preyse for the tyme all that she doth / bicause they haue delite therin But and the folysshe maydes coulde here what men speake afterwardes amonge them selfe one vnto an other / without dissimulation than shulde they knowe in dede howe hartely they preysed them and lyked them they shulde vnderstāde than / that whan the men called her mery conceyted / they ment they were bablars / and chatters and whan they called them lusty tyrers / they mēt they were lyght mynded and where they called them well nurtred / they ment they were wanton But some wold say here / yet by these meanes they come by mariage I graunt / in dede some do but the moste parte doth nat For both mo be maried / and that also vnto better husbādes / that neuer go about to tempte no men / the whiche whan they se them selfe begyled with the women / they kylle them vp with yll intreatynge And this the mayde may be sure of / that she shall neuer haue good lyfe with that husbande / whiche she hath gootten by wyles and craftes Or if there be any man so mad or folisshe / that had leauer haue suche a woman to his wyfe / than one that loueth solitariousnes / and is sad both of behauour and aparell / and mylde of there suche a mā wolde nat I marye my doughter to for he muste nedes loue lewdnes and vyce / that setteth more by suche knackes / thā by vertue and goodnes Nowe wil I speke a fewe wordes of loue / the whiche doteth all maydes for the mooste parte / disceiueth them greatly / and bryngeth to moche mischiefe For hit dothe nat become amayd to make any signe / that she wold fayne be maried / or that she loue any yōge man to wedde For if she loue hym afore or she haue hym / that it be knowē / what shall he thynke / but that she wyll as lyghtly loue another as she hath done hym / whom as yet she ought to shewe no loue vnto neither he wil beleue that she loueth hym alone / seynge there is as great cause to loue other And if he shulde marie her / he wyll thȳke she wyll haue as good mȳde to other as hym selfe / whan she is so lyght of loue Let euery body excuse the matter as they wyll / but in very dede euery woman / that loue the any man vesyde her husbande / is accursed / if she haue a do with hym and though she haue nat / yet is she an harlotte in mȳde And there hath bene many that haue loued so outragiously / that they haue bene obedient vnto the pleasure of those mē / whom they hoped shulde be their husbandes And afterward that men haue dispised cast them vp whiche in my mynde was well and wysely done For they be vnworthy for to be maried / that dare shewe an example vnto those men / whom they shulde haue / howe well they can fynde in their harte to lye with a mā / that is nat theyr husbande For by likelihode they wyll both do that same with other men afore their mariage / and in their mariage with theyr adulterers There is no daye / wheron these thynges by chance nat in euery cite nor there is no woman so ignorāt what is done in the cite / but she hereth tell of these thynges I haue harde tell in this countre / that wowars haue bene forsakē for none other cause / but bycause there was no loue betwene the parties afore For the yonge women sayde / they coulde nat loue them / nor fynde in theyr harte to haue them in mariage / whom they loued nat / nor knewe before and this is a great vse they saye / in Candye What nede is it to rebuke suche myndes with wordes / whiche who so dothe nat perceyue to be vnchaste / I holde her farre more noughtye than they be Nowe than louest nat thou thy husbande / bycause he is coupled vnto the by goddis lawes and goddis commandement / but bycause thou arte vsed to his loue before So do drabbes and harlottis / whiche for lyke cause loue theyr louers and thou arte nat farre vnlyke vnto those drabbes And so hit chanceth vnto suche women / euen by the punyshemēt of god / that all the loue / whiche they ought to kepe in theyr mariage / they spende it out afore Wher of this common sayenge came vp that they that marie for loue / shall leade their lyfe in sorowe For it chanceth by many / that after the heate of loue is ones past / there foloweth great hate / whiche thyng ofte tymes maketh wōdre and talke amonge the people / whan they here tell / howe so great louers within .iii. or .iiij. dayes fal at debate / and begynne to deuorce / or the bryde cake be eaten Nor it is no maruayle for neyther the fyre maye laste / that lacketh wodde neyther loue / that is nat nourisshed with honest louynge For amonge yll folkes / as Cicero sayth / can be no sure frendshippe Wherfore hit is nat expedient to make maryages by loue afore hande / neither to couple and bynde that mooste holy charite with so fylthy and brytell bandes and yet moche worse is it to make them to marye by stryuyng / and hate / thretnyng / and sute as whan they go to lawe to gether / the man for the woman / bearynge her in hande / that she is his wyfe and the woman in lyke maner for the mā I neuer harde tell of more folysshenes / than for a woman to laboure to haue a mā / agaȳst his wyll / with whom she shall bothe lyue atwynne and excepte he loue her / she shall lyue in perpetuall sorowe And loue muste be gotten with fayre meanes / and nat compelled For he wyll neuer be a sure frende / that is drawen and holden by force What a madnes is hit to begynne that sacrament of holy loue with hate I wolde nat / so god me helpe / haue a seruant agaynst his wyll moche lesse a mate neyther hit is nat good to compell a man agaynst his wyll Nor I wolde the woman shulde be maryed vnto hym / excepte he desyre her with all his harte nor hit becometh nat the maydes frēdes to pray or labour for a maryage / or ones to offre the mayde of theyr partye but the mā shulde seke for mariage and so it shulde be done in dede / sauyng that money ruleth and ordreth all thynge For nowe they be maryed vnto money / money marieth And as Senec saythe / men drawe theyr wyues to them with theyr fyngers And therfore se we so many sorye and vnluckye maryages / whan bothe the partyes se them selfe coupled vnto the money / and nat vnto the mā or the woman Therfore bothe of them enbraseth and holdeth faste it And as for the wyfe / the husbande kepeth her but as his concubyne / and she hym as aduoutrer neyther loueth one another /
thou nat in thyn owne power / but vnder it / neyther thou canste nat rydde the therof whan thou woldest Who wolde be glad to receyue home suche a guest Who wyll nat kepe hȳ away frō his house For loue fyrst of all troubleth and tosseth al thynge vp set downe at his luste / that hym selfe may beare the more outragious rule / and confoūdeth and blyndeth the witte and reason / that it shall nat se and knowe what is done within / but suffre it selfe to be holly ledde and drawen at loues pleasure This cruell venome that so robbethe vs of our syght / and draweth vs ouer a thousande rockes and hylles / and many tymes throweth vs in suche a doungian / from whēce we can neuer scape out There is no dede so vngratious / so cruell / so outragious / or so strange / that we wyll nat do to obey loue Disceyue frendes / kyl kyns folke / sle father and mother / mourder chyldren / whom her selfe hath borne / all these be but trifyls for loues pleasure neither it is rekened any great greuous acte to destroy vtterly theyr countrey / to perysshe an holle realme / or rydde vp all mankynde What remembrance can here be of holynes / of vertue / iustice / god / of deuotion / or good mynde / all is but iapes / yea and finally thyn owne helth forgotten Wherfore / who so is safe inough / and consydereth these thynges / and doth nat his diligence neuer to come in to this rage and fransy / is worthy to be kepte therin / nor neuer to fynde ende or measure of that iuell / but to be vexed bothe day and nyght with the fyre brande of Cupide neyther to take meate / nor slepe / nor se / nor reste / neither to haue any vse belongynge vnto mankynde This affection of loue taketh wonders sore the myndes of all folkes / and specially of women Wherfore they had nede to take the more hede / leste it steale in vpon them For it cometh commonly at vnware vpon suche as wyll take no labour to auoyde hit / whan they be in the danger and occasions therof / nor care what mynde come / but receyue hit whan it cometh / as a swete and a pleasant thynge nat knowynge what and howe perillous a poyson / lyeth hydde vnder that pleasāt face Therfore they shulde specially withstāde the fyrst occasions whiche thyng Ouide the maister of loue counsayleth / and as the Prophet in the psalme dothe teache Suffre nat those chyldren of Babylon to growe vp / but knocke them vpō a stone / and breke them on the harde fyrmamēt of religion / that is Christ / whiche in the cantikels gyueth warnynge vnto virgins / sayenge Take ye the yonge foxes / whiche marre your vins And he cōmandeth to take them the more dilygently / if the vins shewe all redy flowers of good frute Nowe loue by lōge space waxeth more / gethereth strēgth as many other thynges do / For Ouide sayth / I haue sene a wounde / that in the begynnynge Mought easily haue be brought to healynge Whiche by delay and continuance Hath after growen vnto more greuaunce Gyue none eare vnto the louer / no more thanne thou woldeste do vnto an inchauntoure or a sorcerer For he cometh pleasātly and flaterynge / fyrst praysynge the mayde / shewynge her howe he is taken with the loue of her beautie / that he must be deed for her loue for these louers knowe well inough / the vayne glorious mȳdes of many / whiche haue a