the mother of her husbande lorde for the churche is also a mother and a virgyne Nor there is nothynge that our lorde delyteth more in / than virgines nor wherein angelles more gladly abyde / and playe with / and talke with For they be virgins also them selfe / theyr lorde whiche wolde haue a virgine vnto his mother / and a virgine to his moste dere disciple / and the churche his spouse a virgine And also he maryeth vnto hym selfe other virgins / and gothe vnto mariages with virgins And whither so euer he goethe / that lambe without spotte / whiche made vs clene with his blode / an hundred and .xl. thousande virgins folowe hym Hit is writen in the canticles Our syster is a lytell one / and hath no breastes Whether that be the sayenge of Christe or angels to the soule / in whom standeth the very virginite pleasant vnto god Al glorie of the kynges daughter is inward sayth Dauid in the psalme There is that golden clothynge / there is the garment set and powdred with so many vertuous and precious stones Be nat proude mayde that thou arte holle of body / if thou be broken in mynde nor bycause no mā hath touched thy bodye / if many men haue persed thy mynde What auayleth hit / thy body to be clene / whan thou bearest thy mȳde and thy thought infected with a foule and an horrible blotte O thou mayde / thy mȳde is wyddred by burnyng with mānes heate nor thou fretest nat with holy loue but hast dryed vp all the good fatnes of the pleasures of paradise Therfore art thou the foly she mayde / and haste no oyle and whyle thou rounnest to the sellar / art shutte forthe and as our lorde in the gospell thretneth / whan thou commest agayne / and knockest / thou shalte be answered Who art thou I knowe the nat Thou shalte say than knowest thou nat this body closed and vntouched of men our lorde shall say agayne I se nat the body I se the soule open vnto men / and vnto deuylles worse than men / and often knocked at Thou art proude mayde / bycause thy bealy hath no cause to swelle whā thy mynde is swollen / nat with mānes sede / but with deuylles For here howe well thy spouse lyketh the / thou knowest nat thy selfe O mooste goodly of all women come forthe and folowe the steppes of thy flockes / and fede thy kyddes by the tentes of the herde men Thou knowest nat howe all only virginite is good / thou art nat my spouse come forthe / and go after the steppes of those flockes / whom thou hast norysshed in thy mȳde And syth thou dost nat fede my kyddes / fede thȳ owne Thou loueste nat me so moche / that am onely the hyghest and the beste herde man Tarye nere the tentes of the herdmen / whom thou folowest For if thou folowedest me / only one herdman shulde be knowen vnto the / and nat many For he wyl haue all to be playne and euen Thy wombe swelleth nat / nor there is no cause whye nor lette nat thy mynde than swelle nor let there be no cause why I praye the / vnderstande thyne owne goodnesse mayde / thy pryce canne nat be estemedde / if thou ioyne a chast mynde vnto thy chaste bodye / if thou shutte vp bothe bodye and mynde / and seale them with those seales that none can open / but he that hath the keye of Dauid / that is thy spouse whiche resteth so in the / as in a temple most clene and goodlye Thynkeste thou this any small thynge / that thou mayste receyue onely by purenes that thynge / whiche can nat be comprehended in this holle worlde Howe glad is a woman / if she beare in her wombe a chylde / whiche shall be a kynge But thou bearest a kynge all redy nat onely in thy wombe / but also in thy mynde whiche is more goodly / yea and that suche a kynge / in whose garment this tytle of dignite is wryten Kynge of all kynges / and lorde of all lordes of whom prophetes haue prophycied and his reigne is the reigne of all worldes whose reygne the angel tolde shuld haue none ende Let vs nowe lyfte vp our selfe aboue the common people and let vs dispute this mooste goodly matter with saynt Augustyne but yet so that thou mayst perceyue vs / and doubtles thou shalte perceyue vs better than we shall our selfe For we speake of thy goodnes / whiche thou art nat ignorant of and we shewe the that thyng / that thou haste within the. The holy virgin our lady cōceyued fyrst in her mynde our lorde Christ / and after in her body And it was a more honorable / noble / and excellent thyng to cōceyue in mȳde than in body Wherfore thou arte pertener of the more excellent cōception O happy art thou / that art maruelously