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Title: The epistle of Othea to Hector - or The boke of knyghthode
Author: Christine, de Pisan
Language: English
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THE EPISTLE OF OTHEA TO HECTOR
[Illustration:
OTHEA DELIVERS HER EPISTLE TO HECTOR.
_Harley MS. 4431_, FOL. 97b.
]
The Epistle of Othea to Hector
THE BOKE OF KNYGHTHODE
_Translated from the French of Christine de Pisan_
_With a Dedication to Sir John Fastolf, K.G._
BY
STEPHEN SCROPE, ESQUIRE
EDITED
FROM A MANUSCRIPT IN THE LIBRARY OF
THE MARQUIS OF BATH
BY
GEORGE F. WARNER
_M.A., D.Litt., F.S.A., Assistant Keeper of MSS. British Museum_
LONDON
J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, PARLIAMENT MANSIONS
VICTORIA STREET, S.W.
1904.
LONDON
J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, PARLIAMENT MANSIONS
VICTORIA STREET, S.W.
TO
THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS
OF
The Roxburghe Club
THIS VOLUME
Is Dedicated and Presented
BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT
BATH
LONGLEAT, MARCH, 1904
The Roxburghe Club.
MCMIV.
LORD ALDENHAM.
PRESIDENT.
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, K.G.
DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH, K.T.
DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G.
DUKE OF SUTHERLAND, K.G.
MARQUESS OF BATH.
EARL OF PEMBROKE AND MONTGOMERY.
EARL OF CRAWFORD, K.T.
EARL OF ROSEBERY, K.G.
EARL COWPER, K.G.
EARL OF CARYSFORT, K.P.
EARL OF POWIS.
EARL BEAUCHAMP.
EARL BROWNLOW.
EARL OF CAWDOR.
EARL OF ELLESMERE.
EARL OF CREWE.
THE LORD BISHOP OF SALISBURY.
LORD ZOUCHE.
LORD WINDSOR.
LORD AMHERST OF HACKNEY.
HON. ALBAN GEORGE HENRY GIBBS.
RIGHT HON. ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR.
RIGHT HON. MOUNTSTUART GRANT DUFF, G.C.S.I.
SIR WILLIAM REYNELL ANSON, BART.
SIR THOMAS BROOKE, BART.
SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B.
SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMPSON, K.C.B.
CHARLES BUTLER, ESQ.
INGRAM BYWATER, ESQ.
GEORGE BRISCOE EYRE, ESQ.
ALFRED HENRY HUTH, ESQ., _Treasurer_.
ANDREW LANG, ESQ.
CHARLES BRINSLEY MARLAY, ESQ.
JOHN MURRAY, ESQ.
EDWARD JAMES STANLEY, ESQ.
HENRY YATES THOMPSON, ESQ.
REV. EDWARD TINDAL TURNER.
VICTOR WILLIAM BATES VAN DE WEYER, ESQ.
W. ALDIS WRIGHT, ESQ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
ERRATA.
THE EPISTLE OF OTHEA TO HECTOR; OR THE BOKE OF KNYGHTHODE.
GLOSSARY.
INDEX.
[Illustration:
THE EPISTLE OF OTHEA, TEXT XX.
_Longleat MS. 253_, FOL. 22b.
]
INTRODUCTION.
The English version here printed for the first time of Christine de
Pisan’s “Épître d’Othéa la deesse à Hector” is taken from a MS. which is
believed to be unique, and which, if not actually the original, can be
very little removed from it. The volume of which it forms a part is
numbered MS. 253 in the valuable library of the Marquis of Bath at
Longleat, but how or when it found its way thither it is impossible to
say. There is little doubt, however, that it was acquired at least as
early as the time of Thomas Thynne, first Viscount Weymouth, who died in
1714, and it is not unlikely that it has been at Longleat ever since the
house was built by Sir John Thynne in the latter part of the 16th
century. It is a small vellum folio, 9¾ inches by 7, in modern binding,
and in its present state it consists of ninety-five leaves, the first
seventy-five of which are occupied by the work in question and the
remainder by an English poem or series of poems, probably also
translated from the French, in which love is compared with the growth of
a tree. The hand appears to be the same throughout and of a date about
the middle of the 15th century. As may be seen from the page here
reproduced (_cf._ p. 33), it is fairly neat and regular, but it is
hardly the hand of a professional book-scribe, the type being that more
commonly found in correspondence and business documents of the period.
As to ornament, there is none whatever; for, although blank spaces were
left for rubrics and initials, and in a few instances apparently for
miniatures as well, for some reason they were never filled in. But the
deficiencies of the MS. in this respect are of less practical importance
than the mutilation inflicted later upon the text. In the main article,
and consequently in this edition of it, there are two lacunæ, one of a
single leaf (p. 13) and the other of a whole quire of eight (p. 53),
while the supplementary matter has been shorn both of its first leaf and
of an unknown number at the end. Nor is the mischief confined to the
loss of these portions of the text. Probably, as in the case of another
work by the same translator,[1] there was a colophon which would have
given interesting particulars of the origin of the whole MS., and
unfortunately this also has perished. As the translator has been
identified and as specimens of his handwriting are available for
comparison,[2] the question whether the copy is in his autograph is
easily decided in the negative, but beyond this little can be
ascertained of its history. For reasons which will appear further on it
is a tempting supposition that it is the “Boke de Othea, text and
glose ... in quayers” (_sc._ quires), which is included in an “Inventory
off Englysshe boks” belonging to John Paston the younger (?) in the time
of Edward IV. (after 1474).[3] If, however, the latter MS. in its turn
was identical with the “Othea pistill” which one William Ebesham wrote
for Sir John Paston at a cost of 7sh. 2d. about 1469,[4] it contained no
more than forty-three leaves. In the margin of f. 75b is an entry, made
about 1500, of a certificate of the banns of marriage, real or
imaginary, of William Stretford and Joyce Helle, the certifying minister
being William Houson, curate; and from scribblings on f. 50 and
elsewhere it may be inferred that at a later date in the 16th century
the MS. was in the hands of a certain William Porter, who, to judge from
the nature of his entries, was perhaps a scrivener’s clerk. There is
more decisive evidence of ownership in the signature “Jo. Malbee” on the
first page, written towards the end of the 16th century under the moral
distich:
“Viue diu, sed viue Deo; nam viuere mundo
Mors est. Hæc vera est viuere vita Deo.”
The same page also contains the initials J. M., probably meaning John
Malbee, together with the old library mark, ix D. 72.
Before commenting upon the English translation something must be said of
the original “Épître d’Othéa” and the remarkable woman who was its
author.[5] In no sense was Christine de Pisan French by birth. Her
father Thomas de Pisan, or de Boulogne, was, as she tells us,[6] a
native of Bologna, and he may reasonably be identified with Tommaso di
Benvenuto di Pizzano, who was Professor of Astrology there between 1345
and 1356.[7] Later he obtained the salaried office of State Councillor
at Venice, where also he married, and where Christine, probably the
eldest of his three children and the only girl, was born in 1364.[8] It
was shortly after her birth that he was prevailed upon by the French
king Charles V. to remove to Paris, and the fact that Louis the Great of
Hungary was equally anxious to attract him to Buda shows how widely the
fame of his learning and science had spread.[9] For fifteen years he had
no cause to regret his change of country, for Charles not only made him
his physician and astrologer with handsome emoluments, but treated him
altogether with marked distinction. Christine, who with her mother
joined him at the end of 1368, was thus brought up at the most brilliant
and intellectual court of the time, and when, at the early age of
fifteen, she was married to Étienne du Castel in 1379, her ties with it
were further strengthened by her husband’s appointment as secretary to
the king. This prosperity was rudely interrupted by the premature death
of Charles V. on 16th September, 1380. In her own words, “Or fu la porte
ouverte de noz infortunes, adonc faillirent à mon dit père ses grans
pensions.”[10] Thomas de Pisan in fact was growing old and out of
fashion; with the loss of his place at court and its prestige he soon
fell into neglect, and when in a few years he died, his wife and two
sons were left dependent upon his daughter and son-in-law. Happily the
latter still retained his post under the new king, and if he had lived
all might have gone well, though possibly in that case Christine’s
latent powers would never have been called into activity. As a climax,
however, to her misfortunes Étienne du Castel was carried off by an
epidemic at Beauvais in 1389, and she thus found herself a widow at
twenty-five with three children besides others[11] to support out of
what little she could rescue from the claimants to her husband’s estate.
Curious details of the protracted lawsuits and other troubles by which
she was harassed during the next few years are given in several of her
works; but it is enough to say that her tenacity and force of character
carried her safely through until she made for herself a literary
position which for one of her sex was probably without precedent.
Excepting a few short pieces anterior perhaps to her husband’s death,
she appears to have begun writing poetry as a solace in her widowhood.
Such pathetic effusions as “Seulete suy et seulete vueil estre” and “Je
suis vesve, seulete et noir vestue,”[12] with others in a similar
strain, could hardly fail to excite sympathy, and she was thus
encouraged to utilize her pen for procuring more material support. At
the end of the 14th century all that an author struggling with poverty
had to depend upon was the patronage and munificence of the great, and
it may therefore have been mainly to suit the taste of those to whom she
looked for favour and assistance that she composed the lighter and more
amatory of the “Ballades,” “Lais” and “Virelais,” “Rondeaux” and “Jeux à
vendre,” which were the earliest, and not the least charming, of her
poems. Besides Charles VI. and his queen, the Dukes of Berry, Burgundy,
and Orleans, and other princes, nobles, and great ladies of the French
court, it is interesting to find among her warmest patrons the English
Earl of Salisbury,[13] who came on an embassy to Paris in December,
1398. The theory that it was for him that she made the collection of her
“Cent Ballades” rests on little, if any, foundation, but his friendly
regard for her is shown by his having taken her elder son Jean du
Castel, then thirteen, to England, in order to educate him with a boy of
his own of similar age. By her own account, as it appears,[14] this was
at the time of the marriage of Isabella, daughter of Charles VI., to
Richard II., which took place at Calais on 4th November, 1396, so that
she may have become acquainted with the earl during a previous visit to
Paris, or while he was in France with Richard, who crossed over for the
marriage as early as 27th September. If he had not met a tragic fate on
7th January, 1400, in an abortive attempt in favour of his deposed
sovereign, Christine herself might have followed her son. At the same
time Salisbury was not the only nor most influential admirer of her
talent on this side of the Channel. After his death the usurper Henry
IV. himself took charge of the boy and tried to induce her to settle in
England, and it is to her credit that loyalty to the earl’s memory among
other reasons made her obdurate. In order, however, to get back her son
she feigned compliance until he was sent to fetch her, when she kept him
with her and remained in France.[15]
Before this she had entered on the second stage of her literary career,
to which the “Épître d’Othéa” most probably belongs. In 1399 she
resolved to attempt longer and more serious poems, animated by a more or
less definite moral purpose, and she began by preparing herself for this
task by a strenuous course of study, as nearly encyclopædic in character
as was then possible, though there is no reason to suppose that she was
acquainted with Greek authors except through Latin translations. But her
earliest poems of any length, issued between 1399 and 1402, were still
of the nature of “Dits d’Amour.” Such, for example, were the “Épître au
dieu d’amour” and the “Dit de la Rose,” the “Débat de deux amants,” the
“Dit de Poissy,” with its lively account of her visit in 1400 to Poissy
Abbey, where her daughter was a nun, and the idyllic “Dit de la
pastoure.”[16] The first two of these poems were written in defence of
women against the aspersions of Jean de Meun in the “Roman de la Rose”
and his school, and they involved her in a protracted controversy, in
which with the valuable support of Jean Gerson she fully held her own.
The moralizing element is much more strongly developed in the “Chemin de
long estude,”[17] and the “Mutation de Fortune,”[18] which were composed
in 1402 and 1403. In the earlier of these somewhat prolix, but withal
extremely interesting, works Christine is conducted by the Sibyl
Amalthea through the known world,[19] and then ascends with her as far
as the fifth heaven. After recounting these experiences she proceeds to
inculcate doctrines of right and justice by means of an elaborate
allegory, in which Raison, Sagesse, Noblesse, Chevalerie, and Richesse
play the leading parts, room being also found for a glowing eulogy of
Charles V. In the “Mutation de Fortune” she again indulges her taste for
allegory, but in place of geography and astronomy other sciences have
their turn. The introduction, which is rich in personal interest, deals
with her father’s life and her own and then leads up to her dream or
vision of the great “Chastel de Fortune.” This castle is in fact the
world, and those who lodge in it are the various classes of mankind, who
from pope and king downwards are vividly characterized; while the
subjects painted on the walls of the hall give occasion for summaries of
philosophy and of universal history to the birth of Christ, followed by
allusions to more recent events and by another tribute to the virtues of
Thomas de Pisan’s royal patron. On 1st January, 1403–4, Christine
presented this poem as a new-year’s gift to Philip, Duke of Burgundy,
brother of Charles V. The immediate result was a commission to write the
late king’s life, and although the duke himself died on 27th April
following, she completed this task within the year, sending a copy to
his elder brother John, Duke of Berry, on 1st January, 1404–5.
The “Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V.” is the best
known and in many respects the most valuable of all her writings,[20]
and it also marks the beginning of the period when she practically
abandoned verse in favour of prose. Though full of interesting details,
the work is not so much a regular biography as an appreciation of the
king’s character from the point of view of an enthusiastic partisan. To
some extent Charles V. realized Christine’s ideal of chivalry, and in
her discursive way she seized her chance to enforce by his example the
paramount necessity to a ruler of a sound education and virtuous
principles, with covert reflections no doubt upon the political
rivalries and dissolute morals which under the unhappy circumstances of
his successor’s mental disease were bringing ruin upon France. Of her
remaining works “La Vision,”[21] which appeared later in 1405, is of
peculiar interest for its self-revelation. It was apparently meant as a
reply to those who, on the ground of her sex and foreign origin,
questioned her right to pose as an authority on French history and
morals; but with a frank recital of her chequered fortunes and a defence
of her position she mixes up a curious allegory on the mighty power of
“Dame Opinion” and a discussion on the comfort to be derived from
philosophy. To quote a simile which she more than once applies to
herself,[22] “petite clochete grant voix sonne”; and this may certainly
be said of two ambitious treatises written seemingly about 1407. One of
them is the well-known “Livre des faits d’armes et de chevalerie,”[23]
which is nothing less than an attempt to teach the whole art of war,
grounded largely upon Vegetius and other authorities, but not without
shrewd and pertinent observations of her own; while in the other,
entitled “Le Corps de Policie,” she takes up the subject of civil
government, more particularly with regard to the education of princes
and the duties and mutual relations of the several orders in the state.
The “Cité des Dames”[24] and its complement the “Livre des Trois
Vertus”[25] deal on the contrary with subjects which fell less
disputably within her natural sphere. As we have seen, she had already
championed her sex in verse. In coming forward again in its defence, but
this time in prose, she went further, taking upon herself to lay down
rules of guidance for women of all ranks, which she effectively did by
allegory as well as by precepts and by historical examples.
In all these works her aims were moral rather than political. But
although, considering her relations with the leaders of the contending
factions, it is not surprising that she abstained from decisively taking
a side, there is no doubt that she was profoundly moved by the growing
miseries of her adopted country. As early as 1405 she addressed to the
queen, Isabella of Bavaria, a letter[26] strongly advocating peace, and
five years later she returned to the subject in a passionate appeal[27]
to the princes generally and the Duke of Berry in particular. The “Livre
de la Paix,” the different parts of which were composed respectively in
1412 and 1413 in connexion with the transient pacifications of Auxerre
and of Pontoise, is of less restricted scope.[28] It was dedicated by
Christine to the youthful Dauphin, Louis, Duke of Guienne, and after an
earnest exhortation to harmony it is expanded into a formal treatise on
the virtues that go to form the perfect prince, Charles V. providing her
as usual with an ever ready example. This appears to have been the
latest, as it is one of the most important, of her prose works; for
although possibly some of her religious verses were composed in the
interval, so far as is known she maintained an unbroken silence until
1429, when the triumphs of the Maid of Orleans drew from her a poem
ringing with patriotic fervour,[29] her joy at the approaching
deliverance of France being no doubt all the greater because its
promised saviour was a woman. What her feelings were when these hopes
were again deferred can only be imagined, for nothing more is heard of
her. In the opening lines of her poem she states that she had then been
eleven years in a convent,[30] but she omits to give its name, and the
date and the place of her death thus alike remain unidentified.
Of all her works the one with which we are here specially concerned
presents perhaps most difficulty with regard to date. In the best
copies, as in Harley MS. 4,431,[31] it is headed “Ci commence lepistre
Othea la deesse, que elle envoya a Hector de Troie _quant il estoit en
laage de quinze ans_,” for which reason, coupled with its dedication to
Louis, Duke of Orleans, it has been too hastily assigned to 1386,[32]
when Louis himself was of that age. Against this date it is almost
enough to urge that Christine was then only twenty-two years old, and
from all that we know of her she was not in the least likely to have
begun authorship so early with a long didactic treatise mostly in prose;
but, apart from this, Louis was not made Duke of Orleans until 4th June,
1391, so that the work could not have been addressed to him, as it is,
under that title five years before. Another theory, that, although
dedicated to Louis, it was designed for the edification of his son and
heir Charles[33] is not open to the same objections; for, as the future
poet-duke was born in 1391, the date would then be 1406, at which time
Christine was in full career as a moralist and prose-writer, with strong
views, as may be seen in her “Fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles
V.”, on the subject of chivalrous qualities. On the other hand, if the
facts were as supposed, in addressing the work to the father she would
hardly have failed to make some explanatory reference to the son. Her
omission to do so therefore makes this theory hardly less untenable than
the other. It is more likely that the date lies between these two
extremes. The significance of the dedication may easily be overrated. It
was Christine’s habit to send her works with a separate dedicatory
preface to her several patrons as new-year’s gifts for no other reason
probably than the hope of a tangible acknowledgment, and we know in fact
that other copies of the “Épître d’Othéa” were sent both to Charles VI.
and the Duke of Berry.[34] If it is necessary to look for some
particular youth of fifteen to whom she wished to play the part of a
moral instructress, he may perhaps be found in her own son, for whom on
another occasion she wrote the “Enseignemens Moraux.”[35] Jean du Castel
was probably of the required age about 1400, so that in this case the
work represents, as it well may, the first-fruits of the studies in
which she immersed herself shortly before, and its date moreover exactly
accords with its position in her own collections of her works, where it
comes after the “Dit de Poissy” (1400) and before the “Chemin de long
estude” (1402).[36]
Although without any claim to be reckoned among the best of her works,
it is at least admirable in motive. Ostensibly it is addressed by the
Goddess of Prudence or Wisdom to her _protégé_ Hector with the object of
inciting him to the attainment of true knighthood by the practice of
virtue, the name of the goddess being clearly no more than the Greek
vocative ὦ θεά, commonly used in Homer in speeches addressed to
Athena.[37] The plan of the work is somewhat peculiar. The epistle
proper, which purports to be Othea’s own, is in verse, and is divided
into a hundred “textes,” each of which after the first five consists of
a single quatrain. These hundred “textes” serve as a medium for
instilling into the mind of the pupil as many moral precepts or rules of
behaviour, wrapped up in an allusion to some story from mythology, from
the history of Troy or, very rarely, from other sources, without the
least regard for chronological propriety. Othea indeed anticipates the
charge of anachronism by claiming at the outset (p. 6) the divine
prerogative of prophecy, by which means she obviates the incongruity of
drawing lessons for Hector from the circumstances of his own death (p.
105), from the story of Cyrus and Queen Tomyris (p. 63), and even from
the vision of Christ shown by the Sibyl to the Roman emperor Augustus
(p. 113). Perhaps the most glaring anachronism is the reference to the
fate of “Thune” (p. 110). It has been suggested in a note on the passage
that this is a corruption in the MSS. for “Thyre” or Tyre; but the rhyme
both in the French and English versions requires “Thune,” and possibly
the allusion is to the much vaunted expedition of Louis, Duke of
Bourbon, against Tunis in 1391. If so, this is a single instance of a
reference to an event in more recent times. The “textes,” however, are
not left to stand alone, being invariably followed by a “glose” and an
“allégorie,” both of which are in prose and often of some length. The
bulk of the work therefore is really a commentary by Christine herself
upon Othea’s supposed teaching. Thus, in the “glose” she amplifies and
explains the allusion in the “texte,” and as a rule points its
application by a maxim from an ancient philosopher; and, having done
this to her own satisfaction, she next dilates in the “allégorie” on its
more spiritual meaning, which she illustrates by a passage from one of
the Fathers or some later theologian, and finally by a more or less
appropriate verse from Scripture. These last citations are from the
Latin Vulgate, and from the fact that the translator omits them it may
be inferred that he was either ignorant of Latin or intended to supply
them from the Wycliffite English version. In this way Christine works
through the Virtues and Vices, the Articles of the Creed, the Ten
Commandments, the properties and influences of the seven planets, and so
forth; and the whole forms a curious and ill-assorted medley, which is
not without interest as a reflection of the taste of the time, but which
contains, it must be confessed, little either to attract or to edify the
modern reader.
No critical edition of the original work has yet appeared, and the
preface to a translation is hardly the place in which to enter minutely
into its composition. Apart, however, from the Latin Vulgate and the
theological writers whose names may be found in the index, there are
three sources from which the matter appears to be mainly derived.
Christine’s classical mythology, it is clear, comes almost entirely from
the Metamorphoses of Ovid, but whether she had recourse to the original
or to a moralized mediæval adaptation is a question not so easily
determined. There is a work of the latter kind in French verse and of
prodigious length, fourteen MSS. of which are known, including one in
the British Museum (Add. MS. 10,324). By some misunderstanding it was
formerly attributed to Philippe de Vitry, Bishop of Meaux (1351–1362).
Modern criticism, however, has proved that it was really written by
Chrétien Legouais, a Friar Minor, for the queen of Philip IV., Jeanne de
Champagne, who died in 1305.[38] There was a copy in the library of
Christine’s patron, the Duke of Berry,[39] but it was apparently
acquired in 1403, after the “Épître d’Othéa” was written. Although it is
quite possible that she had a direct knowledge of this poem, she is more
likely to have used a moralized prose paraphrase of the Metamorphoses by
the Benedictine Pierre Bersuire, who in his second edition, written at
Paris in 1342, laid Legouais under contribution. Bersuire wrote in
Latin, which language Christine certainly understood, and how soon his
work appeared in French it is difficult to say. In the Berry Library
there were three MSS. of the Metamorphoses apparently in vernacular
prose,[40] any one, if not all, of which may have been Bersuire in a
French version. There is also a French prose version in Brit. Mus. Royal
MS. 17 E. iv. in company with the “Épître d’Othéa” itself, but the MS.
is not earlier than the latter part of the 15th century. This version is
closely connected with that printed at Bruges in 1484 by Colard Mansion,
who supposed the original author to have been, not Bersuire, but Thomas
Waleys or de Galles. The two are, however, not quite identical, and the
former possibly represents an older version, which Mansion revised for
printing. But whatever the particular form of Ovid’s Metamorphoses which
Christine utilized, her naive interpretations of his mythological tales
are no doubt largely her own. In this respect she was certainly not in
advance of her age. In the usual euhemeristic fashion she regarded the
classical deities and demigods as men and women who by the “prerogative
of some grace” had raised themselves above their fellows and were for
this reason accorded divine honours; or, on the other hand, they were
mere inventions of the poets, who, for instance, by inverting the
process by which the planets were named from the gods, made gods of the
planets. A fair sample of her method may be seen in the story of Perseus
(p. 15). This hero, whose name, by the way, our English translator
changed into that of the better known Arthurian Sir Perceval, was a
“moult vaillant chevalier,” his steed Pegasus was “bonne renommée” or
fame, which carried his name into all lands, and his deliverance of
Andromeda teaches the aspirant to knighthood the duty of relieving all
women in distress. So much may be learnt from the “glose”; but in the
“allégorie” Pegasus becomes the spiritual knight’s good angel, “qui fera
bon rapport de lui au jour de jugement,” while Andromeda is his soul,
which he frees from the power of the fiend.
With regard to the many personages and incidents from Trojan history
introduced into the work, Christine’s authority was evidently a French
prose romance which in a 15th century copy in the British Museum (Add.
MS. 9,785) is entitled “La vraye ystoire de Troye.” Its origin has been
traced in an instructive article by M. Paul Meyer entitled “Les
premières compilations françaises d’histoire ancienne.”[41] It appears
to be founded upon the well-known romance of Troy in French verse by
Benoît de Ste. More and to have been composed before 1287, and it was
employed, instead of Dares Phrygius as was previously the case, in the
second edition of the compilation known as the “Histoire ancienne
jusqu’à César.” There is, however, no reason to doubt that what
Christine worked from was the “Vraye histoire” itself.
The third authority of which she habitually made use was of a different
character, supplying her, not with mythological or legendary tales, but
with moral maxims, one of which, as we have already remarked, she
generally quoted at the end of each “glose.” These maxims are derived
from a singular work known as “Dicta Philosophorum,” and consisting of
long strings of apophthegms attached to the names of various ancient
sages. They begin with Sedechias, of whom it is said “primus fuit per
quem nutu Dei lex precepta fuit,” and besides Homer, Solon, Hippocrates,
Pythagoras, Diogenes, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander of Macedon,
and Ptolemy, they include Hermes Trismegistus and such strange and
evidently corrupted names as Tac, Salquinus (or, as it is written in
some MSS., Zaqualquin), Rabion (or Sabion), Assaron, Longinon,
Magdarges, Texillus (or Thesillus) and others, some of which have a
distinctly oriental appearance. The Arabic original in fact exists in a
work written by Abu-’l-Wafá Mobasschir ibn-Fátik al Káïd, an emir of
Egypt, in 1053.[42] Sedechias appears there as Adam’s son Seth, and some
other of the above names may be dimly recognized in Sab, ancestor of the
Sabæans, Lókman, Maháda Gis, and Basilius. From the heading of the Latin
version in the MS. from which it has been published,[43] it seems that
the work was first translated from Arabic into Greek, and then again
from Greek into Latin, the last version being by John de Procida, famous
for the prominent part he took in the revolution which freed Sicily from
Charles of Anjou and the French in 1282. Christine de Pisan, however,
apparently employed a popular French version made from the Latin for
Charles VI. by one of his chamberlains, Guillaume de Tignonville, who
was afterwards Provost of Paris (1401–1408) and died in 1414. As a copy
of it at Paris was written in 1402,[44] it was certainly completed
before then, and the probability is that it preceded the “Épître
d’Othéa” by several years. It possesses a special interest from the fact
that an English version of it had the honour of being the first book
actually printed in this country. This was the famous _Dictes and
Sayengis of the Philosophres_, which Anthony Wydeville, second Earl
Rivers, translated from a copy of De Tignonville’s work lent to him when
he was going on a pilgrimage to Compostella in 1473, and which Caxton
issued from his newly established press at Westminster in 1477.[45]
Neither of them seems to have been aware that another English version
was in existence, which dated from 1450.[46] This is still preserved in
two MSS. in the British Museum, but has never been printed. The late
15th century copy in Add. MS. 34,193 (ff. 137–201) has the advantage of
being complete, but it bears no evidence of origin, having neither title
nor preface and ending merely with the words “Hic est finis libri
moralium philosophorum.” Harley MS. 2,266, on the contrary, though it is
mutilated at the beginning and elsewhere, fortunately has the following
colophon:
“This boke byfore wretyn is callid in Frensh lettris Ditz de
Philisophius and in Englysh for to sey the doctryne and þe wysedom
of the wyse auncyent philysophers, as Arystotle, Plato, Socrates,
Tholome and suche oþer, translatid out of laten in to frensh to
(_sc._ for) kyng Charles the vi^{te} of Fraunse by Wyllyam
Tyngnovyle, knyght, late provest of the cyte of Parys, and syth now
late translatyd out of frensh tung in to englysh the yere of oure
Lord m^lccccl. to (_sc._ for) John Fostalf, knyght, for his
contemplacion and solas by Stevyn Scrope, squyer, sonne in law to
the seide Fostalle. Deo gracias.”
The truth of the statement here made may be accepted without hesitation,
nor is its interest confined to the translation of the “Dis des
Philosophes” to which it is attached, for, as will be seen below, it
also materially helps to determine the similar origin of the English
version of Christine de Pisan’s “Épître d’Othéa,” which we now have to
consider.
If the rubricator had done his work, no doubt the “Epistle of Othea to
Hector” would have had this title prefixed in conformity with the MSS.
of the French original. As it is, the text begins abruptly without a
word of heading three lines from the bottom of the first page, and the
only preliminary indication of its nature is furnished by the
inscription “The Booke of Knyghthode,” written, apparently by a somewhat
later hand, on the old vellum cover, which now serves for a fly-leaf.
This alternative title is peculiar to the English version, and is
extracted from the translator’s dedicatory preface, to which source we
are also indebted for a clue to his identity and the knowledge of the
circumstances under which the translation was made. The anonymous
patron, “noble and worshipfull among the ordre of cheualrie,” to whom
the preface is addressed was obviously a person of some consequence. He
was of knightly rank and had won great renown in France and
elsewhere[47] abroad, having spent most part of his life in “dedys of
cheualrie and actis of armis.” He was now, however, sixty years of age,
and was compelled by failing strength to seek retirement, and he is
thereupon somewhat pointedly reminded that it behoved him to devote the
remainder of his days to conflict with those spiritual enemies that war
against the soul. If this were all, it might have applied to more than
one veteran of the protracted French war which began in 1415; but, when
the writer goes on to speak of himself (p. 2) as “I, yowre most humble
son Stevyn,” there can hardly be a doubt that, as in the case of the
above-mentioned translation of the “Dis des Philosophes,” we have to do
with that famous old warrior Sir John Fastolf, K.G., and his stepson[48]
Stephen Scrope, esquire.
The briefest summary of Fastolf’s military career[49] will suffice to
show how closely it accords with the writer’s description. Son of a
Norfolk squire and born in or about 1378, he appears to have begun
active service early in the reign of Henry IV. with that king’s second
son, Thomas, afterwards Duke of Clarence. In 1401, though a mere lad of
fourteen, Thomas of Lancaster, as he was then called, was appointed his
father’s Lieutenant in Ireland. Fastolf was in his train there in 1402,
if not before, and on 14th April, 1406,[50] he had from him a grant of
the office of joint Chief Butler of Ireland during the minority of the
Earl of Ormonde. He was still in Ireland when he married Millicent,
daughter of Robert, Lord Tiptoft, and widow of the Deputy Lieutenant,
Sir Stephen Scrope. The marriage took place on 13th January, 1409, only
four months after the death (4th September, 1408) of the lady’s first
husband,[51] whose son and heir Stephen was a minor ten or twelve years
old at the time.[52] Besides other advantages, it gave Fastolf the
control over lands of his wife and stepson in Yorkshire, at Castle Combe
in Wiltshire, and elsewhere, and he seems to have exercised it with
little regard to any one’s interest except his own. His earliest service
in France probably dated from 1412. He figures in the long muster-roll
of esquires who joined the expedition under Clarence in August of that
year,[53] and before its close he had become Lieutenant of the castle of
Bordeaux.[54] With the accession of Henry V. his energy and undoubted
talent for war found ample scope. His contract in June, 1415,[55] to
serve the king with ten men-at-arms and thirty archers was speedily
followed by Henry’s invasion of France and the siege of Harfleur.
Evidently it was not long before he attracted notice, for when the town
surrendered on 22nd September he was at once put in command of it under
the king’s uncle, Thomas Beaufort, Earl of Dorset.[56] This did not
prevent him from displaying his prowess a month later at Agincourt; and
he was again active in the sieges of Caen and Rouen and in other
operations during Henry’s second invasion of Normandy in 1417–1419.
Hardly any name in fact of secondary rank more frequently recurs in the
chronicles and documents of the war for a quarter of a century. Already
knighted before 29th January, 1415–6,[57] he was made a knight banneret
in 1423 and a Knight of the Garter in 1426; and, only to mention a few
of the posts conferred upon him,[58] in 1420 he was made Governor of the
Bastille of St. Antoine at Paris, in 1422 Master of the Household to
John, Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, and in 1423 Lieutenant of
Normandy and Governor of Anjou and Maine. In the minor battles and
sieges which made up so much of the desultory warfare of the time he was
everywhere conspicuous. On 2nd March, 1423, with the Earl of Salisbury,
he recovered Meulan; on 17th August, 1424, he shared in the victory at
Verneuil and took the Duke of Alençon prisoner; on 11th October in the
same year he captured Sillé le Guillaume, from which he acquired the
title of baron; on 2nd August, 1425, again with Salisbury, he received
the surrender of Le Mans[59]; and on 12th February, 1429, when in
command of a convoy of much needed supplies for the English camp before
Orleans, he signally defeated a far stronger force of French and Scots
at Rouvray St. Denis in the famous “Battle of the Herrings.” Up to this
point, so far as is known, he had met with almost uninterrupted success;
but after the advent of Jeanne Darc had caused the raising of the siege
of Orleans, when the English were routed and Lord Talbot was taken
prisoner at Pataye on 18th June following, he barely succeeded in
escaping from the field. Unfortunately for his fame with posterity, the
charge of cowardice on this occasion made against him in Monstrelet’s
Chronicle was repeated by Hall and Holinshed and has been perpetuated in
the “First Part of Henry VI.”[60] The effect of the charge at the time
was, however, transient at most, and there is no need to dwell upon it
here, either on its own account or in its bearing upon the question
whether he was the original of Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff. It is
contradicted by the chronicler Wavrin, who fought in the battle under
him, and it is out of keeping with his whole career; moreover, Talbot,
who was his bitterest accuser, was already on ill terms with him and,
having flouted his advice just before the battle, in his chagrin at
defeat was perhaps only too ready to make him a scapegoat. The Regent
Bedford’s action in the matter is significant; for, although Fastolf was
at first badly received by him, after a formal inquiry he was again
taken into favour and the Garter, of which he is said to have been
deprived, was restored to him in spite of Talbot’s protests. Nor was
less use made of his services afterwards. Thus, between 1430 and 1434 we
find him Lieutenant of Caen and of Alençon and Captain of Fresnay, and
in 1431 he relieved Vaudemont and captured the Duke of Bar. As late as
1435 he is spoken of as Governor of Anjou and Maine,[61] and until the
Duke of Bedford’s death on 14th September of that year he continued at
the head of his household, being so described both in a list of the
Regent’s retinue in 1435 and in a highly interesting report on the
conduct of the war which he himself drew up about the same time.[62]
Bedford’s confidence in him to the last is also clear from the fact that
he named him one of the executors of his will. Notwithstanding the loss
of so powerful a patron and his own advancing years, Fastolf was plainly
in no hurry to put off his armour; for, with the exception of occasional
visits to England as before, he remained abroad for at least five years
longer. His retirement is generally fixed in 1440, but there is evidence
of his being in Maine in the following year.[63] On 12th May, 1441, the
Duke of York, Bedford’s successor as Regent, granted him a yearly
pension of £20 for his services,[64] and probably therefore it was not
very long before or after that date that he finally turned his back upon
the country from whose unhappy distractions he had won fame and fortune.
It is at this stage of his life that we get a glimpse of him in the
dedication of the “Epistle of Othea.” From its language this was written
soon after he finally returned home; in fact it gives his age, no doubt
somewhat loosely, as sixty, whereas even in 1440 he was probably
sixty-two. During the greater part of the period which elapsed before
his death on 5th November, 1459, he seems to have resided chiefly in
Southwark, where he was within easy reach of a summons to the King’s
Council, of which he was a member; and there is something attractive in
the picture which Stephen Scrope’s words suggest of the war-worn old
soldier beguiling his leisure with literary studies. Nor are the
“Epistle of Othea” and the “Sayings of the Philosophers” the only two
translations made at his “commaundement” and for his “contemplacion and
solas.” In 1481 Caxton printed an English version, rendered from the
French of Laurence de Premierfait, of Cicero’s “De Senectute.”[65] On
the question of its authorship I shall have some remarks to make further
on; but meanwhile it deserves notice that its preface states that it
“was translated and thystoryes openly declared by the ordenaunce and
desyre of the noble auncyent knyght Syr Johan Fastolf of the countee of
Norfolk banerette, lyuyng the age of four score yere, excercisyng the
warrys in the Royame of Fraunce and other countrees, ffor the diffence
and vnyuersal welfare of bothe royames of englond and ffraunce by fourty
yeres enduryng, the fayte of armes hauntyng, and in admynystryng justice
and polytique gouernaunce vnder thre kynges, that is to wete Henry the
fourth, Henry the fyfthe, Henry the syxthe, and was gouernour of the
duchye of Angeou and the countee of Mayne, Capytayn of many townys,
Castellys and fortressys in the said Royame of ffraunce, hauyng the
charge and saufgarde of them dyuerse yeres, ocupyeng and rewlynge thre
honderd speres and the bowes acustomed thenne, and yeldyng good acompt
of the forsaid townes castellys and fortresses to the seyd kynges and of
theyr lyeutenauntes, Prynces of noble recomendacion, as Johan regent of
ffraunce Duc of Bedforde, Thomas duc of excestre, Thomas duc of clarence
& other lyeutenauntes,” etc.
At the same time, there was another side to Fastolf’s character, which
is revealed in that mine of curious information on the social life and
manners of the time, the well-known _Paston Letters_. Through his
intimacy with John Paston,[66] who was ultimately his executor and
principal heir, many of his private letters and papers are there
preserved, and they certainly do not exhibit him in a favourable
light.[67] Hot-tempered, arbitrary and rapacious, harsh and mean to his
dependents, an exacting creditor and a rancorous litigant, he was the
reverse of Chaucer’s type of the “verray perfight, gentil knight.”
Wealthy as he was and childless, he was still bent on making gain,
partly no doubt to pay for the building of his great castle at Caister
in Norfolk, the ruins of which may still be seen. No one perhaps knew
him better or had suffered more from his hard dealing than his stepson.
Some years later than the present work Stephen Scrope drew up a formal
statement of his wrongs,[68] in which he not only complained that in the
disposal of his wardship Fastolf had bought and sold him “as a beast,”
but even charged him with being the cause of illnesses which had marked
him for life[69] and with having at a later period used him so scurvily
that he was compelled to sell his manor of Hever in Kent and take
service with the Duke of Gloucester. Apparently this sign of
independence did not meet Fastolf’s views, for he soon managed to get
him into his own retinue, and, as the other admits, at this time he
showed him “good fatherhood,” employing him at Honfleur and elsewhere,
probably in a civil capacity,[70] until he returned home in pique at
some slight. Fastolf’s dealings with regard to Scrope’s inheritance are
somewhat obscure, but by some arrangement he contrived to secure Castle
Combe for life.[71] As Lady Fastolf died in 1446, her son by her first
marriage, to whom it should have then come by right, was thus kept out
of it for thirteen years longer, only enjoying it from his stepfather’s
death in 1459 until his own in 1472. But in spite of differences the two
were apparently not altogether on bad terms; otherwise neither this
translation nor that of the “Dis des Philosophes” would have been made,
and still less would Scrope have spoken of Fastolf as he here does. His
language indeed is something more than respectful and laudatory. While
he fully endorses Wavrin’s description of Sir John as “moult sage et
vaillant chevallier,”[72] there is a tone of humility which makes it
difficult to realize that the writer was upwards of forty years of age
and at least Fastolf’s equal by birth. The nature of their relations may
be gathered from a singular letter to the latter about 1455 from Sir
Richard Bingham, Justice of the King’s Bench, whose daughter Stephen
Scrope had recently married.[73] In imploring help for him the writer
says[74]:
“... My saide son is and hath be, and will be to hys lifes ende,
your true lad and servaunt, and glad and well willed to do that
myght be to your pleaser, wirschip and profit, and als loth to
offend yow as any person in erth, gentill and well disposid to every
person. Wherfore I besech your gode grace that ye will vouchesafe
remember the premissez, my saide sons age, his wirschipfull birth,
and grete misere for verrey povert, for he hath had no liflode to
life opon sithen my lady his moder deed, safe x. marc of liflode
that ye vouched safe to gife hym this last yer, and therffore to be
his good maister and fader. And thof he be not worthy to be your
son, make hym your almesman, that he may now in his age life of your
almesse, and be your bedeman, and pray for the prosperite of your
noble person....”
The result of this appeal, and of more to the same effect, is not
recorded, but that Fastolf could be gracious enough in words is evident
from the only letter from him to Scrope which is included in the _Paston
Letters_,[75] written on 30th October, 1457. It is addressed,
“Worschepeful and my right wel beloved sone,” and, after thanking him
for his “good avertismentys and right well avysed lettres,” begs him to
recommend to his father-in-law, Justice Bingham, a suit in which the
writer was interested, and the tone throughout is unexceptionable. There
is, however, another letter in the _History of Castle Combe_ (p. 270),
written from Calais, and, according to the editor, about 1420, which is
not so amiable. After Scrope’s second marriage he and his stepfather no
doubt lived apart, but at the time when the “Epistle of Othea” was
translated they were probably under the same roof, and as late as 1454,
when Caister Castle was completed and Fastolf was about to take up his
residence there, it is expressly stated that Scrope would live with
him.[76]
While there is little doubt that he was incapacitated by weak health
from military service and that he was deficient also in force of
character, it cannot be said that, so far as we can judge from his two
translations from the French, he possessed much literary ability. There
is nothing original in either of them except the short preface to the
“Epistle of Othea” here printed, and, interesting as this is in other
respects, its style is so involved that in places it is hardly
intelligible. Nor is the writer more fortunate in his account of the
French work which he translated; for by some strange misunderstanding he
deprives its authoress of the credit of it and makes out (p. 3) that it
was compiled by doctors of the University of Paris merely at the
instance and prayer of the “fulle wyse gentylwoman of Frawnce called
Dame Cristine.” It is curious that a very similar statement is made as
to her works generally in a marginal note in the “Boke of Noblesse,”[77]
with reference to a passage taken from her “Livre des faits d’armes,”
which, however, is wrongly spoken of as the “Arbre des batailles.” It is
there said that Christine was a lady of high birth and character, who
dwelt in a house of religious ladies at Passy (Poissy?) near Paris, that
she maintained with exhibitions several clerks studying in the
University of Paris and caused them to compile divers virtuous books,
such as the “Arbre des batailles,” and that the doctors in consequence
attributed the books to Christine herself. As this note is in the hand
of the well-known William Worcester or Botoner, who was servant and
secretary to Fastolf, the two statements no doubt had a common origin,
coming perhaps from Sir John himself.
