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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08486	A famous and godly history contaynyng the lyues a[nd] actes of three renowmed reformers of the Christia[n] Church, Martine Luther, Iohn Ecolampadius, and Huldericke Zuinglius. The declaracion of Martin Luthers faythe before the Emperoure Charles the fyft, and the illustre estates of the empyre of Germanye, with an oration of hys death, all set forth in Latin by Philip Melancthon, Wolfgangus Faber, Capito. Simon Grineus, [and] Oswald Miconus, newly Englished by Henry Bennet Callesian.; Historia de vita et actis Martini Lutheri. English	Melanchthon, Philipp, 1497-1560.; Bennet, Henry, fl. 1561, compiler and trans.; Capito, Wolfgang, 1478-1541. De vita Oecolampadii. aut; Grynäus, Simon, 1493-1541. De J. Oecolampadii obitu. aut; Mykonius, Oswald, 1488-1552. De H. Zuinglii vita et obitu. aut	1561 (1561)	STC 1881; ESTC S120757	69,569	198

❧ A famous and godly history contaynyng the Lyues Actes of three renowmed reformers of the Christiā Church Martine Luther Iohn Ecolampadius and Huldericke Zuinglius The declaracion of Martin Luthers faythe before the Emperoure Charles the fyft and the illustre Estates of the Empyre of Germanye ▪ wyth an Oration of hys death all set forth in Latin by Phillip Melancthon Wolfangus Faber Capito Simon Grineus Oswald Miconus Newly Englished by Henry Bennet Callesian ⸫ ¶ Imprinted at London by Iohn Awdely dwellyng in lytle Brittaine Streete by great Saint Bartelmewes ▪ Anno ▪ 1561. ¶ Encomy of Martine Luther A head where Pallas misteries wer fraight A face where ●oumy brigh●lye dyd appeare An eye that could discerne ech mynde ● sleight And eares contēpning priuate ●au● to heare A tong that dyd pronounce the sacred truth A prareirs pen that paynted well the same A zeale that moued Tigrish hartes to ru●he And could to vertue mild●●s mindes enflame A mynde aspiring ay to wysdomes throne A hart that neuer drad the Tirantes might A rocke that wold remoue from truth for none Disdayning death in quarell of the ryght These golden gifts in Luther shined bright For which he now receiues immortal light ¶ Psalme .cxvi. ¶ The death of the iuste is precious before the syght of God To the right honorable ▪ and his syng●good lord Thomas Lord Wentworth prosperous health and perpetual fel citye ⸫ NOT without immortal prayse euerlasting renowme ar the actes and monumentes of learned men cōmended to posterity For if life wtout litterature is as Seneca sayth a death or sepulture of the lyuely man the body as Plato wytnesseth no body but a sepulture cohibiting the minde from hys natural vigour how much excelleth he ryght honorable and my syngular good Lord in thys frayle estate who wyth studies of humanitye garnished wyth diuine knowledge adorned hath not onely enriched his natural vnderstāding but also made the same almost equiualent to Aungels comprehēding the glorious misteries of the eternal Father and his Sonne Iesus Christ Among these how much Martine Luther excelled his holy woorkes prophane monumentes besides the learned testimonies of many famous Clarkes abundantly deciare Reading therefore of late tyme the history of hys Lyfe and Actes setfoorth by the incomparable ornament of good learnyng Phillyp Melanethon I was therein maruaylously delighted efrsones perusing the same I was rauished with incredible desyre to bestow somtime in the translation therof Many vrgent causes moued me whereof y● principal be these Fyrst hys integrity of life godly conuersacion zelous affection towardes the propagacion of Gods holy word Secondly his animosity professyng Christ hys Maister hys learned conference wyth the temporall Ecclesiastical Estates of Germany his contempt of al worldly felicitye transitori pompe in respect of Christ hys Maister whom he purely professed and sincerely preached Lastly y● lamentable verses funerall Oracions of diuers bewayling the losse of this pearle of Christianity the traduction of this present historye into the Germaine Frenche Spanish Italian tonges by certayn godly persons exiled their natural country and dispersed in sundry Christian Territories wher Gods word is purely preached and all papistrye abolished By whyche it appeareth he was no lesse treasure and glory of hys Countrye spectacle and absolute Image of godly wysedome then terrour to all Papisme and such as builded the laud of theyr lyfe on the s●nde of ambicious seekyng My rude translacion symple trauayle I dedicate vnto your good Lordship as to the very Patron and fauourable Mecenas of all poore Studentes Whose honorable personage to pouder with condigne praise ●● a thing more due to your desertes the easy for my rude pen and more appertaineth to my duty then it stādeth wyth myne ability For who knoweth your Lordship and is ignoraunt of the rare gyftes that harbor in your head of the natural bountye that so brightly shineth in your countenaūce Who hath not hearde the renowmed brute of your constancye in Christian religion euen in these late wretched dayes whose noble hart neither tedious and long imprisonment neyther flowing heapes of worldly aduersity could fraight with feare or mooue to deflect to any sinister way and