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WAGER (derived, through Fr. wagier, g...

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 229 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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WAGER (derived, through Fr. wagier, gagier, from Lat. vadiunz, a pledge)

WAGER (derived, through Fr. wagier, gagier, from See also:
LAT
Lat. vadiunz, a See also:
PLEDGE
pledge) , a See also:

bet or stake. Wagers in the See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary sense of the See also:

TERM

term are dealt with under the headings GAMING and BETTING; but the method of wagering—in principle the putting of a decision to the ha.zard—has had extended employment in various cases which may be noticed here. The determination of cases, See also:

CIVIL

civil and criminal, by means of wager or analogous forms of See also:

PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure, was a characteristic feature of See also:

ancient See also:

law. The legis aclio sacramenti at See also:

Rome—at first a real, then a fictitious, wager—and the wagers " of See also:

BATTLE

battle " and " of law " in See also:

England, of the highest antiquity in their origin, survived up to a comparatively See also:

LATE

late See also:

period in the See also:

HISTORY

history of both legal systems. The See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of the wager survived See also:

long after its See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason had been for-gotten. The See also:

general prevalence of the wager form of proceeding is perhaps to be attributed to the See also:

early conception of a See also:

JUDGE (Lat. judex, Fr. juge)

judge as a See also:

mere See also:

REFEREE

referee who decided the dispute submitted to him, not as an executive officer of the See also:

state, but as an arbitrator casually called in (see See also:

Maine, Ancient Law, c. x.). " Wager of battle " in England was a mode of trial allowed in certain cases, viz. on a civil See also:

WRIT (O. Eng. gewrit, writ, from writan, to write)

writ of right for recovery of See also:

LAND

land (see WRIT), and on criminal appeals of See also:

TREASON (Fr. trahison, Lat. traditio)

treason and See also:

FELONY (0. Fr. felonie, from felon, a word meaning " wicked," common to Romanic languages, cf. Italian fella, fellone, the ultimate origin of which is obscure, but is possibly connected either with Lat. fel, gall, or fallere, to deceive. The English " fel

felony (see See also:

APPEAL

APPEAL). Trial by battle, or single combat, was a See also:

COMMON

common See also:

Teutonic See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom in days when criminal " appeal " was really a See also:

PROSECUTION

prosecution by a private individual; and it remained in See also:

VOGUE, EUGENE MELCHIOR, COMTE DE (1848- )

vogue on the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent of See also:

EUROPE

Europe (where hired champions were allowed) to a much greater extent than in England, where after the See also:

Con-quest it was to some extent substituted for trial by See also:

ORDEAL (O.Eng. ordal, ordael, judgment)

ordeal (q.v.). It was an institution suited to the days of See also:

CHIVALRY (O. Fr. chevalerie, from Late Lat. caballerius)

chivalry, and may be regarded as the See also:

PARENT, SIMON NAPOLEON (1855– )

parent of the See also:

DUEL (Ital. duello, Lat. duellum—old form of bellum-from duo, two)

duel (q.v.). In England the " appellant " first formulated his See also:

charge, which was proclaimed at five successive See also:

COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. comae, cf. O. Fr. cunte, conk', Mod. Fr. comae, from Lat. comitatus, cf. Ital. comitato, Prov. comtat; see COUNT)

county courts. If the " appellee " did not appear he was outlawed; if he did he could plead various exemptions; and unless the See also:

court upheld them he was obliged to offer battle by throwing down his See also:

GLOVE (O. Eng. glof, perhaps connected with Gothic lofa, the palm of the hand)

glove as See also:

gage. When an ordinary court ordered the battle, it was fought on See also:

FOOT

foot with staves and See also:

leather See also:

SHIELDS, JAMES (181b-1879)

shields; but when a court of chivalry' ordered it, on See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse with See also:

SPEAR (O. Eng. spere, O. H. Ger. sper, mod. Ger. speer, &c., cf. Lat. sparrs; probably related to " spar, " a beam)

spear and See also:

SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword.

If defeated, the appellee was liable to See also:

SENTENCE (Lat. sententia, a way of thinking, opinion, judgment; vote, sentire, to feel, think)

sentence of See also:

DEATH

death by See also:

HANGING

hanging, and an undecided fight still See also:

LEFT

left him liable, though acquitted on the appeal, to trial by See also:

INDICTMENT (from Anglo-Fr. enditernent, enditer, to charge; Lat. in, against, dictare, declare)

indictment; if the appellant yielded, the appellee was See also:

FREE

free. The right of " wager of battle " was claimed as late as 1818 by a See also:

man named See also:

Thornton, who had been acquitted at assizes of a charge of murdering a girl named See also:

ASHFORD

Ashford ; her See also:

BROTHER

brother brought an " appeal," and the See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

judges upheld Thornton's claim, but the appellant then with-See also:

drew. Next See also:

YEAR

year appeals for felony or treason were abolished by See also:

STATUTE

statute.' " Wager of law " (vadiatio legis) was a right of a See also:

DEFENDANT

defendant in actions of See also:

SIMPLE

simple See also:

contract, See also:

DEBT (Lat. debitum, a thing owed)

debt and See also:

DETINUE (O. Fr. detenue, from detente, to hold back)

detinue. It superseded the ordeal (itself called lex in the See also:

ASSIZE

Assize of See also:

Clarendon and other r The See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval court of chivalry had both civil and criminal See also:

jurisdiction, and was held jointly by the See also:

lord high See also:

constable and the See also:

EARL

earl See also:

MARSHAL (med. Lat. marescalcus, from O.H.Ger. marah, horse, and scalc, servant)

marshal. The last sitting of a court of chivalry for criminal business in England was in 1631; and as a civil court (for cases of See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour and questions of See also:

PRECEDENCE (from Lat. praecedere, to go before, precede)

precedence) it gradually decayed through want of See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power to enforce its decisions. There is an interesting See also:

account of the rules of battle ordered by a court of chivalry in Ashniolean See also:

MSS. 856 of the Bodleian Library (transcribed in Illustrations of Ancient State and Chivalry, See also:

ROXBURGHE, EARLS AND DUKES OF

Roxburghe See also:

CLUB (connected with " clump ")

Club, 1840). ' See G. See also:

NEILSON, ADELAIDE (1846—188o)

Neilson, Trial by Combat (See also:

GLASGOW

Glasgow, 1891).ancient constitutional records). The procedure in a wager of law is traced by See also:

BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM (1723-1780)

Blackstone to the See also:

MOSAIC (corresponding to Lat. opus musivum, from Gr. µovoeiov, an artificial grotto often decorated with mosaics; the word is only found in the sense of mosaic in late Greek, which generally uses k oXI yrlµa)

Mosaic law, Ex. xxii. xo; but it seems historically to have been derived from the See also:

SYSTEM

system of See also:

COMPURGATION (from Lat. compurgare, to purify .completely)

compurgation, introduced into England from See also:

NORMANDY

Normandy, a system which is now thought to have had an appreciable effect on the development of the See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

JURY

jury (q.v.). It also has some points of resemblance, perhaps some See also:

HISTORICAL

historical connexion, with the sponsto and the decisory See also:

OATH (0. Eng. ddh)

oath of See also:

ROMAN

Roman law, and the reference to oath of Scots law (see OATH). The use of the oath instead of the real or feigned combat—real in English law, feigned in Roman law—no doubt represents an advance in legal development.

The technical term sacramentum is the See also:

bond of See also:

union between the two stages of law. In the wager of law the defendant, with eleven compurgators, appeared in court, and the defendant swore that he did not owe the debt, or (in detinue) that he did not detain the See also:

PLAINTIFF

plaintiff's See also:

CHATTEL (for derivation see CATTLE)

chattel; while the compurgators swore that they believed that he spoke the truth. It was an eminently unsatisfactory way of arriving at the merits of a claim, and it is therefore not surprising to find that the policy of the law was in favour of its restriction rather than of its See also:

EXTENSION (Lat. ex, out ; tendere, to stretch)

extension. Thus it was not permitted where the defendant was not a See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person of See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, where the See also:

king sued, where the defendant was the executor or See also:

ADMINISTRATOR

administrator of the person alleged to have owed the debt, or in any form of See also:

ACTION

action other than those named, even though the cause of action were the same. No wager of law was allowed in as.sumpsit, even though the cause of action were a simple debt. This led to the general See also:

ADOPTION (Lat. adoptio, for adoptalio, from adoptare, to choose for oneself)

adoption of See also:

ASSUMPSIT (" he has undertaken," from Lat. assumere)

assumpsit —proceeding originally upon a fictitious averment of a promise by the defendant—as a means of recovering debts. Where a See also:

PENALTY (Lat. poena, punishment)

penalty was created by statute, it became a common form to insert a proviso that no wager of law was to be allowed in an action for the penalty. Wager of law was finally abolished in 1833 (3 & 4 See also:

William IV. c. 42). Another form of judicial wager in use up to 1845 was the feigned issue, by which questions arising in the course of See also:

CHANCERY

chancery proceedings were sent for trial by jury in a common law court. The plaintiff averred the laying of a wager of 5 with the defendant that a certain event was as he alleged ; the defendant admitted the wager, but disputed the allegation ; on this issue was joined. This procedure was abolished by s.

19 of the Gaming See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

Act 1845. (W. F.

End of Article: WAGER (derived, through Fr. wagier, gagier, from Lat. vadiunz, a pledge)

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