From the prominent way in which Scrope mentions the Duke of Berry it is
reasonable to conclude that the French MS. which supplied him with the
original text contained a dedicatory address by the authoress to that
famous royal bibliophil, who, as we know, was one of her special
patrons. In the inventory of his library, among the MSS. acquired soon
after 1401, there is in fact the entry,[78] “Item le livre de l’espitre
que Othéa la deesse envoia à Ethor (_sc._ Hector), compilé par
damoiselle Christine de Pizan, escript en françois de lettre de court,
très bien historié .... le quel livre la dicte Cristine a donné à mon
dit seigneur”; and the probability is that on Fastolf’s return to
England he brought with him either this identical MS. or a transcript of
it, together with a copy of De Tignonville’s “Dis des philosophes.”
Existing copies of the “Épître d’Othéa” are not uncommon. In the
Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris there are twelve,[79] and Koch (p. 59)
mentions six others at Brussels, while the British Museum possesses
four. One of these is included in the fine collection of Christine’s
poems and other works in Harley MS. 4,431. It is the MS. “H,” readings
from which are given here in the notes, and the collotype frontispiece,
which depicts the goddess Othea personally handing her letter to Hector,
is reproduced from the second of its numerous miniatures, one of which
precedes each of the hundred “textes.” The collection, which is of the
highest importance, including pieces found nowhere else,[80] was made by
Christine herself, apparently about 1410–1415, for the French queen,
Isabella of Bavaria, the MS. beginning with an introductory poem of
ninety-six lines addressed to her.[81] Probably it came into the
possession of John, Duke of Bedford, Regent of France, in 1425[82] among
other MSS. from the royal library of the Louvre; for the signature
“Jaquete” of his second wife, Jacquetta of Luxemburg, is written on the
fly-leaf, together with that of Anthony Wydeville, Earl Rivers, her son
by her second marriage, in 1437, with Sir Richard Wydeville, who was
created Earl Rivers in 1466. As we have already seen, Anthony, Earl
Rivers, translated the “Dis des philosophes,” and he also made an
English version, printed by Caxton in 1478, of Christine’s “Proverbes
moraux,” the text of which he no doubt obtained from this MS. After he
perished on the scaffold in 1488, the volume passed by some means to
Louis de Bruges, Sieur de Gruythuyse, created Earl of Winchester in
1472, whose motto and name, “Plus est en vous. Gruthuse,” appear on the
same page. In 1676 it belonged to Henry Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle,
and no doubt it found its way into the Harley collection by the marriage
of his grand-daughter Lady Henrietta Cavendish-Holles in 1713 to Edward
Harley, Lord Harley, second Earl of Oxford in 1724. That it was known to
Fastolf, when Master of the Household to the Regent Bedford, is likely
enough; but the copy of the “Épître d’Othéa” included in it can hardly
have been the one used by Scrope, as it is dedicated, not to the Duke of
Berry, but to his nephew Louis, Duke of Orleans. After some lines of
apostrophe to the “Fleur de lis” and to “Seigneurie,” which begin,
“Tres haulte flour, par le monde louee,
A tous plaisant et de dieu auouee,”
it proceeds,
“Et a vous tres noble prince excellant,
Dorliens duc loys, de grant renom,
Filz de Charles Roy quint de cellui nom,
Qui fors le roy ne congnoiscez greigneur,
Mon tres loue et redoubte seigneur,
Dumble vouloir moy, poure creature,
Femme ignorant, de petite estature,
Fille iadis philosophe et docteur,
Qui conseiller et humble seruiteur
Vostre pere fu, que dieu face grace,
Et iadis vint de Boulongne la grace,
Dont il fu ne, par le sien mandement,
Maistre Thomas de pizan, autrement
De Boulonge, fu dit et surnomme,
Qui sollempnel clerc estoit renomme.”
* * * * *
This is the dedication which appears, not only in some other MSS. but in
the edition printed by Philippe Pigouchet at Paris, probably in 1490,
under the title _Les cent histoires de troye_.[83] Of the other three
manuscript copies in the British Museum, Royal MS. 14 E. ii. (f. 294)
and 17 E. iv. (f. 272) have no dedication at all, while that in Harley
MS. 219 (f. 106) appeals to a third patron:
“Prince excellent de haute renommee,
De qui grand vois par le mond est semee,
Tres noble en fais, sage, duit et apris
De touz les biens qui en bon sont compris,
Roy noble et haut chiualer conquerour,
Digne destre par vaillaunce Emperour,
A vous puissant, tres redoute seignour,
Qui dessur vous ne cognoise greignour,
Soit tres humble recommendacioun
Deuant mise de vray entencioun
De par moy que en sagesse non digne
Femme ignorant suy nommee Cristine,
Fille iadis philosophe et docteur,
Qui conseiller fu, humble seruiteur
Au Roy Charles quint, qui dieu face grace.”
* * * * *
The king who is thus addressed can be no other than the unfortunate
Charles VI., although any hopes that he once excited had by this time
been dispelled by his strange intermittent fits of insanity, which dated
from 1392. Very similar terms were employed in the dedication to him by
name of the “Chemin de long estude” in 1402:
“A vous, bon roy de France redoubtable,
Le VI^e Charles du nom notable,
Que Dieux maintienge en joie et en sante,
Mon petit dit soit premier presente,
Tout ne soit il digne qu’en telz mains aille,
Mais bon vouloir comme bon fait me vaille.”
In this instance, however, Christine associated with him his uncles
Berry and Burgundy and his brother Orleans, who during his incapacity
divided the real power between them:
“Et puis a vous, haulz ducs magnifiez,
Dicelle fleur fais et ediffiez,
Dont l’esplendeur s’espant par toute terre,
Par quel honneur fait los a France a querre.”
In her presentation copies she was not wont to measure her language, and
probably Scrope’s extravagant eulogy of the Duke of Berry was based upon
what he found in his MS., although, instead of translating the
dedication as it stood, he chose to embody it in his preface. On the
other hand, Christine of course was in no way responsible for the
statement that the duke lived for a hundred years (p. 3). How it
originated is a mystery, for there is no doubt whatever that he died on
15th June, 1416, at the age of seventy-six.[84] Jean Bouchet indeed in
his _Annales d’Aquitaine_,[85] although he records the date of his death
correctly, states that he was ninety or thereabouts, but he gives no
authority, and it is enough to say that Berry’s father King John II. was
born in 1319, and his eldest brother Charles V. in 1337. It will be seen
that Scrope represents him as a perfect paragon of chivalrous qualities,
unrivalled in his time both in war and in council, as well as for deeds
of piety. In more sober history, however, he by no means appears to such
advantage. His cultured and sumptuous tastes, his splendid buildings and
his library and other rich collections, have shed a certain lustre on
his name; but, as he showed especially in his government of Languedoc,
he was cruel, rapacious, and unprincipled, and in critical times his
life was that of a selfish and prodigal voluptuary. For war he had
neither talent nor zest; his real element appears to have been
diplomacy, and, apart from his patronage of art and letters and his
benefactions to the church, his chief claim to credit rests on his
repeated attempts to mediate between the Burgundian and Orleanist
factions. Scrope’s estimate of him is in striking contrast with that of
modern historians, such as Raynal[86] and Martin, the latter of whom in
recording his death writes, “Ce prince laissa une mémoire souillée entre
toutes dans cette êpoque de souillures. Il joignait à bien d’autres
vices le vice que la France pardonne le moins à ses chefs, le péché
irremissible, la lâcheté.”[87]
To pass from the preface to the “Epistle of Othea” itself, there is no
reason to suppose that the translator had received the training of a
scholar; on the contrary, the probability is that, owing to a sickly
youth and other drawbacks, his education had been more or less
neglected. It is not even certain that he had been regularly taught
French. From a curious passage interpolated by Trevisa in his
translation of Higden’s “Polychronicon,” which was finished in 1387, it
seems that the fashion was then already dying out among the class to
which by birth he belonged,[88] and possibly therefore he learnt all he
knew of the language while he was with his stepfather in France. Be that
as it may, his rendering of Christine de Pisan’s French may claim on the
whole to be fairly well done. The verse of his “textes” is too much of
the doggrel type and his meaning is sometimes obscure, but as a rule he
follows the original closely, while the orthography of the MS., though
atrociously bad, is no worse than what we are accustomed to in the
_Paston Letters_ and elsewhere at the same period. Occasionally, as is
only natural, he goes astray, though it is of course possible that the
fault lay with the MS. from which he translated. In most cases the
source of his errors is obvious. Thus he translates “ton bon cuer” (p.
5) by “all good hertys,” having evidently mistaken “ton” for “tou[t]”;
and again “en quant fraisle vaissel est sa vie contenue” (p. 28) by “in
how frele (_sc._ frail) a vessel his lyff is all naked” (toute nue)!
Similarly “conscience pour soy” (p. 16) appears as “conscience for
feyth” (foy); “ala querre les autres dieux” (p. 62) as “thanne went he
forth [to seek] the tothir ii^o” (deux); “mais a nostre propos [la
fable] veult dire” (_ibid._) as “Mars to owre purpose seith”; and “gard
toy de lagait (l’agait) de tes ennemis” (p. 73) as “kepe the (_sc._
thee) from the peple (la gent) of thyn ennemyes.” It is not so easy to
understand the process by which the simple sentence “Vanite fist lange
devenir deable” (p. 15) was transformed into “Vanite made avoyde degre
to becum a fende,” whatever that may mean; or why in the story of Acis
and Galatea (p. 65) “un iouuencel qui Acis estoit nommez” became “and he
was dede” (_sc._ dead), though possibly in this case there was some
confusion between “acis” and “occis.” But the strangest mistranslation
is in the words “Averyse and covetise be ii^o sausmakers the which
sesseth neuer to seye, ‘Bryng, Bryng’” (p. 105), where the French text
has “sont ii. sancsues,” sanguisugæ, or leeches. The reference of course
is to Proverbs xxx. 15, “The horseleach hath two daughters, crying,
‘Give, give’”; and, as stated in the note, “horseleeches” is in fact the
rendering given in another translation of Christine’s work. Scrope’s
“sausmakers” can hardly be anything but “sauce-makers,”[89] but it is
not impossible that he coined the mongrel word “sanc-suckers,” which the
scribe miscopied.
The second English translation of the “Épître d’Othéa” referred to above
can be so little known that a brief account of it will not be
superfluous. It exists only in the form of a small printed octavo in
black-letter with the title _Here foloweth the C. Hystoryes of Troye_,
and there is no doubt that it was taken from Pigouchet’s French edition
of 1490,[90] or one of the reprints; in fact it copies the second title
in French, merely omitting the imprint “à Paris.” Many of its rough
woodcuts, one of which accompanies each “texte,” also come from the same
source, being generally reversed, but others are independent and their
subjects often have no connexion whatever with the text. In place of the
dedication to the Duke of Orleans the translator gives a prologue of his
own in ten seven-line stanzas, the first two of which are as follows:
“Boke, of thy rudenesse by consyderacion
Plunged in the walowes of abasshement,
For thy translatoure make excusacion
To all to whom thou shalt thy selfe present,
Besechynge them vpon the sentement
In the composed to set theyr regarde
And not on the speche cancred and frowarde.
“Shewe them that thy translatour hath the wryten,
Not to obtain thankes or remuneracions,
But to the entent to do the to be wryten
As well in Englande as in other nacyons.
And where mysordre in thy translation is,
Vnto the perceyuer with humble obeysaunce
Excuse thy reducer, blamyng his ygnoraunce.”
All the information which he gives about himself in this prologue is
that, when he made his translation, he was “flowring in youth,” but
after the “Finis” he has added, “Thus endeth the .C. Hystories of Troye,
translated out of Frenche in to Englysshe by me. R.W.” This again is
followed by the colophon, “Imprynted by me Robert Wyer, dwellyng in S.
Martyns parysshe at Charyng Crosse at the sygne of S. John̄ Euangelist
besyde the Duke of Suffolkes place”; and it is therefore highly probable
that R. W. and Robert Wyer were identical, though the latter is not
otherwise known except as a printer. A list of nearly a hundred books
issued by him has been made up,[91] ranging in date from 1530 to 1556,
and all those which, as in this instance, have the Duke of Suffolk’s
name in the imprint must have been published after 1536, when the
property referred to, which previously belonged to the Bishop of
Norwich, passed into his possession. The date of the book therefore is
about 1540–1550, though the translation may have been made some years
before. For the sake of comparison with the earlier version of Stephen
Scrope, one of the texts with its commentary is here given:
THE .XXVIII. TEXTE.
Loue and prayse Cadmus so excellente,
And his dyscyples holde thou in chyerte.
He gaygned the fountayne of the Serpente
With ryght great payne afore that it wolde be.
THE .XXVIII. GLOSE.
Cadmus was a moche noble man and founded Thebes, whiche cytie was
greatly renomed. He set there a study & he hym selfe was moche
profoundly lettered and of great science. And therfore sayth the
fable that he daunted the serpent at the fountayne, that is to
vnderstande the science and sages that alwayes springeth; the
Serpent is noted for the payne and trauayle which it behoueth the
student to daunte afore that he maye purchase scyence. And the fable
sayth that he hym self became a serpent, which is to vnderstande he
was a corrector and mayster of other. So wol Othea say that the good
knight ought to loue and honour the clerkes lettered, which ben
grounded in science. To this purpose sayeth Arystotle to Alexandre,
“Honour thou scyence and fortyfie it by good maysters.”
THE .XXVIII. ALLEGORIE.
Cadmus whiche daunted the Serpent at the fountayne, whiche the good
knyght ought to loue, we may vnderstande the blyssed humanite of
Jesu christ, which dompted the serpent and gaigned the fountayne,
that is to say the lyfe of this world, from the which he passed
afore with great payne and with great trauayle. Wherof he had
perfyte victory whan he rose agayne the thyrd day, as sayth S.
Thomas, “Tertia die resurrexit a mortuis.”
In conclusion it only remains to say a few words on the possible
connexion of Stephen Scrope with two other works already mentioned,
which, like his “Epistle of Othea” or “Boke of Knyghthode” and his
“Sayings of the Philosophers,” were written for Sir John Fastolf or
under his influence. One of them, the “Boke of Noblesse,” is preserved
in a unique copy in the British Museum, Royal MS. 18 B. xxii., and was
edited for the Roxburghe Club in 1860 by Mr. J. Gough Nichols. In the
form in which it has come down to us, it was addressed to Edward IV. at
the time of his invasion of France in 1475, professing to be “write and
entitled to courage and comfort noble men in armes to be in perpetuite
of remembraunce for here noble dedis, as right conuenient is soo to
bee,” or, more precisely, for the purpose of inciting the English to
recover by force of arms their lost foreign conquests. The contents were
admirably summarized in the editor’s introduction, and all that need be
said of them here is that, in addition to a highly interesting
retrospect of English relations with France, they include a large amount
of matter derived from a French treatise on the art of war, which is
spoken of as the “Arbre de Batailles” and attributed to “Dame Cristyn.”
Although the editor failed to identify the author, he pointed out that
he must have been intimately associated with Fastolf and had access to
his papers. Strictly speaking, Fastolf’s name is not specially prominent
except in the marginal insertions and notes, where the writer refers to
him as “myne autor” and gives several curious anecdotes as heard from
his lips. The body of the MS. is clearly not autograph; but these
additions, together with the title and colophon,[92] are in a different
handwriting, and, although the editor seems to have been unaware of the
fact, it is beyond question that of William Worcester, or Botoner, who
was not only Fastolf’s servant and secretary, but is also known as an
annalist and a diligent collector of matter on historical, topographical
and other subjects.[93] The editor therefore dismissed his claims to the
authorship of the work rather too hastily, for, as the final touches
were certainly his, the only question is whether he was also responsible
for the whole of it from its inception. From the limit of date of the
events mentioned there is some reason to believe that it was originally
composed within Fastolf’s lifetime and was only revised and enlarged in
1475 for a special occasion; and its date may perhaps be fixed still
more exactly, since there is an allusion (p. 42) to “another gret armee
and voiage fordone for defaut and lak of spedy payment _this yere_ of
Crist M^lccccli.” Apart from the final additions there is evidence to
connect Worcester with it in a passage of the prologue to a series of
documents relating to the wars in France which were collected by
him,[94] mainly no doubt from materials that belonged to Fastolf, and
which may be regarded as _pièces justificatives_ to the “Boke of
Noblesse.” This collection also appears to have been designed for Edward
IV., but the original prologue was awkwardly recast, as we now have it,
after Worcester’s death by his son for dedication to Richard III. The
passage in it referred to, for which he is responsible, is as follows:
“And I, as moost symple of reasone, youre righte humble legemane,
cannot atteyne to understond the reasons and bokes that many wise
philosophurs of gret auctorite have writtene upone this vertue of
Force, but that my pore fadyr, William Worcestre ... toke upone hym
to write in this mater and compiled this boke to the most highe and
gretly redoubted kyng, your most nobille brodyr and predecessoure,
shewyng after his symple connyng, after the seyng of the masters of
philosophie, as Renatus Vegesius in his Boke of Batayles, also
Julius Frontinus in his Boke of Knyghtly Laboures, callid in Greke
Stratagematon, a new auctoure callid The Tree of Batayles.”
Obviously this cannot apply to the purely historical documents of which
the collection itself consists. It is, however, strongly suggestive of
the “Boke of Noblesse,” to which they are, as it were, an appendix, and
coupled with the evidence of the handwriting of the additions, it leaves
little room for doubt that William Worcester was its author. At the same
time, it is by no means unlikely that Stephen Scrope also had a hand in
it. If indeed it was wholly compiled in 1475, this is impossible, since
he died in 1472.[95] Assuming, however, for the reason given above, that
it dates from 1451, or thereabouts, he was residing at the time with
Fastolf and was no doubt on familiar terms with Worcester. As already
remarked, a prominent feature of the work is the number of extracts
translated from the so-called “Arbre de Batailles” of “Dame Cristyn.”
This, however, was not, as the editor supposed, Honoré Bonet’s treatise
of that name[96] assigned to a wrong author, but Christine de Pisan’s
“Faits d’armes et de chevalerie” under a wrong title.[97] Whether
Worcester was capable of making translations from it as early as 1451 is
somewhat doubtful; for he seems to have only begun to learn French about
August, 1458,[98] little more than a year before Fastolf’s death. Scrope
on the contrary had before this translated two French works for the
latter, one of them being by the same Christine, and it is therefore in
this part of the “Boke of Noblesse,” if at all, that he may possibly
have collaborated.
Unlike the last-named work, the anonymous English version of Cicero’s
“De Senectute” which Caxton printed in 1481 has already been attributed
to William Worcester,[99] the ground of this assumption being an entry
made in his “Itinerarium,”[100] that on 10th August, 1473, he presented
to Bishop Waynflete at Esher a translation which he had made of this
treatise, but got nothing in return. Apart from this statement there is
no more reason for attributing Caxton’s text to Worcester than to
Scrope. The language is better than might have been expected from either
of them, but as no MS. copy exists, we cannot tell to what extent it was
edited by Caxton. In the preface, as may be seen above (p. xxx.), it is
said that the translation was made from the French of Laurence de
Premierfait by Sir John Fastolf’s “ordenaunce and desyre.” As there is
no reason to doubt this, its date cannot be later than 1459, so that, if
Worcester was the translator, he kept it at least thirteen years before
he offered it to Waynflete. This does not seem very likely, and his
translation was therefore possibly a different one altogether, completed
shortly before the occasion when the bishop so disappointed him by his
cold acceptance of it. The earlier version in that case was almost
certainly by Scrope; but, where so much is left to conjecture, the most
that can be said is that the evidence upon which it has hitherto been
assigned to Worcester is not wholly conclusive.
G. F. W.
ERRATA.
P. 2, l. 6, _for_ yowr emost _read_ yowre most.
P. 11, l. 1, _for_ streygth _read_ strey[n]gth.
P. 19, l. 17, _for_ yif is _read_ yif it.
P. 56, Text lii., l. 3, _transfer semicolon to end of line_.
P. 72, note 3, _for_ metu Dei _read_ nutu Dei.
P. 104, Text xci., l. 3, _for_ thyre _read_ thyne.
THE EPISTLE OF OTHEA TO HECTOR;
OR
THE BOKE OF KNYGHTHODE.
Noble[101] and worshipfull among the ordre of cheualrie, renommeed ffor
in as much as ye and suche othir noble knyghtes and men of worchip haue
exerciced and occupied by long continuaunce of tyme the grete part of
yowre dayes in dedys of cheualrie and actis of armis, to the whic[h]e
entent ye resseyved the ordre of cheualrie, that is to sey, principaly
to be occupied in kepyng and defendyng the cristyn feythe, þe rigth of
the chirch, the lond, the contre and the comin welefare of it—And now,
seth it is soo that the naturel course off kynde, by revolucion and
successyon of .lx. yeeres growyn vpon yowe at this tyme of age and
feblenesse, ys comen, abatyng youre bodly laboures, takyng away yowre
naturall streyngtht and power from all such labouris as concernyth the
exercysing off dedis of cheuallrie, be it yowre noble courage and
affeccion of such noble and worchipfull actis and desirys departyth not
from yow, yet rygth necessarie [it] now were to occupie the tyme of
yowre agys and feblenes of bodie in gostly cheuallrie off dedes of armes
spirituall, as in contemplacion of morall wysdome and exercisyng gostly
werkys which that may enforce and cavse yow to be callid to the ordire
of knyghthode that schal perpetuelly endure and encrese in ioye and
worship endelese.
And therefor I, yowre most humble sone Stevyn, whiche that haue wele
poundered and consideryd the many and grete entreprises of labouris and
aventuris that ye haue embaundoned and yovyn youre selph to by many
yeeris contynued, as wele in Fraunce [and] Normandie as in othir
straunge regions, londes and contrees—and God, which is souuerayne
cheueten and knyght off all cheualrie, hath euer preseruyd and defendid
yow in all yowre seyde laboures off cheualrye into this day, ffor the
which ye be most specyaly obliged and bownden to becom hys knyght in
yovre auncient age, namely for to make ffyghtyng ayen youre goostly
ennemyes, that allwey be redy to werre wyth youre sovle, the [Sidenote:
f. 3.] which, and ye ouerecom hym, shall cawse yow to be in renomme and
worchyp in Paradis euerlastyng—I, consideryng thees premisses wyth
othir, have (be the suffraunce off yowre noble and good ffadyrhode and
by yowre commaundement) take vpon me at this tyme to translate ovte off
Frenche tong, ffor more encrese of vertu, and to reduce into owre modyr
tong a Book off Knyghthode, as wele off gostly and spirituell actis off
armys for the sowle hele as of wordly[102] dedys and policie
gouernaunce, and which is auctorised and grounded fryst vpon the .iiii.
Cardinal Vertous, as Justice, Prudence, Fors and Temperaunce, also
exempled vpon the grete conceytys and doctrine off fulle wyse pooetys
and philosophurs, the whiche teche and covnesell how a man schuld be a
knyght for the world prynspally, as in yeftis off grace vsyng, as the
Cardinalle Vertuus make mencion, ffryst in iustice kepyng, prvdently hym
self gouuernyng, hys streynght bodely and gostly vsyng, and magnanimite
conseruyng, and allso gouuernyng hymself as a knyght in the seyde
Cardinall Vertuouse kepyng. Which materis, conseytys and resons be
auctorised and approued vpon the textys and dictes off the holde[103]
poetys and wyse men called Philosophurs. And allso ye schal fynde here
in this seyde Boke off Cheuallry how and in whatte maner ye, and all
othir off whatte astate, condicion or degre he be off, may welle be
called a knyght that ouercomyth and conqveryth hys gostly ennemyes by
the safegard repuignand defence off hys sovle, wich among all othir
victories [and] dedys off worchip is most expedient and necessarie,
where as dayly in grettest aventures a man puttyth hym inne and most
wery he is to be renommed in worchip and callid a knyght that dothe
exercise hys armes and dedys off knyghthode in gostly dedys, in
conqveryng his gostly ennemees and ouyrcomyng þe peple and aventure off
the world.
And this seyde boke, at the instavnce and praer off a fulle wyse
gentylwoman of Frawnce called Dame Cristine, was compiled and grounded
by the famous doctours of the most excellent in clerge the nobyl
Vniuersyte off Paris, made to the ful noble famous prynce and knyght off
renovnne in his dayes, beyng called Jon, Duke of Barry, thryd son to
Kyng Jon of Frawnce, that he throwe hys knyghtly labourys, as welle in
dedys of armes temporell as spirituell exercisyng by the space and tyme
of .c. yeerys[104] lyvyng, flowrid and rengnyd in grete worchip and
renownne of cheualry. And in thre thyngges generaly he exercisyd his
knyghtly labowris. Thereof oon was in victories, dedis of cheualrie and
of armys, in defendyng the seyde royalme of Frawnce from his ennemyes.
[The second was] in grete police vsyng, as of grete cowneseylles and
wysdomys, yevyng and executing the same for the conseruacyon of iustice
and transquillite and alsoo pease kepyng for all the comon welleffare of
that noble royaulme. The thredde was in spirytuell and gostly dedys
yovyn ontoo for the helthe and wellfare of hys sovle. And in euery of
these thre thynggys the seyde prynce was holden ful cheualrouse and
suremounted in his dayes above all othir. Wych schewyth welle opynly to
euery vnder-stander [Sidenote: f. 4.] in the seyde booke redyng that it
was made acordyng to hys seyde victorious dedis and actis of worchip
exercysyng.
And the seyde booke ys diuidyd in thre partys gederid in a summe of
an .c. textys, drawen vpon the dictis and conceytys of the seyd most
famous poetys off olde tyme beyng, as Vyrgyl, Ouyde, Omer and othir; and
also with an .c. commentys therevpon, callid exposicyons or glosis vpon
the seyde textys, of exemplys temporell of policie gouernaunce and
worldlye wysdoms and dedys, grovndyed and also exempled by experiens and
by auctorite of the auncient philosophurs and clerkes, as Hermes,[105]
Plato, Salomon, Aristotiles, Socrates, Ptholome and suche othir. And
vpon thies exemplis and glosis is made and wretyn also an othyr .c.
allegories and moralizacions, applied and moralized to actis and dedys
of werkyng spirituell, for to doctrine enforme and to lerne euery man
nov lyvyng in this world how he schuld be a knyht exercisyng and doyng
the dedys of armys gostly, for euerlastyng victorie and helthe of the
sovle. Which allegories and moralizacions ben grovnded and auctorised
vpon the .iiii. holy doctoris of the chirche, as Austyn, Jerom,
Gregorie, Ambrose, alsoo vpon the Bible, the Holy Ewaungelistes and
Epistollys and othyr holy doctorus, as here textis more opynly schalle
appere hereafftyr. Fiat. Fiat. Amen.
I.
Othea, of prudence named godesse,
That setteth goode in worthynesse,
To the,[106] Hector, noble prince myghty,
That in armes is evere worthye,
The sone of Mars,[107] the god of bateyle,
In dedys of armes which wyll not fayle,
And of myghty Minerve, the godes, [Sidenote: f. 5.]
The whiche in armes is hy maystres,
Sucessoure of the noble Troyens,
Heyre[108] of Troye and of the ceteseyns,
Salutacion afore sette plenere
I sende, wyth love feyned in no manere.
O good lorde, how am I desyryng
Thi grete avayle, which I goo sekeyng,
And that aumented and preseruyd
It may be, and euer obseruede
Thy worchipe and worthines in old age,
That thow hast gretly hadde in thi fryst age.
Now for to schewe the my pistile playnely,
I wyll the enorte and telle verily
Off thyngges that be ful necessarie
To hye worthynesse and the contrarie,
To the opposite off worthinesse,
So that all goode hertys may theym dres[109]
For to gete be goode besy lernynge
The hors that in the eyre is flyynge
(It is named the Pegasus truly),
That all louers loueth hyly.[110]
And because of thi condycion
I knowe be rygth inclynacion
Able to take knythly dedys on hand
More than is in othir .v. score thowsand
(For as a godes I haue knovynge,
Not by the assay but by kunnyng,
Of thynges the which be on to kome),
I owthe to thynkke on the, hole and some[111];
For I knowe thowe shalte be euer duryng,
Worthiest of all the worthy lyvyng,
And schall afore all othir namyd be,
So that I may be belouyd of the.
Belovyd, why schuld not I be soo?
I am that the which arayeth all thoo
That loueth me and holdyth me dere;
I rede theym lessons in chaiere,
Which maketh theym clyme heuen onto.
I pray the that thow be oon off tho
That will here inne beleve me wele.[112]
Now sete it well thane in thy mynd and fele
The wordes that I wyll to the endyte,
And yf thowe here me owght telle, sey or wryte
Any thyng that for to come may be
As that I seye, vmbethynke the
As that they were past, so do thow oughte
Knowe ryght wele that they be in my thought
In the spyrite off profecie.
Vndirstonde wele nowe and greve not the,
For I shall no thyng sey but that schalle falle.
Thynke wele the comyng is not yet at all.
Othea opon the Greke may be takyn for the wysedome off man and
woman[113], and as ancient pepyll of hold tyme, not havynge yit at that
tyme lyght of feythe, wirchippyd many goddys, vndyr the which lawe be
passed the hyest lordes that hathe ben in the world, as the reaume off
Assire, of Perse, the Grekys, the Troyens, Alexandre, the Romaynes and
many other, anamly the grettest philosophurs that[114] euer was—so as
yet at that tyme God hade not oppenyd the ȝate off mercy, but we Crysten
men and women now at this tyme by the grace of God enlumynid wyth very
feyth may bryng ayene to morall mynde the oppinyons of ancient pepyll
and thereopon many feyre allegories may be made—and as they hade
[Sidenote: f. 6.] a costom to worchipe all thynge the which above the
comon cours of thynges hade prerogatyue of some grace, many wyse ladyes
in there tyme were called godesses. And trwe it ys, aftyr the storie,
that in the tyme that grete[115] Troye fflorishede in his grete name a
ful wyse ladie callede Othea, consyderyng the ffre thought[116] of
Hector of Troye, the which that tyme ffloryshed in vertues, and that it
be a shewynge of fortunes to be in hym in tyme commynge, sche sent hyme
many grete and notabil yiftys, and namly the fayre stede that men callyd
Galathee, the which had no felawe in all the worlde. And becavse that
all wordly grace[s] that a good man oughte for to have were in Hector,
morally we may sey that he toke theyme by the cownsel of Othea, the
which sent hyme this pystylle.
By Othea we schall vndirstond by the vertu of prudence and of wysedome,
wherewyth he was arayed; and because the Cardinal Vertues ben necessarie
to good pollicie, we schall speke of them, sewynge ich after othyr. And
to þe fryst we have youen a name and takyn a maner of speche in some
wyse poetykly, the bettyr to folewe owre matere acordyng to the very
storie, and to owre purpoyse we schall take some auctoritees of ancient
philosophres. Thus we schall sey that by the seyde lady this present was
yovyn or sente to goode Hector, the which in lech wyse may be to all
other desirynge bounte and wysedome. And as the vertue of prudence ought
gretely to be recomendede, Aristotle, the prynce off philosophurs,
seyth, “Becavse that wysedome is þe most noble off all othir thynges, it
schulde be shevyd by the best resone and the most behouely maner that
myghte be.”
Fore to bryng ayen to allegorie the purpos of owre matyr to owre wordes,
we schall applique Holy Scrypture to edificacion of the soule, beyng in
wrecheed worlde. As by the grete wysedome and hye myȝte of God all
thynges that be resonabily made all scholde streche to the ende of hyme,
and becawse that owre speryt, mad off God to hys lekenes, is made of
thynges moste noble aftyr the aungelles, it is behouely and necessarie
that it be arayed wyth vertues, whereby it may be conveyed to the ende
for the which it was made. And becavse it was lettyd by the assautes of
the wacches[117] of the enemy of helle, the which is his dedely enemye
and aduersarie and oftyn distourbeth it to come to hys beaute,[118] we
may calle mankyndely lyfe very cheualrie, as the Scripture seyth in many
partes, and standyng[119] all erthyly thynges[120] be desceyvable,[121]
we schulde haue in contynuell mynde the tyme [Sidenote: f. 7.] for to
come, which is wythowte ende. And because this is the grete wysedome of
perfite knygthhode and that all othir be of no comparison to regarde of
the victorius peple the which be corounede in blys, we schal take a
maner of speche of gostly knyhthode, that [is] to be done princypally to
the preysynge of God and to the profyth of thoo þat wylle delyte theyme
to here this present dittee.
Howe prudence and wysedome is modyr and conditoures of all vertues,
wythowte the which the tothire may not be well gouernede, it is
necessarie to gostly knyghthode to be arayed wyth prudence, as Seynte
Austyn seyth in the book of Singularite off Clerkes,[122] that in what
maner of place prudence be men may lyghtly cesse and amende[123] all
contrarius thynges, but there w[h]ere prudence is despisyd all
cont[r]arius thynges hath domynacyon. And to this purpoose Salamon seyth
in his Proverbis, “Si [intraverit sapientia cor tuum et scientia animæ
tuæ placuerit, consilium custodiet te et prudentia servabit te.”][124]
II.
And to the entent that know may be
What thou schuldeste do, drawe vnto þe
The vertues that may the most restore,
The bettir to come to that seyde afore
Of the worshipful chevalroures.[125]
Allthoughe that it be aventerous,
Yet schall I sey whi that I sey thus.
A cosyn germayne[126] I haue, I wys.
Fullefyllyd sche is beaute wyth all;
But of all thynges in specyall
Sche ys ful softe and temperede full wele;
Of stroke of ire felyth sche no dele; [Sidenote: f. 8.]
Sche thynkkyth no thynge but of rygth balance.
It is the godesse of Temperance.
I may not all only but by hyre face
Haue the name of that by myghty grace;
For yef the weghte ne were sche to the made,
The all were not worthe a leke blade.[127]
Therefor I wyll that with me sche love the.
Yf she wyll, lete hire note forgetyn be;
For she is ryght a wele lerned godesse,
Hyr witte I love and prays myche in distrese.
Othea seyth that Temperance is here cosyn germayne,[128] the which he
schuld loue; for the vertu of temperance may veryly be seyde cosyn
germayne and lykennd [to] prudence, for temperans is schewer of prudence
and of prudence folwyth temperance. Therefor it is seide that he shulde
hold hyr for his love; and euery good knygth shulde do the same, that
desiryth due prayse of goode peple. As the philosophre Demetricus[129]
seyth, “Temperance moderath vices and perfyteth vertues.”
The good spiryte shuld haue the vertue of temperance, the whiche [hath]
the propirte to lemyte and to sede on syde superfluytes.[130] For Seynt
Austyn seyth in the book of the condycions[131] ... of concupyscence,
the whiche be contrary to vs and lettyth vs from Godes lawe, and more
also to dispite fleschely delytys and worldly praysynge. Seynt Petir
spekyth to that purpose in hys fyrst Pystyl, [“Obsecro vos tanquam
advenas et peregrinos abstinere vos a carnalibus desideriis, quæ
militant adversus animam”].[132]
III.
And wyth vs strey[n]gth be honesty þe yete.
If that be gretter vertues thou sete,
Thou moste the turne toward Hercules
And behold wele his grete worthines,
In whome there was full myche bounte.
And to thi lenage all thoughe that he
Was contrarie and a grete name hym gate, [Sidenote: f. 9.]
For all that haue thou neuer the more hate
To his vertue, streyngth and nobylnese,
Which opynned the ȝates of worthinese.
Yet, though that thowe wylt folwe hys weye
And also hys worthines, I sey
It nedyth no thyng to the to make
Were[133] with theyme of hell ne no stryfe take,
Ne for to were wyth the god Pluto
For ony fauour Proserpyng onto,
The godes dowter called Ceres,
Whome he rauysched on the se of Gres.[134]
Ne onto the it is no mystyr[135]
That thow be Serebrus,[136] the portar
Of helle, besye the hys cheynes to breke,
Ne of theyme of helle to take any wreke,
The which to vntrewe wynnors be;[137]
Nor for his felaws as dede he,
Pirotheus and Theseus,[138] in fere,
The which that nere hand desceyuyd were
[To] auenture theyme in that valy soo,
W[h]ere many a sowle hath ful mych woo;
For werre inougth in herthe[139] þou schalt fynd felle,
Thougth thow goo not to sek yt in helle.
It is no thinge necessarie to the
So to purchase or do armes, parde,
To go and fyghte with serpentes stynggyng,
With boores wylde or beerys rampyng.[140]
Wheythir thou ymagen this I wote noghte,
Or ell of wyldenes it commyth in thy thougth
Of worthines for to have a name.
In dystres, yf it be not for the same,
As ffor thy body the ffor to defende,
Yf that sych bestis wylde the offende,
Than diffence, if asailled thou be,
Withowte dowte it is worchip to the;
Yf thow ouercome theym and the saue,
Bothe grete lavde and worchip thou shalt haue.
The vertu of strength is not only to vndyrstonde bodely strength, but
the stabilnes and stedefastenes that a goode knygth schulde haue in all
hys dedis by deliberaciou of good wytte and strength to resyst ayens
contrariousnes that may come onto hym, weythir it be infortunes or
tribulacions, where strengh and myghti corage may be vaylable to the
exaussyng of worthines. And alyche[141] Hercules for to gif exampel of
strengh, to the entent that it may be doble availe, that is to seye, in
as myche as tocheth to his vertue and anamly in dedes of knygthhode,
wherin he was ryghte excellent. And for the hynes of Hector, it is a
behouely thynge to gyfe hyme hy[142] example. Hercules was a knyghte of
Grece of meruelyous strengh and broute to ende many knyghtly worthines.
A grete iorneyer he was in the worlde, and, for the grete and meruelyous
viagis and thinges of grete strenghe that he made and dede, the poietes,
the wyche spak couertly and in maner of fable, seyde that he wente into
helle to fygth wyth the prynces off helle and that [he] favth[143] wyth
serpentes and fiers bestis, by the wyche is to vndirstonden the grete
and stronge entreprises.[144] * * *
IV.
* * * * *
Elles arte thou note worthy an helme to were, [Sidenote: f. 10.]
Ne for to gouerne a reaume nowhere.[145]
Prudence seith to the good knyghte that, yf he will be on of the goode
mennes rowe, he most haue the vertue of iustice, that is to seye,
ryghtwyse iustice. And Aristotle seith he that is a rytewyse iusticer
fryst shulde iustifie hym selph, ffor he that iustifies not hym self is
not worthi to iustifye anothir. This is to vndirstond that a man shulde
correcte his owne defavtes, so þat thei be holy fordone, and than a man
so correctid may wele, and schulde, be a corrector of othir men. And to
speke morally, ve shall tell a fable to this purpoise vndir the
couertvre of poyetis. Minos, as poyetis sey, is a iusticer off helle or
a prouoste or a cheife bayle, and afore hym is broughte alle the sowles
descendyng into that vaylie; and afftir that they haue disseruede of
penance as many degrees as he wille that thei be sette deipe, as ofte he
turnyth his tayle abwte hym. And becawse that he is thee iustice ande
the punyschment of God, lete vs take owre maner to speke oure speche
veryly to that purpose. O trouth there was a kyng in Grece[146] called
Mynos of mervelious fairnes,[147] and in hym was grete rigoure of
iustice; and therefor the poietis seyde that aftir his deth he was
commytted to be iusticer of helle. And Aristotile seyth, “Justice is a
mesure that God hath sette in erthe for to limitte thereby thynges
ryghtwysly.”
And even as God is hede of iustice and of all orderes, it is necessarye
to the cheualerous sperit that wille come to the victorius blysse for to
have this vertue. And Seynt Bernard seith in a sermone[148] that iustice
is not ellis but to giffe euery man that his is. “Yife than,” seith he,
“to .iii. maner of peple that the whiche is theires, that is to say, to
thi souereyne, to thi felawe and to thi soget: to thi souereyne
reuerence and obeissance of body; to thi falawe thou schulde gyffe
counsel and helpe, counsel in teschyng hym where he is ignorant and
helpe hym in comfortynge his owyn power[149]; to thi soget, thow
schuldest gyf hym chastissyng and kepyng hym frome euyl dedes, in
chastisyng[150] hym forgiffeyng hym that he hath doo amysse.” And thus
hereto seyth Salomon in his Proverbis, “Ex[cogitat iustus de domo impii
ut detrahat impios a malo.... Gaudium est iusto facere iusticiam”].[151]
V.
Also remenbre the of Percyvale,[152] [Sidenote: f. 11.]
Whos name is knowen ouer alle
Throwghowte the worlde, both soft and hard,
The swyffte hors Pegasus afterward.
He roode hyme through the eyre flyyng,
And Andromeda in hys goyng
Fro the bellue[153] he hyr delyueryd
And wyth his streynght hir from hym revede,
As a ryght good errant myghtty knyghte
Brought hyr ageyne to hir kyne ful ryght.
Thys dede in yowre mynde loke that it holde,
For a good knyght shuld kepe that is bolde
Thys wey, if that he will haue exprese
Wyrchip, which is mych better than ryches.
Hys shynnynge shelde than loke thou opon,
The which haue euer ouercome many one.
Wythe his fauchon loke that thou arme the,
Both strong and stedefast than shalt thou be.
And because that it is acordyng thyng[154] for a good knyght to haue
wirchip and reuerence, we shalle make a fygure aftyr the maner of
poietis. Percevale was a ful worthi knyght and whan[155] many reaumes,
and the name off the grete lande of Perce come of hyme. And poyetis
seide that he roode the hors that flawe in the eyre, the which was
called Pegasus; and that is to vnderstonde a goode name, the which
flyeth through the eyre. He bare in his honde a fauchon or a glayve; the
whiche is seide for the grete multytude of peple that were discomfyte by
hym in maney batayles. He delyueryd Andromeda from the bellue; this was
a kynggys doghter, the which he delyuered from a monstre of the see, the
which by the sentence of the godes shulde a[156] deuoured hire. This is
to vndirstonde that alle knyghtes shulde socovre women that hade nede of
there socoure. This Percivale and the hors [Sidenote: f. 12.] the which
fleeth[157] may[158] be notede for the good name that a goode knyghte
shulde haue and gete by hys good desertes; and there shuld he ryde, that
is to seye, that hys goode name shulde be borne in all contrees. And
Aristotile seyth that a good name of a man maketh a name shynnyng to the
worlde and agreable in presence of princes.