whose vertuous mynde in greatest troubles euermore aspired to the hygh temple where God in glorye is in throned I passe in silence your bounty towards al such as professe God vnfaynedly publishe abroade the fruites of theyr studies All which most heauenly desertes do not onely merite to be registred in the booke of Fame but also ministre ample occasion for your honorable personage whē the fatal Ladies shal spyn out the thre● of mortal life to be calendred in the Catalogue of those vertuous wyghtes Who for sundry their prowesses woorthye exploictes goodly graces and syngular giftes were by antiquitye consecrate to immortality And though your honour whose lyfe lightneth hys profession and whose profession purelye aduaunceth the glory of God and his sacred word disdayneth to be setforth wyth my rude penne yet your Lordshyp must beare with him that of good wyl pronoūceth this of your good deseries I coulde wade further in your honours commendacion but that I haue a certayn reuerence to trouble wyth my prolixitye your grauer affaires And partlye feare pulleth me back least I be spoiled with the nose of adulacion whose honorable eares abhorres to hear your proper praise and whose iudgement woulde condempne my temerarious attēpt herein Therefore sparing to speake that inwardly I conceiue I remyt this argument of blasing your heroiacal vertues to such excellent Rethoricians as far surmounting me in eloquence good lytterature as Phebus wyth hys bryght beames the lesser celestiall bodyes Thus humbly besechyng your honour to take in good parte the base and symple trauayle of a poore Callisian and also vouchsafe the Patronage of thys Christian history or rather myrrour of Christian lyfe Vnder whose protection I publyshe the same abroade I beseche the eternall God and hys Sonne Iesus Christe to preserue your Lordshyppe and the ryght honourable and vertuous Lady your Wyfe sende ye encrease of muche honour and graunt ye the accomplishment of your gentle hartes desyre From London thys ●● of Nouember 1561. ⸫ ¶ Your honours most humble Oratour Henry Bennet ❧ The hystory of the Lyfe and Actes of Martine Luther Doctour of Diuinitie Faythfully set foorth by Phillip Melan●thon ¶ THE reuerende Father Martin Luther promised in hys fatall tyme to publyshe aswell the discourse of hys lyfe as causes of hys conslicts whych he resolued to do yf death to greedy of her pray had not reft vs the society of hym and the heauens accelerated to place thys incomparable Iewell among the elect organes and vessels of God the father Therefore I iudge it necessary that the consideracion of hys particular lyfe be luculently set forth Since the same aboūded with manye good examples that may corroborate in syncere mindes the fear of god not

in him He exhorted to peace disswaded war He medled not priuate care with ecclesiastical causes ther by to enrich himself or aduaunce hys friendes I iudge this to be so great wysdome vertue that by humayne diligence it cannot onely be procured but it behoueth high vehement subtil mindes as it appeareth Luthers was to be brydeled diuinely What shal I saye of other his vertues I often tymes came vnwares vpon hym when he wyth teares berayning hys chekes prayed for the vniuersal Church He prescribed certayn houres euery day to recite some Psalmes and in pronouncing them he expressed his affection wyth mourning teares He rebuked euer those that through negligence or other domestical busines sayde they serued God sufficiently in makyng a secret zelous prayer declaring to them that we haue fourmes set foorth by diuine counsell to th end that in reading we may awaken our myndes and wyth voyce testify what God we call vpon And when occasion was offered to enter in consultacion about imminent daungerous we alwaies obserued hys marueilous constancy of courage neyther would he lurke appalled neyther represent anye face ef feare wyth the terrour therof He leaned alwayes to the Lord as to hys holye ancre and neuer waued in anye poynt of hys fayth Further he was so ingenious that alone he considered what was necessary to be done in doubtful cases Neither was he as many suppose negligent in the consideracion of the publicke weale neyther ignoraunt of the myndes and inclinaciōs of other but he wel vnderstode the state of the common weale no man better perceyued most prudently the natural dispositions and wylles of them with whō he was cōuersant And albeit he was of a ioly politicke head yet he moste gredely red the Ecclesiasticall Wryters old and new all the histories the examples whereof he conuerted wyth a syngular dexterity to the profite of mans lyfe and present affaires Of hys eloquenc●e we haue euerlasting testimonies wherein certaynly he was equiualent to any that excelled in arte Oratory Then wyth good cause we may lament the lacke of hym who in wysedome and lyuelynes of spirite was so excellent so garnished with doctrine ▪ so exercise ▪ wyth vie so adorned with many those heroyical vertues so elected of God for the restauration of the Curch and finally with so paternal affection louyng and embracing vs we are lyke Orphelius depriued of a faythful and famous father And albeit necessarelye we must obey diuine order yet let vs