Trial by Fire and Battle in Medieval German Literature

Offers a broader, more contextualized understanding of the function of ordeals in medieval literature and society. Medieval judicial ordeals, especially trial by fire or battle, conjure up vivid pictures in the modern imagination. Yet popular perceptions of the Middle Ages leave the reader without a context in which to understand these most drastic of medieval judicial remedies. This book analyzes literary texts that provide some of the most vivid and detailed accounts of the medieval ordeal: th