qualitees of the ayer or erthe / where they dwell But the nature of the countrey is cause of no vicis For than the coūtrey ought to be punysshed / and nat the offensours We take no vice of the heuen / or ayer / but of our owne maners For vnder euery skye is both good lyuynge and yll Nor there is no countrey so wretched in the worlde / that it ne hath some good people there in nor none so good / but hit hath some naught I haue sayd here afore / that I haue sene some / nothyng moued with the deth of their husbandes Lyke wyse / I haue sene some / that wold with a ryght good wyll haue quitte their husbandes lyfes with theyr owne Wherfore ther is no reson / why they shulde lay theyr fautes in the condicion of the Region For in the countrey / that is called Getica / the ayer is colde / and yet say the Pomponius Mela / that the very womē lacke no stomake to dye on the bodyes of theyr husbādes / and haue a speciall desyre to be buryed with them And bycause chat the custome is there to mary many women vnto one mā / there is great stryuyng amōge them / whiche shall haue the prayse there in / of them that shall gyue the iudgement The victory is gyuen to the most vertuous and hit is a great pleasure to them that may optayne hit Lyke wyse great lerned men wryte / that women vse to do in Ynde Also in olde tyme the women of Almayne / from whens the Flandryns toke theyr originall fyrste begynnyng / maried neuer but of maydes and so made an ende of all hope and desyre of mariage at ones For they toke one husbāde as one body and soule / and neuer desyred / nor thought of maryage after hym as though they loued the matrimony it selfe / and nat the husbādes Wherby nowe thou mayst se / that vertues and maners be chaunged with abundance / ryches / and pleasures and the euyll fyre of ryches quencheth the good fyre of charite All the lawe of Christe soundeth noue other thyng / but charite / loue / and heate For our lorde sayth I am comen to cast fyre in to the erthe / go about nothyng so moche as to make it to bourne But whanne we couple the ryche deuyll to poure Christe / and vnto sobre vertue / reuell and dronkenes / vnto chast sadnes desolute and wanton pleasures / pagante and hethennes vnto Christianite / and the deuyll to god than god disdaynyng suche felowship taketh his gyftes from vs / and leaueth vs the gyftes of the deuyll Nat withstandyng / it may so chaunce / that there be in womēs myndes suche constauncy and stedfastnes / that they maye comforte them selfe and though they be ouercome opressed / may by wysedome yet recouer agayne That wolde I greatly preyse in a man / but in suche a frayle kynde / hit is no good token to haue so passynge great wysedome I haue harde of great wyse men / that haue taken very heuyly the dethe of but lyght frendes / and wepte for them habundantly Solon / whiche made the lawes of the people of Athens / one of the .vij. wyse men / commaūded his owne buryall to be kepte with wepȳg and waylynge / that his frendes myght shewe / howe moche they loued hym Also after that Lucrecia was slayne in Rome / whan Iunius Brutus / whiche was reuengeor of her dethe and rape / done by the kynges sonne / had dryuen the kynges out of Rome / and warre was made agaynst the kynge In the fyrst settynge together / this Brutus was kylde / and the wyues of the cite mourned a twelue moneth the deth of hym / that had be the defender of their chastite And yet mourned they / but an other womans husbande / and bicause he defended an other womās chastite Tha howe moche more oughtest thou to mourne the deth of hym / that is the defender of thyne owne chastite / sauer and keper of thy body / father and tutour of thy children / welthe of thy house / householde / and thy goodes / yea and more to / thy gouernour lorde And thou woldest wepe in dede / if thou shuldest nat departe rycher from hym / than thou camest to hym But nowe the ioye of money / taketh away all the grefe of thy sorowe Thou woldest wepe for his dethe / if thou haddest loued hym / whan he was on lyue But nowe thou art nat sorye for his departynge / whom thou settest nothyng by / whā thou haddest hym Also many be glad / that theyr husbādes begone / as who were ryd out of yocke and bondage and they reioyse that they be out of domynion and bonde / and haue recoueredde theyr lybertie but they be of a folysshe opinion For the shyppe is nat at liberte / that lacketh a gouernour / but rather destitute neither a chylde that lacketh his tutoure / but rather wandrynge without order and reason Nor a woman / whan her husbande is gone For thā she is in dede as she is called a wydowe / that is to say / desarte and desolate Than is she in dede tost at aluētures / as a shyp / lackynke a maister and is caried without discression and cōsyderatiō / as a childe whan his ouer seer is out of the waye Here parauenture some wolde say / He was suche an husbāde / that better were to be without hym / thā to haue hym But so wolde neuer good womā say / nor yll kepe it in For if he were of the beloued as the lawes of god do commaunde / he shulde be / that is to say / as he were thy selfe thou wolde be as sorye that he shulde dye / as thy selfe Vnto an il woman / excepte her husbande let her haue her Itberte to all vices / that her mynde lyeth to / he is in tollerable But vnto a good woman / no husbande can be so yll / that she ne had leauer haue his lyfe than his dethe But what shulde I speake moche of this matter I haue shewed inough in the boke a fore / that she is neither worthy the name of a good woman nor wyfe / that can nat loue her husbande with all her harte / as her selfe O circumspecte nature / or rather god / the mooste wyse mayster of all good maners There is no kynde of vertue / but he hath created some lyuyng thyng / that vseth it / for to reprehende reproue those that dispice that vertue as bees by theyr crafte reproue the leudnes of them / that can nothyng do And the faithfulnes of dogges damneth the vntrustynes of fals people shepe condemne fraudes and gyles with their symplenes stockedoues and turtuls gyue exāple of true faithfull loue / in mariage For those byrdes / as Aristole sayth / lyue content with one male nor take none other The turtle doue / whanne her male is deade / neither drynketh lyquore /
a mayden ought to loue The .xv. Chaptre ANd yet I wold nat a mayd shuld clerely be without loue / for mankynde semeth to be made and shapen vnto loue / to th entēt / they may be coupled to gether / in charite / and nat with this carnall and fylthy erthly Cupide Venus / but the heuenly and spirituall / whiche causeth holy loue Wherfore the mayde shall haue to loue the father almyghty god / her spouse Christe / and his mother the holy virgin / and the churche of god / with all the holye virgins / whose soulis dwelle blessedly in heuē and theyr names be had in honour / here in erthe She hath also her owne father and mother / whiche brought her in to the worlde / and brought her vp / and nourisshed with so great labour and care whom she ought to haue in the stede of god / and loue and worshyp / helpe with al her power Therfore let her regarde greatly their cōmandementes / and mekely obey them / neyther shewe in mynde countinance nor testure any stubbernes / but reken them to be as it were a verye image of almyghtye god / the father of all thynge She hath also to loue / her owne vertues and soule / and mynde gyuen vnto god and more ouer the eternall pleasure and welthe / whiche neuer shall haue ende Whiche thynges if she loue truely / she shall neither loue man aboue god / neyther set more by a baudye felowe / than her spouse Christe nor regarde more an olde fylthye baude / than the pure virgin Mary neyther loue better the stynkynge stewes thā the holy churche of god nor the company of vnclene women / aboue the cōpany of holy virgins nor strangers aboue father and mother nor her body aboue her soule neither set more by other folkes vices / thā theyr vertues nor myndes that seruethe deuyl / aboue those that serue god neyther them that wolde haue her distroyed / aboue them that wolde haue her saued nor a shorte pleasure / aboue ioye euerlastyng nor the myserye of damned folkes / aboue the perfyte welthe of them that be saued By these meanes the commandementis of god shal be more estemed with her / than the counsayles of a disceytfull mā and rather gyue credence vnto Christe / than vnto the wordes of a lecherous knaue and rather folowe the virgin Mary / than bodily pleasure and haue hym more dere / whom she hath cōciled vnto the / than whom a haudy drabbe counsayleth the vnto Neyther breke the lawes of the churche / to kepe the lawes of the brothell house and rather chose the company of saynt Catherin / Saynt Hagnes / saynt Clare / saynt Tecla / and saynt Agatha / than the company of them / of whom bothe the lyfe is vnknowen vnto god / and the names vnto mā / and both well inough knowē vnto the deuyl Neither forsake thy father and mother / to folowe thy louer nor gyue them perpetuall sorowe / to gyue thy louer the shorte pleasure of thy selfe Neyther wysshe rather to fare well in thy body / than in thy soule neither thy body to be in ioye / and thy soule in wo neyther gyue an eare rather vnto an vnthrifty tale / than a vertuous nor beleue the minister of the deuyl / rather thā the minister of Christ For the pleasure is but shorte / and the payne euerlastynge Howe the mayde shall seke an husbande The .xvj. Chapter THe wise poet virgil / where he doth brynge