The Strange Case of the Law - 1 Laying Down the Law (BBC)
In Dark Age England, guilt could be determined by ordeal, i.e. clergy burning a suspect with a hot iron, seeing if God would help heal their wounds. Or seeing if they would sink or float when put into sanctified water.
Deeply barbaric superstitious nonsense. For all the imperfections of our 21st century Western, secular justice system, it's still a vast improvement.