ordeal The most ancient mode trial: it involved an appeal to the supernatural or the judicium Dei. The ordeal by fire consisted of taking up in the hand a piece of red-hot iron, or of walking barefoot and blindfold over red-hot ploughshares. If the party was unhurt he was innocent; if otherwise, he was guilty. Ordeal by hot water was performed by plunging the arm in boiling water, with similar consequences. The cold water ordeal consisted of throwing the offender in a pond or river; if he sank he was innocent, and if he floated he was guilty. The ordeal was abolished in the reign of Henry III, and was ultimately replaced by the trial by jury.