Cross, Ordeal of The

Cross, Ordeal Of The, 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.