Trial by Ordeal
by the diving-test. If you fail in this test, you will be executed."
Many priests confessed at once that they had been helping the rebel host. They were released as the King had promised. But many others swore that they were innocent. The King sat on a chair on the river-bank and watched the priests go down into the water one by one. Some of them stayed under the water the proper length of time, and so proved themselves not guilty; but others who failed were stripped of their robes and executed on the spot. Their bodies were burnt; their ashes were mixed with lime, and used to whitewash a part of a temple structure.
Sometimes melted lead was used in trial by ordeal. The contending parties thrust their hands into molten lead, and he who was not burnt won the case. Molten tin or boiling oil were used occasionally instead of the molten lead.
A regular method of settling disputes about money that had been lent was the trial by swimming. The parties had to swim either across a stream or against the current for a certain distance. The loser had to pay double the sum in dispute. Half the amount paid was given to the winner, while the other half was handed over to the Government as a fine.
Trial by means of candles was more comfortable than trial by fire and water. Two candles of exactly the same kind of wax, of the same weight, and with wicks containing the same number of threads, were lit and placed on suitable stands. The man whose candle burnt away first was the loser. It is related of a certain
