Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	creature_n	heaven_n	world_n	8,020	5	4.5844	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10054	A treatise of the nobilitie and excellencye of vvoman kynde, translated out of Latine into englysshe by Dauid Clapam; Declamatio de nobilitate et praecellentia foeminei sexus. English	Agrippa von Nettesheim, Heinrich Cornelius, 1486?-1535.; Clapham, David, d. 1551.; Margaret, of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 1480-1530.	1542 (1542)	STC 203; ESTC S104365	25,704	101

❧ OF THE NOBILITIE AND EXCELLENCIE OF VVOMANKYNDE ALMYGHTY God the maker nourisher of all thynges the Father and goodnesse of both male and female of hys great bountyfulnes hath create mankynde lyke vnto hym selfe he made them man and woman The diuersitie of which two kyndes standeth onely in the sondry situation of the bodily partes in whiche the vse of generation requireth a necessary differēce He hath giuen but one similitude and lykenes of the sowle to bothe male and female betwene whose sowles there is noo maner dyfference of kynd The woman hathe that same mynd that a man hath that same reason and speche she gothe to the same ende of blysfulnes where shall be noo exception of kynde For after the euangelicall truthe they that ryse in theyr owne proper kynde shall not vse the offyce of theyr kynde but the lykenes of angelles is promysed vnto theym And thus betwene man and woman by substance of the soule one hath no higher preemynence of nobylytye aboue the other but both of them naturally haue equall libertie of dignitie and worthynesse But all other thynges the which be in man besydes the dyuyne substance of the sowle in those thynges the excellente and noble womanheed in a maner infynytely dothe excell the rude grosse kynd of men the whiche thyng we shall playnly proue to be true not with counterfayte and fayre flatteryng wordes nor also with the subtyll sophimes of Logike wherwith many sophisters were wont to blynde and deceyue men but by the auctorytye of moste excellent auctours and true writers of historys and with manifest reasons yea with the testimonies of holye scrypture and by the ordynances and constitutions of lawes ¶ Fyrst to enter into this matter the womā is made so muche more excellent than man in howe moche the name that she hathe receyued is more excellente than hys For Adam soundeth Erthe but Eua is interpretate lyfe and as moche as the lyfe doth excel erth so moche the woman is to be preferred aboue the man Nor there is no cause why this shulde be called a feble argumēt to gyue iugement of thynges by the names For we knowe that the hyghe artyficer and maker of thinges and names fyrst dyd knowe the thynges before he named them which for as moch as he could not be deceyued for thys purpose he made the names that it myght expresse the nature propertye and vse of the thynge For the trouthe of antyque names is suche as the veraye Romayne lawes testyfye that the selfe names are consonāt to the thinges and manifest significations of them Therfore an argument of the names of thinges amonges dyuynes and lawyars is of greate weyghte As we rede written of Nabal after his name is a fole and folyshenes is with him Of this Paule in hys Epistle to the Hebrewes purposynge to shewe the excellency of Chryste vseth this argument sayeng that he is made as moch more excellēt than the aungels as he hath enherited a name more excellente than they And in an other place God hath gyuen hym a name the whiche is aboue al names that in the name of Iesu euery knee shall bowe both of thynges in heauen of thynges vpon earth of thynges vnder theearth Further this thynge to approue there is no smal strengthe of lawes comprehended and conteyned in the bondes of wordes in signification of wordes in conditions and demonstrations in conditions annexed and suche other kyndes of dysputations and highe poyntes and tytles of the lawe as in the same tytles and other lyke a man may perceyue For soo we make argumente and reasons in the lawe of the interpretation of the name also of the strength of the word and vocable Moreouer of the interpretation of the name and also of the dyfynytion and composition and order of the worde For the lawes theym selfes do quyckelye and sharpely consyder the significations of the names that of thē they myghte some thynge interpretate ¶ Also Cyprian againste the Iewes argueth that the fyrste man Adam receyued hys name of the iiii princypal partes of the world that is East weast North and Southe and in the same boke he dothe expound the same name Adam because erth was made flesh althoughe suche exposition dothe