Alfred the Great

Portrait of King Alfred the Great stands with his right leg forward. In his right hand he holds papers while his left arm rests on the sword at his side. He is wearing robes and a crown.

The second-westernmost figure in a series of four statues on the north side of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. All four of these figures were level-headed, just leaders who either instituted or reformed their society's respective codes of law in a manner that is still followed today.

Alfred the Great was a great English King from the ninth century who issued a massive codex of his own laws called "the domboc." This guiding document served as the ruling code of law under Alfred and set a precedent for leaders to have a coherent legal system. Alfred was also known as a remarkably devoted and wise judge who reportedly personally reviewed every contested legal decision that happened in his Kingdom without him.