ordeal, ancient legal custom whereby an accused person was
required to perform a test, the outcome of which decided the
person's guilt or innocence. By an ordeal, appeal was made to
divine authority to decide the guilt or innocence of one accused
of a crime or to choose between disputants. This custom was
known to ancient peoples as well as to those of fairly advanced
material culture. Until recent times the ordeal was practiced in
many parts of Asia and Africa. In the early Middle Ages it was
widely used to settle legal questions in Western Europe. In
England it was a regular form of trial and persisted until trial
by jury became common. Forms of the ordeal varied with the
locality and with the nature of the crime. The ordeal by
fire—walking through fire or putting the hand into a flame—was
common, and there were other fiery ordeals, such as walking on
hot plowshares or plunging the hand into molten metal. Usually
it was believed that if the accused were innocent God would
spare him. Commonly there was a lap