that in the fielde of Berne was sene another wonder of an hoste of men fyghtyng together but the authour I know not Also after thys foresayde wonder of fyre that was sene in the aire that is the thyrty day of December which was the last yere M. D. LX. at eyght a clocke before none there was sene a fyre to aryse about Bade of Heluetia with a great thicke cloude And when the husbande men of Regenspurge which ▪ towne is in y e field of Surick saw it thei ran together being ready to quench it by and by it vanished away so that it was not perceyued whether any fyre had ben in that place or no. Not withstandyng this also may be thought to be a certaine wonder ⧠The interpretation of the strang wonder set furth by the authour written vn to a frende of his dvvellvng in Vindelick a countrey of Germany I Geue you moste hearty thankes that you do part amongest vs your interpretation vpon that fearefull and monsterous syghte whyche you did not onely se in the aire at Heluetia and Ranie but at Algea and thorough out all Sueuia excepte at Auspurge in which no man no not the watche men did see any thing that daye when not withstandyng it was sene two or thre mile of and the good neyghbours there thought Auspurge dyd burne and they did lamentablye beholde the dukedom of Wirtenberg Franconia Thuringa at the same houre and moment when ye did se it I haue no naturall philosphie that thereby I might coniecture it to com for in such a dead and cold tyme there coulde not happen such vapours nor such exhalations that mighte cause such fyre to appear euery where nor yet was the cause of the earthquake knowen amonge you seing it was heard to be no where els Therefore I come to your interpretacion and I hope that Christ wyll come shortly reuenge his worde ▪ iudge the world by fyre wythout you had rather thus to expounde it that in all places wher this fyre was sene the fire of y e gospel shal so purely cleanse the people that all sparkes and ashes shalbe blowen quite away But at Bauar and Austria where this fire did not appeare they shall peryshe in darkenesse excepte God be mercifull vnto them ⧠Of certayne other straunge tokens and wonders THe day before the fyre was sene in the ayre that is the seuen and twenty day of December in the ende of the yere M. D. LX. betwene the towne of Tubinga and the duke dome of Wirtenberge and the village of Iesingam which is two miles distant from Tubinga soddenly in a certaine fielde there appeared a golfe which was sire and thirty fote depe twenty fote broad and about y e earth no more then a common pitte round of compas cōteinyng of depth in water nine fote Other spreade false rumors abrode say that it was of such a depth that it could not be expressed Also it is sayde that it rained bloode about the same time in many places of Germanye The thirtene day of December the yeare M. D. LX. at Vienna and Austria there was an earthquake and a great tempest and fearefull lightenyng Towres houses and the Cathedral church of Sainct Steuen was burnte with lightenynge The ayre was sene burne a longe tyme as a certayne noble man of Vindelicke in his letters doeth witnes vnto vs. We knowe for a suertye that lately in Fraunce when the king had assembled y e head men of a citi together into hys owne presence behold there appeared a great comet ouer the city which continued as long as y e assemblie endured that is xxviii dayes in the yeare M. D. LX. in the moneth of December ⧠Of vvonders or strange thyngs sene in the countrey of Pymont Taken our of the letters vvritten to a certain prince in the yeare 1560. in the moneth of December AT Chirasyn a fyre was sene in y e aire which lasted thre houres At Trauilla it rayned bloode as manye houres that is to wit thre hōures At Fosan were sene as it were thre fyry cometes In the plaine next vn-Sentaly there appeared a great numbre of horsemen in the ayre At Caragnan ther was sene an earthquake which sounded lyke the wheles of a waggon At Pinaroly was sene in y e aire the maner of a fyry linnen cloth and many other strang wonders wer sene in sundrie other places Of the heauenly goat for so Aristotle calleth it there was sene at Cathaline a notable towne of Fraunce commonly called Cholos in the yere of our lorde M. D. L. IIII. the syxte day of the moneth of Marche betwen seuen and eyght of the clocke at after none aboute the Moone a burnynge fyre in the which was sene as it had bene the poynt of a speare going frō the East vnto y e West castyng out flames and fearful great burnynges As Conrade Lycosthenes writteth in his boke of monsterous and straunge wonders ⧠Of straunge wonders and prodegious thynges sene in the ayre in the begynnyng of the yere 1556. IN the begynnynge of the yeare of our Lorde a thousande