Feudal justice was very harsh and very shift and always final. Most were assumed to be guilty before proven innocent. But really at this time, they were guilty. Justice was entertaining. It was a way for the Lord to show the people that his is watching over his people.
Justice was entertainment, and it was frequently done in public view unless nobles were the charged party. Think about the most horrible criminals of the day, if their trials and executions were public and pay-per-view, wouldn'tt you watch at least once out of idol curiosity?
There were three types of trials in Feudal life. The first type was the Trial of Combat. It is just what it sounds like. The accused and the accuser would fight it out. If one side was overpowered by the other side, well hopefully God was on their side. The winner was right and the loser was found guilty or falsely accusing. Lords would call on people to be jurors. In this case they would help declare a winner.
Another trial was the Trial by Ordeal, very, very harmful. An accused person would be placed in some physical torture and it was up to God to show the court the way. In feudal times religious faith was blind and never questioned.
The two most popular types of trials were dunking and plunging a body part. Dunking is just as it sounds, a person would be subjected to drowning until they confessed or died. If they died and floated to the top, then they were really telling the truth and their soul was leaving to go to heaven. If the body did not float they were guilty and deserved to die.
Plunging was harmful. The court would place a body part like a hand of foot in hot boiling water or oil. They would let the body part burn. They would then let the hand or foot heal for a few days and then observe the scar and infection. If the doctors believed that the wound was healing correctly, God has spoken and showed everyone that this person is innocent. If the wound was infected, the guilty as charged would go to receive the torture of a convicted criminal.
The last type of trial was the Trial of Com purgation. Com purgation was truth telling. It was the closest to a normal court. The defendant and plaintiff would round up as many friends and other people. It was the job of these people to convince the jury that the defendant or plaintiff was liar or telling the truth. Evidence and alibis were not used by these people. They were only character witnesses.
Feudal society liked to punish people for their crimes. It makes perfect sense since the church kept on reminding them about the many types of agony awaiting the sinner in hell. Torture was used in misdemeanors and felonies.
Take for example a petty thief that gets caught, besides the beating that is expected, a scar was placed on their hand to let everyone know this person was a thief. Now say this person never learned his lesson. Eventually they would just cut off fingers and then a hand.
For more severe crimes like rape. Raped was only illegal when performed on Ladies, not common women. If your daughter or wife was raped, you were in your rights to beat the rapist. If the community wanted to punish him, they would place a mark on their face for all to see.
Beatings, whippings, caning's, scaring, and public humiliation were minor. Any criminal could walk away from this. Feudal society excelled in executions. Yes, they had the typical hangings and beheadings, but they were really clever.
Take for example hanging. Simple, but feudal manors would sometimes incase the criminal in an iron cast and let him decompose for all to see. Another thing would be quartered. This is when a person is attached to four horses and on a signal, ripped apart.
An additional type of execution was being hung, drawn, and quartered. A prisoner would be nearly choked to death. Then they would be taken down, their intestines taken out, and then chopped up into four pieces. The four pieces would then be displayed at the four corners of the town.
These above types of executions were made to show the people that justice will be delivered to criminals. It also showed criminals that mercy would not be given to them if they chose to break the law in this manor.
Pressing was another interesting execution. It was like being starved to death and suffocated at the same time. A criminal would be laid flat on his back and weight would be placed on his chest a little more everyday. The chest and lungs would slowly fatigue and not be able to hold breath. This was a long process, they would be kept fed enough to live.