Note 886 — Chapter XIII · THE NEGOTIATIONS OF DUKE WILLIAM.[752] January–August, 1066.
Reading edition
William of Poitiers says first, at an earlier time (120), “Admirabatur, laudabat, ac venerabatur eum supra nomina Regum Imperii Romani majestas, cujus olim gloriosissimus moderator Henricus, Conradi Imperatoris Augusti filius, cum ipso etiam tum puero, veluti cum nominatissimo Rege, amicitiam junxit ac societatem.” He now (123) says, “Et Romanorum Imperatori [he was not yet Emperor] Henrico, Henrici Imperatoris filio, nepoti Imperatoris Chounradi, noviter junctus fuit in amicitiâ.” After the former passage the Archdeacon adds, what is yet more amazing, that the Eastern Emperor wished for William as a neighbour to help him to withstand the advance of the Mahometans; “Optabat hunc vicinum et amicum nobilis et ampla, multisque Regibus dominans Constantinopolis, quo propugnatore sperneret gravem potentiam Babylonis.” The wise proverb τὸν Φραγκὸν φίλον ἔχῃς γείτουα οὐκ ἔχῃς (Eginh. Vita K. 16) must have been forgotten.