Assize of Clarendon.
An ordinance issued by Henry II in 1166, to provide for the trial of criminal cases in the Shire Courts. It was ordained that twelve men should be selected from each hundred, and four from each township, to determine whether there were any criminals in their district, and if so to present them for trial. This is the origin of the Grand Jury system. This Assize also abolished trial by compurgation.