900 years ago: The Council of Nablus

On January 16, 1120, the Council of Nablus was convened by Warmund, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. It took place in Nablus, a city about 30 mils north of Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been plagued by locusts and mice for four years, in addition to attacks from Muslims, and it was believed by the authorities that the sins of the people had to be addressed and corrected in order for the Kingdom of Jerusalem to prosper.

The Council, or Concordat, was a combination of ecclesiastical synod and legal body. It published 25 canons, which were the first written laws for the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Trial by ordeal was the test of truth in those days, and they didn't mess around when it came to punishments, if the following canons were any indication:

Fourth Decree
If anyone should be afraid to be handled by a bad wife, who has suspicion [of her adultery] he may sue and the household may summon her entrance at a conference of the wife before legal witnesses. If in fact after the decree the husband himself or one of his friends finds them conversing [at] her home or elsewhere, the man should be summoned to the judgment of the church without interruption of "members". And if he cleanses himself by fire and the sword [ordeal], let the unpunished be released. But if anything in discussion supports the finding of disgrace, let the unpunished be released for the transgressed decrees without freedom [from the crime].

Fifth Decree
Whosoever will be tried as to have lain with the wife of another, the accepted sentence of the judgment may deprive him of virility [castration], and let him be expelled from this land. The woman adulterer's nose should be cut off, unless the other man [whose wife cheated on him] wishes to show his mercy. Because if he does so, both are to cross the sea [in exile]...
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Eighth Decree
If anybody were tried as an adulterer had defiled him/herself with sodomy and wickedness by their own free will, let both the one doing and the one receiving be burned.

Ninth Decree
If a child or anyone advanced in years should be defiled by the force by some sodomite woman and thereafter make a protest, let the sodomite woman be surrendered to the flames. He who in fact will have sinned not by their own will, let him do penance according to the ecclesiastical sentence and not fall into legation.

Tenth Decree
If anyone who has suffered the wicked crime of sodomy at any time and who hid it [the crime] and once more allows himself to be dirtied [defiled] nor discloses it to justice, when he will have been tried afterwards, then he will be judged a sodomite.

Eleventh Decree
If anyone accused as a sodomite before he comes to his senses and having been led to penance for abominable wickedness (by oath swearing) rejects [the practice], let him be received in a church and be judged according to the sentence of the canons. If, however, the accused fell into it [the practice by accident] and secondly wishes to do penance, indeed let him be allowed to do/ for penance but be sent abroad [exiled] from the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Twelfth Decree
If anyone should be tried with having lain with a Saracen woman consensually ementuletur, indeed let the Saracen women's nose be cut off.

Thirteenth Decree
If anyone should oppress [rape] his Saracen slave woman, she herself will be marked and he himself will be castrated.

Fourteenth Decree
If anyone should push himself on a Saracen of another by force, he will undergo the sentence of an adulterer.

Fifteenth Decree
If a Christian woman should mix with a Saracen by her free will, let both be judged the sentence of adultery. If in fact she was oppressed [raped] by him with force, she will not be held herself at fault, but the Saracen will be castrated...
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Twenty-third Decree
If anyone should be convicted of robbery, if the property was more than 1 bezant, let his limbs be crushed, or hand or foot or eyes. If in fact the stolen property was lower than 1 bezant, let a brand be burned onto his face, and be led through the village yielding to whips. And if something should be found on him, let the stolen property be returned to him [the original owner], if in fact he has nothing [stolen], his body should be decided to make [good] the stolen article to this man. If he should perpetrate it again at another turn, let him be deprived of all his limbs or life.

I don't know if the Council of Nablus resulted in a reduction of plagues of locusts, mice, or Muslims.