fyue hundred fiftye and syxe On a Sondaye after Christenmas day about the euenynge tyde was sene with vs that dwell about Lauinga as a certayne contre man of ours writ in a letter to a frende of hys a great lyghtnyng and it thundered erceadinglye and not farre of from vs a house standyng in a village was strycken with lyghtnyng and burnte downe And the ayre opened verye wyde and brode and dyd belche oute great and bright flames of fyre The whiche tempest was about nyne of the clock at nyght manye of the people were wonderfully astonied and sore afrayd in so muche that many of them were domme a longe tyme after Out of another Epistle or letter of the same wonder the same daye at nyght in Bohem Silesia and Misnia there was a terrible tempest and many men cattell great towres and churches wer stricken with lightnyng and perished with fyre Also it rayned bloode and fyre A towne of Melnicca foure myles distant from Praga all the grounde of it was wel nigh consumed with fire The church of our Lady at Praga was burnte with lightnyng and the church of S. Anne that is in the mount was lyke wise burned Two Churches beyng about two mile distant from Lipsia were also burnt with lightning And it rained blood abundantly in y e same place and two camelles were sene in the ayre deuouring a harnessed man In the same yere M. D. L. U◠the eleuenth day of Ianuary at August and Vindelick towarde the Alpes in the night the air opened and burned for a while most fearefull to beholde and semed to threaten to be the latter day At Miccenhusa in Bauaria ther was sene in y e night such brightnes that y e candle light in Zeta waxed darke and when the candles were put out the brightnes of the aire sufficed thē for light thre houres space The same yere of our
Celestial fires arose mani wais There was sene in the ayre a brighte fyre a company of horsemen and fote men to fight together and cities and swordes and bloody wapours were also sene c. In the yere M. C. and. xx There was sene in the aire bloody cloudes a crosse and a whyte man Euen at y t time men thought a destruction shuld come vpon y e whole world It is written in Chronicles that suche strange things doe signifie ciuill warres Of those thynges whych folowed you may reade at length in y e Chronicles of Boem set furth by Auentyne in the leafe D. C. xv In the yere M. CCC lxxv the aire was sene to burne all night In the. M. D. L. three fyrye globes wer sene in the aire in y e night in Misnia Lipsia which certaine students famous men did beholde The yere M. D. L. I. the xxviii day of Ianuary at Vlisbon in Portingal were sene in the aire bloody roddes and horrible fyres it rayned bloode also Furthermore there was such an earthquake that two hundred houses were terriblie shaken and throwen downe in y e which shaking more then a thousand men perished The yere M. D. L. IIII. the first day of February at Cathalane a citie of Fraunce after the musteringe of the hoste whiche the kyng of France had commaunded to be done in that place a wonderful strange sight was sene about the Moone For a greate fire arose from the East part went to the west And the Moone semed in maner of a mighty great fire brande The flame of thys fyre raged wyth great noyse often castyng oute blasyng sparkes in the ayre none otherwyse then when a smith beateth vpō hoat iron thus saith Fritschius Aristotle nameth such fyre a goat The answere of a godly learned frende vnto the aforesayde lettter or Epistle THy letters V. C. were giuen vnto me with the boke of wonders For the which your gentlenes I geue you moste heartye thankes At your departure you dyd declare all thinges abundantly and very plainly In the meane tyme I praye God that for his mercy sake he wyll turne al things to y e best For to styrre you vp I haue added many things which you shall here reade The signification of the straunge wonder AS all men doe confesse wyth one mouth this vnaccustomed strāge wonder to signifie som great euil to these countreys so I thinke y e causes of the sayde euyll to be so neare vnto vs that it shall perse y e eies and mindes of all men And seyng for the most part the calamities of mankind be sermons of repentance although the common people through erroure do alledge mani other causes of euils notw tandyng this fire of y e ayre is an euidēt argumēt token of y e wrath of god that without it be a few I think there is none so foolyshe or so mad which vnderstandeth not that it is to come We beleue verely that we shal not be cast out of blisse because it semeth that we shalbe so punyshed for oure sinnes because that the crosse aduersitie doth bryng alwayes more profit vnto the churche then rest and slouthfulnesse Of this commeth the common Prouerbe The bloode of