Antejuramentum
Encyclopedia
Antejuramentum, and præjuramentum, historically called juramentum calumniæ (literally, "oath to accuse falsely"), is an oath
Oath
An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...

 which both the accuser and accused were obliged to make before any trial
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...

 or purgation
Purgation
Purgation may refer to*Inducing bowel movement with a laxative*The purification of the soul**In this life, see State **In Purgatory*Purgation , Trigger the Bloodshed album...

.

The accuser was to swear that he would prosecute the criminal, and the accused was to make oath on the very day that he was to undergo the ordeal
Ordeal
Ordeal may refer to* The American title of What Happened to the Corbetts, a 1939 novel by Nevil Shute* Trial by ordeal, the judicial practice...

, that he was innocent of the claims of which he was charged. If the accuser failed, the criminal was discharged. If the accused failed, he was intended to be guilty, and was not to be admitted to purge himself by the ordeal (see: combat
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....

, duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...

, etc).
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