the néedle beholde alwayes the north and the other the south He that firste founde oute the vse of this stone was named Flauius but the first that wrote of his vertue was Albertus Magnus Aristotle knewe well that it was of a nature attractiue and coulde drawe yron vnto it but yet he was ignoraunt to vse it in the Arte of Nauigation for if he had vnderstoode so farre of it he had preuented a numbre of miserable shipwracks and daungers of sea which ouerwhelmed his countreymeÌ„ for want of direction by vertue of this stone Neither was it without cause that Plinie giuing singular estimation to this stone did forme his cruell complaints against nature in that she was not onely contente to gyue a voyce vnto rocks to send or returne certain cries and calles in maner of an Eccho but also to giue feelyng motion and hands to stones as to the Adamant wherwith he smelleth and holdeth yron and séemeth to be iealous when any offereth to take it from him he not only allureth yron and holdeth it when he hath it but also is contented to imparte and transferre hys vertue to any thyng that toucheth it which hath not bene onely an experience among the prophane but Saint Augustine hym selfe confesseth to haue seene the Adamant drawe vnto it a ryng of yron whiche being rubbed or touched with the Adamant drew another ring and so the thirde drew the fourth and so consequently in suche number as he made a large coller of rings in the forme of a chaine by the only ayde and touche of thys stone such is his propretie and such his wonderful vertue whiche also hath bene verified by many familiar experiences and chiefly by a late triall whiche I sawe in Fraunce in this sorte There was a knife layd vpon a square thick table and vnderneath the bourde was helde in a mans hande a piece of an excellent good Adamant whose vertue piercing thorough the table that was betwene it and the mettall made the knife moue turne alone to the great wonder of the assistantes These propreties of the Adamant be common therefore we will syft out of it a more secrete wonder whyche wyth the profite may also bring pleasure to the Reader There is nowe a dayes a kinde of Adamant which draweth vnto it fleshe and the same so strongly that it hath power to knit and tie together two mouthes of contrary persons and drawe the hearte of a man out of hys body withoute offendyng any parte of hym wyth thys further propretie that yf the poynte of a néedle be touched or tempered wyth it it pierceth thorowe all the partes of the bodye wythoute doyng any harme whyche woulde not séeme credible were it not that Experience dyd warraunt it wyth greate wonder Hieronymus Cardanus writeth that a Physition of Tours called Laurentius Crascus had of this stone promised by the meane of the same to penetrate any fleshe wythoute griefe or sorrowe whiche Cardanus did eyther doubte or lightly beléeue tyll the experience assured the effect for he rubbed a néedle with this Adamant then put it thorough his arme where he let it remaine without any sorow many days after but that which maketh this experience and vertue of the Adamant more famous is that he respected neither veins nor sinews but thrust in his néedles or yroÌ„s indifferently without sparyng any place This Adamant which he had excéeded not the bignesse of a beane and was of colour like yron distinct of veynes and peysing aboute the weight of .xij. graines of corne By this Admant many people were deceyued like as also it was the occasion to entertain an errour amongst many persons which myne author confesseth to haue séene by experience about .xv or xvj yeres past being in the vniuersitie of Poyctiers whether came in great pomp a stranger naming him self to be a Greeke borne who in the presence of the people gaue him self many and great blowes with a dagger both vpon his thighes armes almost euery part of his body which being rubbed with a certain oyle which he called the oyle of Balsamyn it did so refresh consolidate his hurts as if the yron had neuer touched theÌ„ Ther is also at this day in Italy one Alexander of Verona who practised the like artificial experience with his seruaÌ„ts who pinched them in the presence of the people with pinsers tongs daggers and other tormenting instruments and that with such horrour that it greued the eyes of the assistants and then rubbing theyr woundes with a certaine oyle he made them hole agayne presently which so abused the simplicitie of the assistants that they bought of his oyle which he assured to be as profitable to all kinde of diseases what soeuer whiche was suche a gaine to him that there scaped no daye wherein he gat not tenne or twelue crownes aboue his hire for the cure of those that were sicke The mysterie whereof dyd driue Cardanus into such a wonder that he was very curious to searche the cause and falling for that matter into an intricate Labyrinth of Philosophie he coulde not fynde nor giue any other reason of it than that the people were enchaunted touching the oyle whiche he solde and wherwith he fained to heale his seruant being hurt he confessed it was a fiction and a thing nothing worth for that those that bought it of him coulde do no cure on themselues or any other And now to drawe to ende and resolution of al these things it is moste like that this Greeke and Alexander of Verona and all the rest that haue bene seene to cutte and teare their flesh in peces in sundry parts of the world dyd not heale them by eyther theyr oyles or balmes as they fayne but it is more likely they rubbe their daggers pinsers and instrumentes wherewith they hurte them wyth this seconde kynde of Adamant the same hauyng a certayne secrete and hydden vertue to consolidate that part that is hurt and to resist all sorow and griefe in the wounde wherein for a more credite I commende you to the authoritie of Plaudanus in his seconde Booke De Secretis orbâ—â— rerum miraculis ¶ Wonders of certaine Princesses being committed to the flames vniustly accused who were deliuered by vertue of their innocencie CHAP. xvij IT is no newe thyng neither chauÌ„ceth it often that the innocent creatures coulde not be endomaged by the flames of fire as it is verified in many noble persons found and spoken of in the holy Scriptures But it is a straunge thing at these days wherin sinne so aboundeth and we seldome sée suche miracles that such lyke shoulde happen amongst vs. For as Polydorus Vergilius witnesseth in the eyght boke of his histories of England and as others write before his time makyng mention of one Goodwyn prince of Englande who accused vniustly of many vices Emnia mother to Edward the seconde King of England and wrought therin so much by his false suggestions accusations that the Kyng hir
