Editing Trial by combat (section)

=== Origins ===
Unlike [[trial by ordeal]] in general, which is known to many cultures worldwide, trial by combat is known primarily from the customs of the [[Germanic peoples]].<ref name="kelly" /> The practice was "almost universal in Europe" according to medievalist [[Eric Jager]].<ref name="dotinga">{{Cite news |last=Dotinga |first=Randy |date=15 May 2014 |title='Game of Thrones': Trial by combat was a real option, says writer |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2014/0515/Game-of-Thrones-Trial-by-combat-was-a-real-option-says-writer |access-date=24 October 2021 |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027112211/https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2014/0515/Game-of-Thrones-Trial-by-combat-was-a-real-option-says-writer |url-status=live }}</ref> It was in use among the ancient [[Burgundians]], [[Ripuarian Franks]], [[Alamanni|Alamans]], [[Lombards]], and [[Suiones|Swedes]].<ref name="kelly" />

It was unknown in Anglo-Saxon law and [[Roman law]] and it does not figure in the traditions of Middle Eastern antiquity such as the [[code of Hammurabi]] or the [[Torah]]. However, it is recorded in the medieval Irish [[Brehon Laws]], such as ''Din Techtugad''.<ref name="kelly">{{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Fergus |title=A Guide to Early Irish Law |publisher=School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |year=1988 |isbn=978-1-85500-214-2 |edition=2016 reprint with revised bibliography |series=Early Irish law Series volume III |location=Dublin |pages=211–213 |language=English}}</ref>

The practice is regulated in various [[Early Germanic law|Germanic legal codes]]. Being rooted in Germanic tribal law, the various regional laws of the [[Frankish Empire]] (and the later [[Holy Roman Empire]]) prescribed different particulars, such as equipment and rules of combat. The ''[[Lex Alamannorum]]'' (''recension Lantfridana'' 81, dated to 712–730 AD) prescribes a trial by combat in the event of two families disputing the boundary between their lands. A handful of earth taken from the disputed piece of land is put between the contestants and they are required to touch it with their swords, each swearing that their claim is lawful. The losing party besides forfeiting their claim to the land is required to pay a fine.

[[Capitularies]] governing its use appear from the year 803 onwards.<ref>[[Boretius]] 1.117</ref> [[Louis the Pious]] prescribed combat between witnesses of each side, rather than between the accuser and the accused, and briefly allowed for the [[Trial by ordeal#By cross|Ordeal of the Cross]] in cases involving clerics.

In medieval Scandinavia, the practice survived throughout the [[Viking Age]] in the form of the ''[[holmgang]]''.

{{anchor|Marital duel}}An unusual variant, the marital duel, involved combat between a husband and wife, with the former physically handicapped in some way. The loser was killed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Janin |first=Hunt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CikdpXS7DkQC |title=Medieval Justice: Cases and Laws in France, England and Germany, 500-1500 |date=2009 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0-7864-4502-8 |location=Jefferson, NC |page=17 |access-date=17 September 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308055758/https://books.google.com/books?id=CikdpXS7DkQC |url-status=live }}</ref>