RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Jahrbticher frir deutsche Theologie, of which he was
Waddi Wideort or Battle
editor for many years, while for the first edition of the Herzog RE he wrote sixty-seven articles, and for the second 144 (including revisions); he also contributed extensively to the ADB.
Wagenmann took an active interest in the practical affairs of his church and his university. As a professor he frequently preached, while after 1873 he was a member of the central committee of the Gustav-Adolf-Verein (q.v.). In 1878 he received appointment as consistorial councilor.
(N. BonWETSCH.) BrsriocRapuy: Schwébischer Merkur, Oct. 11, 1890; ADB,
xl. 477 sqq.
WAGENSEIL, vdau’en-sail, JOHANN CHRIS- TOPH: Apologist; b. at Nuremberg Noy. 26, 1633; d. at Altdorf (11 m.s.w. of Nuremberg) Oct. 9, 1705. He was made professor at Altdorf—first of history (1667), next of Oriental languages (1674), and finally of ecclesiastical law (1697). He wrote the famous works, Sota, hoc est liber Mischnicus de uxore adulterii suspecta (Altdorf, 1674; a translation, with notes, of the Mishna tractate upon the treatment of a wife suspected of adultery), and Tela Ignea Satane, sive, arcana et horribiles Judeorum adversus Christum Deum et Christianum religionem libri (Altdorf, 1681; a translation and refutation, in Latin, of certain antichristian Jewish writings),
WAGER OF BATTLE, DUEL.
I, Wager of Battle.
The Appeal to Deity (§ 1).
The Nations Using It (§ 2). History (§ 1). I. Wager of Battle: The wager of battle is a form of Ordeal (q.v.), the usual means of which is the single combat, though occasionally the combat is multiplex. The character of the ordeal as an appeal to the deity for decision in a disputed case is fully carried out, as is illustrated by the meeting between Menelaus and Paris (Iliad, ii. 276-323).
II. The Du
1. The In this there were sacrifice to Zeus, Appeal to formal and punctilious arrangement of Deity. the field and placing of the combatants,
appeal to the lot for precedence, and prayer to the god to decide by sending the guilty to Hades. That the case as described by the poet was not regarded as isolated but as conducted in accordance with the custom of the times, is clear from the fact that the marshals appear to act after a wellknown method of procedure. So wherever trial by battle is employed, this same characteristic of appeal to deity is discovered. When the nations using it adopted Christianity, the combat remained, but under appeal to a different arbiter. Each party to the battle asserted the justice of his cause by oath on the Gospels, or on an approved relic; defeat was ipso facto evidence of perjury, to punishment for which it exposed the loser, and he was disqualified thereafter for giving evidence or serving in court. The area for which this custom is demonstrable is that of the western Aryan peoples, with the possible exception of the Romans. Thus that the Celts had it is shown by the Senchus Mor and by a canon (no. 8) attributed to St. Patrick (extracts from the Senchus are given in Haddan and Stubbs,
Progress avomen its Abolishment (§ 3).
Councils, II., ii. 339 sqq.; the canon is in the same collection, p. 329), Among the Teutons particularly |
Sophias? Cs the Churches; Difficul- Ethics of ae Duel (§ 3).
the wager was at home. The holmgang (so named because it was usually fought on a holm or small island) was with the northern Teutons
2. The a recognized method of settling a dis- Nations pute or acquiring a right, and the vic- Using it. tor sacrificed an ox at the conclusion.
When the laws of the Teutons were collected into codes, the judicial combat was conspicuously present, as in the Gundobaldic, Bavarian, Lombardic, Frankish, and other early collections, but not in the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo- Danish. The Slavic peoples constantly settled disputes by this means. It was so thoroughly implanted in the Lombardic legal practise that even Liutprand was unable to make headway against it. It was sanctioned by Charlemagne (with reservations against it in certain cases); Louis-le-Débonnaire permitted it between an ecclesiastic and a layman, and Emperor Guy restored the privilege complete as between ecclesiastics; Otho the Great defended and enforced its use, and sent champions (see below) to enforce his claims in his dispute with Pope John XII., and in 971 ordered the confiscation of the estates of those who refused to employ it; champions became a part of the suite of ambassadors in order the better to enforce the claims of rival powers; Otho II. in 983 substituted it for the sacramental oath; Henry II. allowed it, as an appeal, to murderers; the Guelph line of monarchs is reputed to be founded on the confiscation of the duchy of Bavaria because its duke refused the combat, and his title was thereupon bestowed upon Well, son of Cunigunda; Henry the Lion of Bavaria lost his possessions because of default in the wager of
Wager of Battle, Duel