great delyte in theyr owne preyses / where with they be caught lyke as the Byrder begyleth the byrdes He calleth the fayre / propre / wytty welspoken / and of gentyll bloode Wherof parauenture thou arte nothynge at all / and thou lyke a foole arte glad to here those lyes / weneste that thou doeste seme so in dede / whan thou arte neuer a whytte so But put case thou doeste seme so / loke whether he call the wyse and honeste / whiche if he do nat all thy preyse is nought and if he do / what maye he hope to gette of the For if he hope to optayne his purpose therby / than hath he belyed the. How hath he thā hādled his matt He sayth he is taken with thy propretes what than and sayth he shall dye / excepte he maye haue the / yea there is the cause of his complaynt Therfore beware thou / leste thy selfe be taken also with his wordes / and perysshe as well as he He saythe he shall dye for the / yea and that he dieth euē streight way Beleuest thou that A foole / let hym shewe the / howe many haue dyed for loue / amōge so many thousandes as haue bene louers Loue dothe peyne some tymes but it neuer sleeth Or though he dyd dye for the / yet it were better for the let hym perysshe / than be perisshed thy selfe and that one shulde perisshe thā twayne I nede nat to reherse here / the common songe of louers / whiche they synge onely to disceyue / whan they haue many tymes nat one droppe of loue towarde her For if he had ones fulfylled his appetite of the / than wolde he shewe howe moche he loued the. If he had loued thy good vertues mynde / as longe as thou haddest lyued / he wolde neuer haue ben full or wery of the. But nowe bycause he loued but only thy body / and the shorte pleasure therof / therfore whā the body decayeth / his loue also vanissheth away / and he fylled and saciate with pleasure / lotheth the plente There be nat a fewe examples therof neither we nede nat to fetche them of the olde worlde For there is none so ignorant / but he hath harde tell / and seen thousandes of men / whiche whan they had abused yonge women for a season / haue caste them vp in to some stewes / bycause they neuer loued them in dede And manye that haue loued very feruētly / haue bene turned at the last from hotte loue vnto mortall hate / and haue kylde their loues / or cutte theyr throttis There is no cite / wherin those thynges be nat harde dayly Wherfore I wonder moche of the foly of yonge women Whiche wyllyngly drowne them selfe in the great see of wretchednes Wherof come so manye stewes / and so many harlottis / yea that haue ben cōmen of honeste kynne What is the cause / that so many yonge women lye pockye / and scabbed / in spyttels / and lazer houses / and that yonge women What is the cause that so manye go a beggynge / pale and sycke / but these meanes Wherfore if no regarde of vertue / no regarde of goodnes and honestie may moue the / if none actis of holy virgins may reuoke the / at leste wyse let these miserable chancis ef yonge women turne the / whiche doutlesse shall light vpō the / if thou folowe on the same
/ as myghty of possessions as she / he bad haue wolle in her handes and her selfe either to spynne / to warpe / orels wynde spyndels in a case for to throw wofe of / to wynde on clewes the spynnyng of others / to ordre suche as shulde be wouen For the dressyng of wolle hath ben euer an honest occupatiō for a good woman In Rome all maydes / whā they were fyrst maryed / brought vnto theyr husbandes house dystaffe and spyndell with wolle / and wyped / stryked / and garnysshed the postes with wolle Whiche thyng was a great ceremony with them And aft / she shulde be made sytte on a felle with wolle / that she myght lerne / what she ought to do at home Than after warde she shulde saye these wordes vnto her husbande Where as thou arte Caius / there am I Caia Nowe was this Caia Tanaquil an Etruscian borne / a very noble woman and a sadde / wyfe vnto kynge Tarquine Priscus Whiche Caia Tanaquil vsed all her labour in wolle Therfore after her deth she was worshypped for a goddis / and her image set vp with a rocke / as a token and a signe of chastite and labour Also there was a custome to crye at the weddyng oftētymes / Thalassio Thalassio / that is as ye wolde saye / The wolle basket The wolle basket to th entent / the newe maried wyfe shulde remembre / what she shuld haue to do Therfore it was rekened a sygne of a wyse and a chaste womā to do that busynes The kynges sonne of Rome / and noble yonge men of the kynges bloode / whan they fell at argument about theyr wyues / came sodaynly home to Rome / they founde other of the kynges daughters in lawe amonge theyr companions and mates makynge good chere But they founde Lucrecia syttyng at her wolle vntyl late in the nyght / and her maydes busy about her / in her owne house Than all they by one assent gaue her the price of goodnes and chastite What tyme all the empire and dominion of Rome was in Augustus handes / yet he set his daughters his necis to worke vpō wolle Like wyse Terence / where he doth describe a sobre a chaste yōge womā sayth Gettynge her lyuyng by wolle webbe And Solomon / where he doth speke of the preyse of an holy woman sayth She sought for wolle and flaxe and wrought by the counsayle of her hādes Nor it maketh no force after my mynde / whether it be wolle or flaxe / for bothe perteyne vnto the necessary vses of our lyfe and be honest occupations for womē Anna mother vnto Samuel the prophet / made with her owne hādes a lynen rochet for her sonne The moste chast quene of Ithace Penelope passed the .xx. yeres that her husbāde was away / with weauynge Quenes of Macidony Epyre weaued garmentes with theyr owne handes / for theyr husbande 's / bretherne / fathers / chyldren of whiche maner garmentes / kynge Alexāder shewed some vnto the quenes of Perse lande / that his mother and sisters had made Writers of histories make mention / that molde tyme there was wonte in Spayne great wagers to be layde / who shuld spȳne / or weaue most / and tymes were apoynted to brynge forth theyr worke to shewe it / and gyue iugement of hit And great honour and preyse was gyuen vnto them / that labored moste and dilygentlyest And yet vnto this day / remayneth the same mynde and loue of sobre sadnes in many and thapplyenge of theyr worke is bosted and talked of And amonge all good women hit is a great shame to be idell Therfore quene Isabell kynge Fardinandos wyfe taught her doughters to spynne / sowe / and peynte of whom two were quenes of Portugal / the thyrde of Spayne / mother vnto Carolus Cesar the fourth mooste holy and deuoute wyfe vnto the mooste gratious kyng Henry the .viij. of Englande Let the maide also lerne cookery / nat that slubberyng and excesse in meates to serue a great meyny / full of delicious pleasures glotony whiche cookes medle with / but sobre and measurable / that she maye lerne to dresse meate for her father / and mother / and bretherne / while she is a mayde and for her husbāde and chyldren / whan she is a wyfe and so shall she gette her great thāke both of the one and thother whan she doth nat laye al the labour vpon the seruantes But her selfe prepare suche thynges as shall be more pleasant vnto her father and mother bretherne / and husbāde / and children / than if they were dressed by seruātes And that the more pleasant / if they were seke Nor let no body lothe the name of the kechyn namely beyng a thyng very necessary without the whiche neither seke folkes can amende nor holle folkes lyue The whiche occupacion Achilles both a kyng a kynges son a lorde most noble dyd nat disdayne to do For what tyme Vlisses and Nestor came to hym / for agrement betwene hym and Agamemnon / he layde the tables hym selfe / and tucked vp his clothes / and went in to the kechyn / and prepared theyr meate / to make the noble prīces sobre and tēperate chere / whom he loued so well Also hit is a thynge perteynyng vnto temperance and honestie for whan the maistres or her doughter is by / all thynge is done the more diligētly What deyntenes of hāde is that / and what lothyng of the kechyn / that they maye nat abyde to hādle or se that / whiche theyr father / or mother / or husbande / or brother / or elles theyr childe must eate Let them that do so / vnderstande / that they beray fyle theyr hādes more / whā they lay them on an other mā thā their owne husbāde / thā though they babled blacked them in soute And that it is more shame to be sene in a daūce thā in the kechyn / to handle well tables cardes thā meate And worse becometh a good womā to tast a cuppe of drynke in a feast or a bāket / reached vnto her by an other man / than to taste a suppynge in the kechyn to gyue her husbande Therfore by my coūsaile a woman shall lerne this crafte / that she may in euerye tyme of her lyfe please her frendes / and that the meate may come more clenly vnto the table I haue sene in Spayne and in France / that haue mēded of their sickenes by meates dressed of their wyues / doughters / or doughters in lawe haue euer after loued them farre the better for hit And agayne I haue sene / that haue ben hated / as doughter of the father and doughter in lawe of the father in lawe / and wyfe of her husbande / bycause they haue sayde / they coude nat skile of kookery Of the lernyng of maydes The fourth chaptre OF maydes some be but lyttell mete for lernyng Lyke