the Martyrs watereth the Garden of the Lorde But although our enemies farre excede vs in all kynd of euyl yet notw tstanding we be not much inferior vn to them Superfluitie is a profitable instrument occasion you wyll saye the moste parte of vs do want it not superfluitie Religion also on oure parte is a lytle neglected beginneth to be gainfull no lesse truly then the Romains in time passed For we shal finde but a few diuines whiche wyll vouchsafe to seke poore Christ in the cotage and stable Manye of them couet fat benefices for the whiche they serue none otherwyse then thei wold serue for y e sacrifice of the aultar For that cause is there so much hatred so much priuy backbiting which encreaseth dayly and hourly more more y t ther is none more deuided thē thei in whō ought to be most loue concord These be the times which Eusebius setteth furth in the beginning of hys his eyghte booke vpon ecclesiasticall histories who desireth any Dioclesian whych may restore the weake mēbres vnto their health agayne God truely gouerneth hys church by fyre the whiche name is called in scripture crosse and persecution which notwithstandyng as I hope shall not be longe no more then this monsterous fire was longe whyche lasted with vs no more then an houre and that before day lyght For the Psalmograffe compareth the furye of the vngodly lyke vnto fyre amongest the thornes which maketh a feruent fire and when it appeareth to be most vehement then soddenly it falleth and is tourned into ashes But although thys fyre wyth hys heate dyd in wrap the hyghest mountaines therefore not onely the base states but also the highe monarches shall come to ruine notwithstanding the stars whiche shone betwene that is the ministers of the churche shall not be put oute of their seate which setting the worde of god before theyr face shal shyne in darke night of persecution by the cleare light of the gospell vntyll the daye wished for ware bright and the Sun of righteousnes shyne vpō mē But one star was sene to fall from heauen which being drawen by y e fyre dyd furrow in the middest It is to be thought that one doctour or other either for feare of the greate threatnyng or els being drawen by hope of some promosion shall be cast out of his degre Therfore the Lord is to be praied vnto that he wil defende vs standing in the confession of a sincere faith For this cause it is good for all godly men to thinke that the scourge of the lorde is afore their dores whome notwithstanding they by the mouyng of chaunces shall get god onely knoweth which ruleth the causes of all thinges We wyll onely bryng those thyngs which be like the truth and seme not dissagreble from the worde of God For the worde of the lord ought to be a lantarne to our feete and a light to oure steppes By it we may learn better y e cause of our aduersities then may be perceiued by any such wonders which god sendeth commonly for the reprobate and stiffe necked men amongest whome the worde of God taketh no place that all their exscuses may be cut awaye Notwithstanding I do not deny that there be Sermons of repentaunce whych not wythstandynge they that are destitut of the gouernment of the word of god do take neuer the latter For we see vngodly and wycked men whych beyng associat with y e vnbeleuynge Iewes require a sygne from heauen which if it apeare then with full voyce they crye out oure synnes require such wonders but they of the part of the euangelicall doctrine doe beare these thinges paciently and deriue part from them selues to other and euery one that speaketh of repentance with the
shoulde be seene our Lord Christ hath warned vs afore hande longe a goe But in no age at anye time hath ther be sene so many and so great and straunge wonderous sygnes euerye wher abroad as within these few yeres that we oght altogether already to consider that it is by tokens signified vnto vs that the latter day is not farre of and both by other wonders chiefly by this which is not perticuler nor terrestriall but almost vniuersall and celistiall excepte we vtterly slepe with ouermuch carelesnes and securitie But first must that Babilonicall beast beyng stuffed with the bloode of sainctes and yet not filled nor satisfied be cast downe and the sincere gospell preached agayne through the whole worlde The which that it maye very shortly come to passe we shal pray vnto the almightye gracious and great God by our lorde Iesus Christe in the holy Gost And yet therfore we oght not to promise a carelesse securitie to our selues that the kingdoÌ„ of the prince of Christes enemies shall decaye and fal but except we doe throughly take hede to oure selues by and by wyth amendement of lyfe and ceasse to bragge of a vaine faith beyng our selues