that there is no perell in callyng the Emperour or the Pone of Rome Antichrist as theyr confederation and coniuracyon thys day ayâ—â—st the Lorde and hys worde declare them But let vs at last returne to our coniectu re Syth it is geuen to the beast nowe agayn puttynge vp her heade to exercyse and execute her tyrannye xlij Romane moneths which staÌ„d vpon xxx dayes y t is to weit dayes m. cc. lx and the thynge compelleth vs to take them for Aungels dayes that is for m. cc. lx of oure comon yeares it can not be doubted but that these yeares once fulfylled the ende of the worlde is anone at hande But the doubt is where we shall begynne these yeares Some there be that thynke them to begynne anone from the tyme of the Emperoure Constantyne the great because of the gyfte that is fayned to haue had ben geuen to Pope Syluester and because of the translation of the seat Emperyall to Constantinople for that Paul saith He that holdeth must be takeÌ„ away and then that man of sinne shalbe reueled truely fro that tyme wherin they fayne themselues to haue had that ryche gift of Constantyne and they endoted enryched w t the best part of the Empyre euen with hole Rome Italy and halfe y e Empyre as they saye there was a voice herde in the ayer That now is the moste pestilent poysone entred into the churche of Rhome From that day I say yf the noumber be tolde which I wold gladly it shulde there beginne then is the Popedom at an ende within these xxxin yea res or after Daniel within lxiij yeres For then shuld the ende of the world fall about y e year of our Lord. m. ccccc lxxvij or after Daniel m. cccccc vij as it apeared to me by turnynge y e dayes into weâ—is wheÌ„ I gathered my exposicion vpon Daniel as ye may there read my coÌ„iectu re But by what fraud els soeuer y e beast then gote her emperyal possessions priÌ„ cely riches it semeth not true to me saith Osiander y t Constantyne gaue it them for eueÌ„ y e style only of y e instrumeÌ„t made of the same deuocyon gift or legacie proueth it playnlye to be a stark lye of all lyes y t euer were made vnder heuen the most shameles as the moost well lerned man Laurence Valla and Nicholaus de Cusa also Ierome Gatlatanus and other most graue writers now sence haue mooste clerely shewed proued it Wherfor albeit Constantine made a beginnyng to take awaye the former domi nacyon whiche letted y e mouing of y e ryches to y e popedom yet because the beast had not then as yet ben vtterly destroid she myght not be sayd properly to putte forth hir hornes or to lyfte vp her heade ayen except she had first haue ben vtter ly subuerted ouerwhelmed as it were w t waters And therfor we shal iustly begiÌ„ne to reken fro y e yere in y â— which after the translatioÌ„ of the empire Rome was takeÌ„ spoyled breÌ„t of y e Gothes brought thyther of theyr Capitain Alaricho For this is y e very iust end of y e former dominacion after Daniel And this was done in the yeare of the citie about m. c. lxiiij in y t yere of Christ about CCCC xij put nowe together the yeares of Christ. cccc xij and the yeres of the Pope M. cc. lx and thou hast the iuste noumber of M. CCCCCC lxxij And wheÌ„ we shal write and tell so many yeres from Christe then is the fatale ende of the Pope of the citye of Rome present at hande yf it rather be not so as I haue coniectured it aboute xxx yeares to come And thys coÌ„iecture maketh me that I thynke the yea res fro the celestiall Adam vnto the fyerve floude in the seconde coniecture and the iubile yeares of the churche in the thirde coniecture must not be rekened fro the byrthe of our Lorde but from hys re surreccyon For before that tyme he bore the forme of a seruaunte as hymself said to not haue ben comen to be serued but to serue From hys resurrection therfore he beganne iustely to possede hys kyngdom when he sayd All power is geuen me in heauen and earthe For so shall it come to passe that the ende of bothe the Pope and of Rome and of the worlde shall fall into the yeare of our Lorde aboute m. cccccc lxxxviij Whiles the fall of the Pope is lyke to come in the yeare of Christ about m. cccccc lxxij So that y e Popedom slayn extinct yet shal there remaine as it were â–ª xvi yeris in whiche men the aduersary of Christe and antichrist taken away and the gospell frely preched they shal begin ayen