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Cross, Ordeal of the

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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is a mode of trial anciently practiced among the Anglo-Saxons. The accused person brought eleven compurgators to swear to his innocence. Two pieces of wood, on one of which the cross was delineated, were placed under a cover, and he was to choose one of these. If he took the one with the cross, he was regarded as innocent; if the other, guilty. This species of ordeal was abolished about A.D. 820, as exposing the sacred symbol to profanation.