"Three thousand _sueldos_, according to the _Fuero Viejo_, were paid for dishonouring the palace of the king, or spoiling his castle; and five hundred _sueldos_ was the price of the head of the _merino_, or the composition for scandalizing him; and every man who wished to save himself from the payment of these mulcts, was to defend himself by the oath of _twelve men, for such was the usage of Castile in the old time_. When accused of the death of another _fijo d'algo_, the suspected noble defended himself by the oath of eleven other _fijos d'algo_, himself _the twelfth_, and, as true knights, they were all _sworn_ upon the Gospel Book, with their spurs upon their heels. There were two insults only which gave a Dueña, or a squire, the right of complaining that a _fijo d'algo_ had scandalized them, viz., a blow or a wound, or the robbery of their mules or garments. Within three days, the party so injured by a caitiff knight was obliged to complain of the offence, and to disclose the injury to the _fijos d'algo_ of the town, the _labradores_, and to the inmates of the _fijos d'algo_, if there were any, and to cause the town-bell to be rung, saying, "such a one hath thus dishonoured me." {251} These formalities having been observed, the _fijo d'algo_ was bound to answer the complaint; reparation was made if he confessed it, by forfeiting five hundred _sueldos_, the price of his own head; but if he denied it, he was to clear himself by the oath of eleven other _fijos d'algo_, himself the _twelfth_. But a _labrador_ accused of injuring a _fijo d'algo_ was not to be admitted to defend himself by his peers; and he was unfairly compelled to swear with eleven _fijos d'algo_, himself the twelfth. "These customs are taken from the general code. In peculiar districts, compurgation was so much in vogue, that compurgatrixes were allowed to female culprits. At Anguas, as well as in other towns, a woman charged with theft could defend herself by the oaths of a jury of other women. More whimsical was the Fuero of Cuenca, which is passing strange, both for the spirit of the law and the terms in which it is expressed. If perchance any husband suspected that his wife had planted horns upon his head, although he was not able to prove the fact by evidence, the wife was to justify herself by swearing to her chastity, with twelve good wives of the neighbourhood; and if they pronounced her to be pure, her husband was obliged to be persuaded that she was so.