The cheualerours sperit shulde desyre a goode name among the felachipe
of the seyntis of heuen gotten by his goode desertes. The good hors
Pegasus that [beareth][159] hyme shall be his good angel, the which
shall make good reporte off hyme at the day of dome. Andromeda that shal
be delyuered, it is his sowle, the which he delyueres fro the feend of
hell by the ouercomyng off synne. And that a man on the same maner wyse
shuld wylne to haue a good name in this worlde to the plesaunce of God
and not for vayne glorie, Seynt Austin seyth in the Booke of
Correccion[160] that “ii. thyngges be necessarie to beleve wele,[161]
that is to sey, good conscience and good name, conscience for
feyth,[162] good name for his neyburwe; and [w]ho so trostyth in
conscience and dyspiteth a good name, he is cruel”; for it is a synge of
a nobyll corage to loue the wele of a good name. And to this purpoise
seyth the wyse man, “Curam habe [de bono nomine, magis enim permanebit
tibi quam mille thesauri preciosi”].[163]
VI.
And wyth thyne inclynacions
Off Jouis[164] softe condiccions
Loke thou haue; the better thou shalt be,
Whene that thow kepes theme ryghtfulle.
As it is seyde, poyetis, the whiche worchipped many godes, they helde
the planetis of heuen ffor speciall godes, and of the .vii. planetes
they made the .vii. dayes of the weke. They worchypped and helde Jouis
or Jubiter for there grettest god, because that he is sette in the hyest
spere of the planetis vndyr Saturne. The day off Thurseday is named of
Jouis. And anamely the philosophres yaf and compared the vertues of
the .vii. metallis to the .vii. planetis and named the teremys of there
sciences by the same planetis, as a man may se in Geber[165] and
Nicholas[166] and in othir auctoris of that science. To Jouys is youyne
copyr or bras. Jouis or Jubiter is a planete of softe condicion, amiable
and ful gladde and fygure[167] to sanguyne comp[l]eccion. Therefor Othea
seyth, that is to sey, Prudence, that a good knyght shuld haue the
condicion of Jubiter, and the same shulde euery nobyll man haue,
pursewyng knyghtthode. [Sidenote: f. 13.] To this purpose seythe
Pictogoras[168] that a kyng shuld be gracyously conuersaunt wyth his
peple and shew to them a glade visage; and on the same wyse it is to
vnderstond off all wordly peple tendyng to wirchippe.
Now lete vs brynge to owre purpoyse in allegorie the properteis of
the .vii. planetis. Jouis, the which is a softe and a mankyndly[169]
planete, of the whyche the good knyght schulde haue condicions, may
sygnifie to vs mercy and compassyon that the good knyght hade, Jhesu
Cryste that is, the which the sperit schulde haue in hym selfe. For
Seynte Gregorie seyth in the pistylle of Pontian,[170] “I remembre not,”
seith he, “that euer I herde or redde that he dyed of heuy dethe that
hathe wylle to fulfylle the dedes of mercy, ffor mercy hathe many
prayeres and it is inpossyble but that many prayeres most nedes be
exauced.” To this purpose oure Lord seythe in the Gospell, “Beati
[misericordes, quoniam ipsi misericordiam consequentur”].[171]
VII.
Off Venus in no wyse make thi godesse,
And for no thynge sette store by here promysse.
To folowe here it is rauenous,[172]
Both vnworchippefull and peryllous.
Venus is a planete of heuen, aftyr whome the Fryday is named; and the
metall that we call tynne or pewter is yovyn to the same. Venus yiffeth
influence of loue and of ydylnes, and she was a lady called soo, the
which was qwene of Cippre. And because that [she] excedyd all women in
excellent beaute and jolynesse, and was ryght amerous and not stedefast
in o loue, and becawse that she yevyth influence of lecheri, Othea seyth
to the good knyght that he make here not his godes. This is to
vndirstond, that in sech lyfe he shuld not abaundon his body ne his
entent. Armes[173] seyth that the vice of lecherye steynyth all vertues.
Venus, of whom the good knyght shuld not make hys godes, it is þat the
good speryth in hym selphe shuld haue no vanyte. And Cassidore seyth
vpon the Sawtyr, “Vanite made avoyde degre[174] to becum a fende and
yafe dethe[175] to the fryste man and voyeddid hyme frome the
blyssidnesse that was grawntyd on to hyme.” Vanite is modyr off all
evelles, welle off all vices, and the weyne[176] of wykydnesse, the
which puttyth a man oute of the grace of God and setti[t]h hym in his
hate. To this purpose Dauid seyth in his Sauter, spekyng to God, “Odisti
[observantes vanitates supervacue”].[177]
VIII.
Yf thou asemble the in jugement, [Sidenote: f. 14.]
Be leke to Saturne in avisement;
Or that thou gyf thy sentence, veryly
Be ware that thou yif it not doutously.
Satyrday is named after Saturne, ande the metall lede is youen therto,
and it is a planete of slow condicion, hevy and wyse. And there was a
kyng in Grece hadde the same name, the [which] was full wyse, off whom
poyetis spake vnder conuerteure of fable, and they seyde that his sone
Jubiter kutte from hym his preuy menbres. The which is to vnderstond
that he toke ffrom hym his myghte and dysheryted him and drwe[178] hym
avay. And becawse that Saturne is hevy and wyse, Othea seyth that a good
knyght shuld peyse a thynge grettely or[179] that he[180] shulde yefe
his sentence, weythir that it be in pris of armes or of ony othir dede.
And euery iuge may not[181] the same that hathe offices longgynge to
iugement. And to thys purpoise Hermes seith, “Thynkke wele on all
thinges that thou hast for to do and in especyall of iugement of othyr.”
As the good knyghte scholde be slowe in the iugement of othir, that is
to sey, to peise wele the sentence or þat he gyf it, on the same wyse
the goode spiryte shulde doo in that the which longyth to hyme; for to
Gode longeth the iugement, the which can discerne cawses ryghtwysly. And
Seynt Grigorye seyth in hys Moralles[182] that, whan owre frelnes cannot
comprehende the iugementes of God, we oughte not to discute them in
bolde wordes, but we ought to worchippe thyme wyth ferefull scilens and,
how mervelyous that euer we thowght theyme, we shulde holde them iuste.
And to this purpoose spekyth Dauid in the Sawter-booke, “Timor [Domini
sanctus, permanet in seculum seculi. Judicia Domini vera iustificata in
semet ipsa”].[183]
IX.
Lete thi worde be clere and trwe in kynde.
Appollo shall gif it the in mynde,
For he by no mene may non ordure
Suffir no wyse vndere couerture.
Appollo or Phebus, that is the sone, to whom the Sonday is yoven and
allsoo the metall that is callyd golde. The sonne by hys clerenes
shewyth thynges that be hidde; and therefore trewth, the whiche is clere
and shewith secrete thynges, may be yofe to hyme. The which vertue
shulde be in the herte and in the mowthe of euery good knyghte. And to
this purpose seyth Hermes, “Love Godde, trowthe euer, and gyffe good
counsell.”
Apollo, the whiche is to sey the sonne, by whom we notyfye trowthe, we
may take that man shulde haue in hys mouth the trwthe of the very knyght
Jhesu Cryst and flee all falsenes. As Cassiodyr seyth in the booke of
Praysyng of Seynt Powle,[184] “The condicion of falsenes ys swche that,
where as it hath no geyneseyyng, yit it falleth in hym selphe; butte the
condycion of trowth is to the contrary, ffor it is so sete that the more
geyneseynges of aduersytes that it hath, the more it encresyth and
reysyth hym selphe.” To this purpose seith Holy Scripture, “Super [omnia
vincit veritas].”[185]
X.
Vnto Phebe resemble not. For why?
He[186] is to chaungable and enemye
To stedefastnes and to courage strong,
Malencolius is and full of wronge.
Phebe is called the mone, off whom the Moneday hath his name; and to
hyme is yoven the metall that we calle syluyr. The mone resteth non oure
in a ryghte poynte and yiffeth influens of vnstefastenes and foly, and
therefore it is seyde þat a goode knyght shulde kepe hym from which
vicys. And to this purpose Hermes seith, “Vse wisedome and be
stedefast.”
Phebe the moone, that we not for vnstedefastnes, the whiche a goode
knyght shulde not haue; on the same wyse the good sperit. As Seynt
Ambrose seith in the pistil of Simpliciain,[187] that a foole is
schawnegeable as the moone, but a wyse man is euer stedefast in o state,
where he neythir brekyth for fere ner schawngyth for no myght; he
reyseth hym notte in prosperite ner plangeth not in heuynes.[188] “There
where wysedome is, there is vertue, strengh and stedefastnes. The wise
man is euer of oon corage; it lessyth it notte, ne encressyth not, for
[he] schawngyth notte in no maner wyse for no thyng; he flotereth not in
dyuers opynions, but abydyth perfythe in Jhesu Cryst, gon growndid in
charite and roted in feyth.” And to this purpose seythe Holy Scripture,
“Homo sanctus [in sapientia manet sicut sol, nam stultus sicut luna
mutatur”].[189]
XI.
I dowte notte in no wyse Mars thi fadyr.
Thow shalt folowe hyme in heuery matyr;
For thy hy and nobil condycion
Draweth therto thyne inclynacion.
The Twysday is named after Mars; and that metalle that we [Sidenote: f.
16.] callen iren is youen to hym. Mars is a planete that yifeth
influence of werris and batayles; therefore euery knyght that loveth and
schewyth armes and dedes of knyghthod and hathe a grete name off
worthines may be callyd the sone of Mars. And therfor Othea named Hector
so, notwythstondyng he was sone to Knyng Pryant, and seyde he wolde well
folowe hys fadir in as moche as a goode knyght ought to doo. And a wyse
man seith that by the dedes of a man men may knowe his inclynacions.
Mars the god of bateyle may wele be called the Sone of God, the whiche
bateilled victoriously in this worlde, by example; [and the good sperit
shulde] folow[190] his Fadere Jhesu Cryst and fyght ayens vicis. Seynte
Ambrose seyth in the fryst booke off Offices that how so will be Godes
frend, he must be the fendes enemy, whoo so will haue pees wyth Jhesu
Cryst, he most haue werre withe vices. And even as in veyne men maketh
werre in the felde wyth foreyne enemys there where the cete is full of
homely spyes, on the same wyse non may ouercome the eveles outewarde
that wyll not were strongly wyth the synnes of there sowlys; ffor it is
the most gloryous victorie that may be, for a man to ouercome hyme
selphe. And tho this purpose seyth Seynt Poule the postyle, [“Non est
vobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem sed adversus principes et
potestates,” etc.].[191]
XII.
Of thi faucon[192] be thou bolde and pleyne,
And of thi worde bothe clene and certeyne.
Mercurye schall teche the that, holde[193] and sounde,
The which of good spech knowyth wele the grounde.
The Wednysday is named after Mercurye, [the which] ys a planete that
yevyth influence off pontificall behavynge and of fayre langage arayed
wyth retorique. Therefor it is seide to the good knyte that he shulde be
arayed therewyth, for wirchipfull behavynge and faire langage ys full
behovely to all nobill pepyll desyryng the hy pris of worchipe, so that
they kepe them fro to myche langage; ffor Dyogeneys seyth that off all
vertues the more the bettir, saue of speche.
Be Mercurie, the whiche is called god of langage, we may [Sidenote: f.
17.] vndirstonde that the knyghte of Jhesu Cryste shulde be armed wyth
good prechynges and wordes of techynges, and all so thei shulde loue and
worchyppe the schewers thereof. And Seynte Gregory seithe in his Omelyis
þat men shulde haue the prechores of Holy Scripture in grete reuerence,
for they be the masseyngeres that gone to[fore][194] owre Lord God and
owre Lorde followyth them. Holy prechyng maketh the way, and than owre
Lord commeth into the dwellyng place of owre hert; the wordes of
exortacion maketh the coorse, and so trwthe is reseyuyd intoo owre
vndirstondyng. And to this purpose owre Lorde seyth to his aposteles,
[“Qui vos audit me audit, et qui vos spernit me spernit”].[195]
XIII.
Of all maner sortes of armure
For to arme the wyth, bothe wele and sure,
Be thi moder inough sygned shall be,[196]
Mynerve, the which is not bitter to the.
Mynerve was a lady of grete connyng and fonde the craft to make armure;
for afore the pe[p]yl armed theyme but wyth cuirboyle.[197] And for the
grete wysdom that was in this lady thei called hyr a godes; and because
that Hector cowde sette armure welle on werke and that it was hys ryght
craft, Othea called hym the sone of Mynerve, notwythstondyng that he was
sone to qwen Ecuba of Troye. And in the same wyse all that loueth armes
may be named. And to this purpose an auctoure seith that knyghtes youen
to armes be soggettes to the same.
Where it is seide that good armurs and strong inewgh shall be delyuered
to the good knygh by his modir, wee may vndirstond the vertu of feyth,
the whiche is a devyne vertue and is modir to the good spyrite. And that
she delyuerith armoures inow, Cassiodir seythe in the Exposicion of the
Crede[198] that feyth is the lyth[199] of the sowle, the yate off
paradyse, the wynddowe of lyve, and the gronde of the euerlastyng
helthe, for wythowte feythe non may plese God. And to this purpose seyth
Seynt Poule in the pystyll, [“Sine fide impossibile est placere
Deo”].[200]
XIV.
Joyne thou to the Pallas the godesse,
And sette hir ryght wyth thi worthinesse.
Yf thow haue hir, good fortune thou shalt fele;
Pallas wyth Mynerve is fittyng[201] full wele.
All so where it is seyde that Pallas sholde be ioyned wyth Mynerve, the
which is wele fyttyng, men shall vndirstonde that Pallas and Mynerve ys
all o thyng, but the names be diueres and be takyn to .ii.
vndirstondynges. For the lady that is callyd [Sidenote: f. 18.] Mynerve
was so surnamed Pallas of an yle that is called Pallance[202] of the
whiche she was borne; and because that she generally in all thynges was
wyse and foonde many nwe craftes, fayre and sotle, thei called hyr
goodes of kunnyng. Mynerve is called thus in that which longeth too
knyghthode, and Pallas in all thynges that longeth to wysdom; and
therefore it is seyde that he sholde yeuen[203] wysdom and knythhode,
the which is ful wele acordvng therto, and that armes shulde be keptte
may be vndirstonde be feyth. To this purpose seythe Hermes, “Joyne the
loue of feithe wyth wisedom.”
And as that Pallas, the whiche is notyd for wysedom, shulde be ioyned
with knyghthode, the vertue[204] of hope shuld be ioyned with good
vertues of the knyghtly speryte, wyhtowte the which he may not avayle.
For Orygene seyth in the Omelies opon Exode that the hoope of the goodes
that be for to come is the solase of theyme that trauellyth in this
bodely lyffe, leche as to laboreres the hoope of there payment softeth
there laboures off there besynes, and as [to] champyons that be in
bateyle the hoope of the corowne of victorie esyth the woo of there
wondes. And to this purpose seyth Seynt Poule the apostyll,
[“Fortissimum solatium habemus, qui confugimus ad tenendam propositam
spem,” etc.].[205]
XV.
Pantassele[206] haue thou fauour vnto,
That ffor thi deth shall haue moch woo;
Syth a woman shuld be loued and knowe,
Off whom so noble a voys is sowe.[207]
Pantasselle was a ful fayre mayden and qwen of Damazonie[208] and off
mervelyous worthines in armes and in hardines; and for the grete goodnes
that the hy name witnessed through the worlde of Hector the worthy she
loved hyme ryght hertyly, and fro the parties of the est she come to
Troye in the tyme of the grete segge for to se Hector. But qwen she fond
hym dede, she was owte off mesure hevy and wyth a grete oste [of] ful
cheualrous gentilwomen vigerously she vengyd his dethe, where she dide
mervelyous worthynesses. And many grete greuaunces she dide to the
Grekes. And because she was vertuouse, it is seide to the good knyght
that he shuld love hyr, and that is to vndirstonde that euery good
knyght shulde loue and prayse euer[y] vertuous persone, anamely a woman
in strong vertue of wytte and off concyens. And this woman that is
woofull for the dethe of Hector is vndirstonde by worthines and valure,
when it is dull and deded in knyghthode. And a wyse man seyth, “Bounte
shulde be alowyd where that it is perceyued.”
Be Pantasselle, that was socourable, we may vndirstonde the [Sidenote:
f. 19.] vertue off cherite, the whiche is the .iii^e. devyne vertue that
the good speryte shuld perfytely haue in hym self. Cassyodir[209] seith
that charyte is as the reyne, the which fallyth in the prime temps, for
it distillyth the dropes of vertues, vndir the whiche greine [of] good
wille groweth[210] and good hoope fructifyeth, that is to be pacient in
aduersite, tempered in prosperyte, pacient in mekenesse, ioyeus in
afflicciones, wellwyllyng to his enemyes and frendes, anamely to his
enemyes to be comuniall of his goodis.[211] To this purpose seyth Poule
the postel, [“Caritas patiens est, benigna est, caritas non emulatur,
non agit perperam,” etc.].[212]
XVI.
Narcisus[213] looke ye resemble not,
Nor into mych pride knyt your knot;
For to ouerwenyng hawteyn knyght
Off many a grace is voide full ryght.
Narcisus [was] a yonge bachelere that ffor his grete beaute seysyd hym
in so grete pride[214] that he hadde all other in disprayes. And because
that he praysed noon but hym selphe, it is seyde that he was so amerous
and assottede of hym selfe that he dyede after that he hade beholden hym
selfe in the welle. This is to vndirstonde by the ouerwenyng or
ouctrecuidez man of hym selfe, wherein he beholdyth hym.[215] Therefor
it is diffendyth the good knyght to beholde hym selfe in hys good dedes,
where throwe he myght be ouerwenyng. And to this purpose seith Socrates,
“Sone, be ware thou be not disseyvyd in thi beaute of thi youthe, ffor
that is no durable thyng.”
Now lete vs sette an allegorie applyyng to owre purpose to the .vii.
dedely synnys. Be Narcisus we shall vndirstond the synne of pride, fro
the wyche the goode speryte shulde kepe hym. And Orygene seyth in the
Omelees, “Whereof it is that erth and asshes prydeth hyme, or how derre
a man rayse hym in arogance, when he thynketh whereof he is comyn and
what he shall become, and in how frele a vessel his[216] lyff is all
naked and in what harlotrees he is plongeden and what onclene maters he
sesseth neuer to cast from hys flesch be all the condittes off hys
body?” And to this purpose seith Holy Scripture, [“Si ascenderit ad
cœlum superbia ejus et caput ejus nubes tetigerit, quasi sterquilinium
in fine perdetur”].[217]
XVII.
Athamas full of ryght grete madnes, [Sidenote: f. 20.]
The goodes verily of woodnes,
She feirsly strangled hir childern tweyne.[218]
Therefor ire I thefende the pleyne.
Athamas was a kyng maried to qwene Yno, the which made sothyn[219] corne
to be sowne for to disheryte hyr[220] stepe childire, for she[221] with
mony coromped the prestes of the lawe, the which reported the answeres
of the godes, thus seyyng to the kyng or to theyme of the cuntre that
the corne that the men hadden sowene profyted not, where it plesyd the
godes that .ii.^o fayre and ientyl childir the whiche the kyng hade were
dreven away and exiled. And becawse that the kyng consentyd [to] the
exillyng of the .ii.^o childyrne, all though that he dyde [it] ayens hys
wylle and wyth grete sorowe, the fabyl seyth that the godes Iuno[222]
wolde take vengance therefor and went into helle to compleyne to the
godesse of woodnes that sche myght come to the kyng Athamas. Than the
orrible and the fereful goodes come with all hir serpently herres and
sette hyr on the fumerelle[223] of the palais and streged hir armes to
bothe sydys of the yate, and than there began sych stryfe betwene the
kyng and the qwene that werrant[224] yche of them hade slayne othir. And
whan they wend a hade rune oute of the palais, than þe woode goodes drwe
out of hyr ryght foule herres .ii^o. horrible serpentis and kest in
there lappes; and qwen that the goodes saw theyme so ferefull,[225] than
they wexe both madde. Athamas slewe the qwene for woodnes and than
his .ii.^o childerne, and hym selfe leep into the see of frome a h[i]ght
roche. The exposycion of this fable may wele be that a qwen myght be so
dyuers to stepe chyldirne that for some malice she myght disheryte hem,
for the which after pes myght notte be hadde betwene the fadir and the
steppe modir. And it myght be soo that at the last he slewe theyme. And
because that ire is a dedly vice and soo evyle that he that is sore
teynt therewyth hath no knowyng of reson, it is seide to the goode
knyght that he shuld kepe hym from ire, for it is too grete defaute in a
goode knyght to be angry. And there[fore] Arystotile seithe “Kepe the
from ire, for it trobelyth the vndyrstondyng and destroubeth reson.”
Be Athamas, the which was soo full of ire, we shall propirly vnderstond
the synne of ire, the whiche the goode spyryte shuld woyde from hyme.
And Seynte Austyn seith in a pistyll, “Lech as venegre, where it is
poote, corrompeth the vessell that it is in, yf it abyde longe therinne,
so ire corrumpyth the hert wherein it is sette, yf that it abyde long
thereinne, that is to seye fro day to day.”[226] [Sidenote: f. 21.]
Therfor seyth Seynt Poule the postell, [“Sol non occidat super
iracundiam vestram”].[227]
XVIII.
Off all thyng that thou may se with ey
Fle euer the fals godes envie,
That made Aglaros[228] grennere than ivie,
The which to a ston chaunged was þerby.
A ffable seyth that Aglaros was systyr to Herce, the which was soo feire
that for hir beaute Mercurius the god of langage wedded hyr, and thei
weyre Cycropos doghters, kyng off Athenes. But Aglaros hade so mych
envie to hir syster Herce, the which for beaute was so avaunced as to be
maried to a god, that sche become throw here ensorgyng in envye dry[229]
and discolourd and grene as ivy leffe for the envie that she hade to hyr
systyr. On a day Aglaros was sette on the thresshefolde of the dore and
lettyd Mercurius the entre into the hous, ne for no prayowr that he
prayed hyre she woolde not suffre hym to hentre. Then the gode wexe
wroothe and seide that euer myght she abide there stylle, as harde as
hyr corage was; and than Aglaros becomme as hard as a stone. Thys fable
may be lekend in leche case to fall to some personys. Mercurius may be a
myghty man, weele spekynge, the which made his sistir to be presound or
to dye for some displesure that she hade doon to hyme, and therefor it
is seide that she was chaunged to a stone. And becawse it is to folow a
aspotte[230] ayens ientylnes to be envyous, it is seide to the goode
knyght that of all thynges he kepte hym therfro. And Socrates seyth, “He
that beryth the fardell of envie hathe perpetuell peyne.”
Lyche as this auctorite dyffendyth the good knyghte envie the vice, Holy
Scripture defendyth the good spyryte. And Seynt Austyn seyth[231] that
envie ys hate of othir felycite, for the dedes of the envyos man
strecheth ayens tho that be gretter than he by cawse that he is not so
grete as they, ayens tho that be evenly to hyme because that he is notte
gretter than they, and ayens tho that be lesse than he for fere that
they shold wexe as grete as he. To this purpose Holy Scripture seyth,
[“Nequam est oculus invidi et avertens faciem suam”].[232]
XIX.
Ferre ne[233] slowe be ware that thou not be;
Fro[234] the malyce loke that thou kepe the
Off Vlyxes, that the geauntes ye[235]
Stale, though he looke neuer so clerely.
A ffable seyth that, when Vlixes retorned into Grece aftir the
[Sidenote: f. 22.] destruccion off Troye, grete rages of tempestes
brought hys chip into an ile where a geaunt was that hade but on eye in
the myddes of his forred, the whiche was of an hooges gretnes. Vlixes by
hy sutylte stale it and toke it fro hym, that ys to saye he putte it
owte. This is to vndyrstond that the good knyght shulde be ware that
slowthe ouercome hym not with disseytes and willes of malycyous peple,
so that his eye be not takyn away, that is to seye, the eye of his
vndirstondynge in his worchip, in his gettyng or in that the which is
derrer to hym, as many inconu[en]iencies falleth ofte throwe slowthe and
lachesse. And to this purpose Hermes seythe, “Blyssyd is he that vsyth
hys dayes in dwe occupacions.”
Where it is seide that the good knygh shulde not be ferre ne slowe, we
may vndyrstond the synne of slewthe, the which the good spiryte shuld
not haue. For, as Bede[236] seith in Salomones Prouerbes, the slowe man
is not worthi to rengne with God, the which wil not laboure for the lowe
of God, and he is not worthi to receyve the coronne promysyd to knyghtes
that is a coward to vndyrtake feldes of baytaile. Therefor the Scripture
seyth, [“Cogitationes robusti semper in abundantia, omnis autem piger
semper in egestate est”].[237]
XX.
In no wyse stryve wyth no frosses,[238]
Ne defoule the not in there brothes.
Ayens Lathonna thei assembled sore,
And trobled the clere water hir afore.
The fable seith that the godesse Lathonna was modyr to Phebus and to
Phebe, the which is the sone and the moone, and she bare theyme both in
her wombe. Juno chased hir in euery contre becawse she was conseyvyd
wyth Jubiter hir housbond. On a day the godesse Lathonna was trauelled
gretly, and she arivede on a wassh and than she aboode opon the watter
for to stawnsh hyr grete thyrste there where a grete feleshyp of carles
were ffor to bathe them in the watyr ffor the hete of the sone. And
[they] began to chide Lathonna and trobylyd hyr watyr that she
[thought][239] to haue dronkyn of, and for no prayer that she made they
wolde not suffyr hir drynke ne had no pete of hyre myschefe. Than she
coursyd theyme and seyde that euer aftyr mote they abyde stylle in the
broththe[240]; than were they fowle and abominable and cesyd neuer of
brayeng ne chydyng. So the carles become frosshes, the which neuer
sythyn cessed of brayng, as it shewyth in somer tyme by reuerys sydys.
This may be takyn be communes that dedde some dysplesur to summe grete
maystres, the which made them to be cast in a reuer and to be drounede,
and thus become they [Sidenote: f. 23.] frosshes. And it is to
vndyrstond that a knyght goodly shuld not fyll hyme in the brothe of
veleny, ffor leche as veleny may not suffre ientylnesse, on the same
wyse ientylnes in hym self may not suffre velany, anamely not to stryve
ne make debate wyth a persone vilens of condicions, ne to speke
outrageously. Platon seith he that ioyneth to his ientylnes nobilnesse
of goode condicions is to prayse and he that holdyth hym content with
the ientylnes that comyth of his kyne withowtyn addyng thereto some
goode condicions shulde not be holdyn nobyll.
Be the carles that become frosshes we may vndyrstonde the synne of
covetyse, the which is contrary to the good sperit. For Seynt
Austyn[241] seith that a couetous man is leche to hell, for hell cannot
swolve so many sowlis to seye that he hathe inowe. Euen so, thow all
tresowre of the worlde were heppid togedir to the possession of the
couetous man, he shuld not yette [be] satisffiede. To this purpose the
Scripture seith, [“Insatiabilis oculus cupidi in partes iniquitatis non
satiabitur”].[242]
XXI.
Acorde for no thyng with the god Bachus,
For his tachys[243] be bothe fowle and vicyous.
His disportis be neyther goode ne fyne,
For he maketh the pepyll turne to swyne.
Bachus was the man that fryst plantyde vines in Grece, and qwan thei of
the cuntre felthe the streyngth of the wyne, þe which made thyme
drownkyn, thei seide that Bachus was a god, the which hadde yovyn syche
streynghte to his plante. By Bachus is vndirstond drwnkkynnes, as that
the whiche is a full vnbehouely thyng to all noble men and to a man that
wolde vse reson. And to this purpose Ypocras[244] seyth that
superfluites of vynes and metes distroyith body, sowle and vertues.
Be the god Bachus we may vndirstond the synne off glotenye, ffor the
which the good spyryt shuld kepe hym. Seynt Grigory seyth in his
Morralles[245] that, qwan the vice of glotenye hathe the maystry of a
person, he lesseth all the good that he hath doone; for, qwenne the bely
is not restreynyd by abstynence, all vertues ben drouned togedir. And
therefor Seynt Poule seith, [“Quorum finis interitus, quorum deus venter
est,” etc.][246]
XXII.
Pimaliones ymage for to fele,
Iff that thou be wyse, sette þerby no deele, [Sidenote: f. 24.]
For of siche an ymage so wele wroght
The beaute thereof is to dere bought.
Pymalion was a ful sotyl workeman in makyng of ymages, and a ffable
seith þat, for þe grete lewdenes that he sawe in the women of
Cidonie,[247] he dispreisyd them and seyde he shuld make an ymage
wherein ther shulde be no thyng for to blame. He mad an ymage after a
woman, of souereyne beaute. When he had full made it, loue, the which
sotely can ravysshe hertis, made hym to be amorous opon the ymage, so
that for hire he was vexed with wooes of love, full of clamorous and
full of petyous syghynges that he made to hit. Butte the ymage, which
was of ston, vndirstode hym notte. Pymalion wente to the temple of Venus
and he made there so deuote prayores to hyre that the godesse [was full]
of pete,[248] and in shewyng therof the brond that she helde be hire
selfe began to take fire and shew flame, and than the louer was mery for
þat tokyn and wente toward his ymage and toke it in his armes and warmed
it so sore wyth hys nakyd flesch that the ymage hadde lyff and began to
speke, and so Pymalyon recouuered ioye.
To this fable may be set [many][249] exposicions, and in leche wise to
othir sich fables; and the poietes made them becawse that mennes
vndirstondyng shuld be the more scharppe and subtyle to fynde dyueres
exposicions. It may be vnderstond also by the dyspreysyng that Pymalion
dispreysed the lewdenes of lewde wemen and enamoured hym on a mayden of
ryght grete beaute, the which wolde not, or myght not, vnderstond hys
petous pleyntes, no more than the ymage of a ston had done; that is to
sey, that by thynkkyng on the fayre beautes he was enamoured, but at the
last he prayed hir so myche and kepte hym so nere hir that the maydyn
louyd hym and at his wille [he] had hir to mariage. And thus the ymage
that was hard as stone recouuered lyff by the godesse Venus. So it wolde
be seyde that the good knygh shuld not be assottede of sych a made ymage
in sych wise that he lyst to folowe[250] the crafte of armes, to the
which he is bownde by þe ordere of knyghthode. And to this purpose seyth
Abtalin,[251] “It longghit nothyng ffor a prynce to assote hym on
nothyng that is to be reproued.”
Pymaliones ymage on qwome þe good knygh shuld not be assotted we shall
take for the synne of lechery, from þe which þe knyghtly gostly sperit
shuld kepe his body. Wherefor Seynt [Sidenote: f. 25.] Jerom saith in a
pistill, “O fire of hell,” seith he, “of whom the woode is glotenye, the
flambe is pride, the sparkes is foule wordes, the smoke is evil name,
the asches is pouerte, and the ende is the turnementes of hell.” To this
purpose seyth Seynt Petir the apostel, [“Voluptatem existimantes diei
delicias, coinquinationes et maculæ deliciis affluentes, in conviviis
suis luxuriantes”].[252]
XXIII.
Off Dyane remenbre besely
For the honeste of thi body;
For hir plesyth no vileyns lyffe,
Ne non dyshoneste ne stryffe.
Dyane, that is the mone, and as þer is no thyng so evile but þat it hath
some goode propirte, the mone gyffeth chast condicion; and thei named it
after a lady that so was called, the which was full chaste and was euer
a vergyn. So it wolde be seyde that honeste of the body is full wele
longgyng to a good knygh. And to this purpose Hermes seith, “He may not
be off perfyte wite that hathe in hym no chastite.”
And for to bryng to mynde the Articles of the Feyth to owre purpose,
wythowte the which a good sperit may lytell avayle, ffor Dyane we shall
take God of Heuen, the which is withowte onv spotte off onclen love, to
whome a thyng foulede with synne may not be agreable. To the knyghly
spirite þan it is necessari to beleve opon the Maker of heuen and of
erthe, as þe fyrst Article of the Feyth seith, the which Seynte Petir
the apostel sete, [“Credo in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, creatorem cœli et
terræ”].[253]
XXIV.
Be thou leke to the godesse Ceres,
That tooke fro noon but yafe to corne encres;
In syche wyse abaundonede shulde be
The[254] good knygh, well sette in his degre.
Ceres was a lady that fond the craft to erye[255] the londe, for aforne
gaineyers swe withowte laboure[256]; and because þat þe londe bare the
more plenteously after þat it was erryed, thei seide that she was
godesse of cornes, and thei called the londe after hyr name. Wherefor it
wold be seide þat, as þe lande[257] is habaundone[d] and a large yefer
of all goodes, on the same wyse shuld a good knygh be habaundonede to
all personys and [ought] to gyffe his helpe and comfort aftyr hys power.
And Arystotyl seyth, “Be a lyberall gyfer and thou shall hau frendys.”
Here [for] Ceres, to whom þe good knygh shuld resemble, we [Sidenote: f.
26.] shall take the Sone of God, whom the good spirit sholde folowe, þe
which hath yoven so largely to vs of hy goodnes,[258] and in hym shuld
be belewede stedeffastly, as the .ii.^o Article seith, the which Seynt
Jon sette, [“Et in Ihesum Christum, filium eius unicum, Dominum
nostrum”].
XXV.
All hye vertues as that he wyll sette,
In the, as in Ysis[259] late theyme b[e] schette
And all maner graynes fructifie;
In sych wyse sholdest þou edyfye.[260]
Ysys, poetes seyth, is a goodesse of plantes and gryffes, and she yevyth
theyme streynght and growyng to multiply. Therefor it is seide to þe
good knyght þat so shulde he fructifie in all vertues and eschew all
euyl vicis. And Harmes[261] to this purpose seyth, “O man, yf þou knew
þe inconuenyency of vice, that þou woldest be ware þeroff and yf þou
knew the rewarde for worthinesse, that[262] þou woldest loue it gretly.”
There qwere it is seide þat þe good knygh shulde be leche to Ysys, the
whiche is a planter, may we vnderstond the blissyd Concepcion off Jhesu
Cryst by þe Holy Gost in the Blyssyd Virgyne Marie, modyr off all grace,
of whom the grete bountes may not be ymagenede ne holy seide, þe which
worthi Concepcion the good sperit shuld haue holy in hym and kepe this
holy Artecle stedefastly, as Seynt James the gretter seith, [“Qui
conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria virgine”].
XXVI.
To the iugement in no wyse holde the
Of Mygdas, the which no thyng wysely
Juged; by his counsell sette thou no store,
For erys of an asse he hadde thereffore.
Mydas was a knyght[263] that hadde lytell vnderstondyng; and a fable
seyth þat Phebus and Pan,[264] the god of pastures,[265] strove togedir
and Phebus seide that the sownde of the harpe is more to prayse than the
sownde of the pype or off the flowte. Pan heelde the contrarye and seide
þe sownde of the flowte was more to prayse. Thei made Mygdas iuge off
that discorde, and affter that thei were both ioyned afore Mygdas, at
long leyser he iuged that the sownde of þe flowte was bettyr and more
plesaunte than þe sownde of the [Sidenote: f. 27.] harpe. So the fable
seith þat Phebus, the which was g[r]evyd [and] hadde dyspyte off his
iugement, made hym rude erys leche an asse, in schewyng that he hadde
vnderstondyng of an asse, the which hade iuged so folyly. It may be
allso that some iuged lewdely ayens a prince or a myghty man, the whiche
punychyd hym, makyng hym to bere on hym some syngne off a ffoole, the
which is to vnderstond the eres of the asse. Also it is to vnderstond by
this fable that a good knyght shuld not hold hym content with a lewde
iugement, not grownded on reson, ne hym selfe shuld be no iuge of so
fawty a sentence. A philosopher seyth to this purpose that a foole is
leche a molle,[266] the which heryth and vnderstondyth not. And Dyogenes
lykenyth the foole to a ston.
The iugement of Mygdas, the which a good knight shulde not kepe, we may
vnderstond Pylate, the which iuged the blyssyd Sone of God to be taken
and streyned as a harpe and to be hangged opon the gebet of þe Crosse as
a bryboure,[267] he the which was pure wyth[out] ony spotte. Also it is
to vnderstond þat þe goode speryt shulde be ware how he shulde iuge an
innocent, and he shulde beleve the Artycle that Seynt Andrewe seith,
[“Passus sub Poncio Pylato, crucifixus, mortuus et sepultus”].
XXVII.
As trewe felawes of armes doth,
Vnto hell, whedir that sowles gothe,
Thou schuldest go, theyme to socoure serteyne
In nede,[268] lich Hercules dyde, as men seyne.
The fable seith that Thesus and Protheus[269] went into hell for to
rescue Proserpyne þat Pluto rauysshed, and thei hade ben evyle begone
hade not Hercules a ben for there felawes; [for thei][270] hade not bene
socoured hade he ne be, the which dyde so notable dedes of armes that he
affrayed all the peple off hell, and he smote in soundir Cereberus the
porteris chynnes.[271] So it is seyde þat a good knygh shulde not faile
his felawe for no maner of perell that myght be; for trewe felaws shuld
be evyn as on thyng and all on. And Pitagoras seyth, “Thou shuld kepe
the loue of thi freende dylygently.”
By the auctorite that seith he shulde socoure his trwe freendis in armes
vnto hell we may vnderstonde the blyssyd sowle of Jhesu Cryste, the
which drewe owte the good sowles of holy patriarkes and profhetes þat
were in lymbo; and be this example the goode sperite [Sidenote: f. 28.]
scholde draw to hym all vertues and beleve the Article that Seynt Phelip
seith, [“Descendit ad inferna”].
XXVIII.
Cadimus[272] love and yife to hym preisyng,
And that auctorised may his techyng
Be in the; for the welle in serteyne
He whan[273] fro the serpent with grete peyne.
Cadimus was a full noble man and ffounded Thebes, the which was a cite
of grete name. He sette þerin a vniuersyte[274] and hym selph was gretly
lettyrd and of grete kunnyng and wysdom. The whiche man, after that the
fabyl seith, he dowted þe serpent at the welle. This is to vnderstond
konnyng and wisdom, the which rysyth all weye, that is for the welle;
the serpent is notyd for the peyne and the trauell that a stodier most
doute or that he gete kunnyng. And the fable seithe that he become a
serpent hym selfe, the which is to vndirstond that he become mayster and
correctore of othir. So Othea seith that a good knygh shulde love and
worchip clerkes that be letteryd, þe which be growndyd in konnyng. To
this purpose Aristotle seide to Alysawndre, “Worchip wisdom and fortyfie
it wyth good maystres.”
Be Cadimus that douted the serpent at þe well, þe whiche þe good knygh
shuld love, we may vnderstond the blyssed manhode of Jhesu Cryste, the
which douted the serpent and wanne the welle, þat is to sey, the lyfe of
this worlde, þe which he passed with grete peyne and with grete
trauelle, off whom he hade victorie be strengh, when he rose the thredde
day, as Seynt Thomas seith, [“Tertia die resurrexit a mortuis”].
XXIX.
Delyte gretly in the kunnyng
Of Yo more than good or othir thyng[275];
For by that thou mayst lerne full gretly
And of good theryng take largely.[276]
Yo was a yong ientilwoman and doughter to knyng Ynacus;[277] þe which
was rygh konnyng and fond many maners of letteris þat hade not be se
afore. Though that some fables sey þat Yo was Jupiteris love and þat
sche becam a kowe and after a woman as she was, [this was not so], but,
as the poietis hathe hyde trowth vnder couerture of fable, it may be þat
Jubiter lovid hire, þat is to vndirstond by the vertues þe which was in
here[278] she become a kowe, for, as a kowe yevith mylke, the which is
swete and norisshyng, she be the letteris that she fonde gaffe
norysshyng to [Sidenote: f. 29.] vnderstondyng. And in that she was a
comon woman may be vndirstond that here wytte was comon to all, as
lettris be comon to all peple. Þerfore it is seide þat þe good knygh
shuld full mych love Yo,[279] þe which may be vnderstondyn þe letteris
and scriptures and stories of good peple, þe which þe good knygh shold
hire telle gladely and reede þe example of, þe which may be vailable to
hym. To this purpos Hermes seith, “Who so enforceth hyme to gete konyng
and goode condicions, he fyndith þat þe which shall plese hym in this
worlde and in the tothir.”
Yo, the which is noted for letteris and scriptures, may be vnderstondyn
þat þe good sperit shuld delyte hym to reede or to here Holy Writte and
not[280] þe Scriptures in his mynde, and thereby may he lerne to clyme
to hevyn with Jhesu Cryst by good werkys and holy contemplacion and
shuld beleve the worethi Article that Seynt Bertylmw seith, [“Ascendit
ad cœlos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris Omnipotentis”].
XXX.
Beware in whatte place so that it be
In the noyse of flowtes slepe not ye;
For Mercurius that softe syngeth
With his flowte þe peple enchaunteth.
A ffabill seyth þat, when Jubiter louede fayre Yo, Juno had hym gretly
in suspeccion and discendid from heven in a skye[281] for to take hire
husbonde whit[282] the dede. But qwhan Jubiter sawe hir come, he
chawnged his love to a cowe; yit for all that Juno was [not] owt of
suspeccion, but askyd hym þe cowe of yifte, and Jubiter ayens his lyst
grauntyd [it] to hyr, as he þat dryst not ayens say hire for doute of
suspeccion. Þan Juno gaffe Argus, þe which hade .c. yen, this cow to
kepe, and euer he wchid[283] it. But the god Mercurius by þe
commaundement of Jubiter toke his flowte, þe which song softly, and blew
so longe in Argus eyre þat all his .c. eyne were aslepe. Than he smote
of hys hede and toke the cowe.
The exposicion of this fable may be as þat some myghthi man loved a
gentilwoman; than his wyf tooke to hire for to make wache on hir
husbonde þat he disseyvyd hire not, and þeropon sette grete weches and
clere seers, þe which may be noted for Argus eyne. But þe louer by a
person malicius and well spekyng dide so miche þat þe kepers concentyd
to gyf hym hys love, and thus were thei browght aslepe by Mercurius
flowte and hade there hedes smyttyn off. There[fore] it is seyde to þe
good knyght þat he shulde not suffre [himself] to be brought on slepe
with non swiche flovte as to be robbed of that þe which he shuld kepe.
And to this purpos Hermes seith, “Kepe thou fro þo that is gouuernede be
malice.”