in kynge Latinus / and his wyfe Amata / talkyng to gether with Turnus / whiche shulde be their doughters husbāde / theyr doughter also presēt / he maketh the mayde to do no more but wepe and blusshe / without speakynge of wordes wherby he signifieth / that it becometh nat a mayde to talke / where her father and mother be in cōmunicatiō / about her maryage but to leaue all that care and charge holly vnto them whiche loue her as well as her selfe dothe And lette her thynke that her father and mother / wyll prouide no lesse diligētly for her / thā she wolde for her selfe but moche better / by the reasō they haue more experience wysedome More ouer / it is nat comely for a mayde to desyre maryage / and moche lesse to shewe her selfe / to longe therefore It was a custome in olde tyme amōge the Romayns / while that chaste worlde lasted / whiche was the example of honestie / that whan a mayde was fyrste maryed / and brought in to her husbādes house / she shulde nat go in at his dore her selfe / but be taken vp and be caryed in by other as a token / that she came nat thether with her good wyll / where she shulde lose her virginite Therfore whan the father and the mother be busy about theyr doughters maryage / let her helpe the matter forwarde with good prayer and desyre of Christe and his mother with pure affection / that she maye haue suche an husbande / whiche shall nat let nor hynder her from vertuous lyuynge / but rather prouoke / exorte / helpe her vnto hit And the fathers on theyr parties / let them calle to remembrance / the sayeng of Themistocles the noble man of Grece / whyche whan he was asked of one whether he had leauer marie his doughter to a ryche ill mā / or to a poure good man / made answere agayne I had leauer haue a man without money / than money wtout a man Also let hym remembre the doynge of Pittachus / the wyse man of Mytilena / whiche whā a yonge man / that had chose of .ij. wyues / the one of great substance and kynne / the other egall vnto his selfe of ryches and byrthe / asked hym counsaile / whether were better to marye the wise man had hym go to children playenge Nowe had the children a playe / wherin they were wonte to synge and repete often these wordes Take to the thy pere wherby they mēt / that most wysedome was for euerye man to do so It is a great charge for a mā to seke an husbande for his doughter / neither it ought nat to be gone about negligently It is a knotte that can nat be lyghtly losed / onely deth vndoth it Wherefore the fathers and mothers / procure vnto theyr doughters / either perpetuall felycite / if they marye them to good men / or perpetuall misery / maryeng them vnto yll Here is moche to be studied / and great delyberation to be taken / with good auisement and counsaile / afore a man determyne ought For there is moche werynes in mariage / many paynes must be suffred There is nothynge but one / that shall cause maryage to be easy vnto a woman that is / if she chaunce on a good and a wyse husbande O folysshe frendes / and maydes also / that set more by them / that be fayre / or ryche / or of noble byrthe / than them
without all deuotion / none otherwyse / than Nero pursued the apostles / or Domician / Maximine / Detius / or Dioclectā dyd pursue other christē folkes in theyr tyme And I suppose that this wyfe of Iob was lefte hym to make his aduersyte more payneful / and to oppresse hym the sorer with her myscheuous tonge O cursed and wycked woman / that rebukest thy husbāde for his goodnes / whiche thynge the deuyll hym selfe dourste neuer do / for he distroyed al the goodes of Iob / stowe his seruauntes / rydde vppe his chyldren out of the worlde / and fylled hym full of galles and scabbes yet dyd he neuer rebuke hym / for continuyng styll in his good mynde but his wyfe rebukedde hym therfore / that a mā myght se howe moche she was more bolde than the deuyll But let the wyfe trouble neuer so moche / the husbande ought to be as glad therof / as were the apostles / that they were rekened worthy to be putte to rebuke for the name of our lorde Iesu but thou good daughter / that wylt do well / shalt nat withdrawe thyn husbande from goodnes / but rather exhorte hym vnto vertue / thoughe thou shuldeste be sure to lees all thy goodes Therfore / that thou mayste opteyne the thynge / whiche saynt Paule speaketh of / sayeng If the husbande be an infidell / he shall be sanctified by his wyues saythe / remembre also the wordes of our lorde / that there is no bodye that refuseth any thynge in this worlde for Christis sake / but he shall haue moche more for hit both in this worlde and in an other Fyrst these ryches be sure and certayn / whiche are kepte saffe from all chaūses / neither wasted withī / as mettalles be by ruste clothing by moughtes / nor without as stolen by theues And also the prophet in the psalme sayth that he hath lerned by longe vse and by good experience / that neuer good man was yet destytute / nor any of his children lacked foode And we haue as it were an obligation of our lorde in the gospel / that we shall trust well on his benygnyte And vnderstande that our father in heuen wyll fynde vs all thȳg / that we shal nede / if we seke for his kyngdome / and the iustice thereof Wherfore if thyne husbande be foule / yet loue his harte and mynde / where vnto thou art maryed in dede And if thyne husbande be sycke / than must thou playe the true wyfe / comforte hym / norysshe hym / and make as moche of hym / as thoughe he were neuer so holle and so stronge / and so shall he be the lesse payned / if he sethe / as it were / take payne with hym and in a maner translate and chifte parte of his syckenes vnto thy selfe For she is no good wyfe / that is merye whan her husbande is sorye or holle and lustye / whā he is sicke and heuye byde thou styll by his beddis syde / and lighten his doloure sometyme with comfortable wordes / sometyme with gentyll fomentations Touche thou his woūdes thy selfe / touche thou his sore and paynfull bodye with thyne owne handes Do thou bothe couer and vncouer hym thyn owne selfe take and beare away the chamber vessel with his water thy selfe Nor aborre nat these seruices nor put them nat vnto thy seruauntes / whiche wyll go more slowly about them / bycause they loue hym nat so moche And whan the pacient perceyueth hym selfe nat loued / his sickenes increaseth Nowe than shulde a man calle those wyues good and vertuous women / that be so careles in theyr husbandes syckenes / that they can be well inough content with suche sleight seruices as her seruātes do about him And some there be / that wyll nothyng let theyr accustomed stations / and feastynges / and visettyng theyr gossyppes / nor breake any of theyr haunted pleasures / though theyr husbandes lye shutte vp sicke at home / but that is no wedlocke / but rather a poynt of concubynes / or cōmen harlottes whiche lye with men for theyr wages Wherfore shuld I be ashamed to name that / whiche the vngratious women shame nat to do For if thou thynke it maketh no force / nor order thy selfe other wyse in thyne husbandes sickenes / than if it were but thy neighboure / thou arte a foole to loke after / that I shulde name the for a wyfe / whanne thou vseste no wyues gyse For woldest thou I shulde name the for a wyfe / whanne thou vsest no wyues maners For shulde I call hym a weauer that neuer lerned to weaue / nor to drawe the woffe / nor to caste the shuttyll / nor strycke the webbe with the slaye Though that vertue by hit selfe can nat fayle to come to lyght / and shyneth well mough in the darke by the bryghtnes of hit selfe / nat withstandynge / as moche as lyethe in me / I wyll nat suffer / but that that I haue sene my selfe / many mo knowe as well as I / I wyll declare / that bothe they that nowe be / and they that shall come here after / may knowe it Clare the wyfe of Barnarde Valdaure / a fayre and a goodly mayde / whan she was fyrste maryed at Bruges / and brought to bed vnto her husbande / whiche was .xlvi. yere of age / the fyrste nyght sawe his legges rolled and wrapped with cloutes / and founde that she hadde chaunsed on a sore and a sekely husbande yet for all that / she lothed hym neuer the more / nor begane nat to hate hym / whom yet she had no space to loue Nat lōge after that / the forsayde Valdaure fell in to a great sickenes / in so moche / that all phisitions dispayred his lyfe than she and her mother gaue suche dilygence vnto the seke man / that of syx wekes contynually to gether / neither of them ones put of their clothes / excepte it were to chaunge their smockes nor rested in the nyght paste one houre / or .iij. at the most / and that but in theyr clothes The roote of the disease was that we call the frenche pockes / a wonderous sore / and contagious sickenes / phisitions counsayled her / nat to touche hym so / nor come so nere hym the same her frēdes coūsayled her And her cōpanyōs gossyppis sayde it was synfully done / to vexe the mā in the worlde / or kepe him lōger on lyue with his sickenes / bad her prouide some good thyng for the soule / as for the body care no more / but howe it myght be buryed with whiche sayeng she was neuer a whytte abasshed / but very dilygently procured bothe suche as was for the welthe of his soule / and prepared holsome meates for his body and gaue great intendaunce about hym / oftē chaūgyng his shetes / his cloutes / bycause he hadde an excedyng laxe / and matter / and fylthe ranne out of