wyse as some men be vn apte / agayne some be euē borne vnto hit / or at lest nat vnfete for hit Therfore they that be dulle are nat to be discoraged / and those that be apte / shulde be harted encoraged I perceiue that lerned women be suspected of many as who sayth / the subtyltie of lernynge shulde be a noryshement for the malitiousnes of theyr nature Verely I do nat alowe in a subtile and a crafty womā suche lernȳg / as shulde teche her disceyte / and teche her no good maners and vertues Natwithstandyng the preceptes of lyuȳg / thexāples of those that haue lyued well / and had knowlege to gether of holynes / be the kepers of chastite and purenes / and the copies of vertues / and prickes to pricke and to moue folkes to contynue in them Aristotel asketh a question / why trompetters and mynstrelles / that playe at festis for wagis / and resortynges gatherynges of people / whom the grekes call in their langage / as ye wolde say / Bacchus seruantes / be euer gyuen vnto pleasures / and no goodnesse at all but spēde out theyr thryfte / and theyr lyfe in noughtynes He maketh answere hym selfe / that hit is so / bycause they be euer amonge volupteis and pleasures / and bankettyng nor here any tyme the preceptes of good lyuyng nor regarde any man that lyueth well and therfore they can lyue none other wyse thā they haue lerned / eyther by seynge or heryng Nowe haue they harde / nor sene / neither vsed any thynge / but pleasure and beastlynes / amonge vncomely cryeng and shouttyng / amonge dauncers and kyssers / laughers and eaters / drunkerdes and spewers / amonge folke drowned in excedyng ouermoche ioye and gladnes all care and mynde of goodnes layde aparte Therfore muste they nedes shewe suche thynges in theyr conditions and all theyr lyfe But you shall nat lyghtlye fynde an yll woman / excepte it be suche one / as eyther knoweth nat / or at leste way consydereth nat what chastite honestie is worthe nor seeth what myschiefe she doth / whā she for goth it nor regardethe howe great a treasure / for howe fowle / for howe lyght / and transitorie an image of pleasure she changeth what a sort of vngratiousnessis she letteth in / what tyme she shutteth forthe chastite nor pōdreth what bodily pleasure is / howe vayne and folyshe a thynge / whiche is nat worth the turnynge of an hande / nat only vnworthy wherfore she shulde cast away that / whiche is moost goodly treasure / that a woman canne haue And she that hath lerned in bokes to caste this and suche other thynges / and hath furnyshed fensed her mynde with holy coūsailes / shal neuer fȳde to do any vilany For if she can fynde in her harte to do naughtyly / hauyng so many preceptes of vertue to kepe her / what shulde we suppose she shulde do / hauynge no knowlege of goodnes at al And truely if we wold call tholde worlde to remembraunce / and reherce theyr tyme / we shall fynde no lerned woman that euer was yll where I coude brynge forth an hundred good / as Cornelia / the mother of Gracchus / whiche was an example of all goodnes chastite / and taught her childrē her owne selfe And Portia the wyfe of Brutus / that toke of her fathers wysedome And Cleobula daughter of Cleobulus / one of the .vij. wyse men / whiche Cleobula was so gyuen vnto lernynge and philosophie / that she clerely dispised all pleasure of the body / and lyued perpetuallye a mayde at whom the doughter of Pythagoras the philosopher toke exāple / whiche after her fathers deth was the ruler of his schole / and was made the maystres of the college of virgins Also Theano / one of the same secte schole / doughter vnto Metapontus / whiche had also the gyfte of prophesie / was a woman of syngular chastite And saynt Hieronyme sayth / that the .x. Sibilles were virgins Also Cassandra / and prophetis of Apollo / and Iuno at Cryssa / were virgins / and that was a common thyng / as we rede / that those women that were prophetes were virgins eke And she that answered suche as came to aske any thyng of Apollo in Delphis / was euer a virgine of whom the fyrste was Phemone / whiche fyrste foūde verse royal Also Sulpitia / wyfe vnto Caleno / lefte be hynde her holy preceptes of matrymony / that she hadde vsed in her lyuynge her selfe / of whom the poet Martial writeth on this wyse Redeth Sulpitia all yonge women That caste your mynde to please one man Redeth Sulpitia also all men That do entende to please one woman Of honest and vertuous loue doth she tell / Chaste pastymes / playes and pleasure Whose bokes who so consydreth well Shall say / there is none holyer And hit is playnly knowen / that no man in that tyme was more happy of his wyfe / than was Caleno of Sulpitia Hortentia the doughter of Hortentius thoratour / dyd so resemble her fathers eloquence / that she made an oration vnto the iuges of the cite for the women whiche oration the successours of that tyme dyd rede / nat only as a laude and preyse of womens eloquence / but also to lerne counnyng of it / as well as of Cicero or Demosthenes orations Edesia of the cite of Alexandre / kins womā vnto Syryā the philosopher / was of so great lernyng and vertuous disposition / that she was a woundre vnto all the worlde in her tyme. Corinna Theia a vertuous woman ouer came the poete Pindar .v. tymes in verses Paula the wyfe of Senec / enfourmed with the doctrine of her husbande / folowed also her husbande in conditions And Senec him selfe maketh sorowe / that his mother was nat well lerned in the preceptes of wyse men / whiche she had bene entred in at her husbandes commandement Argentaria Polla / wyte vnto the poete Lucane / whiche after her husbandes dethe corrected his bokes / and it is sayde / that she helped hym with the makynge / was a noble woman of byrthe / ryche and excellent of beautie and wyt / and chastite of whom Calliope in Statius speaketh thus vnto Lucane / I shall nat only gyue the excellence in makynge But also bynde in maryage the vnto One mete for thy wytte and great counnyng Suche as Venus wold gyue or the goddes Iuno In beautie symplicite / and gentilnes In byrthe / grace / fauour / and ryches Also Diodorus the logitiā had .v. daughters excellent in lernynge and chastite of whom Philo / mayster vnto Carneades / wryteth the historye zenobia the quene of palmyra / was lerned both in latyn and greke / and wrote an historie of whom / with other mo in the next boke / I shal tel the maruaylous chastite I nede nat to reherse the Christen women / as Tecla disciple of Paule / a scholer mete for
wolde lerne any thynge / lette them aske theyr husbandes at home And vnto his disciple Timothe he wryteth on this wyse Let a woman lerne in silence with all subiection But I gyue no licence to a womā to be a teacher / nor to haue authorite of the man but to be in silēce For Adam was the fyrst mayde / and after Eue / and Adam was nat betrayed / the woman was betrayed in to the breche of the commandement Therfore bicause a womā is a fraile thynge / and of weake discretion / and that maye lightly be disceyued whiche thynge our fyrst mother Eue sheweth / whom the deuyll caught with a lyghte argument Therfore a woman shulde nat teache / leste whan she hath taken a false opinion beleue of any thyng / she spred hit in to the herars / by the autorite of maistershyp / and lyghtly bringe other in to the same errour / for the lerners commēly do after the teacher with good wyll What bokes be to be redde / and What nat The .v. Chapter SAynt Hieronyme Wrytynge vnto Leta of the teachynge of Paula / cōmaundeth thus Let her lerne to here nothȳg nor speke but it that perteyneth vnto the feare of god Nor there is no dout / but he wyll counsayle the same of redynge There is an vse nowe a dayes worse thā amonge the pagans / that bokes writen in our mothers tōges / that be made but for idel mē womē to rede / haue none other matter / but of warre and loue of the whiche bokes I thȳke it shal nat nede to gyue any preceptes If I speake vnto Christen folkes / what nede I to tell what a myschiefe is towarde / whan strawe drye wodde is cast in to the fire Yea but these be writē say they / for idel folke / as though idelnes were nat a vice gret inough of it selfe / without firebrondes be put vnto it / wherw t the fire may catche a mā al to gether more hote What shulde a mayde do with armoure Whiche ones to name were a shame for her I haue herde tell / that in some places gentyl womē behold marueilous busily the playes and iustynges of armed men / and gyue sentence and iudgement of them and that the men feare and set more by theyr iugementes than the mennes Hit can nat lyghtly be a chaste mynde / that is occupied with thynkynge on armour / and turney / and mannes valiaunce What places amōge these be for chastite vnarmed and weake A womā that vseth those feates drynketh poyson in her herte of whom this care and these wordes be the playne sayenges This is a deedly sickenes / nor yet ought to be shewed of me but to be couered and holden vnder / leste hit hurte other with the smell / and defile them with the infection Therfore whan I can nat tell whether it be mete for a Christen mā to handle armur / howe shulde it be lefull for a woman to loke vpon them / yea though she handle them nat / yet to be conuersant amonge them with herte and mynde / whiche is worse Moreouer / wherto redest thou other mennes loue and glosyng wordes / and by lytell lytel drykest the entycemētes of that poyson vnknowynge / and many tymes ware and wittyngly For many / in whom there is no good mynde all redy / redē those bokes to kepe hym selfe ī the thoughtes of loue It were better for them nat only to haue no lernynge at all / but also to lese theyr eies / that they shulde nat