“The defendant or person accused was … to make oath of his own innocence, and to produce a certain number of compurgators, who swore they believed his oath. Somewhat similar also to this is the sacramentum decisionis, or the voluntary and decisive oath of the civil law; where one of the parties to the suit, not being able to prove his charge, offers to refer the decision of the cause to the oath of his adversary: which the adversary was bound to accept, or tender the same proposal back again; otherwise the whole was taken as confessed by him.” 3 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 342 (1768).
sacramentum decisionis
sacramentum decisionis (sak-r[schwa]-men-t[schwa]m di-sizh-ee-oh-nis). [Latin “the oath of decision”] Civil law. The offer by one party to accept the opposing party’s oath as decisive of the issues involved in a lawsuit. Pl. sacramenta decisionis.