mother vnto an excellent maruailous childe Our lorde in the gospell / whan the womā sayd Blessed be the wombe that bare the / and the brestes that thou suckedest he answered / Naye / But blessed by they that here the worde of god / and kepe it And whan the Iewes tolde hym that his mother and bretherne taryed hym without / he asked them Who is my mother and my bretherne And poyntyng his hande towarde his disciples Those be sayde he / my bretherne mother / and who so els obeyeth the cōmandement of my father Wherfore virgins and all holy soules / engendre Christe spiritually Howe be it corporally only one virgin dyd beare god mā whiche is spouse and also father vnto all other virgins O thou mayde / thynkest thou this but a small thing that thou art bothe mother / spouse / and daughter to that god / in whom nothynge can be / but hit be thyn and thou mayst with good ryght challenge for thyn For bothe thou gettest and art gottē and maryed vnto hym If thou woldest haue a fayre spouse / hit is sayde by hym Thou art beautyfull aboue the children of mā / grace is diffused in thy lyppes If thou woldest haue a ryche husbande / thou mayst here sayd of hym Honour and riches is in his house If thou woldest haue a gētylmā / he is goddis son̄e / and rekeneth fourtene kynges in his petegrewe / and his generations can nat be expressed and the aūciāte of his stocke is before the makyng of the worlde / tyme euerlastyng If thou woldest haue a myghty husbande / hit is sayde by hym he is wise in herte / and mighty in strength And in the .xliiij. psalme Gyrde the with thy sworde vpon thy thygh most myghtyly If thou woldest haue a good one / thou shalte here nothyng oftener of hym / than that he is the best If thou woldest haue one of great possessions / thou redest of hym / that all thinges be subiecte vnder his fete And in an other psalme / that all thynges do homage vnto hym And that
say / that he lyked these bokes but those that neuer touched good bokes And I my selfe some tyme haue redde in them / but I neuer foūde in them one steppe either of goodnes or wit And as for those that preyse them / as I knowe some that do / I wyll beleue them / if they preyse them after that they haue redde Cicero and Senec / or saynt Hieronyme / or holy scripture / and haue mēded theyr lyuyng better For often tymes that onely cause why they preyse them is / bycause they se in them theyr owne conditions / as in a glasse Finally / though they were neuer so wytty and pleasāt / yet wolde I haue no pleasure infected with poysō nor haue no woman quickened vnto vice And verely they be but folisshe husbandes and mad / that suffre their wyues to waxe more vngratiously subtyle by redyng of suche bokes But wherto shulde I speake of folysshe and ignorant wryters / seyng that Ouide woulde nat / that he that entendeth to fle vnchast maners / shulde ones toughe the moost witty and well lerned poetes of the grekes and latynes / that wryte of loue What can be tolde more pleasant / more swete / more quicke / more profitable / with all maner of lernyng / than these poetes / Calimachus / Phileta / Anacreon / Sappho / Tibullus / Propertius / and Gallus whiche poetes all Grece / all Italy / yea and all the worlde setteth great price by and yet Ouide byddeth chaste folkes let them alone / sayenge in the seconde boke of the Remedies of loue / Though I be lothe / yet wyll I saye With wanton poetes se thou do nat mell Ha myne owne vertues nowe I caste awaye Beware Calimachus for he teacheth well To loue / and Cous also well as he And olde Anacreon wryteth full wantonly And Sappho eke often hath caused me To deale with my lady more liberally Who can escape fre / that redeth Tibullus / Or Propertius / whan he dothe synge Vnto his lady Cynthia Orels Gallus And my bokes also sounde suche lyke thynge They soūde so in dede / and therfore was he banisshed / nothynge without a cause of the good prince Wherfore I preyse greatly the sad maners either of that tyme / orelles of that prince But we lyue nowe in a Christen countre and who is he / that is any thyng displeased with makers of suche bokes nowe a dayes Plato casteth out of the common welth of wyse men / whiche he made / Homer and Hesiodus the poetes and yet haue they none yll thyng in cōparison vnto Ouidis bokes of loue whiche we rede / and cary them in our hādes / and lerne them by herte yea and some schole maisters teache them to theyr scholers and some make expositions and expounde