Corsned

In Anglo-Saxon law, corsned (OE cor, "trial, investigation", + snǽd, "bit, piece"), or the morsel of execration, was a type of ordeal consisting in the eating of a piece of barley bread and cheese, totalling about an ounce in weight, consecrated with a form of exorcism, and to be swallowed by a suspected person, as a trial of his innocence. If guilty, it was supposed the bread would produce convulsions and paleness, and find no passage. If innocent, it was believed the person could swallow it freely, and the bread would turn to nourishment.^[1][2][3] The term dates to before 1000 AD; the laws of Ethelred II reference this practice: "Gif man freondleasne weofod-þen mid tihtlan belecge, ga to corsnæde."^[4][5] According to Isaac D'Israeli, the bread was to be of unleavened barley, and the cheese made of ewe's milk in the month of May.^[6] John Lingard considered it an imitation of the "water of jealousy" used in the ordeal prescribed in Numbers 5:11-31 for cases of jealousy.^[7]

In this ordeal, the priest wrote the Lord's Prayer on the bread, of which he then weighed out ten pennyweights, and so likewise with the cheese. Under the right foot of the accused, he set a cross of poplar wood, and holding another cross of the same material over the man's head, threw over his head the theft written on a tablet. He placed the bread and cheese at the same moment in the mouth of the accused, and, on doing so, recited the conjuration:^[8]

"I conjure thee, O man, by the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost and by the four-and-twenty elders, who daily sound praises before God, and by the twelve patriarchs, the twelve prophets, the twelve apostles, the evangelists, martyrs, confessors, and virgins, by all the saints and by our Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our salvation and for our sins did suffer His hands to be affixed to the cross; that if thou wast a partner in this theft or didst know of it, or hadst any fault, that bread and cheese may not pass thy gullet and throat, but that thou mayest tremble like an aspen-leaf, Amen; and not have rest, O man, until thou dost vomit it forth with blood, if thou hast committed aught in the matter of the aforesaid theft. Through Him who liveth."^[8]

The following prayer and exorcism were also used and ordered to be repeated three times:

"Holy Father, omnipotent, eternal God, maker of all things visible, and of all things spiritual, who dost look into secret places, and dost know all things, who dost search the hearts of men, and dost rule as God, I pray Thee, hear the words of my prayer; that whoever has committed or carried out or consented to that theft, that bread and cheese may not be able to pass through his throat.

"I exorcize thee, most unclean dragon, ancient serpent, dark night, by the word of truth, and the sign of light, by our Lord Jesus Christ, the immaculate Lamb generated by the Most High, conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary—Whose coming Gabriel the archangel did announce; Whom seeing, John did call out: This is the living and true Son of God—that in no wise mayest thou permit that man to eat this bread and cheese, who has committed this theft or consented to it or advised it. Adjured by Him who is to come to judge the quick and the dead, so thou close his throat with a band—not, however, unto death."^[8]

Godwin, Earl of Wessex is said to have been killed in this manner in 1053 while denying that he had any role in the death of King Edward the Confessor's brother Alfred in 1036.^[9][6][10] Du Cange observed, that the expression, "May this piece of bread choke me!" comes from this custom.^[6]

See also

• Alphitomancy

References

1.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public ___domain. Webster, Noah (1828). "^{Webster's entry needed}". Webster's Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: C. & G. Merriam Co.
2.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public ___domain. Porter, Noah, ed. (1913). Webster's Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: C. & G. Merriam Co. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. Blackstone, Sir William (1769). Commentaries on the laws of England. IV. 339. "Corsned, or morsel of execration: being a piece of cheese or bread, of about an ounce in weight, which was consecrated with a form of exorcism; desiring of the Almighty that it might cause convulsions and paleness, and find no passage, if the man was really guilty; but might turn to health and nourishment, if he was innocent."
4. 'Laws of Ethelred ix. 22 in Thorpe I. 344'. "corsned". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
5. Thorpe, Benjamin (1865). "Ordel". Diplomatarium anglicum aevi saxonici. p 659.
6. D'Israeli, Isaac. "Trials and Proofs of Guilt in Superstitious Ages". Curiosities of Literature.
7. Lingard, John (1810). The antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church. Newcastle : Printed by E. Walker, sold by J. Booker and Keating. pp 310-311. "The corsned was a cake of barley bread, of the weight of one ounce ; and seems to have been instituted in imitation of the water of jealousy, mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures. Over it a prayer was pronounced by the priest, in which he begged that God would manifest the truth between the accuser and the accused : that if the latter were guilty, when he took the cake into his hands, he might tremble and look pale ; and when he attempted to chew it, his jaws might be fixed, his throat contracted, and the bread be thrown out of his mouth. It was then given to him to eat, and the event decided his guilt or his innocence."
8. Snell, Frederick John. "The Judgement of the Morsel". The Customs of Old England. pp 137-138.
9. Ingersoll, Robert G. (1903). 'The Corsned or Morsel of Execution'. "Progress". The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll. C. P. Farrell. p 438.
10. Forcyth, William (1875). History of Trial by Jury. Burt Franklin. p 68.