Trial by Ordeal and Trial by Combat | A Totally Fair* Way of Dealing out Justice

In most European countries today, we use the premise that a person is presumed innocent unless they have been proven guilty. At trial, evidence has to be produced so that a jury or a judge can decide on the culpability of the accused. But during the Middle Ages when someone was suspected of a crime, and they were actually innocent it was believed that God would intervene on their behalf. So, they were made to go through a physical trial and the ‘Judgement of God’ would enable them to prove it. It seems illogical to us now, but religion played such an important part in the lives of the Medievals that it is easy to see why they would want to model their justice system on the trials that God had set out in the Bible. It was easier to give judgement over to an omnipotent God rather than rely on fallible human beings.
0:00 Introduction
1:54 Ordeal by the Host
3:00 Trial by Blood
3:54 Ordeal by Cross
4:56 Trial by Fire
6:44 Ordeal by Water
8:27 Trial by Combat
🎶🎶 Music by CO.AG: kzbin.info/door/cavSftXHgxLBWwLDm_bNvA
Narrated by James Wade
Edited by James Wade
Thank you for watching.
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Copyright © 2022 Top5s All rights reserved. In this video, we've compiled information from a variety of sources, including documentaries, books, and websites, all with the aim of providing an engaging viewing experience. While we strive to ensure accuracy, we acknowledge that there may be variations in the authenticity of the content. We encourage viewers to delve deeper and conduct their own research to corroborate the information presented.

[@jingles123456789ify]

Lmao, I like how the most humane version of trial by ordeal (holding your arms out) was the only one banned for being unholy. Guess torture and death is okay, but God forbid someone isn't tortured

[@bigstanky2037]

christianity sure is a peaceful religion isnt it

[@jabronisauce6833]

@@bigstanky2037 that's just humans nothing to do with the religion lol

[@carameljesus4071]

@@shinrapresident7010 Christianity is based on the Bible not on the humans using to harm others. The teachings of Jesus directly contradict what medieval Christians did. So it really isn't the religion, but simply power hungry humans.

[@lllllliiillllll]

@@jabronisauce6833 but the religion caused the thinking thus the action…so directly and indirectly it is at fault

[@stollinroned5090]

@@jabronisauce6833 "Nothing to do with religion" How could you possibly come to this conclusion? They only did it because of their religion

[@peterearden]

The only reason people replaced trial by ordeal and combat is because trial by lawyer is nastier.

[@AfricanLionBat]

@@jcldctt there's plenty of psychopaths but a vast majority of people don't want to bring back torture as means of investigation. There's plenty of people that would love to see guilty murderers and child rapists tortured after they're known to be guilty but not before.

[@NoSTs123]

@@AfricanLionBat i think this was sarcasm by his part

[@AfricanLionBat]

@@NoSTs123 my response wasn't toward the original comment. That was funny. One person commented most people in America would want to have these types of trials back. That's why I mentioned maybe SOME may want it back as a punishment after the fact but damn sure not as an investigation

[@TheBLGL]

Yeah, so much “nastier” than possibly dying by torture…. 🙄

[@peterearden]

@@TheBLGL it’s a very obvious joke. Lighten up.

[@curiodyssey3867]

purge fluid. what a great band name!

[@hoze1235]

Sounds sticky

[@thehermitman822]

With their latest album "Purged By Fire."

[@ghostinthemachine8243]

Who knows? Maybe in another 1000 years or so, our form of Justice may seem silly.

[@Comrade911]

Because finding enough evidence to prove guilt could be considered silly? Yeh... I hope we won't descend to that way of thinking again

[@versebuchanan512]

@@Comrade911 I mean, we do routinely sentence people on minor offenses to way too long imprisonment in a mostly for-profit system that legally can use those incarcerated for slave labor, so. There is that.

[@thehermitman822]

@@Comrade911 We still have a system that some ppl cannot afford innocence.

[@Cypher791]

Trial by Twitter

[@lildemon6816]

Uhm our current way of meting out justice is quite barbaric. This age will be “looked down upon” assuming we progress as a society.

[@slicingonions4398]

You would think they would have seen the rain putting out the hot coals as a sign by god that the dude was NOT guilty but no they saw it as god saying he was guilty lol people back then were pretty silly, I mean they still are now tho

[@thehermitman822]

I mentioned that and if you walk on water like Christ then you must be evil. 😆

[@paintbrush3554]

They jusr had unsatiable bloodlust

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@paintbrush3554 not more than modern people

[@norikadolmy7274]

It was probably that whoever was in power opposed his efforts at reform and probably looked for any excuse to have him killed and just found a convenient one. When it comes to omens and signs, you can interpret any way you want as long as it benefits you

[@edwardpate6128]

I'm all in favor of bringing back Trial by Combat and broadcasting it!