Be Mercurius flovte we may vnderstond þat þe goode sperit be [Sidenote:
f. 30.] not disseyvid by þe hold enemy trowe[284] ony mysbeleve of þe
feyth or othir wyse than he shuld beleue stedefastly þe Article þat
Seynt Matheu þe Euangelist seith, þat God shall come and iuge þe qweke
and the dede, where he seith, [“Inde venturus iudicare vivos et
mortuos”].
XXXI.
Thinketh that Pirus[285] shalle resemble
His fadire and that he shal trobyle
His enemyis and put theyme to distres;
The deth he shall venge for Achilles.
Pyrus was Achilles sone and resembled full wele his ffadir in streyngh
and hardines, and after the deth of his fadyr he come to Troye and full
charply venged his fadir and hurte grettly the Troyens. Therefor it is
seide to the good knyght þat, yf he have myssedone to the ffadir, lete
hym be ware of the sone, when he comyth to age, and, yf the fadir be
worthi or manly, þe sone shulde be þe same. The wise[286] man seith to
this purpose that the fadris dethe asketh the sone þe vengaunce þerfore.
There where he seith þat Pirus shulde be lech his fader, by þat we may
vnderstond the Holy Gost, the which procedyth of the Fadir, in whome the
good sperit shulde beleve, as Seynt James þe lesse seith, [“Credo in
Spiritum Sanctum”].
XXXII.
Haunt thow the temple and worchip in tyme
The godesse[287] of heven, and at all tyme
Aftir Cassaundra kepe thow the gyse,
Yif þat þou wilt be holdyn for wyse.
Cassandra was Kyng Priantes doghtere, and she was a full good lady and a
devoute in there lawe. She seruyd the godesse and haunted þe temple and
she spak but lytell withowtyn cawse, and when she most speke she spake
nothyng but that was trewe, ne she was neuer founde with no lesyng; she
was full konyng. Therefor it is seide to þe good knygh þat he shulde be
leke hir, for lewde costomes and lesynges ys gretly to blame in a knyte;
for he shulde serue God and worchip the temple, þat is to sey, the
chirche and the ministres thereof. And Pictagoras seith, “It is a ryght
loveable thyng to serue God and to halowe hys seyntes.”[288]
The a[u]ctorite seyth þat þe good knygh shulde haunte the [Sidenote: f.
31.] temple. In leche wyse the goode sperit shuld do, and he shulde haue
synguler deuocion in the feythefull holy chirche and in the communion of
seyntes, as the Article seyth that Seynt Symond made, the which seyth,
[“Sanctam ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem”].
XXXIII.
Yf þou wylt often haunt the se,
Of Neptunus thou shuld ofte remenbre the,
And thou shuldest halow gretly his feste,
That he may kepe the euer fro tempest.
Neptunus opon the paynemes lawe was called þe god of þe see, and
therefor it is seyde to the good knygh þat he shuld serue hym, þat is to
vndirstond þat knyghttes, the which gosh often in many viages on the se
or in other diueres perelles, haue more nede to be devoute and to serue
God and his seyntens than othir peplyl, to the entente [þat] at here
nede he may be socourable and helpy to theyme. And thei shulde take a
synguler deuocion to some seynte be deuowte prayers, by the which thei
may calle to hym or hire in there besynes. And that prayer wyth hert is
not all only sufficiaunt, the wise man seith that God all only ys not
well serued be wordes but by goode dedes.
Be Neptunus to whom the good knygh shulde calle yf he go ofte by the se
we shall vndirstond that the goode sperite, the [which] is continually
in the se of the worlde, he shulde calle deuoutely opon his Maker and
pray that he wylle gyffe hym grace so to life that he may haue remissyon
of his synnes, and he shulde beleve the Article þat Seynt Jude seyth
[“Remissionem peccatorum”].
XXXIV.
Looke at all tymes thou take goode hedde
Bothe to Acropose[289] craft and his spede,
Which smyteth and sparyth non in no kynde;
That shal make the to haue þi soule in mynde.
Poyetis calle deth Accropos; wherefor it is seide to the good knyght
that he shulde thyngke þat he shal not euer lyffe in this worlde, but
sone depart derefro. Therfor he shulde sette more store by the vertues
of the soule than to delytte hym in bodely delytes; and all Christen
pepill[290] shulde thynkke þeropon to the entent that [t]he[i] myght
remembre to[291] provide for the soule, þe which shall endure withowtyn
ende. And to this purpose Pytagoras seith that, lech as owre begynnyng
comyht of God, owre ende most [Sidenote: f. 32.] nedes be there.
There where it is seyde to the good knygh that he shulde take hede to
Acropos, the which is notyd for deth, the same shuld the goode sperite
haue, the which by þe merites of the Passyon of owre Lord Jhesu Cryste
shulde haue stedefaste hoope with the payne and delygence that he shuld
put therto to haue heuen at the last ende; and he shuld beleue
stedefastly to ryse ayene at þe day of dome to haue euerlestyng lyfe yf
he deserue it, as Seynt Mathi seith in the last Article, where he seith,
[“Carnis resurrectionem, vitam æternam”].
XXXV.
Belorophon[292] lete hym example be
In all maner of dedes that doo will he,
The which hade mech leuer to dye
Than to supporte vntrouth be any weye.
Belorophon was a knyght of ryght grete beaute and full of trowthe. His
stepmodir louyd hym so hoote þat sche required it of hym and, because
that he wold not concent to hir will, sche dyde so myche that he was
condempned to be deuoured with feers bestis, and he had mo lyste to
chese the deth[293] than to do vntrwthe. To this purpose Hermes seyth,
“Be glader to dye withowte cawse than to do a inconuenyence.”
We schall come now to declare the Commawndementis off the Feyth, and
there too we shall take an allegorie to oure purpose.
Berolophon, the which was so full of trowthe, may be noted for God of
Heuen and, as his hy mercy hath ben to vs, and is, full of all trouth,
we may take the Fryst Commawndement, the which seith, “Thou shalt
worchip no strawnge goddes.” To this seith Seynt Austyn that the
worchippe the which is called latre[294] thou shulde not do it, neythir
to ydoile ne to ymage ne to no lekenes of no maner of creature, for that
is a dew worchyppe all only to God, and in this Commawndement is
defendede all ydolatrie. To that owre Lord seyth in the Gospell,
[“Dominum Deum tuum adorabis et illi soli seruies”].[295]
XXXVI.
Maymon,[296] thyn owyn trewe cosyn indede,
The which is thy neyghburgh at þi nede,
He louyd the so meche thou ought hym loue,
And for his nede arme thy body aboue.
Kyng Maymon was cosyn to Hector and of the Troyens lyne, [Sidenote: f.
33.] and when Hector [was] in fers bayteyles, where he was oftyn
grettely oppressed with his enemyes, Maymon, the which was a full
worchipfull knyght, folowed hym euer nere and socoured Hector and brake
the grete presses of pepyll. And that shewed wele; ffor when Achilles
hade sleyn hym by treson, Maymons wonded Achilles sore and [wolde haue]
sleyne[297] hym, hade not socoure acome to hym in hast. Therefor it is
seide to the goode knygh þat he shulde loue hym and socoure hym at his
nede; and this is to vnderstonde that euery prince and goode knygh which
hath kyne, be thei neuer so lytell or poore, so he be goode and
trwe,[298] he shulde loue hym and support hym in his dedes and en
specyall whene he felyth hym trewe to hym. And it happenyth some tyme
that a grete prince is better louede and more trwly of his poore kyne
than off a full myghtye man. And to this purpose seith Rabyon[299] the
phelesophre, “Encres ffrendes, for they shall be socourable to the.”
Be Maymon, þe trwe cosyn, we may vnderstonde God of Heven, þe which hath
bene a full trwe cosyn for to take owre manhode, þe which benefette we
may not guerdon. Thus here may we take the Secunde Commawndement, that
seith, “Thow shalte not take the name of God in veyne,” that is to sey,
as Seynt Austyn seith,[300] “Thou shalt not swere dyshonestly, ne
withowte a cawse, ne for colour of falsenes, for there may no gretter
abusyon ben than to brynge to a flasse[301] wittenes the chefe and the
ryghte stefast trowthe.” And in this Commawndement all lesynges be
defendede, all periure and all blaspheme. The lawe seith to this
purpose, [“Non habebit Dominus insontem eum qui assumpserit nomen Domini
Dei sui frustra”].[302]
XXXVII.
Avyse the, or ony worde be shewede,
Off grete manisynges,[303] nyse or lewde,
Comyng forthe of thi mowth be to grete ire,
And looke well in Leomedom the fire.[304]
Leomedon was kyng of Troye and fader to Priant and, when Jason, Hercules
and theire felawes went to Colcos for to gete the flese of gold and were
arived and discendid at the porte of Troye ffor to refreysche theyme
withowte ony hurte of the cuntre, Leomedon, not wele avised, sent bostus
mesangers[305] to voyde theyme of the lond and to manyce theym gretly,
if thei voyded not in hast. Than the barons of Grece were so wrooth for
that wrongfull conveyng þat after that folowede the destruccion of the
fryst Troye. Þerfor it is seide to þe good knyght that, stondyng the
worde of manace is foule and velyens, it shulde be sadely passede[306]
or that it were spokyne, for many grete hurtes oftyn [Sidenote: f. 34.]
tymes folowyth theroff. To this purpose the poyete Omer seith, “He is
wyse that can refreyne his mowth.”
How the worde of grete manase cometh of arrogaunce, and þat to breke þe
Commawndment it is also an ouerhoope,[307] we may vndyrstonde by this
that noon shulde breke the halyday, for þat is ayenst the Commawndment
þat is seide, “Vmbethynke the to halowe the Sabat.” By the which Seynt
Austyn seith it is commawndede vs to halowe the Sunday in the stede of
the Jues Sabat, for than we shuld solemply allso take reste bodyly,
cesyng solemply of all werkes of thralledom, and to be in rest of sowle
in cesyng off all synne. And to this purpose Ysaye seyth, the profyte,
[“Quiescite agere perverse, discite bene facere”].[308]
XXXVIII.
Trust no thyng to be in certeynete
Vnto that þe trowth wele knowyn be;
For a lytell of presumcion
Piramus maketh the mencion.
Pyramus was a yong ientylman of the cyte of Babylonie, and ffro that he
was but vii. yere olde loue woundede hym with his darte, and [he] was
sore takyne with the loue of Tysbe the feyre yong ientylwoman, þe which
was leke to hym in kyn and of age; and by þe grete hauntyng of þe twoo
louers togedir þe grete loue was perseyuid and by a seruaunte accused to
þe modir of þe yong gentylvoman, þe which tooke hir dougter and schette
hir in hir chambre and she shulde kepe hir wele inowgh from the hauntyng
of Piramus. And þerfor þer was grete woo betwyne þe two childyrne in
full pitous complayntes and wepyng. That prison dured longe, but as they
wexe in age þe sparke of loue encressed; for all ther longe absence it
qwenchid neuer the more. Bytweyne þe places of ther kyne[309] was but a
thynne wall. Thesbe perceyved the wall crassed,[310] where throw she saw
brygnes[311] on the toþer side; than she toke the pendavnde of hir
gyrdill[312] and put it throw the crevesse to þe entent þat hir loue
myht perseyue it, as that he dede in schorte tyme. And there thei ii^o
louers made ofte there assembles wiht full petous compleyntes. At the
laste, as two sore constreynyd be loue, there acorde was sich that
[that] nyte in the fryst qwarter of the nyght they shulde parte fro
there kynne and mete withowte the cyte at a well vndir a qwythe
thorne,[313] w[h]ere in there childehode they were wonte to pleye. When
Thesbe was come to the welle all alone and ferefull, she harde a lyon
come full rudly, ffor the which she, full of fere, fledde and layde hyr
in a bosche fast by; but in the waye felle from hir a white wymple.
Piramus come, the which by the moneshyne perseyuyd the wymple, but the
lyon hade fylyd it and made it all blody, the[314]
* * * * *
In[315] as mych as the nutte is better than the shelle,[316] it is seyde
[Sidenote: f. 35.] to the good knyght þat he shulde not sette his
thowght in felicite, þat þe parseyvyng of worthines be leste therefor.
To this purpose Hermes seith that it is better to haue pouerte in doyng
goode dedys than riches lewdly or evyl getyn, standing worthines is
euerlestyng and riches voide and dissauable.
Juno, whom he shulde not sette myche by, þe which is takyn for ryches,
we may vnderstond þerby þat þe good spyrit shulde disprayse ryches. And
Seynt Bernard seith, “O son off Adam, leue couetyse. Wherefor louest
thou so mych this worldly ryches, the which be neythir trwe ne thei be
not yowres, and, wheþþer ye will or non, at yowre dethe ye most nedis
leue theyme?” And the Gospell seyth þat a chamelle shuld souner passe
throwe an nedelles ye than a riche man shuld entre into the kynddom of
heuen; for a chamel hath but oo boche on the bake[317] and the evyl
ryche man hath .ii^o., on of evill possessions and þe tothir of synnes.
He most nedis leue the fryst boche at the dethe, but þe tothir, wheythir
he will or non, he shall bere with hym, if he leue it not afore or that
he dye. To this purpose oure Lord seith in þe Gospell, [“Facilius est
camelum per foramen acus transire quam divitem intrare in regnum
cœlorum”].[318]
L.
Ayens Amphoras[319] sad counsell, I þe sey,
Go not to distrye, for than thou shalt dye,
To Thebes, ne in the cete of Arges
Assemble not host with chelde ne targes.
Amphoras was a full wyse clerk of the cete of Arges and hade myche
connyng, and, when kyng Adrastus wolde go oppon Thebes for to distrye
the cyte, Amphoras, þe which by kunnyng knewe what harme myth fall
þerof, counseld the kyng not to goo, for, yf he wente, thei all shulde
be dede a[n]d dystroyed; but he was not beleuyd. Yit it felle as he
seyde. Wherefor it is seide to the good knyght þat ayens the counsell of
wyse men he shulde take no grete enterpryse. But as Soleyne[320] seith,
“The wyse manes counsell vayleth lytell to hym þat wyl not do
therafter.”
Be Amphoras counsel, ayens the which non shulde goo to bateyle, we may
take that the goode sperit shuld folowe holy prechyngges. And Seynte
Gregorie seyth in his Omelies þat, lech as the lyffe of the body may
notte be susteyned withowte that he take his refeccion bodyly, on the
same wyse þe lyfe of the soule may not be [Sidenote: f. 36] susteined
withowte ofte heryng the good worde of God.[321] Than Godes wordes the
which ye here[322] with youre bodely heris reseyue them in yowre hertis;
for, whan the word is hed and kepte in yowre wombe of mynde, than it may
profyte, but, as a seke stomak castyth owt his mete, and as men be in
dispayre of hym that brokyth notte but casti[t]h all owte, euen so his
he in perell of euerlastyng dethe þat heryth prechyng and doth not
þerafter. Þerfor the Scriptur seith, [“Non in omni solo pane vivit homo,
sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei.”][323]
LI.
Gouerne thou thi tong aftir Saturne;
Late not evill theryn long soiorne.
To speke to mech it is a fowle custome,
And grete foly þerin is to presume.
Saturne, as I haue seide before,[324] is a planeth hevy and sclowe.
Therfor it is seide to þe good knyght that his tong shulde be leke to
hym; for the tong shulde not be to hasty in spekyng to mych, but wysyly,
so that it speke non harme of noon, ne no thyng þat a mane myth there
impresun folye,[325] for a poyete seyth, “By the worde men knowyth a
wyse man, and by the looke a foole.”
Be the tong, the which shulde be lech Saturne, is vndirstonden the
sadenes[326] of speche. Hue of Seynt Victore seith to this purpose that
þe mouth þe which hathe not the kepyng of discrecion farith as a cete
that is withoute a walle, as a vessell that hathe no bothom,[327] as an
horse that hath no brydel, and as a chippe þat hath no rothir. An evil
kepte tong glydith as an ele, it perchith as an arwe; frendes [are] sone
turned therby and ennemyes multiplied. It is sclaunderus and soweth
discordes; at a strok it smyttyth and kyllyth many persones. Whoso
kepyth his tong kepith his soule; for[328] deth and lyffe is in the
poure off þe soule. And to this purpose Dauid seith in the Sawter booke,
[“Prohibe linguam tuam a malo, et labia tua ne loquantur dolum”].[329]
LII.
Beleue the Crow and his true counsell,
And be neuer besy ne trauele
In evil thyngges to be þe berer;
Off thi deme thou mayst be þe suerer.[330]
The fable seith that the crowe mette þe ravyn when he browte the
tidynges to Phebus of his loue Corinis, þe which hade done [Sidenote: f.
37.] amysse, and she[331] requiryd of hym so ferre þat he tolde hyr[332]
the cawse of this iurneye. But[333] she dissalowed hyme because he went
not for to gyffe hym example of the same, the which for a lych cas hade
ben chassede owte of the pallas howse, where some [time] [s]he was wonte
to be gretly avanced. But he wolde not beleue hyr, for þe which harme
folowed to hym. Where it is seyde to þe good knyght þat he shulde trost
þe crowe; and Platon seith, “Be no iangeler ne to the knyng grete
reportur of tydynges.”
How the crowe shulde be beleued, it is seide that the goode speryte
shulde vse sych counsell. As Seynt Grigorie seith in his Omelies, þat
strenght vailet not when counsel is not, ffor streynght is sone
ouerthrowyn, iffe it be not rested opon the gyfte of counsell, and the
soule þe whych hath lost in hym the seege of counsell outewarde he is
dysparbuled[334] in diuerse desires. Therefor the wyse man seyth, [“Si
intraverit sapientia cor tuum, consilium custodiet te et prudentia
servabit te”].[335]
LIII.
Iff thou enforce the with[336] any wyght
Strenger than thou to make playes of myghte,
Withdrawe the fayre þat hurte thou ne be;
Off Ganymedes vmbethynk the.
Ganymedes[337] was a yong ientilman of the Troyens ligne; and a fable
seith þat Phebus and he strof togedir in castyng of a barre of yron,
and, as Ganymedes myth not withstond the strenght of Phebus, he was
slayne wyth þe reboundyng of þe barre Phebus hade lawnchyd so hye that
he had lost þe syght þerof. And þerfor it is seyde that þe stryffe is
not goode with a strenger and a myghtier than a man is hym selfe, ffor
ther may not cumme thereof but grete inconuenyencie. Where a wyse man
seith, “To be besy with men þat vse vngracious games, it is a syngne of
pride, and communly the ende is angry.”
Fore to sey that a man shuld not enforce hym ayens a streynger þan he is
hym selfe, it is to vndirstond that the goode sperite shulde not take on
hym to stronge pennawnce withowte counsell. Seynt Grigori in his
Moralles spekyth hereof and seyth þat penawnce profytteth not, yf it be
not discrete, ne the vertue of abstynens is not worthe, yf it be sette
in sych wyse that it be scharper than the body may suffre. And þerfor it
is to conclude þat no poore person shulde take it on hym withowte
counsel off more discrete than hym selfe. Where the wyse man seyth in
his Prouerbes, [“Ubi multa consilia, ibi est salus”].[338]
LIV.
Resemble not to Jasone, that man [Sidenote: f. 38.]
The which throuȝ Medee þe fleze wan
Off golde, for þe which soon afterwarde
He yafe hire right evill guerdon and harde.
Jason was a knyght of Grece, þe which went into strawnge cuntreis, that
is to sey, into the Ile of Colcos, by the enortyng off his vncle
Pelleus, the which of envy desired his deth. There was a chepe[339] þat
hadde a flees of golde and it was kepte by enchauntment; but the
conquest was so strong that non comme thedir but that lost there lyfe.
Medee, the whiche was the kynges doughter of that cuntre, toke so grete
loue to Jason þat by the enchauntmentes that sche cowde, off the which
sche was a soueren maysteres, she made charmes and lerned Jason
enchauntementis by the whiche he whanne the fleese of golde, wereby he
hade worchip aboue all knyttes lyvynge, and by Medee was reserued fro
deth, to whom he hade promysyd euer to be trwe freende. But efftyr he
fayled of hys feyth and loued anothir and left hyr holy[340] and forsoke
hir, notwithstondyng she was off soueren beaute. Therfor it is seyde to
the good knyght that he shulde not be leke to Jason, the which was
vnknowyn and to ontrwe to þat the which hade schewed hym mych
goodenes.[341] Wherefor it is to veleyns a thyng for a knyght or any
nobill person to be rekeles or evyll knowyng of goodenesse, iff any he
hath reseyuyd, be it of lady or off gentylwoman or off ony othir
persone; ffor he shulde euere thynke thereon and guerdon it vnto his
powere. To this purpose Hermes seith, “Be not slowe ne delayyng to
remembre of hym þat hath doone the goode, for thou shuldest euer thynkke
thereopon.”
The good sperite shulde not be leke to Jason, the which was rekeles, ne
vncunnyng of the benefices reseyvid of his Maker. And Seynt Barnarde
seith opon the Cantecles that vnkunnyng is ennemye to the soule, a
lesser of vertues and dispraysyng of meritis and a lessyng of beneficis,
and allso ingratitude fareth as nowght,[342] the which dryeth the well
of pete, the dewe of grace and the reuer of mercye. And to this purpose
the wyse man seith, [“Ingrati enim spes tanquam hibernalis glacies
tabescet et disperiet tanquam aqua supervacua.”][343]
LV.
Kepe the wele fro the serpent Gorgon; [Sidenote: f. 39.]
Be ware that thou looke not hyr[344] opon;
Haue good sadde mynde opon Percyualle,[345]
And he shall the tell the story all.
Gorgon, as the fable seith, was a gentylvoman of souereyne beaute; but
because that Phebus[346] lay by hyr in the temple of Diane, the godes
was so sore meved and grevyd that she schawnged hir into a serpent of
ryght orribil figure. And þat serpent hade sich a propirte þat euery man
that [be]helde hir was changed sodeynely into a ston; and for the harme
that folwed of hire Percyvale, the worthi knyght, went for to fyght with
that fers beste. And he behelde hym selfe in the bryghtnes of his
shelde, the whiche was all golde, because he shulde not beholde the
evill serpent, and he dide so mych þat he smote of hir[347] hede. Many
exposicions may be made of this fable, and Gorgon may be vndirstonden
for a cete or a towne þat was wonte to be of grete bounte, but throw the
vicis of the duellers þerin it become a serpent and venemus; that is to
vnderstonde, þat it dede mych harme in the marches to there neygburs, as
to robbe and to pyll holy chirche,[348] all tho þat thei myghte gete,
and merchawndys and othir passeris forby were takyn and holden and put
in streyte presonys and thus were thei chawnged into stones. Percivale,
that behelde hym selfe in his chelde, þat is to sey, in his strynght and
knyghode, and went to fyght ayens the cite, he tooke it and tooke the
power fro it, þat it dede no more harme.[349] It myght be that some man
myght take a full feyre lady of evyll dedys, þe which bi hire couetise
put many from there goodes, but he put hir from þat wyll; and many othir
vndirstondynges may be sette herein. Therefor it is seide to þe good
knyght that he kepe hym fro behaldyng evill thyngges, þe which myght
drawe hym to evyll. And Aristotil seith, “Fle peple full of wikydnes and
befolowe wyse men and stody in there bookes and beholde thy selfe in
theire dedes.”
How that Gorgon shulde notte be beholden, þat is to sey þat þe good
sperite shuld not behold no thyng in no maner delyte, but beholde[350]
hym in þe childe[351] of þe state of perfeccion, and þat is for to fle
delites. Aristotyl[352] seithe þat, as it is impossibyl þat [fire shuld
burn in water, so it is impossibyl þat] compunccion[353] of herte is
among wor[l]dly delites, for thei be .ii^o. contrary thynges þat
distroyith iche of them othir, for compunccion is modir of terres and
delites engenderyth laughynges, compunccion restreynyth the [Sidenote:
f. 40.] hert and delites enlargeth it. To thys purpose seyth Holy
Scripture, “They þat sowyn in wepyng shal repyn in lawyng.”[354]
LVI.
Yf that loue make shorte to þe þe nyght,
Be ware Phebus noye the not with his myght,
Wherby thou mayst be take and tied
In Vlnecans lyeines and ouerleyede.[355]
A ffable seith that Mars and Venus loued togedir par amovres. It ffelle
on a nyght that þe[356] loueres were aslepe, arme in arme. Phebus, the
which sawe clerly, come opon theyme and for the which he accused theyme
to Vulcans, Venus husbond. Than he, þat sawe theyme in that plyte,
forged a lyeine and a cheyne of bras and bond them togedir so that thei
myght not meve, as he þat is smyth of heuen and can worke sotely, and
thus he come opon theyme and thanne went he forth [to] the tothir
godes[357] and sheued theyme his shame. And the fable seith that sich
rotters there be þat wolde full fayne falle in þe same mysdede.[358] To
this fabill may be sette diuers exposicions, and it may full souereynly
towche some poyntes of astronomye[359] to tho þat sotely can vndirstond
it. Mars[360] to owre purpose seith þat þe good knyght shulde kepe hym
þat in syche [cas] he be not ouerlede before yetilnes of tyme.[361] And
a wyse man seith, “Vnnethes is ony thynge of secrete but that of some it
is perceyuyd.”
There where þe auctorite seith þat, if lowe[362] schorte the nyghte to
the, we shall sey þat þe gode sperit shulde kepe hym from þe wacches of
the fende. Seynt Leo the pope seith to this, þat þe holde ennemy, the
which transfygured hym into an angell of lyght,[363] sesseth not to
strech his snaris of temptacions ouer all and to aspie how he may
corumpe þe feithe of good beleuers; he beholdyth whome he shall embrace
with þe fyer of couetyse, whom he shall enflame with the brennyng desyre
of lechery, to whom he shall purpose the lekerousnes of glotenye; he
examynyth of all customes, discutyth of hertes, commyteth[364]
affeccions and there seketh he cause of iniure where he fyndeth hyme.
Therefor seyth Seynt Petyr the apostle, [“Sobrii estote et vigilate quia
adversarius vester diabolus tanquam leo rugiens circuit quærens quem
devoret”].[365]
LVII.
Thamaris[366] dispraysed may not well be, [Sidenote: f. 41.]
Though a voman she were of Femene.
Umbethynk the where takyn was Cyrus,
For ryght herde and dere he brought þat distrus.[367]
Thamaris [was] qwen of Amazonie, a full worthy lady and full off grete
worthynesse, of grete hardynes and wyse in armes and gouernauns. Cirus,
the grete kyng of Perse, the which hadde conqwered many a region, with a
grete host he meved ffor to goo ayens a grete reaume of Femene, of the
which he sette but lytell by the streynghte. But she, the which was
experte and sotyll in crafte of armes, suffyrd hym to entre into hyr
reaume wythowte ony mevyng of hyr into the tyme that he was comyn into
strate passage among hylles and grete mownteynes, where a full strong
cuntre was. Than be Thamaris busshmentes[368] he was assaylled on
euer[y] parte with the wymmens hoste and browght so ferre forthe þat he
was takyn. The qwhen made hym to be browght before hir and made his hede
be smetyn off and to be cast in a tobbe full off his barons blode, the
which she had made to be sheded in his presens, and Thamaris spak in
this wyse, “Cirus, the which had neuer inowgh of mannys blode, now mayst
thow drynke inowthe.” And thus endyd Cirus, the grete kyng of Perse, the
which was neuer ouercome in no batayle affore. Therefor Othea seith to
the good knyght that he shulde neuer be ouertrostyng in hyme selphe, but
þat he shulde doute that he mytht happe amysse by some infortune and yit
by symplere than he ys. To this purpose Platon seith, “Disprayse noon,
ffor hys wertues may be grete.”
Thamaris, the which shulde not be dispraysed, thowe þat she be a voman,
is to sey þat a good speryte shulde not disprayse in hate[369] the state
of mekenes, be it in relygion or ell where; and that mekenes is to
prayse. Jon Cassian[370] seith that in no wyse the edifice of vertues in
oure sowle may not reyse ne dresse hym self if the fundement of very
mekenes be not tastyd fryst in oure hertes, the which, and it be ryghte
stedefastly sette, may susteyne þe lynes of perfeccion and of charite.
Therefor the wyse man seyth, [“Quanto maior es humilia te ipsum in
omnibus et coram Deo invenies gratiam”].[371]
LVIII.
Thy witte to be ennorted[372] suffre nought
To foly delitys, ne herto brought
Thy wyrchip; if it be asked of the,
Anon beholde the wele in Medee.
Medee was on of the konnyngest women of sorserye that euer [Sidenote: f.
42.] was and hade most kunnyng; and þat stories seith. Notwythstondyng
she suffred hire witte to be enorted at the owne will for to fullfylle
hire delyte, as in lewde love she suffyrd hyre to be maystyrde, so þat
she sette hire herte opon Jason and yaffe hym worchip, body and goodes;
ffor the which after that he yaffe hire a full evyll rewarde. Wherefor
Othea seith that the good knyght shulde not suffre reson to be ouercome
wyth lewde delyte in no maner cas, iff he will vse of the vertue of
streynght. And Platon seyth that a man of lyghte corage is sone
meved[373] wyth that the which he louede.
That a man shulde not suffre his wytte to be ennorted to lewde delyte
may be vnderstondyn that the goode sperit shulde not suffre his propir
will to haue dominacion; for, yf propir will of dominacion cesyd not,
there shulde be noon hell ne the fyer off hell shuld haue no dominacion
but opon the person that sufferyth his propir will to be lorde of hym,
ffor propir will feythyt ayens God and enprideth the selfe. That is the
which dispoilleth Paradyse and clothit hell and voydeth the valu of the
blode of Cryst Jhesu and submyttyth the worlde to the tharledom of the
feend. To this purpose the wyse man seyth, [“Virga atque correptio
tribuit sapientiam; puer autem qui dimittitur voluntati suæ confundit
matrem suam.”][374]
LIX.
Iff thou be soget to god Cupido,
The wood[375] giant looke thou kepe the fro,
That the harde roche in no wyse may put be
Opon Acis and opon Galatee.[376]
Galatee was a fayre godesse, the which had a yong ientilman that she
loued and he was dede.[377] There was a gyant of a fowle stature that
loued hir, but she lyste not to loue hym; but he aspied hir so besily
that he perceyued theyme bothe in the creues of a roche. Thanne were
they ouerleyde[378] with a sodeyne rage, and the roche trembled in syche
wyse that it holy brak and raffe asownedyr. But Galatee, the which was a
fayrye,[379] dressyd hir into the see[380] and askapid therby. This is
to vndirstond that the good knyght shulde be ware in sich case to be
ouerleyde with sich as hath myght and wyll to greve hym.
How he shuld be ware of the gyant, the which is yoven to Cupido, itt is
to vnderstond that the good speryte [shuld] be wele ware that he hath
non ymagenacion to the worlde ne to no thynge [Sidenote: f. 43.] þerof,
but euer thynke that all woordly thynges may litell while endure. For
Seynt Jerom seyth opon Jeremye that there is no thyng may be noysed long
emong those thynges which shalle haue ende; so all owre tyme is as of
litell regarde to the euerlastyng terme. To this purpose the wyse man
seyth, [“Transierunt omnia illa tanquam umbra et tanquam nuntius
percurrens”].[381]
LX.
Fleeth euer the godesse of Dyscorde;
Euyl be hire lyenis and hire corde.
Pellus[382] mariage full sore she trobled,
For the which after mych foolke assembled.
Dyscorde is a godesse of evil dedys, and a fabyll seyth that whan Pellus
weddyd the godesse Thetis, off whome Achilles was after that borne,
Jubiter and all the tothir godes and godesses were at the mariage, but
the godes of Discorde was not prayed therto and therefor for invie she
com onsent for. But she come not all for noghte, for she dide verily hir
office. When they were sette at dynne at a borde, the .iii. myghty
godesses Pallas, Juno and Venus, there come Discorde and cast an appell
of golde opon the borde, whereon was wretyn “Lete this be gouen to the
ffayrest”; and than the fest was trobeld, for yche off theyme sey thei
ought to haue it. They went afore Jubiter for to be iuged of that
discorde, but he wolde not plese on to displese anothir. Wherefore thei
putte the debate opon Paaris of Troye,[383] the [which] was an herde man
than,[384] as his modir drempt, when sche was grete with hyme, that he
schulde be cawse off distruccion of Troye; he was sent therfor to the
forest to the herdeman, venyng[385] to hym that he hadde bene his sone.
And there Mercurius, the wiche [conducted] the ladies,[386] tolde hym
whos sone that he was; than he lefte kepyng of shepe and went to Troye
to his grete kynne. The fabill witneschit thus, where the weri stori is
hidde vndir poyetikly couertoure, and because that often tymes many
grete mischevis hath fallen and fallyth throwe discorde and debate,
Othea seith to the goode knyth that he shulde be ware of discorde; so
that, as it is a fowle thyng to be a debatoure and to move riottes,
Pitagoras seith “Go not,” seith he, “in that weye where that hattes[387]
growes.”
Where it is seyde that discorde shuld be fleed, on the same wyse the
good sperit shulde flee all lettynges of consience and [Sidenote: f.
44.] eschewe stryvis and riottes. [Cassiodorus][388] souuerainly seith,
“He fleeth stryves and riottes; for to stryve ayens pes it is woodnes,
to stryue ayens his souereyne it is maddenes, to stryve ayens his
soogette it is grete velany.” Therefor Seynte Powle seith, [“Non in
contentione et æmulatione”].[389]
LXI.
Thyne evyll misdede forgete thou noght,
Iff thou to any[390] haue so myche wroughte,
For the reward he will wele kepe fro the.
Distroyed was Leomedon, parde.
Leomedon, as I haue seide, was kyng off Troye, and he hadde done grete
velany to the barons of Grece[391] to voyde them fro his lande[392]; the
wiche they foryate noght, but Leomedon hathe foryeten it whan the Grekes
ron on hym, the wiche ouercome hym, he oncouered and disporveide, so
they distroyyd hym. Therefor it is seide to the good knyght that, yf he
hathe mysdone to any, that he kepe hym wele, ffor he may be sekyr it
shal notte be foryeten, but rather wenged,[393] whanne he may haue tyme
and place. And to this purpose Hermes seyth, “Be ware that thynne
ennemyes com not vpon the, and thou disporveyde.”
That he shuld not forgete the myssedede that he hathe done to anothir
may be vndirstondyn þat, when the good sperite felyth hym in synne for
fawte of resistence, he shulde thynke that he shuld be ponnysshede, as
thei be that be dampnyd, yf he amende hym notte. And therof seith Seynt
Gregorie that the dome of God goth nowe fair and softely and a sclowe
pas, but in tyme comyng it shall recompence the more greuously the mercy
shall tarry of his acte. To this purpose the prophete Joel seith,
[“Convertimini ad Dominum Deum vestrum, quia benignus et misericors
est,” etc.].[394]
LXII.
Iff it happe thou be of loue doited,[395]
Be ware at the leste to whom thou tell it;
That thi dedes discouered not be,
Vmbethynke the welle of Semelle.[396]
The fable seith that Semelle was a gentylwoman that Jubiter loved
paramours. Juno, the wiche was in ialoucie, tooke the lekenes of an
auncient woman and cam to Semelle and with fayre wordys began to reson
hyre in so moche that Semelle knowliged to hyre all the love off hyre
and of hyr loue, and to [be] well beloued and knowen of hyme she vaunted
hire. The godesse þanne seyde to hir, the [Sidenote: f. 45.] wiche tooke
no hede of the dissayte, [that] she perceyued[397] nothyng yit of the
love of hire love, [but] when she shulde be nexte with hym, that she
shulde aske hym a yifte and, when she hadde well requyred hym and that
he hadde grawnted, that she shulde desyre of hym that he wolde
vouchesafe to halse[398] hir in syche wyse as [he] halsed Juno his
wyffe, when that he wolde solace hym with here, and in syche wyse myght
she perceyue the loue of hyre love. Semelle fforyate it not, and when
she hade made the requeste to Jubiter, the wiche hade promysyd it hyre
and as a god that myght not calle it agayne, he was full sori and wyst
wele that sche hadde bene disseyved. Than Jubiter tooke lekenes of
fire[399] and halsed his loue, the wiche in a litell while was all
bruled and brent, for the wiche Jubiter was full hevy of þat aventure.
Opon this fabill may be takyn many vnderstondynges, anamly opon the
science off astronomie, as maystris seyne. But it may be allso that be
some weye a gentilwoman may be disseyved by the wyffe of hyr loue,
wherethrowgh hym selfe made hir to die be inaduertance. And therfor it
is seyde to the good knyght that he shuld be ware, whanne he spekyth of
a thyng that he wolde that it were secrete, afore or he speke hys worde,
to whome he seyth it and whatte he seyth, for by the circumstances
thyngges ma ben vndirstondyn. Therefor Hermes seith, “Shewe not the
secretes of thi thoughtes but to thoo that thou hast well preued.”
How he shulde take hede to whome he spekyth we may vndirstond that the
good sperite, what so euer hys thowtys be, he shulde be ware in euery
cas where evil suspeccion myght falle to ony othir. As Seynt Austyn
seith in the booke of Job,[400] that we shuld not all only sete store to
haue good conscience, but in as myche as owre infirmyte may, and as
myche [as] the diligence of mankyndly frelnes may, wee shuld take good
hede that we dede no thyng that myght come to evil suspeccion to owre
stedefast brothir.[401] To this purpose seith Seynt Poule the apostle,
[“In omnibus præbe te ipsum exemplum bonorum operum”].[402]
LXIII.
The disporte trust not to mychyll opon
Of Dyane, for þer is disporte right none
For them þat ben in knyghthode pursewyng
That shuld cause them to haunt to mych huntyng.
Dyane is called godess off the wode and of huntyng; so it is seide to
the good knyght pursewyng the hight name of armes þat he shulde not mvse
to myche in the disportes of huntyng, for it is a [Sidenote: f. 46.]
thyng that longeth to ydylnes. And Arystotle seith that ydilnes ledyth a
man to all inconveniences.
That a man shuld not folwe to myche Dyanes disporte, the wiche is take
for ydilnes, the goode speryte may noote the same, and that is to
eschew. Seynt Grygori seyth, “Do euer some goode thynge, that the fende
may allway fynde the occupied in some goode occupacion.” To this purpose
the wyse man seith, [“Consideravit semitas domus suæ et panem otiosa non
comedit”].[403]
LXIV.
Avaunte the not, for grete harme fell therefore[404]
To Yragnes,[405] the wich myssetook hir sore,
That ayens Pallas hire so avaunted,
For the wyche the goodesse hire enchaunted.
The fable seyth that Yragnes was a gentylwoman full sotyll and kunnyng
in schapyng, wevyng and sewyng, but she was too presumtuos of hir
connyng and indede she vaunted hire ayens Pallas. For the wyche the
godes was greued wyth here that fore that foly vauntyng sche schawneged
hyr into an yraigne and than seyde, “Thou vaunted the so myche in wevyng
and sewyng that thou shalt euer aftir this weve and spynne werke of no
value,” and fro thiens come the yraignes that be yite, the wiche sessyth
not of spynnyng and wevyng. It may be so vndirstonden that some persone
wanted ayens hir maystres, ffor the wiche in some wyse thei tooke harme.
Therefor it is seide to the good knyght that he shuld not vaunt hyme,
standyng it is a foule thyng for a knyght to be a vauntoure, for it may
abuse to myche the prayse of his bownte. And in the same wyse Platon
seyth, “When thou dost a t[h]yng,” seith he,[406] “better than anothir,
be ware thou avaunte not therof, for yf thou doo thyne avayle is myche
the lesse.”
For that a man shuld not vaunte hym, we may sey that the goode sperite
shulde be ware of wauntyng, for Seynt Austyn spekith ayens vauntyng in
the .xii. boke of the Cete of God, þat vauntyng is not mankyndly
praysyng, but is aturnyd to vyse of the sovle, the wich louyth mankyndly
praysynges and dispithet the wery wytnes of his propyr consyence. To
this purpose the wyse man seythe, [“Quid nobis profuit superbia, aut
diuitiarum jactantia?”].[407]
LXV.
Iff to grete desyre will them brynge
To loue mechell disporte of huntynge,
Dadonius[408] than remenbre may the,
For with a woode wilde bore dede was he.
Dadanius was a ioly gentylman[409] and of grete beaute. Venus loued hym
paramoures, but because he delytyd hym to myche in huntyng, Venus, the
wich douted that some hurt myth com to hym by some aventure, she prayed
hym ofte to be ware how he huntyd to grete bestes. But Dadonius wolde
not be ware, and therfor he was slayne wyth a wilde bore. Therfor it is
seyde to the good knyght that, yf he wille all gates hunte, late [hym]
kepe hym from sych huntyng that may doo hym harme. To this purpose the
profete Sedechias[410] seith that a knyght shulde not suffre his sone
hunte to myche ne be ydyll, but he shulde make hym to be enformed to
goode condicions and to fle vanyte.
How he shulde thynke on Dadonius may be vnderstondyn that, yif the goode
sperite be in any wyse out off the weye, that at the leste he shulde
thynke on the grete perell of perseuerance; for, as the fende hath grete
myght opon synners, Seynt Petir seythe in the secund Pystyll[411] that
synners ben bownde to corupcion and the fende hath power ouer theyme,
for he that in batayle is ouercome of an othir is becomyn bonde to hym.
And in tokyn therof it is seyde in the Pocalipse, [“Data est bestiæ
potestas in omnem tribum et populum.”][412]
LXVI.
If so be thette there assaile the any,
Be ware thou ne thi men ryse not lyghtly
Ayens theyme, that thi town of strenght not slake;
Off the fryst Troye example thou mayst take.
Whenne Hercules wyth mych pepyll com opon the fryst Troye and that kyng
Leomedon herd seye of there comyng, than he with all the peple that he
myght gete in the cete yode owte and went ayens theyme to the water
syde, and there theye assembled wyth full ferse bataile and þe cete was
left voyde of peple. Than Thelamen Ayaux, the wich was enbushed wyth a
grete oste nere the walles of the cete, enteryd into it, and thus the
fryst Troye was takyn. Therefor it is seyde to the goode knyght that he
shulde kepe hym, that in siche wyse he be not disseyuyd wyth his
[Sidenote: f. 48.] ennemyes. And Hermes seyth, “Kepe the from the
peple[413] of thyn ennemyes.”