rede and theyr eares / that they shulde nat heare For as our lorde sayth in the gospell it were better for them to go blynde and deffe in to lyfe / than with .ij. eies to be caste in to helle This mayde is so vile vnto Christen folkes / that she is abominable vnto pagās Wherfore I woūder of the holy preachers / that whan they make great a do about many small matters / many tymes / they crye nat out on this in euery sermone I maruayle that wyse fathers wyll suffre theyr daughters / or that husbandes wyll suffre theyr wyues / or that the maners customes of people wyll dissemble and ouer loke / that women shal vse to rede wantonnes Hit were fyttyng that cōmon lawes and officers shulde nat onely loke vpon the courtes matters of sute / but also maners bothe cōmune and pryuate Therfore hit were conuenyent by a cōmune lawe to but away foule rebaudye songes / out of the peoples mouthes whiche be so vsed / as though nothyng ought to be songen in the cite / but foule and fylthy songes / that no good man can here without shame / nor no wyse man wtout displeasure They that made suche songes seme to haue none other purpose / but to corrupt the maners of yōge folkes / and they do none other wyse / than they that infecte the cōmon welles with poyson What a custome is this / that a songe shal nat be regarded / but it be full of fylthynes And this the lawes ought to take hede of and of those vngratious bokes / suche as be ī my coūtre ī Spayne Amadise / Florisande / Tirante / Tristane / and Celestina the baude mother of noughtynes In Frāce Lancilot du Lake / Paris and Vienna / Ponthus and Sidonia / Melucyne In Flāders / Flori and White flowre / Leonell and Canamour / Curias Floret / Pyramus and Thysbe In Englande / Parthenope / Genarides / Hippomadon / William and Melyour / Libius and Arthur / Guye / Beuis / and many other And some translated out of latine in to vulgare speches / as the vnsauery cōceytes of Pogius / and of Aeneas Siluius / Eurialus and Lucretia whiche bokes but idell menne wrote vnlerned / and sette all vpon fylthe and vitiousnes in whom I woūder what shulde delyte men but that vice pleaseth them so moche As for lernynge none is to be loked for in those men / whiche sawe neuer so moche as a shadowe of lernȳg them selfe And whā they tell ought / what delyte can be in those thȳges / that be so playne folisshe lyes One kylleth .xx. hym selfe alone / an other .xxx. an other wounded with C. woundes / and lefte deed / ryseth vp agayne / and on the next day made hole strōge / ouer cometh .ij. gyantes and than goth away loden with golde / and syluer / and precious stones / mo thā a galy wolde cary away What a madnes is hit of folkes / to haue pleasure in these bokes Also there is no wytte in them / but a fewe wordes of wantonne luste whiche be spoken to moue her mynde with / whom they loue / if it chaunce she be stedfast And if they be redde but for this / the best were to make bokes of baudes craftes for in other thynges / what crafte can be hadde of suche a maker / that is ignorant of all good crafte Nor I neuer harde man
say / that he lyked these bokes but those that neuer touched good bokes And I my selfe some tyme haue redde in them / but I neuer foūde in them one steppe either of goodnes or wit And as for those that preyse them / as I knowe some that do / I wyll beleue them / if they preyse them after that they haue redde Cicero and Senec / or saynt Hieronyme / or holy scripture / and haue mēded theyr lyuyng better For often tymes that onely cause why they preyse them is / bycause they se in them theyr owne conditions / as in a glasse Finally / though they were neuer so wytty and pleasāt / yet wolde I haue no pleasure infected with poysō nor haue no woman quickened vnto vice And verely they be but folisshe husbandes and mad / that suffre their wyues to waxe more vngratiously subtyle by redyng of suche bokes But wherto shulde I speake of folysshe and ignorant wryters / seyng that Ouide woulde nat / that he that entendeth to fle vnchast maners / shulde ones toughe the moost witty and well lerned poetes of the grekes and latynes / that wryte of loue What can be tolde more pleasant / more swete / more quicke / more profitable / with all maner of lernyng / than these poetes / Calimachus / Phileta / Anacreon / Sappho / Tibullus / Propertius / and Gallus whiche poetes all Grece / all Italy / yea and all the worlde setteth great price by and yet Ouide byddeth chaste folkes let them alone / sayenge in the seconde boke of the Remedies of loue / Though I be lothe / yet wyll I saye With wanton poetes se thou do nat mell Ha myne owne vertues nowe I caste awaye Beware Calimachus for he teacheth well To loue / and Cous also well as he And olde Anacreon wryteth full wantonly And Sappho eke often hath caused me To deale with my lady more liberally Who can escape fre / that redeth Tibullus / Or Propertius / whan he dothe synge Vnto his lady Cynthia Orels Gallus And my bokes also sounde suche lyke thynge They soūde so in dede / and therfore was he banisshed / nothynge without a cause of the good prince Wherfore I preyse greatly the sad maners either of that tyme / orelles of that prince But we lyue nowe in a Christen countre and who is he / that is any thyng displeased with makers of suche bokes nowe a dayes Plato casteth out of the common welth of wyse men / whiche he made / Homer and Hesiodus the poetes and yet haue they none yll thyng in cōparison vnto Ouidis bokes of loue whiche we rede / and cary them in our hādes / and lerne them by herte yea and some schole maisters teache them to theyr scholers and some make expositions and expounde the vices Augustus banished Ouide hym selfe / and thynke you thā that he wolde haue kept these expositours in the countre excepte a man wolde reken hit a worse dede to write vice than to expounde hit / and enfourme the tender myndes of yonge folkes therwith We banisshe hym that maketh false weightes and measures / and that countrefeteth coyne / or an instrument And what a worke is made in these thȳges for smalle matters But he is had in honour / and counted a maister of wysedome / that corrupteth the yonge people Therfore a womā shuld beware of all these bokes / lykewise as of serpentes or snakes And if there be any woman / that hath suche delyte in these bokes / that she wyll nat leaue them out of her hādes she shulde nat only be kept from them / but also / if she rede good bokes with an yll will and lothe therto / her father and frendes shuld prouyde that she maye be kepte from all redynge And so by disuse / forgette lernynge / if hit can be done For hit is better to lacke a good thyng than to vse hit yll Nor a good womā wyll take no suche bokes in hande / nor fyle her mouthe with them and as moche as she canne / she wyll go aboute to make other as lyke her selfe as she may / bothe by doynge well / and teachynge well and also as far as she may rule by cōmaundynge and chargyng Nowe what bokes ought to be redde / some euery body knoweth as the gospelles / and the actes / the epistoles of thapostles / and the olde Testament / saynt Hieronyme / saint Cyprian / Augustine / Ambrose / Hilary / Gregory / Plato / Cicero / Senec / suche other But as touchyng some / wyse and sad men must be asked counsayle of in them For the woman ought nat to folowe her owne iugement / lest whā she hath but a lyght entryng in lernyng / she shulde take false for true / hurtful in stede of holsome / folishe and peuysshe for sad and wyse She shall fynde in suche bokes as are worthy to be red / all thynges more wytty / and full of greatter pleasure / more sure to trust vnto whiche shall bothe profite the life / and maruaylously delite the mynde Therfore on holy dayes contynually / sometyme on workynge dayes / lette her rede or here suche as shall lyfte vp the mynde to god / set it in a christen quietnes / and make the lyuynge better Also hit shuld be best afore she go to masse / to rede at home the gospell and the epistole of the day / and with it some exposition / if she haue any Nowe whā thou comest from masse / and hast ouer loked thy house / as moche as perteyneth vnto thy charge / rede with a quiet mynde some of these that I paue spokē of / if thou canst rede / if nat / here And on some workyng dayes do like wise / if thou be nat letted with some necessary busynes in thy house / thou haue bokes at hande and specially if there be any lōge space betwene the holy dayes For thynke nat that holy dayes be ordeyned of the churche to play on / and to sytte idell / and talke with thy gossyppes but vnto th entent that than thou mayste more intentyuely / and with a more quiet mynde / thynke of god / and this lyfe of ours / and the lyfe in heuē / that is to come Of virginite The .vi. Chapter NOwe wyl I talke altogeder with the mayde her selfe whiche hath within her a treasure without comparyson / that is the purenes bothe of body and mynde Nowe so many thynges come vnto my remembraunce to say / that I wote nat where is beste to begynne whether it were better to begynne where as saynt Augustyne dothe / whan he wyll intreate of holy virginite All the hole Churche is a virgyn / maryed vnto one husbande Christe / as saynt Paule wryteth vnto the Corinthis Than what honoure be they worthy to haue / that be the membres of hit / whiche kepe the same offyce in flesshe / that the holle Churche kepeth in faythe / whiche foloweth
