2. Combat Ended After 24 Hours or An Admission of Defeat
While many trials by combat began on horseback, they often ended with two exhausted, unarmed man scrabbling on the ground. Horses were often killed early in the fight by long weapons such as spears. Once horses were removed from the battle, knights would wield swords while ordinary men often used staves, clubs, and crude maces. Anyone who has ever swung a real sword knows how incredibly heavy they are to the untrained arm, and how exhausted one gets after swinging one repeatedly – especially in a life or death scenario!
Given this tiring work, many men often threw down their weapons at some point during the fight, too exhausted to keep swinging them accurately or effectively. In times like these, men turned to fist-fighting or wrestling. Trickery became a more critical part of fighting at this point, as illustrated in the 12th century Flemish case where a knight played dead to lure his opponent into letting his guard down, at which point he beat him to death. If a combination of brutality and trickery didn’t end the fight within 24 hours, the defendant would be declared innocent, and the accuser would be labeled “infamous” and lose many of his rights.
