on of a standard
procedure everywhere systematically. The procedure was made more
regular instead of depending on crime waves. If indicted, the
suspected persons were then sent to the ordeal. There was no trial
by compurgation in the Royal Courts, which was abolished by Henry.
If determined guilty, he forfeited his chattels to the king and
his land reverted to his landlord. If he passed the ordeal but was
ill-famed in the community, he could be banished from the
community. The ordeal was abolished by the Lateran Council of
1215.

As before, a person could also be brought to trial by the
accusation of the person wronged. If the accused still denied the
charge after the accuser testified and the matter investigated by
inquiries and interrogation and then analyzed, trial by combat was
held, unless the accuser was over the age of sixty or maimed, in
which case the accused went to the ordeal.

If a man failed at the ordeal, the penalty prescribed by the
assize of Clarendon of 1166 was loss of a foot and abjuring the
realm. The assize of Northhampton of 1176 added loss of the right
hand. Under the former assize, a man who had a bad reputation had
to abjure the realm even if he had successfully undergone the
ordeal.

Criminal matters such as killing the king or sedition or betraying
the nation or the army, fraudulent concealment of treasure trove
[finding a hoard of coins which had been buried when danger
approached], breach of the King's peace, homicide, murder
(homicide for which there were no eyewitnesses), burning (a town,
house, men, animals or other chattel for hatred or revenge),
robbery, rape and falsifying (e.g. false charters or false
measures or false money) were punishable by death or loss of limb.
All murders were now punished alike because the applicability of
the murdrum couldn't be determined since it was impossible to
prove that the slain man had been English.

Trespass was a serious and forcible breach of the peace onto land
that developed from the criminal law of felony. One found guilty
of it could be fined and imprisoned as well as amerced.

Housebreaking, harboring outlaws, and interference with the royal
perquisites of shipwreck and the beasts of the sea which were
stranded on the coast [such as whales and sturgeon] were also
punishable in the Royal Court.

The Royal Court had grown substantially and was not always
presided over by the King. To avoid court agents from having too
much discretio