[@reesf743]

Rudy Giuliani: "I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took a slap to the back"

[@orthodoxtemplar7924]

Legal duels

[@toniremer1594]

Edward Pate -- I wholeheartedly agree. Maybe, then, there'd be a lot less crimes, especially in Chicago.

[@Will-ge7ri]

It’s called watching Biden give a speech

[@synthemagician4686]

@@Will-ge7ri Sorry bro, that's gonna be a big whiff. I know you wanna make it political, let's go Brandon and all, but the parallels just ain't there on this one. I mean if you wanna take it there be like, if you don't die in trial by combat you have to listen to Biden give an hour long speech or something. Break away from that basic white girl starbucks, actual NPC, mindless sheep rhetoric stuff. Get creative with it, don't just make a comment that sounds like something Biden would say while he's mid-stroke. Sky's the limit my guy, I believe in you!

[@edmundkempersdartboard173]

Sorry, mages. No shennanigans during your trial by combat. I see one magic missle and you're disqualified.

[@greendragon4058]

Also by dragons for D&D fans

[@PlaymateTessiNumberOneFan]

I don’t know why, but anytime someone mentions “trial by combat”, the name Tyrion Lannister pops up in my mind. Strange

[@vonFisch]

Or Rudy Ghouliani...

[@astralclub5964]

Or Bronn!

[@pyromaniac709]

Same🤣

[@eastanglianlife5461]

Are you really who you say you are

[@Lorena-eh5cl]

Damn, no sorcery or witchcraft allowed in Trial by Combat? What a let down...

[@ChaosRaych]

It's amazing to me that the human race has survived as long as we have, despite our best efforts to creatively wipe ourselves out

[@lildemon6816]

We reproduce like cockroaches, and exist in nearly every facet of land. Nothing short of an apocalypse will actually wipe us out.

[@mosqski3106]

well we have the nuke now, I hope things won't escalate too far

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

No nothing we did in history could have possibly wiped us out

[@toserveman9265]

Get rid of liberals

[@Tbone272]

Truthfully... We haven't survived that long yet.

[@vipervickan]

Found this channel recently and I love it, the content and your voice! Would love more videos about medieval tortures methods !

[@ashphrog5969]

Imagine living through the rough parts of the middle ages getting close to death many times only to choke to death on a piece of bread

[@JustBackgroundNoise]

And it doesn't even taste that good, either.

[@xians3216]

If we do things right and keep trying to improve our systems of justice hopefully our descendants will think of us as medieval.

[@nunyanunya4147]

in the famous word ov the Spartians.... "IF"

[@greendragon4058]

I often wondered that myself

[@LloydEWatson1983]

The Saxons did trial by cake.

[@andyxox4168]

As the most obese country in Europe it looks like the British are still doing it!

[@littlegirlshowSynch]

Dude this channel is awesome, hopefully it starts popping off soon. Someone get Cr1tikal to watch one of these vids, he'd probably like it enough to make a vid lol

[@als3022]

Totally fair indeed.

[@thehermitman822]

😆 If you can walk on water like Christ then you must be evil. If your trial by fire is put out by rain then you must be guilty. 😆

[@evanjones9602]

Tyrion: I demand a trial by combat!

[@manuelhung7571]

Just a recipe for thugs to do as they wish.

[@daniels6276]

What about trail by stone?

[@Issac_The_Last_N7]

I absolutely love your art work

[@pyromaniac709]

Where do you get those thumbnail?😂

[@LTPottenger]

They discontinued it because it allowed the little guy to get justice, not because it was unfair but because sometimes it worked.

[@brianedwards7142]

I like Arthurian lit but when I read Lancelot of the Lake (C13th) I lost all respect for nearly every knight (except Percival) and Arthur but especially Gawain because they prioritised the outcomes of several trials by combat even over the evidence of their own eyes.

[@-JA-]

👏👍

[@Seority]

One must wonder. Did no one who was innocent under these trials call for an example of these trials to be done to a lord or holy man? Surely if those whom God deemed worthy to rule would be protected from hot bilsters or drowning, right? 🙂

[@duyataksis5210]

This video is an extended public service announcement titled "This is your brain on Christianity."

[@nobo1682]

Like with anything in history, taking the extreme as an example is much more entertaining when reality is somewhere in between, basically the avg, for every petty middle management today you can parallel power hungry noble ir the church's unparalleled libido, for as much as the world has changed in centuries a lot of the more prehistoric habits have dug its heels and remain the same, maybe not in practice but in spirit

[@harrysweeten9417]

Ahh, the good old days, they had less repeat offenders back then I should think.