vnto hir who had so greuously tormented hym wherin she shewed hir selfe very liberall and bountifull seing that the Historians write that all the treasures which she had gathered by little and little duryng all hir life of those whiche loued hir was melted and put into that Chaine whiche was of monstrous greatnesse and also kept of hir with great care for the only relief of hir in hir old age if fortune suffred hir to be pinched with pouertie The yong man hauyng thus caught the praie he moste desired went to fynde out Plangon to whome he offered the chaine making hir to vnderstande the liberalitie of his auÌ„cient friend betwéene whoÌ„ neither time nor distance of place nor other sinister accident coulde extinguishe their friendship wherewith Plangon maruelling of the loue and liberalitie of hir companion hauyng a noble heart and not willing to giue place to Bacchide neither in good wil nor bountie sent to hir again hir chaine louyng then more feruently the yong man thaÌ„ she had done at any tyme before and that which is moste wonderfull imparted hir loue to Bacchide being contente the yong man shoulde be common to them bothe Whiche made the Greekes with great admiration to name hir after Pasiphyle Wherin being now so ancred in maters of woÌ„derfull loues we must search the most rare maruellous histories amongst whome I do not remember there haue bene any dames in all the worlde whiche haue demeaned their loue with more greate wonder neither which haue â—â—te a more eternall witnesse to their posteritie of their wanton and lasciuious liues than Lamie Flora and Lays of whome I will write the life according as Pausanias the Greeke and Manilius the Latin haue writen in their bookes entreating of noble louing women But aboue all others I will folow Anthonius of Gueuare Bishop of Monâ—demo in a learned treatise which he hath made of this matter These three Dames haue bene thrée of y e most faire most famous women of the worlde whiche at any time were either borne in Asia or nourished in Europe and of whome the Historiographers haue moste talked and by whome moste Princes haue come to ruine and perdition It is written of them for a wonder that they so well charmed those which loued them that they were neuer lefte of any Prince whiche loued them nor denied at any time anye thing they required further it is written that these .iij. women as they neuer mocked any man so they were not mocked of any The Historians write that these .iij. Courtizans during their life were .iij. of the moste riche Courtizans of the worlde after their decease lefte most great memorie of them for euery of them where they dyed did erecte a great pillour of stones to continue a remembraÌ„ce of them and besides that euery one of them were by Nature beautiful yet had they a further particular gyfte to allure entice their louers to loue theÌ„ The engin wherewith Lamie entrapped hir louers procéeded of regarde for by the drawing of hir eyes she enflamed the beholders Flora wanne hirs by hir wonderful eloquence And Lays allured by hir swéete pleasant hermonie Wherefore the King Demetrius sodainely receiuing y e glaunce of the eye of Lamie was taken in the net and that newe fire in processe of time gained so much ouer him y t he liued not but in hir not only gaue hir all he had but also abandoned his wife Euxonie to followe his Lamie Wherefore Plutarke reciteth in the life of Demetrius that the Athenians hauing gyuen vnto him .xj. talents of siluer to ayde and paye his great armie he made a present of all the saide suÌ„me to his Lamie wherat y e Athenians wer maruellously greued to sée their mony so euil imployed This miserable King Demetrius doated so extremely in the loue of his Lamie that he honored hir as a God swering by hir as he accustomed to do by his Gods till death fortune which cuts asunder the fillet of those delites sends ende to all such enterprises suffred Lamie to die whereupon that poore King felt himself so griped that as some write of him he kissed hir and embraced hir after hir death and not content with this Idolatrie he made hir be buried before one of y e windowes of his house and when any of his friends asked the occasion wherefore he buried hir in that place he aunswered them sighing dipely the law of friendship of Lamie is so stroÌ„gly graffed in my heart that I knowe not wherein to satisfie the loue she bare me the bonde which I owe to hir for y e same if not to put hir in such a place that by viewe therof my poore eyes may bewaile dayly the death of hir and my sorowful harte continually thinke thereof Whereby the dolor sorow that Demetrius had for y e death of Lamie was so great and extreme that all the Philosophers of Athens were to dispute thereof whether of these twoo things were most to be estéemed either the teares sorow which he suffred for hir or the riches which he spent in the obsequies pomps of hir burial Within a yere .ij. monethes after the death of Lamie died King Demetrius The second amorous Dame named Lays spoken of before was the daughter of a great Sacrificatour of the TeÌ„ple of Apollo a maÌ„ so expert in the arte Magicall that he prophecied the perdition of his daughter incontinent after hir natiuitie This Lays as hir companion had a King for hir friende who was the renoumed Pirrhus with whome she went into Italie in the expedition and warres he made against the Romains remaining there a long time in his campe after returned with him from the warres notwithstanding it is written of hir that she neuer gaue hir selfe to one man alone This Lays was so sufficiently furnished with al perfections of beautie and ornaments of Nature that if she would haue bene continent and not common in hir loue there had not bene so constant a Prince in y e world which woulde not haue desired hyr and not denied to perfourme what she had demaunded of him Being returned from Italie into Grece â–ª she remained at Corinthe as Aulus Gelius writeth and there was soughte vnto of many Kings and noble men whome she courted and dandled with such dissimuled sleightes in loue that if hir louers were vnfainedly passioned and burned extremely in the desire of hir beautie she tooke a singular pleasure to smile and ieste at their simplicitie and folly being besides noted for one of the women of the worlde who excéeded the reste in making gayne proffit of hir loue I haue red one wonder of hyr whiche I neuer hearde of in any but in hir that is that she neuer shewed affection to any man neither was she in loue with anye man whiche coulde be knowen This Lays died in y e Citie of Corinthe being of the age of lxxij yeares the death of whome as it