endeuour the memory of hys benefites vertues may remayne immortal wyth vs. And let vs reioyce that presently he is in the blessed swete company of God his welbeloued Sonne our Lorde Iesus Christ the Prophetes and Apostles whose so 〈…〉 etye throughe the fayth he had in the sonne of God he hath dayly desyred and attended Whereas now he heareth hys labours onely approued by the iudgement of God and the testimonye of all the heauenlye Church whyche he susteyned for the propagation of the Gospell but also taken out of thys mortal body as out of a pryson and entred into a schoole adourned wyth more excellent doctrine he beholdeth the essence of god the two natures cōioyned in the sonne and al the couns●● of h 〈…〉 creation and redemption of the church The which diuine m●ste●●es ●●r●ked and wyth compendious oracles proponed he cōsidered here only by fayth out nowe more ●u●●●nt y veholdyng them he reioyceth feruently enflamed wyth the loue of God he rendreth thankes for this so great singular benefyt There he learneth wherefore the sonne of God is called the woord and Image of the eternal Father how the holy ghost is the band of mutuall loue not onelye betwyxt the eternall Father and the Sonne but also betwyxt them and the Church For he had learned the ru●●mentes and principles of thys doctrine in thys mortal lyfe and mencioned oftentimes these celestiall matters the difference betwyrt true and false inuocation the true knowledge of God beholdyng the diuine manifestacions the discernynge of the true God from foreged and inuented Gods these matters he disputed very wisely graue●● Many in thys Auditory haue heard hym at certayn times expressing this sentence Ye shal see the heauens opened and the Aungels of God ascendyng and descending vpon the sonne of man In the exposicion of thys he exhorted hys Auditours to plant in theyr hartes thys syngular consolacion the whyche affirmeth that the heauen is opened that is to say way made open for vs to passe to God the barre of Gods wrathe remoued from suche as haue recourse to the Sonne that God is familiarlye conuersaunt wyth vs now and that he receyueth gouerneth and conserueth such as inuocate hym He admonished that that decree of God which the Atheistes exclame to be fabulous ought to resyst al those humaine doubtes dreades whyche keepe backe the wanderyng myndes that they dare not innocate God and repose in hym Further he sayd that the Aungels ascending and descending in the body of Iesus Christ wer the Ministers of the Gospel Who first by Christ their Guide ascended to God receiued of hym the lyght of the Gospell and the goly Ghost Then after they descended that is to say thei had the charge to professe and enstruct among men He added thys interpretacion that the very heauenly spirites which we commonly cal Angels beholding the sonne are instructed r●●oy●e in this merueylous con●unction of twoo natures for that they war vnder the Lord for the defence of the Churche they be also gouerned by hys hand He presently beholdeth these so excellent thynges and as before he ascended and descended among the Ministers of the Gospell by the conduction of Iesus Christe so nowe he seeth the Aungels sent by hym hath equal fruicion wyth them of the contemplacion consideracion of the diuine wysdome and marueylous workes of God We remember wel what incredible pleasure he conceiued in recityng the policies of the Prophetes theyr counsels daungers and deliueraunces and how learnedlye he conferred al tymes of the Church that he wel declared wyth what burnyng desyre he longed to be in the societye of these excellent personages He embraceth these now reioyceth to haue mutual conference in lyuelye voyce These salute their louyng companiō newly repayred to them and ioyntly yeld thankes to God that he assembleth and conserueth hys Church Let vs not doubt but that Luther is in happy blessed estate let vs lament the losse ●acke of so vertuous heauely a father as duty byndeth vs to obey the wyt of God who hath reft vs such a rare ●ewel so let vs vnderstand Gods pleasure is we should cōsecrate to etern●●● y● memory of his vertues and benefites Let vs ●hen in thys apply ou● diligence let vs imitate as we be able his vertues which is expediet for vs to know that is the feare of God fayth feruecy

paines encreased Doctor Ionas lying in his chamber Luther awakened praied hym to ryse and call vp Ambrose hys Childerns Schoolemaister to make fyre in an other Chāber In that which beyng newly entred Albert Earle of Mansfeld wyth hys wyfe and dyuers other whose names in these letters for hast were not expressed at that in stant came into hys Chamber Finally feelyg hys fatal houre to approch before 1● of the clock in the morning the. 18. of Februarye he commended him to God wyth this deuout praier My heauenly father eternal mercyful God thou hast manyfested vnto me thy deare Sonne our Lord Iesus Christe I haue taught hym I haue knowen hym I loue hym as my life my health and my redempcion whō the wycked persecuted maligned and wyth iniury affected Draw my soule to thee After thys he sayde thys that ensueth thryse I commende my Spirite into thy handes thou hast redemed me God of truth God so loued the worlde that he gaue his