qualitees of the ayer or erthe / where they dwell But the nature of the countrey is cause of no vicis For than the coūtrey ought to be punysshed / and nat the offensours We take no vice of the heuen / or ayer / but of our owne maners For vnder euery skye is both good lyuynge and yll Nor there is no countrey so wretched in the worlde / that it ne hath some good people there in nor none so good / but hit hath some naught I haue sayd here afore / that I haue sene some / nothyng moued with the deth of their husbandes Lyke wyse / I haue sene some / that wold with a ryght good wyll haue quitte their husbandes lyfes with theyr owne Wherfore ther is no reson / why they shulde lay theyr fautes in the condicion of the Region For in the countrey / that is called Getica / the ayer is colde / and yet say the Pomponius Mela / that the very womē lacke no stomake to dye on the bodyes of theyr husbādes / and haue a speciall desyre to be buryed with them And bycause chat the custome is there to mary many women vnto one mā / there is great stryuyng amōge them / whiche shall haue the prayse there in / of them that shall gyue the iudgement The victory is gyuen to the most vertuous and hit is a great pleasure to them that may optayne hit Lyke wyse great lerned men wryte / that women vse to do in Ynde Also in olde tyme the women of Almayne / from whens the Flandryns toke theyr originall fyrste begynnyng / maried neuer but of maydes and so made an ende of all hope and desyre of mariage at ones For they toke one husbāde as one body and soule / and neuer desyred / nor thought of maryage after hym as though they loued the matrimony it selfe / and nat the husbādes Wherby nowe thou mayst se / that vertues and maners be chaunged with abundance / ryches / and pleasures and the euyll fyre of ryches quencheth the good fyre of charite All the lawe of Christe soundeth noue other thyng / but charite / loue / and heate For our lorde sayth I am comen to cast fyre in to the erthe / go about nothyng so moche as to make it to bourne But whanne we couple the ryche deuyll to poure Christe / and vnto sobre vertue / reuell and dronkenes / vnto chast sadnes desolute and wanton pleasures / pagante and hethennes vnto Christianite / and the deuyll to god than god disdaynyng suche felowship taketh his gyftes from vs / and leaueth vs the gyftes of the deuyll Nat withstandyng / it may so chaunce / that there be in womēs myndes suche constauncy and stedfastnes / that they maye comforte them selfe and though they be ouercome opressed / may by wysedome yet recouer agayne That wolde I greatly preyse in a man / but in suche a frayle kynde / hit is no good token to haue so passynge great wysedome I haue harde of great wyse men / that haue taken very heuyly the dethe of but lyght frendes / and wepte for them habundantly Solon / whiche made the lawes of the people of Athens / one of the .vij. wyse men / commaūded his owne buryall to be kepte with wepȳg and waylynge / that his frendes myght shewe / howe moche they loued hym Also after that Lucrecia was slayne in Rome / whan Iunius Brutus / whiche was reuengeor of her dethe and rape / done by the kynges sonne / had dryuen the kynges out of Rome / and warre was made agaynst the kynge In the fyrst settynge together / this Brutus was kylde / and the wyues of the cite mourned a twelue moneth the deth of hym / that had be the defender of their chastite And yet mourned they / but an other womans husbande / and bicause he defended an other womās chastite Tha howe moche more oughtest thou to mourne the deth of hym / that is the defender of thyne owne chastite / sauer and keper of thy body / father and tutour of thy children / welthe of thy house / householde / and thy goodes / yea and more to / thy gouernour lorde And thou woldest wepe in dede / if thou shuldest nat departe rycher from hym / than thou camest to hym But nowe the ioye of money / taketh away all the grefe of thy sorowe Thou woldest wepe for his dethe / if thou haddest loued hym / whan he was on lyue But nowe thou art nat sorye for his departynge / whom thou settest nothyng by / whā thou haddest hym Also many be glad / that theyr husbādes begone / as who were ryd out of yocke and bondage and they reioyse that they be out of domynion and bonde / and haue recoueredde theyr lybertie but they be of a folysshe opinion For the shyppe is nat at liberte / that lacketh a gouernour / but rather destitute neither a chylde that lacketh his tutoure / but rather wandrynge without order and reason Nor a woman / whan her husbande is gone For thā she is in dede as she is called a wydowe / that is to say / desarte and desolate Than is she in dede tost at aluētures / as a shyp / lackynke a maister and is caried without discression and cōsyderatiō / as a childe whan his ouer seer is out of the waye Here parauenture some wolde say / He was suche an husbāde / that better were to be without hym / thā to haue hym But so wolde neuer good womā say / nor yll kepe it in For if he were of the beloued as