cam purgation

[Lat. compurgatio, from compurgo to join in purging or clearing: com = cum =with; pur go to purge, to clear.) The proce or practice of justifying or bearing witne to the veracity of any man by the sworn testimony of others. IMG:content-0443.png:[blocks in formation] (1) Civil Law : One who on oath bears testimony to the veracity or innocence of another. "The solemn forms of oaths: of a compurgator, or cojuror, which kind of oath was very much used by the Anglo-Saxons: The form of this oath is this: 'I swear by oath which N. swore was honest and true.'"W. Wotton: View of Hickes' Thesaurus, by Shelton , p. 59. The compurgatores mentioned in Anglo-Saxon records are supposed to be the origin of jurymen, and the system of compurgation that of trial by jury. (2) English Eccl. Law: In the Ecclesiastical Court of the Bishop a person who had been burnt in the hand, after having pleaded his benefit of clergy, had twelve compurgators who swore that they believed his allegation that he was innocent, even though he might have been convicted in the secular court on the clearest evidence, or had confe ed himself guilty. The effect of the compurgation was to set him again free. ( Black stone : Comment., bk. IMG:content-0444.png:[blocks in formation] "The next quarry, or chalk-pit, will give abundant attestation: these are so obvious, that I need not be far to seek for a compurgator."-Woodward: Nat. Hist.