time of Muhammad, the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib has also been cited to say, "Avert the prescribed punishment by rejecting doubtful evidence." Middle Ages in Europe Western Europe After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the West began to practice feudal law, which was a synthesis of aspects of Roman law as well as some Germanic customs according to the new elite, including presumed guilt. For instance, the accused could prove his innocence by having twelve people swear that he could not have done what he was accused of. In practice, this tended to favor the nobility over the lower classes, whose witnesses risked being seen as less credible. Trials by ordeal were common from the 6th century until the early 13th century, and were known to continue into the 17th century in the form of witch-hunts. Whilst common in early Germanic law, compurgation was formally adopted in Rome by Pope Innocent III in 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council and trials by fire and water specifically were forbidden. This was during the period of development of the jus commune, the canon law of the Catholic Church influenced the common law during the medieval period In the early 13th century, Louis IX of France banned all trials by ordeal and introduced the presumption of innocence to criminal procedures. It was during the seventh crusade that he had witnessed the presumption of innocence in practice by the ruling Muslims and sought to adopt and implement this law on his return to France . As a reformer, this and other legal and economic reforms led to him being the only canonized king of France. Eastern Europe Following the aforementioned Roman law of Justinian, who lived at the dawn of the medieval era, the Byzantine Empire generally continued along his legal code which includes presumption of innocence. This also influenced nearby states within its cultural sphere, such as Eastern Orthodox, Slavic principalities like Serbia. Meaning "Presumption of innocence" serves to emphasize that the prosecution has the obligation to prove each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt (or some other level of proof depending on the criminal justice system) and that the accused bears no burden of proof. This is often expressed in the phrase "presumed innocent until proven guilty", coined by the British barrister Sir William Garrow (1760–1840) during a 1791 trial at the Old Bailey. Garrow insisted