instruted and furnished with no good workes we shall firste be punished by the same For seynge oure lyfe of all in maner for the moste parte answereth not to oure profession we haue manye wayes deserued moste greuous punishmentes and more truly then our aduersaries for this cause that in so great lyghte of the knowen truth we be kyndled or moued wyth no feruencye of syncere religion but wallowe and are wrapped in all kind of vices and wyll almoste suffer no disciplyne eyther priuate or publyke And for the moste parte all Magistrates wyll not onelye haue Dominion in the commune wealthe and in Cityes but they also wyll haue rule in the church but they will not commyt them selues to the common discipline of the same Finally the pastors and ministers of the churches for the most parte be full of ambition conetonsnes wantonnes and other vices be no better than those whome they ought to teache and feede wyth the worde of GOD but rather much worse Wherfore it is greatly to be feared y t nere the day of the lord draweth vpon vs and that to vs that waxe so colde shalbe moued and not to a fewe of vs and priuatly as hath bene hertofore but a common publike and vniuersal sore of persecution wherwith we shal be warned more then inough for froÌ„ the aduersaries of Christs church and his membres except God tourne it away shal go out the fyre which hath bene of longe time prepared for vs from Italie vnto vs and towarde the North y e which way y e wonder prodegious for warning did incline shall it come furiously vpon the christians Not withstanding we hope and humbly praye vnto the most gracious and mighty god the father of our lord Iesus Christ with lowly and deuot hartes that this euell may sone after be turned from vs not for vs but for his name sake and the holy worshippers of his annoynted For the bloode of those which longe ago alreadye hathe bene moste abundantly spylled shed or consumed with fyre throughout al Germany Fraunce Italy Spaine and other regions by that seuen headed and horned and bloudy Babilonical beast with whome the kinges and princes of the earth haue committed and do commit fornication may now seme altogether to haue burste out of the bowels of the earth wyth a flamynge brightnes and that the same burnyng in the ayre betokening a reuenging from the Lord which is the defender and reuenger of hys hathe mingled together That al men may see and vnderstande the euident cause of this wonderful for warning Therfore god wil punish together his whoÌ„ he loueth that they may be amended and wyth them or at the least by and by after the enemies of his name which go forward obstinatly in their malice and in the persecution of the sainctes It becometh vs to acknowledge our fauts and to aske forgiuenes and not to despaire by and by at the firste cruell assaute of Antichrist whatsoeuer they be For he sayth that he is in danger and assauted himself and that on euery side is great fallyng aways froÌ„ him lest he shulde vtterly be forsaken he proueth al thinges to the extremitie We yf we wyll continue in the sincere calling vpon the Lord and remeÌ„bre to kepe our selfes in prosperitie so many as god wil haue kept safe from these calamities shall proue and see a happy successe and spreadyng abrode of the gospell through out the whole worlde and the ruine and decaye of that prince or ruler which vnder the tytle of the name of Christe is against him being now of late begon wholy to be performed For this enterprise of his as it is to be thought to be the greatest so is it to be supposed that it shalbe the laste and as he did seuer this wonder from the daye that was commyng euen so it is to be hoped that at the cleare preaching of the Gospel and the last iudgement shortly comming vpon it al euil shal haue an ende So we for our selues oght for to gesse well with good and valiant mindes For the almyghtye can if he wil deliuer vs from all calamities at the least if he do not those are happy ones which die strongly in the confession of his name for Christ and the truth But vnhappy are they whosoeuer thynke them selues conquerours agaynst Christ That prodigies or wonders be done or styrred vp by god â–ª contrary to the sayings of the Epicures ARistotle in his fyrst boke of celestiall speculation and. v. chapter in mencionyng of other thynges which he calleth fyrye speculations writeth thus There be sene sometimes in the night the aire being clear many appearinges he calleth them horrible sightes to mete in the ayre As be gapyngs pittes bloody colours the cause whereof is euen the same which is of the other aforesaide But next before he had sayd that of a certaine vapour or exaltation that is whot drie kindled in the hygh aire be made both certaine other speculations