the lawes of god do commaunde / he shulde be / that is to say / as he were thy selfe thou wolde be as sorye that he shulde dye / as thy selfe Vnto an il woman / excepte her husbande let her haue her Itberte to all vices / that her mynde lyeth to / he is in tollerable But vnto a good woman / no husbande can be so yll / that she ne had leauer haue his lyfe than his dethe But what shulde I speake moche of this matter I haue shewed inough in the boke a fore / that she is neither worthy the name of a good woman nor wyfe / that can nat loue her husbande with all her harte / as her selfe O circumspecte nature / or rather god / the mooste wyse mayster of all good maners There is no kynde of vertue / but he hath created some lyuyng thyng / that vseth it / for to reprehende reproue those that dispice that vertue as bees by theyr crafte reproue the leudnes of them / that can nothyng do And the faithfulnes of dogges damneth the vntrustynes of fals people shepe condemne fraudes and gyles with their symplenes stockedoues and turtuls gyue exāple of true faithfull loue / in mariage For those byrdes / as Aristole sayth / lyue content with one male nor take none other The turtle doue / whanne her male is deade / neither drynketh lyquore /
nor sytteth on the grene tre ne commeth amonge none of her felowes playenge sportyng together These chast and holy loues meaneth Solomon / whā he calleth his spouse to hym / sayeng The voyce of a turtle doue is harde in our realme And cōpareth his spouse some tymes to a turtell / and some tyme to a stocke douue Also they that can haue no measure in theyr wepyng and mournyng / be as farre to blame on thother syde For whan they be newly wounded with the chaunce / they confounde and fyll all the place full of cryeng / teare their heare / beate theyr breastis / and skratche theyr chekes / knocke theyr heddes to the walles / their bodyes to the grounde / and drawe forth longe the tyme of theyr mournynge / as in Secill / Asia / Grece / and Rome in so moche / that the senate was fayne to make statutes and lawes / whiche was called the lawes of the twelue tables / for to modyfie and appease the mournyng And therfore the apostle also / whan he wrote to this people / was compelled to comforte them / sayenge Bretherne / I wolde ye shulde haue knowlege of those that slepe / that ye be nat sory and pēsyfe / lyke other people that haue no faythe For if we beleue that Iesus is deade / and reuyued agayne so shall god lyke wyse bryng agayne with hym al that be deade by him Nowe a wydowe / let her bewayle her husbāde with harty affection / and nat crye out / nor vexe nat her selfe with dasshyng of her handes / neither beatynge of her body but let her so mourne / that she remēbre sobernes measure / that other may vnderstande her sorowe / without her owne hostȳg vtteraūce And after that the fyrst brōte of her sorowe is past and swaged / than let her begynne to study for consolation Nowe here will I nat brynge forthe preceptes out of the longe volumes of philosophers For my purpose is to instructe a Christen woman with Christis philosophy in cōparyson of whom / all mannes wy sedome is but folye My mynde is to seche a remedy Let vs remēber the sayeng of the apostle / that they whiche slepe with Iesu / shall be brought of god with Iesu agayne Wherfore we ought to be of good cōforte And she that is a wyse woman / let her remembre that all men be borne / and lyue in this lawe and condition / to paye theyr duete vnto nature / as theyr creditoure / whan so euer she asketh it / of some soner / of some later howe be it all be coupled with in the comon lot and rate / to be borne / lyue / and dye but our soules be immortal / and this lyfe is but a departyng in to a no ther eternall lyfe and blessed / to them that haue passed wel and vertuously this temporall and trāsitory lyfe The whiche thyng the Christen faythe maketh easye inough / nat by our desarte and merite / but of his goodnes / the whiche with his deth losed vs from the bādes of dethe and deth of this lyfe is but as a saylȳg out of the see in to the hauyn They that dye / go afore / and we shall sone come after and whan we be departed and losed out of this bony / shall leade our lyfe in heuen vnto that tyme / that euery man shall receyue his owne body agayne howe be hit nat so coumberous and heuye as it is nowe / but lyghtly couered and arayde with it we shall haue blessed and euer lastynge lyfe This is the true and sure christyan consolation / whā they that be a lyue thynke and trust / that theyr frēdes / whiche are deade / be nat seperate from them / but only sente before in to the place / where with in shorte space after they shall mete to gether full merily / if they wyll do theyr diligence / that they may by the exercise of vertues come thether / as they beleue that they be gone These thinges ought christē prestis to shewe and tell vnto yonge wydowes / and comforte theyr heuy myndes with these consolations / and nat as many do drynke to them in the funeral feast / and byd