Judicial combat is a fascinating yet perplexing subject, having many side-issues whereupon the writer must sternly refrain. The case of David and Goliath was gravely urged (A.D. 867) as a precedent to Pope Nicholas I., and by him disdainfully put aside. The thing itself was unknown in Roman law, though the old legend of the Horatii and Curatii was part of its lore. But it was of the essence of chivalry, and the duel and the prize-fight were its legitimate offspring. "Where the hazel grew," so Mr George Nelson, our chief modern authority, picturesquely defines its region, but our attention here must be limited to England. That it was _not_ with us before the Conquest moves Bishop Stubbs to something of the scholar's mild amazement. The Normans, it seems clear, brought it with them from their continental home. A native accused of a serious crime by one of the invaders was tried by ordeal of battle, but a Norman had choice of the oath as well, and it was also used to decide which of the claimants should have a disputed piece of land. After the legal reforms of Henry II., it became an alternative proceeding in a limited class of actions. These were the Writ of Right (the most solemn method of trying title to land), accusations of murder, and treason. It had place only in appeals, in actions, that is to say, brought not in the king's name, but by an interested subject here called the Appellor, against whom the accused or Appellee might offer to prove his innocence by his body. The Appellor must accept the challenge unless he were maimed by age or wound. Likewise he could "Oust the Battle" (_i.e._ prove this mode of trial improper) if the accused were caught red-handed. The parties exchanged gloves, and gave pledges or wads (_vadiare bellum_); whence came Wager of Battle, afterwards the technical term for the whole process. In civil cases, if the litigants came to terms, the judge exacted a fine, called the Concord, while he who fought and lost must pay the mulct of Recusancy. In criminal matters he who resisted not till the stars shone forth was branded as Recreant or Craven and was forthwith strung up, and all his goods were declared forfeit. The Charters of Exemption purchased from overlord or king show how hateful the system was to the old English citizen. Henry I. enacted for a consideration that no Londoner should do battle, and in due course the men of Winchester, Lincoln, and Northampton obtained the like privilege.