Where it is seyde that a man shuld kepe hym, yf he be assayled, that his
cete be not voide, it is to sey that the good spyryte shulde euer kepe
hym sesid and filled with vertues. And hereto seyth Seynt Austyn that,
lyche as in tyme of werre men of armes shuld not be onsesyde of theyre
armes ne owt of theyme nyght ner day, on the same wyse duryng the tyme
of this present lyfe he shulde not be dyspoyled of vertues, for he thate
the fende fyndeth withowte vertues faryth as he that the aduersari
fyndyth withoute armes. Therfor the Gospel seyth, [“Fortis armatus
custodit atrium suum”].[414]
LXVII.
Opon the harpe assot the not to sore
Off Orpheus. Yf thou sete any store
Be armes, thou wylte þerin wele spede.
To fre[415] instrementis thou hast non nede.
Orpheus was a poyete, and the fabill seyth that he cowde welle pleye on
the harrpe, so that the ryngyng[416] wateres all only tournyd theyre
coruse, and the birdes of the eyre, the wylde bestes and the fres[417]
serpentis foryate there cruelnes and restyd to here the songge and the
swete sounde of his harpe. This is to vnderstond he pleyith so wele that
all maner of pepill of whate condicions that they were delytede theyme
to here the poietis pley. And becawse that syche instrumentis sotted
often the hertis of men, it is seyde to the goode knyght that he shuld
not delyte hym to meche therein, for it longeth not to the sones of
knyghthode to mvse to mych in instrumentis ne in othir ydylnes. To this
purpose an auctorite seyth, “The soule of the instrument is the snare of
the serpent”; and Platon seyth, “He þat settyth holy his plesauns of
fleysly delythes is more bond þan a sclawe,” that is to seye, than a man
that is bought and solde.
Orpheus harpe, vpon the wich a man shulde not be assotted, we may
vndirstonde that the knyghtly sperite shulde not be assotted ne mvsyd in
no maner of wordly felacheppe, be it kynne or othir. Seynt Austyn seyth
in the booke of the Syngularyte off Clerkis that the solytary man felyth
lesse prekynges of his fleych that havntyth not voluptuousenes than he
that hawntyth it, and lesse it [Sidenote: f. 49.] sterith to couetyse
the which seeth not wordly riches[418] than he that seeth it. Therefor
Dauyd seith, [“Vigilavi et factus sum sicut passer solitarius in
tecto”].[419]
LXVIII.
Grownde yow not opon noone avysyons,
Ne opon no lewde illusyons
Off grete emprise, thought it be ryght or wrong,
And of Paaris remenbre yow among.
Because that Paryis hadde dremed that he shulde ravysch Helayne in
Grece, a grete army was made and sent ffro Troye into Grece, where that
Paryis ravysshede Heleyne. Than for that wrongfull dede they com after
that opon Troye with all the power off Grece. There was soo grete a
covnetre at that tyme that it lastyd to the contre that we calle now
Puille[420] and Calebre in Ytaly, and that tyme it was called Lytyl
Grece.[421] And of that contre was Achilles and þe Mirmedewes, the which
were so worthi fyters. That grete quantite of pepill confoundid Troye
and all the contre. Therefor it is seyde to the good knyght that he
shulde not ondirtake to doo no grete thynge opon avysiones, for grete
harme and grete besynes may come thereoff. And that a grete emprise
shuld not be done wythowte good deliberacion of counsell, Platon seyth,
“Do nothyng,” seith he, “but that thy wytte hath ouerseen afore.”
That a grete empryse shuld not be takyn for avisyon, that is to sey that
the good sperite shulde in no vyse presume ne reyse hym selphe in
arrogance for no maner of grace that God hath yoven hym. And Seynt
Gregorie seyth in his Morales that there be .iiii. spices[422] in the
whiche all bolnynges of arrogances be shewed. The fryst is when they
noyse they haue of them selfe the goodnes that they haue; the .ii. is
when they wene welle that they haue deseruyd and reseyuyd it for ther
meritis the goodnes þat they haue; the .iii. is when they avant to haue
the goodnes that they haue not; and the .iiii. is when that they
dysprese othir and desire that men shuld know the goo[d]nes that is in
theyme. Ayens this vyse the wyse man spekyth in his Prouerbes,
[“Arrogantiam et superbiam et os bilingue detestor”].[423]
LXIX.
Iff thou loue well houndes an birdes, than
On Anteon,[424] the fayre yong gentilman,
The which becomme an herte, vmbethynk well þe,
And loke that siche fortune com not to the.
Antheon was a full corteis ientylman and of gentyl condicions [Sidenote:
f. 50.] and loued houndes and birdes to myche; fore the fabill seith
that on a day as he huntyd all alone in a thykke forest, wheryn his men
hadde lost hym, thane as Dyane the godesse of the woode hadde huntyd in
the forest to it was the oure of noone, she was sore chaffede and hoote
for the grete hete of the sunne, for þe which she had a lyste to bathe
hir in a f[a]yre welle and a clere, the whiche was ther fast by, and as
she was in the welle all nakyde envyrouned wyth fayreis[425] and godes
the whiche seruyd hyre, Antheon, the which tooke non heede, com sodeynly
opon hire and sawe all the godes, of whome for hire grete castite the
vesage wexe reede for shame and was full sory. And than she seide,
“Becawse that I know wele that thysse yong gentilman wyll vaunt hym of
ladies and gentilwomen—to the entent that thou schalte not mowe vante
the that hathe see me naked, I shall take the myght of thy speche from
the.” Than she cursyd hym, and anon Antheon becomme a wilde herte and no
thyng was lefte hym of mankyndly shape but all only vndirstondyng. Than
he, full of grete sorowe and off sodeyne feere, wente fleyng throwe the
busches, and anon he was reseyuyd with his owen houndes and halewed wyth
hys owen men that serched the forest for hym, but nowe they haue founde
hyme and knowe hym not. There Antheon was drawe doune, the whych wepte
grete teres afore his owne men and fayne woolde haue cryed theyme mercy
yif he myght haue spokyn. And sene that tyme hethir to hertes euer at
there dethe wepyn. Antheon was slayne and martired with grete woo with
his owen menye, the which in a litell while had all devowred hym. Many
exposicions may be made vpon this fable; but to oure purpose it may be
seide of a yong man that habaundoneth hym holy in ydylnes and dispendith
his goodes and his gettynges in delyte off his body and in disportes of
huntyng and to kepe ydel menye. Hereby may it be seide that he was hated
of Dyane, the which is noted for chastite, and deuowred of his owen
menye. Therefor it is seide to the good knyght that he shuld be ware he
were not deuowred in leche wyse. And a wyse man seith, “Idilnes
engendyrth idylnes[426] and errour.”
Be Antheon, the which become an herte, we may vnderstond the veray
repentaunt man that was wonnte to be a synner and now hath ouercome his
fleyssch and made it bonde to the good sperite [and] takyn the state of
pennaunce. Seynt Austyn seith in the Sawtyr that pennance is an esy
thyng or dede and a lyght charge; it owght not to be called a grete
charge for a man but wenges off a byrde fleyng, for, as a birde in herth
here bereth the charge of [Sidenote: f. 51.] there wenges and there
wenges berith theyme to heven, on the same wyse, yff we bere on erthe
here the charge off pennawnce, it shal bere vs to heven. To this purpose
þe Gospell seith, [“Pœnitentiam agite, appropinquavit enim regnum
cœlorum”].[427]
LXX.
I seye go notte to the yates of helle
For to seke Euridice be my counselle.
Litell he wanne there with his harpe and play,
Orpheus, as that I haue ofte herd seye.
Orpheus the poyete, the which harpede so well,[428] a fabil seith that
he maried hym to Euridice, but on the day of mariage thei wente to
disporte theyme in a medwe barefoote ffor the grete hete of the sonne,
and an herde coveytyd that fayyr woman and ranne ffor to a rauysshed
hyr, and as she flede afore hym for fere of hym she was betyn with a
serpent that was hyd wnder the gresse of the medwe, and within a litell
while after the mayden dyed. Orpheus was ryght heuy of that mysse
aventure; yit he tooke his harpe and wentte to þe yattes of helle in the
dyrke waly afore the helle paleys, and thanne he begane to harppe
pytously and he pleyyd so swetely that all the tormentes off helle cesyd
and all the helly offices lefte there besynes for to here the sownde of
the harppe, and anamly Proserpyne, the godes off helle, was meuyd with
grete pete. Than Pluto, Lucifere, Cerebrus and Acaron,[429] the which
for the harpor sawe that the offices off hell peynnes lefte and cesed,
toke hym hys wyff vpon a condicion that he shulde goo afore and sche
after, and that he shulde notte loke behynde hym to he come owt of the
valy of helle, and yff he looked behynde hym he shuld lefe hire. Opon
this condicion she was delyuered to hym ayen. So Orpheus wente afore and
his loue after, but he that was to hoote in loue, the which desired to
beholde hire, myght not kepe hym from lokyng ayen after his loue, and
anoon as [he] loked byhynd hym Euredice partyd from hyme and was ayen in
helle, so that he myght no more haue hire. This fable may be
vndyrstondyn in many maneres. It myght be so that some man had his wyff
takyn fro hyme and he had getten hire ayen; on the same wyse it may be
of a castell or of anothir thyng. But to owre purpose it may be seide
that he seketh veryly Euredice in hell, the which sekyth an inpossibyl
thyng and, thowgh a man may notte recouer that, he owghte not to be
wrothe. Salamon seyth the same, “It is a foly thyng,” he seith, “to seke
that the which is impossybylle to be hadde.” [Sidenote: f. 52.]
Be that a man shulde not goo to seke Euredice in hell, we may vndirstond
that the goode speryte shulde aske ne requyre of God no thyng that is
meruellious,[430] ne that mervell to be thyng oon, that is to sey, to
tempte God. And Seynt Austyn seith opon Seynt John Gospell that Godes
creature is not exavced when he requiryth a thyng the which may not be
doone or shuld not be doone, or a thyng the which he wolde vse amysse yf
that it were grawntyd hyme, or ell a thyng that shuld hurte the sowle yf
it were exauuced. And therfor it comyth of the mercy off God, if he gyff
not to a creature a thyng the which he knowyth he wolde vse amysse. To
this purpose Seynt James the apostell seyth in his Pistell, [“Petitis et
non accipitis eo quod male petatis”].[431]
LXXI.
Iff thou will veraly knowe a knyght
In cloystir or clos where he be dyght,
The say[432] that was made to Achilles
Sall lerne the to proue theym doutles.
The fable seith that Achilles was sone to the godes Thetis, and becawse
that, as a godes, she knew if hir sone haunted armes that he shu[l]d
dye, she, the which louyd hym with to grete love, hide hym in maydinis
clothyng and made hyme were a vaile leche a nonne. In the godesse
abbay[433] he lyffed so, and Achilles was long hydde vnto that some
persones perseyuyd hym, and the fabill seith that there he begate
Pirus[434] opon the kynges dougther, the which was after that full
cheualerous. Than began the Troyens grete werres, and the Grekes knew
wele that thei hadde nede of Achilles for to streynght theyme. He was
sowte ouer all, but thei myght not here of hym. Vlixes, the which was
full of grete malice, sowgth hym ouer all [and] come to the temple, but
yit he myght not perseyue the trowght. He avysyd hym of grete malice and
sotilte, and than Vlixes toke keuercheffes, girdill and all maner of
iowell[435] longyng to ladies and therwith feyre armure and bryghte and
cast all doune in the myddes of the place in presens of the ladyes and
praide iche of theyme to take[436] that the which plessede theyme best;
and than, as euery thyng drawith to his nature, the ladies ronne to the
jowell and Achilles sessede the armure. And thanne Vlixes ranne and
tooke hyme in his armys and seyde, “This is he that I seke.” And becawse
that knyghtes shulde be more inclyned to armes than to plesawnce,[437]
which longgeth to ladies, the auctorite seith that therby a man may
knowe the veray knyght. And to this purpose Legaron[438] seith that a
knyghte is not [Sidenote: f. 53.] knowen but be his dedes of armes.[439]
And Hermes seith that thou shuldest preue a man afore or that thou trost
hym to gretely.
Where it is seyde, “Yf thou wylte knowe a goode knyght,” we may
vnderstondyn that the good knyght [of] Cryst Jhesu shuld be know by the
dede of armes in goode workyng, and that siche a knyght shulde haue the
dwe prayse that longgeth to goode men. Seynt Jerom seith in a pistil
that, as the ryghtvisnes of God levyth non evil thyng vnponysshede, on
the same wyse it levith no goode thyng vnrewarded. So than to good
pepill noo labour shulde be thought to harde, ne no tyme to longe,
standyng that thei [are] abydyng[440] the euerlastyng hire and blys.
Therfor Holy Scripture seith, [“Confortamini et non dissolvantur manus
vestræ, erit enim merces operi vestro”].[441]
LXXII.
Wyth Athalenta stryue thou not nowe,
For she hath gretter talent þan thou.
It was hir crafte for to renne fast.
To siche a rennyng haue thou non hast.
Athalenta was on of the fayre[442] and lyche to a gentilvoman of grete
beaute, but hire destonye was diuerse; ffor because of hire mony lost
ther lyves. This gentilvoman for hire grete beaute was covetyde of mony
oon to be hadde to maryage, but ther was made sich a conuenawnt that non
shulde haue hire but he ouerranne hir, and yf she ouerranne hym, he
shuld dye. Athalenta was mervelious swyft, so that non myght streche to
hir in rennyng and that cawsed many on for to die. This rennyng may be
vnderstondyn in many maneres. It may be as some thyng that is gretly
covetyid of many persones, but yit it may notte be hadde withowte grete
traueyle; the rennyng that she made is the defence or the resistence of
the same thynges. And allso the fabill may be noted anamly for tho that
makyth grete stryve and nedith not. Also the auctorite seyth that a hard
man and a coragius ought not to myche to stryve for onprofytabyll
thynges, the whiche he shulde not set by, stondyng that thei
[t]owche[443] not to his worchyppe for many grete [h]urtes folwyth off
sich stryues. And Thessille[444] [se]ith, “Thou shuldest doo that the
which is moste [pro]fetable to the body and most behouely to the soule
and fle the contrarye.”
That we shulde notte stryve wyth Athalenta may be vnderstondyn that the
goode speryte shulde not be letted with non thyng [Sidenote: f. 54.]
that the worlde dothe, of what gouernans it be. And to the same Seynt
Austyn seyth in a pistil that the worlde is more perlious to creaturis
when it is eesy than whan it is sharpe, for the softer he seeth it the
les it shulde lete hym and lees he shulde drawe it to his love then
whenne it yeffyth hym cause to dispite it. To this purpose Seynt John
the Euaungelist seyth in his fryst Pistill, [“Si quis diligit mundum,
non est charitas Patris in eo”].[445]
LXXIII.
As that Paris iugede iuge thou noght,
For many men hau ben full hard brought
Be grauntyng of evil sentence
And had þerfor ryght greuous recompence.
The fable seith that .iii. godesses of grete myght, that is to sey,
Pallas godes of kunnyng,[446] Juno godes of goode,[447] and Venus godes
off love, com before Paris holdyng an apple of golde,[448] the which
seide, “Lete this be youen to the fayrest and the myghttyest of vs.”
There was grete discord ffor this appyll, for iche of theyme seyde they
ought to haue it, and at the last thei tooke Paris for to iuge the
cavse. Paris sought delegently the strenghte and the myghte of ich of
theyme by the selfe. Than seide Pallas, “I am godes of cheualry and of
wysdom, for by me armes is departed to knyghtes and konyng to clerkes,
and yf thou wilt yiff me the appyll, tryst veryli that I shall make the
to paase[449] all othir in koonyng and in knytehode.” After that Juno,
godes of goode, seide, “And by me is departyd the grete lordshippes and
also tresowrys off the worlde. If thou wyl gyff me the appyll, I shall
make the recher and mygh[t]ier than ony othir.” And than spake Venus
wyth full louyng wordes and seide, “I am she that kepyth scoles of loue
and off iolines[450] and maketh fooles to be wyse men and wyse men to do
foly, and I make ryche men poore and tho þat be exiled riche. There is
no myght that may compare wyth my myght. Iff thou wylt yeffve me the
appyll, by me thou shalt haue þe love of fayre Helaine of Grece, the
which may avayle the more than any maner of ryches.” And thanne Paris
gaff his sentence and forsoke bothe knyghthode, wisdom and riches for
Venus, to whome he gaff the appyll; for the which after that Troye was
dystryd. This is to vnderstonde, because that Paris was not cheuallrous
ne reche, he sette be noo thyng, but all his thought was on loue, and
therefor yaffe he the appill to Venus. Werefor it is seide to the goode
knyght that he shuld not demene hym so. And Pictagoras seith, [Sidenote:
f. 55.] “The iuge that iugede not iustyly, diserveth myche evyll.”
Be Parys that iuged folely is vnderstonden that the goode sperite shulde
be ware how he iuged oþer. Seynt Austyn spekyth thereoff ayens the
[Manichees][451] that there be .ii. thynges the whych in especiall we
shulde eschewe, fryst to iuge othir persones, for we know not of what
corage thynges be done, the which to contempne it is þerfor[452] grete
presumcion, for we shuld take theyme to the better partye; secundly for
because we be not incerteyne what the[i] shall be that now be goode or
now evill. Owre Lord to this purpose seith in þe Gospell, [“Nolite
judicare et non judicabimini, in quo enim judicio judicaveritis
judicabimini.”][453]
LXXIV.
In Fortvne, that grete myghty godesse,
Trist not to mych, ne in hyre promyse;
For in a lytell space she chaungeth,
And the hyest ofte ouerthroweth.
Fortune aftyr the spekyng off poyetis may be wele called the grete
godes, for by hire we see that wordly thynges be gouernde. And becauce
she promysyth to many prosperite inowght—and indede to some she yeffeth
it—and in litell space takyth it awaye when it plesyth hire, it is seide
to the goode knyght that he shuld not trost in hire promysses ne
discomfort hym not in his aduersites. And Socrates seith the cours of
fortvne farith as engins.[454]
Becavse whi that he seith that he shulde not trost in fortvne, we may
vnderstond that the good spirite shuld fle and disprayse wordly
delittes. Therefor Boys[455] seith in the .iii. booke of Consolacion
that the felicite off the Epicuriens shulde be called vnfelicite, for
the full and the perfyȝth felicite it is that the which [can] make man
sufficiently myghty, reuerende, solempne and ioyeux, the which
condicions resiste not to thynges whereopon wordly peple settyth there
felycite.[456] Thereffor God seyth by the profyte Ysaie, [“Popule meus,
qui te beatum dicunt, ipsi te decipiunt”].[457]
LXXV.
To vndirtake to avance werre, [Sidenote: f. 56.]
Make thou not Paris the begynner;
Better he cowde (take vittenes aboue)
Disporte in the feyre armes of his loue.
Paris was nothyng condicionned to armes, but all to loue. Therefor it is
seide to the goode knyght that he shuld not make a cheuetayne of his
host ne of his bateilles a knyght the whiche is not apte to armes. And
therefor Aristotyl seith to Alizaunder, “Thou shuldest make hym
connestabil of thyne oste that thou knowes is wyse and experte in
armes.”
That ye shulde not make Paaris to begynne yowre werres, it is to
vnderstonde that the good knyght gostly, tendyng only to the knyghthode
of heuen, shuld be holly drawen fro the worlde and ches contemplatyue
lyffe. And Seynt Grigore seith vpon Ezeciell that the lyffe
contemplatyue is of ryght preferred afore the actiue liue as for the
worthier and the gretter, for the actiue life travellith hymselfe in the
laboure of this present lyfe, but the contemplatyve lyfe farith as he
that tristith[458] the sauour of the reste that is for to come. Wherefor
the Gospell seith off Mary Magdalene, be whom contemplacion is figured,
[“Optimam partem elegit sibi Maria, quæ non auseretur ab ea”].[459]
LXXVI.
Sette the not to be a spy, I the seye,
But loke thou kepe euer the hey weye.
Sephalus[460] wyth his [s]harpe iaueloth[461]
Lereth it the, and the wyff of Lothe.
The fabill seith that Sephalus was an ancient knyght the which delyted
hym grettely all his lyue in the disporte of huntyng, and he coude cast
a darte hade sich a propirte that it was neuer cast in veyne, but it
kyllyd all þat it tovched. And because that he hade a costome to ryse in
the mornyng and to goo to the forest to aspye the wylde bestis, his wyff
was ielous ouer hyme and supposed that he loued othir than hire, and for
to know the trowthe she went after to aspy hym. Sephalus, the which was
in the woode, when he herde the leues make noyse where that his wyff
went, supposed that it hadde ben some wylde best, kest his iauelot and
kyllyd his wyff. He was hevy of that mysse aventure, but there myght no
remedy be hadde. The woman Lothes wyffe, as that Holy Scripture
wytnessyth, turnyd ayen ayens the commawndment off the aungell, when she
herde that the .v. cetees sanke behynde hyr, and therfor anon she was
chawnged into a [Sidenote: f. 57.] salte ston. And be all sich figures
may be sette many vndirstondynges. For the trwthe and for to take it in
example for the trowthe, no good man shulde delyte hym to spye anothir
in thynges that longeth not to hym; and to the entend that no man wolde
be aspyed, Hermes seith, “Do not to thi felawe that the which thou
woldyst not were done to the, and strech no snaris for to take men
wythall, ne purches noon harme to theyme be aspyeng ne be wyles, for at
the last it will turne opon þiselfe.”
That a man shulde not sette hym for to spye may be vndirstondyn that the
good sperite shuld not peyne hym to knowe othir mennis dedes, ne to
enqwere tydyngges of othir. For Seynt John Crisostome seith opon the
Gospell of Seynt Mathieu, “Howe takys thow so grete hede,” seith he, “of
so many litell defawtes of othir men and latyst pase so many grete
defawtes in thyn owyn dedes? Yf thou loued thi selfe better than thi
neyghburght, whi empechest thou his dedes and leuys thyne owyn? Be
diligent to considir thin owyn dedes fryst, and than consider the dedes
off othir.” To this purpose owre Lorde seith in the Gospelle, [“Quid
autem vides festucam in oculo fratris tui, trabem autem in oculo tuo non
vides?”].[462]
LXXVII.
Disprayse not of Helene the councell;
I counsel the so wythowte fayle,
For ofte many hurtes falleth then,
Because that we beleue not wyse men.
Helene was brothir to Hector and Kyng Priantes sone of Troye. He was a
full wyse clerke and full off konyng. As mych as he myght, he counseyled
that Paarys shulde not goo into Grece to rauyssh Helayne; but thei wolde
not do aftyr hym, for the which the Troyens were hurte. Therefor it is
seide to the good knyght that he shuld beleue wyse men and there
councell, and Hermes seith, “Who so worchyppyth wyse men and vsyth there
councell, thei be euerlestyng pepyll.”
Helene, the which counselled ayens the werre, that is to sey that the
goode sperite shulde eschwe temptacions. And Seynt Jerom seith that a
synner hath noon excusacion whereby he howght to suffyr temptacions to
ouercome hym, for the temptyng feend is so febill that he may ouercome
noon but thoo that wyll be yolden to hyme. And thereopon Seynt Povle the
apostyl seyth, [“Fidelis [Sidenote: f. 58.] Deus qui non patietur vos
temptari supra id quod potestis,” etc.].[463]
LXXVIII.
Be not to mery ne to sori
For thi dremes, though thei be hevy.
Morpheus byddyth, the messanger
Off the god of slepe and dremes seere.[464]
A ffabill seyth that Morpheus is sone to the god of slepe, and he is his
massenger and he is god of dremes and cawsyth men to dreme. And because
that dremes be trobolous thynges and a derke and some tyme it may
syngnifie contrarie to the dreme, þer is noon so wyse that may propirly
speke[465] liche as the expositours seith of theyme[466]. Therfor it ys
seide to the good knyght that he shulde not be to heuy ne to mery ffor
sich avysyons, be the which a man may not shewe no certeyne knowlych ne
to what thyng thei sal turne, and anamely þat a man shulde not be to
mery ne to hevy ffor thynges off fortune, the which be transsitorie.
Socrates seith, “Thou that arte a man, thou shuld not be to hevy ne to
mery ffor no maner cawse.”
Where it is seide that a man shuld not be to mery ne to hevy for non
avysyons, we shall seye that the good speryte shuld not be to heuy ne to
meri for no maner cause that cometh to hym and that he shuld suffre
tribulacions paciently. Seynt Austyn seith vpon the Savter, “Fayre son,”
seith he, “yf thou wilte wepe for thi sorres that thou felest, veepe
vnder the correccion off thi Fadir; yf thou wepe ffor tribulacions that
comyth to the, be ware that it be not for indignacion ne for pride, for
the aduersyte that God sendyth to the it is a medycyne and no payne, it
is a chastisment and no dampnacion. Put not fro the thi Fadris rodde but
yf that þou wylt that [he] put the from his heritage; and thynk not on
the payne that thow owghtes to suffre of his scorge, but considir what
place thow haste in his testament.” To this purpose the wyse [man]
seythe, [“Omne quod tibi applicitum fuerit accipe et in dolore sustine,
et in humilitate tua patientiam habe.”][467]
LXXIX.
Be the see yf thou wylt vndertake
Perlyous viages for to make,
Off Alchion[468] beleue the counsell.
Ceys therof the soth may the tell.
Ceys was a kyng, a full good man, and loued wele Alchyon [Sidenote: f.
59.] his wyff. The kyng tooke a deuocion ffor to go a perlyows passage
on the see in a tempest, but Alchyon his wyffe, the whiche loued hym
ryght hertily, dyde gretyly hir besynes to meve hym fro[469] that vyage
and with grete teris of wepyng prayde hyme full besyly; but it myght not
be remedied by here ne he woold not suffir hir to goo with hym, stondyng
that she wolde all gates haue gone with hymme and at the departyng she
styrte on to the shepe.[470] But Ceys the kyng comfortyd hir and with
force made hyre to abyde, for the which she was full anggwyssous and
hevy and in ryght grete woo. Neuer the lesse Eolus,[471] the god of
wyndes, meved theyme soo gretely opon the see that the kyng Ceys within
fewe dayes perysshed on the see; ffor the which, whenne Alchyon knew
that aventure, she kest hire selfe into the see. The ffabill seith that
the godes had pyte þeroff and chawnged the bodyes of the .ii. louers
into .ii. birdes, to the intent that there grete loue myght be had in
perpetuell mynde. And yette þe same birdes flee opon the see syde, the
which be called Alchions and there fedres be whyte; and whan the
maryneris see theyme come, þan be they sekyr of a tempest.[472] The
ryght exposicion hereof may be that in mariage .ii^o. loueres loued
togedir in lich wyse, the which poyetes lykeneth to the .ii^o. byrdes
that hade sich a case and aventure. Therefor it is seide to the goode
knyght that he shulde not put hym in no perlyous passage ayens the
counsell off his good ffrendis. And Assaron[473] seyth that the wyse man
enforseth hym to draw hym fro hurtes, and the foole doth his diligence
to fynde hurtes.
For to beleue Alchion, it is to vnderstond that the goode speryte by
some evil temptacion is empeched with some errowe or dowte in his
thowght, in the which he shuld reporte hym to the openyon off the
cherche. For Seynt Ambrose seyth in the .ii. booke off Offices that he
is fro hym selfe that dispyseth the counsell of the cherche, for Joseph
helped kyng Pharaon more profitably with the cownsell off his prudence
than though he had yoven hyme eythir gold or syluer; for syluer myȝgh
not a purueyde for the famyn of Egypte the space of vii. yere. Therefor
it is concluded, “trust counsell and thou shalt not repent the.” To this
purpose the wyse man seith in his Proverbes to the persone of holy
chirch, [“Custodi legem atque consilium et erit vita animæ tuæ”].[474]
LXXX.
Off a chylde beleue notte the counsell,
For off Troylus remenbre the wele.
Trest[475] ye may men aged and prouede,
That in armes hath sore bene charged.
When Kyng Priant had repared Troye ayen, the which was dystroyede
because of the greuyng of theym that went into Colcos, [Sidenote: f.
60.] than Priant thought to take vengance for that distraccion and
asemblyd his counsell, where that were many hy barons and wyse men, for
to wete wheythir it were good that Paaris his sone shulde goo into Grece
to ravyssh Elen or noon in achaunge for Esyona[476] his sistir, the
which was taken be the Thelomonailles[477] and ledde into thraldom. But
all the wyse men seyde nay, becavse of proficies and of scriptores, the
whiche seide through that rauysshyng Troye shuld be dystroyed. Than
Troylus, the whiche was a child and the yongest of Priantes sones, seyde
that men shulde not in counsell of werre beleue olde men ne there
prouerbes, the which threwe[478] there cowardyse counselleth euer to
rest; so he counselled that they shulde goo togedir. Troylus conseil was
holdyn, of the which felle myche harme. Therefor it is seyde to the good
knyght that he shuld not holde ne beleve the counsell of a childe, the
which of nature is full lyght and lityll to consydir. An auctorite seith
to this purpose that where a childe is kyng þe londe ys onappy.[479]
That a good speryte shulde not agre hym to the counsell of a childe, it
is to vndirstond that he shulde [not] be ignorant, but knowyng and full
lerned in that the which may be prophyte to his helth; ffor ayens
ignorant pepyll Seynt Austyn seith, “Ignorance is a full evyl modir, the
which hath full evill doughteris, that is to sey, falssenes and doute;
the fyrst is myschawnce, the secund is wreechednes, the fyrst is
vicyous, but the secund is softer,[480] and these .ii. is drawen away by
wysdome.” Therefor the wyse man seyth, [“Sapientiam prætereuntes non
tantum in hoc lapsi sunt ut ignorarent bona, sed insipientiæ suæ
reliquerunt hominibus memoriam”].[481]
LXXXI.
Hate Calcas and his false disseytes,
Off whome the infynyte malicis
Betrayeth many reaumes expres[482];
Off wordly pepyll þer is no wers.
Calcas was a sootyl clerke of the cete of Troye,[483] and, whan Kyng
Priante knew that the Grekes come opon hym with a grete oste, he sent
Calcas into Delphos to wete of the god Appolonie[484] how the werre
shulde fortvne. But after that the god hade aunsweryd, the which seide
[that] after .x. yere the Grekes shulde haue the victorie, Calcas turned
towarde the Grekes and aqwaynttyd hym with Achilles, the which was comme
into [Sidenote: f. 61.] Delphos for the same cause, and with hym he went
to the Grekes, whome he helpid for to cownsel ayens his owen cete and
ofte tymes disturbed the pes betwyne the Grekys and the Troyens. And
becawse he was a traytore, it is seide to the goode knyghte that he
shulde hate sich evill sotell pepyll, ffor theyre traysones so done be
willes may hurte gretly reaumes and empires and all maner of pepyll.
Therefor Platon seith, “A soothel[485] enemy, though he be poore and not
myghty, may greue more than a ennemy myghty and ryche vnknowyn.”
Calcas, the which shuld be hatyd, may be vnderstonden that the good
speryte shulde hate all fraudelous malice ayens his neyghburgh, for he
shulde in no wyse consent thertoo. For Seynt Jerom seith that a
traytoure will not be sowpled, neythir for familiarite off felachep ne
for homlynes of mete and drynke ne for grace of seruyce ne for plente
off benefices. Off this vice seith Seynt Poule the aposstell, [“Erunt
homines cupidi, elati, superbi, proditores, tumidi”].[486]
LXXXII.
Be thou notte harde for to graunt, I say,
Sich a thyng as welle enploy thou may;
To Hermofrodicus[487] haue tendyyng,[488]
The whiche tooke harme for his denying.
Hermofrodicus was a beauteous yong thyng, and on of the fayree[489] was
sore enamourede of hymme, but he in no wyse had leste to love hire and
she purswed hym ouer all. Yt felle on a tyme that the yong thyng was
full wery of the purswte wherein he hadd trauelled all the day. Than he
come to a well-spryng sette abovte with salwes,[490] by the whiche was a
fayre stanke, styll and clere, ffor the which a lest he hade to bathe
hym.[491] He dyde of his clothes and went into the water. Whan she off
the fayree sawe hym onclothyd and all naked, she went in to hym and for
grete loue tooke that yong thyng in hir armes; but he, the which was
full froward, put hire fro hym ryght rudely, so she myght not wynne his
hert for no prayour. Than she of the fayree, full of woo, prayde to the
godes that she myght neuer parte from hire loue, the whiche put hire so
fro hym. The godes of pete harde hire deuoute prayere; than sodanly they
chaunged the .ii^o. bodies into oone, the which were of .ii^o.
seytis.[492] This fabill may be vnderstondyn in many maneres, lich as
sothell clerkes and philosopheris hath hide there grete secretes vndir
couertoure of fable. Thereto it may be [Sidenote: f. 62.] vnderstondyn
sentence longyng to the science of astronomy, and as wele of
nygromancye,[493] as that maystrys seyth. And because that the matyr of
loue is more delictable to here than othir, gladely[494] they made there
distinccions[495] opon loue for to be the more delectable to here,
anamly to rude pepill, the whiche take but the barke, and the more
agreable to subtile, the which sowketh the lyquor. But to owre purpose
we may vndirstond that it is velany and a fowle thyng to refuse or to
grawnte wyth grete daunger that the which may not turne to vyce ne to
preiudice, thowgh it be grawnttyd. For Hermes seyth, “Make no long delay
to put it in execucion that the which þou shuld doo.”
The goode speryte shulde notte be harde to graunt there where he seyth
necessite, but reconforte the nedy to his power. As Seynt Gregore seith
in his Moralles that, whan we wyll reconforte any that is afrayed in
heuynes, we shulde fryst make heuynes with theyme, for he may not veryly
reconforte the hevy person which cordeth hyme not with his heuines. For
leche a man[496] may not ioyne oon yren to anothir yf thei be note hote
bothe .ii^o. and softyd with the fire, on the same wyse we may not
redresse anothir yif oure hertes be not softted be compassyon. To this
purpose Holy Scripture seith, [“Confortate manus dissolutas et genua
debilia roborate”].[497]
LXXXIII.
Thou mayst wyth the pleys the solace
Off Vlixes, when thou hast tyme and space
In the tyme of trwes and of fest,
For they be both sotel and honest.
Vlyxes was a baron of Grece and off grete sotylte and duryng the long
seege afore Troye, the whiche lestyd .x. yere, [when] that trwes were,
he fond pleys full sotyll and feyre for to disporte knyttes therewyth in
the tyme of soioure and rest. And some seyne that he fonde the game of
the chesse and sich othir lich. Therefor it is seide to the good knyght
that in dwe tyme men may wele play at sich games; for Solyn seith, “All
thyngges that is sottyl and honest is lefull to be doone.”
The pleyes of Vlixes may be vnderstondyn that, when the knyghtly speryte
shall be wery off prayer and of beyng in contemplacion, he may wele
disporte in redyng of Holy Scriptures; ffor, as Seynt Jerom seith, Holy
Scripture is sete in the yen of owre[498] [Sidenote: f. 63.] hertis as a
merowre, to the entent that we shuld se the herdly face[499] of owre
sowle, and therefor may we see the lewdenes, there may we see who
myche[500] that we profyte and how fayre we ben [fro] profyte.[501] To
this purpose owre Lord seith in the Gospell, [“Scrutamini scripturas,
quia vos putatis in ipsis vitam æternam habere”].[502]
LXXXIV.
Yif thou wilt yeff the to Cupido,
Thy hert and all abaundon hire to,
Thynkke on Cresseides nwefanggyllnesse,[503]
For hire hert hade to meche dobylnesse.
Cresseide [was] a gentilwoman of grete beaute, an[d] she was yit more
qwaynte and sotell to drawe pepill to hir.[504] Troylus, the yongest of
Priantes sones, [the which] was full of grete gentilnesse, of beaute and
of worthines, loued hire ryght hertily and she hade youen hym hir loue
and promysyd to hym that it shuld neuyr fayle. Calcas, fadir to the
gentilwoman, the which knew by science that Troye shuld be distroyid,
dide so myche that his doughter was delyuered to hym and browght owte of
the cete and ledde to the seege among the Grekes, where hir fadir was.
Grete was the sorowe and full petous the[505] complayntis of the .ii^o.
louers at the departyng. Neuerthelesse within a while aftir Dyomed, the
which was a hye baron and a full worthi knyght, aqweynttyd hym with
Cresseide and labowrd so soore to hir that she loued hym and only[506]
foryate hir trwe loue Troylus. Because that Cresseide was so lyght of
corage, it is seide to the gode knyght that, yf he will sette his herte
in ony plase, late hym be ware that he be not aqwauyntyd with sich a
lady as Cresseide was. And Hermes seith, “Kepe the from evill felachepe,
that thou be not on of theyme.”
Cresseide, of whom a man shulde be ware to aqweynt hym, is veyne glori,
with the which the good sperite shuld not aqwaynte hym, but fle it onto
his power, for it is to lyghte and commyth to sodenly. And Seynt Austyn
opon the Sauter seith that he the which hath wele lerned and asayed by
experiens to ouergoo degrees of vices, he is coume to the knowlyge that
the synne of veyne glory is holy or most specyaly to eschwe of perfyȝte
men, ffor emong all othir synnes it is hardest to ouercom. Therefor the
apostil Seynt Poule seith, [“Qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur”].[507]
LXXXV.
When thou hast kylled Patroclus,
Ware of Achilles, I counsell þe thus,
Yf thou loue me, for thei be all on, [Sidenote: f. 64.]
There goods betweyne theym be comon.
Patroclus and Achilles were felawes togedir and ryght dere freendis, so
that there were neuer to[508] brethere loued better togedir, and thei
and here goodes were comon as all o thyng. And because that Hector slew
Patroclus in batayle Achilles had grete hate to Hector, and fro theyns
forthe swore his dethe. But because he doutyd meche his grete streynght,
he lefte neuer to wayte how he myght fynde hym discouered to betray hym.
Therfor Othea seide to Hector, as by profecye of that which was for to
come, that, when he hadde sleyne Patroclus, it were nede for hym to be
ware of Achilles. That is to vnderstond þat euery man the which hath
slayne or mysdoon to anothir mannys trwe freen, his[509] felawe will
take vengance if he may. Therefor Magdare[510] seith, “In what [place]
that euer thou be wyth thy ennemye, holde hym euer in suspecte,
thow[511] that thow be myghtyer than he.”
Where it is seide that, when thow hast sleyne Patroclus thou shulde be
ware of Achilles, we may vnderstond that, yf the goode speryte suffir
hym by the feend to bowe to synne, he howte[512] to dowte euerlastyng
dethe. And Solyn seith,[513] “This present lyue is but a knyghthode
an[d] in tokyn theroff this present lyf is called werre in deference of
that aboue, the which is called victorius, for it hath euer of enemyes.”
To this purpose the apostil Seynt Poule seith, [“Induite vos armaturam
Dei, ut possitis stare adversus insidias diaboli.”][514]
LXXXVI.
Be ware thou voide note fro the Echo,
Ne hir[515] petous complayntes also;
Susteyne all hir wille, yif it may be,
For thou wote not what may com to the.
The fabill seith that Echo was a fayre woman, and because she was wont
to be to grete a iangelere and by hir iangyllyng on a day accused Juno,
the which for ialousie on day lay in awayte on hir husbond, the godesse
was wroothe and seide, “For hens forth thou shalt no more speke fryst,
but after anothir.” Echo was anamored on faire Arcisus,[516] but neyther
for prayer ne for sygne of love that she made to hym he lyst not to haue
pete off hire, in so mych that the faire creature diede for his love.
But dyeng she prayed to the godesse that she myght be vengyd of hyme in
whome [Sidenote: f. 65.] she hade fownde so mych cruellnes that ons yit
thei myghte make hym to fele the charpenesse of loue, whereby he may
preue the grete woo þat veray louers haue the which in loue be
refussede; þan she died. So Eccho made an ende, but hire voyse remaneth,
which lestyth yitte. And there the godes made it perpetuall for memorie
of that aventure, and yit it answheris to pepill in valeyys and on
reueres aftyr the woyse of othir, but it may not speke fryst. Eccho may
syngnyfie a persone the which off grete necessite requyryth the voyse
that is youen to anothir; that is to sey, of nedy pepyll there is
abydyng enowe, for they may not helpe themselffe withowte helpe of
othir.[517] Therefor it is seyde to the good knyght that he shuld haue
pete of nedy pepill that reqwyrith it. And Zaqualquin[518] seith, “Who
so will kepe wele the lawe, shulde helpe hys frend with his goode and
leue to nedi pepill and be gracious, not denying iustice to his enemy,
and kepe hym fro vice and dishonour.”
Be Echo, the which shuld not be refusyd, may be notyd the mercy þat the
good sperite shulde haue in hym selfe. And Seynt Austyn seith in the
book of owre Lo[r]dis Sermon that he made on the Hille that blyssyd be
thoo that willyngly socourith poore pepill, the which be in penowrye,
for thei discerue mercy of God opon them that is in penuery. And it is a
iust thyng that who so will be holpyn of a souereyne more myghtye than
he shuld helpe[519] a sympler than he is, in as myche that he is mythyer
than he. Therefor the wyse man seith in his Prouerbis, [“Qui pronus est
ad misericordiam benedicetur.”][520]
LXXXVII.
Iff thou wilte haue a croune of victorie,
Which is better than ony good wordly,
Damee[521] thou most folue and purswe
And shalt haue hir, if thou will wele swe.
The fabil seith Damee was a gentylwoman that Phebus loued hertily, and
he purswede hire sore, but she wolde not agre to hym. It felle on a day
that he sawe the fayre creature go in a way and he folowed and, whanne
she sawe hym come, she fledde and the god aftir. And when he was so nere
that she sawe well she myght not scape hym, she made hir prayers to the
godes Diane that she shulde save hire virginite, and the body of the
maydyn chaunged into a grene lorier; and when Phebus was come nere
therto, he tooke of the brawnches of the tre and made hym a chaplete in
syngne of victorie. And anamly in the tyme[522] of the Romayns greete
felicite the victorius pepill of theyme were crowned with [Sidenote: f.
66.] lorier. This fabill may haue many vndirstondynges. It myght happe
that some myty man with long traveyle swed a lady in so mych that with
his grete pursvte he com to his will vndir a lorier, and for that cavse
fro theyns forth he loued the lorier and bare it in his devyse in signe
of the victorie that he hade of his love vndir the lorier. And allso the
lorier may be take for golde, the which betokynyth worchippe. It is
seide to the good knyght that he most pursue Damee, if that he will haue
a croune of lorier, that is to seyne, payne and traveyle, yf he will com
to worchippe. To this purpose Omer seyth, “Be grete diligence a man
comyth to grete perfeccion.”