whipped through the streates In like manner the Romains gaue libertie to the husbande of his owne proper aucthoritie to kil the whoremoÌ„ger and his wife if he toke them coÌ„mitting of that abhominable vice Macrin the .xix. Emperour caused al such as were apprehended in adulterie to be broiled quicke who being informed that diuers souldioures had violated their hostesse chamber maide he caused the bellies of two great Beefes to be opened aliue and made the souldioures to be sowed and inclosed therin sauing their heads which appeared out to the end that all men might see them the one talke with the other And Aurelius the .xxix. Emperour being made to vnderstand y t a souldiour of his armie had defloured the wife of his host inuented for him to make him die by a new kind of cruell punishment for he caused two great trees by force to be bowed and plied whereunto the souldioure was tied to y e end that the trées returning to their place might tear and plucke him in pieces Confer these punishmeÌ„ts with those written of before and you shal find no adulterer receiue y e reward of a better hire for in y e sacred historyes â–ª by y e law of Moises they were smoothered murdered and stoned to death S. Paule in his .xiij. to the Hebrues crieth that God wil condemn fornicators and adulterers After in his first boke to the Corinthians and .vj. Chapiter he writeth thus Do not disceiue your selues for neither fornicator Idolatour or adulterour shal not possesse at all the kingdom of God Wherfore amongst the most principall causes that moued God to drowne the world was chiefly this wicked vice of whoredom fiue famous Cities as it is written in the booke of Moyses became ruinous and ouerthrowne for their disordred and wicked liues In the booke of numbers xij kings were hanged and .24000 men killed for comitting of whoredom It is wrytten in Leuiticus xxviij chapiter how the Chananeans were afflicted punished for their whordome wel nigh all the line of Beniamin as you may read in the .xxxix. of the Iudges was afflicted for committing fornication wyth the Leuites wife Diuers greuous punishments were sent vnto Dauid for his whoredom as you may read in the booke of the Kings Salomon for the same cause and committing Idolatrie became reprobate wherefore S. Ieremie the Prophet recompteth very often y e whoremongers and fornicators were the chiefest causers of the destruction of the Citie of Ierusalem Diuers many Realmes by thys detestable vice haue receiued chaunge and alteration become subiect to others Troy the proud became ruinous for the rauishment of Helen In like manner Thebes the populous was afflicted and scourged for y e abusing of Chrisippe and the incest committed by Eclipus The Kings of Rome were extirped banished for the rauishment of Lucrecia Aristotle in the .v â–ª of his politiques sayth that adulterers and fornicatours be the principall and chiefest causers of the ruin and mutation of realmes The King Pausanias so much renoumed in Licaonien who first defiled a maide at Constantinople and after killed hir was aduertised by an Image of his end and destruction A thing very straunge that whoremoÌ„gers should be warned of the paines prepared for them by wicked spirits to their owne confusion which Pausanias proued true for that the Ephores constrained him to die by famine Wherfore if the Histories both sacred and prophane be so fully replenished of grieuous paines cruel punishmeÌ„ts irefull cursings sent by God commonly vpon whoremongers what may then the Sodomites and others loke or hope for who ioyne them selues in the ignominie of God and nature with brute beasts as is most plainly shewed vnto vs by this shameful Historie whose portraict thou mayst beholde in the beginning of this Chapiter of a childe who was conceiued and engendred betwene a woman and a dogge hauing from the nauell vpwards the forme and shape of the mother so well accomplished that nature had not forgotteÌ„ any thing vnperformed and from the nauell downwards it had the forme and figure of the beast who was the father who as Volateranus wryteth was sent to the Pope which raigned at that time there to the end it might be purified and purged Conradus Licostenes writeth a like Historie in hys wonders of a woman which brought forthe in the time of the Emperor Lothairus a childe and a dogge ioyned knit together by the nether partes that is to say from y e rains or tippe of the backe to the haÌ„ches And Celius Rhodiginus in his .xxv. boke and .xxxij. chapiter of his auncient lessons wryteth that there was a Priest called Crathin in Cibaâ—e hauing had the companie of a Goate with whom he vsed this brutal desire and afterwards within a certaine time brought forth a Goat who had the head and shape of a maÌ„ resembling the Priest which was the father but the rest of the body was like the Goat Whereupon S. Paule sayth in the fourth Chapiter to the Ephesians that the plague ordained for whoremongers is that they become blinde and madde after that they be once forsaken of God and will not be reconciled by good and wholesome councel but perseuer still in their wickednesse prouoking therby Gods wrath and indignatioÌ„ against them ¶ A notable complaynt made by a Monstrous man to the Senate of Rome against the tyrannies of a Censour whiche oppressed the poore people of the ryuer of Danube by rigorous exactions CHAP. xxxviij THat great Monarch Marcus Aurelius who was as well a philosopher as an Emperor retiring himselfe into the fields with a great nuÌ„ber of wise men as wel to deceiue certain enuious times of the yeare as to moderate the heate burning of a feuer whiche had vext and troubled hym many dayes with intente not to be idle they began to talke of diuers matters amongest themselues as of the corruption of princes the alteration of common weales and generally of the vniuersall disorder whiche was founde amongest all the states of the worlde wherein after euery man had touched particularly that which seemed good vnto hym it pleased the Emperour to become therein a partie and continuyng the talâ—e he sayd vnto them My frâ—end although eche of you haue very learnedly spoken of the question propouned touchyng the corruption of Princes and publike weales so it is notwithstanding as me seemeth that the originall of that contagious euil procedeth of others as of flatterers which serue rather to feede the affections of Princes and contente their delites than to make them bolde to vtter vnto them the truthe They fill their heads with good words they are ready to claw afore they do itche they lull them a slepe with the harmonie of their false praises and fade them fatte with their owne faults in such sort that I know them at this day whose legs and feete can carie no more neither the force of their bodies hable to sustayne them vprighte neyther their handes sufficiente to write