dyffer from the tradition and teachyng of Moses sens among the Hebrewes it is not wrytten with foure but with .iii. letters Yet for all that this exposition in so holy a man is not to be dyspraysed for as moche as he was not lerned in the Hebrewe tongue the whiche verye many saynctes and exposytours of holye scrypture to theyr small blame knewe not But if I can not haue lyke leaue and liber tye for the prayse of womanheed after my mynde and iugement to vse lyke etymologie and declaration of the word and name of Eue at the leaste lette me be suffered to speake this one thynge out of the misticall decrees and agreeable wylles of the Cabalistis the very name of a woman to haue more affinitie with the ineffable and in enarrable name of the diuine power almyghtye called Tetragrammaton than the name of man the whiche with the name of god neither in letters nor in figure nor in nombre doth agree ¶ But nowe we wyll leaue these thynges for they be redde of few and of fewer vnderstande they requyre a longer processe than is mete to be spoken of here In the meane season we wol serche oute the excellencie of womanheed not of the name onely but of the very thynges dueties and merites Therfor let vs as they say serch the scriptures and takynge oure grounde at the fyrste creation let vs dispute and reason what dignitie woman obteyned aboue mā whanne she was fyrste made We knowe that whatso euer god almyghty made do chiefely differre in this point that certain of them shuld abyde and remayn for euer more incorruptible and withoute putrifaction and certaine shuld be subiecte vnto corruption mutabilitie and change And in creatynge those thynges god proceded forwarde after thys order he beganne at the more noble and excellente of one thynge and ended at the most noble of an other And thus he created incorruptible angels and soules for so doth saint Augustyne dispute reason that the soules of our fyrste parentes were created with angels before the bodyes were made Furthermore he created incorruptible bodies as the heuēs the sterres and the elementes incorruptible but subiecte to dyuers mutations of the whiche he made al other thinges that be subiecte vnto corruption From the more vyler by seuerall degrees and orders of dignitie agayne ascendynge and goinge vp vnto the perfection of the hole worlde Firste he made minerals thanne thynges vegetable plantes and trees after that thinges lyuinges than brute beastes some crepynge some swymmyng some fleynge Fynally he created two creatures lyke to hym selfe fyrst the male and last the female in whiche female the heuens the erthe and al the goodly ornament of

the same were perfeyted and fully finished For the maker commynge to the creation of woman rested at her as hauynge before his handes nothynge more honorable to be made and in her al the wisedome and power of the creator came to conclusion and ende after the which there can no creature be found or imagined Than seing a woman is the last of creatures the full ende moste perfect of all goddis workes and of the same the very perfection who woldeny a woman to be the most worthy moste excellent of all creatures without whom y e very world nowe beynge fynished and in all thynges moste perfectely accomplysshed shulde haue ben vnperfecte the whiche coude none other wyse be perfyted thanne with the mooste perfectest of al creatures For it were ageynst reason and a thynge vnsemely to thynke that god wold finish sogret a worke in any vnperfect thing But bicause the world it selfe as the absolute hole and most perfect cyrcle was created of god the same cyrcle must nedes be ended in that lyttel parte whiche myghte couple and ioyne within it selfe the fyrste of all thynges with the laste of all thynges with one knotte So a woman whanne the worlde was made was the laste in tyme and laste made and the same woman partly in auctoryty but chefely in dignitie was the fyrst of all thinges conceyued in the mynde of god as it is wrytten of her by the prophete Before the heuens were made god dyd chose her and he chose her before all other creatures For this is a common conclusion among philosophers if I maye vse theyr wordes The ende alway is in the fyrst entētion and in the dede is the laste So a woman was the laste worke of god formed into thys world as quene of the same into her prepared palayce garnyshed with all pleasures plentyfully Therfore euerye creature worthely loueth reuerenceth serueth her and worthyly is subiect and obeyeth vnto her which is of al creatures the absolute quene ende perfeccion glory by al ways and meanes Wherfore the wyse man saythe Who so hath god with him reioyseth and in