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*2 : a severe [[trial]] or [[experience]]
*2 : a severe [[trial]] or [[experience]]
==Description==
==Description==
[[Trial]] by '''ordeal''' is a [[judicial]] [[practice]] by which the [[guilt]] or [[innocence]] of the accused is determined by subjecting them to an unpleasant, usually [[dangerous]] [[experience]]. In some cases, the accused was considered innocent if they [[survived]] the test, or if their injuries healed; in others, only [[death]] was considered [[proof]] of innocence. (If the accused died, they were often presumed to have gone to a suitable reward or [[punishment]] in the [[afterlife]], which was considered to make trial by ordeal entirely [[fair]].)
''[[Trial]] by '''ordeal''''' is a [[judicial]] [[practice]] by which the [[guilt]] or [[innocence]] of the accused is determined by subjecting them to an unpleasant, usually [[dangerous]] [[experience]]. In some cases, the accused was considered innocent if they [[survived]] the test, or if their injuries healed; in others, only [[death]] was considered [[proof]] of innocence. (If the accused died, they were often presumed to have gone to a suitable reward or [[punishment]] in the [[afterlife]], which was considered to make trial by ordeal entirely [[fair]].)
In medieval Europe, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_by_combat trial by combat], trial by ordeal was considered a ''judicium Dei'': a [[procedure]] based on the premise that [[God]] would help the [[innocent]] by [[performing]] a [[miracle]] on their behalf. The [[practice]] has much earlier [[roots]] however, being attested as far back as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi Code of Hammurabi] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Ur-Nammu Code of Ur-Nammu], and also in animist [[tribal]] [[societies]], such as the trial by ingestion of "red water" ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calabar_bean calabar bean]) in Sierra Leone, where the intended [[effect]] is [[magical]] rather than invocation of a [[deity]]'s [[justice]].
In medieval Europe, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_by_combat trial by combat], trial by ordeal was considered a ''judicium Dei'': a [[procedure]] based on the premise that [[God]] would help the [[innocent]] by [[performing]] a [[miracle]] on their behalf. The [[practice]] has much earlier [[roots]] however, being attested as far back as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi Code of Hammurabi] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Ur-Nammu Code of Ur-Nammu], and also in animist [[tribal]] [[societies]], such as the trial by ingestion of "red water" ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calabar_bean calabar bean]) in Sierra Leone, where the intended [[effect]] is [[magical]] rather than invocation of a [[deity]]'s [[justice]].