, the Wager of Battle, the Ordeal, Torture
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CHURCH AND THE ORDEAL.
Complex relations of the Church to the ordeal 408 Occasional opposition of the papacy 409 But it is sustained by the clergy 409 Its use in trials of heretics 410 Impressiveness of its ritual 413 Reasons of papal opposition 414 Advantages derived from it by the clergy 415 The popes at length accomplish its abolition 417