Legal Definitions - ordels

Ordels

In historical English law, ordels referred to the specific right or authority held by a lord, ruler, or other designated entity to conduct trials by ordeal within their defined territory or jurisdiction. Trials by ordeal were ancient judicial practices, common in medieval Europe, where an accused person's guilt or innocence was determined by subjecting them to a dangerous or painful physical test. It was believed that divine intervention would protect the innocent, thereby revealing the truth.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of ordels:

• Imagine a powerful 12th-century baron who governed a vast estate. If a peasant on his land was accused of stealing grain, the baron, by virtue of his ordels, could order a trial by hot iron. The outcome of this dangerous test would then be considered the divine judgment of the peasant's guilt or innocence, all within the baron's territorial authority.

• Consider a medieval abbey that had been granted a royal charter bestowing upon it certain judicial powers over its lands and tenants. If two villagers living on the abbey's property had a serious dispute over property boundaries that could not be resolved otherwise, the abbot, exercising the abbey's ordels, might decree an ordeal by cold water to determine the rightful owner, relying on divine intervention to reveal the truth.

• In a smaller, local manor during the 11th century, a lord held court for his tenants. When a serf was accused of a grave offense, such as arson, the lord, possessing ordels for his manor, could decide to subject the accused to an ordeal by hot water. This would be the method of legal determination within his specific domain, reflecting the belief that God would protect the innocent from harm.