the mother of her husbande lorde for the churche is also a mother and a virgyne Nor there is nothynge that our lorde delyteth more in / than virgines nor wherein angelles more gladly abyde / and playe with / and talke with For they be virgins also them selfe / theyr lorde whiche wolde haue a virgine vnto his mother / and a virgine to his moste dere disciple / and the churche his spouse a virgine And also he maryeth vnto hym selfe other virgins / and gothe vnto mariages with virgins And whither so euer he goethe / that lambe without spotte / whiche made vs clene with his blode / an hundred and .xl. thousande virgins folowe hym Hit is writen in the canticles Our syster is a lytell one / and hath no breastes Whether that be the sayenge of Christe or angels to the soule / in whom standeth the very virginite pleasant vnto god Al glorie of the kynges daughter is inward sayth Dauid in the psalme There is that golden clothynge / there is the garment set and powdred with so many vertuous and precious stones Be nat proude mayde that thou arte holle of body / if thou be broken in mynde nor bycause no mā hath touched thy bodye / if many men haue persed thy mynde What auayleth hit / thy body to be clene / whan thou bearest thy mȳde and thy thought infected with a foule and an horrible blotte O thou mayde / thy mȳde is wyddred by burnyng with mānes heate nor thou fretest nat with holy loue but hast dryed vp all the good fatnes of the pleasures of paradise Therfore art thou the foly she mayde / and haste no oyle and whyle thou rounnest to the sellar / art shutte forthe and as our lorde in the gospell thretneth / whan thou commest agayne / and knockest / thou shalte be answered Who art thou I knowe the nat Thou shalte say than knowest thou nat this body closed and vntouched of men our lorde shall say agayne I se nat the body I se the soule open vnto men / and vnto deuylles worse than men / and often knocked at Thou art proude mayde / bycause thy bealy hath no cause to swelle whā thy mynde is swollen / nat with mānes sede / but with deuylles For here howe well thy spouse lyketh the / thou knowest nat thy selfe O mooste goodly of all women come forthe and folowe the steppes of thy flockes / and fede thy kyddes by the tentes of the herde men Thou knowest nat howe all only virginite is good / thou art nat my spouse come forthe / and go after the steppes of those flockes / whom thou hast norysshed in thy mȳde And syth thou dost nat fede my kyddes / fede thȳ owne Thou loueste nat me so moche / that am onely the hyghest and the beste herde man Tarye nere the tentes of the herdmen / whom thou folowest For if thou folowedest me / only one herdman shulde be knowen vnto the / and nat many For he wyl haue all to be playne and euen Thy wombe swelleth nat / nor there is no cause whye nor lette nat thy mynde than swelle nor let there be no cause why I praye the / vnderstande thyne owne goodnesse mayde / thy pryce canne nat be estemedde / if thou ioyne a chast mynde vnto thy chaste bodye / if thou shutte vp bothe bodye and mynde / and seale them with those seales that none can open / but he that hath the keye of Dauid / that is thy spouse whiche resteth so in the / as in a temple most clene and goodlye Thynkeste thou this any small thynge / that thou mayste receyue onely by purenes that thynge / whiche can nat be comprehended in this holle worlde Howe glad is a woman / if she beare in her wombe a chylde / whiche shall be a kynge But thou bearest a kynge all redy nat onely in thy wombe / but also in thy mynde whiche is more goodly / yea and that suche a kynge / in whose garment this tytle of dignite is wryten Kynge of all kynges / and lorde of all lordes of whom prophetes haue prophycied and his reigne is the reigne of all worldes whose reygne the angel tolde shuld haue none ende Let vs nowe lyfte vp our selfe aboue the common people and let vs dispute this mooste goodly matter with saynt Augustyne but yet so that thou mayst perceyue vs / and doubtles thou shalte perceyue vs better than we shall our selfe For we speake of thy goodnes / whiche thou art nat ignorant of and we shewe the that thyng / that thou haste within the. The holy virgin our lady cōceyued fyrst in her mynde our lorde Christ / and after in her body And it was a more honorable / noble / and excellent thyng to cōceyue in mȳde than in body Wherfore thou arte pertener of the more excellent cōception O happy art thou / that art maruelously mother vnto an excellent maruailous childe Our lorde in the gospell / whan the womā sayd Blessed be the wombe that bare the / and the brestes that thou suckedest he answered / Naye / But blessed by they that here the worde of god / and kepe it And whan the Iewes tolde hym that his mother and bretherne taryed hym without / he asked them Who is my mother and my bretherne And poyntyng his hande towarde his disciples Those be sayde he / my bretherne mother / and who so els obeyeth the cōmandement of my father Wherfore virgins and all holy soules / engendre Christe spiritually Howe be it corporally only one virgin dyd beare god mā whiche is spouse and also father vnto all other virgins O thou mayde / thynkest thou this but a small thing that thou art bothe mother / spouse / and daughter to that god / in whom nothynge can be / but hit be thyn and thou mayst with good ryght challenge for thyn For bothe thou gettest and art gottē and maryed vnto hym If thou woldest haue a fayre spouse / hit is sayde by hym Thou art beautyfull aboue the children of mā / grace is diffused in thy lyppes If thou woldest haue a ryche husbande / thou mayst here sayd of hym Honour and riches is in his house If thou woldest haue a gētylmā / he is goddis son̄e / and rekeneth fourtene kynges in his petegrewe / and his generations can nat be expressed and the aūciāte of his stocke is before the makyng of the worlde / tyme euerlastyng If thou woldest haue a myghty husbande / hit is sayde by hym he is wise in herte / and mighty in strength And in the .xliiij. psalme Gyrde the with thy sworde vpon thy thygh most myghtyly If thou woldest haue a good one / thou shalte here nothyng oftener of hym / than that he is the best If thou woldest haue one of great possessions / thou redest of hym / that all thinges be subiecte vnder his fete And in an other psalme / that all thynges do homage vnto hym And that
vnder / but also shall kepe better theyr helthe I haue redde in an epistole of saint Hieronyme vnto Furia in this maner Phisitians and suche as wryte the natures of meÌ„nes bodies / and specially Galene in the boke of Helthe saythe / that the bodyes of chyldren and yonge men / and those that be in lustie age / bothe men and women / be very hotte of naturall heate and that all meates that encrease heate / be verye noysome for them and that it is good for them to vse all colde thyng in meates and drynkes As in contrary wyse vnto olde men / and suche as be full of fleme and colde / hotte meates and olde wyne be best Wherfore our sauiour sayth Take you hede to your selfe that your hertes be nat ouer commen with surfet and dronkennes / and the cares of this lyfe And the apostle saythe wyne / in whom is lecherye Neither hit is wonder that he that made the vessell dyd perceyue this by the vessell / that he made Where Terence / whose intente was to discribe and shewe the conditions of the worlde / sayd thus without meate and drynke corage waxeth colde Therfore fyrste if theyr stomake be stronge inough / take water in thy wyne or drynke / vntyll thy maydes yeres be past and suche water as is mooste colde And if thou mayste nat for feblenes / myngle it as Timotheus dyd / with a lytell wyne for thy stomacke and wekenes Than in meate eschewe all hote thyng I speke nat onely of flesshe / where of the vessel of election saint Paule speketh this senteÌ„ce / sayeng Hit is good to eate no flesshe nor drinke no wyne but also of pulse / all those that be full of wynde heuye shulde be eschewed And a lytell before what nedeth hit vs for to boste our chastite / whiche without hit haue all besyde that apperteyneth / as abstineÌ„ce small fare / it can nat brynge proffe of hit selfe The apostle werieth his body / and subdueth hit vnto the coÌ„mandement of the mynde / lest he shulde nat kepe that hym selfe / which he byddeth other to do Than howe can a yoÌ„ge woman / that hath a body hotte with meate be sure of her selfe Nor I coÌ„deÌ„pne nat with these wordes meates that god hath ordeyned to vse with surrendryng of thankes But I take from yonge men / and maydens the kendlyng of lust For neither the burnynge Etna / nor the countre of Vulcane / nor Veseuus / nor yet OlyÌ„pus boyleth with suche heate as the bodies of yoÌ„ge folkes enflamed with wyne delycate meates / done All this haue I brought in of saynt Hieronyme / that you myght knowe what thynges that maister of chastite dyd teache whiche writyÌ„g vnto Saluina / had leauer ieoparde the helth of the body thaÌ„ the soule / sayeng Hit is better that the stomake ake / than the mynde / and to rule the body than to do hit seruyce / stagger in goyng than in chastite The most holy man Gregorius Nazanzenus / that was saynt Hieronymis maister / wolde that his mayde shuld alay her hunger with bred / quenche her thyrst with water Hilarius the heremite / whan he lyued in wyldernes with small foode / scantly preseruyng the lyfe / and yet felte hym selfe dyuers tymes pryckedde with the bodily luste / he weried his body with fastynge / sayeng I shall tame the concupiscence / to make