Word of the Week 5/6/18: Cruentation

From Wikipedia: 

"Cruentation was one of the medieval methods of finding proof against a suspected murderer. The common belief was that the body of the victim would spontaneously bleed in the presence of the murderer.

Cruentation was part of the Germanic Laws, and it was used in Germany, Poland, Bohemia, Scotland, and in European colonies in North America. In Germany it was used as a method to find proof of guilt until the middle of the 18th century. Cruentation was mentioned in the Malleus Maleficarum. 

In cases where it was difficult for the jurors to determine whether someone accused of murder was guilty or innocent, the case could be solved by means of a trial by ordeal. The accused was brought before the corpse of the murder victim and was made to put his or her hands on it. If the wounds of the corpse then began to bleed, or if other unusual visual signs appeared, that was regarded as God's verdict (judicium Dei) announcing that the accused was guilty."