Doom book

The Legal Code of Ælfred the Great, by Milton Haight Turk, 1890

The Doom Book, Code of Alfred or Legal Code of Ælfred the Great was the code of laws ("dooms" being laws or judgments) compiled by Alfred the Great (c. 893 AD). Alfred codified three prior Saxon codes - those of Æthelberht of Kent (c. 602 AD), Ine of Wessex (c. 694 AD) and Offa of Mercia (c. 786 AD) - to which he prefixed the Ten Commandments of Moses and incorporated rules of life from the Mosaic Code and the Christian code of ethics.

The title "Doom book" (originally dom-boc or dom-boke) comes from dōm (pronounced "dome") which is the Anglo-Saxon word meaning judgment or law — as in Alfred's admonishment to "Doom very evenly! Do not doom one doom to the rich; another to the poor! Nor doom one doom to your friend; another to your foe!"[1] This reflects Mosaic Law, which says "You shall do no injustice in judgment! You shall not be partial to the poor; nor defer to the great! But you are to judge your neighbour fairly!" (Leviticus 19:15).

The Christian theologian F. N. Lee extensively documented Alfred the Great's work of collecting the law codes from the three Christian Saxon kingdoms and compiling them into his Doom Book.[2] Lee details how Alfred incorporated the principles of the Mosaic law into his Code, and how this Code of Alfred became the foundation for the Common Law. In the book's extensive prologue, Alfred summarises the Mosaic and Christian codes. Dr Michael Treschow, UBC Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, reviewed how Alfred laid the foundation for the Spirit of Mercy in his code,[3] stating that the last section of the Prologue not only describes "a tradition of Christian law from which the law code draws but also it grounds secular law upon Scripture, especially upon the principle of mercy".

The law code contains some laws that may seem bizarre by modern standards, such as: "If a man unintentionally kills another man by letting a tree fall on him, the tree shall be given to the kinsmen of the slain."[4]

References

  1. ↑ Thorpe, Benjamin, ed. (1840). Ancient Laws and Institutes of England: Comprising Laws Enacted Under the Angl-Saxon Kings from Æthelbirht to Cnut, with an English Translation of the Saxon; the Laws Called Edward the Confessor's; the Laws of William the Conqueror, and Those Ascribed to Henry the First; Also, Monumenta Ecclesiastica Anglicana, from the Seventh to the Tenth Century; and the Anciety Latin Version of the Anglo-Saxon Laws. 1. G.E. Eyre and A. Spottiswoode. p. 55. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Alfred the Great and our Common Law". Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  3. ↑ Michael Treschow, The Prologue to Alfred’s Law Code: Instruction in the Spirit of Mercy, Florilegium 13, 1994 pp79-110.
  4. ↑ Studies in the Early History of Shaftesbury Abbey. 'King Alfred the Great and Shaftesbury Abbey'-Simon Keynes. Dorset County Council. 1999

Further reading

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