Battel \Bat"tel\, n. [Obs. form. of Battle.] (Old Eng. Law)
   A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel,
   under Wager.
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Battel \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.]
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Battel \Bat"tel\, v. i.
   To be supplied with provisions from the buttery. [Univ. of
   Oxford, Eng.]
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Battel \Bat"tel\, v. t. [Cf. Batful, Batten, v. i.]
   To make fertile. [Obs.] "To battel barren land." --Ray.
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Battel \Bat"tel\, a.
   Fertile; fruitful; productive. [Obs.]
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         A battel soil for grain, for pasture good. --Fairfax.
   [1913 Webster] Batteler

BATTEL, in French Bataille; Old English law. An ancient and barbarous mode 
of trial, by Bingle combat, called wager of battel, where, in appeals of 
felony, the @appellee might fight with the appellant to prove his innocence. 
It was also used in affairs of chivalry or honor, and upon civil cases upon 
certain issues. Co. Litt. 294. Till lately it disgraced the English code. 
This mode of trial was abolished in England by stat. 59 Geo.,III. c. 46. 
     2. This mode of trial was not peculiar to England. The emperor Otho, A. 
D. 983, held a diet at Verona, at which several sovereigns and great lords 
of Italy, Germany and France were present. In order to put a stop to the 
frequent perjuries in judicial trials, this diet substituted in all cases, 
even in those which followed the course of the Roman law, proof by combat 
for proof by oath. Henrion de Pansey, Auth. Judic. Introd. c. 3; and for a 
detailed account of this mode of trial see Herb. Antiq. of the Inns of 
Court, 119-145.