waye that they haue gone before For the louer wyll disceyue the / eyther bycause it is his custome to disceyue / or bycause that is the rewarde of this fylthy loue / orels bycause the pleasure lothed by the reason of abundance / moueth hym so to do Here vnto many thynges shall profite / that haue bene tolde in the place / where I haue intreated of the kepyng and sauynge of chastite as that good fare of meate and drynke / do nat kendle noryshe loue / neither also idelnes / nor ouer moche kepyng of company with men Lucian the rhetorician enduceth Venus askynge her sonne Cupide / what is the cause / that whā he woūdeth with his darte of loue / bothe Iuppiter / Neptune / Apollo / Iuno / yea her selfe to his owne mother / and finally all the goddis / yet doth he nat ones meddell with Pallas / Diane / and the Musis Where vnto he answereth Pallas sayth he thretneth me / whā I come to warde her / and resisteth and withstandeth the occasions Nowe the Musis be ful of vertuous reuerence / and euer occupied with some vertuous labour and so they kepe them out of loue with theyr study And Dian runneth about in the woddes and desartes / and so she can nat loue / bycause she fleeth companye For moche of loue crepeth in by the bodylye senses whiche after nourysshed with in tender myndes and thoughtes / groweth vnto more But parauenture the mayde is caught all redy / than must we seke a remedy for the wounde / afore it cōstrayne her to do that thȳg / whiche shall cause her euer lastynge repentance Fyrst thou mayst be sory / that thou hast wyttyngly throwē thy selfe in to that doungian Nor those folkes ought to be taken hede vnto / that saye / hit lyethe nat in theyr owne power / to eschewe loue For so saye some / whiche excuse theyr owne vyce with necessite as though they had done it agaȳst their wyll Nor they that so say seme to knowe the power and nature of loue Also remembre this lytell verse Loue can nat be thrust out / but it maye crepe out Wherby we maye perceyue / that loue neyther breaketh in violently / nor can be cast out violently But lyke wyse as hit hath by lytell and lytell crepte in / so by lytell and lytell it may be put awaye agayne Therfore let nat thy mynde wandre For if it be nat kepte / it wyll runne thyther of hit owne accorde Some tyme consyder thy selfe / howe many thynges thou haste done folysshelye / blyndly / and without witte / brayne / or reason / by the meanes of loue And howe moche good tyme thou haste loste in it / with vnprofitable folysshe cares / and lost the occasions of many good dedes Remembre also howe thou haste bourned / howe many thynges thou haste thought / sayd / yea and done / parte folisshe / parte madde / ye and some vngratious Remembre in to what misery thou castest thy selfe lyke a blynde body and what a benyfit agayne thou haste opteyned / that haste recouered thy syght / and a pourpose and wyll to comme vnto better mynde agayne Whiche thynge thou mayste reken to be a great gyfte of god / and thy selfe to be moche bounde to hym for hit Therfore set thy selfe vnto some worke / and kepe thy selfe from the syghte and herynge of the parson / that thou loueddest and if he come by chance in to thy thought / turne thy mynde some other way / either with redyng or prayeng / or some good communication or some honest songe / or studyeng of some mery matter so that it be clene and honest And if he / whom thou louest / haue any faute or vice / call that ofte vnto remembraunce / and nat what vertue and goodnes he hath For there is no bodye lyuynge but he hath some thyng / that may be dispreysed therfore let that be had fyrste in remembrance and consydre this / that great vices lye often hydde vnder the coloure of vertue / and many perillous thinges cloked vnder an honest face outwarde Beautie makethe folkes proude and disdaynous noble byrthe maketh them stately ryches / intollerable strength of body cruell Therfore cōsydre in thy mynde / nat what he hath sayd / that hath lyked the / but what he hath spokē / that hath dislykedde the as if he hath eyther done or sayd ought peuysshely / folysshely / foule / horrible / abomynable / lewedely / vnthriftyly / madly / vngratiously and by that that cometh forthe / make coniecture / what lyeth hydde secretely and closely with in For there is no bodye / but he hydeth his faute as moche as he can / and sheweth his vertue vnto the vttermoste / so the vertue appereth more than it is / and the vice lesse More ouer we be disceyued with the nere similitudes of vicis and vertues / whan euery mā laboreth to seme better thā he is / and we vnwysely / and after the common opinion esteme vertues / callyng hym liberall that is a waster / and hym bolde / that is foolehardye / and eloquent / that is a great babler / and wytty / that is inconstant / where with yonge women be ofte disceyued / whan they can nat perceyue the sothe / and iuge the man by that / whiche outwardly appereth Neither any man goth to his loue / but he setteth hym selfe forthe with all his best propretes / that he may seme to lacke nothynge / that any man ought to haue by that meanes disceyueth folisshe yonge women / hydyng great vicis / vnder a thyn colour of vertue / as byrders hyde the lyme with meate / and fysshers the hoke with the bayte This a yonge woman ought to consyder / before it be to late to repent / leste she begȳne to waxe wyse / whan hit shall nothynge auayle And if thou be clene gotten out of loue / healed / hast recouered thy syght agayne / than shalt thou se / howe moche thou arte bounde vnto god / that hath taken the out of thy madnes / and restored the vnto thy witte For what vertuous christē woman / or els pagan / of any wytte or honestie / loued euer any other thā her husbāde Therfore thou shalte neither desyre thy selfe to be louedde in this wyse / neither by vngratious craftes inflame the myndes of men / the whiche fyre shall retourne agayne vnto thy selfe Many women reioyse to haue louers / whose hartis they may burne inflame purposely O thou vngratious woman / seest thou nat / howe thou bryngest hym in to the possessiō of the deuyll with thy crafte / whither thy selfe shall go also / thereto receyue thy mede / wher ye shall both burne / he for beynge ouer come of the deuyll / and thou for ouer commynge hym for the deuyll / ye shall bothe be payde your wages Nowe the apostle sayth The wagis of synne is dethe Howe
they rekened theyr husbandes farre aboue al those vnto them Wherfore their names were had in great honour Also Tauria deserued no lesse commendation / whiche whā her husbāde was outlawed / hydde hym vp betwene the silyng and the roffe of her chambre / no moo of counsayle but one mayde and her selfe and so saued his lyfe with her owne great ieoperdy Also Sulpitia wyfe vnto Lentulus / whā her mother Tullia watched her diligētly leste she shulde folowe her husbande / that was banyshed / she gotte vpon her poure rayment / and so with .ij. mayde seruauntes / and as many men / stale away and came to her husbande nor refused to banyshe her owne selfe for his sake / that her husbande myght se in his outlawry her faythfulnes towarde hym And there haue bene very many / that hadde leauer be in ieoperdye them selfe / than theyr husbandes shulde The wyfe of Fernando Gonzalis therle of Castile / whan the kynge of the Legion of Germany / whiche is a cite in the parte of Spayne called Astury / hadde her husbande in prison / she came vnto her husbande / as it were to visite hym / and there counsayled her husbande to change raymēt with her / and steale his way / and leaue her in the ieoperdye that shulde falle and so he dyd Wherfore the kynge wondryng vpon that great loue of hers towarde her husbande / prayed god to sende hym and his chyldren suche wyues / and so let her go agayne to her husbande There was also an other of the same kynredde / whiche was maried vnto a certayne kynge of Englande / that what tyme her husbande in warre agaynste the Syryans / had catched a great wounde in his arme with a venomed swerde / and so came home in to his owne countre / nor coude neuer be healed / excepte that venome and matter were sucked out The kynge seynge that who so euer shulde do that dede / were in ieoperdy of their life / wolde suffre no man to take it vpon hym Wherfore in the nyghte whan he was a slepe / his wyfe losed the bandes of the wounde / fyrst her husbande nat perceyuynge / and after warde dissemblyng / and so by lytell and lytel sucked and spitted out the poyson / and prepared the wounde curable and redy to the phisition Wherfore I am very sory / that I haue nat the name of that noble woman / whiche were worthye to be commended with mooste eloquent prayses Howe be it / it is nat vnspoken of / for it is redde in the actes of Spayne / whiche Rodericus the bisshope of Tolet dyd write From whense I shall ones translate with honorable mention of her Lyke wyse vpon a season men of Tyrthena came a great meny out of their ile vnto Lacedemō / whom that Lacedemonyans suspected to go about some subtilte / and ther vpon set them in holde / and iudged them to dye Wherfore theyr wyues gate lycence of the kepers for to go in vnto them / as it were to visete and comforte them / and there changed rayment with them / and so they in the womens rayment / and their faces couered / as the custome of the coūtre was / escaped awaye / and lefte their wyues behynde them whom afterwardes with their children to gether they recouered agayne / and put all the Lacedemonyans in feare / as Plutarke wryteth More ouer Admetus the kynge of Thessaly / hauynge a dysease raynynge vpon hym / whiche coulde neuer be healed / without the dethe of an other body / coude fynde none / that wolde gladly die for his sake / but his wyfe Alcest Also many there hath bene / whiche after theyr husbandes dethe / wolde in no wyfe abyde on lyue Laodamia / after she had harde tell that her husbāde Prothesilaus was slayne at Troy of Hector / she kylde her selfe And Paulina / wyfe of Senec / wolde fayne haue died with her husbande / and had her vaynes cut / as he had / but she was letted by Nero and holden agaynst her wyll / tyll her armys were bounde / and her blode stopped nor she lyued nat many yeres after And whyle she was alyue / was so pale and so leane with sorowe / that she was a wōder to euery man to loke vpon and in all the state of her body shewedde manifest tokens of the kynde loue that she hadde to her husbande The doughter of Demotion / the chiefe mā of Areopagites / a yōge mayde / whā she harde tell of the deth of her spouse Leosthenes / she slewe her selfe affyrmȳg / that all though she was vntouched / yet bycause she was maryed vnto hym in mynde / she shulde be adulteter / if she maryed vnto any other afterwardes Olde wryters of stories tell / that Halcione wolde nat abyde on lyue after the dethe of her husbande Ceyx And therfore she lepte downe in to the see The fables of poetes / whiche were made to instructe out lyuȳges / adde more vnto the tale / that they were chaunged in to byrdes called Alciones and so well beloued of the goddes Thetis / that whan so euer these byrdes buylde / there is great caulmenes in the see / and fayre wether in the ayre that chaunseth yerely at certayne tymes Wherfore for those dayes he called in laten Halcionii / that is as you wolde say / the Halcyon byrdes dayes and that gyfte they say / the goddis gaue for the great loue of that woman towarde her husbāde Euadna / whan she kepte the funerall of her husbande / she lepte in to the fyre and folowed her husbande Cecinna Petus had a wyfe called Arria / this Cecinna / whan he had rysen in batayle with Scribonian agaynst Claudius themperour / and was brought to Rome / Arria desyred the sodiours to let her wayte vpon her husbande as a seruaunt whiche thynge whan they wolde nat suffre / she hyred a fysshers boote / folowed the great shippe And within a fewe dayes after the deth of her husbande / kylled her selfe at Rome and yet had she a doughter on lyue maried vnto Thrasea / the most noble and wysest man in his tyme. Portia doughter of Cato / wyfe vnto Marcus Brutus / whā her husbande was slayne / she sought for her owne dethe and whan weapōs were taken from her / she thruste hote coles in her mouthe / and choked her selfe Panthia / wyfe of kynge Susius kepte her faith vnto her husbande / beyng in captiuite / and spended out all her goodis for his lyfe And whan he was slayne in batayle / she dyed voluntarily after hym The doughter of Iulius Cesar / whiche was maryed vnto Pompey the great / whan one brought vpon a tyme home out of the feelde a cote of her husbādes be bloded / she suspectȳg that her husbande had be wounded / fell to the grounde in swonynge / and almoste deed with the whiche aflyghte of her mynde / she fell to labour of chylde a
thynke / that she coude do nothyng that shulde more please her husbādes concubyne / than if she ronne from her house and her husbande / or elles be at debate with hym For than she will thynke to haue his fauour the more / whan she seeth his wyfe caste hit of with her frowardnes / besyde the speche of people / whiche thȳg is worse for a woman / than to suffre any kynde of payne with her husbande We rede in storyes that yonge and newe maryed women / whan their husbande 's many tymes for the loue of huntynge hath layne out al night / they haue suspected them with other women / and folowedde them in to the woddes and forestis / and there in the darke haue ben kylled with arrowes and torne with dogges / in the steade of wylde beastis / and suffered great payne for theyr curious ieolosy But howe moche more curtesly and wisely dyd Tertia Emylia wyfe vnto Affricane the fyrste / whiche whan she sawe that her husbande had a fantasye vnto one of her maydes / dissembled the matter / leste she shulde seme to condempne of incontinēcy the vanquissher of the worlde / and the prince of her countrey / and also her selfe of impacience / that coude nat suffre a wronge of her husbande / whiche was the nobliste mā of the worlde in his tyme. But bycause no mā shulde thynke / that she kepte any grutche in her harte / she maried that same woman / that had ben her husbandes concubyne / vnto an honest man of her owne seruauntes / supposyng that if folkes departed out of this lyfe / haue any remembrance or felynge of worldly matters / that dede shulde be a great pleasure vnto her husbandes soule This wyse woman knewe well inough that she was the wyfe the lady of the house / whether so euer her husbande went And if she shulde beare any grutche that her husbande shulde lye with other women that were but a fantasye of bodely pleasure / and nat of loue Moreouer / if the wyfe shulde take displeasure with her husbande / she shulde but prouoke him the more and if she suffre hym / she shal the soner reclame hym / and specially whā he doth perceyue and compare to gether her gentyll maners and his concubynes vnreasonable pryde for so Terence a peynter and declarer of the world is conditions wryteth in the comedye called Hecyra / that Panphilus was gotten frome Bacchis his concubyne / whom he loued so well / and brought a way his mynde vnto his wyfe / after that he had ones consydered and knowen well hym selfe / and Bacchis / and his wyfe / that was at home / estemynge bothe theyr maners as they were in dede / howe his wyfe was as an honeste woman / ought to be / sober / demure / and shamfast and howe she suffred all the harmes and wronges that her husbāde dyd vnto her / kepte her displeasure in close than his mynde by lyttel and litle ouer comen partly with pite / that he hadde on his wyfe / partlye with wrōges done by Bacchis / fell clene out from Bacchis and tourned all his loue vnto his wyfe / seyng she was of conditions accordynge to his appetite Thus sayth Terence Neyther I wyll let passe the dedes of that noble woman / whiche whā her husbande was taken with loue of an other mānes wyfe / she sawe hym go dayly vnto her with ieoperdye of his lyfe / bycause of the womans husbande and her bretherne / that laye styll in watche for hym / sayd vnto her husbande in this manere Syr I se you can nat be gotten away from the loue of that womā / neither I wyll require that of you / I desyre you only / that you loue nat with so great ieoperdye of your lyfe she sayth she wyll be cōtent to goo with you Therfore brynge her home vnto pour owne castell / and I shal leaue her all this the moste goodlyest parte of the place / and go my selfe in to an other / I promyse you of my fayth to entreate her none other wyse / thā myn owne syster if you fynde contrary / dryue me out of the house / and let her abyde So in conclusyon she persuaded her husbande and vpon a nyght he brought his concubyne in to his castel / sore tremblyng and fearyng her louers wyfe But she receyued her moste gentelly and courteslye / and brought her in to her chambre / nor neuer called her but syster / and sente vnto ger twys aday / commaūded she shulde be entreated more tēderly and dayntely thā her owne selfe / without any token of hate / either in worde or dede Than sayde she vnto her husbande Nowe may you vse your loue with lesse care ieoperdye So / the mā of an holle yere came nat at his wyfe / whiche was both fayrer and more noble of byrth / and honeste / and in all poyntes more goodly than his concubyne What she thought in her mynde / only god knoweth but as farre as men coude perceiue / she toke no displeasure with the matter at all / speciallye after she hadde rydde her husbande out of ieoperdye Moche was she in the churche / and moche in prayer / and euery mā knewe wel inough her trouble / but no man knewe that euer she grutched or cōplayned With in a yere / this man tourned his mynde holly vnto his wyfe / and beganne to hate his concubyne deadly / and at the laste put her away and set all his loue vpon his wyfe / in so moche / that euer after he sayd / that al his mynde / his lyfe / and his harte was in her / and nowe he saith he wyll nat lyue lōge after / if it shulde chaūce her to dye I wyll nat name them / bicause they be both on lyue These examples haue I brought of them that haue an euident cause of ieolosy For as for them that be nat sure of any cause / and be vnreasonable / and intollerable / and cause great vexacion / both vnto their selfe and vnto their husbandes / for an offence / that they wotte nat whether it be so or nat / as many do / whiche either loue inordinatly / or folowe theyr owne fantasyes ouer moche / they take lyght suspeciousnes and feble coniectures / for great and euident argumentes If her husbande bourde with a nother woman / lette nat the wyfe streight suspecte / that he loueth her A great parte of this affection commeth of beleue / and ryseth ofter of opinion and suspection thā matter in dede Therfore let nat the woman be taken with euery lyght suspection / whiche ought nat to be moued or agreued though she knewe any thȳg in dede Of raymentes The .viii. Chap. ALso arayment in lyke wyse as all other thynges oughte to be referred vnto the husbandes wyll / if he lyke symple arayment / let her be contēt to weare it For if she desyre