That Damee wolde be purswede for to have a croune of lorier, we may
vndirstonde that, yf the goode speryth will haue a glorius victorie, he
must haue perseuerance, the which sall lede hym to the victorie of
paradyse, of the which the ioies be infynite. As Seynt Grygory seith,
“Who hath þat tong that may suffice to tell it, and where is the
vndirstondyng that may or canne comprehend it, who[523] many ioyes be
there in that souereyne cete off paradyse, euer to be present[524] ...
visage of God, to se the vnscribable lyght, to be in surte neuer to haue
fere off deth, to be mery with the gyfte of euerlastyng clennes?” To
this purpose Dauid seith in þe Savter, [“Gloriosa dicta sunt de te,
civitas Dei”].[525]
LXXXVIII.
To the also I make mencion
Off Andromathais[526] vision;
Dispite not thi wyfe, I counsell the,
Ne othir wemen that wise be.
Avdromatha was Hectoures wyffe, and the nyght afore that he was sleyne
there com to his wyfe in a vision that the next daye that Hector went to
the batayle withowten dowte there he shuld be sleyne. For the which
Andromatha with grete seghens and vepynges dide hire power that he shuld
no goo into the batayle; but Hector wold not beleue hir and there he was
slayne. Wherefor it is seide that a goode knyght shuld not holy
disprayse visions of his wife, that is to sey, in avice and the counsell
of his wyfe, if he be wyse and well condiciond, and anamly of othir wise
women. For Platon seith, “Thou shuld not disprayse the counsell of a
lytill wise person, for, þough thou be neuer so olde, be not ashamed to
lerne, though a childe wolde teche the, for some tyme the ingnorant may
avise the wise man.”
The avision of Andromatha, the whiche shulde not be dispreysed,
[Sidenote: f. 67.] is that a good purpose sent by the Holy Gost Jhesu
Cristis knyght shuld not sette it at nought, but anoon sette it in
effecte vnto his power. Thereoff spekyth Seynt Gregory in his Moralles
that the good Sperite for to draw vs to goodnes andmonychit vs, meveth
vs and techitht vs. He admonychyt owre mynde, he meuith oure will and
techyt owre vnderstondynges. The Sperite, softe and swete, suffirth no
maner of litell spote of chaffe[527] abydyng in the habitacion of the
herte where he inspiryth, but broyleth it anoon with his subtile
circunspeccion.[528] Therefore the postile Seynt Powle seith, [“Spiritum
nolite extinguere”].[529]
LXXXIX.
If that thoue haue grete werre and besy,
In Babilonies streynght verely
Troste not, for be Minos[530] and that soone
It was take; trosteth not than thereone.
Grete Babilony was founded bi the grete gyaunt Nambroth,[531] and it was
the streyngest cete that euer was; but notwithstondyng it was take by
knynght Minos.[532] Therefore it is seide to the good knyght that he
shuld not so myche truste in the streynght of his cete or off his
castell in tyme off werre, but that it be full purveide off pepyll and
of all thyng that behoueth for dwe defence. For Platon seith, “Who so
trostith all only in his streyngth is often ouercomen.”
Be the streynth of Babilonie, wherein men shuld not trost, it is to
vndirstonde that the good sperite shulde not trust ne attende to thynges
that the worlde promysith; and Seynt Austyn spekith therof in the booke
of Syngularite of Clerkes,[533] that it is to lewde a trust[534] to name
his lyffe to be swre ayens the perell of this worlde. And it is a folych
hope to wene to be saue among the byttynges[535] of synnys; yit the
victorie incerteyne is as long as men be among the dartes of there
enmyes and kepith theyme vnhurte,[536] but who so is envirouned with
flawmes is not lyghtly delyuered withowtyn brennyng. Trost to hym that
hath the experience; though the world lawith[537] on the, tryst it not,
lete thi hoope be sette in God. Therefor seith the prophete Dauid,
“Spera in Domino,” etc.[538]
XC.
Hector me must pronunce thi deth smerte.
Wherefor grete sorwe bitteth my herte.
That shall [be] whene that Priant the kyng
[Thou] woldest not trost, which come the praying.[539]
The day that Hector was sleyne in bataile Andromatha his [Sidenote: f.
68.] wiffe come to pray Kyng Priant with full grete compleyntes and
wepynges that he wolde not that day suffre Hector to goo to bataile, for
withowte dowte he shulde be sleyne yf he went thedir.[540] Mars, the god
of bataile, and Minerve, the godesse of armes, hade veraly shewed it
there in hir slepe,[541] where thei apperid to hir. Priant dide all that
he myghte for he shulde not fyght that day, but Hector stale fro his
fadir and stirte owte of the cete by a waye vndir the erthe and went to
the bataile, where he was sleyne. And for because he neuer dishobehed
his fadir but that day, [it] may be seide the day that he shulde
dishabey his ffadir than shulde he die. And it may be vnderstond that
noon shulde dishobey his souereyne ne his good ffrendes, when they awyse
hym as in reson. And therfor Aristotil seide to Alexandir, “As long as
thou trustist the cownsell of theyme that vsith wisdom and that loued
the truly, thou salt reigne glorously.”
Where she[542] seide to Hector that she most pronounce his name,[543]
[it] is that the good sperite shulde haue contynell mynde on the owre of
deth. Thereof seith Seynt Bernard[544] that in mankyndely thynges men
fynde no thyng more certeyne þan deth, ne lesse incerteyne than is the
owre of deth; for deth hath no mercy of pouerte and dothe no worshippe
to reches; it sparith neythir wisedom, condicions ne age; men hath non
othir certeyne of deth but that it is at the doores of aged men and it
is in the mydwes[545] of yong men. To this purpose the wise man seith,
[“Memor esto, quoniam mors non tardat”].[546]
XCI.
I purpose yet to make the sadde and wyse,[547]
That thou vse in batailes ffor no gise
Off thyne harneis discouered for to be,
For thi deth than it will opyn to the.
In the bataile Hector was founde discouerede of his harneis, and thanne
he was sleyne. And therefor it is seide to the goode knyght that he
shuld not in bataile be discouered of his harneis. For Hermes seyth that
deth farith as the stokke[548] of an arrowe and lyff farith as an arrowe
that is sette to shoote.[549]
There where it is seide that he shuld kepe hym couered with his harneis
it is vndirstond that the good sperite shulde kepe his wittis cloose and
not voide. Seynt Grigori seith hereoff that a person the which departhit
hys vittis fareth as a iowgolowre the [Sidenote: f. 69.] which fyndeth
no wers hous than his owyn; therefor he is euer owte of his hows, euen
as a man that kepith not his wittes clos is euer vagaunt and owte of the
hous of his conscience and farith as an opyn hall where men may entre on
euery syde. Therefor [our] Lorde seith in the Gospell, [“Clauso ostio,
ora Patrem tuum in abscondito.”][550]
XCII.
Of Pollibetes[551] coveite not hastly
His harmes, for thei be vnhappy;
Of his dispoylyng folowed, parde,
Thi wofull deth be theyme þat sewed þe.
Polibetes was a full myghty kyng, the which Hector slewe in the bataile
after many othir grete dedes that he hadde done that day. And becawse
that he was harmede with ffayre harmes and reche, Hector coveite theyme
and stowpyd doung of his hors nekke for to dispoyle the body, and than
Achilles, the which swede after hym with hole will to take hym
discouerte, smote hym beneth for fawte off his harmure and at oo stroke
kylled hym, of whom it was grete harme, ffor a worthier knyght was neuer
gyrte whyth swerde of the which stories maken mencion. And that sich
couetyses may be no noyens[552] in sich places it shewith bi the seide
cas. Therefor the philosophir seith, “Disoordnet couetise[553] ledith a
man to deth.”
That we shulde not couete Polibetis armis, we may vndirstond that the
goode speryte shuld haue no couetise to no maner of wordly thynges. For
Innocent seith[554] that it ledith a man to deth, for covetise it is a
fyre that may not be stawnched. The couetous person is neuer content to
haue that the which he desyrith, for, whan he hath that he desiryd, he
desyrith euer more, euer he setteth his ende in as mych as that he
tenteth to have more and not to that the which he hath. Averyse and
covetise be .ii^o. saus makers,[555] the which sesseth neuer to seye,
“Bryng, bryng”; and to the value that the money waxeth the loue of the
mony waxeth. Couetise is the way to the gostly deth and oftetymes to
bodily deth. Therefor the postyll Seynt Powle seith, [“Radix omnium
malorum cupiditas est”].[556]
XCIII.
Assote the not in love of strawnge kynde;
The deede of Achilles haue in mynde,
Which wende to make of hys enmye [Sidenote: f. 70.]
His veri lyffe and that interely.
Achilles was asotyd in lowe of Polexene the faire mayden, the which was
sister to Hector, as he sawe hir in the begynnyng of the yere at the
servise off Ectoris yeris meynde[557] in the trwes tyme, where many
Grekis went to Troye to see the nobilnes of the cete and of the reche
terrement, that was the most solemny made that euer was made for the
body of a knyght. There Achilles sawe Polixenne, where he was sore takyn
with hir loue that he myght no wyse endure, and therefor he sent to
Hecuba the qwene that he wolde treite of mariage and he wolde make the
werre to sesse and the sege to departe and he shuld euer be there frend.
It was long after or Achilles armed ayens the Troyens becawse of that
lowe and [he] dede grete peyne to make the ost to departe, but he myght
not doo it and therfor the mariage was notte made. After that Achilles
slew Troylus, the which was so full of worthines that he was ryght leke
to Hector his brothir, standyng the yong age that he hadde. But the
qwene Ecuba was so full of woo for hym that she sent for Achilles to
come to hir to Troye ffor to treite of the mariage. He went thedir, and
there he was slayne. And þerfor it is seide to the good knyghte that he
shuld not assote hym vpon strawnge loues, ffor by ferre loues comyth
harme. And therfor the wyse [man] seith, “When thyn enemys may not venge
theyme, than hast thou nede to be ware.”
That a goode spyryte shulde not assote hym vpon strawnge loues, that is
to vndirstond that he shulde chawnge[558] no thynge but yf it comme holy
of God and [be] determined in hym. “All strange loues” is the worlde,
the which he shuld flee. That he shulde flee the worlde Seynt Austyn
seith in expownyng of Seynt Jonis Pistil,[559] “The world passith [and
its] concupiscens.[560] O resonable man,” than seith he, “whethir had
thou leuer loue the temperell worlde and passe with the tyme, or be
with[561] Cryst Jhesu and lyfe perpetualy with hyme?” To this purpose
Seynt Jon seith in his fryst Pistill, [“Nolite diligere mundum neque ea
quæ in mundo sunt”].[562]
XCIV.
Vndirtake non harmes folely;
It is perell for sowle and body
A naked harme and no shelde to take;
Off Ayaux may thou example make.
Ayaux was a full prowd knyght of þe Grekis and trostid to mych on
hymselfe, but yet he was a goode knyght of his hand. [Sidenote: f. 71.]
And for pride and soleynnes he vndyrtooke to doo armes with his arme
naked discouered withowte a chelde, and so he was boron through[563] and
ouerthrowen dede. Therefore it is seide to the goode knyght that to doo
siche armes, thei be neythir profitabill ne worchipfull, but rather thei
be named lewde and prowde, and thei be to perlyous. Aristotil seith that
many erreth be ignorance and fawte of knowyng and woote not whate it is
to do ne to leue, and some fayle be arrogance and pride.
How armes shulde not be vndertake follely is þat þe good sperite shulde
not tryst in his owyn fragilite. As Seynt Tawstyn[564] seyth in a
sermon, þat non shulde presume in his owyn herte when he pronownceth a
worde ne non sulde[565] [trust] in his streynghte when he sufferith
tentacion, for, when we speke wysely goode wordes, thei coume of God and
not of owre wytte, and when we endure aduersitees stedefastly, it cometh
of God and not of oure pacience. To this purpose the apostyl Seynt Powle
seith, [“Fiduciam talem habemus per Christum ad Deum, non quod simus
sufficientes aliquid cogitare ex nobis quasi ex nobis”].[566]
XCV.
Antenor exile and chase away,
Which purchassed ayens his contrey
Bothe treson, falsenes and grete vntrouth;
But yif he were yolden it were routh.
Anthenor was a baron of Troie, and when it com at the last to grete
Troyenne bateylles, the Grekys that hadde long kepte sege afore the cete
they wost not how they myght haue a conclusyon to take the cete, ffor it
was of ryght grete streynghte, than by the tysyng[567] of Anthenor. For
angre that he hadde to kyng Priaunt, he comforted theyme and seide that
thei shulde make a pes with the kyng, and by that mene thei may putte
theyme selue into the cete and they shall be youen a wey. Thus thei
dede, by the which Troye was betrayed. And because that the treson
hereoff was to grete and to evill, it is seide to the good knyght that
all sich semblable, where he knoweth theyme, he shulde exile and chasse
theyme awey, for sich pepill be gretili to hate. Platon seyth that
disseyte is capteyne and gouernowre off shrewes.[568]
Be Anthenor, the which shulde be chassed awey, we may [Sidenote: f. 72.]
vnderstonde that the goode sperite shulde dryve away all thynges whereby
ony inconuenyence myght come to hyme. To this Seynt Austyn seith that he
that is not besy to eschewe inconueniencees[569] is leche a b[u]tyrflye
that turnyth so ofte abowte the fyre of the lampe that he birneth his
wenges and thanne is drowned in the oyle, and to the birde that flieth
so ofte abowte the glewe that he lesyth his feddris. Example of Seynte
Petir, the which aboode so long in the princes courte of the lawe that
he fell into sich an inconuenience to renye[570] his Maystir. And the
wyse man seith, [“Fuge a via malorum, ne transeas per eam”].[571]
XCVI.
In Mynervez tempell to offir
Thou shulde not thi ennemye suffre.
Take thou goode hede to the hors of tre;
Troye hadde yet bene, had that not be.
The Grekes hade made a feynte pes[572] with the Troyens by Anthemores
trayson. Thei seyde thei hadde avowed a gifte to Mynerve the godes, the
which thei wolde offyr, and the[i] hadde made a horse of tre of an huge
grettenes, the which was full of men of armes, and it was so grete that
the yate of the cete most be brokyn for to late it cum in. And the hors
was sette opon whelis, that rolled it forth to the temple; and when
nyght come and when the tovne was most in rest, than the knyghtes lepid
owt of the hors and vent abowte in the cete, the which brente and kyllid
and distroiid the towne. The[re]for it is seide to the good knyght that
he shulde not trost in no sich fantasies ne offerynges. To this purpose
a wyse man seith, “A man shulde dowte the sotiltees and the spies of his
enemie, yif he be wise, and his shrewdenes,[573] yf he be a foole.”
By Minerve temple we may vnderstond holy chirch, where shulde not a been
offird but prayer. And Seynt Awstyn seith in the booke of Feyth, that
withowte the ffelechippe of holy chirch and baptym no thyng may availe,
ne the dedes of mercye may not vaile to euerlastyng liffe, for withowte
the lappe of the chirch non helthe may be. There[for] Dauid seith in the
Sauter booke, [“Apud te laus mea in ecclesia magna”].[574]
XCVII.
Trost not to haue a sure castell;
For Ylyones towre, sette full well,
Was take and brent, and so was Thune.[575]
All is in the handes of fortune.
Ylyon was the mayster doongon of Troye and the faryst and [Sidenote: f.
73.] the strengest castell that euer was made of the which stories
makyth mencion; but notwithstondyng it was take and brent and broute to
nowte, and so was the cete of Thune, the which was some tyme a grete
thyng. And becavse that sich causes falleth bi the chaungabilnes of
fortvne, it is desirid that the good knyght shulde not be prowde in hyme
selfe ne thynke hym selfe sure for no streyngh. Therefor Tholome[576]
seith, “The hyer that a lorde be raysed the perlyouser is the
ouyrthrowe.”
That man shuld not wene to have a svre castell, we may vndirstond that
the good sperite shulde take non hede to no maner delite; for as
delitees be passyng and not svre and ledith a person to dampnacion,
Seynt Jerom seith that it is inpossibile for a person to passe fro
delittes to delyttes, that is to sey, for to pase and lepe fro delites
of this worlde to the delyttes of paradyse, the which fillyth the wombe
here and the sowle there. For the diuine condicion is vnbounde, for it
is not yoven to thoo that weneth to haue the worlde euerlastyng in
delittes. And to this purpose is wreetyn in the Pocalipce, [“Quantum
glorificavit se et in deliciis fuit, tantum date ei tormentum et
luctum”].[577]
XCVIII.
Eschwe thou shulde þe swyn of Circes,
Where that the knyttes[578] off Vlixes
Were turnyd to swyne as to the ye.
Vmbethynke the wele of this partie.
Cyrces was a qwene, whos reaume was opon the see of Ytaile, and she was
a grete enchaunteresse and knew meche of sorcery and wichcraft. And whan
Vlixes, the which wente to the se after the destruccion off Troye, as he
went to a returnyd[579] into his cuntre, throwe many grete and perlyous
tormentes that he hadde he aryved at a hauen of the same lande. He sent
to the qwene by his knyghtes to wete wheythir he myght swrely taken
hauen in her lond or noon. Circes reseyuyd his knyghtes full gentely and
of curtesei made ordeyne for theyme a potage full delicious to drynke,
but the potage hade sich a strengh that sodenly the knyghttes were
chaunged into swyne. Circes may be vnderstond in many maners. It ma[y]
be vndirstonde be a lande or a cuntre where that knyghtes were putte in
fowle and veleyns preson; and allso she may be lekened to a lady full of
wantonnesse and ydilnes, that by hire many errant knyghtes, that is to
sey, sewyng armes, þe which anamly were of Vlixes pepill, that is to
vndirstonde, malicious and noyens, were kepte to soiorne as swyne. And
therefor it is seide to þe good knyght that he shulde not reste in sich
a soioryng. For Arystotill [Sidenote: f. 74.] seith, “He that is
holy[580] in fornicacion may not be aloved[581] in the ende.”
Cyrceses swyne may we take for ypocrysy, the which the goode sperite
shulde eschewe off all thynges. Ayens ypocrytes Seynt Gregory seith in
his Moralles,[582] that the lyfe of ypocrytes is but a frawdelous vysyon
and as a fantasye ymagenid, the which shewith owtewarde lykenes of an
ymage, the which is not in very dede inwarde. To this purpose owre Lorde
seith in the Gospell, [“Væ vobis, hypocritæ, quia similes estis
sepulchris dealbatis,” etc.].[583]
XCIX.
Thou shulde no grete reson shewe to þe man
The which as that tyme vndirstond ne can.
Yno, the which the soddyn corne dide sowe,
Noteth it to the well inowgh, I trowe.
Yno was a qwene, the which made sothyn[584] corne to be sowen, the which
comme not vppe. And therfor it is seide to the goode knyght þat gode
resons and weele sette and wyse autorites shulde not be tolde to the
pepill of rude vndirstondyng and that cannot vndirstond them, ffor they
be lost. And therfor Aristotile seith, “As reyne avaylith notte to corne
that is sowen on a stone, no more availleth argumentes to an onwyse
man.”
That faire and wise wordis shuld not be tolde to rude and ignorant
pepill, the which cannot vnderstond theyme, it is to sey that it is as a
thyng loste, and than ignorance is to blame. Seynt Bernard seith in a
book of xv. Degrees of Mekenes that fore noght tho ascuse theyme of
fragilite or off ignorance,[585] standyng that siche as syne most frely
be gladly ffreel and ignorant, and many thynges the which shuld be
knowen be some tyme vnknowen, outhir be necligence to kune it....[586]
All sich ignorances hath non excusacion. Therefore the postil Seynt
Povle seyth, [“Si quis ignorat, ignorabitur”].[587]
C.
Auctorites I haue written to the
An .c.; late theyme be take agre,[588]
For a woman lerned Augustus
To be worchipped and taught hym thus.
Cesar Augustus was Emperoure off the Romayns and off all [Sidenote: f.
75.] the worlde, and because thet in th[e] tyme of his reygne pes was in
all þe world and that he reyngned pesibily, lewed pepill and
misse-beleueres thought that the pes was becawse of his goodnes; but it
was notte, for it was Crist Jhesu, the which was borne off the Virgine
Mary and was that tyme on þe erth, and as long as he was on erth, it was
pes ouer all the worlde. So they wold haue worchippede Cesar as God; but
thanne Sebille bad hym to be well ware that he made hyme note to be
worchipped, and that ther was no God but on alone, þe which had made all
thynges. And thanne she lede hyme to an hy mounteyn withowte the cete
and in the sone by the will of owre Lord aperyd a Vergine holdyng a
Childe.[589] Sibille shewed it to hym and seyd to hyme that ther was
very God, the which shuld be worchipped, and than Cesar worchippede hym.
And becaus that Ceesar Augustus, the [which] was prince off all the
wor[l]de, lerned to knowe God and the Beleve off a woman, to the purpose
may be seide the auctorite that Hermes seith, “Be not ashamed to here
trowth and good techyngges of whom that euer seith it, for trouth
noblyth hym þat pronounceth it.”
There where Othea seith that she hath wreten to hym an .c. [Sidenote: f.
75b.] auctorites and that Augustus lerned of a woman, it is to
vndirstond that good wordes and good techynges is to prayse of what
persone þat seith it.[590] Howe[591] de Seint Victor spekyth hereof in a
boke called Didascalicon, that a wyse man gladdely herith all maner of
techynges; he dispisyth not the Scriptur, he dispyseth not the person,
he dispiseth not the doctrine; he sekyth indifferently ouer all, and all
that euer he seth the which he hath defaute; he considerith notte what
he is that spekyth, but [what] that is the which he seith[592]; he
taketh no hede how myche he can hymme selfe, but how mech he cannot. To
this purpose þe wyse man seith, [“Auris bona audiet cum omni
concupiscentia sapientiam”].[593]
GLOSSARY.
a, _have_, 16, 78, 111
abaundonede, _devoted_, 38
a ben, _been_, 41
abusyon (abusion, H.), _abuse_, 50
accused (accusee, H.), _told_, _reported_, 52
achaunge, _exchange_, 91
acome, _come_, 50
acorde, _agree_, 34
acorde, _agreement_, 52
acordyng (couuenable, H.), _fitting_, _proper_, 15, 25
afore or, _before that_, 70
affrayed, _terrified_, 41
agre, _favourably_, _in good part_, 113
all gates, _anyhow_, _by any means_, 72, 89
all only but, _except_, 9
aloved (louez, H.), _praised_, 112
alyche (allegue, H.), _allege_, 12
anamely, anamly, _namely_, 7, 12, 17, 27, 70, 78, etc.
anggwyssous (angoisseuse, H.), _full of anguish_, 89
applique, _apply_, 8
arayed (aournez, H.), _equipped_, _adorned_, 7, 8, 23
arayeth (arroie, H.), _equippeth_, 6
armure, _armour_, 24
arwe, _arrow_, 56
assay (essay, H.), _trial_, _test_, 6
assot, assote, _besot_, _make foolish_, 36, 74, 106
assotted, _besotted_, 75
assottede of, _besotted with_, _doting on_, 28, 36
aturnyd, _turned_, 72
auctorised, _authenticated_, _vouched for_, 2, 4
availe, avayle, _advantage_, _profit_, 5, 12, 26, 37
aventerous, _adventurous_, 9
aventure, _adventure_, 12
avisement, _reflection_, _counsel_, 19
avowed, _vowed_, 109
avysyons, _visions_, _dreams_, 75, 76, 88
ayen, _against_, 2
ayen, ayene, _again_, 7, 48, 79
ayens, _against_, 12, 29, 32, etc.
ayens say, _gainsay_, 47
bachelere, _bachelor_, 28
bateilled, _battled_, _fought_, 22
bayle (baillif, H.), _bailiff_, 13
be, _been_, 41
beerys (ours, H.), _bears_, 12
befolowe, _follow_, 60
begone (_sc._ evylle b.), _affected_, _beset_, 41
behouely (couuenable, H.), _proper_, _befitting_, 8, 12, 23, 82
bellue (belue, H.), _monster_, 15
ben, _be_, 70
besy, _busy_, 5
boche (boce, H.), _hump_ (_of a camel_), 54
bolnynges (lenfleure, H.), _swellings_, _pride_, 76
borde, _table_, 67
bosche (buisson, H.), _bush_, 53
bostus, _boastful_, _threatening_, 51
boores, _boars_, 12
bounte (bonte, bernage, _sc._ barnage, H.), _goodness_, _nobility_, 8,
11, 27, 60
brayeng, braying (de brayre, H.), _croaking_ (_of frogs_), 34
brennyng, _burning_, 62
brent, _burnt_, 69, 110
brokyth (retient, H.), _digests_, _retains_ (_on the stomach_), 55
brond (brandon, H.), _brand_, _torch_, 36
brothe, broththe (palu, H.), _muddy water_, 33, 34
broute, browte, _brought_, 12, 56, 110
bruled, _broiled_, _burnt_, 69
bryboure (lierres, _sc._ larron, H.), _thief_, _robber_, 41
busshmentes (embusches, H.), _ambushes_, 63
b[u]tyrflye (papillon, H.), _butterfly_, 109
carles (villains, H.), _churls_, _rustics_, 33, 34
cesse (cesser, H.), _make to cease_, 9
chaiere (chayere, H.), _chair_ (_of a professor_), 6
chamel, chamelle, _camel_, 54
chelde, _shield_, 54, 60
chepe, _sheep_, 58
ches, _choose_, 85
chesse, the (esches, H.), _game of chess_, 95
chevalroures (vaillance cheualereuse, H.), _chivalry_, 9
cheualerous, cheualerours, _chivalrous_, 14, 16
cheuetayne, cheueten (cheuetaine, H.), _chieftain_, _leader_, 2, 85
chippe, _ship_, 56
chynnes, _chains_, 41
clyme (monter, H.), _climb_, 6, 44
communes (paysans, H.), _common people_, 34
communiall (communicaire, H.), _sharing with others_, 27
condicionned (condicionne, H.), _accustomed_, 85
conditoures (conduissaresse, H.), _conductress_, _guide_, 8
condittes (conduis, H.), _conduits_, 28
connestabil, _constable_, 85
connyng (sauoir, H.), _knowledge_, 24
contrarie, _contrary_, _adverse_, 11
contrariousnes (les contrarietez, H.), _adversity_, 12
contrarius, _contrary_, _adverse_, 9
conveyed (conuoye, H.), _conducted_, _guided_ (_of the spirit_), 8
conveyng (congeement, H.), _removal_, _expulsion_, 5
copyr, _copper_, 17
corage, _spirit_, _mind_, 31, 84, 96
coromped, _corrupted_, 29
corrompeth, corrumpyth, _corrupteth_, 30
corumpe, _to corrupt_, 62
cosyn germayne, _cousin german_, 9, 10
coude, cowde, _could_, 85, 86
couertly, _secretly_, _disguisedly_, 13
couerture, _disguise_, _concealment_, 13, 19, 43, 93
couetise, covetyse, _covetousness_, 34, 54, 60
cowde, _knew_, 58
crassed (creuee, H.), _cracked_, 52
creues, crevesse (creueure, H.), _crevice_, 52, 65
cuirboyle, _cuir-bouilli_, _boiled leather_, 24
debatoure (discordant, H.), _debater_, _quarreller_, 67
deded (amortie, H.), _deadened_, 27
deele, dele, _part_, _whit_, 9, 35
defavtes, _faults_, _defects_, 13
defendyth, _forbiddeth_, 32
deme, _judgment_, 56
departed (departis, H.), _allotted_, 83
desceyvable (faillible, H.), _deceitful_, _untrustworthy_, 8
dictis, _dicts_, _sayings_, 4
diffendyth, _forbidden_, 28
discomfyte, _discomfited_, 15
discouered, _uncovered_, _unprotected_, 97, 104
discouerte, _uncovered_, 105
discute, _discuss_, 20, 62
disheryte, _disinherit_, 29, 30
dispite, _despise_, 10, 100
disportis, _amusements_, 34
disporveide (despourveu, H.), _unprovided_, 68
disprayes (despris, H.), _contempt_, 28
disprayse (desprisier, H.), _contemn_, _despise_, 54, 84, 87
dispraysyng (despercion, H.), _contemning_, _despising_, 59
dispreisyd, dispreysed, _contemned_, _despised_, 35, 36
dispreysyng, _contemning_, _despising_, 36
dissalowed (desloua, H.), _disapproved_, _dissuaded_, 56
dissauable, _deceitful_ (_of riches_), 53
disseruede (desserui, H.), _served_, _performed_ (_sc._ _of penance_),
14
dittee (dictie, H.), _treatise_, 8
do armes (armes ... faire, H.), _perform exploits_, 12
dobylnesse, _doubleness_, _duplicity_, 95
doghter, _daughter_, 16, 31
doited (affoles, H.), _doting_, 69
dome, _judgment_, 16, 48, 68
doo, _done_, 14
doongon (dongion, H.), _keep_, _castle_, 110
doute (dompter, H.), _conquer_, 42
doutyd (doubtoit, H.), _doubted_, _feared_, 97
douted, dowted (dompta, H.), _conquered_, 42
doutously, _doubtfully_, 19
dowter, _daughter_, 11
dres (adrece, H.), _dress_, _direct_, _apply_, 5
dressyd hyr (se ficha, H.), _betook herself_, 66
drwe, _drew_, 30
drwe avay (chaca, H.), _drove away_, 20
dryst, _durst_, 44
dured, _endured_, _lasted_, 52
duryng (_sc._ euer d.), _lasting_, 6
dyffendyth, _forbiddeth_, 32
dyght, _disposed_, _placed_, 80
dynne, _dinner_, 66
dysheryted (desherita, H.), _disinherited_, 20
dysparbuled (se espart, H.), _disparpled_, _divided_, 57
dyspiteth (despite, H.), _despiseth_, 16
dyspyte (despit, H.), _contempt_, _scorn_, 40
dystres (destrece, H.), _distress_, 12
ell, elles, ellis, _else_, 12, 13, 14
embaundoned, _devoted_, 2
empeched (empesche, H.), _hindered_, _injured_, 90
empechest (empesches, H.), _impeach_, _find fault with_, 87
emprise, _undertaking_, 75, 76
enbushed, _ambushed_, 73
encres, _increase_, 38
endyte (escripre, H.), _write_, 6
engins (engins, H.), _snares_, 84
ennorted, _exhorted_, 64
enorte (ennorter, H.), _exhort_, 5
enortyng (enditement, H.), _exhortation_, 58
ensorgyng, _grieving_, 31
entent, _mind_, _understanding_, 19
eres, erys, _ears_, 40
errant (_sc._ e. knyghte), _wandering_, 15, 111
erryed (aree, H.), _ploughed_, 38
erye (arer, H.), _to plough_, 38
exauced, _heard_, _granted_, 18, 79
exavced (of a person praying), _heard_, _gratified_, 79
exaussyng (exaussement, H.), _exalting_, 12
excusacion, _excuse_, 87, 113
exempled, _exemplified_, _justified_, 2, 4
eyne, _eyes_, 44, 45
eyre, _ear_, 44
fardell (faissel, H.), _burden_, 32
fauchon (fauchon, H.), _falchion_, _sword_, 15
favth, _fought_, 13
fawty, _faulty_, 40
fayre, fayree, fayreis (nymphes, H.), _fairies_, 77, 81, 93
felachep, felachipe, _fellowship_, 16, 92
felawe, _fellow_, 14
feleshyp, _fellowship_, _company_, 33
felle, _savage_, _cruel_, 12
feythyt, _fighteth_, 65
flawe, _flew_, 15
fleeth (vole, H.), _flyeth_, 16
flotereth (flote, H.), _flutters_, _hesitates_, 22
flowrid, _flourished_, 3
flowte, _flute_, 40, 44
folely, follely, _foolishly_, 83, 107, 108
folwe (ensuiuir, H.), _follow_, 11
folwyth (sensuit, H.), _followeth_, 10
foly, _foolish_, 64, 79
fond, foonde, _found_, _invented_, 24, 25, 38, 43
fordone (amortis, H.), _destroyed_, _done away with_, 13
foryate, _forgot_, 68, 69, 74, 96
foryeten, _forgotten_, 68
froward, _perverse_, 93
fraudelous, _deceitful_, 92, 112
frele, _frail_, 28
frelnes, _frailty_, 20, 70
frosses (renoulles, H.), _frogs_, 33, 34
ful, fulle, _very_, 2, 3, 7, 12, 15
fullefyllyd (remplie, H.), _filled_, 9
fumerelle (sueil, H., _sc._ threshold), _smoke-hole_ (_in the roof_),
_hearth_, 30
fundement, _foundation_, 64
gaineyers, _husbandmen_, 38
gate, _got_, 11
gebet (gibet, H.), _gibbet_, 41
geyneseyyng (contredisans, H.), _gainsaying_, 21
glayve (faulx, H.), _sword_, 15
glewe (gluyon, H.), _glue_, 109
gosh, _go_, 47
gostly, _ghostly_, _spiritual_, 2, 3, 8, 85
grenner, _greener_, 31
greuaunces, _evils_, _harm_, 27
gryffes (cultiuemens, H.), _grafts_, _shoots_, 39
guerdon (subst.), _reward_, 58
guerdon (v.), _reward_, _estimate properly_, 50, 59
gyf, _give_, 19
gyrte, _girded_, 105
gyse, _guise_, 46
habaundonede, _devoted_, 38
halse (accoller, H.), _embrace_, 69
haunt, _follow_, _devote oneself to_, 70, 75, 80
hauntyng (frequentise, H.), _intercourse_, 52
hawteyn, _haughty_, _proud_, 27
helly (infernaulx, H.), _hellish_, _of hell_, 78
heppid (amassez, H.), _heaped_, 34
herdly (enterine, H.), _earthly_ (?), 95
For “enterin,” or, as sometimes spelt, “enterrin,” see p. 95, note 2.
Scrope seems to have mistaken its meaning, connecting it with
“terre.”
heris, _ears_, 55
herres, _hairs_, 30
hire (loyer, H.), _reward_, 81
holde (_sc._ h. counsell), _take_, _follow_, 91
holden, _held_, _considered_, 3
holdyn, _taken_, _followed_, 91
hole and some, _whole and sum_, _entirely_, 6
holpyn, _helped_, 99
homely (_sc._ h. spyes, priuees, H.), _domestic_, 23
homlynes, (priuete, H.), _intimacy_, 92
hooges, _huge_, 32
hy, hye, _high_, 5, 7, 8, 23
hyly, _highly_, 6
hynes, _highness_, _greatness_, 12
iangeler (iengleur, gengleresse, H.), _chatterer_, _prater_, 57, 98
iangyllyng (gengle, H.), _chattering_, _prating_, 98
iauelot, iaueloth (glavellot, H.), _dart_, _javelin_, 86
ich, iche, _each_, 7, 80, 83
inewgh, _enough_, 25
inougth, _enough_, 12
inowe, _enough_, 34
inowgh, _enough_, 52, 63
inowght, _enough_, 84
inowthe, _enough_, 63
iolines, iolynesse (ioliuete, H.), _gaiety_, _mirth_, 18, 83
ioly (cointe, H.), _gay_, _sprightly_, 72
iorneyer (voyager, H.), _traveller_, 13
iowgolowre (iugleur, H.), _buffoon_, 104
ioyeux, _joyous_, 84
iren, _iron_, 22
iusticer, _judge_, 13, 14
iustifie (iusticier, H.), _to judge_, 13
I wys, _sc._ iwis, _assuredly_, 9
kest, _cast_, _threw_, 30, 89
keuercheffes, _kerchiefs_, 80
konyng, koonyng, _knowledge_, 83, 87
kunnyng, _knowledge_, 6, 25, 83
kynde, _nature_, 1
lachesse, _negligence_, _remissness_, 32
lavde (subst.), _praise_, 12
lawyng, _laughing_, 61
lech, leche, _like_, 8, 26, 31, 34, 36, etc.