them be of good chere / sayeng / they shall nat lacke a newe husbāde / and that he is prouided of one for her all redy / and suche other thynges / as they cast out at bākettes and feastis / whā they be well wette with drynke Of the buryeng of her husbande The .ij. Chaptre ALso amōge many other thynges / that we vse after the example of the pagās / this is one to kepe the buriall with great solēnite For the pagans and gentils beleued / that if the bodye were vnburyed / the soule shulde haue great payne in helle / and that the royaltie and cerimonies of buryenge shulde be an honour bothe to them and theyr successours Nat withstandynge / there were some of them / that coūted these but fātasies and vanitees For Virgyll in the person of Anchises / whom he induceth for an erāple of wisedome / sayth / that the losse of sepulture is but a small thȳg And Lucane in this maner sayth Nature in her quiet lap doth all thyng receiue He is couered with the sky / that hath none other graue Also wyse philosophers / as Diogines / Theodorus / Senec / Cicero / but in especiall Socrates / did proue by great reasōs / that it forsed nat where the carcas became and rotted Marcus Amilius / whiche was the chefe of the senate of Rome / commaunded his sonnes alyttell before he departed forth of the worlde / to cary hym out on a bere apoȳted without any shetes or purple / nor shulde spēde vpon any other solemnitees beside past x.s for he sayd / the corses of noblemen were commended by theyr owne noblenes / and nat by coste of money Valerius Publicola / and Agrippa Menemius / the one beynge banissher of the kynges / and restorer of the comon lybertie / the other broker and arbytrator of the comon peace / and many other mo excellēt men / dyd vtterly dispice the royalte of sepulture in so moche that whā they had bene in great auctorite ryches / yet they lafte nat behȳde them so moche as to hyre an ouer sear of the funeral with And if they had counted so great goodnes in burieng / as the people supposed / they wolde sure haue sene there vnto Nowe I wyll speake of our martyrs of the Christyan faythe / whiche cared nat / where theyr deed bodyes lay / so that the soules fared well For Christe / what tyme he shall restore the soules to the bodies / shall easely fynde in his house / whiche he knoweth wel inough / the least asshes of the bodye Saynt Augustyne in the boke that he named the Cite of god / in the fyrst sayeth All these busynes / as kepynge of the corce / and order of
in the nyghte / whiche they called Hiacinthina / toke away .xv. maydens that were playenge in company there / and went all nyght a pace fleyng out of the countre with them and whan some of his men wolde haue deuoured them / he charged them / as wel as he coude / that they shuld nat do so and at the last some that wolde nat obey he put to dethe / to feare the reste with all After / whaÌ„ these maydes were redemed agayne by their frendes / and they sawe this Aristomenes sewed for the deth of a man / they wolde neuer go home / but lay ê“strate at the fete of the iuges vntil they se hyÌ„ quitte / that was defender of theyr chastite Howe shulde we sufficieÌ„ly preyse the doughters of Scedasus of Leuctres / a towne of the couÌ„tre of Beoce / whiche their father being from home / as we rede / had receyued .ij yonge men by the way of hospytalite / and they dronke with ouer moche wyne / in the nyght rauyshed the maydes / whiche whaÌ„ they had lost theyr virginite / wolde lyue no longer / but kyld one an other Also the maydes of Locrean be worthy to be spokeÌ„ of / that had a custome in their countres / to be sende yerely vnto Ilium whiche custome had contynued a thousande yere / nor yet was there neuer herde tell / that any had any report name of disteynynge theyr virginite Who can let passe vnspoken of the .vij. maydens of Milesye / whiche whan the frenche men distroyed all about theyr countre / kylled them selfe / leste they shulde be compelled to any villany / leauyng an example vnto all virgins / that vnto an honeste mynde the chaste purenes of bodye oughte to be more regarded than the lyfe Nycanor after he had coÌ„quered Thebes the cite / was takeÌ„ in the loue of a mayde / that he had taken prisoner / and wolde haue maryed her / whiche thyng might haue pleased a poure prysoner / but she sette more by her virginite / than by his kyngdome / and there kylled her selfe / whiche thyng he made great sorowe fore / holdyng the deade body in his armes Greke writers tell of an other mayde of Thebes / that whan her enemy a Macedon had deflowred her / a whyle she dissembled her angre / and after founde the corrupter of her virginite slepyng / whom she slewe / and after that her selfe / for ioye that she had aueÌ„ged her selfe of that abhomynable vilanye nor she wolde lyue no longer / than she had her virginite nor dye / tyll she had auenged her chastite All this sayth saynt Hieronyme Therfore christen women maye be ashamed / if any shame were in them / that do nat kepe theyr chastite truly lyuyng vnder