the vices Augustus banished Ouide hym selfe / and thynke you thā that he wolde haue kept these expositours in the countre excepte a man wolde reken hit a worse dede to write vice than to expounde hit / and enfourme the tender myndes of yonge folkes therwith We banisshe hym that maketh false weightes and measures / and that countrefeteth coyne / or an instrument And what a worke is made in these thȳges for smalle matters But he is had in honour / and counted a maister of wysedome / that corrupteth the yonge people Therfore a womā shuld beware of all these bokes / lykewise as of serpentes or snakes And if there be any woman / that hath suche delyte in these bokes / that she wyll nat leaue them out of her hādes she shulde nat only be kept from them / but also / if she rede good bokes with an yll will and lothe therto / her father and frendes shuld prouyde that she maye be kepte from all redynge And so by disuse / forgette lernynge / if hit can be done For hit is better to lacke a good thyng than to vse hit yll Nor a good womā wyll take no suche bokes in hande / nor fyle her mouthe with them and as moche as she canne / she wyll go aboute to make other as lyke her selfe as she may / bothe by doynge well / and teachynge well and also as far as she may rule by cōmaundynge and chargyng Nowe what bokes ought to be redde / some euery body knoweth as the gospelles / and the actes / the epistoles of thapostles / and the olde Testament / saynt Hieronyme / saint Cyprian / Augustine / Ambrose / Hilary / Gregory / Plato / Cicero / Senec / suche other But as touchyng some / wyse and sad men must be asked counsayle of in them For the woman ought nat to folowe her owne iugement / lest whā she hath but a lyght entryng in lernyng / she shulde take false for true / hurtful in stede of holsome / folishe and peuysshe for sad and wyse She shall fynde in suche bokes as are worthy to be red / all thynges more wytty / and full of greatter pleasure / more sure to trust vnto whiche shall bothe profite the life / and maruaylously delite the mynde Therfore on holy dayes contynually / sometyme on workynge dayes / lette her rede or here suche as shall lyfte vp the mynde to god / set it in a christen quietnes / and make the lyuynge better Also hit shuld be best afore she go to masse / to rede at home the gospell and the epistole of the day / and with it some exposition / if she haue any Nowe whā thou comest from masse / and hast ouer loked thy house / as moche as perteyneth vnto thy charge / rede with a quiet mynde some of these that I paue spokē of / if thou canst rede / if nat / here And on some workyng dayes do like wise / if thou be nat letted with some necessary busynes in thy house / thou haue bokes at hande and specially if there be any lōge space betwene the holy dayes For thynke nat that holy dayes be ordeyned of the churche to play on / and to sytte idell / and talke with thy gossyppes but vnto th entent that than thou mayste more intentyuely / and with a more quiet mynde / thynke of god / and this lyfe of ours / and the lyfe in heuē / that is to come Of virginite The .vi. Chapter NOwe wyl I talke altogeder with the mayde her selfe whiche hath within her a treasure without comparyson / that is the purenes bothe of body and mynde Nowe so many thynges come vnto my remembraunce to say / that I wote nat where is beste to begynne whether it were better to begynne where as saynt Augustyne dothe / whan he wyll intreate of holy virginite All the hole Churche is a virgyn / maryed vnto one husbande Christe / as saynt Paule wryteth vnto the Corinthis Than what honoure be they worthy to haue / that be the membres of hit / whiche kepe the same offyce in flesshe / that the holle Churche kepeth in faythe / whiche foloweth
were a shame rebuke to please but sad men / chaste maydes / vertuous wyues / wyse wydowes / and fynallye all that are true christen people / nat onely in name but also in dede and with their hertes / wyll stande on our partie / whiche knowe and agree all in this / that nothynge can be more mylde and gentyll thā the preceptes of our fayth From the whiche Christe graūt vs neuer to declyne our mynde and pourpose one heares brede I haue put in remembrāce of theyr duete the good and holye women but sleyghtly / other nowe and than I take vp sharpely bycause I sawe that only techyng auayleth but a lytel / vnto those that strugle with the leader / and muste be drawen Therfore haue I spoken