How Did The Court System Work During The Middle Ages

During the Victorian Era, the court system played a prominent role in the lives of the people. Although not all directly felt the effects of the actions that took place in the courtroom, the courts and their decisions impacted the lives of everyone during the time. The Victorian Court System was very organized, and that organization shows its inspiration in modern courts. The Court System during the Victorian Era was a very prominent and organized part of society.

This became a dilemma because the community did not know which decision God would want. They believed lying was a sin and even if they lived when they eventually die they would be sent to hell. If they decided to be honest and die, they didn’t know if God would be okay with them not fighting for their lives. “Excellency, I have signed seventy-two death warrants; I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate so slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it.” (1303) Reverend Hale believed the accused should lie so they could be saved again and live. Hale did not think God would want them to be truthful if it meant giving up their lives.

The community’s response became more agitated as the trials continued. Those who confessed were neither tried nor sentenced. (LaPlante 138) The number of confessions only supported the girls’ accusations allowing them more credibility. Those who claimed to be innocent were hung following their trial or for one man tortured.

were accused were assumed guilty from the beginning. These people named in both times were put

In this task I will write a report about comparing the roles of judges, lawyers and lay people within the English courts.

The water trials were that the convicted were thrown into a running body of water, since it was believed that their evil deeds would reject the water, so they would float. They had a rope tied around their waste for those who sank, so they were able to be pulled out. In the case they floated, they were occasionally executed. Even if they did sink and were seen as innocent, it was not uncommon for accidental drowning’s to occur.

When a person was accused, they had a "term of grace" for thirty to forty days where they could voluntarily confess their sin and atone for that sin. After that grace period was used up, they had a trial and if the judges found the accused guilty of the offense, the person was imprisoned. The accused's trial occurred only in the presence of two disinterested priests and the defense was in the hands of a lawyer. Witnesses were sworn in and if one lied they would be seriously punished- death being a possibility. (Blotzer, 1910) If a person was found guilty at the trial they could be burned at the stake. (Madden, 2003) These trials were called auto-da-fé, or Act of Faith, and would happen in a public place such as the main square in a town. After

Trial by hot Iron was one way to determine innocence in the Middle Ages, you had to undergo this trial to prove your innocence. In this trial the defendant would have to carry an iron that weighed one pound, after it was heated over fire and pulled out during a ritual prayer. He or she would carry the hot iron metal for 9 feet, measured by the own defendants foot size. Their hands are strapped at the end of the 9 feet. Then they would be examined after 3 days by a Priest.They were considered guilty if there hands weren't showing any progress of healing. If there hands were showing progress of healing he or she is innocent .If the crime of the accused was particularly bad such as betrayal of a Lord or murder the iron would be 3 pounds. In the

During the trials, if someone was identified as a witch or a warlock from the society, they would be taken to court (which is a while wait due to the amounts of people waiting also) to be decided if they are guilty or not. It is easy be be found guilty in this case because they couldn't really prove if someone was a witch or not. They would just say, "She's a witch!", and that would do to prove guilty. If found guilty of accused on being a witch, they were to be hung. If they say they were a witch, they would stay in jail for the rest of their lives because they were being truthful and that's a big part of their religion.

and was often called in to trials to determine whether the accused was guilty or innocent.

What was the court life like in medieval times? Was it full of ladies in beautiful dresses? Was it full of men in dashing coat or messengers and runners rushing around? To understand court life you first need to understand the people of the times, how kingdoms run, and the purpose of court. Only then can you begin to understand the people within the court, their jobs, and what their life was like.

Trial by ordeal was an judicial practice by which the guilty or innocent kid was excited by being put through a painful and brutal,, some times dangerous experience. The test was one life or death and to prove. Sometimes person was considered innocent if they escaped injury/harm or if they injuries healed. In mediaeval Europe twilight or do you was considered a judicium (a judgement disposing of the case before the court.) this is a procedure based on the premises that God would help the innocence by performing a miracle on their

Trials were a way to prove if a person was innocent or guilty. There were two major types of trials during the Middle Ages, trial by ordeal which involved trial by fire and water and the other was trial by combat. Trial by ordeal was very dangerous, as it would put the accused in a risky position where they would have to come out unharmed (Jessie, Paul 2017). This may have included holding a burning iron or walking across hot coal. This was trial by fire. Trial by water was extremely hazardous as well, as accidental deaths did occur. The accused would be throw into a river and was considered innocent if they sunk. (Easton, Saldais 2013) During trial by combat, the accused would fight the accuser. It was through the “Judgement of God” (The editors

Rushton continues to discuss the necessity of oaths and statements in the judicial process. When narrative accounts are given publicly, they become “authoritative versions of reality.” An oath was deemed a deciding factor in judicial decisions. For other crimes such as adultery, robbery, or murder, these processes was strictly followed. However, questions arose in witch trials since there seemed to an exception to the testimonies and other proceedings. For example, young witnesses were allowed (the law does not allow younger than 14 years old). Perhaps because “witchcraft trials involved extraordinary stories.”

Chaucer provides insight into the assortment of the fourteenth century court system through the characters in the “Prologue” to the Canterbury Tales. Readers are given the Knight as the first character to reflect good qualities of this system. The Knight is described as “ a most distinguished man, who from the day on which he first began to ride abroad had followed chivalry, truth, honor, generousness, and courtesy. He had done nobly in his sovereign’s war and ridden into battle, no man more, as well in Christian as heathen places, and ever honored for his noble graces” (43-50). Through this description of the Knight, an idealized character, we learn that there were honorable