the moste chaste Christe / sonne of the mooste chaste mother / and in the most chast churche / and faythe / seynge that pagans / worshippers of fylthye Iuppiter / baudy Venus / haue set more by their chastite / thaÌ„ all other thynges Where to shulde I recyte here the exaÌ„ples of holy virgins / to moue them with / that be nat ashamed / that chaste pagans shulde be ones named Whom shulde I specially shewe them to folowe example of amonge so many thousandes / Tecla / or Hagnes / Catharine / Lucia / or Cecile / Agatha / Barbara / or Margarita / or Dorothe / or rather the holle flocke of the .xj. thousaÌ„de virgins / whiche all hadde leauer dye / than they ennemyes shulde do theyr coursed pleasure with them Thou shalte skarse fynde .ij. men that shall so stedfastly agre in that holy purpose wherin .xj. thousande render virgins were to faste and stable There were infynyte in nombre / that had leauer be kylled / heded / straÌ„gled / drowned / or haue theyr throtis cutte / than lose their chastite whiche whaÌ„ they wold nat ste them selfe / yet they sought crafte to come by their deth / whaÌ„ they were in ieoperdye of their chastite / as Brasilla / a noble maide / borne in Dirchache / a cite of Italy / which whaÌ„ she saws her ennemye come to be rafte her of her virginite / promysed vnto hym / that if he wolde do her no vil lany / she wolde gyue hym an herbe / where of if he were anoynted with the iuse / no wepen shulde perce hym the man of warre was coÌ„tent with the offre So she went in to the nexte garden / and there toke vp an herbe / the fyrst that came to hande / and bad hym aueÌ„ture the fyrst profe on her selfe / of the vertue of the herbe / anoynted her throte there with / and bad hym smyte / to assay so he smote / and kylled her Neyther saynt Hieronyme disaloweth / that a woman kylle her selfe / to saue her chastite with And saynt Ambrose in the .iij. boke / that he wryteth of virgins / laythe agaynst this doubte the example of Pelagey the martyr / saying / there nedeth none other confyrmation / where we haue the dede of a virginne and a martyr / of fyltene yeres of age / whiche with her mother and her syters together / caste her selfe in to a water Saynt Euseby in the ecclesiastical historie sayth / that one Sophronia a noble woman / whan she sawe her husbande that was the chiefe offycer of the cyte afferde / vnable to defende her goodnes agaynst the foule and vnlawful pleasure of Maximine the emperour / closed her selfe in her chambre / there kylled her selfe and yet the churche hathe alowed her for a martyr All these examples of chastite be redde in the churche Howe dare an vnchaste and a noughty woman come thether / nor be a basshed to bryng a brothelrye in to the coÌ„pany of virgins / and defyle those pure etes with her fylthye lokes / and polute tender yeres with her corrupt voyces Thou vngratious woman / darste thou name Catharin / Hagnes / or Barbara / and fyle those holy names with thyne vnpure mouthe Darste thou name thy selfe by any of those names / and make thy selfe in name lyke vnto them / to whom thou arte so vnlyke to in conditions / and a very deedly enemy Nor cometh hit nat to thy remembrance / whan thou hereste thy selfe called / what maner one she was / whose name thou bearest And whaÌ„ thou remembrest / that she was so pure / chast / and good / and agayne thy selfe so vnpure / vnchaste / and vugrations / doste thou nat rage day nyght / for thought and repentaunce O thou moost shameles of all women / howe darest thou halowe the natiuite of the most pure virgin / that art thy selfe vnworthy euer to be borne And dareste thou shewe we thy shameles face vnto her most demure eies And woldest thou haue her to here or loke at the so ouer couerte with noughtynes / whiche whan she was in this worlde / was neuer wont to se nor here no me / nat though they were full
dyuers partes of his body Wherewith she was so busyed / that the moste parte of the day she neuer rested / but rāne vp and downe all the daye longe So at the laste by the good meanes of his wyfe / Valdaure escaped the great ieoperdye / that bothe the phisitions / and all other men swered / his wyfe hadde plucked hym from deth by stronge hande And some tested more merily than becommeth christen folkes / and said / that god had purposed to haue slayne Valdaure / but his wyfe wolde nat let hym go out of her handes After that / by the reason of an hote humour rennynge from his heed / the grystle within his nose beganne for to canker Wherfore the phisitions had gyuen hym a pouder / whiche muste be blowē in with a penne or a rede in to his nose / whiche seruice whan euery man abhorred / bycause of the tedious sauour / his wyfe refused nat to do hit Also within a whyle his chekes his chȳne brake out of scabbes / wheales / and of skales / that no barbour / neither well coude / nor gladly wolde shaue hym than his wyfe with a payre of scyssours / founde the meanes to clippe his berde wōderous properly Streight after he fell in to an other lōge disease / whiche lasted nere .vij. yere where she neuer beyng weary / with contynuall dilygence and labour about hym / prepared his meate / and euery day dyd salue and bynde his sore and stynkyng legges and rounnyng of matter so hansomly / that thou woldest say / if thou haddest sene her / that she had hādled muske / and nat suche stynkȳg geare And dyd all this her owne selfe with all other busynes / that was for to do about hym and yet hadde she in her house .iij. maydes and a daugher of her owne of good age Moreouer whā the ayre of hym brethe was suche / that no man myght abyde nere by .x. passes she wolde swere that she thought hit marueylous swete And ones she was very āgrie with me / bycause I sayde it stanke / for she sayd / it semed vnto her / lyke the sauour of rype and swete frute Moreouer / whan there was required great coste daylye in the house / to helpe and norisshe the man opressed with so many sickenesses / nor hadde neyther rentes nor other profittis commynge in / she spoyled her selfe of all her rynges / chaynis / broches / and clothes lest he shulde lacke ought durȳg his sickenes she was content as for her selfe with any fare / so that her husbande myght haue that shulde do his paynful body good / so he by the meanes of his wyfe / with that dolefull body / more like vnto a graue / thā a body / contynued .x. yere from the begynnȳg of his sickenes / in the whiche space she had two chyldren by hym / and .vj. before For she was maried .xx. yere in the holle and yet was she neuer infected / nor ones touched with the contagious skabbe / neyther she / nor yet none of her children / but had all theyr bodies bothe holle and clene Wherby a man may clerely perceyue / howe moche theyr holynes and vertue is worthe / that loue theyr husbandes with all their hartes as dutie is / whiche doubtles god wyll neuer leaue vnrewarded So at the last this forsaid man died sicke and olde / and passed out of his contynuall payne For whose departynge this same Clara his wyfe made suche sorowe / that all that euer knewe her / saye / they neuer sawe woman make suche sorowe for her husbande / that were bothe yonge / holle / fayre / lusty / and ryche and whan dyuerse came to her / nat for to cōforte her / but rather to shewe her / that they were glad for her sake / that he was gon she abhorted / and in a maner cursed them for their laboure / wysshynge many tymes that she myght haue hym agayne if it were possyble / howe so euer he were / and whan she was of lusty age / after his deth / yet she wolde neuer mary / sayeng she shulde neuer mete with any that she coulde lyke so well / I wyll nat reherse here her great chastite holynes of lyuyng For I speke but of the loue of a good wyfe whiche neuer lyghtly gothe alone / but euer coupled / cōpanyed with all other vertues Who seeth nat nowe that she dyd nat marie Valdaures bodye / but his harte / or els rekened his bodye her owne body Besyde that / she kepeth styll all commaundementes of her husbande / as reuerentlye as he were yet a lyue / and doth many thynges as she had harde hym speake in his lyfe / sayeng / this myne husbande wolde haue commanded and byd den do O Euryppides / if thou haddest had suche a wyfe / thou woldest haue preysed all women as faste as thou haste dispreysed them Or if kynge Agamemnon had hadde suche a quene / she wolde haue taryed many yeres for his retournyng from the sige of Troy These examples ought nat to be kept vnshewed / to remembre wyues of their duetye / seynge that lesse matters be put in memorye writynge But these be but of folkes of lowe degre / wyll some gentle women saye Fyrste to make answere therto Clara Valdaure was nat of the loweste degre / and besyde that yonge / and tender / and fayre / and had many seruauntes / vnto whom she myght haue deputed all her busynes / if it had pleased her And there be many noble womē that do the same / whom I canne nat reherse all / bothe nowe a lyue and that hath bene in tymes paste But this worlde of ours kepeth in vse only the vices of the olde worldes afore Arte thou more noble than the wyfe of Themistocles / whiche was prince of Athenes / and also of all Grece and yet she serued her husbande her selfe alway in his sickenes Arte thou more noble thanne Stratonica / wyfe vnto kynge Deiotarus / whiche whan her husbande was sicke / and an aged man / was both his cooke / his phisition / and his surgian Or arte thou more noble thanne that quene of Englande / whiche sucked her husbandes wounde All the noble women of Rome / vsed nor wold neuer suffer any other to touche theyr husbandes whan they were sicke / but them selfe whose examples there is none nowe a dayes to good to take hede of For answere me thou woman / that thinkest the better than the Romayns / of whose bloode who so euer was discended / was had in honoure throughe all the worlde howe be it the verye nobylite is nat to be counted by blode and riches / the whiche rather standeth in noble actis and vertue and thou with all thy gentrye shall lye vnknowen whan all the worlde perpetually shall talke of them Therfore bost nat thou thy noble byrthe / whom either none orels very fewe shall knowe / either in thy