ouelye Sonne that all those that beleue in hym shoulde haue lyfe euerlastyng Iohn 3. Hauyng repeated often tymes hys prayers he was called to God to the eternal Schole and perpetual ioyes in the● which he enioyeth the societye of the father the Sonne and the holy Ghost al the Prophets Apostles He●as the conductor and Chariot of Israel is dead who hath gouerned the Churche in thys lasle age of the worlde for the doctrine of remission of synnes and of the fayth of God hath not beene compreheneed by bumayne wysedome but God hath manifested the same by thys holye man whom we haue sene raysed of God Let vs loue the memory of thys mā and the doctrine that he hath taught Let vs learne to be morest meeke Let vs consider the wretched calamities and marueilous chaunges y● shal folow this myshay doleful chaunce I beseche thee O Sonne of God crucified for vs resuscitate Emanuel gouerne conserue defend thy Churche ⸫ ¶ Philip Melancthons Oracion made and recited for the Funeralles of the Reuerens man Marrin● Luther at Vitteberge ⸫ AL best in thys common sorrow my voyce shal be troubled wyth dolour teares yet I must saye somewhat in thys frequent assembly not as the Paganes solemne custome was to sing the Encomye of the dead but rather to admonish this companye of the marueilous gouernment perils of the Church that we may consider for what causes we ought to be careful pensiue what thinges we haue special neede of to what examples we ought to direct our lyfe For although prophane men beholding this horrible confusion in thys mortall estate supposing althinges are transported by aduenture and gouerned by Fortune yet we confirmed wyth many euident testimonies of God let vs separate the Church from the vngodly multitude let vs perswade our selues the same hath bene preserued and ruled by diuine prouidence ●et vs perpen● what is the policye of the same Let vs acknowledge the true gouernours and endeuour to frame our cou●●e conformable to theirs Let vs ●●ec● Guides coue●●ent Instructors whom we maye godly imitate haue in reuerence It shal be most expedient for so meditate and speake of these waighty graue matters as of ten when mencion shall be made of the Reuerend man Martine Luther our dearely beloued Maister Whom we must tenderly loue commende synce we know that he was diuinely reysed to be a Minister of the Gospel although many prophane mē suche as contempned the Gospel hated him deadlye We ought also to collect testemonies whereby we may demonstrate his doctrine contayned no sedicious opinions iniuriously and wyth temerarious affection sowen as the Epicurean sect imagineth but that by hys doctrine the wil and faythful worshipping of God hys holy scriptures ar expressed the word of God y● is the glad tidyngs of Iesus Christ sincerely announced Al be it in these Dracions accustomably made in this place we wer wōt orderly to depaint the particular ornamentes of them whō we praysed yet I omit●yng that member of Oration entend to treate only of this principal article Ecclesiastical function For the wise godly wyll deliberate determine in them selues resoluteli this If Luther hath manyfested the necessarye doctryne of saluacion in y● Church great thankes are to be geuen to God who hath raised him we must commend hys industry faith constancy many other hys celestiall vertues and endeuour the memory of thys man may be embraced and reuerenced of euery man Let thys then be the Proeme of my Oration The Sonne of God as Paule sayth sitteth at the right hand of the euerlasting father ministreth good things to men that is the voice of the Gospel the holy ghost and to distribute these giftes he rayseth Prophets Apostles Doctors Pastors ● taketh these out of our congregacion such as do learne who professe heare embrace the Prophetes Apostles writings And calleth not only those to this warfare which haue ordinari power but also he denounceth warre against them often times by Doctors chosen of an other estate It is moste comfortable a pleasaūt spectacle to consider the Churche of all ages to remember the bountye of God who from time to time hat sent successiuely godly Doctors to th end that when the first were in battayl consumed other might supply theyr rankes to atchieue that the former begonne The cōtinual order of y● first fathers Adam Seth Enoch Mathusalē Noe Sem is notorious This Sem liuing inhabiting the country nigh to Sodome when the people had forgotten the doctrine of Noe euery wher honored Idols Abraham was raysed to be Sems compagniō to assist hym to performe this great worke After succeded Isac Iacob Ioseph y● which Ioseph in y● vniuersal territori of Egipt which thē excelled all other kingdōs in y● world illumined the light of doctrine Then folowed Moses Iosue Samuel Dauid Elias Elizeus whose Auditor was Esay After Esay cam Ieremy after Ieremye Daniel after Daniel Zachary immediatly succeded Esoras and Omas after Onias the Machabees Then after ensued Simeon Zachary Iohn Baptist Iesus Christ the Apostles It is conuenient to consider thys continual sequele for that it is an euidēt testimonye of Gods presence in the Church After the Apostles followed an other flocke the whych albeit weaker yet adorned wyth the testimonyes of God as Policarpe Ireneus Gregory Neocesariē Basile Austen Prosper Marimus Hugo Bernard Tau lerus and many other in diuers places All be it thys last age was more grosse and stuffed wyth ordures yet God preserued alwayes somme remaintes And it is cleare the Gospell hath receiued much light by the preachyng of Luther Then muste we collocate hym among this select blisful Troupe of godly and excellent Mirrours whom God hath sent to gather restore hys Church that we may vnderstand this was the principal flower of humaine kin●● ▪ Solon Themistocles Scipio Augustus