was broiled it could not be consumed by the fire mennes teeth and the diamont cannot be executed by fire And there springs a certain gumme of the Pine male the which as Theophrastus writeth being rubbed vpon the tables of woodde defendes them from the force of the fire whereof there was sufficient proofe made by Silla with his armie brought against Archelaus who hauing enuironed on all sides a tower of woodde of the sayd Archelaus with the burning flames of fire was not thereby hable to endomage the same which Silla much maruelled at Isidorus and manie others writeth that there was brought into the presence of Pope Alexander a white linnen shirte the which for pleasure admiration he caused to be caste into the fire at such time as the strange Embassadours came to sée hym sometimes leauing the sayd shirte in the fire the space of a daye without any hurte to it but that the same taken from the fire was become thereby more fairer whereof some affirme that the cloth of this shirte was made of the worme which men name Salemander who as Aristotle teacheth liueth in the fire but whether it be true or no I leaue that to the iudgement of those which haue waded further in searching the hidde misteries secretes of nature than I. Albeit I knowe that S. Augustin hath made mentiō in his .xxj. booke named the Citie of God in the .v. chapter of a Lampe which was in the Temple of Venus the which although it were exposed and brought into the winde raine or other weather comming from heauen yet it burned with so muche the more efficacie without consuming hauing neither ayde of oyle or matche But after the saide S. Augustin had by diligent searche sought the maruellous cause of that fire which did not consume he resolued in the ende in this sorte either it must be sayeth he that there is in the saide Lampe some peice of the stone called Abseste growing in Arcadie the which being lighted cannot be quenched or it muste be sayth he that the same Lampe was forged by magicall arte or els that this wonder was deuised by some diuel vnder the name of Venus to the ende not onely thereby to make him selfe worshipped but still to keepe and entertaine the people in the same error wherof as Ludouicus Viues vpon the expositiō of the same chapter which hath heretofore added learned commentes to S. Augustins bookes De ciuitate Dei affirmeth in the same to haue séene in the time of his studie at Paris matches which the fire could not cōsume And for a more proufe thereof it hath bene told recounted in the time of our fathers y t there was opened a sepulcher enclosed in the earth wherin was found a burning Lāpe which had remained lighte without going out y ◠space of foure or v. hundreth yeares as it appeared by inscription or authoritie of time ingraued vpon the stone the same dissoluing into pouder assone as it was toutched which I could confirme by diuers like examples and authorities of proufe aswell auncient as familiar who haue lefte sundrie experiences of diuers things of vertue and force able to resiste the fire like as who dippes or rubbes his hands in the iuyce of Mauue or Mercurial shal neuer be endomaged with the furie of any flame or fire ¶ Wonderfull Histories of the Iewes CHAP. x. THis wicked secte of the Iewes hath from time to time so much disquieted and molested our Christian publike weale that the Historians of our time haue attainted thē in their writing of sondrie misdemeanours and abuses in lyuing that whosoeuer shall reade their cruell blasphemies abhominable execrations which they continually publishe and set forth againste Iesus Christ the Sauiour of all the worlde in a certaine booke common in their Sinagoges which they cal Talmud will iudge the same a cause sufficient to exile abandon them out of all the Prouinces and places where Christe is to be honored For like as these poore people blinded and led in the myst of errour haue not only gone about to defame the name of our Sauiour by their writings but also that whiche is worse they haue moste shamefully trauailed to extirpe and blot out the remembrance of him for euer Euen so in the yeare a thousand a hundred and foure score and in the raigne of king Philip these wicked people in the despite of the passion of Iesus Christe vpon good Friday when they iudged that the Christians were most occupied in celebrating that day they inclosed them selues yearely in a caue where hauing stolne a yong chylde they whipte him crounyng him with thornes makyng him to drinke gall and in the end crucified him vpon a crosse continuing in this sort of cruel doings till the Lorde grudging greatly with the death of so many poore innocents suffred them as thieues to be taken with the déede and after he had caused them to be examined and tormented for the same they confessed that they had vsed this many yeres before murdring a great number of infantes in this sort wherof king Philip being ascertained caused them not only to be chased from his realme but also broiled of them to the number of .lxxx. in a hot burning caudron After that king Philip seing him selfe oppressed with warres and wantyng money to maintaine the same for a better supplie of hys necessitie he for a summe of money payd to him in hande by the said Iewes for their outragious liuing licenced them to return trauail into France But euen as vices be chained togither drawing one another so these wicked people yet smellyng of this first iniurie which they had receyued determined and fully resolued amongst them selues to extirp at one instant the name of Christians destroying thē all by poyson And for a further helpe in these their wicked practises they allied them selues in consorte wyth diuers Lepres by whose succoures and meanes they made an oyntment with a confection of the blood of mans vrine composed with certaine venemous herbes wrapped within a little lynnen cloth tying a stone to the same to make it sinke to the bottome they nightly cast in the sayd infection into all the fountaines and welles of the Christians Whervpon this corruption engendred such cōtagious diseases in all Europe that there died wel nigh the thirde person throughout the same for this plague passing sodainly from citie to citie by the contagiousnesse therof destroyed and smoothered al things bearing life encountring it But after the Lorde had suffred to raigne for a time the tyrannie of these wicked and euil disposed persons he stopped so their cruel enterprises that they passed no further therin And like as in tyme diuers of those welles and fountains became drie by which meanes the impoisoned bags were founde in the bottom of the water Euen so by coniecture and suspition diuers of these malefactors were apprehended and being grieuously tormented confessed the facte whervpon grew such sharp