to lyue in a wealy securytye and in almaner voluptuose lustis as they wer wont to do And when they shall say peace and secu ritie then shal the soden destructioÌ„ come ouer them as the panges of a woman trauelling of childe and they shall not auoid it Wherfore let vs awake watch and be sober lest this daye take vs as a thefe in the night These things haue I setforth of the coniectures of the laste tymes and ende of the worlde For ther be yet many other things which I will not open nor communicate to the multitude But as for these things what credit there ought to be geuen to them I leaue it to be estemed of the spirituall church of Christe which can iudge all thinges them selues iudged of noman Couiecturs ar they I knowleg and confeâ—â—e it and no oracles Not withstandinge yet vnlesse I be begyled they shal not litely begile ne deceiue any Christen reader Come down Lord Iesu vnto iugement and deliuer they persecuted lytell sely flocke So be it Another coÌ„iectur added of y e translater When the citie of Rome was olde M xxxvij abouth y e yere of Christ. cclxxxvij when Dioclesane themprour begane to raigne there were suche dissencious sectis heresies false doctrine in the church of Rome as of the Manicheis PelagiaÌ„s Arrius c. as had not ben herd of before the popis then being Felix or rather In felix Euticianus an heretique Caius not good By whose contencious scismes and sectis and their so gredy ambicion for euen then begane they to begge and steall from the emprours parte of theyr most pleasant cities and richest possessions and londes and to set themprours and Kings togither by the earis Dioclesiane was so greuosly offended that he abhorred them and their false religioÌ„ and persecuted it whiche they called the christen religion as they do now the popis faith when it was nothing lyke Christe and his gospell but rather Sathans Kingdom and worse then the haithen Here begane the popis of Rome todeclare them selues very antichristis the beast was reueled eueÌ„ vnto the very haithen emprours For
beastis was done when Christ went and ascended to hys Father in the cloudis from the erthe the laste shalbe done when Christe shall returne in the cloudis wyth grete maiestye into the erthe And to be short there is nothing in this place of Daniel that thou maist wreste vnto the last iugment except thou woldest obscure and depraue the hole vision Da. I went to one of the bystanders asking him the trwthe of all these thinges whiche interpreted to me these thinges saing These iiij beastis be iiij Kyng domes whiche shall ryse out of the erth Osi. That is to saye The Babylonik the persik the greke and the Romane Da. And the most hyghe faythfull of God shall receyue and obtayne their Kingdome for euer and euer Osi. That is the former Dominacyon of Rome ended not only Christe but his faythfull with hym shall reygne for the godheyt of Christe once declared by the preachyng of the Gospell and throwing downe of the olde Idolatry there began Christen magistratis to rule and thence forth all imperies were holden to obeye hym Also sith Christ wolde raygne not by violence and weapeÌ„ but by hys word and holy ghoost hym self then not spekynge presentely but only by hys holye faythfull it followeth these faythfull to raygne with Christe because they teache and interprete the word and wyl of god wherfor he sayd Who so heare you heareth me and who so despyse you despyseth me Wherfore whatsoeuer any one of the leaste of the very faythfull shall teache by Christes worde hys spirite shall commaunde or forbydde euen the same also ought not the hygh monarchies of the worlde more to contempne or transgresse then yf Christ hym selfe presently hath commaunded it them in hys owne persone And except they obeye it doutles they shall suffer therfore other her or to come Note also that Daniel cal leth the holy faythfull the most highe for so is it in the hebrwe as thoughe he wold saye I speke not of euery called ho ly one but of the very holy heuenly whiche be sanctifyed wyth the word and spyryte of Christe for there be some holy ons in a certayne externe chosen holynes because they be shauen anointed and oyled of whome we haue called manye the moost holye hyghest fathers in Christe when they be the mooste prophane accursed execrable wretches and abominacyon