as beames Goates blasyng starres and also that which is called Thlora that is a flame or burning and he sayeth yf that vapour be kindled shut forth it self wide and brode it semeth ofteÌ„times to burne like a flame as strawe when it is kyndled in the felde c. Of vapours truly by the opinion of the sayde Philopher which be sene in y e high aire in the cleare nightes some in dede burne and that longe time as blasyng starres some a short time as flames torches goates shutyng starres Some other appeare to be somwhat that thei be not and they may properly be called horrible syghtes as cloudes somewhâ—â— cleare of colour but chiefelye red of colour and purple or bloudy for other colours can scantly appeare namely such as arise by y e reflection of beames or such as
lorde a thousand fyue hundred and thre score the fyfth day of September in the towne of Marchia and Custerine at nyne a clocke at after noone Innumerable flames of fyre dyd shyne on euery side in the aire w t great brightnes And in the myddes of the element there appeared two fyry beames To cōclude as I read moreouer in an vnknowen author a voyce was heard which said woe woe vnto the churche Thus sayeth Iames Fincelius writyng of the wonders done in hys tyme Of certaine vvonDERFVLL STRAVNGE visions and merueylous tokens ¶ Out of the Prolongue of Ioachim Camerary of Pabe in the Chronicle of Nicephorus translated by him into Latine and expounded which boke was printed at Basill by Iohn Oporinus AFter that I chaunsed to liue in that tyme in the whiche the common wealth hangeth either in miserable ruine either in pernicious alteracion or els in very vehement and troublesome affayres Trulye good reader I can not heartely reioyce nor inwardly be merye wyth any ryches or honour that is coueted or desired in the publik weale For I pray you what is done or attempted almoste in any place that pertaineth not vnto y e decay of y e comon wealth What obstinacie is in men What malyce and hatred What couetousnes and gredy gatheryng What desire of reuengement What ambitious lust to rule Not withstanding these things be couered and do cloke them selues vnder moste honoste names as constancie magnanimitie or baliaunt corage seueritie and dignitie or honour And by the law of God and man many are compelled to obei theyr malice Amonges these thyngs nothyng almost is done by deliberat counsell and neither is any paynes taken in prouidyng and lokyng diligently to things of importance neyther any chaungyng of sentence or any correction for vice All thinges be lawfull to them that be in authoritie and are mightye Holye thynges are made vnholye publycke thynges are made priuate peace is tourned into stryfe so that there is no order set in thinges Euery state and degre and condicion is geuen ouer to mocking and disdeyning Deadly hatred is exercised in euery place to the fulfilling of the which hatred helpe is sone called from euery syde They do practise crueltie and tyranny lyke vnto the brutishe Barbarians The which being of them selues moste silthye and vile doe all thynges contrarye to the lawes and ordinaunces of the elders the common wealth which the good men left vnto their posteritie among these muste of necessitie peryshe and vtterly decaye But although the situation of the starres and manye straunge and monsterous things doe foreshe we and warne vs of this not wythstandyng the moste euident tokens of the mutations of the former causes by the whyche may lawfully be taken moste certayne coniectures of that which is to com Which to declare in a few wordes shall not be as I thynke disagreable to the matter And the foretellings of astrologic of the mouing of starres of the eclipsis and coniunction of the Sun moone and of the flames of the comets be almost knowen vnto euery man other wonders also for their oftenes do the lesse moue mens mindes But what visions haue bene sene aswell by the that waked as them that slept enter pretated by sothsaiers it wer to long to declare or rather infinite One thynge I doe remember well if a mā may lawfully speake on this fashion I did se in my dreame one holy and heauenly likenes or picture A certayne good and godly man dyd see with in these fewe yeres in a vision as it semed vnto hym a great armye of men dyd skermishe and fyghte together and were ready with theyr weapons in their handes to fyre villags townes cities and to waste destroye the fieldes manye men fell down yet not wythstandyng it could not be perceyued who had the victory Also this battel was so intermeddled that it coulde not clearely be sene of whome it was done nor agaynste whome In one place also he behelde and sawe fyue wrytynges or scriptures of fyue distincte and chaungeable coloures in y e whiche was