Isten ítélete, fegyverben : a hazai perdöntő bajvívásról az Anjou-korban

The medieval juridical ordeal by combat amongst the trials by ordeal has hardly been explored for more than a century in the Hungarian juridical literature. Nowadays, more systematic research becomes possible by new editions of the contemporary Hungarian charters. From the details of these charters we can analyze the practice and special cases of juridical ordeal by combat (duellum) during the reign of the Angevins in Hungarian Kingdom. Especially, the conditions and terms of use, the participation of the trained or untrained duellators, the consequences of absence from the ordeal, the possibility of agreement by the participants before the ordeal or the types of weapons used. We can explore the interesting practice of the parties’ agreement on the condemnation as losers of ordeal by combat (in succubitu duelli) without an actual ordeal if they do not observe the conditions of their treaty. For the clergy, it was forbidden to participate in the trials owing to the regulation by the Synod of Lateran IV, but we can still find them in the charters fighting or using duelists. Finally, I classify the formulas of ordeal by combat in the Hungarian Ars Notaria and analyze the ’duel scene’ of the famous poem by Janos Arany titled Toldi