It would seem that the "Ordeal", the idea that boiling water or drowning could prove a man's guilt or innocence, was a Germanic custom brought to Gaul during the migrations. It was one of two methods to prove one's innocence...the other being oath taking. The ordeal won favor in the late Merovingian period as too many people were abusing the oath system.
"Yes myLord I promise I didn't do that! I double dog promise!"
State of the Trolls, 2024
State of the Trolls It has been a momentous few years since my last State of the Troll. A great deal has happened since, from the OGL conund...
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Geoffrey Blackwood As is common knowledge, the Winter Dark lasted for 11 centuries. Locked in the grip of that long winter the world a... -
Myths can be scary. I won't go into a few because I just didn't want to read about infanticide this morning. But through infanticid...
2 comments:
Hey Steve, what is the name of the history you are reading about the Merovingians?
The book I am reading right now is called The Origins of France, From Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000. I finished another a week or so ago called the Merovingian Kingdoms. MK is good but very dry and he gets caught up in his sources quite a bit, this one Clovis...is a quick study, but a good read. Looking for a good bio on Clovis myself.
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