It appears that there were an immense number of ordeals by battle; indeed, in such an age, when every man was a soldier, one can very well understand that this method would seem to an innocent man far superior to any form of trial. In one year of Henry the Second’s reign, there were thirty-four ordeals. Not only to an innocent man, but to the guilty the ordeal by battle commended itself; many a sturdy rogue, having little fear of God’s vengeance before his eyes, preferred the chance of battle to the certainty of the gallows; so much was this the case that criminals were sometimes pardoned on condition of fighting so many battles successfully and ridding the country of so many malefactors. The ordeal by battle brought into existence, as might have been expected, a kind of gladiator, the champion or hired fighter, who risked his neck with every fight. [Illustration: BOSS FROM THE RUINS OF THE EAST CLOISTER OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S PRIORY] These are the rules for the arming of a knight (_Arch. Journal_, iv.):— “How a man shalle be armyd at his ese, when he schal fighte on foote. He schal have noo schurte up-on him, but a dowbelet of Fustean lynyd with satene, cutte fulle of hoolis; the dowbelet must be strongeli bounden there the poyntis muste be sette aboute the greet of the arme, and the beste before and behynde: and the gussetis of mayle muste be sowid unto the dowbelet in the bought of the arme, and undir the arme: the armynge poyntis muste be made of fyne twyne, suche as men make stryngis for crossebowes, and they muste be trussid smalle, and poyntid as poyntis. Also they muste be waxid with cordeweneris coode and than they wolle neythir recche nor breke. Also a payre hosyne of stamyn sengille, and a peyre of shorte bulwerkis of thynne blanket to put aboute his kneys, for chawfynge of his lighernes. Also a payre of shone of thikke cordewene, and they muste be frette with smal whipcorde; thre knottis up-on a corde; and thre coordis muste be faste sowid un-to the hele of the shoo, and fyve cordis in the myddille of the soole of the same shoo: and that ther be betwene the frettis of the heele and the frettis of the myddille of the shoo the space of thre fyngris.