The Doom Book, ''Dōmbōc'', Code of Alfred or Legal Code of Ælfred the Great was the

code of law A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the co ...

s ("dooms" being laws or judgments) compiled by

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

( 893 AD). Alfred codified three prior

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

codes – those of

Æthelberht of Kent Æthelberht (; also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert or Ethelbert; ; 550 – 24 February 616) was Kings of Kent, King of Kingdom of Kent, Kent from about 589 until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his ''Ecclesiastical Hist ...

( 602 AD),

Ine of Wessex Ine or Ini (died in or after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of what is now southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla of Wessex ...

( 694 AD) and

Offa of Mercia Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...

( 786 AD) – to which he prefixed a modified version of the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and incorporated rules of life from the Mosaic Code and the Christian code of ethics.

The title ''Doom Book'' (Old English ''dōm-bōc'') comes from the Old English word ''dōm'' 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!" This reflects

Mosaic Law The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebr ...

, 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!" The Christian theologian

F. N. Lee Francis Nigel Lee (5 December 1934 – 23 December 2011) was a British-born Christian theologian and minister. Lee was particularly known for the large number of academic degrees he earned from a variety of institutions. He obtained BA, LL ...

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. 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 Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

. In the book's extensive prologue, Alfred summarises the Mosaic and Christian codes. Michael Treschow, UBC Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, reviewed how Alfred laid the foundation for the Spirit of Mercy in his code, 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."Simon Keynes (1999). "King Alfred the Great and Shaftesbury Abbey". ''Studies in the Early History of Shaftesbury Abbey''. Dorset County Council. On the other hand, this precept may have anticipated the future common law of

negligence Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...

, which provides that a person who is injured by the unintentional carelessness of another is entitled to recover compensation for his or her injury. In the context of the aforementioned law, the felled tree would be a valuable commodity.

Manuscripts

Manuscripts containing the Old English text are:Todd Preston, ''King Alfred’s Book of Laws: A Study of the Domboc and Its Influence on English Identity, With a Complete translation'' (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012). * Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 173 (also known as the Parker Chronicle) * Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 383 (also known as the

Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum is a 9th-century peace agreement between Alfred of Wessex and Guthrum, the Viking ruler of East Anglia. It sets out the boundaries between Alfred and Guthrum's territories as well as agreements on peaceful trade, ...

) * London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero A I * London, British Library, Cotton MS Otho B XI * London, British Library, Burney MS 277 * Rochester Cathedral Library A. 3. 5 (also known as the ''

Textus Roffensis The (Latin for "The Tome of Rochester Cathedral, Rochester"), fully titled the ''Textus de Ecclesia Roffensi per Ernulphum episcopum'' ("The Tome of the Rochester Cathedral, Church of Rochester up to Ernulf, Bishop Ernulf") and sometimes also ...

'') The text was translated into Latin during the reign of

Cnut Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

as the third part of the ''

Instituta Cnuti The ''Instituta Cnuti'', in full ''Instituta Cnuti aliorumque regum Anglorum'' (''Institutes of Cnut and other kings of the English''), is a legal compilation that cites, in Latin translation, selected material of Old English law. It was put togeth ...

'', and survives in the following manuscripts: * Rochester Cathedral Library A. 3. 5 (the ''Textus Roffensis'') * London, British Library Cotton MS Titus A XXVII * Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Colbert 3,860 * Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Rawlinson C. 641 The text was independently translated into Latin a second time during the reign of

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

as part of the Latin compilation known as ''

Quadripartitus The title ''Quadripartitus'' refers to an extensive legal collection compiled during the reign of Henry I, king of England (1100–1135).Wormald, ''Making of English law'', p. 236 The work consists of Anglo-Saxon legal materials in Latin tran ...

'', which survives in ten manuscripts.

Editions and translations

* * * Liebermann, F. (ed.), he Laws of the Anglo-Saxons 3 vols (Halle a. S.: Niemeyer, 1903–16; still the definitive critical edition) * Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge (trans.), 1983, ''Alfred the Great: Asser's "Life of King Alfred" and Other Contemporary Sources'' London: Penguin, pp. 163–70 (translated extracts) * Todd Preston, 2012, ''King Alfred’s Book of Laws: A Study of the Domboc and Its Influence on English Identity, With a Complete translation'' Jefferson, NC: McFarland, pp. 105–48 (diplomatic text and translation based on Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 173)

References

External links

* . * {{Citation , publisher = Fordham , url = http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/560-975dooms.html#The%20Laws%20of%20King%20Alfred , title = Laws of Alfred , work = Medieval Sourcebook English translation (partial, no preface etc.)
Alfred the Great: British Library Image
Anglo-Saxon law Old English literature 9th century in England 9th century in law 9th-century books Alfred the Great 893 Germanic legal codes

Contents

Manuscripts

Editions and translations

References

Further reading

External links