The Legitimacy of Medieval Proof

Abstract

Much that is intriguing about medieval modes of proof lies in the tension that existed within them. In the practices of the ordeals, compurgation or wager of law and judicial duel, faith mingled with superstition, justice with mercy, divine providence with human manipulation. When history was conceived as “wholly a uniform drift towards better things,” these practices were proclaimed as undoubtedly barbaric, irrational, and “the most extravagant and preposterous.” Later historians offered functionalist interpretations; they showed how medieval institutions of proof reflected the living conditions of the time or served legitimate socio-political functions. Suitable as their creed is the charitable dictum of Baron Bramwell that “because the world gets wiser as it gets older, … it was [not therefore] foolish before.” A related body of scholarship evaluates the methods of proof as means of fact-finding, and supports the conclusion that they were not as ineffective as they may seem. Their epistemic function, as we will see, has been defended along different naturalistic lines.