Did trial by combat really happen in medieval Europe?Did it happen anywhere else?

by RobBobGlove
elev57

Yes. Trial by Combat was mainly a Germanic tradition in Medieval Europe. The Sachsenspiegel (book 1 article 63), a code of Germanic Law (in this case Saxon Law, but for the whole Holy Roman Empire) written in the early 13th century acknowledges Trial by Combat as a valid way of determining innocence or guilt.

Froissart in his Chronicles (Book 3, Section 122) and Diderot in the Encyclopedie (under the Duel entry) detail the last trial by combat in France, which took place in 1386 in Paris.

In Italy, Paul the Deacon in his History of the Lombards (Book 4, Chapter XLI) details a trial by combat in which the wife of the Lombard King Arioald is accused of trying to poison him. The wife, Gundeberga, has a noble as a champion who defeats the accuser, defending her innocence.

For England, the Tracatus of Glanvill from the late 12th century, an English law code, mentions trial by combat as a method of determining guilt for those who were allowed to bear arms.

Trial by Combat can be considered to be a type of Trial by Ordeal, which has analogues in other cultures, but I don't think Trial by Combat specifically appears very commonly in other cultures.