before God Da. After thys I wold haue lerned diligently concernynge the fowerth beaste which was so muche vulyke all the other and so hugly terryble whose tethe klawes were yerney he eatyng and crasshyng the bones and fleshe and treadyng the rest vnder hys fete And of the .x hornes whiche he had in his head and of the tother that sprange vp before whome the iij. hornes dyd fal euen of the horne that had eyes and a mouth speakyng stought arrogant wordes and was greater then the other I beheld it and lo thys horne made battayll agaynste the holye faythfull Osi. I had behelde the beaste ere he was iudged to death c. Da. And he preuayled agaynste them tyll the olde aged came and gaue the iudgemente to the hyghe sayntes and the tyme came that these holye ons obteyned the kyngedome And he sayd thus Osi. That is to saye The Aungell so sayde whiche was one of the by standers Da. The fourthe beaste shall be the fourth kyngedome vpon the earthe greater then al the other kyngdomes and shall deuoure the vniuersall earthe and trede it downe to duste Also the tenne hornes shalbe tenne Kynges Osi. After the Hebrew maner he calleth them the ten Proconsuls gouernynge the Romane citye and empyre with the moost hyghe administracyon Da. And another shall aryse after them Osi. That was the Emperoure Cesar and Monark Ye must by thys horne changed into the heade vnderstande all the Romane Emperoures reygnynge in contynuall successyon as by euerye one of the tenne hornes all the proconsuls one after another succedyng gouernyng the same prouince Da. And he shal be mightyer then the former And the .iij. Kynges Osi. They be the .iij. counsellers beryng the moâ—st hyghe imperye that is the two counsayllers of the citie and Pompeius Da. He shall brynge them ful law Osi. Thou seyst here that he shal not dissolue the dignitie and power of the x. but only the persons shall he ouercome so y t they humbled and brought vnder shal grauÌ„t hym the imperyall or as Cicero calleth it the kyngly dominioÌ„ Da. And he shall speke wordes agaynst the hyghe God breke downe the moste hyghe holymen and shall thynke to maye change tymes and lawes Osi. That is to oppresse and extirpe the christen religion For the Hebrew hath times and the maner of the re ligyon that is the name remayninge brynge the religion of Christ into a daÌ„pnable supersticiouse abuse To chaÌ„ge the tymes is of eatynge dayes to make fastynge of merye and glad dayes to make sorrouful and sadde dayes of work dayes to make ydle dayes And so to alter Goddes determined tymes as to thynke to preuent with swerde and fyre and to dispoint God of hys immutable infalli ble prouidence which al yet do Thempe rours Popes Kynges Da. And they shalbe delyuered into his hand vnto a ty me and tymes and to half a tyme. That is D. xxxij yeares after Christes ascensyon M. CC. Xl. yeares after the buyldyng of Rome which is vnto thende of the firste dominacyon of Rome For Rome stode fyest vpon Kynges senatours counsayllers and Emperours M. cc. xl yeares vntyll the yeare of Christ. ccccc li. and sence that time put to the first nouÌ„ber of D. xxxij yeres and so haue we froÌ„ Christ. c. lxxxiij but from the beginninge of y e fyrst duminacyoÌ„ we haue M. ccccccc lxxij but let vs heare theautor Osi. This must be vnderstanden after the maner of the holye scripture not that thys onelye horne hauing eyes and mouth shal dure so long But the hole dominicacyoÌ„ of the Romane citye from her fyrst buyldyng vnto thende of her former dominicacion As in the boke of the iuges the scripture sayth Cap. iij. The children of Israel did euyll in the sight of God forgote theyr God seruyng Balim and ast aroth And the Lorde bent hys anger agaynst Israell deliueryng them into the handes of Cusan Rasatham Kynge of Mesopotamye whome they serued viij yeres And they cryed to the Lorde which stered theÌ„ vp a sauioure and delyuered them and the lond had reste xl yeres For this can not be vnderstanden that after theyr delyuerauÌ„ce they had peace xl yeres coÌ„tinu ally but all this together that they synned y t they forgote God serued ydols were delyuered vp to theyr enemies cryed to y e Lord were delyuered had peace for a certain time was done in xl yeares Likewyse here of Rome it may not be vnderstandeÌ„ y t this one horne dured so long tormeÌ„ting the holy meÌ„ but this holy tyme altogether wherin the Romane impery sprang vp grewe so that it was