the thynke vpon thy meate / and nat vpon thy pleasure And this say the disciples of Christ / the felowes of saynt Paule / beyng gyueÌ„ vnto sobre and chaste religion As who knewe / that the noryshementes of holy men sente by the grace of god / were but symple and small to coÌ„tent nature / without any pleasures Helise norisshed hym selfe and the chyldren of the prophetes with wylde herbes / he byddeth / make swete the bytter meate with flower / and nat with suger And he coÌ„manded the soudiours in Samaria / of whom he had put out the eies / to be fedde with bredde and water IohnÌ„ the Baptist / that was chosen the shewer of Christe and the lyght to come / was fed in deserte with grashops and wyld hony Habacuch caryed the meate of the reapers vnto Daniell in Babylon / whiche was brede baken vnder the asshes / and a cuppe of water was sente vnto Helie from heuen to refreshe hym with and yet might god haue sente from heuen partryges / and phesauntes / and capons / and marche payns / as well as breade but holy folkes nede norishemeÌ„t to holde the soule in the body / and nat to drowne hit with What say philosophers / the maisters of worldly wisedome / al speke of meate that is easy to gette / to kepe the mynde sobre and the body chaste Socrates the father of Philosophie dyd get by sobre dyet / that he was neuer infected with any sore or ieoê‘dous sicknes Also Cornelius Tacitus wryteth / that Senec the philosopher in all his ryches fedde hym selfe with frute water therfore his body was brought so lowe / that whaÌ„ his veynes were opened / there wolde almost no blode reÌ„ne out Howe trow you that Xenocrates lyued / whiche whan his scholers had layde hym a goodly queen in his bedde / and was moche ê“uoked of her vnto luste / yet he was nat moued Plato in his lawes forbyddeth yonge men wyne Cicero in his officis wolde haue all the lyuing and arraye of the bodye / to be taken to the helthe and strength / and nat for pleasure And he sayth also / if we wolde coÌ„sydre what excellence and dignite is in the nature of man / we shulde vnderstaÌ„de / howe great shame hit is to waste hit awaye riottouslye / and to leade the lyfe delycately deliciously and howe honest it is to lyue chastely / sobrely / sadly / measurably This sayth Cicero Also Duidius / gyuynge remedy of loue / byddeth them that shall lyue chastely also to lyue temperately / and eschew suche meate as moueth the body to luste / and wynes specially / and to brynge suche to the table as refrayne the luste of the bodye Whan I speake of hotte meates / I wold be vnderstande in suche exercises also / that heate the body / and of oyntmentes / spices / talkyng and also syght of men For all these be hurtfull vnto the chastite for they fire the mynde with fylthy and ieoperdous heate Nor let nat your bed be very softe / but clene the whiche thyng also is to be regarded in clothes / that they be nat ouer delicate / but without fylthe and without spotte and lyghtly the mynde reioyseth in the clenlynes of the body And agayne / a deynty and a delycate mynde deliteth in sylkes and costely clothes and what so euer is nat suche / hit counteth harde and greuous Gregorius Nazanzenus forbyddeth maydes to weare golde and perle What a foly is it / to wene that these wordes of our sauiour Christe Ecce qui
mollibus vestiuntur / in domibus regum sunt / that is to say / Lo / they that be clothed in delicate clothes / be in kynges houses shulde be vnderstanden on this wyse that those / whiche be in the company of Christen kyÌ„ges / shulde be clothed with fyne costely clothyÌ„g Christis fayth knoweth no courtes / nor kynges in the whiche courte we here these wordes Kynges of paganes haue dominion ouer them and they that haue power vpon them be called beneficiall / but you shall nat be so / but let the mooste of you be as the leest / and the maister as a minyster Christis faythe is holy and sad and as the yocke of hit is easy / pleasant / and swete vnto the soule / and wherin the soule findeth reste so is hit heuy peynefull vnto the pleasures of the body Nor let nat a mayde slepe ouer longe / and yet sufficient for her helthe / the whiche we prouyde for on this wyse / that they shall fare better that folowe this sobre dyette of ours / than they that folowe pleasures and delycates vnto whiche pleasures who so is gyuen / we se be pale coÌ„sumed And beside all this / is some labour to be gyuen / and some occupation mete for a virgin / as I haue rehersed For the deuylles subtilte neuer cometh more soner thaÌ„ in idelnes nor Venus neuer vseth her craftes more redely in any other casis and that nat only in women / but also in men whiche be more stedfaste and constant Ouide the craftes man of handlyng loue / determineth / that Egisthus set his mynde to defoule Clytemnestra the wyfe of kynde Agamemnon / and to kyll Agamemnon hym selfe / for none other cause / but bycause he was slouthfull Therfore in the remedies of loue / this is one of the chiefe preceptes / that the darte of Cupide take vs nat idell For he sayth / If thou wylte banyshe idelnes / Cupides bowes on the shall haue no myght And also his hotte fire brondes Sall lye quenched deuoyde of lyght Saint Hieronyme couÌ„saileth the holy virgin Demetrias to eschewe idelnes And therfore whaÌ„ she hath done her prayers / to go in haÌ„de with wolle weauyng / that by suche chaÌ„ge of workes the dayes seme nat loÌ„ge Nor he bad nat / that she shulde worke / bicause that she was in any pouerte whiche was one of the most noble womeÌ„ in Rome / and rychest / but that by the occasioÌ„ of workyng / she shulde thynke on no thyng / but suche as ê‘teyneth vnto the seruice of our lorde Whiche place he endeth in this wise I wyll speke generally nothing shal be specially pÌ„cious in Christis sight / but hit that thou makest thy selfe / either for thyÌ„ owne vse / or ensaÌ„ple of other virgins / or to gyue vnto thy graÌ„d mother / or thy mother no nat though thou deale all thy goodes vnto poure folkes And verily so hit is / for she that wyll be idel / or also gyueÌ„ to play / and passyng of her lyfe in pleasures / is nat worthy to haue her meate in the churche of Christe in the whiche saynt Paule the greattest preachour of Christe cryeth / and pronounceth as a lawe who that laboreth nat / let them nat eate this is the coÌ„men payne of mankynd / gyuen vnto them for the fyrste offence of our aunciant father Adam thou shalte eate thy bredde in the swette of thy face And doubtles those that be subiecte vnto this generall payne / whan they offende and synne no lesse thaÌ„ other / they shall haue an other payne / either sorer / or elles no lesse Nowe saynge that I haue bede / that womens myndes shulde be occupied / either with worke / orels holy study and communication / leste they fall in to vyce by idelnesse what shulde we thynke by them that playe at cardes or dice / whiche maner of pastime / whaÌ„ hit is foule in a man / in a woman hit is to be abhorred What can a woman lerne / or thinke / playeng at the dice the mynde must nedes be altred and turned all to couetousnes / that is of hit selfe inclined ther vnto / and after fall to pariury / for gredines of the money Also on the other syde / if men be there she shall here many thinges vncomly for a womaÌ„ to here What a foule thynge is hit / to se a woman / in stede of her wolbasket / to handle the table bourde / for her spindell / the dyce / and for her clewe or prayer boke / to turne the cardes Ther is no wise maÌ„ / but he had leauer se her idell / than so occupyed Nor there is no wyse man / but he wyll curse bothe her that lerneth suche thinges / and hym that taught hit her / and them that suffred them Of the raymentes The .ix. Chaptre HIt semeth to apperteyne vnto the same place / to entreate of thother ornamentes of the body Fyrst of peyntyng Verily I wolde fayne knowe / what the mayden meaneth / that peynteth her selfe if it be to please her selfe / it is a vayne thyng if it be to please Christe / it is a foly if hit be to delyte men / hit is an vngratious dede Thou haste but one spouse / to please hym with / make thy soule gay with vertue / and he shall kysse the for thy beautie But parauenture thou sekeste some maÌ„ to be thy spouse / and woldest please hym with peyntyng Fyrst I shall shewe the / howe folisshe a thyng hit is / and than howe vngratious Me thynke hit moche lyke / if thou wyll go about to wynne them with payntynge / as though thou woldest entise or attempt him with a viser whom whanne thy viser is ones of / thou shalte make as moche to lothe the / as thou madeste to lyke the / whan hit was on Thou arte but in il case / if thou haue nothyng elles to please hym with / that shal be thy husbande / but onely peyntyng howe shalt thou please hym / whaÌ„ thou lackest thy peyntyng Excepte thou wylte neuer wasshe out that cruste / but go so with a crust of peyntyng to bed / so rise / be so with in a brode amonge folkes And more ouer / what a payne is hit to entende that peyntyÌ„g for any body / and nat onely for the to kept hit hole styll What a shame is hit / if any water by chance lyght on hit / or the peyntynge fortune to melte by thoccasion of swette or heate / and shewe the very skynne there can nothyng be more filthy to se to And who I pray you / wyl count them to be feyze / that he knoweth to be slubbered with peyntyng / nat rather the fouler They lose all the honour of beauty / whaÌ„ they be peynted For all the beauty / that there is / is counted to be in the peyntyng And also the tender skynne wyll reuyll the more
