3. The Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest of Engl...

The Norman Conquest was led by Duke William of Normandy, who claimed that King Edward had promised him to be heir to the English throne.()

The Norman Conquest of 1066 is one of the best-known events in English history and ______ replaced the weak Saxon rule with a strong Norman government.

A．Alexander the Great

B．William the Conqueror

C．Genghis Khan the Horse Emperor

D．Julius Caesar the Great

From the Norman Conquest until the 14th century, French was the preferred language of the English crown and aristocracy, but after 1400 English gradually replaced French as the language of law courts and administration。()

此题为判断题(对，错)。

The Norman Conquest started a continual flow of ______ words into English.

A．Latin

B．Greek

C．Danish

D．French

The Norman Conquest of ______ is perhaps the best-known event in English history.

A．1063

B．1064

C．1065

D．1066

The Norman Conquest of ______ is perhaps the best-known event in English history.

A．1063

B．1064

C．1065

D．1066

The Norman Conquest exerted Britain a profound influence of______.

A．France

B．Germany

C．Spain

D．Denmark

A、French, German and English

B、French, Greek and English

C、French, Latin and English

D、French, Norse and English

Community courts and community justice prevailed in England at the time of the Norman Conquest (1066). The legal system was ritualistic, dependent upon oaths at most stages of litigation, and permeated by both religious and superstitious notions. The proceedings were oral, very personal, and highly confrontative. Juries were unknown. One party publicly "appealed," or accused, the other before the community meeting at which the presence of both was obligatory. To be absent meant risking fines and outlawry. After the preliminary statements of the parties, the court rendered judgment, not on the merits of the issue nor the question of guilt or innocence, but on the manner by which it should be resolved. Judgment in other words preceded trial because it was a decision on what form. the trial should take. It might be by compurgation, by ordeal, or, after the Norman Conquest, by battle. Excepting trial by battle, only one party was tried or, more accurately, was put to his "proof." Proof being regarded as an advantage, it was usually awarded to the accused party; in effect he had the privilege of proving his own case.

Trial by compurgation consisted of a sworn statement to the truth of one's claim or denial, supported by the oaths of a certain number of fellow swearers. Presumably they, no more than the claimant, would endanger their immortal souls by the sacrilege of false swearing. Originally the oath-helpers swore from their own knowledge to the truth of the party's claim. Later they became little more than character witnesses, swearing only to their belief that his oath was trustworthy. If he rounded up the requisite number of compurgators and the cumbrous swearing in very exact form. proceeded without a mistake, he won his case. A mistake "burst" the oath, proving guilt.

Ordeals were usually reserved for more serious crimes, for persons of bad reputation, for peasants, or for those caught with stolen goods. As an invocation of immediate divine judgment, ordeals were consecrated by the Church and shrouded with solemn religious mystery. The accused underwent a physical trial in which he called upon God to witness his innocence by putting a miraculous sign upon his body. Cold water, boiling water, and hot iron were the principal ordeals, all of which the clergy administered. In the ordeal of cold water, the accused was trussed up and cast into a pool to see whether he would sink or float. On the theory that water which had been sanctified by a priest would receive an innocent person but reject the guilty, innocence was proved by sinking -- and hopefully a quick retrieval -- guilt by floating. In the other ordeals, one had to plunge his hand into a cauldron of boiling water or carry a red hot piece of iron for a certain distance, in the hope that three days later, when the bandages were removed, the priest would find a "clean" wound, one that was healing free of infection~ How deeply one plunged his arm into the water, how heavy the iron or great the distance it was carried, depended mainly on the. gravity of the charge.

The Normans brought to England still another ordeal, trial by battle, paradigm of the adversary system, which gave to the legal concept of "defense" or "defendant" a physical meaning. Trial by battle was a savage yet sacred method of proof which was also thought to involve divine intercession on behalf of the righteous. Rather than let a wrongdoer triumph, God would presumably strengthen the arms of the party who had sworn truly to the justice of his cause. Right, not might, would therefore conquer. Trial by battle was originally available for the settlement of all disputes but eventually was restricted to cases of serious crime.

Whether one proved his case by compurgation, ordeal, or battle, the method was accusatory in character. There was always a definite and known accuser, some private person who brought formal suit and openly confronted his antagonis

A．considered innocent until proven guilty

B．considered guilty no matter what he did

C．supposed to prove his own innocence

D．given the privilege of presenting his side first