is hit / nat to loue them that thou hast borne But yet let them hyde their loue / lest the children take boldenes there vpō / to do what they lyste Nor lette nat loue stoppe her to punisshe her children for theyr vices / and to strength their bodies and wittes with sadde bryngynge vp For you mothers be the cause of mooste parte of ylnes amonge folkes wherby you maye se / howe moche your children are beholdyng vnto you / whiche induce noughty opinions in to them with your foly For you haue the bryngyng vp of them and you alowe theyr vnthriftynes And whan they be goynge vnto high vertue / and abhorre the ryches of the worlde / and the pompe of the deuyll you with your wepynge / and sharpe rebukynge / call them backe agayne in to the deuylles snares bycause you had leauer se them ryche thā good Agrippyna / mother vnto themperour Nero / whan she had asked south sayers of her sonne / whether he shuld be emperoure / yea sayde they / but he shall kyll his mother let hym kyll her sayd she / so that he maye be emperour And so he both was emperour kylled her But whan it came to the poynt / Agrippyna wolde nat gladly haue bene kylled / and repented that her son had th empyre Fynally you / through your cherishyng wil neither let them take laboure to lerne vertue and haue a pleasure to fyll them full of vices with delicatenes Therfore many of you wepe and wayle for I speke nat of all and be well punysshed and worthyly in this lyfe / for your madnes Whan you be sory to se your chyldren suche as your selfe haue made them Nor you be loued of them agayne / whan they perceyue them selfe vnloued of all other for your loue There is a certayne tale of a yonge mā / whiche whā he was led to be put to deth / desyred to speke with his mother and whan she came / layde his mouthe to her eare / and bote it of And whan the people that were by rebuked hym callȳg hym nat only a these / but also cursed / for so entreatynge his mother / he answered agayne This is the rewarde for her bryn gynge vp For if she / sayd he / had corrected me for stealing my felowes boke out of the schole / whiche was my fyrst thefte thā had I nat proceded vnto these mischeuous dedes But she cherysshed me / kyssed me for my doyng Nowe where to shulde I reherse the madnes of those mothers / that loue better those children / that be foule / croked / leude / dullardes / sluggardes / droūkerdes / vnruely / and folisshe / than those / that be fayre / vpryght / counnyng / quicke witted / inuentyue / sober / treatable / quiet and wyse Whether is this an errour of folkes myndes / or a punysshement of god / deserued for their syns / to make them to loue suche thȳges / as be worthy no loue Dūme beastis cherysshe euer the fayrest of their whelpes / or byrdes / lightly hit is a sygne of good proffe in them / whan the dāmes make moche of them Also hūters knowe that that shal be the best dogge / whiche the damme is most busye about / and for whom she careth the most / and carieth fyrst in to her lytter But in mākynde that is the moste vile and the least worthe / that the mother loueth most tenderly If you will beloued in dede of your children / and specially in that age / whan they knowe what is true and holy loue / thā make them nat to loue you ouer moche / whan they knowe nat yet what loue is but sette more by a spised cake / a hunnye combe / or a pece of sugare / than by bothe father and mother No mother loued her childe better thā myne dyd me neither any chylde dyd euer lesse perceyue hym selfe loued of his mother than I. She neuer lyghtely laughed vpon me she neuer cokered me and yet whā I had ben .iii. or .iiij. dayes out of her house / that she wyst nat where / she was almost sore sicke And whan I was comen home / I coulde nat perceyue that euer she longed for me Therfore was ther no body / that I more fled / or was more lothe to come nyghe / than my mother / whan I was a childe But after I came to yonge mānes estate / there was no body / whom I delited more to haue in syghte Whose memorye nowe I haue in reuerence / as afte as she cometh to my remēbraūce / I enbrace her with in my mynde and thoughte / whan I can nat with my body I had a frende at Paris / a very well lerned man Whiche amonge other great benefites of god / rekened this for one that his mother was deade / that sherysshed hym so wonderously Whiche sayd he if she had lyued / I had neuer come to Paris to lerne But had syt styll at home all my lyfe / amōge dicyng / drabbes / delycates / and pleasures / as I begounne Howe coude this man loue his mother / that was so glad of her dethe But a wyse mother shall nat wysshe for pleasures vnto her childe / but vertue Nor for ryches / but for counnyng / and good fame And rather for an honest dethe / than for an vncomly lyfe The women of Lacedemon / had leauer their sonnes shulde dye honestelye for the defence of they ▪ coūtrey / than fle to saue theyr lyues And we rede in histories / that many of them haue kylled with theyr owne hādes / theyr sonnes / that were cowardes and dastardes / pronouncyng these wordes This was neuer my sonne / Nor borne in Lacedemone Sophia whiche had .iij. goodly daughters / named them with .iij. names of vertue / hope / faith / and charite / and was very glad to se them all dye for the honour of Christe / buried them her owne selfe / nat farre from Rome / in the tyme of Hadryan themperour Let nat the mothers be so diligēt in teachynge theyr children craftes to gette good by / as to make them vertuous Neither shall bydde them take exāple of suche as haue gathered moche goodes in shorte space but rather of suche as haue comen vnto great vertue and goodnes The people of Megara is dispreysed / and nat without a cause / for teachyng theyr children nygardshyppe and couetyse and in stede of honest children / made them sparynge bonde men Wherfore they caused suche thynges / as wese chaunseth nowe adayes / that with byddyng them so ofte / seke for good / get good / increase theyr good / and gether good by all meanes / they caused their children to do myschiefe vngratious dedes The whiche faute is a great parte in the fathers and mothers / whiche be coūsaylours / causers / and setters vpon / and as good reason was / whan the children coulde fynde none other wayes to come by ryches /
and gētilnes / that wyll nat be moued and mytygated with this worde / mother / of whom so euer hit is sayde And specially of chyldren / whiche can nat flatter / but speke so euē with theyr stomacke / lyke as they wolde theyr owne mother / of whom they were borne Howe swete is the name of frendship Howe many displeasures and hateredes doth it put awaye Thame / howe moche more effectuall oughte the name of mother to be / whiche is full of incredible charite Thou most irefull woman / dost thou nat mollyfye / whan thou herest thy selfe named mother Thou arte more ragious than any wylde beaste / if that name wyllnat sturre the. For there is no beaste so ragious and cruelle / but if another yonge of hit owne kynde faune vpon hit / hit wyll be by and by mylde vnto hit And thy husbandes children can nat make the gentyll and mylde with swete wordes Thou arte called mother / and shewest thy selfe an enemye Thou many tymes gatherest hate without cause / and vseste vpon that weake and immcent age And whan it were conuenyent / that all Christen mē shulde be as bretherne to the in beniuolēce and charite / thou hatest those / that be conioyned vnto the in house and blode / and that be bretherne vnto thy chyldren Hit is maruayle / that the soule of their mother doth nat pursue the / vexe and trouble the. Do you vnderstāde / you stepmothers that be suche / that your vnruely ire and hate commeth but of the dreames of your owne folly For why do nat stepfathers hate theyr wyues childrē in lyke maner For there is no stepfather / but heloueth his wyues saie as wel as his owne I haue redde of many stepfathers / that hath gyuen the inheritance of realmes vnto their wyues sonnes / euen as they had bene their owne / as Augustus sefte th empyre of Rome vnto Tyberius / and Claudius vnto Nero ▪ And yet had Augustus childrens childrē childre of them agaye and Claudins had a sonne Whiche thynge they dyd nat for lacke of knowlege / that they were nat theyr owne sonnes / but bycause they perceyued in reason and consideration / that there was no cause of hate betwene stepfathers and steppesonnes / excepte theyr owne condition dyd cause it For what offence hathe stepsonnes made vnto theyr stepfathers / excepte they haue offended them bycause they were nat theyr owne sonnes As for that thynge lay in goddes handes / and nat in mannes power Yea but some wolde say / the stepfathers do nat play and trifle with theyr stepsōnes / as theyr mothers wolde To make answere there vnto / by that argument theyr naturall fathers do nat loue them But wherto shulde I say any thyng of the stepfathers loue / whan there be some mothers so mad / that they wene theyr husbandes loue nat theyr owne naturall children / bycause they do nat trifle and fole with them all the daye and all the nyghte styll / as them selfe doth Man can nat dote as the woman can For that same stronge stomake of mā can holde and couer loue well inough / and ruleth it / and dothe nat obey hit But you stepmothers / why do nat you euer kysse / combe / and pyke your stepchildren / as you do your owne ther is so great darkenes of mysty fātasies ī your mȳdes / that what so euer you loue / you thȳke euery body shulde loue that same / that no man loueth that inough and what so euer you hate / you thinke is worthy to be hated of euery man / and that euery body loueth that to moche And some there be / whiche whā they hate theyr stepsonnes deadly / yet they swere they loue them whiche be madde / and if they beleue / that any man wyll beleue them And yet they be more madde / if they wene to disceyue god Doest thou loke after / that Christe shulde here the / whā thou callest hym father / whan thou wrythyest awaye from the steppe chyldren / callynge the mother Saynt Johan thappostle dothe nat beleue that any suche doth loue the inuisible god / that hateth his brother / whom he loketh vpon Howe she shall behaue her selfe with her kynsfolkes and alyaunce The .xiii. Chap. THe great lerned man Nigidius Figulus sayth / the deryuation and signification of syster is as though I wolde saye / seperate and goynge asyde / bycause she is seperate goeth in to another house and kynred Whiche thyng seyng it is so / that womā that is maried shall begynne to be more seruyseable vnto her alyaunce / than to her kyns folkes / and so hit is conuenient for many causes Forst / bicause she is as it were skyfted and planted in to that kyn / vnto whiche she shall beare children / and the whiche she shall multtylye with her temynge Secondly / bycause she hath the benyuolēce and loue of her owne kynsfolkes alredy Therfore she must seke for the loue of her alyaunce after wardes Thyrdlye / that her chyldren maye haue the more loue of their fathers kynted / whan they shall be holpen nat only with the beniuolence of theyr father / but also of theyr mother And in shorte conclusion / hit shall be cause of many pleasures / if thou be loued of thyne alyaunce / many displeasures if thou be hated And this was the thynge that those men loked after / whiche skyfted manage out of kynred in to other folkes / that loue and frendshyp amonge peaple myght spreade the broder Therfore it is conuenient / diligētly to get the loue of thyne alyaunce / or if thou haue it all redy / to kepe holde it Hit is saide / that mothers in lawes beare a stepmothers hate vnto theyr doughters in lawes And agayne / doughters in lawes beare no great loue and charite towarde their mothers in lawe Therfore Terence after the comon custome and opinyon of people / sayth All mother in lawes hate their doughter in lawes And these was a mery woman / whiche whan she sawe her mother in lawes image made in sugare / she sayd / hit was bytter Plutarche / and saynt Hieronyme takynge of his auctorite / where he writeth agaȳst Iouinian / telleth / that it was an olde custome in Lepers / a cite of Affcyke / that a newe maryed wyfe / on the nexte daye after her maryage / shulde come vnto her mother in lawe / and pray her to lende her a porte and she shulde say she had none to thenrēt that the yonge wyfe myght knowe / by and by after her maryage / the stepmotherly hate of her mother in lawe / and be lesse greued afterwardes / if any thyng bechanced that she wolde nat But whā I consyder the cause of this enemyte / me thynke both theyr enuies very folysshe For the man standeth as hit were in the myddes betwene his mother and his wyfe and so either of them hateth other / as an expulser of her selfe
The mother is discontent / that all her sonnes loue shulde be tourned vnto her doughter in lawe and the wyfe can nat suffce any to beloued / but her selfe And there of ryfeth hate / enuye / and braulyng / as it were be twene two dogges / if a man stryke and sherysshe the one the other beynge bye Pythagoras scholers in olde tyme / and those that were of his secte / dyd nat reken frendship mynysshed / the mo that come vnto it but to be the more encreased and streÌ„gthed so the mother ought nat to thynke her selfe a mother euer the lesse / if her sonne marye a wyfe nor the wyfe ought to counte her selfe a wyfe the lesse / if she haue a mother in lawe but rather either of them ought to reconsile the man vnto the other / if any discorde chaunce betwene them Thou folishe mother in lawe / woldest thou nat haue thy sonne to loue his wyfe / whiche is a companyon frende inseparable Coudeste thou haue suffered nat to haue bene loued of thyne owne husbande What greatter mysery canst thou wisshe vnto thy sonne / than for to dwell with his wyfe with displeasure And thou folysshe doughter in lawe / woldeste nat thou haue thy husbande to loue his mother doest nat thou loue thy mother Thou shalt be loued of thy husbande as his felowe and dere mate and thy husbaÌ„de shal loue his mother / as vnto whom he is dounde / for his lyfe his norisshyng / and his bryngyng vp and therfore he oweth great loue kyndnes The daughter in lawe / knowynge that her husbaÌ„de and she is all one / shall reken her husbandes mother her owne / and shall loue her and reuerence her no lesse than her naturall mother / but be more seruiseable vnto her / that she maye bynde her the more to loue her She shall nat be displeased / if her husbande loue his mother / but rather and she be a good and a vertuous womaÌ„ / if she se hym nat behaue hym selfe vnto his mother accordynge lyke / she shall exhorte hym and desyre hym to behaue hym selfe as a son ought vnto his mother There is no mother in lawe so out of reason / but she wyll be the better content / if she knowe her doughter in lawe chaste / louyng to her husbaÌ„de Agrippina / nece vnto Augustus theÌ„perour by his doughter Iulia / whiche was maried vnto Germanicus / neuew vnto Liuia theÌ„presse / by her sonne Drusus / she was hated of Liuia / both as a doughter iÌ„ lawe / and as a stepdoughter / was of her owne nature bothe sharpe shrewed inough but she was so chaste of body / and so louyng vnto her husbande / that with those two vertues she altered the fyerce mynde of her mother in lawe Liuia / and tourned hit to good The doughters in lawe ought to nourisshe and sustayne theyr mothers in lawe in theyr necessite / none other wyse / thanne if they were theyr owne mothers Ruth / a Moabite borne / lefte her countre and all her kynne / for her mother in lawe / bycause she wolde nat leaue the olde myserable woman in sorowe and heuynes Therfore she bothe comforted her with wordes / nourisshed and founde her with her laboure / and in all conditioÌ„s fulfylled the roume of a doughter neither that same great charite of Ruth lacked rewarde For by the counsayle and helpe of her mother in lawe she gate Booz vnto her husbande / a great ryche man / and bare Isai the prophet / and was graundemother to kynge Dauid / of whose stocke our lorde Christe was borne Howe she shall lyue with her sonne or her doughter maryed / and howe with her sonnne in lawe and doughter in lawe The .xiiij. Chap. AS it is conuenient for the wyfe to apply her selfe vnto her husbandes discretion and wyll in all other thynges so whan any of her children shall be maryed / that both Aristotle in the seconde boke of house kepyng / teacheth / and reason byddeth / that the holle auctorite ouer the childreÌ„ shulde be gyuen to the fathers So by the lawes of Rome / chyldren were nat vnder the mothers rule / but the fathers and that so longe as he lyued / though they were maried / and of great age / excepte they were at theyr owne lybertie Nowe howe great power ought fathers to haue ouer theyr owne children / whaÌ„ god wolde the Ioseph shulde haue some auctorite ouer Christe Changell of our lorde / what tyme he shewed vnto Iosephe in his dreame / that that / whiche was in the wombe of Mary / was nat conceyued by mannes generation / but by the power and worke of the holy goost She shall sayd he / beare a sonne / thou shalte call his name Iesus He sayd nat / she shall beare the a sonne / as thuse is to say to the owne fathers For women beare children vnto theyr husbaÌ„des and yet he sayd / thou shalt call hym Wherby he signyfied the power and auctorite of hym / whiche was his father apparent / whan he hadde said vnto the virgin / His name shal be called Iesus A wyse woman shall nat pursue her doughter in lawe / nor wene that she wynneth loue with hatyng her / neyther of her nor of her sonne If she loue her / gyue her good couÌ„sayle / and teache her And if she do afore her suche thynges / as maye be example vnto her doughter in lawe / both of chastite and so bernes And if she make no discorde betwene the maried couples / but if any chaunce betwene them by reason of other / auoyde it / and reconsyle them agayne with all her myght Fynally / if she beare a motherly affectioÌ„ towarde her doughter in lawe / she shall lyghtely brynge to passe / that bothe her sonne shall be more bounde vnto her / and shall optayne great loue and reuerence of her doughter in lawe For howe moche more shall he loue her / of whom he hath ben borne / by whom he hath his wyfe / both more chaste and more sober / and better agreynge with hym / wherby he shall be bounde vnto her nat only for that benyfite / that she is his mother / but also bicause she hath be the instructrice of his wyfe / and causer of a great parte of his felicite And the doughter in lawe on her partie shall beare none other minde vnto her mother in lawe / than if she were her owne mother / by whom she hath â—othe gotten more knowlege / and is made better / hath her husbaÌ„de more pleasant louyÌ„g vnto her And in a sharpe a rygorous mother in lawe all thyng chauÌ„seth coÌ„trary As for that daughtÌ„ that is maryed / the mother shall nat desyre to haue so moche her owne / as whaÌ„ she was a mayde / but remeÌ„bre / that than she is skyfted in to another house kynred / to eÌ„crease that stocke but she may