lede, _lead_ (_the metal_), 19
lefull, _lawful_, 95
leke, _leek_, 10
lekend, _likened_, 31
lekerousnes (alechemens, H.), _appetite_, _greediness_, 62
lemyte, _limit_, 10
lenage, _lineage_, 11
lerned, _taught_, 113
lessyng, _lessening_, 59
lest, leste (talent, H.), _desire_, 93
lesyng (menconge, H.), _lying_, 46
lete (empescher, H.), _hinder_, 82
letted, lettyd, _hindered_, 8, 31, 82
letteryd, lettyrd (letrez, H.), _lettered_, 42
lettynges (empeschemens, H.), _hindrances_, 67
lettyth, _hinder_, 10
leuer, _rather_, 48, 107
lewde (fol, sotte, H.), _foolish_, 40, 46, 51, 102
leyser, _leisure_, 40
lich, _like_, 41
longeth, longyth, _belongeth_, 20, 25, 71
longgyng, _belonging_, 20, 37
lorier (laurier, H.), _laurel_, 99, 100
lyeines, lyenis (liens, H.), _bonds_, 61, 66
lymbo (limbe, H.), _limbo_, _the outskirts of hell_, 41
lyst, _desired_, 98
lyst, lyste (courage, talent, H.), _will_, _desire_, 44, 49, 77
ma, _may_, 70
malencolius, _melancholy_, 21
malice, _artfulness_, 80
malicius, _artful_, 45, 111
manace, _menace_, 51
manisynges, _menacings_, 51
mankyndely, mankyndly (humaine, H.), _human_, 8, 18, 70, 72, 103
manyce, _menace_, 51
marches (marches, H.), _borders_, 60
masseyngeres, _messengers_, 23
maystry, _mastery_, 35
maystyr (mestier, H.), _office_, _business_, 11
meche, _much_, 49
mechell, _much_, 72
mene, _means_, 20
menye (mesgnee, maignee, H.), _company_, _pack_ (_of hounds_), 77
merowre, _mirror_, 95
mervelious, meruelyous, _marvellous_, 12, 13, 14, 20
miche, _much_, 45
molle (tauppe, H.), _mole_, 40
mote, _must_, 33
mowe, _more_, 77
muse, _take amusement_, 71, 74
mych, myche, _much_, 11, 12
mychyll, _much_, 70
mydwes, _meadows_, 104
Scrope’s Fr. MS. probably read “aux piez” (_cf._ 104, note 1), and he
confused it with “aux préz”
mysbeleve, _misbelief_, 45
myschefe (meschief, H.), _misfortune_, 33
myssedone (meffait, H.), _misdone_, _done amiss_, 45
ne, _not_, 41
nedelle (aguille, H.), _needle_, 54
nedis, _needs_, 54
neyburwe, _neighbour_, 16
nerehand (a pou, H.), _nearly_, 11
noblyth, _ennobleth_, 114
noye (nuit, H.), _annoy_, _harm_, 61
noyens (nuisible, H.), _harm_, _nuisance_, 105
noyens, _harmful_, 111
nwefanggyllnesse, _newfangledness_, _inconstancy_, 95
nygromancye (arquemie, _sc._ _alchemy_, H.), _necromancy_, 94
nyse (nyce, H.), _stupid_, _foolish_, 51
o, _one_, 18, 22, 25, 97
obeissance (obeyssance, H.), _deference_, _respect_, 14
onsesyde of, _unseised of_, _without_, 74
oo, _one_, 105
or that, _before that_, 19, 20, 51
ordure, _filth_, _vileness_, 20
oste (ost, H.), _host_, 26
ouctrecuidez, _proud_, _overweening_, 28
ouer all (par tout, H.), _everywhere_, 80, 93, 114
ouergoo (surmonter, H.), _master_, _conquer_, 96
ouerhoope (oultrecuidance, H.), _presumption_, 51
ouerlede, ouerleyde (surpris, H.), _surprised_, 61, 65
ouerwenyng (oultrecuidez, H.), _inordinately proud_, 27, 28
owthe (doit, H.), _ought_, 6
paase (passer, H.), _surpass_, 83
paramours (_adv._), _passionately_, 69, 72
parde, _par dieu_, 12, 68, 105
passede (pesee, H.), _weighed_, _considered_, 51
paynemes (payens, H.), _pagans_, _heathen_, 47
peise, peyse (peser, H.), _weigh_, _consider_, 20
pendavnde, _pendant_, 52
penowrye, penuery (misere, H.), _penury_, 99
perchith (perce, H.), _pierceth_, 56
perfite, _perfect_, 8
perlious, perlyous, _perilous_, 82, 89
perlyouser, _more perilous_, 110
pes, _peace_, 30
pewter (peaultre, H.), _pewter_, 18
peyne hym, _trouble himself_, 87
pistil, pistile, pistylle, _epistle_, 5, 18, 22
plangeth (plunge, H.), _plunges_, 22
plenere, _full_, 5
plesauns, plesawnce, _pleasure_, 75, 81
plongeden, _plunged_, 28
plyte, _plight_, 61
Pocalipse, _Apocalypse_, 73
pontificall (pontifical, H.) _dignified_, 23
prayed, _invited_, 66
prerogatyue (prerogatiue, H.), _privilege_, _exclusive possession_, 7
presound, _imprisoned_, 31
prime temps, _spring_, 27
pris (pris, H.), _prize_, 20, 23
prouoste (preuost, H.), _provost_, 13
purchase (_sc._ p. armes, pourchacier, H.), _pursue_, _follow_, 12
purchassed (_sc._ p. trayson, pourchace, H.), _contrived_, 108
purches (_sc._ p. harme, pourchacier, H.), _contrive_, 86
purveide off (pourueu, H.), _provided with_, 102
pyll, _pillage_, 60
pystyl, pystylle, _epistle_, 7, 10
qwan, _when_, 35
qwaynte (cointe, H.), _clever_, _ingenious_, 95
qweke (vifs, H.), _quick_, _living_, 45
qwen, qwenne, _when_, 26, 30, 35
qwere, _where_, 39
qwhan, _when_, 44
qwhen, _queen_, 63
qwome, _whom_, 36
qwythe thorne (morier blank, H.), _white thorn_, 35
raffe, _split_, _was riven_, 65
rampyng (rampans, H.), _rampant_, _raging_ (_of bears_), 12
rauenous (traueilleux, H.), _vexatious_, _painful_, 18
reaume, _realm_, 7, 13, 15, 111
reconforte, _comfort_, 94
refeccion (reffeccion, H.), _food_, 55
renomme, _renown_, 2
renommeed, _renowned_, 1
repuignand, _resisting_, _repelling_, 3
revede (tolue, H.), _tore away_, _rescued_, 15
reyne, _rain_, 27
rothir, _rudder_, 56
rotters, _gallants_, 62
rowe (renc, H.), _rank_, _class_, 13
royalme, royaulme, _realm_, _kingdom_, 3
ryght, _very_, 12, 15, 18, 29, 106
ryghtwyse, _righteous_, 13
ryghtwysly, _righteously_, 14, 20
rytewyse (droicturiere, H.), _righteous_, 13
sadde, _discreet_, _careful_, 59
sadely, _carefully_, 51
sadenes (_sc._ s. of speche, lente de parler, H.), _discretion_, 56
salwes, _sallows_, _willows_, 93
saue, _except_, 23
say, _assay_, _test_, 80
schawnegeable, _changeable_, 22
schawneged, schawnged, _changed_, 60, 71
schawngyth, _changeth_, 22
schette, _shut_, _included_, 39, 52
schewyth (suiue, H.), _sueth_, _followeth_, 22
schorte, _shorten_, 62
sclaunderus, _slanderous_, 56
se, _sea_, 11, 47
sede on syde, _set aside_, 10
seege, _siege_ (_sc._ _the camp_), 96
sege, _siege_ (_sc._ _the besieging force_), 106
seege (_sc._ of counsell, siege de conseil, H.), _seat_, 57
segge, _siege_, 26
seghens, _sighings_, 101
sekyr, _sure_, 89
semblable, _similar_, 108
serpently (serpentins, H.), _serpent-like_, 30
sesid with (saisi de, H.), _seised_, _possessed of_, 74
sewyng, sewynge, _following_, 7, 111
seyntens, _saints_, 47
seysyd hym in (_sc._ esleua en, H.), _arrogated to himself_, 28
seytis, _sexes_, 93
sheded, _shed_, 63
shrewdenes (mauuaistie, H.), _wickedness_, 110
shrewes (des mauuais, H.), _the wicked_, _vicious_, 108
skye (nue, H.), _cloud_, 44
slake, _fail_, _grow slack_, 73
slewthe, slowthe, _sloth_, 32, 33
smerte, _painful_, 103
socourable, _helpful_, 27, 50
socovre, _succour_, 16
soffted (amoli, H.), _softened_, 94
softeth (adoulcist, H.), _softeneth_, _easeth_, 26
soget (subget, H.), _subject_, 14, 65
soggettes (subges, H.), _subjects_, 24
soioryng (seiour, H.), _resting place_, _abode_, 112
soioure, _sojourn_, 95
sonne, _sun_, 20
soothel, sootyl, sotell, sothell, _subtle_, 92, 93, 94
sorwe, _sorrow_, 103
sotely, _subtly_, 36, 61
soth, _truth_, _sooth_, 89
sothyn (cuit, H.), _sodden_, 29, 112
sotle, _subtle_, 25
sotted (assottent, H.) _besotted_, _made foolish_, 74
sottyl, _subtle_, 95
sotyl, _subtle_, 35
sotylte, _subtlety_, 95
soundir, _sunder_, 41
sowlehele, _salvation_, 2
sowpled (se adoulcist, H.), _softened_, _mollified_, 92
sowte, _sought_, 80
spotte (tache, H.), _blemish_, _taint_, 37, 41
stabilnes (constance, H.), _stability_, _constancy_, 12
stale, _stole_, 32
standing, standyng, stondyng, _considering that_, 8, 51, 53, 81, 82,
89, 106
stanke (estanc, H.), _a pool_, 93
stawnched, _quenched_ (_of fire_), 105
stawnsh, _staunch_, _quench_, 33
stepechildire (fillastres, H.), _step-children_, 29, 30
stepmodir, steppemodir (marrastre, H.), _stepmother_, 30, 48
stirte, styrte (sailli, se gita, H.), _hurried_, 89, 103
stodier (lestudiant, H.), _studyer_, _student_, 42
strate, _strait_, _narrow_, 63
streche (tendre, H.), _stretch_, _tend_, 8
streche to, _reach to_, _rival_, 82
strecheth, _stretch_, _are directed_, 32
streged, _stretched_, 30
streyned, _strained_, _stretched_, 40
streyte, _strait_ (_of a prison_), 60
strof, _strove_, 57
strong (fort, H.), _difficult_, 58
suremounted, _raised_, 3
suspeccion, _suspicion_, 70
swe, _sowed_, 38
swiche, _such_, 45
swolve, _swallow_, 34
synguler, _special_, 46, 47
sythyn, _sithen_, _since_, 34
tachys (condicions, H.), _manners_, 34
targes (targes, H.), _target_, _shield_, 54
tendyng (tendans, H.), _having regard_, 17
tendyyng, _regard_, _attention_, 93
teremys, _terms_, 17
terrement (obseques, H.), _interment, burial_, 106
teschyng, _teaching_, 14
teynt (attaint, H.), _tainted_, _affected_, 30
tharledom, thraldom, thralledom (seruitude, H.), _servitude_, 51, 65,
91
thefende, _defend_, _forbid_, 29
thredde, _third_, 3
thresshefolde (sueil, H.), _threshold_, 31
tobbe (tine, H.), _tub_, 63
tocheth to (touche, H.), _regards_, _concerns_, 12
to regard of, _in regard to_, 8
trauell, _labour_, _travail_, 42
trauellyth, _labour_, _travail_, 26
trowght, _truth_, 80
trwes (treues, H.), _truce_, 106
turnementes (tourment, H.), _torments_, 37
tweyne, _twain_, 29
tynne, _tin_, 18
tysyng (enditement, H.), _enticing_, 108
vagaunt (vague, H.), _vagrant_, 104
vailable, vaylable (valable, H.), _useful_, 12, 43
vailet, vayleth (est proufitable, vault, H.), _availeth_, 54, 57
valure (valeur, H.), _valour_, 27
vauntoure (vanteur, H.), _boaster_, 71
vaylie, _valley_, 14
veleyns, velyens, _vile_, _abject_, 51, 59, 111
venegre, _vinegar_, 30
veray, very (vraye, Fr.), _true_, 7, 81, 98
viagis, _voyages_, 13
vilens, vileyns, _vile_, _abject_, 34, 37
vmbethynke the, _consider_, 6, 57, 63, 69, 76, 111
vnbehouely (inpartinent, H.), _unbecoming_, 35
vncunnyng (ingrat, H.), _unmindful_, 59
vndirstondynges (entendemens, H.), _meanings_, 25
vngracious (_sc._ v. games, mal gracieux, H.), _discourteous_, 58
vniuersyte, _university_, 3, 42
vnknowyn (descongnoissant, H.), _unmindful_, _ungrateful_, 59
vnkunnyng (ingratitude, H.), _unmindfulness_, _ingratitude_, 59
vnnethes (a peine, H.), _scarcely_, _hardly_, 62
voide, voyde, woyde, _remove_, _expel_, 30, 51, 68, 98
voyded (vuidoient, H.), _removed_, _departed_, 51
voyeddid (vuida, H.), _removed_, _expelled_, 19
wacches (agais, H.), _watches_, _plots_, 8
wassh (gue, H.), _lake_, _pool_, 33
wchid (gaitoit, H.), _watched_, 44
wellwyllyng (bien vueillant, H.), _benevolent_, 27
wend, wende (cuiderent, cuida, H.), _weaned_, _thought_, 30, 106
weneth (cuident, H.), _wean_, _think_, 111
were (guerre faire, H.), _make war_, 11, 23
weri, _very_, _real_, _true_, 67
werre, _war_, 2, 12, 23
wery, _truly_, 3
wete (sauoir, H.), _wit_, _know_, _learn_, 91, 111
wexe (deuiengnent, H.), _wax_, _become_, 32
wexe, _waxed_, _grew_, 30, 31, 52
weyne, _vein_, 19
whan, whanne, _won_, 15, 42, 59
whedir, _whither_, 41
whit (_sc._ with) the dede (ou fait, H.), _in the act_, 44
wombe (ventre, H.), _belly_, 111
wombe of mynde (ventre de la memoire, H.), _inmost mind_, 55
wood, woode (forsennee, enragez, H.), _mad_, _furious_, 30, 65, 72
woodnes (forcennage, enragerie, H.), _madness_, _fury_, 29, 30, 67
worthynesses (proueces, H.), _worthy deeds_, 27
wote (scay, scez, H.), _know_, 12, 98
wreke (ateines, H.), _vengeance_, 11
wylne (v.), _will_, 16
wymple (guimple, H.), _wimple_, 53
wynnors (gaignons, H.), 11. According to Godefroy, _Dict. de l’ancienne
langue Française_, _s.v._, “gaignon” means a “mâtin, chien de
basse-cour,” and then a “homme vil et mechant,” or, as we say, a
“cur.” Scrope seems to have confounded it with “gaigneur,” from
“gagner,” to win.
wyse, _manner_, 16, 20, 40
wytte (sens, H.), _wit_, _sense_, 12
yaf, yafe, _gave_, 17, 19, 38
yate, _gate_, 30
yche, _each_, 67
ye, _eye_, 32
yef, _if_, 9
yefe, _give_, 20
yefer, _giver_, 38
yeffeth, yeffyth, _giveth_, 82, 84
yeffve, _give_, 83
yeftis, _gifts_, 2
yen, _eyes_, 44
yeris meynde (luniversaire, H.), _anniversary_, 106
yete, _get_ (imper.), 11. The line should probably be read, “And wyth
vs strey[n]gth be (_sc._ by) honesty þe yete,” _cf._ “Et auec nous
te couuient force,” H.
yeveth, yevyth, _giveth_, 18, 23, 39
yevyng, _giving_, 3
yif, yife, _give_ (imper.), 14, 19
yiff, _give_, 83
yiffeth, _giveth_, 18, 21
yite, _yet_, 71
yode, _went_, 73
yofe, _given_, 21
yolden, _yielded_, _given up_, 87
youen, youyn, yoven, yovyn, _given_, 2, 7, 19, 20, 21, 22, etc.
yraigne (yraigne, H.), _spider_, 71
ȝate, _gate_, 7
ȝates, _gates_, 11
INDEX.
Abtalin, the philosopher, maxim of, 36
Achilles, 45, 50, 66, 75, 80, 92, 96, 105, 106
Acis, son of Faunus, 65
Actæon (Anteon, Antheon), 76
Adonis (Dadonius), 72
Adrastus, King of Argos, 54
Æolus (Eolus), god of winds, 89
Aglauros (Aglaros), daughter of Cecrops, 31
Ajax (Thelamen Ayaux, Thelomonailles, Ayaux), 73, 91, 107
Alcyone (Alchion), wife of Ceyx, 89
Alexander, King of Macedon, 85, 103
Ambrose, St., 4;
quoted, 22, 23, 90
Amphiaraus (Amphoras), 54
Andrew, St., article of, in the Creed, 41
Andromache (Andromatha), wife of Hector, 100, 103
Andromeda, 15, 16
Antenor (Anthenor), 108, 109
Apocalypse (Pocalipse, Pocalipce), the, quoted, 73, 111
Apollo (Appollo), 20. _See also_ Phœbus
Apulia (Puille), 75
Arachne (Yragnes), 71
Argus, the hundred-eyed, 44
Aristotle (Aristotiles, Aristotile, Aristotill), 4;
maxims of, 8, 13, 14, 16, 30, 38, 42, 60, 71, 85, 103, 107, 112
Assaron, the philosopher, maxim of, 90
Atalanta (Athalenta), 81
Athamas, King, 29
Atropos (Acropose, Accropos), 47, 48
Augustine (Austyn, Tawstyn), St., 4;
quoted, 8, 10, 16, 30, 32, 34, 49, 50, 51, 70, 72, 74, 75, 78, 79,
82, 84, 88, 91, 96, 99, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110
Augustus Cæsar, 113
Babylon (Babylonie, Babilonie), 52, 101
Bacchus (Bachus), 34
Bartholomew (Bartylmew), St., article of, in the Creed, 44
Bede, quoted, 33
Bellerophon (Belorophon, Berolophon), 48
Bernard, St., quoted, 14, 54, 59, 103, 112
Berry, John, Duke of (Jon, Duke of Barry), 3
Boethius (Boys), quoted, 84
Cadmus (Cadimus), 42
Calabria (Calebre), 75
Calchas (Calcas), 92, 96
Cardinal Virtues, 2, 7
Cassandra, daughter of Priam, 46
Cassian, John, quoted, 64
Cassiodorus, quoted, 19, 21, 25, 27, 67
Cecrops (Cycropos), King of Athens, 31
Cephalus (Sephalus), 86
Cerberus (Serebrus, Cereberus, Cerebrus), 11, 41, 79
Ceres, 11, 38
Ceyx (Ceys), 89
Charon (Acaron), 79
Cidonie (Sidon?), 35
Circe (Circes, Cyrces), 111
Colchos (Coleos), 51, 58, 90
Commandments, the Ten, 49
Corinis, the nymph, 56
Corinthians, St. Paul’s Epistles to the, quoted, 27, 87, 96, 108, 113
Correction, Book of, by St. Augustine, 16
Creed, Articles of the, 37
Cressida (Cresseide), 95
Crow, 56
Cupid, 65, 95
Cyrus (Cirus), King of Persia, 63
Dadonius. _See_ Adonis
Daphne (Damee), 99
Democritus (Demecritus), maxim of, 10
Diana (Dyana), 37, 60, 70, 76, 77, 99
Diogenes (Dyogeneys), maxims of, 23, 40
Diomed (Dyomed), 96
Discord, goddess of, 66
Ecclesiasticus, book of, quoted, 16, 22, 32, 34, 64, 89, 104, 114
Echo (Eccho, Echo), 98
Ephesians, St. Paul’s Epistle to the, quoted, 23, 31, 97
Esdras, book of, quoted, 21
Eurydice (Euredice, Euredice), 78
Fastolf, Sir John, 1, note
Femene (_sc._ Amazonia), kingdom of, 63
Fortune, the goddess, 84
Galatea (Galatee), the nymph, 65
Galatea (Galathee), Hector’s horse, 7
Ganymedes, 57
Geber, astronomer, 17
Gorgon, 59, 60
Gregory (Gregorie, Grigori, Grigory), St., 4;
quoted, 18, 20, 24, 35, 55, 57, 58, 68, 71, 76, 85, 94, 100, 101,
104, 112
Hebrews, Epistle to the, quoted, 25, 26
Hector, 5, 7, 22, 24, 26, 49, 97, 100, 103, 104, 105, 106
Hecuba (Ecuba, Hecuba), 24, 106
Helen (Helaine, Elen, etc.), 75, 83, 87, 91
Helenus (Helene ), son of Priam, 87
Hercules, 11, 12, 41, 51, 73
Hermaphroditus (Hermofrodicus), 93
Hermes (Armes, Harmes, Hermes), the philosopher, 4;
maxims of, 19, 20, 21 (2), 26, 32, 37, 39, 43, 45, 49, 53, 59, 68,
70, 73, 81, 86, 87, 94, 96, 104, 114
Herse (Herce), daughter of Cecrops, 31
Hesione, daughter of Laomedon, 91
Hippocrates (Ypocras), maxim of, 35
Homer (Omer), 4;
maxims of, 51, 100
Ilium (Ylyon), 110
Innocent III., Pope, quoted, 105
Ino (Yno), wife of Athamas, 29, 112
Io (Yo), daughter of Inacus, 43
Isaiah (Ysaie, Ysaye), quoted, 52, 85, 94
Isis (Ysis), 39
James, St., the Greater, article of, in the Creed, 39;
epistle of, 79
James, St., the Less, article of, in the Creed, 46
Jason, 58, 64
Jerome (Jerom), St., 4;
quoted, 37, 66, 81, 87, 93, 95, 110
Jesus Christ, shown by the Sibyl to Augustus, 113
Job, book of, quoted, 28
Joel, book of, quoted, 68
John (Jon), St., article of, in the Creed, 38;
Epistles of, quoted, 82, 107;
Gospel of, quoted, 95
John Cassian (Jon Cassian), quoted, 64
John Chrysostom, St., quoted, 87
John II., King of France, 3
John, Duke of Berry, 3
Jude, St., article of, in the Creed, 47
Juno, 33, 44, 53, 66, 69, 83
Jupiter (Jouis, Jubiter), 17, 18, 19, 33, 43, 44, 66, 69
Laomedon (Leomedon, Leomodon), King of Troy, 51, 68, 73
Latona (Lathonna), 33
Legaron (Leginon, H.), the philosopher, maxim of, 81
Leo, St., pope, quoted, 62
Lot (Lothe), wife of, 86
Lucifer, 79
Luke, St., Gospel of, quoted, 24, 85
Magdare, the philosopher, maxim of, 97
Mars, 5, 22, 61, 103
Mary, St., the Virgin, shown by the Sibyl to Augustus, 113
Matthew (Matheu), St., article of, in the Creed, 45;
Gospel of, quoted, 18, 54, 78, 84, 87, 104
Matthias (Mathi), St., article of, in the Creed, 48
Medea (Medee), 58, 64
Memnon (Maymon), King, 49
Mercury, 23, 31, 44, 67
Midas (Mydas, Mygdas), 40
Minerva (Mynerve, Minerve), 5, 24, 25, 103, 109
Minos (Mynos), 13, 14
Morpheus, 88
Myrmidones (Mirmedewes), 75
Narcissus (Narcisus, Arcisus), 27, 98
Neptunus, 47
Nicholas, astronomer, 17
Nimrod (Nambroth), 102
Ninus (Minos), 101
Origen (Orygenes, Orygene), quoted, 26, 28
Orpheus, 74, 78
Othea, goddess of prudence, 5, 7, 10, 13, 17, etc.
Ovid (Ouyde), 4
Pallas, 25, 66, 71, 83
Pan, 40
Paris (Paaris, Paarys, etc.), 75, 85, 87;
judgment of, 67, 82
Patroclus, 96
Pegasus, 5, 15, 16
Peirithous (Pirotheus, Protheus), 11, 41
Peleus (Pellus), 66
Pelleus, 58
Pentheseleia (Pantasselle), Queen of the Amazons, 26
Perceval. _See_ Perseus
Perseus (Percyvale, Percyualle), 15, 59, 60
Peter (Petir), St., article of, in the Creed, 37;
Epistles of, quoted, 10, 37, 62, 73
Philip, St., article of, in the Creed, 41
Philippians, St. Paul’s Epistle to the, quoted, 35
Phœbe (Phebe), 21, 33
Phœbus (Phebus), 20, 33, 40, 56, 57, 60, 61, 99
Pisan, Christine de (Dame Cristine), 3
Plato, 4;
maxims of, 34, 57, 63, 64, 72, 74, 76, 92, 101, 102, 108
Pluto, 11, 41, 79
Pollibetes, 105
Polyphemus, 32, 65
Polyxena (Polexena, Polixenne), daughter of Priam, 106
Priam (Priant, Priaunt, etc.), King of Troy, 22, 51, 90, 92, 103, 108
Proserpine (Proserpyng), 11, 41
Prudence, goddess of. _See_ Othea
Psalter, quoted, 19, 20, 56, 61, 75, 100, 110
Ptolemy (Ptholome, Tholome), the philosopher, 4;
maxim of, 110
Pygmalion (Pimalion, Pymalion), 35
Pyramus, 52
Pyrrhus (Pirus, Pyrus), son of Achilles, 45, 80
Pythagoras (Pictagoras, Pitagoras, etc.), maxims of, 17, 41, 46, 48,
67, 83
Rabyon, the philosopher, maxim of, 50
Raven, 56
Romans, St. Paul’s Epistle to the, quoted, 67
St. Victor, Hugh de, quoted, 56, 114
Saturn, 19, 55
Scrope, Stephen, 2, note
Sedechias, the philosopher, maxim of, 72
Semele (Semelle), 69
Sibyl (Sebille), the, 113
Simon, St., article of, in the Creed, 46
Singularity of Clerks, book of, 8, 75, 102
Socrates, 4;
maxims of, 28, 32, 84, 88
Solomon, Proverbs of, quoted, 9, 14, 33, 57, 58, 65, 71, 76, 90, 99,
109
Solon (Salamon, Soleyne, Solyn), 4;
maxims of, 54, 79, 95, 97
Tawstyn, St. _See_ Augustine, St.
Temperance, goddess of, 9, 10
Theseus, 11, 41
Thessalonians, St. Paul’s Epistle to the, quoted, 101
Thessille, the philosopher, maxim of, 82
Thetis, 66, 80
Thisbe (Tysbe, Thesbe), 52, 53
Thomas, St., article of, in the Creed, 42
Thune (Tyre?), 110
Timothy, St. Paul’s Epistle to, quoted, 93, 106
Titus, St. Paul’s Epistle to, quoted, 70
Tomyris (Thamaris), Queen of the Amazons, 63
Trojan horse, 109
Troylus, son of Priam, 90, 95, 106
Tyre? (Thune), 110
Ulysses (Vlixes, Vlyxes), 32, 80, 94, 111
Venus, 18, 36, 61, 66, 72, 83
Virgil (Vyrgyl), 4
Vulcan (Vlnecan), 61
Wisdom, book of, quoted, 59, 66, 72, 91
Ypocras. _See_ Hippocrates
Zaqualquin, the philosopher, maxim of, 98
PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, ORCHARD STREET, VICTORIA STREET, S.W.
-----
Footnote 1:
See below, p. xxiv.
Footnote 2:
Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 28,212, ff. 22b, 26.
Footnote 3:
J. Gairdner, _The Paston Letters_, ed. 1896, iii. p. 301.
Footnote 4:
_Ibid._, ii. p. 335 (_cf._ p. xxx. below, note 2). This copy was
included in a “grete booke,” other articles of which now form
Lansdowne MS. 285. Ebesham’s hand as they show it is not identical
with that of the Longleat MS., though it bears a certain resemblance
to it.
Footnote 5:
Of the authorities used the best and most recent are E. Robineau,
_Christine de Pisan, sa vie et ses œuvres_, St. Omer, 1882; F. Koch,
_Leben und Werke der Christine de Pizan_, Goslar, 1885; M. Roy,
_Œuvres poétiques de Christine de Pisan_, Soc. des Anciens Textes
Français, i.–iii. 1886–1896. The most interesting details are derived
from her own writings, many of which are still unprinted.
Footnote 6:
See below, p. xxxvi.
Footnote 7:
Koch, p. 14.
Footnote 8:
This date may be inferred from two statements by herself, one in “Le
Chemin de long estude,” written in 1402, that she had then been
widowed thirteen years (ed. R. Püschel, Berlin, 1887, p. 6), and the
other in “La Vision” (Koch, p. 12) that she was twenty-five when her
husband died, _sc._ in 1389.
Footnote 9:
“Car comme renommée lors tesmoignast par toute crestienté la
souffisance de mon pere naturel és sciences spéculatives comme
supellatif astrologien, jusques en Ytalie en la cité de Boulongne la
grace par ses messages l’envoya quérir” (“Livre des fais et bonnes
meurs du sage roy Charles V.,” in Petitot’s _Collection des Mémoires_,
v. p. 275).
Footnote 10:
Robineau, p. 10.
Footnote 11:
Thus in “La Vision” she writes “le me tolli en fleur de ieunece, comme
en l’aage de xxxiiij. ans, et moy de xxv. demouray chargee de iii.
enfans petiz et de grant maisnage” (_cf._ p. xi. note 4).
Footnote 12:
_Œuvres poétiques_, ed. Roy, i. p. 12, “Cent Balades,” No. xi., and p.
148, “Rondeaux,” No. iii.
Footnote 13:
John de Montacute or Montagu, who succeeded his father as second Baron
Montacute in 1390, his mother as Baron Monthermer in 1395 (?), and his
uncle as third Earl of Salisbury in 1397. One of the objects of his
embassy in 1398 was to hinder the marriage of Henry of Lancaster with
a daughter of the Duke of Berry. Christine speaks of him as “gracieux
chevalier, aimant dictiez et luy mesme gracieux dicteur” (Boivin, “Vie
de Chr. de Pisan,” in Kéralio’s _Collection des meilleurs ouvrages
François_, 1787, ii. p. 118).
Footnote 14:
Koch, p. 36.
Footnote 15:
In a ballad praying the Duke of Orleans to take him into his service
(Roy, i. p. 232) she speaks of his having been three years in England:
Ja trois ans a que pour sa grant prouesse
L’en amena le conte très louable
De Salsbery, qui moru a destrece
Ou mal païs d’Angleterre, ou muable
Y sont la gent.
Elsewhere she says that Henry IV. “tres joyeusement prist mon enfant
vers luy et tint chierement et en très bon estat” (Boivin, p. 119).
Footnote 16:
All printed by Roy, vol. ii. 1891.
Footnote 17:
An edition, “traduit de langue romanne en prose françoise par Jan
Chaperon,” appeared at Paris in 1549. See also above, p. xi., note 4,
Koch, p. 76, and Kéralio, ii. p. 297.
Footnote 18:
For an analysis see Koch, p. 63.
Footnote 19:
In this part of the work she plagiarizes largely from the so-called
Travels of Sir John Mandeville (see article by P. Toynbee in
_Romania_, xxi. 1892, p. 228).
Footnote 20:
Printed in Petitot’s _Collection des Mémoires_, 1824, vols. v. vi. and
elsewhere.
Footnote 21:
Analysed by Koch, p. 73.
Footnote 22:
As in the dedication of the “Épître d’Othéa” partly printed below, p.
xxxvi.
Footnote 23:
The original of _The book of fayttes of armes and of Chyualrye_,
printed by Caxton in 1489. He tells us in a note that it was given to
him by Henry VII. on 23rd January, 1489, to translate and print, “to
thende that euery gentylman born to armes and all manere men of werre
captayns souldiours vytayllers and all other shold haue knowlege how
they ought to behaue theym in the fayttes of warre and of bataylles.”
He adds that the translation was finished on the 8th July and printed
on the 14th. A French edition appeared at Paris in 1488, and others in
1497, etc.
Footnote 24:
An English translation by Bryan Anslay, entitled _The boke of the cyte
of Ladyes_, was printed at London, 1521.
Footnote 25:
For the dedication to the Dauphiness and the table of chapters see
Thomassy, _Essai sur les écrits politiques de Christine de Pisan_,
1838, p. 185.
Footnote 26:
Printed by Thomassy, p. 133.
Footnote 27:
_Ibid._, p. 141.
Footnote 28:
For an analysis of its contents, with extracts, see _ibid._, p. 150.
The Dauphin Louis was born in 1396 and died in 1415.
Footnote 29:
See Thomassy, p. xlii.; Martin, _Histoire de France_, 4th ed. 1878,
vi. p. 192. It is dated 31st July, 1429, a fortnight after the
coronation of Charles VII. at Reims.
Footnote 30:
“Je Christine, qui ay plouré xi. ans en l’abbaye close.” It was
perhaps the abbey of Poissy, of which her daughter was already an
inmate in 1400 (above, p. xiv.), and which may possibly be meant by
“Passy” in the passage from the _Boke of Noblesse_ quoted in a note on
p. xxxiii.
Footnote 31:
See below, p. xxxv.
Footnote 32:
Koch, p. 81. Louis was born 13th March, 1372.
Footnote 33:
Robineau, p. 89, speaks as if it was addressed to Charles himself, but
the words are “Dorliens duc Loys” (see below, p. xxxvi.).
Footnote 34:
See pp. xxxiv., xxxvii.
Footnote 35:
“Les enseignemens que je Cristine donne a Jehan de Castel mon filz”
(_Œuvres poétiques_, ed. Roy, iii. p. 27).
Footnote 36:
See the comparative table in Roy, i. p. xxii.
Footnote 37:
This was first pointed out by the Abbé Sallier, _Mémoires de
l’Académie Royale des Inscriptions_, xvii. 1751, p. 518.
Footnote 38:
See articles by B. Hauréau in _Mémoires de l’Académie des
Inscriptions_, xxx. 1883, p. 45, and by G[aston] P[aris] in the
_Histoire Littéraire de la France_, xxix. 1885, p. 502.
Footnote 39:
Guiffrey, _Inventaires de Jean, Duc de Berry_, 1894, i. p. 237,
“escript en françois rimé”; Delisle, _Le Cabinet des MSS._, iii. p.
192.
Footnote 40:
Guiffrey, i. pp. 226, 229, ii. p. 127.
Footnote 41:
_Romania_, xiv. 1885, p. 1.
Footnote 42:
De Jong and De Goeje, _Catalogus codicum orientalium Bibl. Acad. Lugd.
Bat._, iii. p. 342; Brockelmann, _Geschichte der Arabischen
Literatur_, i. p. 459.
Footnote 43:
Salv. de Renzi, _Collectio Salernitana_, iii. 1854, p. 69, “Incipit
liber philosophorum moralium .... quem transtulit de Greco in Latinum
Mag. Johannes de Procida.” The Latin text is quoted in the notes here
from Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 16,906, the French text from Royal MS. 19 B
iv., both of the 15th century.
Footnote 44:
P. Paris, _Les MSS. françois de la Bibl. du Roi_, v. p. 1.
Footnote 45:
“Enprynted by me William Caxton at Westmestre the yere of our lord
m.cccc.lxxvii.” A second edition appeared in 1480 (?), and a third, by
W. de Worde, in 1528.
Footnote 46:
Thus, the translator says in his preface, “And at the last [I]
concluded in my self to translate it in to thenglyssh tong, wiche in
my jugement was not before,” and Caxton adds in the colophon,
“Certaynly I had seen none in englissh til that tyme.”
Footnote 47:
No doubt there is some rhetorical exaggeration in the expression
“othir straunge regions, londes and contrees” (p. 2, _cf._ p. xxx
below); at any rate, there is no evidence that Fastolf served anywhere
but in France, both north and south, and in Ireland.
Footnote 48:
In the colophon to the other work he is styled son-in-law, but the
meaning is the same.
Footnote 49:
There is a good account of him in the _Dict. of National Biography_,
vol. xviii. See also G. Poulett Scrope, _Hist. of Castle Combe_, 1852,
ch. vii. p. 169. Besides other authorities given in the first-named
work, some further particulars and corrections are supplied in Wylie’s
_Hist. of England under Henry IV_., 1884–1898, and in Sir J. H.
Ramsay’s _Lancaster and York_, 1892.
Footnote 50:
Wylie, iii. p. 168.
Footnote 51:
_Ibid._
Footnote 52:
_Hist. of Castle Combe_, p. 282.
Footnote 53:
Wylie, iv. p. 74.
Footnote 54:
Wylie, iv. p. 86.
Footnote 55:
The warrant for his pay, 18th June, is in Rymer’s _Fœdera_, ed. 1740,
iv. pt. ii. p. 130.
Footnote 56:
According to the _Boke of Noblesse_ (see below, p. xliii.), p. 15,
“the seyd erle made Ser John Fastolfe, chevaler, his lieutenaunt with
m^lv^c soudeours.”
Footnote 57:
Rymer, iv. pt. ii. p. 153. _Dict. Nat. Biogr._ has 1417–18.
Footnote 58:
The _Boke of Noblesse_, after praising him for his care in
provisioning his garrisons, goes on to say (p. 68), “and that policie
was one of the grete causes that the regent of Fraunce and the lordes
of the kyngys grete councelle lefft hym to hafe so many castells to
kepe that he ledd yerly iii^c sperys and the bowes.” The value of his
foresight in this respect is then illustrated by an anecdote of what
happened when the Bastille was threatened with a siege in 1420.
Footnote 59:
The _Dict. Nat. Biogr._ oddly calls the place Mons!
Footnote 60:
Act iii. sc. 2, ll. 104–109; Act iv. sc. 1, ll. 9–47.
Footnote 61:
_Paston Letters_, i. p. 37; Stevenson, _Wars of the English in
France_, Rolls Series, ii. pt. ii. p. [549].
Footnote 62:
Stevenson, pp. [433], [575].
Footnote 63:
Ramsay, _Lancaster and York_, ii. p. 41.
Footnote 64:
Brit. Mus. Add. ch. 14,598, “pro notabili et laudabili seruicio ac
bono consilio que predilectus consiliarius noster Ioh. Fastolff miles
nobis impendit et impendet in futurum,” 12 May, 19 Hen. VI. The future
service was no doubt to be rendered in the council-chamber rather than
the field.
Footnote 65:
“Thus endeth the boke of Tulle of olde age translated ont of latyn in
to frenshe by laurence de primo facto ... and enprynted by me symple
persone William Caxton in to Englysshe ... the xii day of August the
yere of our lord m.cccc.lxxxi.”
Footnote 66:
He was father of Sir John Paston, for whom a copy of “Othea” was
written in 1469, as well as of John Paston the younger, who owned a
copy somewhat later (see above, p. x).
Footnote 67:
See Gairdner’s introduction, ed. 1896, i. p. lxxxvii. Fastolf’s
relations with his stepson are also illustrated by numerous documents
in G. Poulett Scrope’s _History of Castle Combe_, where there are
memoirs of both, as lords of that manor.
Footnote 68:
_Hist. of Castle Combe_, p. 279.
Footnote 69:
“Thorugh the wiche sale I tooke sekenesses that kept me a xiii. or
xiiii. yere swyng, whereby I am disfigured in my persone and shall be
whilest I lyve” (_ibid._).
Footnote 70:
From some curious accounts dealing with meat and fish in 1427–8
(_ibid._ p. 266) he was perhaps in the commissariat service.
Footnote 71:
_Hist. of Castle Combe_, p. 169.
Footnote 72:
_Chroniques_, ed. W. Hardy, Rolls Series, vol. for 1422–31, p. 289.
Elsewhere (p. 254) he describes him as “moult sage et prudent aux
armes au quel se fyoit grandement le duc de Bethfort, regent.”
Footnote 73:
She was a second wife, but the name of the first, who bore him a
daughter, is not known (_Hist. of Castle Combe_, p. 271).
Footnote 74:
_Ibid._, p. 276; _Paston Letters_, i. p. 356.
Footnote 75:
_Ibid._, p. 419.
Footnote 76:
William Paston to John Paston: “He wyll dwelle at Caster, and Skrop
wyth hym” (_Paston Letters_, i. p. 296). “The chaumboure sumtyme for
Stephen Scrope” is mentioned in the inventory of Fastolf’s effects at
Caister made after his death (_ibid._, i. p. 482).
Footnote 77:
See below, p. xliii. The note (Roxburghe Club ed. p. 54) runs,
“Notandum est quod Cristina [fuit] domina præclara natu et moribus et
manebat in domo religiosarum dominarum apud Passye prope Parys; et ita
virtuosa fuit quod ipsa exhibuit plures clericos studentes in
vniuersitate Parisiensi, et compilare fecit plures libros virtuosos,
utpote librum arborum bellorum, et doctores racione eorum exhibicionis
attribuerunt nomen autoris Cristine, sed aliquando nomen autoris
clerici studentis imponitur in diuersis libris; et vixit circa annum
Christi 1430, sed floruit ab anno Christi 1400.”
Footnote 78:
Guiffrey, _Inventaires_, i. p. 249; _cf._ Delisle, _Le Cabinet des
MSS._, iii. p. 193, no. 290.
Footnote 79:
In answer to an inquiry M. Omont, keeper of MSS., kindly states that
only one of them, franç. 12,438, a poor copy on paper, contains a
dedication to the Duke of Berry. It begins “Le Prologue. Louenge à
Dieu soit .... et après ensuivant à très noble fleur .... et puis à
vous excellant prince, saige, bon et vertueux, Jehan excellant,
redoubté filz au roy de France .... duc de Berry,” etc.
Footnote 80:
The “Cent Balades d’Amant et de Dame” (_Œuvres Poétiques_, ed. Roy,
iii. p. 209), besides ten others.
Footnote 81:
Printed by Roy, i. p. xiv. The MS. is there described and compared
with another rather earlier collection (now Bibl. Nat. franç. 835,
606, 836, 605), which the Duke of Berry bought from Christine for 200
crowns. A reduced facsimile of the first page of the Harley MS., with
a large miniature of Christine presenting the volume to the queen in
her bedchamber, is prefixed to Roy’s vol. iii. (_cf._ a note by P.
Meyer, p. xxii.). A coloured plate of the same miniature is given by
Shaw, _Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages_, 1843.
Footnote 82:
Delisle, _Le Cabinet des MSS._, i. p. 52.
Footnote 83:
This is the only edition in the British Museum. Its second title runs:
_Lepistre de Othea deesse de prudence enuoyee a lesperit cheualereux
Hector de troye auec cent hystoires. Nouuellement imprimee a Paris._
Other editions are said to have been issued at Lyons in 1497 and 1519,
and at Paris in 1522.
Footnote 84:
Both date and age were given on his tomb at Bourges erected by Charles
VII. in 1457 (Raynal, _Histoire du Berry_, 1844, ii. pp. 504, 513;
Champeaux and Gauchery, _Les Travaux d’art executés pour Jean de
France, Duc de Berry_, 1894, p. 43).
Footnote 85:
Ed. 1644, p. 238. Bouchet was born in 1476, and his work first
appeared in 1524. I owe the reference to it to Mr. Wylie.
Footnote 86:
_Histoire du Berry_, ii. p. 375.
Footnote 87:
_Histoire de France_, 4th edition, 1878, vi. p. 25. The most
favourable view of his character is given by Guiffrey, _Inventaires_,
p. cxci.
Footnote 88:
“Now children of gramere scole conneþ no more Frensch þan can here
lift heele ... also gentil men habbeþ now moche yleft for to teche
here childern Freynsch” (R. Morris, _Specimens of Early English_,
1867, p. 339). See also the Rolls Series edition of Higden, ii. p.
161, where Trevisa’s text is taken from another MS.
Footnote 89:
See Chaucer’s Nonne Prestes tale, l. 14, “Of poynant saws hir needide
never a deel.”
Footnote 90:
See above, p. xxxvi. There is an imperfect copy of the English text in
the British Museum (C. 21. a. 34).
Footnote 91:
H. R. Plomer, _Robert Wyer, printer and bookseller_, 1897. For an
account of the woodcuts, see p. 9.
Footnote 92:
“Here endyth thys Epistle, undre correccion, the xv. day of June, the
yeere of Crist M^ciiii^clxxv.,” etc. (p. 85).
Footnote 93:
Examples of his writing are fairly abundant, _e.g._ in the Brit. Mus.
MSS. Cotton Julius F. vii., Royal 13 C. i., Sloane 4 and Add.
27,443–4, 28,208, 34,888. In Sloane MS. 4, f. 38b, he gives a curious
account of Fastolf’s last illness.
Footnote 94:
Stevenson, _Wars of the English in France_, vol. ii. pt. ii. pp.
[519]–[742], from Lambeth MS. 506, which is partly in Worcester’s own
hand. His Annals, extending from 1324 to 1468, are printed in the same
volume, p. [743], from the autograph MS. in the College of Arms.
Footnote 95:
_Hist. of Castle Combe_, p. 288.
Footnote 96:
Written about 1385 and dedicated to Charles VI. It was first printed
at Lyons about 1480. See the modern edition by E. Nys, _L’Arbre de
Batailles_, Brussels, 1883.
Footnote 97:
The colophon of Caxton’s English version (above, p. xvi.) points to
the source of the misnomer: “Thus endeth this boke whiche Xpyne of
Pyse made and drewe out of the boke named Vegecius de re militari and
out of tharbre of bataylles.” Christine in fact made use of Bonet’s
work.
Footnote 98:
“I may sey to you that William hath goon to scole to a Lumbard called
Karoll Giles, to lern and to be red in poetre or els in Frensh; for he
hath byn with the same Caroll every dey ii. tymes or iii. and hath
bought divers boks of hym,” H. Wyndesore to J. Paston, 27th Aug. 1458
(_Paston Letters_, i. p. 431).
Footnote 99:
_Paston Letters_, i. p. cxiv.; _Hist. of Castle Combe_, p. 194.
Footnote 100:
Ed. J. Nasmith, 1778, p. 368, “1473, die 10 Aug. presentavi W.
episcopo Wyntoniensi apud Asher librum Tullii de Senectute per me
translatum in anglicis, sed nullum regardum recepi de episcopo.”
Footnote 101:
For this dedication, addressed by the translator, Stephen Scrope, to
his stepfather, Sir John Fastolf, see the Introduction.
Footnote 102:
_Sc._ worldly.
Footnote 103:
_Sc._ old.
Footnote 104:
So the MS., but John, Duke of Berry, was born 30th November, 1340, and
died 15th June, 1416.
Footnote 105:
The mythical Hermes Trismegistus. The citations from these and other
less well known philosophers were taken by Christine de Pisan from
Guillaume de Tignonville’s “Les dis moraulx des Philosophes,” which
Scrope himself translated into English (see Introduction). “Salomon”
here represents the “Salon” or “Zalon,” _sc._ Solon, of the original.
Footnote 106:
_Sc._ thee, which is spelt “the” throughout.
Footnote 107:
This parentage is explained further on, pp. 22, 24.
Footnote 108:
_Sc._ Heir; Feyre MS.; Hoir, H.
Footnote 109:
Affin que ton bon cuer sadrece, H. The translator no doubt read “tout
bon cœur.”
Footnote 110:
Qui de tous vaillans est ame, H. Pegasus is explained below (p. 15) as
meaning “a goode name, the which flyeth through the eyre.”
Footnote 111:
_Sc._ thee, whole and sum; me doit il de toy souuenir, H.
Footnote 112:
Et que tu me vueilles bien croire, H.
Footnote 113:
Sagesse de femme, H.
Footnote 114:
Thas, MS.
Footnote 115:
Greke, MS.; Troye la grant, H.
Footnote 116:
La belle ieunece, H.
Footnote 117:
Par les agais et assaulx, H.
Footnote 118:
Beatitude, H.
Footnote 119:
_Sc._ considering that.
Footnote 120:
Kynges, MS.; toutes choses terrestres, H.
Footnote 121:
Thesceyvable, MS., with “de” interlined.
Footnote 122:
De Singularitate Clericorum, attributed to Cyprian and Origen as well
as to St. Augustine (Migne, _Patrologia Latina_, iv. col. 835). The
passage runs (col. 866): “Ubicumque fuerit providentia, frustrantur
universa contraria; ubi autem providentia negligitur, omnia contraria
dominantur.”
Footnote 123:
Cesser et anientir, H.
Footnote 124:
Prov. ii. 10, 11. This and other quotations from the Vulgate are
supplied from the French text, being omitted by the translator,
possibly with the intention of filling them in from the Wycliffite
English version.
Footnote 125:
De vaillance cheualereuse, H.
Footnote 126:
Seur germaine, H.