sometyme the more playnly that they myght se the filthynes of theyr condicions / as hit were paynted in a table / to thintēt that they shulde be ashamed / and at last leaue theyr shamefull dedes And also that good womē shuld be gladder to se them selfe out of those vices / and labour more to be furder from them / to entre in to the abitacle of vertue For I had leauer as saint Hieronyme counsayleth / auēture my shamefastnes a lytell whyle / than ieoperde my matter so yet that I wolde nat fall in to any vnclenlynes whiche were the greattest shame that can be / for hym that shulde be a maister of chastite wherfore often tymes the reder must vnderstāde more in sētence thā I speke in wordes And this worke most excellent and gratious quene / I offre vnto you in lyke maner as if a peynter wolde bringe vnto you your owne visage and image / mooste counnyngly peynted For like as in that purtrature you might se your bodilye simylitude so in these bokes shall you se the resemblaūce of your mynde goodnes bycause that you haue bene bothe mayde / wyfe / and wydowe / and wyfe agayne as I praye god you maye longe contynue and so you haue handled your selfe in all thordre and course of your lyfe that what so euer you dyd myght be an example vnto other to lyue after But you had leauer the vertues to be preysed than your selfe howe be hit no man canne preyse the vertues of women / but he must nedes cōprehende you in the same preyse howe be it your mynde ought to be obeyed Therfore you shall vnderstande / that many lyke vnto you be preysed here / by name expressely but your selfe spoken of continually / though you be nat named For vertues can neuer be preysed / but they muste nedes be preysed with all / that be excellent in them / thoughe theyr name be nat spoken of Also your dereste daughter Mary shall rede these instructions of myne / and folowe in lyuyng / whiche she muste nedes do if she ordre her selfe after thexāple that she hath at home with her of your vertue and wysedome Nor there is no doubt / but she wyll do after them / and excepte she alone of all other / dysapoynt and begyle euerye mannes opinion / she muste nedes be bothe very good and holy / that is comme of you and noble kyng Henry the viij suche a couple of mates that your honour vertue passe all craftes of preysynge Therfore all other women shall haue an example of your lyfe and dedes and by these bokes that I haue dedicated vnto your name / theys shall haue rules and preceptes to lyue by and so shall they be bounden vnto your goodnes / bothe for that / whiche it selfe hath done in gyuyng example and that hit hath ben thoccasion of my wrytyng And so I pray god gyue your good grace longe well to fare At Bruges the yere of our lorde M.D. and .xxiij. the v. day of Aprile The fyrste boke of the instruction of a Christen woman Of the bryngyng vp of the mayde Whā she is a babe The fyrste chaptre FAbius Quintilian in his boke where he doth instructe teache an oratour / wylleth his begynnyng and entrance to be taken from the cradell / and no time to be slacked vnapplied to warde th ende and purpose of the faculte entended Nowe moche more dylygence ought to be gyuen in a Christen virgine / that we may bothe enfourme her encreace and ordre it and her instruction and entrynge / and that by and by from the mylke whiche I wolde / if hit were possible / shulde be the mothers And the same counsaile gyueth Plutarche and Phauorine / and many other of the wysest and greattest philosophers For by that meanes the loue shall be the more betwene the mother and the daughter / whan none of the mothers name shall be taken from her and put vnto any other For nurces be wonte also to be called mothers And the mother maye more truely reken her daughter her owne / whom she hath nat onely borne in her wombe and brought in to the worlde / but also hath caried styll in her armes of a babe / vnto whom she hath gyuen tete / whom she hath nourisshed with her owne blod / whose slepes she hath cherisshed in her lappe / and hath cherfully accepted and kyssed the fyrst laughes / and fyrst hath ioyfully herde the stameryng of hit / couerynge to speke / and hath holden harde to her brest / prayenge hit good lucke and fortune These thynges shall cause and ingendre suche reuerent inwarde loue in the daughter toward the mother agayne / that she shall be far more loued set by of her doughter / bycause of the loue that she hath so abundantly conceyued towarde her in