Coming initially from the desert’s margins, Calotropis procera is now progressively moving down south, owing both to anthropic diffusion and to the deterioration of the environment. Calotropis ...procera is credited with powers which would allegedly stem from its oddity and, as such, it is perhaps one of the most solicited plants in human history. In North Cameroon, it is used for a large number of protection rituals, trials by ordeal… and it also features prominently in traditional medicine’s recipes.
The term, παπ, is a frequent descriptor of anger in the Bible. Notably, its syntactic context depends on whether nan describes human anger or the anger of God. The syntax of human non highlights the ...experience of being aggrieved whereas the syntax of divine non emphasizes the consequence of provocation. As such, human non tends to be the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of passive verbs that describe the experience of being provoked. By contrast, divine nan tends to be the object of transitive verbs and the subject of passive verbs that describe God's reprisal. Additionally, divine non occurs as part of the curious construct "cup of παπ". We believe that these observations reflect an underlying struggle to reconcile the anthropomorphic idea of an emotional God with an omnipotent and invulnerable deity.
Wabash College
Kleists "Der Zweikampf" (1811) depicts the use of trial by combat to decide between two contradictory claims to the truth. The duels aftermath, though, represents a second form of ...medieval proof, the trial by ordeal, in which wounds communicate guilt and innocence. While many readers take "Der Zweikampf" as a story about the pitfalls of ambiguity and the futility of hermeneutics, this article argues that the uncertainty derives not from ambiguous messages or obscure signs. It occurs, rather, when two forms of medieval proof deliver clear but mutually exclusive results and divine judgment undermines itself through an excess of legible judgments. Kleist uses this conflict to demonstrate that an element of human decision cannot be removed from adjudication. Although the judicial duel seeks to pass difficult decisions to divine authority, the court must always decide whether a particular instance of combat conforms to the norm of divine judgment. (BMT)
Much that is intriguing about medieval modes of proof lies in the tension that existed within them. In the practices of the ordeals, compurgation or wager of law and judicial duel, faith mingled with ...superstition, justice with mercy, divine providence with human manipulation. When history was conceived as “wholly a uniform drift towards better things,” these practices were proclaimed as undoubtedly barbaric, irrational, and “the most extravagant and preposterous.” Later historians offered functionalist interpretations; they showed how medieval institutions of proof reflected the living conditions of the time or served legitimate socio-political functions. Suitable as their creed is the charitable dictum of Baron Bramwell that “because the world gets wiser as it gets older, … it was not therefore foolish before.” A related body of scholarship evaluates the methods of proof as means of fact-finding, and supports the conclusion that they were not as ineffective as they may seem. Their epistemic function, as we will see, has been defended along different naturalistic lines.
The ordeals of cold water and hot iron as the ordinary methods of trial of crown pleas of felony in medieval England in 1118-1166 are discussed. The purpose of the ordeal may have been to determine ...guilt or innocence.
Introduction Patricia S. Churchland
Braintrust,
05/2018
Book Chapter
Trial by ordeal seemed to me, as I learned about it in school, ridiculously unfair. How could it have endured as an institution in Europe for hundreds of years? The central idea was simple: with ...God’s intervention, innocence would plainly reveal itself, as the accused thief sank to the bottom of the pond, or the accused adulterer remained unburned by the red hot poker placed in his hand. Only the guilty would drown or burn. (For witches, the ordeal was less “forgiving”: if the accused witch drowned she was presumed innocent; if she bobbed to the surface, she was guilty,
Of a truth, gracious ladies, there would be no condition sweeter, more delightful, or more happy in all the world than the service of love, were it not for that bitter fruit that springs from sudden ...jealousy, the foe to gentle Cupid, the betrayer of kindly ladies, the enemy that, day and night, seeks their deaths. This brings to mind a fable in which you’ll understand immediately the hard and piteous fate that befell a gentleman of Athens, who, because of his cold-hearted jealousy, sought to have his wife slain by the sword of justice, but was himself condemned in
Introduction Patricia S. Churchland
Braintrust,
02/2011
Book Chapter
Trial by ordeal seemed to me, as I learned about it in school, ridiculously unfair. How could it have endured as an institution in Europe for hundreds of years? The central idea was simple: with ...God’s intervention, innocence would plainly reveal itself, as the accused thief sank to the bottom of the pond, or the accused adulterer remained unburned by the red hot poker placed in his hand. Only the guilty would drown or burn. (For witches, the ordeal was less “forgiving”: if the accused witch drowned she was presumed innocent; if she bobbed to the surface, she was guilty,
The duels that bring the medieval "Poema de mio Cid" to a close have been misinterpreted by critics as simple trials by ordeal. Critics have failed to recognize that the "rieptos" that precede the ...duels are not merely challenges but represent an elaborate and discrete legal institution, which did not necessarily have to end in a duel.
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