by order those which onely haue appeared sithens the natiuitie of Iesus Christe together searching the causes of their beginning birthes the life of a man woulde not perfourme the same albeit the most notable worthie to be celebrated of al others is the starre which cōducted the .iij. sage Kings of Perse to the place where Christe was borne the which feared not only the common people but the sighte thereof rauished and brought into admiration the most learned of the worlde for that it againste the Nature of all other starres which drawe them selues from the Orient to the Occident addressed hir course into Palestine which is situated towards y e North causing S. Iohn Chrisostome to thinke that that starre was none of them which we sée in heauen but rather a vertue inuisible figured vnder the forme of a starre Notwithstāding let vs leaue of to discourse of this starre and come to other strange things whiche haue appeared frō heauen whereof Gaguin in his sixte booke of y e gestes of the Kings of Fraunce maketh mention of a very maruellous blasing starre which appeared in the Septentrion in the time of Charles the .vj. In the yeare .597 which was in the yere of the natiuitie of the false impostour Mahomet at Constantinople was séene a hearie Comet so hideous and fearefull that they thought the ende of the worlde approched An other like president was séene a little space before the death of the Emperour Constantin whereof Orseus in his .vij. booke and .ix. Chapter and Eutropeus in his second booke maketh mention that in the yeare that Mitrydates was borne and in the yeare wherein he receiued the Scepter Royall there appeared a Comet from heauen as Iustin and Vincentius write which for the space of xxiiij dayes occupied so well the fourth part of heauen casting such a cleare lighte that the brighnesse of the Sunne was thereby darkened And also in the yeare that Tamburlan the Tirant killed so many men and women in one ouerthrowe of the Turkes that of their heades onely he made a greate wall as Matheolus writeth there appeared a maruellous blasing starre in the Occident whereof Pontanus and Ioachinus Camerarius in his booke de ostentis learnedly writeth Herodian a Greeke authour in the life of the Emperours maketh mention that in the raigne of Commodeus the Emperour they sawe by the space of a whole daye a number of starres shyning as though it had bene night likewise in the yeare that Lewes the stutting Frenche King died they behelde frō heauen shining a great number of starres at nyne of the clocke in the morning wherein as Hieronimus Cardanus in his .xiiij. booke De veritate rerum assureth to haue seen in the yere 1532. the .xj. day of Aprill being at Venise thre sunnes together cleare bright shining Euen so in the yeare that Francis Sforce died after whose deceasse grew greate warres in Italie there was in like maner seen at Rome thrée sunnes which dydde so frighte the people that they fell immediately to prayer thinking the malice and ire of God were kyndled against them for their sinnes Also the Pope Pius second of that name who was called before he receiued that dignitie Aeneas Siluius who died in the yere 460. writeth in his description of Europe the .liiij. chap. that in the sixt yere after the Iubile there was séene amongest them of Sienne and Florence twentie cloudes in the ayre who being stirred of the wyndes fought one against another euery one in his ranke reculing and approching according to the order and maner of battaill and during the conflicte of these cloudes the winde was not vnoccupied in dispoiling battering brusing and breaking trées houses and rockes besides lifting of men and beastes into the ayre The antiquitie of time cannot reporte or make mention of a more wonder in the aire than of a horrible Comet of the colour of bloude which appeared in the West the eleuenth day of October in the yeare 1527. being so wonderfull and fearefull that it engendred so greate terrour to the common sorte that diuers not onely died with the sighte but others fell into strange and miserable maladies This strange Comet was séene of manie thousand continuing the space of an houre and a quarter and in the ende began to bring hir selfe to the side of the sunne after drawing towards the Midy the Occident and the Septentrion appearing to be of an excessiue length and of the colour of bloud there was séene in y e height of the Comet the Character and figure of the stumpe of an arme holding a greate sworde in his hande as he woulde haue striken about the pointe of the said sword were thrée starres but that which was right vpon the pointe was more cleare and brighte than the others on the other twoo sides of the beames of this Comet they sawe a greate number of hatchettes kniues swordes of the colour of bloud about the whiche were a great number of humaine faces very hideous with their beardes and haire stirring as may bee seene before figured Shortely after y e viewe of this hideous wonderful Planet all the parties of Europe were welnigh bathed in humaine bloude ▪ so muche preuailed the inuasion of the Turckes besides other hurtes which Italie receiued by the Lord of Bourbon when he committed Rome to sacke dying at the same instant like as Petrus Creuserus Iohn Litchber excellent Astrologians interpret by writing the signification of this wonderfull Planet Euen so for that we haue promised in the induction of our worke to shewe the causes beginnings of these wonders it is therfore now requisite to serch more narrowly the matter and to decide the question so often debated amongest the Auncients and learned Philosophers These fantasticall figures as dragons flames Comets other like of diuers formes which are séene so often in the Element according to the opiniōs of many wise men do giue to vnderstande foretel or shew many things that shal and do happen as Albumazar Dorotheus Paulus Alexādrinus Ephestion Maternus ▪ Aomar Thebith Alkindus Paulus Manlius Alberanger and generally the most part of the anciēt Greekes Hebrues Caldees Arabec and Egiptians who haue written and attributed so muche to the starres and their influence that they haue assured the moste parte of the humaine actions to depende of the celestiall constellations Whereof Cicero in his first booke De fato◠seemes to fauour them muche when he affirmeth darckely ▪ that those whiche are borne vnder the Planet De Canis shall not be drowned In like maner Faber Stapulensis in his Paraphrase of Metheores maketh mention that the Commettes whiche appeared from heauen signified scarsitie of goodes aboundance of greate windes warres effusion of bloud and the death of Princes Hieronimus Cardanus a late Philosopher writeth in his fourth booke De subtilitate and .xiiij. booke De veritate rerum that the hearie and bearded Comets and other like monstrous figures whiche appeare from
