Sociological Reasons of Replacement of the Ordeals by the Canon-Law Oaths in the Period of Middle Ages

Abstract

The institution of oath was into the form historically, as well as on the present applied in several of contemporary legal systems creatively developed by the canonists while practically applying the so-called Roman-canonical procedure. Since it was utilized for the whole centuries in the Church courts, canon law elements dominated in it from the beginning. In spite of the fact that they were on the one hand defined as individual type of ordeals, on the other hand they played one of the most important tasks in transfer from secular-law ordeals of the older type towards the standards of Roman-canon full proof including the principle of free valuation of proofs by the judge. Its own role played also original Old Testament Biblical notions including the components of Roman law and German law. Nevertheless the oath was also the part of several older religious-legal systems that highlights its justness and significance from the naturalism point of view of the development of human society. The main goal of the article is to point out briefly the social background and reasons of the replacement of the ordeals of the older type by Canon-law oaths, especially in the period of Middle Ages.