champion, one who fights in behalf of another. During the Middle Ages a feature of Anglo-Norman law was trial by battle, a procedure in which guilt or innocence was decided by a test of arms. Clergy, children, women, and persons disabled by age or infirmity had the right to nominate champions to fight by proxy.
The King’s Champion (campio regis) is an office peculiar to England and dates there probably from the 14th century. Originally the champion’s function was to ride, clad in full armour, into Westminster Hall during the coronation banquet. Flanked by the high constable and the earl marshal, he threw down the gauntlet three times, challenging to mortal combat any who would dispute the king’s right to reign. There is no record that the challenge was ever accepted. The ceremony last took place at the coronation of George IV in 1821. Since 1902 the King’s Champion has carried the standard of England.