Quotation from: Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period

Written by: Paul Lacroix


[Illustration: Fig. 300.--The Judicial Duel. The Plaintiff opening his
Case before the Judge.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the "Ceremonies des
Gages des Batailles," Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century in the National
Library of Paris.]


The number and respectability of the _conjuratores_ varied according to
the importance of the case in dispute. Gregory of Tours relates, that King
Gontran being suspicious as to the legitimacy of the child who afterwards
became Clotaire II., his mother, Fredegonde, called in the impartial
testimony of certain nobles. These, to the number of three hundred, with
three bishops at their head (_tribus episcopis et trecentis viris
optimis_), swore, or, as we say, made an affidavit, and the queen was
declared innocent.

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