Note 185 — Chapter II
Reading edition
Chron. Petrib. “And behet heom þa betsta laga þe æfre ær wæs on þisan lande, and ælc unriht geold he forbead, and geatte mannan heora wudas and slǽtinge.” William of Malmesbury (iv. 306) translates, “Bonas leges et tributorum levamen, liberasque venationes pollicens.” Florence is less literal; “Statuens leges, promittens fautoribus omnia bona.” Simeon gives another version; “Eo tenore, ut si in hac necessitate sibi fideles existerent, meliorem legem quam vellent eligere eis concederet, et omnem injustum scottum interdixit, et concessit omnibus silvas suas et venationem. Sed quicquid promisit, parvo tempore custodivit. Angli tamen fideliter eum juvabant.”