notwithstanding his memorie perfecte and sounde and yet sometime with the mortall assaultes of his passions he became immouable as a tronke or blocke hauing his eyes open with perfect knowledge of all the assistaunts his féeling albeit so far withdrawen that he would not stirre or moue what pricking or pinching so euer was offred him but the pange being retired and his bodie retourned to his former state of health quiet he would tell of many wonders in that qualme but most of al of .ij. men appearing afore him as in aâ—â—ision whereof the one bare the figure of a childe the other séemed to haue a more perfect age who also in the beginning of Lent appeared eftesoones vnto him with these wordes in order of speciall charge that if he woulde cause to be cut the prepuce he shoulde not féele any paine for .xl. dayes which he did and accordingly was deliuered of griefe for that time in the iust ende whereof his sorows began to returne in sorte as they did before and likewise the same .ij. men presented themselues afore him inuisible sauing to himselfe counsailyng him to caste hymselfe into the Sea vnto the nauell where tarying a certaine time his griefe shoulde ceasse and onely shoulde remaine a certaine slymie humour whiche woulde passe awaye whiche he did and founde an effecte of their aduise what wonderfull Philosophie is this of Sainct Augustine and what straunge apparaunce in visions But what more cause of wounder can be than to sée them priuie to the secretes of Phisicke all whiche sure as they bréede indifferent doubte and feare in suche as reade or heare of them and yet for my parte I haue not hearde nor redde eyther in prophane or sacred reporte anye thing more maruellous that waye than the vision of Cataldo Bishop of Tarento the same appearing in our time not without infecting many mens consciences with greate scrupule and doubte séeing that that vision hath lefte sufficient matter to trouble the most Theologians and Philosophers of the worlde This Cataldo a man holy in life being buried a thousande yeares past within the Bishoprike of Taronto appeared notwithstanding after â–ª the ende of such time in a nighte to a yong infante giuen altogether to God with expresse charge to vncouer a certaine vaulte in a place in the earth whiche he assigned hym wherein he had hidden whilest he was in the worlde a booke written with his owne hande whiche assoone as he had taken oute of the grounde he shoulde offer it immediatly to Ferdinando firste Kyng of Aragon and Naples raigning at that tyme. This childe for the small faith he gaue to the vision perfourmed not the charge giue him Whereunto albeit he was eftesones sollicited at sundry times yet he neuer vsed regarde to the persuasâ—â—n vntill one morning afore daye as he was in his prayers in the Churche he behelde Cataldo in his Byshoppes wéede and countenaunce of threatning seueritie who appeared sayd vnto him as thou haste gyuen slender credit to my wordes with lesse regarde to searche the booke and deliuer it to Ferdinando so assure thy selfe this time for all if thou refuse to perfourme the charge or once staie to attende an other sommonce thy punishement wil be to greate for thée to endure whiche laste threate stirred suche feare in the childe that the nexte morning he imparted the vision to the multitude who according to the strayte and too straunge tearmes of the same assembled very curiously to accompanie the childe to the place of charge where being arriued and vncouering the earth they founde a little coffer of leade so close and curiouslye wrought that the ayre or sounde had no place to enter in the bottome whereof they tooke vp a booke wherein were writen in forme of a prophecie the miseries plages and curses whiche should happen to the kingdome of Naples to the King Ferdinando and his children the same hauing so directly happened and succeded since as it may séeme the byshop did not erre or write false in one syllable For such was y e infortune of this miserable King Ferdinando to fall so déepe and desperatly into the ire of God that he was killed in the firste conflicte the like happening not long after to his eldest sonne Alfonsus who afore he coulde settle himselfe within the state Royall was put to flight by his enimies and dyed in miserable exile Suche was also the chaunce of Ferdinando his yonger sonne to whome as the kingdome was due by inheritaunce so death preuented his vse and possession of it and that in the floure of his age being so enuironed with warres that he had skarce leasure to take breath What otâ—â—r good was reserued to Federike sonnes sonne to the said Ferdinando than that he sawe sacked and burned afore his eyes his countrey his people bathing in the suddes of their owne bloud and his owne lyfe in the ende committed to the mercy of his mortall enimies And lastly if we well consider what fortune hath gouerned this kingdome of Naples withall giue faith to the authoritie of suche as haue written truly of it we shall finde that of al the kingdoms of the earth only this state of Naples hath excéeded in reuolution mutation persecution and losse of bloud the same making it séeme in déed and as it is and may be most properly termed the very but and marke whereat fortune hath delited to vnloase hir cursed and sharpe arrowe a very gulphe and sinke out of the whiche were drawne all the miseries whiche infected the whole bodie of Italy this was in effect the Prophecie and vision of the Prelate Cataldo according to the witnesse of Alexander ab Alexandro in his booke of the generall dayes which with the other afore recited as me thinke may suffise for the examples of our visions appearing to men both by day and nighte sléeping and waking aswell in sicknesse as health So there restes nowe according to our general intent touching all other matters in this booke to searche oute the cause of theâ—â— fantasticall illusions and of what substaunce they are founded or do procéede whiche bycause it doth not include an indifferent or equall respect to all men I thinke it most sure and best to follow and marche vnder the enseigne of S. Augustine who aboue any other hath vsed a more learned diligence to discouer this matter and yet is it necessary afore we passe further herein for y e better exposition of the circumstaunce to make an vniuersall partition in the deduction wherof we wil followe that which he hath written against Adamantum where he procéedeth in this sorte There be saith he diuerse kindes of visions auouched by the holye Histories whereof some do make themselues appeare afore the eyes of the bodye as the thrée men whiche appeared to AbrahaÌ„ that whiche Moyses sawe burning in the bushe and lastly that of Moyses and Elyas to the Apostles at suche time as Christe was transfigured vpon the mountaine The