he was all thinge to al men to th entent that he might wynne them to Christe also putteth in his owne laudie prayse the busyues of all churches so he / writȳng to the Corinthies / saythe on this maner Let syngle folkes applye them selfe to the busynes of our lorde / howe they may please hym and let maried folkes take hede of worldlye matters / howe they maye please and content theyr spouses For hit is conuenient / that the wyfe be all at her husbandes wyll / and that a syngle woman gyue her selfe hollye to Iesu Christe / whiche is spouse of all good and vertuous woman Therfore thā let passe all that trȳmyng and arayeng of her body / whiche whan her husbāde lyued / might seme to be done for his pleasure but whan he is deed / all her lyfe and all her apparell muste be disposed and ordered after his will / that is successour vnto her husbande / that is immortall god vnto mortall man Therfore must only the mynde be pyked and made gaye for that only is it that Christe marieth / and in the whiche Christe resteth and deliteth But those that intēde to mary / tyre tryme vp them selfe / and that that I haue sayd before of maydes / may be applyed to this place yet moche lesse is becomynge for a wydowe to garnisshe vp and paynte her selfe whiche shulde nat only seke for no bargayne / but rather refuse them offered neither take any offers / but fore agaynst her wyll / and compelled to the secōde maryage / if she be a good woman Howe be hit in a mayde goodly arayment maye be more suffered / but in a wydowe it is to be discōmēded For what bodye wolde nat abhorte her / that after her fyrste husbandes death / sheweth her selfe to longe after an other / and casteth away her spouse Christ / and marieth the deuyll fyrst / fynst man / beyng bothe wydowe / wyfe / adulterar But they haue bothe a more easy state and cōdition / more ouer better / that shewe theyr wydo wheed in theyr clot hynge / and behauyng of theyr body maners For they that be neuer so vngratious / yet haue a fauour to them that be good and honest and by suche tokēs as they se in them / cast / if they shulde marie with them / and chaunce to die afore them / what maner of wydowe they shulde leaue behynde them For Iensure you / there is no husbāde / that wolde nat haue his dethe mourned of his wyfe / and be hym selfe desired of her / and myssed and seyng that we haue suche preceptes for maryed folkes / bothe of philosophers / and the apostles / what shulde we thynke that theyr iudgement was of wydowes By whom the apostle Paule wryteth to Timothy on this maner A very wydowe and desolate woman trusteth in god / and is in prayer day night / and she that is delicate and easefull / is deed / ye beyng on lyue Therfore byd them kepe them from blame For they seme to lyue in the syght of those that se them eate and drynke / and go / and speake / and do other workes of lyfe But and one coulde perse with his syght in to them / or entre with in the secretes of their myndes thoughtes / he shulde se that poure synfull soule / howe it is put from god / and spoyled and depriued of his lyfe Thus saynt Paule sayth / Thus saint Hieronyme / Thus saint Ambrose / Thus saynt Augustyne / Thus al sayntes and holy men / with one voyce and opinion say / That wepynge / and mournyng / solytarines / and fastyng / be the most precious doures and ornamētes of a wydowe Moreouer / what feast is / what playes and daunces a wydowe shulde vse / saynt Paule doth shewe / whan he byddeth her be in prayer day and nyght and so whan her mortall husbande is deed / she myght be at more lyberte with the immortal / and more by leasure / and ofter talke with hym / and more pleasantlye / yea and to saye more playnly / a wydowe ought to pray more intētyfely and ofter / and faste longer / and be moche at masse and preachyng / and rede more effectually / occupie her selfe in the contēplation of those thȳges / that may mende her lyuyng and maners Anna / the doughter of Phanuell / commen of the tribe of Aser / whiche lyued with her husbande seuen yere after her maryage / whan she had bene wydowe fourscore yere and foure / our lorde Christe founde her in the temple / out of the whiche she had neuer departed / but euer in fastyng and prayer day and nyght And in dede I wolde haue greatter vertue and perfection in a wydowe / than in a wyfe For the wyfe must apply her selfe to the wyll of her mortal husbande / to whom she is maryed / but the wydowe hath taken Christe to her husbande immortall Wherfore it is reason / that all thyng be more excellent and accordyng for suche a spouse / and wordes more sadde and sober For the communycation of euerye bodye is lyghtly a glasse and a myrrour of the mynde / and conditions of them For hit is an olde prouerbe Suthe as the lyfe is / suche is the cōmunication And foule and vnclene speche hurteth the mynde Ill speche corrupteth good conditions / as saynt Paule