in praier cleannes in ministerye chastity diligence to eschew counsels tendyng to sedicion and desyre to learne And as it behoueth vs to remēber the other faythful gouernours of the Churche whose histories we reade as Ieremy Iohn Baptist S. Paule So let vs consider oftentymes the doctrine and order of thys reuerend father herewyth let vs adde prayer and action of thankes as it becōmeth vs now to do in thys assembly WE render thankes vnto the O most puissant God eternal father of our Lord Iesus Christ founder of thy Church together with thy sonne coeternall our Lorde Iesus Christ the holye ghost wyse good mercyful ryghteous iudge mighty hauing power ouer althings for that thou ga●her●st vnto thy sonne an enheritaunce conse●uest the ministery of the Gospel now by Luther hast restored the same And we pray thee with feruent affection that thou wilt conserue and gouerne henceforth the church seale in vs thy true doctrine as Esay prayeth for his Disciples that thou wylt illumine our vnderstāding by thy holy ghost that in truth we may cal vpon thee and lyue holyly Furthermore because the decease of excellent gouernours is oftē a presage or foreshewing of great inconue niēces to come to such as shal succede I and al those that professe ministery require you to consider the daungers wherunto the whole world is subiect The Turkes inuade of one side on the other domestical enemies threatē intestine wars Ther ●urke also eueri where licencious insolent heades who after they shal cease to feare Luthers censure seuere correction wil not stycke audaciously to corrupt this doctrine of vs faythfully taught Finally that God may withdraw such inconueniences let vs apply our diligence to lyue wel to study let vs retein this setēce alwaies impressed in our mindes that as long as we shal conserue heare learn loue the pure doctrine of y● Gospel we shal be the house church of God as the sōne of God sayth If any loue me he wyll obserue my word and my father wyl loue him we wyll come to hym and make our abode with hym Let vs be allured with thys singular promyse to learne the heauenly doctrine let vs be throughly perswaded that mākinde ciuil gouernments are cōserued because of the church Let vs pōder this in our minde be encouraged with y● imortality y● is cōming to the whych God hath called vs who truely hath not in vayne manifested himself vnto vs by so many testimonies nor with out good respect sent hys sonne but tenderly loueth careth for suche as make accompt of his inestimable benefites I haue sayd ¶ A famous godly history contaynyng the liues and actes of Iohn Ecolampadius and Huldericke Zuinglius excellent Diuines set foorth by Wolfangus Faber Capito Simon Grineus and Oswaldus Miconius and Englyshed by Henry Bennet Callisian ¶ Anno. 1561. The last of Nouember ⸫ To the ryght honourable and his syngular good Lord the Lord Montioy hys humble Oratour Henry Bennet Callesian wysheth long lyfe with encrease of honour ⸫ THAT vertue and felicitye haue theyr begynnyng of laborious and daungerous attempts Demetrius the Pagan Philosopher abundantly declares For if blessed estate is accident to none but to such as fast and endure aduersity those that lyue in pleasure perpetual rest are estemed inglorious Epicures whō God neglectes iudgeth vnworthy to cōten●e wyth calamity How famous excellent were the auncient Greekes and victorious Romaines ryght honorable my syngular good Lord whose vertuous dedes notable exploictes not without great perils honorable death atchieued ●ystify to al posterity their incredible desyre as well to enlarge the ●●myts of theyr 〈…〉 and illustrate with victories their florishing publicke weales as also their intollerable paynes prudent consideracions to attaine to felicity by the ragged hyls sharpe thorny wayes whych lead to vertue Hercules worthely Prince of all Grecia what labors susteyned he What ougly Monsters dyd he ouercome and with what magnanimitye dyd he penetrate the gresly denne of Pl●toes ghastly kingdome By what other counsayle dyd Homexe ●udged of y● learned diuine set before our eyes wandring Vlisses as an absolute Image of wysdom tossed with many ●rksome trauayls but to signify thys to be the ready way to clyme to the palaice of al felicity and commendable vertue Such wer Epaminundas Alcibiades Phociō Alexander the great Cam●llus Scipio Paulus Aemilius Pompeius Augustus Brutus Cato Cicero no ●es ornamentes of their Country then expresse paternes of vertue These worthi personages as thei shined in glory and lyue in the learned monumentes of vertuous writers So y● infamous and in glorious Princes as Heliogabalus Sardanapalus Nero Caligula Cōmodus haue not onely