seconde kinde of visions consiste in imagination as when we imagine those things which we féele by the body séeing that our thought being rauished and lifte vp to Heauen and that the beames and reflection of diuinitie do pierce into the soule many straunge things are manifeste to hir and that not by the eyes of the bodye eares or other members of the fleshe but séeme in déede to be reuealed by a diuine influence and celestiall inspiration according to that which Sainct Peter sawe in a vision the greate Uessell descending from Heauen in a shéete wherein were contained all sortes of beastes and immediatly he heard a voice whiche said vnto him Peter rise kill and eate so according to the texte The third sorte of visions maye be called intellectuall bycause it consistes also in the thoughte as where the King Balthazar sawe a hande writing vpon the wall and many other like visions of Nabuchodonosor whiche 〈◊〉 large set forth in Daniel wherewith hauing layd thus the first foundation of these fantastical apprehensionâ— resteth now to declare by order what hath ben the aduise 〈◊〉 â—ugustine touching the same whiche he doth aboue all 〈◊〉 places most amplie dilate in 〈◊〉 â—â—iij chapter of his booke intituled De cura pro mortuis agenda there are sayth he so many and straunge opinions of visions of the nighte that the disputation maye séeme tollerable séeing the question is doubtfull for some saye that dead ghoastes haue appeared to men on lyue shewing the place where their bodyes laye shrined to the ende they mighte prouide their owne Sepulcher whiche things if we holde to be eyther false or vayne we resiste impudently the authoritie of a number of faythfuil writers whereof albeit some haue heard and some assisted suche matters with their owne eyes yet oughte they not to persuade a beliefe that suche visions participate with either sense féeling or motion for do we not sée sundry times men on lyue appeare to other in sléeping or wakyng and yet being asked whether they haue so done or not they aunswere that they are vtterly ignoraunte of suche matter neither knowe they what it meaneth Then it muste followe as Sainct Augustine saith that those visions come by the operation of Aungels to whome it is suffred by the Lorde to vse suche power whiche is the effecte of the Latin texte as neare as I can construe it and yet am I not ignoraunt for all that that sometimes these illusions moue no other waye althoughe Sainct Augustine leaue it oute in that place the same notwithstanding being a matter proper to the Ecclesiasticals to whome I referre my selfe for these things wyth the iudgement of the catholike Churche wherein I praye to the almightie to persiste immouable so long as Nature lendes me one breath of lyfe in this worlde 〈◊〉 also we are deceiued by â—he illusions of euill and wicked spirittes as Sainct Augustine teacheth in his thirde booke de Trinitate shewing bâ— a 〈◊〉 arte the power of Sathan and his complices with these 〈◊〉 It is an easie thing saith he for the wicked 〈…〉 their bodies of ayre to do many maruellous 〈…〉 things whiche excéede the compasse of oure vnderstanding being wrapped and buried in bodies of death And if sometime saith he we be drawne into admiration with the viewe of straunge things presented vpon theatres or stages whiche also we woulde not beleue thoughe they were tolde vs by others bycause they are so farre withoute the compasse of our vnderstanding why oughte we to finde it straunge if Diuels and their Aungels with their bodyes of the Elemente do abuse oure fragilitie in shewing vs visions Idols and figures aswell sléeping as wakyng to make vs fall their functions saith he be diuerse séeing that some of them do trouble oure thoughtes some offende oure bodies others infecte oure bloud some assaile and attempte oure harte suggesting infinite follyes and conceites and lastly by some we are pressed with diseases according to the texte of S. Luke where the woman that Christ healed was so persecuted with paine griefe that for the space of .xviij. yeares she was so courbed y t she was not able to lifte vp hir heade and beholde the Elemente aboue adding besides in the antiquitie of the Diuels the noblenesse of their creation seeing they be Aungels of Nature their long experience gotten since their creation the continuall conflict whiche they haue with Aungels which makes them able to the warres the agilitie of their bodies of ayre by the which they passe all other beasts and birdes in lightnesse the sharpnesse of their wittes their knowledge in all disciplines aswell diuine as humaine a perfecte and exquisite skill in the propertie of plantes stones mettals and many other like things all which as they be â—â—eir instruments wherewith they forge and fashion their illusions and engins whiche they bende euery houre against vs so they be also snares and baytes whiche they ceasse not to laye euery moment and minute of a day to entangle our poore soules And by the same meane saith he they do prognosticate sometimes things to come and perfourme certaine holy miracles by whiche they deceiue such as giue faith to their dreames as it happened to those poore women who seduced with the illusions of Sathan persuade them selues that they go all night on horsacke when thed worship Diuels transfigured into Aungels of lighte the better to play their parte and sometimes they shewe themselues in diuerse other shapes and figures presenting vnto them sometime pleasante and goodlye things sometimes sorowful things sometimes they preferre to their eyes personnes knowen sometimes shapes vnknowen All which sure albeit they are very strange and are founde of hard digestion to suche as measure the worke of God according to the capacitie of their grosse and rude vnderstanding yet the discourse of Sainct Augustin in his Citie of God is no lesse maruelous to my iudgemeÌ„t whereof plunged in a profounde contemplation of the power of wicked sprits he brings in certain women instructed in the arte Magicall raigning in Italy in his tyme who giuing to eate such as passed by them a certain fishe mingled with chéese the passengers immediatly wer turned into mares and caried their necessaries vntil they had performed their voyage and discharged their burdens when they returned to their former shape The like happening to the father of Prestantius who being turned into a horse carried corne wyth other victualls of certaine knights All which notwithstandyng sayth S. Augustine ought not persuade that either the body or thought of the man coulde by any Diabolicall illusion be conuerted into a beast or take thÌ„eir shape or membres but rather that their fansie did abuse them in making them séeme like vnto beastes And touchyng the burdens which they caried it myght be sayth he that the Diuels themselues caryed them to entertaine the rather the errour of those miserable creatures But now to preuent such opinions as may
