Purgation
A Law Dictionary and Glossary · George C. Kinney · 1893
A Law Dictionary and Glossary
In old English law
The clearing of a person's self of a crime of which he was generally suspected, and accused before a judge. Canonical purgation was made by the party's taking his oath that he was innocent of the charge. Common or vulgar purgation was another name for the trial by ordeal.