eclipsed the bryght sunne of theyr honors by lasciuious liuing coward dread but obscurely lurke in the depe ●onge on of lothsome obliuion It is then apparēt that nothyng in this world can establish our seate in securiti but onely vertue the whych with incredyble trauayl is procured If these excellet Orators and Poetes haue celebrated the memory of these princes that onely endeuored to gratefy theyr Coūtry common weale What shal we worthe lye write in the commendacion of Iohn Ecolampadius and Huldericke Zuinglius who wyth theyr monumentes of diuine sapience haue confirmed our myndes in y● feare of God fed vs wyth Euange●ical foode and preached to vs y● doctrine of saluaciō I may iustly say they were not onely equiualent but also excelled y● other The one a man of such innocencye of lyfe so sincere in preachyng professyng the Gospell so readye to oppose hym self to al worldly daunger as no age can obliterate his memorye The other so magnanimous in thaduaūc● mēt of Christes glory and his blessed Gospell so willinglye bent to dye in quarel of y● right merites more praise then to be set fourth with foyle of my rude pen. Their liues are no lesse mirrours for vs vertuouslye to lyue then theyr blessed departures comfortable preparatiues teaching vs to dye godly Thus desirous to gratefy your honour wyth some token of my goodwyl I haue englished this history the which for mani your vertues goodli ornamēts I dedicate vnto your good Lordship Which vertues heauenly giftes your honour hath not of lats acquired but naturally are engraffed in your person Ther is none at thys present that ●auoreth of any learning but hath red the cōmendacion of your most noble Graundfather Wylliam Lord Montioy Who besides nobility of race was adorned with such piety good litterature as he excelled many noble men in England For albeit thys victorious Realme ▪ flourished at those daies with many learned instructors yet the excellency of his courage could not be contented vnles he wer taught of the famous incomparable Clark Erasmus of Roterdam by whose industry he was so aduaunced in letters of humanitye that not onely in hys natiue Country but in many

power Eccius was y● author thereof for none other respect thē to inflame the fyry wrath of the Pope Princes against Luther The simbole of y● Apostles y● same of Nice Athanasius he conserued in their integrity Further he declareth in diuers his works sufficiently what innouaciō is to be required in y● ceremonies tradiciōs of mē wherfore they ought to be altered And what fourme of doctrine administracion of the sacraments he required approued it is apparēt by the confessiō the Elector Iohn Duke of Saxony Prince Phillip Landgraue of Hessia presented to themperor Charles the .v. in the yere 1530. in the assembly at Ausburg It is manifest also by y● cerimonies of y● Church in this City the doctrine y● is preached in our Church the sōme wherof is fully comprised in this confession I alledge this y● the godly may consider not onely what errors he hath corrected reproued what images he hath defaced abolished but also thei may vnderstand he hath cōprehended y● hole doctrine necessary for y● church he hath set y● ceremonies in theyr purity geuen examples to the faithful to repurge reforme the Churches it is necessary for posterity to know● what Luther hath approued I wyl not here commemorate who were the first that published both partes of the Supper of our Lord who fyrst omitted the priuate Masses where fyrst the Monasteries were abandoned For Luther hath disputed verye lytle of these before that assembly which was made in the Towne of Vangions in the yeare 1521 he chaunged not the ceremonies but in his absēce Carolostadius and other altered thē Then Luther returning after that Carolostadius had deuised done certain thinges rather to brede mutiny then otherwyse manifested by euidēt testimonies published abroade touchyng his opinion what he approued and what he mystyked We know that politike men euermore detested all chaunges and we must confesse ther ensueth some euil of dissencions yea trulye moued for ryght good causes in thys horryble confusion of humayne lyfe and yet it is our duty euermore in the Church to aduaunce Gods ordinaunce aboue humayne constitucions The eternal father pronounced thys voyce of hys sonne This is my welbeloued sonne heare hym And menaceth eternall wrath to al blasphemers that is such as endeuour to abolishe the manifest verity And therefore Luther dyd as behoued a Christian faithfully to do considering he was an Instructor of the Church of God It was hys office I say to reprehed pernicious errors whych Epicures table wyth a monstrous impudencye heaped one vpon an other and it was expedient hys Auditors dissented not from hys opinion synce he taught purely Wherfore if alteracion be hatefull and many peryls grow of dissention as we certaynly see manye whereof we be ryght sory they are in fault partlye that spread abroade these errors and partly that wyth diuelyshe dysdayne presently mayntayne them I do not recite this onely to defend Luther hys Auditors but also that the faythful spirites may cōsider now and in tyme to come what is the gouernaūce of the true Church of God and what it hath