nd the judicial combat was fought on the same principle, and
with the same spirit, as a private duel. Champions were only allowed to
women, and to men maimed or past the age of sixty. The consequence of a
defeat was death to the person accused, or to the champion or witness,
as well as to the accuser himself: but in civil cases, the demandant
was punished with infamy and the loss of his suit, while his witness and
champion suffered ignominious death. In many cases it was in the option
of the judge to award or to refuse the combat: but two are specified,
in which it was the inevitable result of the challenge; if a faithful
vassal gave the lie to his compeer, who unjustly claimed any portion of
their lord's demesnes; or if an unsuccessful suitor presumed to impeach
the judgment and veracity of the court. He might impeach them, but the
terms were severe and perilous: in the same day he successively fought
_all_ the members of the tribunal, even those who had been absent; a
single defeat was followed by death and infamy; and where none could
hope for victory, it is highly probable that none would adventure the
trial. In the Assise of Jerusalem, the legal subtlety of the count
of Jaffa is more laudably employed to elude, than to facilitate, the
judicial combat, which he derives from a principle of honor rather than
of superstition.

Among the causes which enfranchised the plebeians from the yoke of
feudal tyranny, the institution of cities and corporations is one of
the most powerful; and if those of Palestine are coeval with the first
crusade, they may be ranked with the most ancient of the Latin world.
Many of the pilgrims had escaped from their lords under the banner of
the cross; and it was the policy of the French princes to tempt their
stay by the assurance of the rights and privileges of freemen. It is
expressly declared in the Assise of Jerusalem, that after instituting,
for his knights and barons, the court of peers, in which he presided
himself, Godfrey of Bouillon established a second tribunal, in which
his person was represented by his viscount. The jurisdiction of this
inferior court extended over the burgesses of the kingdom; and it was
composed of a select number of the most discreet and worthy citizens,
who were sworn to judge, according to the laws of the actions and
fortunes of their equals. In the conquest and settlement of new cities,
the example of Jerusalem was imitated by the kings and their great
vass