Roman-canonical elements in the ancient 'Germanic' system of proof
Traces romano-canoniques dans les preuves germaniques

Author: Waelkens, Laurent

Source: The Legal History Review, Volume 75, Number 3, 2007 , pp. 321-331(11)

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, an imprint of Brill

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Abstract:

Many scholars consider that medieval trials by ordeal and collective oaths are typical of primitive societies. They occured all over the world and would have been introduced by the Germans in early-medieval Western Europe. These means of proof emerged in the eighth and ninth century, at a time when the administration of justice by the lords and the bishops were intertwined. When comparing them to Roman procedure and the canonists' approach to confession, party oaths and torture, one may consider those 'irrational' proofs as having Roman-canonical origins, as so many other institutions of the time. They should therefore not necessarily be compared to non-European developments.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157181907783054932

Affiliations: 1: Louvain

Publication date: 2007-10-01