Doom book facts for kids
The Doom Book, also known as the Code of Alfred, was a very important collection of laws. It was put together by Alfred the Great around 893 AD. King Alfred gathered laws from three earlier Saxon kingdoms. He also added the Ten Commandments from the Bible and other Christian rules for living. This made his law book a mix of old Saxon traditions and Christian ideas.
Contents
What is the Doom Book?
The name Doom Book comes from the Old English word dōm. This word means judgment or law. King Alfred's book teaches us to "Doom very evenly!" This means to judge everyone fairly. It says not to judge rich people differently from poor people. And not to judge friends differently from enemies. This idea of fairness is also found in ancient laws, like the Mosaic Law. It tells us to "judge your neighbour fairly!"
How Alfred Built His Law Code
A Christian writer named F. N. Lee studied King Alfred's work a lot. He showed how Alfred collected laws from different Christian Saxon kingdoms. Alfred then put them all together in his Doom Book. Lee explained that Alfred included ideas from the Mosaic law in his Code. This Code of Alfred later became a key part of what we call the Common Law. This is the basic legal system used in many countries today.
Dr. Michael Treschow, a professor, also looked at Alfred's law code. He noted that Alfred wanted to include mercy in his laws. The introduction to the Doom Book talks about Christian law. It also shows how everyday laws should be based on the idea of mercy.
An Interesting Old Law
Some laws in the Doom Book might seem a bit strange to us now. For example, one law says: "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." This might sound odd. But it could be an early idea of what we now call negligence. Negligence means being careless and causing harm to someone else. If someone is hurt because of another's carelessness, they can get help or payment. In the old law, the fallen tree was valuable. Giving it to the family of the person who died was a way to help them.
Where Can We Find These Laws Today?
The original copies of the Doom Book are very old. They are written in Old English. Several of these old books still exist today. You can find them in places like Cambridge and London.
The Doom Book was also translated into Latin. This happened during the time of King Cnut. Later, it was translated into Latin again during the reign of King Henry I. These Latin copies also exist in different libraries.