shewed diuers names diuers sentēces which were sene in y e aire after this maner Blacke for the Iewes and Moses lawe Whyte for the Christians and onely fayth of Christe Yelowe of the pardons of the byshop of Rome Red for the Turkes Saracenes Mahometh the messanger of onely God Yelowishe for the workes and liberties of the Anabaptists What these thynges do signifie can not be hyd to any man that wyll studye to knowe what shal happen wythin these fewe yeres and what is nowe done Aboute the same tyme the maner of a longe historye was sene in the cloudes whiche afterwarde was set furth in a picture drawen out and published at Belgicke in thys maner hereafter folowyng There appeared an armed man on horsebacke wyth a speare charged in his hande and readye for to runne a course And besydes thys was sene the lykenesse of the Emperour Charles the fyfth with a crowne vpon his heade and neare vnto it a hogges snoute somwhat hygher there was sene two Lyons rampynge and leaping agaynst thre other Lions and a lytle beneth them two great Dragons spuyng out flames of fyre And after thys was sene great armies of men of warre aswell by sea as by lande and euerye where was cruell burning of townes and castels and villages And ther was also sene in the ayre a Pecocke wythout feete hauyng no wynges and neare vnto hym there was a Dragon Also in the same place was an Egle hauyng the greatest parte of hym hyd behynde a banke and aboute the banke was a lytle Egle. Lykewise was sene a Lion crowned lying on hys backe whō a Cocke dyd strycke on the throte After this there were gathered together many and diuers beastes wyth horrible formes and shapes and all monsterous beasts except the wylde Vnicorne which the Grekes doe call Monoceros and a verye fayre and great huge Elephant By and by another armye of men appeared agayne burnyng and destroying and a Cocke defendyng hym selfe agaynst a Lyon whose head was semed to be cut of And laste of all there was sene a great lake in the whych were drowned as they doe declare townes and great Churches theyr steples beyng sene to appeare aboue the water and a Camell was sene alone vpon the bancke with his head in y t lake drynkynge Wonderfull many flamyng Dragons were sene breathynge out flames of fyre and much venym euery where Vnto me truly these thynges seme not vnpossible to chaunce specially and chiefly to those people whyche doe trouble and molest the worlde in this oure age with great vexations and sore afflictions Furthermore it is declared vnto vs that thys yere there are very manye monsterous byrthes bothe of mankynde and also of many and diuers other kyndes of beastes Amonge the which was the notable great Monkecalfe that is a calle like a Monke and before hym an Asse a man and a fishe of mixed formes and diuers shapes And after that there came furth another monster whiche was a fyshe lyke a Monke For in the bowels of the man was founde iron as we haue often tymes proued it trew what doth that signifie but inwarde commocion or ciuill hatred or stryffe Therefore these thynges shewyng them selues so often tymes and so wonderfull verelye we ought to vnderstande and to thynke that the mouing and workyng of nature is wrasted out of frame and the state and condicion of men to be tourned out of course that the effectes of nature being weake sicke may no longer continue nor endure for euen as monsterous byrthes doe not lyue longe so likewyse the degenerate and monsterous state of thys corrupt world shall not laste longe As I doe remembre and as I sayd before to certayne men whiche tolde me that a mayde at Rhenie lyued wythout meate and drynke I dyd tel thē how that she could not lyue long nor continue without foode as if one shoulde saye it were a wonderfull and a merueylous thyng to be done yf that common wealthe shoulde not decaye and peryshe where the rulers which ought onely to norishe and to vpholde the same eyther be not able to gouerne it or elles be farre absent and a great way from it But we see most manifest signes and euident tokens of forewarnyng For as by the rysyng and the goyng downe of the Sunne we knowe the commyng of the day the nyght So in lyke maner I doe suppose that after the breakyng vp and dissoluynge of the lawe and discipline of the christian common wealth some great fall and destruction muste of necessitie folow and after lyke sort we maye coniecture other ieoperdyes and daungers for to come ¶ To God be all honor and glory for these and all other his wonderful workes declared and shewed vnto vs. So be it PSALME 19. The heauens declare the glory of God and the fyrmament sheweth the worke of hys hand Imprynted at London by Roulande Hall dvvellynge in Goldynge Lane at the signe of the three arrovves 1561.