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Simple English definitions for legal terms
corsned
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A quick definition of corsned:
Term: CORSNED
Definition: Corsned is a type of trial that was used a long time ago to determine if someone was guilty or innocent. The accused person had to eat a piece of bread or cheese that a priest had blessed. If the person choked on the food, they were considered guilty. If they didn't choke, they were innocent. This was believed to be a divine way of revealing the truth. Corsned was just one type of ordeal, which was a way of testing someone's guilt or innocence. Ordeals were used in Europe until the 13th century, but they were eventually banned by the church.
A more thorough explanation:
CORSNED is a term used to refer to an ordeal of the morsel under ORDEAL. It was a primitive form of trial in which an accused person was subjected to a dangerous or painful physical test, and the result was considered a divine revelation of the person's guilt or innocence.
- Ordeal of the morsel: In this ordeal, the person who was to make the proof was given a one-ounce piece of bread or cheese that a priest had solemnly charged to stick in the throat of the guilty. A person who choked was declared guilty, and a person who did not was declared innocent.
- Ordeal by fire: In this ordeal, the accused person was forced to hold a piece of hot metal or to walk barefoot across a hot surface. The judgment of guilt or innocence depended on how quickly and cleanly the person's hands or feet healed.
- Ordeal by water: This ordeal had two forms. In the first form, guilt or innocence depended on whether the accused person floated or sank after being submerged in cold water. In the second form, guilt or innocence was determined by how quickly the accused person's arm healed after being placed in boiling water.
These examples illustrate how the accused person was subjected to physical tests that were believed to reveal their guilt or innocence. The outcome of the test was considered a divine revelation, and the accused person's fate was determined accordingly.