Alfred the Great necessary, that each man keep carefully his oath and his pledge" which expresses a fundamental tenet of Anglo-Saxon law. Alfred devoted considerable attention and thought to judicial matters. Asser underscores his concern for judicial fairness. Alfred, according to Asser, insisted upon reviewing contested judgments made by his ealdormen and reeves and "would carefully look into nearly all the judgements which were passed [issued] in his absence anywhere in the realm to see whether they were just or unjust". A charter from the reign of his son Edward the Elder depicts Alfred as hearing one such appeal in his chamber while
Æthelweard (son of Alfred) charters from the Malmesbury archive, in which Athelstan is made to endow the abbey in memory of his "cousins" ("patruelia") Æthelweard, Ælfwine and Æthelwine. If Ælfwine and Æthelwine died childless, their deaths would have brought an end to Æthelweard's direct descent. Æthelweard (son of Alfred) Æthelweard (d. 920 or 922) was the younger son of King Alfred the Great and Ealhswith. He was born about 880. That he was Alfred's younger son by Ealhswith is stated by Asser in his biography of the king ( 893). Asser also provides valuable detail on the boy's upbringing. Whereas his brother Edward and