CORSNED: THE MORSEL OF EXECRATION

In Anglo-Saxon times, the corsned was a common “trial by ordeal” in which an accused person was given a chance to prove his or her innocence by undergoing a physical test—in the case of the corsned, swallowing a small piece of bread or cheese. If the morsel of food—which had been blessed by a priest—stuck in the throat of the accused, it was taken as a sure sign of guilt. History records at least one instance of that very outcome. What common phrases may have originally referenced the corsned? More… Discuss