cariest so moche golde about thy necke / that doth no good / whaÌ„ thou deniest a halfpeny vnto them that haue nede / be an huÌ„gred robbest thy neighbours / ê‘auenture thy householde / thy children / and thy husbande / that the beames of golde precious stones shynyng maye dare the eies of them / that be holde the. Is this ChristeÌ„ charite Dyddest thou sweare this in thy baptyme / whaÌ„ thou sayddest / that thou for sokeste Satanas all his pompe And yet what pompe of Satanas is there / but thou vsest it more superfluously / thaÌ„ doth any pagane Loke well on thy selfe Thou shalte fynde thy selfe one of Satanas officers / that vsest at home so many chosen meates to the full / bulkynge out capons / pertryges / phesantes / delicate cakes / potages / sauses / and soppes / all costly / amonge so many of thy poure neighbours / that die for hunger thou that lyuest in pleasures amonge so many labours / and paynes of thy neighbours thou that goest in sylkes / and fine garmentes amonge so many naked thou that arte so goodly to se to amonge so many beggers Art thou the disciple of poure Christ / of that facioÌ„ Nay nay / thou art rather the disciple of riche Pluto I wolde nat thou shuldest go bare necked / nor I wold nat haue the to excedyÌ„gly couered / to make a shewe of hit Folowe Christ / by whom thou hast pleasure to be named folowe his sobre and measurable mother / whom men nowe honour as theyr lady / and deuylles drede / and sayntes worsshippe whose outwarde garment was course clothe and easy to get and the inner clothyng / that is to say her herte and mynde / gilted with golde / set with precious stones Thou canst nat be golde of bothe parties chose whiche thou wylte haue / thy body or thy soule golden I can nat reherse al the longeth to this matter yet wyll I speake of smelles some thynges A Christen mynde dothe nat preyse vnclenlynes stynke for Mary Magdalene poured vpoÌ„ the heed of our lorde oyntmeÌ„t of precious spike wher of all the house smelled nor that was nat vnpleasant vnto our lorde but these superfluous sauours / and fomeÌ„tes of the body / whiche the more hit is cherisshed / the more hit ryseth and rebelleth agaynst the soule / and lyke a tyrant ruleth all the man / and draweth al vnto vile fantasy / where the seate is of his delicatnes Saynt Hieronyme writeth vnto Demetrias the virgin / Let a mayde audyde / as a mischefe or a poyson of chastite / yoÌ„ge men with hedes busshed and trimmed / and swere smelling skinnes of out landisshe myse Wherfore this sayeng of the poet arbiter was spoken He is nat lyke to sauer well That euer hath a good smell Alyke sayenge hath Martial I had leauer haue no smell Than to sauer euer well And Plautus sayethe / A woman euer smellethe best whaÌ„ she smelleth of nothyng But here parauenture some daungerous dame wolde answere / that with her quicke answeres hath gotteÌ„ a name of wisedome we must do some thyÌ„g for our byrth and gentyll blode / and possessions But what art thou / that so sayest / a christeÌ„ or a pagane If thou be a pagane / I wyll nat argue with the if thou be a christen woman / wite thou well / thou proude woman / that Christe knoweth no suche differeÌ„ce that is a poynt of a deuillysshe pride / and nat of a christeÌ„ mynde Seest thou nat / howe that is none apparell / but fedynge of thy pride Hit is an olde sayenge and a trewe No beest is prouder than a woman well apparelled Than wilt thou say / we muste nedes do some thyng for thuse of the worlde and customes Nowe wolde I knowe / whose custome must be folowed if thou name me wise men / I graunt if thou say of foles / why shulde they be folowed but of foles And QuintiliaÌ„ sayth / thaggrement concente of good folkes ought to be called an vse Parauenture there is an euyll custome brought vp / be thou the fyrste to laye hit downe / and thou shalte haue the preyse of hit / and other shall folowe thyn ensample And as the ill ensample is brought in of ill folkes stablished so of good folkes hit shal be put away / and good brought vp Than if we must euer folowe the customes of the world / we shal neuer ameÌ„de / but euer waxe worse for than shall one fynde an ill vse / none maye put hit awaye Nowe whose is that custome / the thou talkest of / of whom was hit taken Of pagans womeÌ„ Why do nat we thaÌ„ kepe styll our paganes lawe For if thou liste be called Christen / vse maners accordyng there vnto She is a pagane / and knoweth nat god / nor the temperance of lyuynge And thou that knowest god / and arte christened / what dost thou more thaÌ„ she What mentest thou by that that thou renunceddest Satanas with al his pompe / whan thou dost nat onely matche the pagane in Satanas pompe / but also passest her Nor yet thou folowest nat those sadde and holy pagans / but the mooste lewde / and lyght / and full of riotte / vice / and mischeffe Nor thou folowest nat the women of Lacedemon / that were so honeste / whose quene / the wyfe of Lysandre / and her daughters / whaÌ„ Dionysius the kyng of Syracuse sente them ryche robes / they answered and sayd They shall do vs more shame than honour Nor thou folowest nat the women of Rome / that were in olde tyme / vnto whom whan kynge Pyrrhus sent his ambassadour with siluer / golde / and kercheffes of sylke / there was none so desirous or gredy of apparel or so vnthryftily myÌ„ded / to take any Quinta Claudia / a religious virgin / was reputed for a mys woman / bycause she vsed to weare gaye rayment There was in Rome / after the secunde war ayenst the CarthaginaÌ„s / a law called Opius lawe / that no woman shulde weare ouer halfe a nounce of golde nor weare no dyuers colored clothynge Whiche lawe indured vntyl the great outragious superfluite came in to the citie / whan women came runnynge forthe / as though they had be madde / askynge a lycence to weare what they lyste But Marcus Cato / the great wyse man / gaue couÌ„sayle contrary / with an oration ful of wysdome and .ii. Tribunes spake for them whose folisshe and feble orations be rehersed in Liute the historiographer But the women ouercame with theyr importunite and busines / that the bryddel of their pride might be let slyppe / that they myght do what they luste Wherof what hurt shulde come Cato tolde before and as in many of his other sayenges / like wise in that he was a true prophet For what man can tell / howe great a losse is of chastite / caused by this striuynge
for apparelle / whan euery one is ashamed to be ouer come of her felowe in raymēt And whā they be trymmed and dekked / than desyre they to go forthe amonge men to shewe them selfe And there in is the shyppe wracke of chastite Plutarchus saythe / that it is a custome in Egypte / that womē shulde weare no showes / bicause they shuld abyde at home Lyke wyse if thou take from women sylke / and cloth of golde / and syluer / precious stones / and gemmes / thou shalte the more easily kepe them at home Also he reherseth .ij. sentences / the one of Sophocles the poet / and the other of Crates the philosopher Sophocles speketh of riche ornamētes thus That is none ornamene thou wretche / but a shame and a manyfest shewe of thy foly Crates saythe / that is an ornament / whiche exalteth and a woman is exalted with that / whiche makethe her more honeste But that doethe neyther golde / nor perle / nor pourple / but suche thȳges / as be signes of grauite / sobrenes chastite Democrates saythe that the adoruament of a womā standeth in scarsite of speche and apparell In whiche opinion Sophocles is And amonge the Grekes this was a comon sayenge / and in a maner of a prouerbe The adornamet of a womā is nat golde / but conditions Also Aristotell / the moste wyse philosopher / byddeth women vse lesse apparell than the lawe suffereth and he byddeth them consydre / that neither the goodlynes of apparell / nor the excellence of beautie / nor thabundaunce of golde is of so great estemation in a woman / as is measurablenes and dylygence to lyue well and honestly in all thynges And of the same opinion be the other wyse men of the pagans / that a christen woman maye be a shamed to folowe pagans / nat those sage and wyse men / nor those vertuous and honest women / but the errour of foles ensample of madde women and I confesse / that I can nat tell what honest colour women maye lay for theyr apparell / but only that they may seme fayrer / and entise men / whiche were a shame / ye for gentyles Therfore thou bothe seruest thy pride / and settest the deuylles nettes in thy body / to catche with all the soules of them / that beholde the thou womā / nat a Christiane / but the mynister of the deuyll / the fell thretnȳg of our lorde displeased with the / shal be pronunced vpon the / sayeng by Esaie the prophet Our lorde hath made balde the hedes of the daughters of Syon / and in stede of ornament they shall haue shame / and for theyr showes / and slyppers / and cheyns / precious stones / pommanders / and glasses / swete sauours / they shall haue stynke and for theyr gyrdels / they shall haue ropes and for theyr crispe heare / they shall haue balde patis These wordes our lorde sayd of women And this holy martyr saynt Cyprian sayth There be some ryche women and habundant in goodis / whiche beare theyr treasure on them / and say they muste vse theyr goodes Fyrste let them knowe / that she is ryche / that is ryche in god and she is habūdāt of possessions / that is habundant in Christe and those be good that be spirituall / diuine / and heuenlye / whiche shall abyde with vs in perpetuall possession But thou array thy bodye sumptuously / and go gayly forthe abrode / and entyse the eies of them the beholde the / and drawe the syght of yonge men after the / and nourisshe the lust of cōcupiscence / and fyre and kendle the smell of synne / in so moche that thoughe thou perysshe nat thy selfe / yet thou shalt cause other to perisshe / and make thy selfe as a poysoner a sworde vnto them that se the thou canst nat be excused as chaste in mynde thȳ euyll and vnchaste rayment shall reproue the neyther thou canste nat be counted amonge maydens and virgins of Christe / that so lyuest the men shall loue the mordinatly Thou bostest thy possessions and virginite but a virgin shulde nat bost her riches / seyng that holy scripture sayth What hath pride auayled vs Or what good hath the bost of riches done vs All they be passed as a shadowe Thou sayst thou art ryche / and thynkest that thou must vse those that god wold thou shuldest haue / vse them why nat But yet in goodnes good wayes / vse them / in suche thynges as god commaunded / and as our lorde taught Let them fele thy riches that haue nede let them knowe the to be of power get wynnynges vnto Christe of thy patrimony fede god This saythe the martyr saynt Cyprian Whiche thynges are a great deale better for a christen woman to knowe and do / than that the pagās do and hit were mete for them to take hede vnto the philosophers / and nat to folowe the dedes of foles / and apply vnto the fantasies of madde folkes excepte we wolde spende our lyfe madly and folishly But here some man wold say what / woldest thou haue women to be fylthy and sluttysshe Nay verely / I wolde nat haue them so nor my preceptes be nat so vnclene nor I lyke nat sluttishnes And what maner a ones they shulde be / saynt Peter saynt Paule .ij. defenders of the churche / teache in .ij. shorte preceptes Saynt Peter saythe Let nat the outward apparell of women be decked with the braydynge of her heare / nor with wrappynge of golde about hit / or goodly clothynge but the mynde the conscience / that is nat sene with eies / if hit be pure and quiet / that is a goodly thynge / and excellent afore god And saynt Paule saythe women in theyr arraye shulde apparell them selfe with shamfastnes sobrenes nat with braydes of theyr heare / or golde / or perles / or precious clothȳg but as womē ought to do Let them shewe vertue by good workes Whan the apostles saye these wordes / they byd nat women be sluttisshe slubbered / nor foule with dirte and clowtes but they counsayle them from superfluous rayment / and wyll them to vse meane clothynge / and suche as is easy to comeby For mesurablenes hath his clennes / and that farre more pure than the great excesse hath / as hit is more easy to kepe a litle vessel thā a great meyny Let her nat be clothed with veluet / but with wollen nor with sylke / but lynnen / and that course Let nat her rayment shyne / ne let it nat be sluttisshe neither let hit nat be to be wondred on nor let hit nat be to be lothed as for the wearyng of golde / or syluer / or perle / or precious stones / I se nat what hit is good for / sauyng that the vertue of some stones is more sette by than the shewe / as corall or emeraude if at lest waye those lytell thynges
haue so moche vertue in them as men say but nowe mo seke them for vanite / that he may seme more ryche / than for the vertue Nor let her nat peynte nor anoynt her face / but wasshe hit make hit clene nor dye her heare / but kome hit clenly Nor let her nat suffre her heed to be full of scurfe Nor let her nat delite to washe it in swete fauours nor to kepe hit stynkynge nor loke in a glasse to peynte her or trȳme her gayly by but to haue away / if any foule thyng or vncomely be on her heed / that she coude nat els se and thā let her aray her selfe therby / lest any thyng be in her face to defoule her / beyng els chaste and sobre Finally that whiche Socrates bad his scholers / lette her thynke spoken vnto her to / that they shuld loke them in a glasse / and if they were fayre / that they shulde se lest the mynde were foule and if they were foule / that with the beautie of the mynde they shuld coūtrepeyse the deformite of bodye Moreouer / let an honeste mayde remembre styll / that beautie hath brought many of them that haue hadde hit / in great pride and many of them that haue sene hit / in to abhominable synne Wherfore many holy women haue labored to seme lesse fayre thā they were As for this nedeth nat to byd I suppose / that a womā shall vse no mannes rayment / els let her thynke she hath the mānes stomake / but take hede to the wordes of our lorde / sayeng A womā shal nat put on mannes apparell for so to do is abhomynable afore god but I truste no woman wyll do hit / excepte she be paste bothe honeste and shame Of the lyuyng alone of a virgin The .x. Chapter HOly writers say that deathe gothe in to the soule by the senses of the body lyke wyndowes excepte a mā be wisely ware Folkes be tolled enticed with the pleasures of the worlde where with also the soule is caughte and holden Therfore a mayde shulde go but seldome abrode bycause she neyther hath any busynes forthe / and standethe euer in ieopardye of her chastite / the moste precious thynge that she hath And let her wayte vpon her mother / nat only whan she gothe forthe / but also at home Whiche thynge theyr mothers muste also be charged with Saynt Hieronyme counsayleth Leta / that whan she gothe to her manner place in the countre / she do nat leaue her daughter in her house within the cite let her nat canne tie maye to lyue without you saythe he and whā she is alone / let her feare ▪ Whiche sayeng I wolde haue thus vnderstanden / that the mother shulde take her daughter awaye with her / if she tary any whyles For els it is no nede to take her daughter with her / as ofte as she goth forthe and specially if she go to any feastis / or maryages / or metynge of men / or any other lyke place / that she muste go to / or to fulfyll her husbandes pleasure Where hit is nat mete for the daughter to go and let there be at home some good womā keper of her chastite For there is no greatter myschiefe than that that is bredde at home / nor more ieoperdous Howe shalte thou auoyde that / excepte thou eschewe hit vtterly What auaileth it to saue the wod from all harme / whan there is a worme with in / that eateth hit I knowe a very good woman / whiche was made the ouersear of maydes / that wolde nat correcte / and take away her sonnes / whā they playde some what wantonlye with wenches / bycause she loued them some what tenderly / nor kepe from harmynge of theyr chastite Wherfore hit is to be taken hede of that the woman / whom the mayde is put in trust to / haue no wanton sonnes / nor bredren whom she dare nat be agaynst Let her nat be onely chaste / but also in countenance grauite / both of wysedome / maners / and speche / worthye to be had in reuerence Whose eies loke they wyl be aferde of nat only their speche ye though they be her elder bretherne / that she feare nothyng in doyng her duety of watche kepyng So that she make all thynge belōgynge vnto her chastite / safe with her presēce and suche as wolde tolle them vnto wantonnes and vice / with her exsample is for to be dryuen far away But she that wyll be hyred of a louer to prouoke to moue with speche and wordes / lacketh the name of a reasonable creature For that is a deuyllysshe thynge Whiche a mayde shal flee fro / lyke as she wolde frō an edder or a serpēt whiche all folkes shulde dryue out of the countre / as a commen distruction of them all Hit can nat be tolde / howe moche myschiefe suche womē be cause of Therfore let nat a mayde ones abyde the syght of suche womē For they be verye cocatryces and inspire poyson with theyr loke / and slee with the only beholdyng Nor let any man thynke that I speake this as a similitude beyonde the veray trouthe For some be so craftye / that they can catche one with a loke / without wordes and some vse inchauntemētes and charmes Where of there be manye examples Also with the only loke and salutȳg / this serpēt casteth a blotte on the yonge woman / vnto whom she speketh and loketh / namely there as suche a woman is knowen besyde the shame that she causeth in that house / that she resorteth vnto Therfore let the maide fire vnto her mother / as vnto a sainctuary / and schewe vnto her / what that vngratious body wolde haue done orels so auoyde kepe her selfe from her / that they that se it / maye perceyue by her chere / that she feareth the myscheuousnes of that woman and so she shall do her selfe good / with the dede / other with her example whā she sheweth other maydes / what they ought to feare in that woman Hit were good for the cōmon welth / that inquisition were made of olde poore women / that the ruler of the cite myght knowe howe they gette theyr lyuynge Also of the seruauntes saynt Hieronyme sayth / I wolde she shulde loue none of her maydes more than an other / in whose eare she shulde vse to rowne and tytle often What so euer she say the to one / let all here hit Let her be cōtent with a mayde nat pyked / and fayre / and wanton / that can synge a balade with clere voyce but sad / pale / and vntrymmed Also he sayth vnto Demetrias Se that none of her felowes do her harme / either with nyce raymēt / or wantō wordes Haue nought to do with suche women / that haue pleasure to be sene / and loued / and make theyr boste / that they haue suche a fayre louer /