grene and tender age Who can nowe expresse / what charite these thynges encreace amonge folke / whan wylde beastes that haue no knowlege nor parceiuyng what loue meaneth / yet loue theyr noryshers and bryngers vp / nor shon the daungers of dethe to defende and saue them More ouer I wot nat howe / but so hit is / that we sowke out of our mothers teate to gether with the mylke nat only loue but also condicions and dispositions And that is the cause sayth the philosopher Phauorine / that maketh men to maruayle why they se many children / commen of chaste and good women / nothynge lyke theyr parentes / neither in mynde nor body nor the comen sayeng come vp of nought / whiche is nat vnknowen nat vnto children They that haue bene nurced with sowes milke haue rolled in the myer For that cause the wise mā Chrysippus bad chose the wyseste and beste nurces Whiche precepte I my selfe wyll ensue and coūsaile the mothers / that may nat norisshe their children with their owne mylke / to do likewyse Neyther I wyl so great diligēce to be gyuē in sekyng a nurce for a boy as for a maide Quintilian thought it sufficiēt to cōmaunde that the nurces shulde nat be foule and rude spoken / by cause the wayes and maner of speakyng taken in youth / wolde be harde to gette away As for
good Hit were better for the neuer to come in to theyr syght / leste they auenge on the the iniury of theyr kynde nor to name thy selfe by theyr names / selfe they punyshe the for fylyng theyr names And I speke in ernest / for here is no place to bourde in there shulde be made some decre / that none vnhoneste woman shulde be called Mary For whye do nat we gyue as moche honoure vnto that name / whom all we a ryse and make reuerence vntyll / as the pagans gaue vnto some of their folkes For ī Athens / whā Hermodius and Aristogiton had bany shed the tyrans out of the cite / there was by a decre determined / that no bonde mā / nor any that occupped any vile crafte / shulde be named by theyr names Howe the mayde shall behaue her selfe for the abrode The .xii. Chaptre HOrthe she must nedes go some tymes / but I wolde hit shulde be as selde as may be / for many causes Principally bycause as ofte as a mayde goth forth amonge people / so oftē she cometh in iugement and extreme perell of her beautie / honeste / demurenes / witte / shamfastnes / and vertue For nothyng is more tender / than is the same and estimation of women / nor nothynge more in daunger of wronge in so moche that hit hath be sayde / and nat without a cause / to hange by a copwebbe / bycause those thynges / that I haue rehersed / be required perfet in a womā and folkes iugementes be dangerous to please / and suspititous and as Ouid saith / we be quicke inough in beleuynge the yll And as Cicero saythe / Nos thynge fleeth more sweftly than an yll worde / nothynge gothe soner forth / nothyng is soner taken / nor brodder spredde that if a sklander ones take holde in a maydes name by folkes opynyon / hit is in a maner euerlastynge / nor can nat be wasshed away without great tokennes and shewes of chastite and wysedome If thou talke lyttell in cōpany / folkes thynke thou canste but lyttell good if thou speke moche / they reken the lyght if thou speke vncoūnyngly / they counte the dull wytted if thou speake counnyngly / thou shalte be called a shrewe if thou answere nat quickly / thou shalt be called proude / or yll brought up if thou answere / they shall say thou wylt be sone ouercomē if thou syt with demure countenannce / thou arte called a dissembler if thou make moche mouynge / they wyll call the folishe if thou loke on any syde / than wyll they say / thy mynde is there if thou laughe whan any man laugheth / though thou do hit nat a purpose / streyght they wyll say thou hast a fantasye vnto the man and his sayenge / and that hit were not great maistry to wȳne the. Wher to shuld I tell / howe moche occasion of vyce and noughtynes is a brode Wherfore the poet semeth to haue sayd nat without a cause It is nat lefull for maydes to be sene abrode Howe moche were hit better to abyde at home / than go forth and here so many iudgementes / and so dyuers vpon the / and be in so many leopardies Nor there is none / that had more nede to folowe this greke sayeng / Lyue vnknowen Therfore Tucydides sayde / she was the beste woman / of whom was least talke / either vnto her preyse / or her dispreyse A woman shulde be kepte close / nor be knowen of many / for hit is a token of