7. The Franks brought judicial combat to what is now France
Julius Caesar observed the resolution of legal disputes through judicial combat among the Germanic tribes. Through the Germanic invasions into western Europe, the process spread, especially among the Franks, who codified the procedures to be followed. One reason judicial combat gained favor is that trial by ordeal was too easily manipulated by the clergy responsible for its process. It was the priests who observed the injuries inflicted during ordeals and reported their status back to the judicial authorities. Trial by combat, in contrast, did not render results which were open to interpretation. Nor could judicial combat leave any doubt as to whether one of the parties involved had given false testimony. One party was clearly defeated, likely dead, and thus the judgment of the Almighty was clear. Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, judicial combat served as the final judgment in disputes between free men.
By the beginning of the 14th century, the practice had gone out of favor in medieval Europe, replaced by the judgment of judges and juries. The legal profession evolved to include counselors serving as advisors in trials, though not in the manner of advocates as they eventually became. Gradually the influence of the Church, which opposed the practice, gained sway over the nobility and the courts. Nonetheless, in the 14th century, it remained the right of all free men to demand satisfaction of a legal dispute through trial by combat, though the sanction of a judicial body was required to ensure the process was followed according to the law. When an accused person denied the accusation before a judge, in effect calling the accuser a liar, the accused could demand trial by combat. The judge could then order the combat to take place.