saythe After the wordes of the poet Menander / I wolde that a wydowe shulde nat only speke suche wordes / as myght shewe her selfe chast honest / but also that myght instrucre the herars with lernyng / and amende them with example of her lyuyng For mākynde hath speche to couple wysedome vertue to gether though it seme to do no more but vtter the thought of the mynde / yet doth it cause bothe lernynge vertue And though a woman be losed out of the bādes of worldly matrimony / let her yet nat thȳke that she may do what her lust For often tymes wydowes do shewe / what they haue bene in maryage / vnder the lybertie of wydoweheed / open and shewe that whiche they kepte in before for feare of theyr husbandes As byrdes / whan they be out of their cagis / by and by tourne to theyr olde conditions Lyke wyse many women shewe out at ones the vices that they dissembled so as they coulde whyle that theyr husbande 's lyued after that the lettes that they had of theyr husbandes be taken away For than shall hit be knowen / what nature or condition a woman is of / whan she may do what she wyll And as saynt Hieronyme sayth / she is chast in dede / that may do iuell and she lyste / wyll nat Therfore a woman had nede to worke more warely / whan bothe the disprayse of vices and the prayse of vertue is imputed to her selfe For as longe as her husbande lyued / he had a great parte of both In the wydowheed
owne So a good womaÌ„ shall nat bryng with her to the courte argumeÌ„tes of pleaders in the lawe / but the auctorite of recorde And she that is bablyng / and busye / troublous / muste nedes wereye men / and make them to lothe her / and hyndreth her of the socour that I spake of And this I haue sayde by good iudges and aduocates / or at the least suche as she knoweth nat to be yll For some be so nyce and wanton / that they will sell theyr counsayle and iugementes for theyr vnthrifty pleasure of their body Vpon whom doutles the common good order and maner wolde take punysshement / sauyng that the lawes / as the wyse man sayd / be lyke the coppe webbes / that take all littell beastis / and let the great alone But a good wydowe / if she knowe the they be suche / as she may well inough by theyr name that they haue of the people / she shall eschewe them fle / nat only with the losse of her goodes / but also ieoê‘die of her selfe / if nede were And the same I wolde she shulde do by all that be wanton and vicious Nowe of runnyng about to other mennes houses / saynt Paule hath a precepte / that those wydowes ought to be abiecte / as mysfamous / that rounne ydell from house to house and nat only idell / but also be babblars ful of wordes / where as is nat coÌ„uenient For there be some / whiche whan they thinke their selfe they haue done all theyr owne busynes / than without shame they medle with other folkes busines / gyue counsaile / as though they were great sages / and exhorte and gyue preceptes / rebuke correcte / pyke fautes / and be wondrous quicke of syght from home / and at home blynde inough Of seconde mariages The .vij. Chaptre NOr to condeÌ„ne and reproue vtterly seconde mariages / it were a poynt of heresye Howe be it that better is to absteyne thaÌ„ marye agayne / is nat only counsayled by Christyane purenes / that is to saye by diuine wysedome / but also by pagans / that is to say / by worldly wisedome Cornelius Tacitus / as I haue rehersed / sayth / the women of Almayne were nat wonte to marie but of maydes and thoughe they were wydowes in theyr youthe / yet wolde they nat marye agayne / and specially the noble women Valeria / syster vn to Messala / and Portia the yoÌ„ger doughter of Cato / whan there was praysed vnto her / for her good nes / a woman that had betwyse maried / Portia answered / An happy a chast dame wolde neuer marye oftener than ones Cornelia / the mother of Caius Titus Gracchus / whan she was moued with great ê“mises by Ptolome the kyng of Egypt / to marye agayne / she refused / had leauer be called Cornelia Gracchus wyfe / than the quene of Egipte Also seconde mariagis were rebuked in playes enterludes / and verses of poetes in this maner Ofte maryeng can nat be without occasioÌ„ of repreheÌ„sioÌ„ And a womaÌ„ that marieth many / can nat please many Nat wtstaÌ„dyng wydowes lay many causes / wherfore they say they must marie agayÌ„e of whom saint Hieronyme speketh in this maner / writyÌ„g vnto the holy womaÌ„ Furia YoÌ„ge widowes / of whom there hath many gone bacwarde after the deuyl / after that they haue had theyr pleasure by maryeng in Christe / be woÌ„te to say / My goodes spilleÌ„ dayly / the heritage of myn auncetry perissheth / my seruauÌ„tes speke stubbournely pÌ„sumtuously / my mayde wyl nat do my coÌ„mauÌ„dement / who shal go before me forthe Who shall answere for my house reÌ„te Who shall teache my yoÌ„ge soÌ„nes Who shall bryng vp my yoÌ„ge doughters And so they laye that for a cause to marye fore / whiche shulde rather let them froÌ„ it For she bryÌ„geth vpon her childreÌ„ an enemie / nat a norisher nat a father / but a tyraÌ„ne And she inflamed with vicious lust / forgetteth her owne woÌ„be she that late afore sat mournyÌ„g amoÌ„ge her children / that ê‘ceiue nat their owne losse harmes / nowe is pyked vp a newe wyfe Wher to layest thou the cause in thyne enherytaÌ„ce / pride of thy seruauÌ„tes coÌ„fesse thyn owne viciousnes For none of you taketh a husbaÌ„de but to the intent that she wyll lye with hym / nor excepte her lust pricke her What a ragiousnes is it / to set thy chastite commoÌ„ lyke an harlotte / that thou mayst gether riches And for a vile / a thyÌ„g that shall sone passe away / to fyle thy chastite / that is a thyÌ„g most precious euerlastyÌ„g If thou haue childreÌ„ alredy / what nedest thou to marie If thou haue none / why dost thou nat feare the bareÌ„nes / that thou hast proued afore aueÌ„terest vpoÌ„ aÌ„ vncertayne thyÌ„g / forgost thyn honestie chastite / that thou wast sure of Nowe thou hast writyÌ„g of spousage made the / that within shorte whyle after / thou may be coÌ„pelled to write a testament The husbande shall feyne hym selfe sicke / shal do on lyue in good helthe / that he wolde haue to do whaÌ„ thou shalt die And if it chauÌ„ce that thou haue children by thy seconde husbaÌ„de / thaÌ„ ryseth strife debate at home with iÌ„ thy house Thou shalte nat be at libertie to loue thyne owne childreÌ„ equally / neither to loke indiffereÌ„tly vpoÌ„ them / that thou haste borne thou shalt reache them meat secretly he wil eÌ„uie hym that is deed / excepte thou hate thyn owne childreÌ„ / thou shalt seme to loue their father yet And if he haue childreÌ„ by a nother wyfe / thaÌ„ shall players gesters rayle and gest vpoÌ„ the / as a cruel stepdame If thy stepson be sicke / or his heed ake / thou shalte be diffamed for a witche if thou gyue hym nat meate / thou shalt be accused of cruelte if thou gyue any / thou shalt be called a poysoner What I pray that / hath seconde mariages so pleasaÌ„t / that caÌ„ be able to recoÌ„peÌ„ce these euylles Thus saith saynt Hieronyme As for the preyse of coÌ„tyneÌ„ce chastite / couÌ„sailyng from secoÌ„de mariages / what caÌ„ I be able to say after the eloqueÌ„t fositayne of saint Hieronyme / or that swete dilicates of saynt Ambrose speche Therfore who so desyreth to knowe any thyng of those matters / let hym loke it of them For it longeth nat to my purpose / to recite al theyr sayenges here For I do nat iÌ„teÌ„de to write exortatioÌ„s vnto any kyÌ„de of lyuyng / but to gyue rules / howe they may lyue Neuer the lesse / I wolde couÌ„saile a good woman to coÌ„tinue in holy wydowhed / namely if she haue childreÌ„ which thyng is the inteÌ„t frute of matrimonye But she dout / lest she can nat auoyde the prickes of nature with that life / let her gyue an eare vnto saint Paule thayo stel / writyÌ„g vnto the Corinthies iÌ„ this wife I say to vnmaried women and wydowes / it were good for them / if they kepte them selfe as I am but yet if they caÌ„ nat suffre / let them marie For it is best to marie thaÌ„ bourne And the same apostle writeth vnto Timothe thus Put away yoÌ„ge wydowes / for whan they haue abused them selfe at large / than wolde they mary to Christ / are coÌ„deÌ„ned bicause they haue refused theyr fyrste ê“myse / walke idle from house to house / neither oÌ„ly idle / but tryflyÌ„g bablyng / pratyÌ„g talkyng / suche thynges as be coÌ„meth nat Therfore I wold that the yoÌ„ger shuld marie / bryÌ„g forth childreÌ„ / rule their house / gyue their enmy none occasioÌ„ to say il by them For ther be some / which streight after their coÌ„uersion haue folowed Satanas Yet let them beware / that they do it nat by by aft their husbaÌ„des death For that is a tokeÌ„ that they loued nat them for whose deê‘ting they haue so sone lefte sorowyng / mournyng / al desire of them And if they must ê“uide ought for theyr house or children / let them se to hit before the busynes of maryage and dominioÌ„ of a newe husbaÌ„de And lette them get suche husbandes as be accordynge for wydowes to be maryed vnto / nor yonge men / wanton / hote / and full of playe / ignorante / and riotous / that can neither rule theyr house / nor theyr wyfe / ne theyr selfe neither but take an husbande some thyng past mydle age / sober / sad / and of good wyt / experte with great vse of the worlde whiche with his wisedome may kepe al the house in good ordre whiche by his discretioÌ„ may so temper and gouerne all thyng / that there maye be alwaye at home sober myrthe and obedience / without frowardnes / and the house holde kepte in theyr labour and ductye / without payne / and all thyng clere and holle And lette them were and knowe / that these contentes hym / whose pleasure onely they shall all more esteme / thanne the holle countreys besyde Here endeth the boke called thinstruction of a Christen woman / whiche who so shall rede / shall haue moche / both knowlege / pleasure / and frute by it Imprinted at London in Fletestrete / in the house of Thomas Berthelet nere to the Cundite / at the sygne of Lucrece Cum priuilegio a rege indulto