Vickie L. Ziegler

My interest in the ordeal, which formed the basis for my own most recent book, Trial by Fire and Battle in Medieval German Literature, began when Professor James Ross Sweeney and I were planning medieval studies conferences. He suggested a semester course, Crimes, Courts and Society in the Middle Ages, culminating in a conference. Asked to do one of the lectures for the course, I made the obvious choice of Isolde's trial by fire. Professor John Baldwin was one of the guest speakers for the course and conference; when I decided to expand ordeals into a book-length project, Professor Baldwin gave me much basic and valuable advice. My intellectual debt to him is apparent throughout the book.