Lex Baiuvariorum, Tit., xiii, 2.
Cf. lex Salica, Tit., 61—a very curious account of formalities to be observed in such a case.
It was deemed sufficient for a male relative, say, the father, to assert the innocence of the woman under solemn oath: for it was thought that he would be unwilling to do this if he knew the woman was guilty and so incur eternal Hell-fire as a punishment for perjury. An example of this solemn ceremony is told interestingly by Gregory of Tours, 5, 33. A woman at Paris was charged by her husband's relatives with adultery and was demanded to be put to death. Her father took a solemn oath that she was innocent. Far from being content with this, the husband's kin began a fight and the matter ended in a wholesale butchery at the church of St. Dionysius.
Lex Angliorum et Werinorum, xiv: aut si campionem non habuerit, ipsa ad novem vomeres ignitos examinanda mittatur.