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
Conscience of the King Conscience of the King Conscience of the King (1951) is an historical novel by British author Alfred Duggan based on the life of Cerdic Elesing, founder of the Kingdom of Wessex. It begins 40 years after the events covered in The Little Emperors (also 1951), set during the last years of Roman Britain from 406-410 CE. His later novel The King of Athelney (1962) concerns one of Cerdic's most famous descendants, Alfred the Great. The story begins with Cerdic's birth in 451 CE, ending shortly before his death in 534 CE. Britain now consists of small states battling each other