alwayes bene how God hath gathered to hym selfe one eternal Churche by the voyce of the Gospel of thys masse of sinne that is to say of the huge heape of humayne ordures among whō the Gospel shyneth as a sparke amyd the darke As in the tyme of the Phariseis Zachary Elizabeth Mary and many other reuerenced obserned the true doctrine So haue manye preceeded vs who purely inuocated God some vnderstanding more clearely then some the doctrine of the gospel Such a one was the old man of whom I wrote that often tymes comforted Luther when his astoneinges assayled hym ● after a sorte declared vnto hym the doctrine of the fayth And that God may preserue henceforth the lyght of his Gospell shinyng in many let vs pray with feruent affection as Esay prayeth for hys Hearers Seale the law in my Disciples Further thys aduertisement sheweth playne that coloured supersticions are not permanent but abolished by God and sythe thys is the cause of chaunges we ought diligentlye to endeuour that errours be not taught ne preached in the Churche But I returne to Luther Euen as at the begynnyng he entred in thys matter with out any particular cupidiy so thoughe he was of a firy nature subiect to wrath yet he alwayes remembred his office onely cōtendyng in his teaching prohibited warres to ve attempted and distingued wisely offices wherin was any differece to say the Bishop f●●dyng the flocke of God and the Magistrates that by authority of the sword committed vn to them repres a certayne multitude of people subiect vnto them Wherefore when Sathan contendeth by scandales to dyssipate the Churche of God and contumeliously enrage agaynst hym and delyghteth to doo euyll and reioyceth to behold vs wallowe in the puddle of errour and blyndnes sinylyng at oure destruction he spendeth oyle and toil to enflame and sturre vp myscheuous instrumentes and mutining spirites to so we sedicion as Monetarius and hys lyke Luther repelled boldlye these rages and not onely adorned but also corroborated the dygnitye and bandes of politicke order and ciuill gouernement Therfore whē I cōsider in my mind how many worthy men haue bene in the church that in this erred were abused I beleue assuredly y● Luthers hart was not onely gouerned by humayn diligence but with a heauenly light cōsidering how constantly he a bode wythin the limites of hys office He held not onely in contempt the sedicious Doctours of that tyme as Monetar us and the Auabaptistes but also these horned Byshoppes of Rome who arrogantly impudently by theyr deuised decrees affirmed that Saynt Peter had not the charge alone to teache the Gospell but also to gouerne common weales and exercise ciuil iurisdiction Moreouer he exhorted euerye man to render vnto God that appertayned vnto God and to Cesar that belonged to Cesar to say that al should serue God wyth true repentaunce knowledge and propagacion of hys true doctrine inuocacion workes wrought wyth a pure cōscience And as touchyng ciuil pollecy that euery one should obey the Maiestcates vnder whō he lyued in al ciuil dutyes reuerences for Gods cause And certenly Luther was such a one he gaue vnto God that belonged vnto God he taught God he inuocated God had other vertues necessary for a mā that pleaseth God Further in politike conuersation he constantlye aduoyded al sedicious counsels I iudge these vertues to be so excellent ornamentes as greater and more deuine cānot be required in thys mortal life And al be it that the vertue of thys man is worthy commen●acion the rather for that he vsed the gyftes of God in all reuerence yet our duty is to render condigne thanks vnto God that by him he hath giuē vs the light of the Gospel and to conserue and enlarge the

what can I geue so barrayne of eloquence and ornate phrase If you dyd not remember me I shoulde forget my iust debt now that you presse me I wyl do what I can and y● more is I dare be bold to say thys compendious narratiō wyl delight you much For I write as I haue had experiēce trusting you wyl cōmunicate to none thys discourse but kepe it to your self Zuinglius was borne about the yere of our Lord. 1487. in a Village called Doggiens otherwyse named y● wylde house as high situated as any Mountain in Suicerland I haue ben fond to beleue he gathered Dininity by hys neare neighborhed to heauen considering he hadde not hys lyke of long tyme in holynes of lyfe His Father hight Nicholas Zuinglius hys Mother Margaret Meyline both persons of good fame His father was renowmed as wel for hys integrity as temporal preferment In hys Country he was a principal Gouernour we● estemed Thys man hauing good hope of his yong sonne bestowed him wyth a Priest his Brother to trye yf he were apt to take learning and vnderstandyng by the same his towardnes he put hym to a Scholemaister vnder whō he prospered so well that hys Instructor could not limit him so much to learne as he had ready wyt to receiue Therefore he was sent to Basile beyng but .x. yeares old and had to Maister one Gregory Binzle a learned and ready Teacher There he profited in smal tyme so well that he gayned in disputacion and conference of study muche more then other hys fellowes which moued the elder Scholers to stomake hym He excelled in the arte