what it is to blas pheme the tabernacle of God them y ◠dwell in heuen it is plainly perceiued in the. ix of Daniel where it is thus prophe cied of Antioche Out of one of thē there went forth a litle horne it was magnifyed and extolled vp vnto the strengthe tower or tabernacle of heuē he threwe downe some of the starres treding them vnder his feete For trwth it is y t he vnderstode therby the temple of God and the holy men in the peple of Israel And euen so do y e pope blaspheme the church of God and his holy faithfull callinge them heretiques saing y t there is no hope of saluacion except we holde vpō the pope be vnder the court of Rome obe dient to his deuilish lawes and doctrine when it is here clerely said non to haue the trewe hope of saluacion that abide in the popes doctrine But ther be infinit lyke things which aske a nother treatise Ioan. And it was geuen him to make ba taill with the holy faithfull and to ouercome them Osi. So great is the might powr of the lyes of the iuglings of the false coulored doctrine of the false miracles and of the ipocrisye of the popedom that euen the very holy faithful mē shal seme to be ouercomen and taken for here tiques when y ◠pope so dampneth decla reth thē Which thing except we perceiue remember well we can not abhorre and fear his blasphemies But because he blasphemeth non euill men as the self thing witnesseth it but onely the good and the very trwe churche euen Gods holy faithfull we ought to ioye reioyse when we be thus blasphemed of him For it happeneth to vs in to the testinionie that we haue nothing to do with y ◠abominable beast but that we estiewe lothe and abhorre him Ioan. And there was geuen him powr ouer al the trybes and peple tongues folke Osi. This doth thaungel interprete where he saith The. x. hornes whiche thou sawest ar x. Kings which yet haue not receiued their Kingdom but with the beast shall they in one hower receiue powr as Kings These haue one counsel and shall delyuer vp their powr to the beast that is to saye As the first dominacion had x. prouinees ruled by the counsellers euen s◠shall the second dominacion when the beast is now waxen strong haue hir x. Kings as I said to fore For that as before was but one Romane imperie is now diuided into x. kingdōs of which euery one hath hir king which in Ioans time had not yet receiued kingdō For y ◠beast hirself had not then put vp hir head and hornes but they were to receyue it at howr one w t the beaste y t was at the same tyme not so y t one shuld raygne after another as dyd the vn ▪ heades in the secla re imperye but altogether and in the self tyme as we see it in very dede For these Kynges with one counsayll or sentence delyuer vp theyr power to the Pope y t is with a styl secrete cōsent in theyr course and lot they humbly acknoweledge y ◠Pope to be theyr head reuerencyng him for the vicar of Christ submittynge them selues and theyrs vnto hym And thus dyd the beaste get hym power ouer euery kynred trybe people tongue and folke as farre as was the Christendom wyde For when he wold gouerne and rule vnder the holy pretence of religiō so might not hys power extende to the infidels Ian. And all that inhabite the earth shall worshyp the beast whose names be not written in the boke of y ◠liuing lōbe whiche was slayne fro the beginnyng of the world Osi. God which is ryche in mercye for hys excedynge loue wherewith he loued vs when we were dead in synnes he reuiued vs that truely beleued in Christ and hath made vs to sitte in heauenly seatis as wryteth Paul to the Ephes◠Wherfore when the Pope blasphe meth vs he blasphemeth the dwellers in heauen But they whose names be not written in the boke of lyfe they dwell in the earthe for they sauoure but earthely thynges and therfor worshyp they the beaste Ioan. Who so haue eares let him heare who so leadeth into captiuitie him selfe goeth into captiuitie he that slayeth with swerde shall be with swerd slayne And here is the pacience and the fayth of the sayntes Osi. That is yf any man by these thynges spoken can not yet know who is this beaste let hym at least wyse yet vnderstand this one thing yfhe now haue any eares to heare That where the holy faythfull for