Duellum

The duel between *champions was introduced into England by the Normans; before then the Church in England had sufficient authority to prevent it. The duellum was the final recourse of two sides unable to resolve an argument. (This civil duel was far from the duel of honour, which persisted in Europe until the 19c.) Abbeys were not averse to hiring a champion; some even paid a man a nominal retainer to stay on the books. Tirones were also used for such occasions. The champion would have agreed a contract with his employer - this after the 12c, when champions were supposed to be witnesses of the cause they fought for. Such drastic solutions were a last resort in the certainty that God would not permit the party with justice on its side to lose. Thus the duellum was a judicium Dei, an ordeal subject to God's judgement. For a champion to be killed was not unknown; however, after * ictus regis, the sides might come to an agreement to end the duel (concordia per finem duelli) before bloodshed or loss of life. Eventually, all came to agree duels were unseemly and undignified, for both churchmen and laymen. By the 14c, all such civil disputes were being settled in the courts of law. -

Cf. Craven; Recreantia; Trial by combat