[@cascadianrangers728]

I'm 6'2, very athletic, and have been practicing with a sword since I could lift one. Trial by combat seems perfectly fair to me.

[@sapphicgeek24]

Former Catholic here: Transubstantiation, the rite of turning the host and wine to the body and blood of Jesus, is still literal in the Roman Catholic Church today. It's symbolic for Protestants, but it's a major tenet for Catholicism.

[@TheAshCooper]

Why do witches float? Because they are made out of wood silly.

[@richardmoores]

What else floats on water besides wood? A duck! So if she weighs the same as a duck, she must be made of wood. And therefore……. A witch!!

[@Nathan-ng1jt]

So glad I found this channel.

[@hicknopunk]

I thought trial by combat had 1 person in a pit and one person hampered, outside the pit. Maybe that is just England or France?? 🤔

[@hughgrection7246]

You're actually describing common law duels. IE husband wife fights. The husband would be in a waist deep pit armed with a short club , the woman got a sack with a rock in it and free use of the ground. Pretty sure Lindybiege did a video about it a few years back .

[@hicknopunk]

@@hughgrection7246 ah! Thank you, I will go watch that video. So just to clarify, the trials of combat, as described in your video were or were not practiced by the common person?

[@hughgrection7246]

@@hicknopunk they are in fact for the lower classes, yes .

[@hicknopunk]

@@hughgrection7246 thanks again!

[@martinthrone7012]

@@hicknopunk YES trial by combat was very common apart from that a commoner wouldn't be allowed to challenge a person above his social status I.e. you wouldn't be a to accuse & challenge an aristocrat regardless as to whether he was genuinely guilty or innocent of what you were accusing him of you'd most likely be punished by the courts with a fine & sentenced to 10 lashes of the whip so? you'd have to have another eye 👁 witness to verify your accusations

[@shawnlinnell7547]

No, the bread and wine do not "symbolize" the body and blood of Christ. Catholics, Orthodox, and Lutherans (some 95% of all Christians that have ever lived) believe that it *IS* the body and blood of Christ as a miracle for the forgiveness of sins.

[@iriswinter]

*Tyrion Lannister has entered the chat*

[@eastanglianlife5461]

I am so glad I live now and not then

[@AhegaoMachine666]

Trial by T-pose

[@Daren6111]

Lmao "it seems illogical to us now" yeah depends on who you're talking to. Some people still cling to superstitious beliefs

[@paintbrush3554]

Facts

[@Valerio_the_wandering_sprite]

My Sunday school teacher was basically a time traveller from the Middle Ages. Anything modern was sinful and licentious in his eyes.

[@surveyinsankaynaklar6583]

Omg I love your channel sm! can I be your friend? :/

[@mattjb8384]

Wrong. It doesn't symbolize the Body and Blood of Christ. It IS the Body and Blood of Christ. 100% literal, not a symbol.

[@phillawrence5148]

Trial by oath, how awful?

[@josh656]

No buts meow, it’s the law.

[@GaryYoung-eq1ph]

What did Jesus create.

[@donthesitatebegin9283]

A lot of sinister virgins.

[@williamharris8367]

Nothing -- he was a prophet or messenger.

[@FloutchBW]

Power thirsty people created that, by taking vague inspirations from biblical trials. But you know, Muslim countries had, and still have extremely harsh punishments too, on par with these, and East Asian countries probably had the most brutal to ever exist.

[@cjthebeesknees]

Religion: We must civilize these barbarians! Also Religion: Trial by ordeal, water or fire!

[@thehermitman822]

CLEANSE THEM ALL.

[@andrewegan7011]

A hammer and gavel do not exist in Britain nd subsequent countries courts.

[@osmiumsoul9535]

The eucharist is not symbolic in catholicism, instead it is believed to LITERALLY become the body and blood of Christ. Not kidding.

[@JamesFromTexas]

I wish we still had trial by combat. I'm not the best with a sword but I think with a bit more training and actual death being the outcome if I lose, I'd do quite well. But then again, I'm not even a criminal so it doesn't really matter.

[@slicingonions4398]

Ya as far as I know being a babbling idiot isn't a crime so you'd be free to go

[@CapaNoisyCapa]

It didn't back than either, so there's that.

[@JohnDoeRando]

Machetes at thirty paces, hey?

[@cascadianrangers728]

Oh, man I wish we still did trial by combat, I could do pretty much wtf ever I wanted

[@user-zr1ij2nz6j]

In a sense it still exists. But instead of swords and fists the accused/accuser throw money at each other. Whoever has the most and throws the hardest often wins..