the faythes sake and trewe doctryne of Christe be led into bōdage of mennis tradiciōs or smytē with swerde or by any other meanis slayne whiche is suffered without shame that openlye for in thys oure tyme manye haue ben slayne and manye presoned and persecuted onelye because with a good conscience they marye theyr lawfull wyues preache and professe the truthe wyll worshyppe non Idols wyl receyue bothe the partes of the souper and not the halfe there is the kyngedome of thys beaste whome God so hateth and detesteth that he wyll vtterlye remesure her with the same measure wherewith she measureth hys sayntes For at her ty me he shall saye Render to her as she hath geuen to vs geue her twyse double accordyng to her owne dedes For the cup that she hathe mengled for you fyll it to her twyse full and howe muche she hath magnifyed herself and sitten in her delicate ease and pleasures so muche rewarde hir with tormentes and waylinges Ioan. And I saw another beast ary syng and ascendynge from out of y ◠erth Osi. And this beast signifyeth as do al y ◠other a certayne kyngdome not of one man but of a certayne greate confuse filthy swarme by a certayn conspirisie and sediciouse consent swarming together on heap as though thei were one body And who be this beast Ioan himself interpreteth it cha xix callig hir y ◠false prophetis which make wondres and miracles befo re the beast Thys beast therfor signifyeth the false flocke the stinkyng donghil the coniured couent and kyngdome of al the false teachers preachers euē y ◠Popes bocherly spiritualty in the hole pope dom And thys beast is sayd to ascende clyme out of the earth to put difference fro the bealtis ascendynge out of the sea For the water is a more thick and grosser element then the ayer and therfore it bryngeth forth greater and grosser beastes And as the water signifye muche pe ple in heapes makyng rumore and tumul te and folke of grosser witte in who encreaceth the loue of voluptuousnes lust to raygne euen so to ryse fro the earthe signifyeth men of more subtyle witte for that not in the water but in the ayer they be created and therin to lyue This beaste therfore is risen vp out of men
beast For all y â— letters of the Hebrewes designe certaine noumbers as do our Latyn letters M. D. V. C. X. L. signifye our noumbers as M. a thousand C. an hundred c. But with the Hebrewes euery wryting or scri pture euery worde is a certein noumber Now sith this beast by hir comon name in the Hebrew tongue is called the Rhomane kingdom this name kingdoÌ„ be comon to hir with other beastes it is manifest the very true and proper name of this beast to be Rhomanum imperiuÌ„ where thou seest how diligent this autor was in his speche to hyde hir name vnder these letters lest meÌ„ should then haue espied him to haue spokeÌ„ of Rome or she had ben reueled by hir owne factis no where openly naming Rome because he wold not at first exasperat hir tyll nowe hiâ— wickednes be full rype and she hath vttered herself declaring her last deadly wounde in resistyng Gods holye Gospell He calleth thys name of the beaste y e noumber of a man ether because it is a known name whiche all men comonlye vse or els because of a man whiche was Rhâ—mulus the citie had her fyrst name The greke letters wherewith this nouÌ„ber â–ª cccccc lxvi is written make also this worde Latinos which name also Virgil geueth to Rhome But the Hebrewe letters make Rhomah whiche signisyeth a proude beast The marke therfor of this name they are sayde to receyue in theyr fore headis which in all theyr vtwarde supersticiouse proude habits and gesture and anon in theyr firste froâ—te as they say they shewe it euen in their first prowd solempne countenaunce and hyghe lookis and crownes declare they themselues to be sworne subiectes seruauntes to the Romyshe beast as do these hoo ded fryers and monkes and shorne polled priestes and Bysshops And in theyr ryght handes they bere his mark which by some certayn Popysh workes of hys commaundementes rytes and institucions testifie theÌ„selues to be obedient to y e Pope as in certayne dayes not to eate fleshe to confesse in lent into the priestes eares to misse and moÌ„ble vp a payer of matens not vnderstanden c. For vnto suche an vtward kynd shew of obedi ence are they conitrayned anon fro their yougthe