Ere long, he receives another summons, not to perform the service of a soldier, but to discharge the functions of a judge. It has been noticed already that the baron has a legislative and judicial authority over his own territories; but it is necessary that his knightly vassals, who are peers of his court, should attend to aid his councils, and to unite with him in the decision of such cases as may be submitted to his tribunal. The assembled vassals may be seen standing about that little mound of earth in the court-yard, which is the place of justice, and there our young knight mingles among them. By this baron's court is possessed the power of life and death--or _la haute justice_, as it is called--a prerogative not confined to barons of the highest class, but extended to all châtelains, or possessors of castles, and sometimes even to the inferior nobility; an odd distinction, however, is kept up among them, in the form of the instrument of death which they employ, for the baron's gallows may have three posts, or supporters, the châtelains but two, and the inferior lord only one. In the present instance, the court is summoned to determine a case of disputed civil right between two tenants. It is difficult to decide the point: the defendant impugns the statement of the plaintiff, declares him perjured, and, throwing down his gage, appeals to the judgment of God, and claims trial by combat. This practice has succeeded the trial by ordeal, and is of the same absurd and cruel character; for the man who, perhaps, has already been deprived of his rights, is now in danger of being deprived of life. The privilege of making this appeal extends still further, and even were the case adjudged by the baron's court, the party who conceived he had suffered wrong, might call his judges into the field, and decide the question by the sword. The wager of battle just thrown down by the defendant is accepted by his adversary, and the day of combat is appointed by the baron. They are to meet on horseback, accoutred as knights, for they are of gentle blood--were they plebeians, they would be armed with club and target. They must fight till one party is slain or cries for mercy. In the latter case the person who gives in will lose his cause, and be further subject to a fine. Women, ecclesiastics, and men above sixty years of age, may employ champions to assert their cause in the field of combat; but should the proxy yield, he is liable to have his right hand cut off.