Note 842 — Chapter VII
Reading edition
Ord. Vit. 782 C. “Inter hæc aspera lis oriri cœpit, et ex omni parte multitudo virorum illuc confluxit, atque præsentis hæredis qui suum jus calumniabatur virtus crevit. Henricus manum ad capulum vivaciter misit et gladium exemit, nec extraneum quemlibet per frivolam procrastinationem patris sceptrum præoccupare permisit.”
Not only is all this graphically told; but every word is of political importance. Whether the exact words which are put into the mouth of William of Breteuil are his or Orderic’s, they clearly set forth the doctrines which were creeping in. Orderic himself speaks for the English people, as the English people doubtless did speak.