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compurgation
[kom-per-gey-shuhn]
noun
an early common-law method of trial in which the defendant is acquitted on the sworn endorsement of a specified number of friends or neighbors.
compurgation
/ ˌkɒmpɜːˈɡeɪʃən /
noun
law (formerly) a method of trial whereby a defendant might be acquitted if a sufficient number of persons swore to his innocence
Other Word Forms
- compurgatory adjective
- compurgator noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of compurgation1
Word History and Origins
Origin of compurgation1
Example Sentences
Sire de, sketch of, 312; biographer of St. Louis, 312.Judith of Bavaria, 149.Julian the Apostate, 271.Jurats, in Laon, 328.Jury, not provided for in Great Charter, 308.Justice, among the early Germans, 22; among the Franks, 61-67;among the Saxons, 121-123;Charlemagne's provision for in capitulary for the missi, 138-139;compurgation, 196;ordeal, 196-197;administration of in the universities, 342, 344, 349.Jutes, settle in Kent, 70.Karlmann, son of Charles Martel, 105.Kent,
Among the early Germans the settling of disputes and the testing of the guilt or innocence of an accused person were generally accomplished through the employment of one or both of two very interesting judicial practices—compurgation and the ordeal.
The persons brought forward to take this oath were known as compurgators, or "co-swearers," and the legal act thus performed was called compurgation.
Tithings and the process of compurgation came to the assistance of other criminals, but the ceorl could appeal to none, and expect neither pity nor aid.
Compurgation, kom-pur-gā′shun, n. the custom, in Anglo-Saxon law, of permitting the accused to call in witnesses to prove his innocency, by joining their oaths to his: evidence in favour of the accused: vindication.—n.
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