In the reign of Henry's son John, the Church abolished the Ordeal
(S91) throughout Christendom (1215). It then became the custom in
England to choose a petty jury, acquainted with the facts, whoch
confirmed or denied the accusations brought by the grand jury. When
this petty jury could not agree, the decision of a majority was
sometimes accepted.
The difficulty of securing justice by this method led to the custom of
summoning witnesses. These witnesses appeared before the petty jury
and testified for or against the party accused. In this way it became
possible to obtain a unanimous verdict.
The first mention of this change occurs more than a hundred and thirty
years later, in the reign of Edward III (1350); and from that time,
perhaps, may be dated the true beginning of our modern method, by
which the jury bring in a verdict, not from what they personally know,
but from evidence sworn to by those who do.