thyne offryng there / and go be agreed fyrst with thy brother / and after offer that vnto god / that thou intendest For thou callest for peace of god in vayne / as longe as thy frende is nat pleased with the / but moche more / if thy husbande be nat What so euer is spoken in the chaÌ„bre the holy bed of wedlocke / let her take good hede to kepe more secreate and counsaile / than the sacrifice of Ceres in Elewce was kepte / or misteries of any other god or goddes For what madnes is hit to bable out suche thynges / as ought to be kepte so secrete The wyse people of Athens / whan they hadde warre with Phylyp kynge of Macedony / and had taken letters of his / sente vnto his wyfe Olempias / they wolde nat suffre them to be opened and red / bycause they rekened the secretes of wedlocke to be / as they be in dede / holy / and to be kepte in priuite / nor to be conuenyent to commyne them abrode / or to be knowen of other folkes / than of the wyfe and her husbande And therfore they sent the letters vntouched vnto Macedone vnto the quene Wherfore they were worthy to haue theyr wyues both to kepe faith and couÌ„saile with them Nowe if they dyd that vnto theyr enemye armed agaynst them / howe moche more is it for the to do it vnto thy husbande Porcia wyfe vnto Brutus proued her owne pacience with a wouÌ„de / whether she coude kepe counsayle of great matters or nat And whaÌ„ she sawe she coude hyde the wounde and kepe secrete / thaÌ„ was she so bolde as to aske of her husbande what he studied so carefully vpon And whan he had tolde her howe they purposed to flee Cesar / she kepte her as wel as any that was of the same counsayle Neither the wyfe ought onely to loue her husbande her selfe / but also to se that she make nat other folkes to hate hym / or bryÌ„g hym iÌ„ to any ieê‘dy by causyng hym to be eÌ„uyed through her meanes Nor let nat her vse her husbande to be her page / and reueÌ„ge all iniures done vnto her / excepte hit be the parell of chastite / whiche is the most precious thynge that a woman can haue If any body haue spoken wordes of displeasure or dishonesty vnto her / or done a thyÌ„g that may seme to greue her tender mynde / let her nat ronne streight to her husbande and kendel his stomacke with fyrye wordes / suche as angre is wonte to cause A good woman shall take all suche thynges paciently / and shall reken her selfe safe and sure inough / as longe as her chastite is holle and vntouched whiche if it be poluted / there is nothynge to be rekened pure She shall vse in chamber nat onely chast behauour / but also shamfastnes And let her remembre that she is a wyfe / in whom Plutarche wolde haue both great loue and great demurenes coupled and ioyned to gether They saye that the quenes of Perse were woÌ„te to kepe priuate and sober feastis with theyr husbaÌ„des / but as for in waÌ„ton baÌ„kettes cam none but syngers / mynstrelles / and concubynes / wedlocke was had in suche reuerence For as the noble prince was wonte to say / a wyfe was a name of dignite and nat of bodily lust so the husbande is a name of couplyng and affinite / as I haue declared Nor the husbaÌ„des ought nat to gyue them selfe vnto ouer moche pleasure / nor to delyte in any companye but theyr wyues / but our purpose is nat here to teache the husbandes Howe be it / it is nat conuenient for them to be maisters of wantoÌ„nes and lechery vnto theyr wyues And let them euer remembre this sayenge of Xystus the philosopher He is an adulterar with his wyfe / who so is ouer excedyng and ouer hote a louer And let him obey the apostle Paule / sayeng vnto husbaÌ„des / that they shulde haue their wyfe as vessels of generation in holynes / and nat in vnlefull concupiscence or immoderate / as the pagaÌ„s do / that knowe nat god The spouse in the canticles calleth his spouse syster / to th entent to make his loue more measurable but we wyll returne agayne vnto women Let them nat defoyle the holy and honeste bed of wedlocke with fylthy and lecherous actis The chast wyfe of Spartane / whaÌ„ she was asked if she vsed to go vnto her husbaÌ„de / nay perde sayde she / but he vnto me For the chast woman neuer prouoked the lust of her husbande / nor vsed the bodylye pleasure / but for her husbandes pleasure Trebellius Pollio wrytethe / that zenobia the quene of Palmyra / a very well lerned and a wyse woman / was of so great chastite / that she wolde nat lye with her husbande / without she had proued before / whether she were with chylde or no. For whan she had lyen with hym she wolde tarye her tyme / to se whether she had conceyued and if she had nat / than was she content to suffre her husbandes wyll agayne Who wolde thynke / that this woman had any luste or pleasure in her body This was a woman worthy to be had in honour and reuerence / whiche had no more pleasure in her naturall partes / thaÌ„ in her fote or her fyÌ„ger She had bene worthy to haue borne childreÌ„ with outen mannes company / whiche neuer desyred it / but only for children or els to haue brought them forthe without payne / whiche gate them without pleasure But one of our christen women called Ethelffryda / a quene of EnglaÌ„de / dyd a greatt acte / whiche after she had borne one childe / neuer laye more with her husbande And yet one Edelthrudis / a quene of the same countrey / passed her whiche had had .ij. husbandes / and made them bothe to kepe perpetuall chastite There were also other couples / that lyued to gether without carnall dealyng / as Henricus Bauarus / the prince of Rome / and Sinegunda his wyfe Iulianus the martyr / and Basilia his wyfe and in the cyte of Alexander ChrysaÌ„thus / and Daria his wyfe and Amos with his wyfe For these holy folkes vnderstode well inough / that thyng whiche is writeÌ„ of wyse men / that the bodely pleasure is vnworthy this excelleÌ„t nature of ours / whiche we haue of the soule And therfore euery bodye dispiseth it the more / and casteth it away / the more that he hath of that excellentnes of the soule / the nigher that he is to god and other heuenly myndes neyther wyll vse this pleasure often / except it be suche as haue but beastly / vile / and abiecte myndes / and hath taken moche of vile nature / and veray lytle of that high celestyall nature You wyues / whanne you put of your smokkes / put vpon chamefastnes / and kepe alway both day and night both in coÌ„pany of other men
nor sytteth on the grene tre ne commeth amonge none of her felowes playenge sportyng together These chast and holy loues meaneth Solomon / whā he calleth his spouse to hym / sayeng The voyce of a turtle doue is harde in our realme And cōpareth his spouse some tymes to a turtell / and some tyme to a stocke douue Also they that can haue no measure in theyr wepyng and mournyng / be as farre to blame on thother syde For whan they be newly wounded with the chaunce / they confounde and fyll all the place full of cryeng / teare their heare / beate theyr breastis / and skratche theyr chekes / knocke theyr heddes to the walles / their bodyes to the grounde / and drawe forth longe the tyme of theyr mournynge / as in Secill / Asia / Grece / and Rome in so moche / that the senate was fayne to make statutes and lawes / whiche was called the lawes of the twelue tables / for to modyfie and appease the mournyng And therfore the apostle also / whan he wrote to this people / was compelled to comforte them / sayenge Bretherne / I wolde ye shulde haue knowlege of those that slepe / that ye be nat sory and pēsyfe / lyke other people that haue no faythe For if we beleue that Iesus is deade / and reuyued agayne so shall god lyke wyse bryng agayne with hym al that be deade by him Nowe a wydowe / let her bewayle her husbāde with harty affection / and nat crye out / nor vexe nat her selfe with dasshyng of her handes / neither beatynge of her body but let her so mourne / that she remēbre sobernes measure / that other may vnderstande her sorowe / without her owne hostȳg vtteraūce And after that the fyrst brōte of her sorowe is past and swaged / than let her begynne to study for consolation Nowe here will I nat brynge forthe preceptes out of the longe volumes of philosophers For my purpose is to instructe a Christen woman with Christis philosophy in cōparyson of whom / all mannes wy sedome is but folye My mynde is to seche a remedy Let vs remēber the sayeng of the apostle / that they whiche slepe with Iesu / shall be brought of god with Iesu agayne Wherfore we ought to be of good cōforte And she that is a wyse woman / let her remembre that all men be borne / and lyue in this lawe and condition / to paye theyr duete vnto nature / as theyr creditoure / whan so euer she asketh it / of some soner / of some later howe be it all be coupled with in the comon lot and rate / to be borne / lyue / and dye but our soules be immortal / and this lyfe is but a departyng in to a no ther eternall lyfe and blessed / to them that haue passed wel and vertuously this temporall and trāsitory lyfe The whiche thyng the Christen faythe maketh easye inough / nat by our desarte and merite / but of his goodnes / the whiche with his deth losed vs from the bādes of dethe and deth of this lyfe is but as a saylȳg out of the see in to the hauyn They that dye / go afore / and we shall sone come after and whan we be departed and losed out of this bony / shall leade our lyfe in heuen vnto that tyme / that euery man shall receyue his owne body agayne howe be hit nat so