[@ChefRojo]

I fucking loveth thy channel!

[@peterbergman2131]

How long will it take before people realise God doesn't exist?

[@Adennative]

Better than Weird history

[@Adennative]

I sub, found your voice and jokes better thenbwieg

[@jeepliving1]

So basically, trial by fairy tale.

[@erin6083]

Correction. The bread and wine do not symbolize the body and blood of Christ when they are consecrated. When consecrated, they truly become the body and blood of Christ. That is the difference between Catholics and protestants. It is not only medieval people who believe this but Catholics today believe this. It is the most central belief of our faith.

[@shawnlinnell7547]

As a Lutheran, often categorized as protestant, we 100% believe that it is the true physical body and blood of Jesus. The major difference between Lutherans and Catholics is that we believe in Salvation by Grace apart from works. Roman Catholics believe that one must do works of penance.

[@eastanglianlife5461]

If it's wonderful that I live today and not in the middle ages they did not have tind food so I could not have enjoyed beans on toast

[@andyxox4168]

Why don’t you thing there was any bread or toast?

[@eastanglianlife5461]

@@andyxox4168 yes there was they was toast but no tined beens

[@andyxox4168]

@@eastanglianlife5461 yes, in the Middle Ages there were no ‘beens’ or even beens whatsoever nor any tomatoes. In fact there were no vegetables at all until Heinz put them in tins, or tines if you prefer, 😂😂😂

[@eastanglianlife5461]

@@andyxox4168 is possible to make baked beans without having them from a tin the cowboys used to do but reduced very hard point I was trying to make is that life is much easier now

[@andyxox4168]

@@eastanglianlife5461 Cowboys … late 1800’s is hardly the Middle Ages (though canned beans were ‘invented’ in 1860)😉

[@arch3088]

The Catholic faith is responsible for so much idiocy and suffering.

[@Saffron-sugar]

The Medievals beloved that the priest had the power to turn the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? Man, the Roman Catholic Church-still-believes in Transubstantiation (the cannibalization of Christ but still appears to be just bread and wine). Churches like the C of E, Anglican congregation, believe in consubstantiation, which is that the presence of christ is within the consecrated bread and wine. Other Christian religions that celebrate communion believe in things like real presence (that somehow Christ is present during the ceremony, to a symbolic representation of the last passover meal of Christ.

[@helphelper9549]

I like how the Greeks do it

[@imraw17]

Trial by blood sounds like an epic time

[@thejudgefrom69]

6:43 that’s God taking action right there

[@Witchofthewoods.]

I still wonder till this day! God, where were you? Where are you? I've heard and seen so many horrific things in life, and no one's been saved yet. I'm not questioning history, but I'm questioning humanity and we're not as special as we may believe.

[@Springfield1795]

Many have been saved in their souls by trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This does not make us perfect people, because nothing besides God is truly perfect. People with saved souls, though, will at least hold themselves up to the standards of Jesus Christ even if they constantly fail. They will one day live in the only place where God's perfect justice exists - Heaven. I encourage you to trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior too. Read the Bible for yourself, please ask me or others any questions, and meditate on all of it. What the medievals often got wrong is that no one can be forced to be a Christian, since it's about a decision you willfully make in your heart. I myself can say that I'm still so imperfect after accepting Christ as the Savior who died for my sins, but I now feel fulfilled and content about this chaotic world in a way that no secular philosophy could let me be.

[@slugabunyhawaii7255]

Many put their lips to the cup of filth That is mystery. And the years marched on

[@XA1985]

Medieval justice was shitty AF

[@TheRowlandstone73]

Honest to god, if I somehow found myself transported back to medieval times, with no hope of getting back, the very first thing I'd do would be to find the highest building, bridge or clifftop and happily launch myself off it!

[@dmoon7348]

I forgot or missed the part where Jesus Christ said this was Good-to-Go...

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

6:16 oh look, a false icon! Those Anglicans, what are we supposed to do with them?

[@futuristica1710]

Die mad about it.

[@CHLOCHLOLP]

if you actually believe in god and divine intervention this sort of trial makes 100% perfect sense and would be the most fair way to judge someone. its really not illogical at all, at least compared to the idea of god existing.

[@martinthrone7012]

It'd make no sense at all if you were genuinely innocent especially if you were the person being accused of a crime on the basis of someone else's say so.....

[@robotenthusiast7572]

Trial by Combat is still practiced nowadays. Just ask Rudy Giuliani.

[@KratomFlavoredAdidas]

Rikers Island

[@blueguy2128]

Of course the germans started trial by blood 🤣