Footnote 127:
_Sc._ the leaf of a leek; Car selle nen faisoit le pois, Tout ne te
vauldroit pas vn pois, H.
Footnote 128:
Serour, H.
Footnote 129:
Democritus, H.
Footnote 130:
De limiter les choses, H.
Footnote 131:
Ou liure des meurs de leglise, que loffice dattrempance est
reffraindre et appaisier les meurs de concupiscence, H. The repetition
of “meurs” caused the translator to omit some words. The reference is
to the treatise “De moribus ecclesiæ catholicæ,” i. 19 (Migne, xxxii.
1326).
Footnote 132:
1 Pet. ii. 11.
Footnote 133:
_Sc._ war, _cf._ next line; where, MS.
Footnote 134:
Sur la mer de Grece, H.
Footnote 135:
Maystyr, MS.; mestier, H.
Footnote 136:
_Sc._ by Cerberus.
Footnote 137:
Qui trop sont desloyaulx gaignons, H.
Footnote 138:
See below, p. 41.
Footnote 139:
_Sc._ on earth.
Footnote 140:
Aux lyons ne aux ours rampans, H.
Footnote 141:
_Sc._ allege, take example from; Et pour donner materiel exemple de
force, allegue Hercules, H.
Footnote 142:
_Sc._ high; by, MS; hault exemple, H.
Footnote 143:
_Sc._ fought.
Footnote 144:
A leaf is here missing from the MS.
Footnote 145:
The complete “texte” in H. runs:—
Encor se veulx estre des noz,
Ressembler te couuient Minos,
Tout soit il iusticier et maistres
Denfer et de tous li estres.
Car se tu te veulx auancier,
Estre te couuient iusticier,
Autrement de porter heaume
Nes digne ne tenir royaume.
Footnote 146:
En Crete, H.
Footnote 147:
Fierte, H.
Footnote 148:
De adventu Domini Sermo iii. (Migne, clxxxiii. 45), but the passage is
not literally translated.
Footnote 149:
Sa non puissance, H.
Footnote 150:
Chastisyng in chastisyng, MS.; garde et discipline, garde en le
gardant de mal faire et discipline en le chastiant se il a mal fait,
H.
Footnote 151:
Prov. xxi. 12, 15.
Footnote 152:
Apres te mire en Perseus, H., and so below; _cf._ Ovid, Met. iv., 610
sq.
Footnote 153:
Belue, H.; monstre, Wyer.
Footnote 154:
Chose couuenable, H.
Footnote 155:
_Sc._ won; il acquist, H.
Footnote 156:
_Sc._ should have; deuourer la deuoit, H.
Footnote 157:
_Sc._ flyeth; qui vole, H.
Footnote 158:
Many, MS.
Footnote 159:
Omitted in MS.; le porte, H.
Footnote 160:
Sermo ccclv., de vita et moribus clericorum (Migne, xxxix. 1569).
Footnote 161:
A bien viure, H.
Footnote 162:
Pour soy, H.; conscientia tibi, fama proximo tuo, S. Aug. The
translator evidently read “foy.”
Footnote 163:
Eccl. xli. 15.
Footnote 164:
_Sc._ the planet Jupiter; Joyus, MS.; de iouis les condicions, H.
Footnote 165:
Jābir ibn Aflah, an Arab astronomer of uncertain date, whose work on
Astronomy was published in Latin, in nine books, at Nuremberg in 1534.
A 15th century MS. of it is in the British Museum, Harley MS. 625.
Footnote 166:
Perhaps Nicholas of Lynne, a Carmelite who lived in the latter part of
the 14th century, and whose astronomical tables were used by Chaucer
in his “Astrolabe.” Among other works he wrote tracts “de natura
Zodiaci” and “de Planetarum domibus” (Tanner, _Bibliotheca_, p. 346).
Footnote 167:
Et est figuree a la compleccion sanguine, H.
Footnote 168:
_Sc._ Pythagoras.
Footnote 169:
Doulce et humaine, H.
Footnote 170:
A Nepocian, H. The passage does not appear to be among the works of
St. Gregory, nor in St. Jerome’s epistle to Nepotianus.
Footnote 171:
Matt. v. 7.
Footnote 172:
Traueilleux, H.
Footnote 173:
_Sc._ Hermes Trismegistus.
Footnote 174:
An unintelligible corruption; fist lange deuenir deable, H. and other
Fr. MSS.; doth [make] the aungell to become a devyll, Wyer; superbia
est per quam angelus cecidit, per quam Adam de naturæ suæ dignitate
dejectus est, Cass. Exp. in Psalterium (Migne, lxx. 843).
Footnote 175:
Tethe, MS.; la mort, H.
Footnote 176:
_Sc._ vein; la veine, H.
Footnote 177:
Ps. xxx. 7.
Footnote 178:
_Sc._ drove; le desherita et chaca, H.
Footnote 179:
_Sc._ ere; peser la chose ains quil donne, H.
Footnote 180:
Ye, MS.
Footnote 181:
_Sc._ note; peuent notter tous sages, H.
Footnote 182:
Moralia, xxvii. 3 (Migne, lxxvi. 401).
Footnote 183:
Ps. xviii. 10.
Footnote 184:
No such work appears under the name of Cassiodorus.
Footnote 185:
Esdras iii. 12.
Footnote 186:
The translator, not Christine de Pisan, is responsible for making
Phœbe masculine.
Footnote 187:
Ep. ad Simplicianum (Migne, xvi. 1085).
Footnote 188:
Ne se plunge point, H.; non tristibus mergitur, St. Ambr.
Footnote 189:
Eccl. xxvii. 12.
Footnote 190:
Folowynge, MS. There is some confusion here in the translation, _cf._
en ce monde et que le bon esperit par son exemple [pot bien] ensuiuir
son bon pere Ihesu Crist et batailler contre les vices, H.
Footnote 191:
Ephes. vi. 12.
Footnote 192:
Soyes aourne de faconde, H. The translator seems to have
misinterpreted “faconde,” eloquence, speech, as “falchion.”
Footnote 193:
_Sc._ old; ce tapprendra Mercurius, H.
Footnote 194:
Qui vont deuant, H.
Footnote 195:
Luke x. 16.
Footnote 196:
_Sc._ By thy mother enough shall be assigned to thee; te liurera assez
ta mere, H. The MS. reads “modus,” and in the next line “bater”
(amere, H.).
Footnote 197:
Cuir-bouilli, leather boiled and moulded, while soft, into the
required shape.
Footnote 198:
No exposition of the Creed appears among the works of Cassiodorus.
Footnote 199:
_Sc._ light; lumiere, H.
Footnote 200:
Hebr. xi. 6.
Footnote 201:
Sittyng, MS., and so also below.
Footnote 202:
There seems to be some confusion here between Pallas the goddess and
Pallas son of Lycaon and reputed founder of Pallantium, in Arcadia.
Footnote 203:
? join; il doit aiouster sagece a cheualerie, H.
Footnote 204:
The whiche vertue, MS.
Footnote 205:
Hebrews vi. 18.
Footnote 206:
_Sc._ Penthesileia, queen of the Amazons.
Footnote 207:
Dont si noble voix est semee, H.
Footnote 208:
_Sic_, the first letter being of course the Fr. “d’.”
Footnote 209:
Expos. in Ps. xii. (Migne, lxx. 100).
Footnote 210:
Soubz la quelle [pluye] germe la bonne voulente, H.
Footnote 211:
Inimicis benevola, bonis suis superans malos, Cass.
Footnote 212:
1 Corinth, xiii. 4.
Footnote 213:
Narcissus, whose story is in Ovid, Met. iii. 341 sq.
Footnote 214:
Se esleua en si grant orgueil, H.
Footnote 215:
Cest a entendre loultrecuidance de lui meisme ou il se mira, H.
Footnote 216:
Thi, MS.; est sa vie contenue, H. The translator seems to have read
“toute nue.”
Footnote 217:
Job xx. 6, 7.
Footnote 218:
Wrongly translated. H. reads:
Athamas plain de grant rage
La deesse de forcennage
Fist estrangler ces (_sc._ ses) .ii. enfans.
Pour ce grant yre te deffens.
The story (Ovid, Met. iv. 420 sq.), which is introduced again further
on (p. 112), is much confused here. It is briefly as follows. Athamas
by command of Hera married the divine Nephele, and had by her Phrixus
and Helle. He was, however, more enamoured of Ino, who bore to him
Learchus and Melicertes. Nephele in her anger having returned to
heaven, Ino tried to get rid of her rival’s children. For this purpose
she caused a famine by roasting the seed-corn before it was sown, and
then bribed the messengers whom Athamas sent to Delphi for an oracle
to bring back word that Phrixus must be sacrificed. Nephele, however,
carried off Phrixus and his sister on the ram with the golden fleece,
while Athamas, driven mad by Hera, killed his son Learchus, and Ino
threw herself into the sea with Melicertes.
Footnote 219:
_Sc._ sodden; semer le ble cuit, H.
Footnote 220:
Hys, MS.
Footnote 221:
He, MS.
Footnote 222:
Yno, MS.; la deesse iuno, H.
Footnote 223:
A hole in the roof for the escape of smoke, here perhaps used for the
hearth; le sueil, H.
Footnote 224:
_Sic_, meaning apparently “warring”; but from the reading in H., “a
pou ne se entretuoyent,” it is perhaps a mistake for “near-hand,”
_sc._ nearly, almost.
Footnote 225:
Quant la deesse virent tant espouentable, H.
Footnote 226:
Sic ira corrumpit cor, si in alium diem duraverit, S. Aug. Epist. ccx.
(Migne, xxxiii. 958).
Footnote 227:
Ephes. iv. 26.
Footnote 228:
Aglauros or Agraulos, daughter of Cecrops. Hermes changed her into a
stone for barring his access to her sister Herse (Ovid, Met. ii. 737
sq.).
Footnote 229:
Dey, MS.; seche, H.
Footnote 230:
_Sic_, probably for “too feloun a spotte”; trop est villeine tache et
contre gentillece, H.
Footnote 231:
De Genesi ad litteram, xi. 13 (Migne, xxxiv. 436).
Footnote 232:
Eccl. xiv. 8, but the Vulg. has “lividi.”
Footnote 233:
No, MS.; ne soyes pas lonc ne prolice, H.
Footnote 234:
For, MS.
Footnote 235:
_Sc._ the eye of Polyphemus.
Footnote 236:
Bedeisus, MS.; no doubt a corruption of “_Bede sur_ les Prouerbes,” H.
The reference is apparently to Bede’s Expositio super Parabolas, ii.
20 (Migne, xci. 995).
Footnote 237:
Prov. xxi. 5.
Footnote 238:
_Sc._ frogs. This story of Latona is from Ovid, Met. vi. 313 sq.
Footnote 239:
Cuidoit, H.
Footnote 240:
Palu, H; maresse, Wyer.
Footnote 241:
Perhaps in error for St. Bernard, Liber de modo bene vivendi, xliv.
(Migne, clxxxiv. 1266).
Footnote 242:
Eccl. xiv. 9.
Footnote 243:
_Sc._ manners; car ses condicions sont ordes, H.
Footnote 244:
_Sc._ Hippocrates, whose “dictum” was that “sanitas consistit .... non
in replendo corpus cibis et potibus” (Add. MS. 16,906, f. 11).
Footnote 245:
Moralia, xxx. 18 (Migne, lxxvi. 556).
Footnote 246:
Philipp, iii. 19.
Footnote 247:
The scene of the story was in Cyprus. Cidonie (Cydonie, H.) apparently
comes from a misunderstanding of Ovid, who says of Pygmalion,
“Collocat hanc stratis concha Sidonide tinctis” (Met. x. 267).
Footnote 248:
En ot pitie. H.
Footnote 249:
Omitted in MS.; plusieurs, H.
Footnote 250:
Que il en lait a suiure, H.; leue to ensue, Wyer.
Footnote 251:
Apthalin, H.; but it is doubtful who is meant. The name occurs in the
“Dicta Philosophorum,” but not with this “dictum.”
Footnote 252:
2 Pet. ii. 13.
Footnote 253:
The assignment of a particular clause in the Creed to each of the
Apostles appears in a sermon printed among the spurious works of St.
Augustine (Migne, xxxix. 2190).
Footnote 254:
To, MS.
Footnote 255:
_Sc._ to plough.
Footnote 256:
Car deuant semoient les gainages sans labourer, H. “Gaineyer” is for
“gaigneur,” a husbandman.
Footnote 257:
Lawde, MS.; ainsi que la terre est abandonnee et large donnarresse, H.
Footnote 258:
Qui tant nous a largement donne de ses haulx biens, H.
Footnote 259:
Isis, in her original character as wife of Osiris and inventor of the
cultivation of corn.
Footnote 260:
Toutes vertus antes et plantes
En toy, comme Ysis fait les plantes
Et tous les grains fructifier;
Ainsi dois tu ediffier.
So H., where “antes,” _sc._ antez, entez, is from “enter, placer,
faire entrer” (Godefroy, _s.v._).
Footnote 261:
_Sc._ Hermes.
Footnote 262:
What, MS.
Footnote 263:
Vn roy, H.
Footnote 264:
Oan, MS., and so below.
Footnote 265:
Pastours, H.
Footnote 266:
_Sc._ mole; comme la tauppe, H.
Footnote 267:
Lierres, _sc._ larron, H.
Footnote 268:
And nede, MS.; au besoing, H.
Footnote 269:
_Sc._ Theseus and Peirithous, who invaded the lower world in order to
carry off Persephone.
Footnote 270:
There is some confusion in this passage; se Hercules, qui leur
compaignon yere, ne les eust secourus, qui tant y fist, _etc._, H.
Footnote 271:
_Sc._ chains; chayennes, H.
Footnote 272:
_Sc._ Cadmus, who founded Thebes and slew the dragon which guarded the
neighbouring well of Ares, and who also invented letters.
Footnote 273:
_Sc._ won; gaigna, H.
Footnote 274:
Lestude y mist, H.
Footnote 275:
Plus quen nulle autre auoir, H.
Footnote 276:
Et du bien largement y prendre, H. The strange word “theryng” is
probably nothing more than “therein.”
Footnote 277:
See Ovid, Met. i. 583 sq. The source of the statement that Io invented
letters is doubtful. Possibly it rests only on the two lines (_ib._
649):
Littera pro verbis quam pes in pulvere duxit
Corporis indicium mutati triste peregit.
Footnote 278:
Les vertus de iupiter, H.
Footnote 279:
Tho, MS.
Footnote 280:
_Sc._ note.
Footnote 281:
_Sc._ cloud; en vne nue, H.
Footnote 282:
_Sc._ with; surprendre ou fait, H.
Footnote 283:
_Sc._ watched; la gaitoit, H.
Footnote 284:
_Sc._ through.
Footnote 285:
_Sc._ Pyrrhus.
Footnote 286:
Which, MS.; vn sage, H.
Footnote 287:
_Sc._ gods; les dieux, H.
Footnote 288:
A wrong translation; tres louable chose est seruir dieu et sainctifier
ses sains, H.; tous ses sens humains, G. de Tign.
Footnote 289:
Atropos, one of the Fates, here represented as masculine; a Atropos et
a son dart, H.
Footnote 290:
Tout crestien, H.
Footnote 291:
The, MS.; la prouision, H.
Footnote 292:
Bellerophon, whose story is here confused with that of Hippolytus by
making Anteia his stepmother.
Footnote 293:
Il mieulx ama eslire la mort, H.
Footnote 294:
Decre, MS.; latrie, H.; latria, Wyer; eo ritu ac servitute quæ græce
λατρεία dicitur et uni vero Deo debetur, Aug. de Civitate Dei, vi.
præf. (Migne, xli. 173).
Footnote 295:
Matt. iv. 10.
Footnote 296:
Memnon, the Ethiopian, whose father Tithonus was half-brother to
Priam, being son of Laomedon by a different mother.
Footnote 297:
Leust occis, H.
Footnote 298:
Trwee, MS.
Footnote 299:
“Rabion” in the “Dicta Philosophorum” (Add. MS. 16,906, f. 9b), where
the sentence is “Multiplica amicos qui sunt medicamina animarum.” The
Museum MSS. of G. de Tignonville’s French version and of the English
versions of Earl Rivers and Scrope read “Sabion” or “Zabion.”
Footnote 300:
_Cf._ Sermo clxxx. (Migne, xxxviii. 972).
Footnote 301:
_Sc._ false.
Footnote 302:
Exod. xx. 7.
Footnote 303:
_Sc._ menacings; de grant menace, nyce et fole, H.
Footnote 304:
Et en Leomedon te mire, H.
Footnote 305:
Enuoya messages laidement congeer, H. The word “bostus” is apparently
connected with “bost, boast,” meaning “boastful” or “threatening.”
Footnote 306:
_Sc._ well weighed; moult pesee, H.
Footnote 307:
Et brisier commandement soit autressi oultrecuidance, H.
Footnote 308:
Isai. i. 16, 17.
Footnote 309:
Les palais des parens, H.
Footnote 310:
_Sc._ cracked; creuee, H.
Footnote 311:
_Sc._ brightness; la leur, H.
Footnote 312:
Le mordant de sa ceinture ficha par la creueure, H.
Footnote 313:
Vn morier blanc, H., _sc._ a white mulberry, _cf._ Arbor ibi, niveis
uberrima pomis, Ardua morus, erat, Ovid, Met. iv. 89.
Footnote 314:
These words are at the bottom of f. 34b, after which there is a lacuna
of a whole quire. The story in H. goes on “le lyon qui sus ot vomy
lentraille dune beste quil ot deuouree. Oultre mesure fu grande la
douleur de Piramus, qui cuida samie deuouree des fieres bestes; donc
apres moult piteux reclaims soccist de son espee. Tisbee sailli du
buisson, mais quant elle entent les sanglos de son ami qui mouroit et
elle voit lespee et le sanc, adonc par grant douleur sus son ami chay,
qui a elle parler ne pot, et apres plusieurs grans plains, regrais et
pasmoisons soccist de la mesmes espee.” The mythological personages
dealt with in the missing pages are Æsculapius, Achilles, Busiris,
Leander, Helen, Aurora, Pasiphae, Adrastus, Cupid, Corinis, and Juno.
Footnote 315:
The preceding “texte” and “glose” in H. are as follows:—
De Iuno ia trop ne te chaille,
Se le noyel mieulx que leschaille
Donneur desires a auoir,
Car mieulx vault proece quauoir.
Iuno est la deesse dauoir selon les fables des poetes, et pour ce que
auoir et richece couuient auoir et acquerir a grant soing et traueil
et que tel soing peut destourner a honneur acquerre et comme honneur
et vaillance soit plus louable que richeces de tant comme la noyel
vault mieulx que leschaille, _etc._
Footnote 316:
Slelle, MS.
Footnote 317:
_Sc._ one hump on the back.
Footnote 318:
Matt. xix. 24.
Footnote 319:
Amphiaraus, hero and seer, joint king of Argos with Adrastus, whose
sister Eriphyle he married. Against his own opinion he was induced by
his wife to join the expedition of the Seven against Thebes.
Footnote 320:
_Sc._ Solon, but the sentence is not under his name in the “Dicta
Philosophorum.”
Footnote 321:
What St. Gregory really says is, “Sicut carni vestræ, ne deficiat,
cibos quotidie præbetis, sic mentis vestræ quotidiana alimenta bona
sunt opera. Cibo corpus pascitur, pio opere spiritus nutriatur,” Hom.
v. in Evang. (Migne, lxxvi. 1092).
Footnote 322:
Worde ye here the which, MS.
Footnote 323:
Matt. iv. 4.
Footnote 324:
See p. 19.
Footnote 325:
Ne chose dont vn puist _presumer_ folie, H.
Footnote 326:
_Sc._ discretion; lente de parler, H.
Footnote 327:
Couuercle, H.
Footnote 328:
Fro, MS.; qui garde sa lengue il garde son ame, car la mort et la vie
sont en la puissance de la lengue, H.
Footnote 329:
Ps. xxxiii. 14.
Footnote 330:
The “texte” in H. is:—
Croy la corneille et son conseil.
Jamais ne soyes en esueil
De male nouuelle apporter;
Le plus seur est sen depporter.
Footnote 331:
He, MS.
Footnote 332:
Hym, MS.
Footnote 333:
Literally translated, this sentence should read: “But she (the crow)
dissuaded him from going by giving him an example of herself, who for
a like case had been driven from the house of Pallas,” etc. See Ovid,
Met. ii. 542.
Footnote 334:
Se espart, H.
Footnote 335:
Prov. ii. 10, 11.
Footnote 336:
Which, MS.
Footnote 337:
Ganymedes was son of Tros and brother of Ilus and Assaracus. His
well-known story is here confused with that of Hyacinthus, who was
accidentally killed in a game of discus with Apollo (Ovid, Met. x.
184).
Footnote 338:
Prov. xxiv. 6.
Footnote 339:
_Sc._ sheep.
Footnote 340:
_Sc._ wholly; du tout, H.
Footnote 341:
Descongnoissant et desloyaulx a celle qui trop de bien lui ot fait, H.
Footnote 342:
Comme vn vent sec, H.
Footnote 343:
Sap. xvi. 29.
Footnote 344:
Hym, MS.; ne la regardes, H.
Footnote 345:
Perseus, H.
Footnote 346:
Elsewhere it is Poseidon who was Medusa’s lover—Hanc pelagi rector
templo vitiasse Minervæ Dicitur (Ovid, Met. iv. 797). Her hair alone
was changed into serpents.
Footnote 347:
His his, MS.
Footnote 348:
“Holy chirche” is the translator’s addition, not being in H.
Footnote 349:
Le pouoir de plus mal faire, H.
Footnote 350:
He holde, MS.
Footnote 351:
_Sc._ shield.
Footnote 352:
Crisostome, H. and other Fr. MSS.
Footnote 353:
Comme cest impossible que le feu arde en leaue, aussi est ce
impossible que compunccion, _etc._, H. The translator’s omission of
the words in brackets was no doubt due to the repetition of
“impossible que.”
Footnote 354:
Ps. cxxv. (cxxvi.) 5. This is the only instance in which the quotation
at the end of an allegory is filled in.
Footnote 355:
Es liens Vulcanus et surpris, H.
Footnote 356:
That þat, MS.
Footnote 357:
ii^o (_sc._ two, deux), MS.; ala querre les autres dieux, H.
Footnote 358:
Que tel sen rioit, qui bien voulsist en semblable meffait estre
encheut, H.
Footnote 359:
Darguemie, _sc._ alchemy, H.
Footnote 360:
Read “But to our purpose it seith.” The translator has misread “Mais”
in the original as “Mars”; mais a nostre propos veult dire, H.
Footnote 361:
Que en tel cas ne soit surpris par oubli, H.
Footnote 362:
_Sc._ love.
Footnote 363:
Myght, MS.
Footnote 364:
Coniecture, H.
Footnote 365:
1 Pet. v. 8.
Footnote 366:
Tomyris, queen, not of the Amazons or “Femeny,” but of the Scythian
Massagetæ (Herod. i. 205).
Footnote 367:
Despris, _sc._ mépris, H.
Footnote 368:
_Sc._ ambushments.
Footnote 369:
Ne hayr, H.
Footnote 370:
De coenobiorum institutis, xii. 31 (Migne. xlix. 472).
Footnote 371:
Eccl. iii. 20.
Footnote 372:
Ne laisses ton sens _au_orter, H.
Footnote 373:
Sanuie (_sc._ s’ennuie) tost, H.
Footnote 374:
Prov. xxix. 15, somewhat corrupted in H.
Footnote 375:
_Sc._ mad, furious; du geant enragez, H.
Footnote 376:
The story was that Acis, son of Faunus, was beloved by the nymph
Galatea, and that the Cyclop Polyphemus, furious with jealousy,
crushed him beneath a huge rock (Ovid, Met. xiii. 750).
Footnote 377:
Qui Acis estoit nommez, H. The mistranslation in the text is
inexplicable.
Footnote 378:
Adonc fu [le geant] surpris de soubdaine rage et tellement escroula la
roche que tout en fu Axis acrauentez (_sc._ ecrasé, brisé), H.
Footnote 379:
Nymphe, H.
Footnote 380:
Se ficha en la mer, H.
Footnote 381:
Sap. v. 9.
Footnote 382:
Peleus, to whose marriage with Thetis all the gods were invited except
Eris or Discord.
Footnote 383:
For his judgment see below, p. 83.
Footnote 384:
_Sc._ then; adonc, H.
Footnote 385:
_Sc._ weaning; a qui il cuidoit estre filz, H.
Footnote 386:
Qui conduisoit les dames, H.
Footnote 387:
_Sc._ hates; ou croiscent les haynes, H.
Footnote 388:
Cassiodore sus le Psaultier, H.
Footnote 389:
Rom. xiii. 13.
Footnote 390:
Iff thou aniy, MS.; _Sc._ tu las a qui que soit fait, H.
Footnote 391:
See above, p. 51.
Footnote 392:
Lawde, MS.
Footnote 393:
_Sc._ avenged.
Footnote 394:
Joel ii. 13.
Footnote 395:
Damours affoles, H.
Footnote 396:
Semele, whom Hera deceived in the form of her old nurse Beroe (Ovid,
Met. iii. 260).
Footnote 397:
Ne perceyued, MS. The translator misunderstood the original, _cf._
dist a celle, qui garde ne sen prenoit de la deceuance, que de rien ne
sestoit ancore apperceue de lamour, mais quant elle seroit auecques
lui, _etc._, H.
Footnote 398:
La voulsist accoller, H.
Footnote 399:
Of hir, MS.; de feu, H.
Footnote 400:
Ou liure des brebis, H., _Sc._ Sermo xlvii. de ovibus, in Ezech.
xxxiv. 17–31 (Migne, xxxviii. 303).
Footnote 401:
A noz freres enfermes, H.; infirmo fratri, St. Aug.
Footnote 402:
Tit. ii. 7.
Footnote 403:
Prov. xxxi. 27.
Footnote 404:
Thereoff, MS.
Footnote 405:
Arachne, who challenged Athena to compete with her in weaving and was
changed by the goddess into a spider (Ovid, Met. vi. 1–145).
Footnote 406:
The, MS.
Footnote 407:
Sap. v. 8.
Footnote 408:
_Sc._ Adonis.
Footnote 409:
Vn damoisel moult cointe, H.
Footnote 410:
According to the “Dicta Philosophorum” Sedechias “primus fuit per quem
nutu Dei lex precepta fuit et sapientia intellecta” (Add. MS. 16,906,
f. 1).
Footnote 411:
2 Pet. ii. 19.
Footnote 412:
Apoc. xiii. 7.
Footnote 413:
De lagait (l’agait, _sc._ ruse, artifice), H. The translator seems to
have read “la gent.”
Footnote 414:
Luke xi. 21.
Footnote 415:
To follow? Dinstrumens _suiure_ nas mestier, H.
Footnote 416:
_Sc._ running; courans, H.
Footnote 417:
_Sc._ fierce; fiers, H.
Footnote 418:
Et moins sent les molestes dauarice qui ne voit point les riches du
monde, H.
Footnote 419:
Ps. ci. 8.
Footnote 420:
Apulia and Calabria.
Footnote 421:
This is an assumption from the fact that the Greek colonies of South
Italy had the name of Magna Græcia. Hellas originally was the district
of Phthiotis in Thessaly, where the Myrmidones dwelt.
Footnote 422:
Especes, H.; quatuor sunt species quibus omnis tumor arrogantium
demonstratur, S. Greg. Moralia, xxiii. 6 (Migne, lxxvi. 258).
Footnote 423:
Prov. viii. 13.
Footnote 424:
Actæon, changed into a stag by Artemis (Ovid, Met. iii. 155).
Footnote 425:
Nymphes, H.
Footnote 426:
Ignorence, H., and so the “Dis des Philosophes.”
Footnote 427:
Matt. iii. 2.
Footnote 428:
See above, p. 74.
Footnote 429:
Either Charon is meant, or Acheron, as the eponym of the river of
Hades so named.
Footnote 430:
Miraculeuse ne merueillable qui est appelle tempter Dieu, H.
Footnote 431:
Jas. iv. 3.
Footnote 432:
_Sc._ assay, test; Lessay con fist a Achilles, H.
Footnote 433:
En labbaye la deesse Vesta, H.
Footnote 434:
Pyrrhus, his son by Deidameia, daughter of Lycomedes of Scyros.
Footnote 435:
Aneles, guimphes, conroyes et de tous ioyaulx, H.; quayntyses, prety
japes and jewelles, Wyer.
Footnote 436:
Make, MS.
Footnote 437:
Cointeries mignotes, H.
Footnote 438:
Leginon, H.; Longinon, Add. MS. 16,906, f. 51b; Loginon, Roy. MS. 19
B. iv. f. 60.
Footnote 439:
Le vaillant nest conqneu que en guerre, G. de Tign. (Roy. MS. 19 B.
iv. f. 64).
Footnote 440:
Attendent la gloire pardurable en loyer, H.
Footnote 441:
2 Paralip. xv. 7.
Footnote 442:
_Sc._ fairies; vne nymphe, H.
Footnote 443:
The letters in brackets have been torn away with the edge of the leaf.
Footnote 444:
Texillus, Dicta Phil. (Add. MS. 16,906, f. 56).
Footnote 445:
1 Joh. ii. 15.
Footnote 446:
_Sc._ knowledge; de sauoir, H.
Footnote 447:
_Sc._ riches; dauoir, H.
Footnote 448:
See above, p. 66.
Footnote 449:
_Sc._ pass, surpass.
Footnote 450:
Ioliuete, H.
Footnote 451:
Omitted in MS.; les Manichees, H.
Footnote 452:
It is þerfor it is, MS.
Footnote 453:
Matt. vii. 1, 2; ut non judicemini, Vulg.
Footnote 454:
_Sc._ snares; les tours de fortune sont comme engins, H.
Footnote 455:
_Sc._ Boethius; Boece, H.
Footnote 456:
Les quieulx addicions ne prestent point les choses ou les mondains
mettent leur felicite, H.
Footnote 457:
Isai. iii. 12.
Footnote 458:
_Sic_, ? tasteth; gouster, H.
Footnote 459:
Luke x. 42.
Footnote 460:
Cephalus, who killed his wife Procris in the way described (Ovid, Met.
vii. 836).
Footnote 461:
Glauellot, H.
Footnote 462:
Matt. vii. 3.
Footnote 463:
1 Cor. x. 13.
Footnote 464:
Au dieu qui dort et fait songer, H.
Footnote 465:
That may propirly that may speke, MS.; qui proprement en puisse parler
quoyque les expositeurs en dient, H.
Footnote 466:
Tyme, MS.
Footnote 467:
Eccl. ii. 4.
Footnote 468:
Alcyone, or Halcyone, wife of Ceyx, whose story is in Ovid, Met. xi.
410.
Footnote 469:
For, MS.
Footnote 470:
Dedens la nef se gita, H.
Footnote 471:
Colus, MS.
Footnote 472:
The fable was that for seven days before and after the winter
solstice, when the Halcyon was breeding, the sea remained calm.
Footnote 473:
See the “Dis des Philosophes” (Roy. MS. 19 B. iv. f. 60).
Footnote 474:
Prov. iii. 21, 22.
Footnote 475:
_Sc._ Trust.
Footnote 476:
Hesione, whom Hercules rescued when she was exposed by command of an
oracle to be devoured by a sea monster, and whom he gave to Telamon
Ajax on being defrauded of his promised reward by her father Laomedon
(Ovid, Met. xi. 211).
Footnote 477:
Thelamon Ayaulx, H.
Footnote 478:
_Sc._ through.
Footnote 479:
Væ tibi, terra, cujus rex puer est, Vulg. (Eccles x. 16).
Footnote 480:
Plus moleste, H.
Footnote 481:
Sap. x. 5.
Footnote 482:
Et empires, H.
Footnote 483:
Calchas was not a Trojan, but a son of Thestor of Mycenæ or Megara and
the foremost soothsayer on the Greek side. Christine de Pisan or her
authority seems to have misunderstood Dares Phrygius, ch. 15.
Footnote 484:
_Sc._ Apollo; Apollin, H.
Footnote 485:
_Sc._ subtle.
Footnote 486:
2 Tim. iii. 2, 4, with omissions.
Footnote 487:
_Sc._ Hermaphroditus (Ovid, Met. iv. 285 sq).
Footnote 488:
A Hermofrodicus te mire, H.
Footnote 489:
The nymph of the well Salmacis; vne nimphe, H.
Footnote 490:
A la fontaine de Salmacis, H.
Footnote 491:
Lui prist talent de soy baigner, H.
Footnote 492:
_Sc._ sexes; qui ii. sexes auoit, H.
Footnote 493:
Darquemie, _sc._ alchemy, H.
Footnote 494:
Ghadely, MS.
Footnote 495:
Leurs ficcions, H.
Footnote 496:
Men, MS.
Footnote 497:
Isai. xxxv. 3.
Footnote 498:
Yen (_sc._ eyes) of yowre, MS.
Footnote 499:
Lenterine face, H. (enterin, _sc._ entier, complet, Godefroy, _s.v._).
Footnote 500:
_Sc._ how much.
Footnote 501:
La pouons nous veoir nostre bel, la pouons nous veoir nostre lait, la
pouons nous veoir combien nous prouffitons et combien nous sommes
loings de prouffiter, H.
Footnote 502:
Joh. v. 39.
Footnote 503:
Gard toy Briseyda nacointier, H. The change is probably due to
Chaucer’s “Troylus and Cryseyde.”
Footnote 504:
Cointe et vague et attrayant, H.
Footnote 505:
Of the, MS.
Footnote 506:
_Sc._ wholly?; du tout, H.
Footnote 507:
1 Cor. i. 31.
Footnote 508:
_Sc._ two.
Footnote 509:
Or, MS. The passage is confused, _cf._ que tout homme qui a occis ou
meffait au loyal compaignon dun autre que le compaignon en fera la
vengence, H.
Footnote 510:
Madarge, H.; Magdargis, Add. MS. 16,906, f. 55b; Macdarge, Roy. MS. 19
B. iv. f. 65. The “dit” as given by G. de Tignonville in the
last-named MS. is “En quelque lieu que tu soyes auecques ton
enmemi .... fay touz iours bon guet; ia soit ce que tu soyes le plus
fort et plus puissant, si doys tu trauaillier a faire la paix.”
Footnote 511:
_Sc._ though.
Footnote 512:
_Sc._ ought.
Footnote 513:
This is not among Solon’s sayings in the “Dis des Philosophes.”
Footnote 514:
Ephes. vi. 11.
Footnote 515:
His, MS., both here and in the next line.
Footnote 516:
_Sc._ Narcissus; Narcisus, H. See the story in Ovid, Met. iii. 356 sq.
Footnote 517:
_Cf._ qui par grant necessite requiert autrui; la voix qui est
demouree, cest que de gens souffraiteux est il assez demoure ne ilz ne
peuent parler fors apres autrui, H.
Footnote 518:
The fourth philosopher in the “Dicta”; Salquin, Add. MS. 16,906, f.
7b; Zaqualkin, Roy. MS. 19 B. iv. f. 10b.
Footnote 519:
To helpe, MS.
Footnote 520:
Prov. xxii. 9.
Footnote 521:
_Sc._ Daphne (Ovid, Met. i. 452 sq.); Damne, H.
Footnote 522:
To theyme, MS.; ou temps, H.
Footnote 523:
_Sc._ how.
Footnote 524:
An omission by homœoteleuton; _cf._ estre tous iours present aux
ordres des anges auec les benois esperis assister a la gloire du
conditeur, regarder le present visage, _etc._, H. The quotation is
from Hom. xxxvii. in Evang. (Migne, lxxvi. 1275).
Footnote 525:
Psal. lxxxvi. 3.
Footnote 526:
_Sc._ Andromache’s.
Footnote 527:
Petite paille, H.
Footnote 528:
La brusle du feu de sa soubtille circonspeccion, H.
Footnote 529:
1 Thess. v. 19.
Footnote 530:
Ninus, H.
Footnote 531:
_Sc._ Nimrod.
Footnote 532:
Le roy Ninus, H.
Footnote 533:
De Singularitate Clericorum (Migne, iv. 837). The Latin text is
somewhat loosely rendered.
Footnote 534:
Cest vne sotte fiance, H.; adversaria est confidentia, St. Aug.
Footnote 535:
Estre sauf entre les morsures, H.
Footnote 536:
And—vnhurte, not in H. or Lat.
Footnote 537:
_Sc._ laugheth; rit, H.
Footnote 538:
Psal. xxxvi. 3; Bonum est confidere in Domino, _etc._ (Psal. cxvii.
8), H.
Footnote 539:
Ce sera quant le roy Priant ne croiras, qui tira priant, H.
Footnote 540:
See above, p. 100.
Footnote 541:
Shepe, MS.
Footnote 542:
_Sc._ Othea; he, MS., both here and a few words later on.
Footnote 543:
Sa mort, H.
Footnote 544:
Sermo de conversione ad clericos, ch. viii. (Migne, clxxxii. 843).
Footnote 545:
En espies, H.; auxpiez, Roy. MSS. 14 E. ii. f. 327, 17 E. iv. f. 313;
adolescentibus in insidiis est, St. Bern.
Footnote 546:
Eccl. xiv. 12; tardabit, H.
Footnote 547:
Encor te vueil ie faire sage, H.
Footnote 548:
? Stroke; le coup de vne sayette, H. and G. de Tign.
Footnote 549:
Qui met auenir, H.; qui meut a venir, G. de Tign (Roy. MS. 19 B. iv.
f. 7b).
Footnote 550:
Matt. vi. 6.
Footnote 551:
The Politenes of Benoît de Ste. Maure (l. 16105) and Guido delle
Colonne.
Footnote 552:
Puit estre nuisible, H.
Footnote 553:
Couuoitise desordenee, H.
Footnote 554:
Dit Ygnocence ou liure de la vilte de condicion humaine, H. The
quotation is from Pope Innocent III., “De contemptu mundi,” ii. 6
(Migne, ccxvii. 719).
Footnote 555:
Sont ii. sancsues, H.; sanguisugæ, Innoc., quoting Prov. xxx. 15.
Wyer’s version rightly has “horse-leeches”; and the reading
“sauce-makers” is inexplicable.
Footnote 556:
Tim. vi. 10.
Footnote 557:
A luniversaire (_sc._ l’anniversaire) du chief de lan des obseques de
Hector, H.; vnyuersarie, Wyer.
Footnote 558:
Amer, H.
Footnote 559:
In ep. Joannis ad Parthos tract. ii. (Migne, xxxv. 1994).
Footnote 560:
Et sa concupiscence, H.
Footnote 561:
Amer, H.
Footnote 562:
1 Ep. Joh. ii. 15.
Footnote 563:
Perciez doultre en oultre, H.
Footnote 564:
_Sc._ Augustine.
Footnote 565:
Susde, MS.; ne nul en sa force ne se doit fyer, H.
Footnote 566:
2 Cor. iii. 4, 5; tanquam ex nobis, H.
Footnote 567:
Lenditement, H.; exhortacion, Wyer.
Footnote 568:
Des mauuais, H.; Barat est le cappitaine des mauuoys et ire est son
gouuerneur, G. de Tign. (Roy. MS. 19 B. iv. f. 39).
Footnote 569:
iii. (les, H.) inconueniencees, MS.
Footnote 570:
_Sc._ deny; reyne, MS.; renyer, H.
Footnote 571:
Prov. iv. 15.
Footnote 572:
Paix par faintise, H.
Footnote 573:
Sa mauuaistie, H.
Footnote 574:
Psal. xxi. 26.
Footnote 575:
So H. and other MSS.; perhaps a corruption for Thyre or Tyre.
Footnote 576:
_Sc._ Ptolemy; Ptholomee, H.
Footnote 577:
Apoc. xviii. 7.
Footnote 578:
_Sc._ knights.
Footnote 579:
_Sc._ as he weaned to have returned; si comme il cuidoit retourner, H.
Footnote 580:
_Sc._ wholly.
Footnote 581:
Louez, H.; loe, G. de Tign. (Roy. MS. 19 B. iv. f. 44b); lawded ne
alowed, Wyer.
Footnote 582:
Moralia, xv. 6 (Migne, lxxv. 1084).
Footnote 583:
Matt. xxiii. 27.
Footnote 584:
_Sc._ sodden; le ble cuit, H. For the same story of Ino see above, p.
29.
Footnote 585:
Frustra sibi de infirmitate vel ignorantia blandiuntur, qui ut
liberius peccent libenter ignorant vel infirmantur, Bern. de Gradibus
Humilitatis, cap. vi. (Migne, clxxxii. 951).
Footnote 586:
There is an omission here, _cf._ ou par negligence de les sauoir ou
par parece de les demander ou par honte de les enquerir, H.
Footnote 587:
1 Cor. xiv. 38.
Footnote 588:
Si ne soient de toy despites, H.
Footnote 589:
This story is from the “Aurea Legenda” of Jacobus de Voragine with
slight variations (ed. Graesse, 1846, p. 44).
Footnote 590:
De quelconques personne que ilz soient dis, H.
Footnote 591:
Hugh de St. Victor, Eruditionis didascalicæ libri vii. (Migne, clxxvi.
739).
Footnote 592:
Mais que cest que il dit, H.
Footnote 593:
Eccl. iii. 31. H. has the colophon, “Explicit lepistre Othea.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Table of Contents added by transcriber.
2. The #ERRATA# corrections were incorporated in the text.
3. There was no Chapter IL in the source.
4. Some sidenote numbers were missing in the source, for example “f.
15”.
5. P. 10, changed “desiderüs” to “desideriis”.
6. P. 41, changed “sow e” to “sowle”.
7. P. 47, is missing footnote 2.
8. P. 62, added an anchor for footnote 7.
9. P. 65, changed “seythyt ayens God and enprideth the selfe. That is
the which dispoilleth Paradyse and clothit hell and voydeth the
valu of the blode of Cryst Jhesu and submyttyth the worlde to the
tharledom of the seende” to “feythyt ayens God and enprideth the
selfe. That is the which dispoilleth Paradyse and clothit hell and
voydeth the valu of the blode of Cryst Jhesu and submyttyth the
worlde to the tharledom of the feend”.
10. Silently corrected typographical errors.
11. Except as noted, retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain
spellings as printed.
12. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together
at the end of the last chapter.
13. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
14. Superscripts are denoted by a caret before a single superscripted
characters enclosed in curly braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The epistle of Othea to Hector - or The boke of knyghthode" ***
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