of Musicke as it is incident to them that be naturally bent more to one science then an other Hys Instructor Binzle louyng hym dearely considered well the maner of teachyng then vsed was farre to base for such a ioly and pregnant wyt and therfore returned him to his Parents praying them to place hym wher as he myght receyue instruction according to hys capacitye Then was he sent to Berne there to studye vnder one Henry Lupulus a learned mā famous in Poesy who first aduaūced and professed letters of humanitye in Suicerland This man red vnto him approued authors of whō he learned the purity of the Latin tong vnderstanding of Authors with good iudgemēt He also learned to write Verses could scan iudge others Poesy He had not fullye consumed two yeres in this study when he had grounded so wel as he might build thereupon the study of Philosophy Thē he repa●red ●● Vienna in Au●triche wher he learned the somme of Philosophie augmented hys knowledge in letters of humanitye In fewe yeares after he was called home and fearing intermission of exercise of learning he returned to Basile where he cōmunicated his skyll to many And being elected principall of S. Martins Colledge he began to professe good learning to the singular commoditye of al his Auditors At vacant tymes he curiously examined Philosophy and the vaine Cōmentes of Sophistes to arme himselfe the more strongly if in time to come it chaunced him to dispute against them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his graue studies with some 〈◊〉 melody as he was pleasantly wy●●●● liuely me●y conceited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●e ●a●ly after he learned to play on all Musicall instrumentes to then●e he might quicken his minde def●tigat●● with studies returne to them with more alacrity I doubt muche deare friend Agathye hold you can beleue this for hereby his enemies haue ●a 〈…〉 ●●●asiō tō 〈◊〉 him a●●enging Musicke is an alluring ●aite to ●eche rous lust no encouragement to gentle studye I haue hearde the peruers pronounce euilly of him speciallye the Babilonical Priestes who lyue licenciously wallow in Venus ●●ddie But who lyues so ●●●●e of spot that can escape Momus blast we wil not be discouraged to aduaunce hys praise what so euer Miöas Mates blinde Bussards chat Is not this an euident argumēt he vsed Musick saw dably consideryng he perswaded 〈◊〉 stubentes to geue them selues therunto and wherefore might he refrayne since there is nothing that reioyceth the sorowful minde more the Musick After he had long tyme trauailed as wel in liberal artes as in the study of philosophie he receiued the due guer●ō of Scholes to wyt the degree of Mayster The whych he tooke not so wyllyngly as to condescend to the opiniō of men who iudge none learned vnles they ●e ●ecked wyth these braue tytles A whyle after as the matter order required he employed hys study in schoole diuinitye but by and by he perceyued that it was but losse of tyme and that by worldly wysdome God Philosophy were mixed together in such sort that of thys vanitye barbarousnes or rather vayne glory there was no certayne hope of anye sincere doctrine yet he continued in thys exercise as though he had bene an espial or loker on the enemies campe till those of Glaris elected hym their Superintendent without taking the order of Prie●thod The whych he tooke afterwardes beyng con●●●ayned to perfect that that the other had begon Hauing receiued thys order he wholy addicted him selfe to study specially of holye Scripture For synce that tyme he made none accompt of good learning but where the same serued hys turne in the sacred scripture and preachinges And for thys purpose he learned Valerius the great by rote because of hys examples He considered that he that had the charge to instruct the flocke of Christ ought to be garnished with the science of manye things specially with diuine knowledge more then with eloquence and elegant phrase to expound althinges duly and for the vtility capacitye of euery one He endeuored wyth all sedulity to atchieue this perusyng alwayes the newe and old Testament elucidating the proprieties of the text applying them as he thought good to the profit and benefit of those of the Countrye that heard him By thys tyme he had so encreased in diuine knowledge that the vertuous learned iudged hym wel exercised in holy scriptures and a perfect Diuine Yet he was not contented ther with vntil he had the knowledge of the tounges to supply that he lacked Wherefore he gaue him selfe first to the Greeke tong by helpe of Lexic●ns or Greke Dictionaries and translacions He wrate S. Paules Epistles in Greke and learned them by rote so as he vnderstoode them better in Greke then in Latin The like he did in all other bookes of the newe Testament But hauing learned of S. Peter that holy scripture is not vnderstanded by particular interpretacion he lifted hys eyes to the heauens beseching the holy Ghost to be his Instructor prayed daylye he myghte haue that grace geuen him to vnderstande sincerelye the sence of the holy Ghost And fearing least vnder colour of the holye Ghoste he shoulde abuse hym selfe he conferred that that was wrytten and illustrated the darke places by the plaine in