For they that haue not suche a mark nor wil not receyue it they be takeÌ„ as haitheÌ„ miscreants But yf they conteÌ„p ne it then be thei accursed and excluded out of all mens company And yf the comon people wold not estiewe theÌ„ then y â— Pope interdicteth theyr churches no diuine seruice there to be sayd ne song And so in dede myght thei nether bye nor sell which had not this Romith beastis bron de Also that we maye somwhat vnderstand of the last end destruccyoÌ„ of this abominable beast I shal yet bryng forth a fewe mo wordis of the Aungell interpreting this vision saying The x. horns which y u sawest are x. Kynges these shal fyght with the loÌ„b that is they shal persecute y â— true doctrine partly of ignoraÌ„ce seducte of the Pope and partely for hys money and ayed to do hym pleasures whome they couet greatly to please as now of late doeth Themperour But y e lombe shal ouercome them For he is the Lorde of Lordes and Kyng of Kynges And the called and chosen faythful whiche be with hym shal fight agaynst this beast For Christ shall not fyghte but w t suche instrumentes not with swerd figh tyng but with the worde of God and w t iuste argumentes taken out of the scriptures especyally nowe in thys our tyme wherin after the .xxx. iubiley of the churche Christe beginneth agene to preache as we sayd in the third coÌ„iecture And y e Kynges by litle and litle shalbe ouercomen as euen nowe be many rulers and Kynges ouercomen and with the moost laude and prayse haue they geuen place to the trouth nowe knowne So that there is very good hope the reste also to geue place to the most euydent truth yf we now stroÌ„gly fyght with prayers Wherof at last it shall folow that they shall hate thys whore euen the court of Rome for her abominacyons and seduccyons shall make her desolate and naked eate vp her fleshe that is hyr ryches and robbe her of all her possessions and substauÌ„ce and burne vp her citie as it was once before burned For God sayth the Aungell hathe geuen it into their hartes so to do his pleasure and to do the same wyll that they shulde geue theyr kingedome to the beast tyll the wordes of god be ended And here oh reader I wolde thou shuldest diligently waye the wordes of the Aungell as they be most worthye to be noted For where before he spake of y e tenne Kynges then to haue one counsell and sentence to delyuer theyr strength power to the beaste he sayth it not to be the counsell and sentence of God but here where he sayth them to robbe y e whore and to burne hir vp with fyer he saieth that this thing god did geue it into their hertis to do the mynde sentence of him For in that thei in tymes past extolled y e pope thei did it by their owne proper pri uate counsell pleasure But where thei a litle after shall spoile and burne hir y t shal thei do by the counsell and pleasure of God Bothe of them yet notwithstanding that is to weit that thei in time past extolled hir and that thei shal robbe hir flowde forth of the hidde iudgemente of God For the first that is that they exal ted reuerenced magnifyed the Pope gaue hym their autoritie streÌ„gth powr they did it verely by the priuate counsell of God which yet tended to this ende y t the wordes of God shulde be fulfylled which the holy ghost spake before by the mouth of Paule the Apostle euen thus Because many shall not receyue the loue of the truthe that thereby they myght be saued therfor shall God send them men teachyng errours and workyng false mi racles that they beleue lyes and be condempned all that beleue not the truthe but consent to wickednes Also last of all that they shall robbe and spoyle the Pope and burn vp the citie This shall they not do tyl God put it into theyr hertis by hys word and so illumine them that they shall vnderstand and knowe themselues rightly and in dewe order to do it and to fulfill the wyll of God in vtterly subuer tyng ouerthrowyng y e popedoÌ„ Wherfor it is lyke that the Turke shall not be the instrument to destroye the popedom as some men thinke For one deuill shall not cast out an other nether any that is not of the nouÌ„ber of those x Kinges shal go agaynst the Pope to destroy hym w t batayl For it is geuen hym to ouercome the holy faythfull vntyll the wordes of God be fulfyllled whiche be nowe thys day almost fulfilled all But yet