Namoore, up peyne of lesynge of youre heed!
By myghty Mars, he shal anon be deed
That smyteth any strook that I may seen.
But telleth me what myster men ye been,
That been so hardy for to fighten heere
Withouten juge or oother officere,
As it were in a lystes roially.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Knight’s Tale. Theseus comes on the scene of the bloody fight between Palamon and Arcite and objects to it because it is not properly conducted and supervised and there us no judge. He commands them to stop, on penalty of losing their heads.