Superstition and Force: Essays on the Wager of Law; The Wager of Battle; The Ordeal; Torture

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The history of jurisprudence is the history of civilization. The labors of the lawgiver embody not only the manners and customs of his time, but also its innermost thoughts and beliefs, laid bare for our examination with a frankness that admits of no concealment. These afford the surest outlines for a trustworthy picture of the past, of which the details are supplied by the records of the chronicler. The history of civilization and the acts done out of superstition includes judicial combat versus the duel, kinsman versus campions in judicial combat, the judgement of god throughout the world, the ordeal of boiling water, red hot iron, fire, cold water, ordeal of balance, ordeal of the cross, poison ordeals, and more. The section on torture talks of the various methods throughout the different societies including the first appearance of torture, the inquisition, and all grades of torture. Lea was the leading authority of his age on medieval combat, ordeals and torture as means of proof of a person’s right or innocence in trials and other legal arenas. A fascinating look at the doctrine of might makes right as the basis of law, originally published in 1892.