n.a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence
Sincenorepresentativeof the Almighty to whom the settlement of the question had been submitted was available, trial by ordeal vanished, to bereplacedwithtrial by jury.
While his reforms were more for his political expediency than to empower the people, they actually gave birth to the English Common Law, which replaced feudal practices such as trialbyordeal.