A form of trial in which the defendant was required to produce witnesses who would swear to his or her innocence.
〈史〉宣誓负责断讼法
Example sentencesExamples
Some authorities say that the common law never knew compurgation, as it arose well before the Norman Conquest, but that it did know the wager of law, by which the accused was said to purge himself from guilt.
It is tempting to criticize the trial by ordeal, wager of law and judicial combat for their apparent irrationality and cruelty.
The early methods of trial were compurgation or trial by ordeal or wager of law.
In early times, it was more common to have wager of law or trial by ordeal.