battel

[Obs. form. of Battle.]
(Old Eng. Law) A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel, under Wager.

Bat·tel
n.

[Of uncertain etymology.]
Provisions ordered from the buttery; also, the charges for them; -- only in the pl., except when used adjectively. [Univ. of Oxford, Eng.]

Bat·tel
v. i.

To be supplied with provisions from the buttery. [Univ. of Oxford, Eng.]

Bat·tel
v. t.

[Cf. Batful, Batten, v. i.]
To make fertile. [Obs.] «To battel barren land.» Ray.

Bat·tel
a.

Fertile; fruitful; productive. [Obs.]

A battel soil for grain, for pasture good.

Physical combat engaged in by an accuser and accused to resolve their differences, usually involving a serious crime or ownership of land. It was recognized by the English king from the eleventh to seventeenth centuries.

Trial by battel was introduced into England by William the Conqueror. It was based upon the belief that the winner of the battle, which was tried by God, was the party who was in the right in the dispute.