In
Anglo-Saxon law
Anglo-Saxon law (Old English ''ǣ'', later ''lagu'' "law"; dōm "decree, judgment") is a body of written rules and customs that were in place during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, before the Norman conquest. This body of law, along with early ...
, corsned (
OE ''cor'', "trial, investigation", + ''snǽd'', "bit, piece";
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''panis conjuratus''), also known as the ''accursed'' or ''sacred'' morsel, or the morsel of
execration, was a type of
trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience.
In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...
that consisted of a suspected person eating a piece of
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
bread and cheese totalling about an ounce in weight and
consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
with a form of
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
as a trial of his innocence. If guilty, it was supposed the bread would produce
convulsions and
paleness and cause
choking
Choking, also known as foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), is a phenomenon that occurs when breathing is impeded by a blockage inside of the respiratory tract. An obstruction that prevents oxygen from entering the lungs results in oxygen dep ...
. If innocent, it was believed the person could swallow it freely, and the bread would turn to nourishment.
[ Blackstone, Sir William (1769). ''Commentaries on the laws of England''. IV. 339. "Corsned, or morsel of execration: being a piece of cheese or bread, of about an ounce in weight, which was consecrated with a form of exorcism; desiring of the Almighty that it might cause convulsions and paleness, and find no passage, if the man was really guilty; but might turn to health and nourishment, if he was innocent."]
The term dates to before 1000 AD; the laws of
Ethelred II reference this practice: "Gif man freondleasne weofod-þen mid tihtlan belecge, ga to corsnæde."
The ecclesiastical laws of
Canute the Great
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...
also mention the practice.
According to
Isaac D'Israeli, the bread was of unleavened barley, and the cheese was made of
ewe's milk in the month of May.
[ D'Israeli, Isaac.]
Trials and Proofs of Guilt in Superstitious Ages
. ''Curiosities of Literature''.
Writers such as
Richard Burn
Richard Burn (1709 – 12 November 1785) was an English legal writer.
Education and career
Burn was born in Winton, Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland. He matriculated at The Queen's College, Oxford in 1729. He was not awarded his B.A. until 1735, t ...
and
John Lingard
John Lingard (5 February 1771 – 17 July 1851) was an English Roman Catholic priest and historian, the author of ''The History of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Henry VIII'', an eight-volume work published i ...
have considered it an imitation of the "
water of jealousy" used in the ordeal prescribed in
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
5:11-31 for cases of
jealousy
Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety.
Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...
.
[ Burn, Richard and John Burn (1792). ''A new law dictionary: intended for general use, as well as for gentlemen of the profession. By Richard Burn, ... And continued to the present time by John Burn, Esq. his son, ... In two volumes.'' Vol. 1. London. pp 231-232.]
Details
In this ordeal, the priest wrote the
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
on the bread, of which he then weighed out ten
pennyweight
A pennyweight (dwt) is a unit of mass equal to 24 grains, of a troy ounce, of a troy pound, approximately 0.054857 avoirdupois ounce and exactly 1.55517384 grams. It is abbreviated dwt, ''d'' standing for ''denarius'' (an ancien ...
s, and so likewise with the cheese. Under the right foot of the accused, he set a cross of
poplar wood, and, holding another cross of the same material over the man's head, threw over his head the theft written on a tablet. He placed the bread and cheese in the mouth of the accused at the same moment and, on doing so, recited the conjuration:
[Snell, Frederick John. "The Judgment of the Morsel". ]
The Customs of Old England
'. pp 137-138.
The following prayer and exorcism were also used and ordered to be repeated three times:
Legal historian
Richard Burn
Richard Burn (1709 – 12 November 1785) was an English legal writer.
Education and career
Burn was born in Winton, Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland. He matriculated at The Queen's College, Oxford in 1729. He was not awarded his B.A. until 1735, t ...
believed that corsned bread may have originally been the very
sacramental bread
Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...
, but that later, the bishops and clergy would no longer allow the communion bread for such
superstitious purposes; they would, however, grant the people to use the same judicial rite, in eating some other morsels of bread, blessed or cursed for the same uses.
It has been asserted that this ordeal was specifically preserved for the clergy. On the other hand,
Godwin, Earl of Wessex
Godwin of Wessex ( ang, Godwine; – 15 April 1053) was an English nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great (King of England from 1016 to 1035) and his successors. Cnut made Godwin the ...
, is said to have died in this manner in 1053 while denying that he had any role in the death of King
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
's brother Alfred in 1036;
[Cowell, John (1701). "Corsned". ''The interpreter of words and terms, used either in the common or statute laws of this realm, and in tenures and jocular customs...'' London. 351pp. p 95.] however, the primary contemporary source for this information is the
Croyland Chronicle, attributed to
Ingulph
Ingulf ( la, Ingulphus; died 16 November 1109) was the Benedictine abbot of Crowland from 1087.
Life
Ingulf was an Englishman who, having travelled to England on diplomatic business as secretary of William, Duke of Normandy, in 1051, was made A ...
(d. 1109), which has since been shown to be a much later forgery.
[E. Cobham Brewer (1894). "Ingulph's 'Croyland Chronicle'". ''Dictionary of Phrase and Fable''. "Proved to be a forgery by H. J. Riley in the ''Archaeological Journal'', 1862. He dates the forgery between 1393 and 1415, and attributes it to Prior Richard of Croyland and Sergeant William Ludyngton."]
The practice has long since been gradually abolished.
Du Cange observed that the expression, "May this piece of bread choke me!" comes from this custom.
Other common phrases of the same origin include "I will take the sacrament upon it!" and "May this morsel be my last!"
See also
*
Alphitomancy
Alphitomancy (from , and ) is a form of divination involving barley cakes or loaves of barley bread.
When someone in a group was suspected of a crime, the members of the group would be fed barley cakes or slices of barley bread. Supposedly, the ...
*
Witches of Belvoir
The Witches of Belvoir were a mother and her two daughters accused of witchcraft in England and the deaths of two young brothers, Henry (died 1613) and Francis Manners (died 1620), the heirs to Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, whose seat was ...
- One of the women in this case reportedly died after wishing she should choke on her food if she was guilty.
References
{{Reflist, 2
Exorcism in Christianity
Breads
Objects used for divination
Ceremonial food and drink
Trial by ordeal