wombe to straight which is y e cause that she is found to wante in suche sorte that the wombe is congealed and gathered in one whereupon groweth this forme and superfluitie of members in this little male moÌ„ster whom thou seest héere figured hauing four armes four legges and but one head with all the rest of his body well proportioned who was engendred in Italie the same day that the Venetians and Geneuois after the sheading of much bloud both of the one side the other coÌ„firmed their peace and wer reconciled togither and which was baptised and liued a certaine time after as writeth Iacobus Fincelius in his booke de miraculis post renatum Euangelium And in the same yeare that Leopolde Duke of Austrich vanquished of the Swizers died And Galea was created Uicount of Millain after the death of Barnabone ¶ A wonderfull Historie of Couetousnesse with many examples touching that matter worthy of memory CHAP. L. DIogines Laerce writeth that there was a Rhodian iesting one day with the philosoper Eschines saying to him I sweare by the immortal gods Eschines that I haue great pitie and compassioÌ„ of thy pouertie To whom he replied sodainly and by the same gods do I make y e like othe that I more bewaile thée to sée thée so rich seing that riches once gotten bréede not onely paine torment care with heauinesse to kéepe them but also a more great displeasure to spend them perill to preserue them occasion of great inconueniences and dangers to defend them And that which yet séemes to me more grieuous and horrible is that where for the most parte thou hidest thy riches in the same place thou leauest thy heart buried And lyke as Herodotus writeth that the inhabitants of the Isles Baleares watch and defend wyth great care that no maÌ„ entring into their Countrey bring or leaue behinde them either golde siluer silke or precious stones which hapned so wel vnto them y t during the space of .400 yeres wherein there was most cruel warres not only amongst the Romains and Carthaginois but also the French Spaniards neuer any of the said nations were once moued to inuade their landes for that they could not finde either golde siluer or other thing of price or value to robbe pilfer or take away euen so there is yet one other thing more straunge that is that Phalaris Agringetin Dionyseus Siracusan Catilmus Romanê° Iugurth Numidien being .iiij. famous tiraÌ„ts neuer maintained their estates realms by any vertue whych they vsed but only by their great gifts presents which they bestowed on their adhereÌ„ts wherfore I wold wish y t al such as be fauored of Princes should note wel this saying y t it is impossible for one being in great fauor to continue long therin being ouerwhelmed accompanyed w t the wicked vice of couetousnesse Neither am I out of my matter hauing touched y e same in the Historyes before for y t in these our dayes y e world is so coâ—rupted therwith as there is no other talke in our coÌ„mon weales of any thing but only of the burning rage of couetousnesse whych raigneth in all y e estates of y e world namely amoÌ„gst y e Ecclesiastical persoÌ„s as our high father w t his Cardinals a thyng much to be lameÌ„ted coÌ„sidering that they ought to be rather distributers of the goods of the Lord thaÌ„ affectionated burning as we sée w t this gréedie desire of riches y t it seemes y t they would drain al the welth of y e world into theyr gulphs in y e end burie the same w t their bodies in the graue wherof I haue written more largely in my other works making mention of the cardinal Angelot But now I wil returne to my matter for sithens that y e pestileÌ„t venom of couetousnesse hath sprinkled hir poison through y e world y t the most part of the prouinces remain be so much infected therwith y t they by that meanes stick not to make marchaÌ„dise of meÌ„s bodies to obtaine mony wherof Celius Rhodiginus in his iij. boke of auÌ„cient lessons .lvj. chapter is a sufficient witnesse who declareth y t in his time diuers wicked persons sold the flesh of men so well seasoned y t is séemed to be the flesh of Porke in which wickednesse as they continued til God by his almighty power discouered the same by suffering them to finde the finger of a man mingled amongest their meats which was the cause that they were taken cruelly punished euen so this néedes not séeme straunge or a fable to those which haue red Galenes .xiij. boke of Elements who sheweth y e mannes flesh is so like vnto porke hauing the very tast and sauor of it that those which haue eaten therof iudged it to be the flesh of a Porke Wherefore in the Historie of Caelius Rhodiginus it is not strauÌ„ge but most apparant that couetousnesse hath so blinded maÌ„ and rageth euen to the very tippe of iniquitie that they cannot adde any thing more thereunto Albeit Conradus Licostenes recompteth yet one other wonderfull Historie of couetousnesse which is nothing inferior to this before who wryteth that in the Dukedome of Wittemberge there was a wicked hoste who presented at supper all his gests lodged in his house with the fleshe of a Porke bitten of a madde dogge which was so greatly infected with the venim of that beast that all those which eate therof became not only madde but also pressed in such sort with the furie and rage of their euill that they eat and tare in pieces one an other ¶ A Monster brought forth at Rauenna in the tyme of Pope Iule the secâ—nde and king Lewes the .xij. CHAP. xlj REader this monster which thou seest here depainted is so brutall and farre differing from humaine kinde that I feare I shal not be beleued in that I shal write ther of hereafter notwithstanding if thou wilt but conferre this with those hauing faces like Doggs and Apes wherof I haue written in the Histories before thou shalt then fynde the other farre more monstrous Iaques Ruell in his bokes of the conception and generation of meÌ„ from wheÌ„ce I haue this figure Conradus Licostenes in his treatie of wonders IohaÌ„nes Multiuallis Gasparus Hedio affirme write y t in the yere 1512. at what time pope Iule y e second stirde vp caused so many bloody tragedies in Italy that he had made warre with king Lewis euen at the iorney of Rauenna this monster was engendred borne at Rauenna aforesayd a citie most auncient in Italy hauyng one horne in his head two wings and one foote like to the foote of a ramping bird with an eye in the knee it was double in kind participating both of the man womaÌ„ hauing in y e stomack y t figure of a Greke Y y e form of a crosse no armes And like as this moÌ„ster was brought into y e world in y