harte cōmendeth the gentil nature of woman ye and the lord of all thynges hym selfe loueth her ¶ By reason of the place also in whiche the woman was created howe farre she passeth man in noblenesse holy wrytte doth witnesse vnto vs mooste plentifullye For where the woman was made in Paradyse a place mooste noble and pleasaunt amonge aungelles the man was made withoute Paradyse in the wyelde fyelde amonge brute beastes Afterward to thintent that woman shuld be created he was brought into Paradyse And therfore the woman endowed with the peculyar gyfte of Nature as she were accustomed to be in the hyghest place of her creatiō though she loke down ward from neuer so high a place yet she neyther suffreth nor feleth any whitling or swimming in her heed ne her eies dafyl not like as it is wonte to chaunce to men ¶ Furthermore if it chance a woman to be in lyke peryll of drownynge with a man she without any outwarde helpe swymmeth a lofte longer than the man whiche soner synketh and goth downe to the bottom ¶ And that the dygnytie of the place maketh moche to the nobylitie of manne the ciuill lawe and humaine constitutions do playnly affirme and the custome of all nations doth chyefly obserue this thynge not onely in men but also in other beastes yea and in the estimation of thynges hauyng no lyfe For the more worthye place that any thing is born or brought vp in the more noble it is iudged Wherfore Isaac commanded his sonne Iacob that he shoulde not take a wyfe of the lande of Canaan but of Mesopotamie in Syria beynge of better estymation And vnto this is not moche vnlyke whiche is spoken in the gospell of Iohn where Philip said We haue founde Iesus the sonne of Ioseph of Nazareth And Nathanael said to hym What good can come oute of Nazareth But now let vs speke of other matters ¶ A woman doth passe a man in the materiall substance of her creation For she was not made of any creature wantyng lyfe soule or of the vyle clay or dyrte as the man was but of a matter purified and lyuely hauyng a reasonable soule and a godly minde Furthermore god made manne of the erthe whiche naturally bryngeth forthe all kyndes of beastes and lyuely creatures by the working togither of the heuenloy influence but the woman aboue al heuenly influence and promptues of nature and without any other operation power was onely made of god full stedfast and perfite in all thinges the man in the meane season losynge one of his rybbes of the whiche she was made that is to say Eue of Adam sleping and that so soundly that he could not fele his ribbe plucked away And thus man is the worke of nature and womanne the worke of god And therfore the woman is many tymes more apt and mete then the man to receyue the heuenly light and bryghtnes and is ofte replenyshed thet with whiche thyng is easy to be sene by her clenlynesse marueylous faire beautye For seyng that beautie it selfe is none other thyng but the clere brightnes of goddes visage naturallye sette in thinges ryght fayre shynynge in the beautifull bodies of creatures he therfore hath chosen women before men to be far more endowed and moste abundantly replenished therwith The propre body of a woman in syght and felynge is moste delicate and pleasant her fleshe softe and tender her colour faire and clere her skin softe and slyke her head comelye and decked with heare softe lyke sylke long and shynyng lyke the golde wyre her countenaunce sobre her loke and chere merye and pleasaunt her face moste fayre of all creatures her necke white as milke her forhed large and high her eies rollyng and shyning like cristall verye amyable gladsome and gratious her browes aboue them wel sette togyther in propre thyn circles with a comely playnnesse deuided equally with a feate distaunce betwene the which out of the middest discendeth the nose strayghte and treatise vnder the which is her ruddy mouthe with soft and tender lyppes ful proprely proporcioned within the whiche whan she smyleth her teeth do shyne forthe beinge but lyttell ones and sette in egall order as white as the yuory and not so many in numbre as a man hath for she is nother greatte eater bytar nor gnawer And rounde aboute them ryse vp her iawes chekes with tender softnes as ruddy as rose and replenyshed with shamfastnes her chynne rounde with a prety pyt therin Under this she hath a small necke somwhat long and streighte vpryght frome her rounde shulders with a delycate wesande whytely and meanlye thicke and bigge her voyce smal and shrylle her speche lowe and swete her breaste brode and well sette out clothed with euen fleshe and hardnes of her pappes whiche are round and euen as her bely is her sydes