coumberous and heuye as it is nowe / but lyghtly couered and arayde with it we shall haue blessed and euer lastynge lyfe This is the true and sure christyan consolation / whā they that be a lyue thynke and trust / that theyr frēdes / whiche are deade / be nat seperate from them / but only sente before in to the place / where with in shorte space after they shall mete to gether full merily / if they wyll do theyr diligence / that they may by the exercise of vertues come thether / as they beleue that they be gone These thinges ought christē prestis to shewe and tell vnto yonge wydowes / and comforte theyr heuy myndes with these consolations / and nat as many do drynke to them in the funeral feast / and byd them be of good chere / sayeng / they shall nat lacke a newe husbāde / and that he is prouided of one for her all redy / and suche other thynges / as they cast out at bākettes and feastis / whā they be well wette with drynke Of the buryeng of her husbande The .ij. Chaptre ALso amōge many other thynges / that we vse after the example of the pagās / this is one to kepe the buriall with great solēnite For the pagans and gentils beleued / that if the bodye were vnburyed / the soule shulde haue great payne in helle / and that the royaltie and cerimonies of buryenge shulde be an honour bothe to them and theyr successours Nat withstandynge / there were some of them / that coūted these but fātasies and vanitees For Virgyll in the person of Anchises / whom he induceth for an erāple of wisedome / sayth / that the losse of sepulture is but a small thȳg And Lucane in this maner sayth Nature in her quiet lap doth all thyng receiue He is couered with the sky / that hath none other graue Also wyse philosophers / as Diogines / Theodorus / Senec / Cicero / but in especiall Socrates / did proue by great reasōs / that it forsed nat where the carcas became and rotted Marcus Amilius / whiche was the chefe of the senate of Rome / commaunded his sonnes alyttell before he departed forth of the worlde / to cary hym out on a bere apoȳted without any shetes or purple / nor shulde spēde vpon any other solemnitees beside past x.s for he sayd / the corses of noblemen were commended by theyr owne noblenes / and nat by coste of money Valerius Publicola / and Agrippa Menemius / the one beynge banissher of the kynges / and restorer of the comon lybertie / the other broker and arbytrator of the comon peace / and many other mo excellēt men / dyd vtterly dispice the royalte of sepulture in so moche that whā they had bene in great auctorite ryches / yet they lafte nat behȳde them so moche as to hyre an ouer sear of the funeral with And if they had counted so great goodnes in burieng / as the people supposed / they wolde sure haue sene there vnto Nowe I wyll speake of our martyrs of the Christyan faythe / whiche cared nat / where theyr deed bodyes lay / so that the soules fared well For Christe / what tyme he shall restore the soules to the bodies / shall easely fynde in his house / whiche he knoweth wel inough / the least asshes of the bodye Saynt Augustyne in the boke that he named the Cite of god / in the fyrst sayeth All these busynes / as kepynge of the corce / and order of
the sepulture / and royalties of the funerall / be rather the consolations of them that lyue / than any ease to the deed For if solemne buryeng myght helpe an iuyll man any thyng / than shulde poure buryeng orels none at all / hyndre a good mā but we se far contrary / nor the great royalte of sepulture dyd nat ease the payne of the ryche man / spoken of in the gospell nor hit was no rebuke to the lazer man / that his body lay on the erthe abiecte and nought set by For after warde the ryche man was punysshed in hell for his yll lyuyng / and the lazer was refresshed in the lap of Abraham / had his rewarde for his lyfe innocētly vertuously spente Neither I wolde nat that sepulture shulde be put awaye For holy fathers / as Abraham / Isac / and Iacob / and Iosephe / whan they dyed / commaūded moche of theyr buryeng And Tobias was preysed of the angel of god / bicause he had burted deed people But all the ornamētes of sepultures ought to go to the profet of them that be deed / and nat to them that lyue For he that is deed must make his rekenȳge to god only / whiche reioyseth of the merites of them that be deed / done before in theyr lyues / and of the clene pure myndes of them that be alyue Ther is no shewe of ryches nor pride pleasant to hym / but holle trust and hope in hym / and charite with thyn euē Christen For if thou gyue almys / thou shalte haue almys and if thou be mercifull / thou shalte receyue mercye Therfore make frendes to thy selfe and to thy louers / that are deed / with thy worldly treasure / that thou mayste fynde in the other lyfe them that shall receyue the in to eternall herborowe For our lorde in the gospell gyueth paradise to them / that gyueth the workes of mercy and denyeth hit to them / that denye the workes of mercy Also he teacheth the wayes of gyuyng almes / that thou gyue none of thy goodes to them that be of great habylyte / and maye quyte the / or do a better tourne for the agayne but gyue to poure folkes and beggars / that be nat able to do as moche for the agayne and so thou shalte haue great rewarde of god Thanne howe moche is hit better to cloth poure strangers / than thy ryche kynsfolkes / and poure lay men / than riche prestis and that that is spēded on waxe and costly sepultures / to be bestowed on poure wydowes / and fatherles children / and suche as lacke And moche surer and more plentuous aduantage shall comme hereof And in the day of thy weping / thou shalte remember them that euer wepe / beyng opressed with necessite their teares shall folowe thyn their mirthe shall chere the. Thy frende that is deed shall finde them atournees and aduocates / moste pleasant to the iudge eteruall / to pleade his matter / and be as diligēt in his peryll as in theyr owne Nowe it appereth well inough / what I iudge of those wydowes / that disceyue their creditours of theyr payment / to brynge forthe theyr husbandes royally / orels do nat accomplysshe and perfourme the wyll and bequestis of the deed mā / whiche thyng ought to be done speciallye I nede nat to declare here / howe moche men be boūde to the payeng of theyr dettes / nor howe moche the fulfyllyng of testamētes ought to be regarded For the true and durable honour of the corce standeth in mennes hartes / nat in the pompe of sepulture / or tombes of marble and metall / costly wrought For men saye well by the buryeng of a good mā / be it neuer so poure and pray for hym / and curse sumptuous tombes / and that the more spitously / if the money be ill gotten / that it was made with Of the myndyng of her husbande The .iij. Chaptre LEt a wydowe remēber / and haue styll before her eies in her mynde / that our soules do nat perisshe together with the body / but be losed of the bondes of our corporall grocenes / and be lyghtned from the burden of the body / and that death is nothyng / but a seperation of the soule from the body / and that the soule departeth nat so from the body in to an other lyfe / that it clerely gyueth ouer our matters here in this worlde / they haue bene ofte tymes harde of them that were on lyue / and they knowe moche of our actis and fore times by the shewing of angels / that go betwene Wherfore a good wydowe ought to suppose / that her husbāde is nat vtterly deade / but liueth / both with lyfe of his soule / whiche is the very lyfe / and besyde with her remembraunce For our frendes lyue with vs / thoughe they be absente from vs or deade / if the lyuely image of them be imprinted in our hartes / with often thynkyng vpon them / and dayly renewed / and theyr lyfe euer waxe fresshe in our myndes And if we forgette them / than they dye towarde vs. The bretherne of Valeria Messalina / that was Sulpicius wyfe / asked her after her husbandes deth bicause she was yet in the flowers of her youth / and helthfull of body / and therto goodly of beautie whether she wolde marye agayne Nay verily sayd she for Sulpicius is still alyue to me And this was the sayeng of a pagane / nat assured of the eternall lyfe Than what shulde a christen woman do Lette her kepe the rememraunce of her husbande with reuerence / and nat with wepyng and let her take for a solempne and a great othe / to swire by her husbādes soule / and let her lyue and do so / as she shall thynke to please her husbande / beynge nowe no man but a spirite purified / a deuine thynge Also let her take hym for her keper and spy / nat only of her dedes / but also of her conscience Let her handell so her house householde / and so bryng vp her children / that her husbande may be glad / and thinke that he is happy to leaue suche a wyfe behȳde hym And let her nat behaue her selfe so / that his soule haue cause to be angry with her / and take vengeaunce on her vngratiousnes Cyrus the elder kynge of Perse / whan he dyed as Xenophon wryteth / commaunded his sonnes to kepe his memory with deuotion and purenes / for cause of the honour of the god immortall / and the worshyp and the immortalite of his soule Let the wydowe make an ende of wepȳg / leste we shulde seme to mourne for our folkes / that are departed / as thoughe we counted them clene deed / and nat absent Of the chastite and honestie of a wydowe The .iiij. Chaptre IN gyuyng instruction to a christen woman / whom may a man do better after / than saynt Paule / that sayd /