By the time I'm done with this post, you'll appreciate our modern day prisons, courtrooms, and the entirety of the judicial system.
With every passing generation, people became a little bit more open-minded. I'm glad I'm here in this generation.
Stay with me.
Trials by ordeal are ancient judicial practices by which the guilt or the innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to painful, unpleasant or dangerous experiences.
They were mostly practiced in Colonial America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Unlike today judgements are passed based on evidences and testimony of witnesses, trial by ordeal is to leave the judgement of an accused in the hands of a higher power. Judicium Dei ( judgement of God).
There are many trials by ordeal but I'll talk about a few of them.
Ordeal by Combat.
The first time I came across this trial was in cowboy movies about the Wild West.
Those movies where you see two men come out to an open square and people gather around to watch. They have to draw their pistol very fast and shoot. The one who kills the other wins the case.
Another form of trial by combat are the duels where two people fight with swords to the death.
Those who watch Game of Thrones saw the epic trial by combat between Prince Oberyn of Dorne and Queen Cercei's champion Ser Gregor Clegan ( The Mountain).
What if the one who dies was actually innocent? I guess it didn't matter.
Ordeal by Fire
This one required one to walk on hot coals. If they were burned in the process, they were guilty. If not, then innocent.
A woman suspected of adultery in those days must stand in a circle of flame or on top of a pyre and not get burned.
How is this even possible when she is not Daenerys Stormborn the Unburnt of House Targaryen?
Ordeal by Water.
This was used mostly in the 17th Century during the Salem Witch Trials, because witches were thought to have made a pact with the devil to reject water (baptism).
The accused is bound in a fetal position and thrown into a body of water. If the accused floated ( rejected by the water) then the person is guilty. If the person sinks then the person is innocent.
So they were declared innocent post humus? When they have drowned?
Fat people had it worse because they were most likely to float due to their higher body fat levels.
Ordeal by Snake
So a poisonous snake and a ring or stone was kept in a bowl and the accused was asked to retrieve the item without getting bitten by the snake. How??? I can't deal.
Ordeal by Poisoned Bean.
This was practiced in Old Calabar in present day Nigeria. The accused was given poisened bean seed to swallow.
If they vomited it, they were innocent.
If they asphyxiated and died, they were guilty.
Moving on...
In some parts of Nigeria especially Igboland, there is a different kind of disgusting ordeal where a widow suspected of killing her husband is compelled to drink the bathe water of the corpse.
If she doesn't fall sick or die after this ordeal then she's innocent.
You need a strong stomach for this one.
I'm glad we're evolving and these practices are going extinct if not extinct already. I wonder about the many innocents that died through one ordeal or the other.
Thank God we are begining to realize culture was made for man and not man for culture!
Photo source: pinterest
thegreenhead.com
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