no great chastite or good name / to be knowen of many / or be songen about in the cite in songes / or to be markedde or named by any notable marke / as whyte / lame / gogle eied / lytell / great / fat / maymed / or stuttynge / these ought nat to be knowen abrode in a good woman Why than saye som / shuld we neuer walke out of our owne dores Shuld we euer lye at home that were as though we shuld lye in pryson For so doth some proude foles take this sayenge / that desyre to se to be sene Nay verily they shall go forth some tymes / if nede require / and if theyr father commaunde or theyr mother but afore she go forth at dore / let her prepare her mynde and stomake none other wise / thā if she went to fyght Let her remembre / what she shall here / what she shal se / and what her selfe shal say Let her cōsidre with her selfe / that some thȳg shall chaunce on euerye syde / that shall moue her chastite and her good mȳde Agaynst these dartes of the deuyll fleynge on euery syde / let her take the buckler of stomacke defēded with good exāples preceptes / a fyrme purpose of chastite / a mynd euer bente towarde Christe And lette her knowe / that she goth but to vanyte / whiche leste she be taken with it / she had nede to prouide wysely / that that she shall se forth abrode / is to be counted none other thyng / but a shewe of the lyfe of the worlde by whose vices set before her eies / she mayelerne / nat only to kepe her selfe out of the contagiousnes / but more ouer to amende her owne fautes and that what houre so euer she turneth her selfe from god vnto men / whether she lyke them or be lyked of them / she forsakethe Christe and of Christis spouse sodaynly becometh an adulterar If she se any goodnes / let her loue hit for Christe if she se any euyll / let her fle hit for Christe Let her take hede neuer to garnysshe her selfe so / nor so go / nor do / or speke so / that she be the deuylles snare to chatche men in She shulde nat onely do none yll her selfe / but as moche as she can / so behaue her selfe / that she be none occasion vnto other of doynge yll orels shall she be a membre of the deuyll / whose instrument she is all redye / and nat Christis They saye / that the holy virgin our lady was so demure and sadde / that if any man cast a wonton eie vpon her / that foule heate was all quenched as though a mā had cast a fyre brāde in to the water Nowe whan she is apoynted with these thoughtes and suche other / let her go forth with her mother if she haue any / and haue leaue to go if she haue no mother / let her go with some sadde woman / that is a wydowe / or a wyfe / or some good mayde of vertuous lyuyng / sobre of speche / holy shamfastnes Homerus writeth / that the chast woman Penelope dyd come forth into the company of her wowers / but nat alone / but with two honest maydes in her company and also her sonne Telemachus was a monge them syttynge And as saynt Hieronyme commandeth / whan she goth forth abrode / let her nat beare her brestis and her necke
preyse for the tyme all that she doth / bicause they haue delite therin But and the folysshe maydes coulde here what men speake afterwardes amonge them selfe one vnto an other / without dissimulation than shulde they knowe in dede howe hartely they preysed them and lyked them they shulde vnderstāde than / that whan the men called her mery conceyted / they ment they were bablars / and chatters and whan they called them lusty tyrers / they mēt they were lyght mynded and where they called them well nurtred / they ment they were wanton But some wold say here / yet by these meanes they come by mariage I graunt / in dede some do but the moste parte doth nat For both mo be maried / and that also vnto better husbādes / that neuer go about to tempte no men / the whiche whan they se them selfe begyled with the women / they kylle them vp with yll intreatynge And this the mayde may be sure of / that she shall neuer haue good lyfe with that husbande / whiche she hath gootten by wyles and craftes Or if there be any man so mad or folisshe / that had leauer haue suche a woman to his wyfe / than one that loueth solitariousnes / and is sad both of behauour and aparell / and mylde of there suche a mā wolde nat I marye my doughter to for he muste nedes loue lewdnes and vyce / that setteth more by suche knackes / thā by vertue and goodnes Nowe wil I speke a fewe wordes of loue / the whiche doteth all maydes for the mooste parte / disceiueth them greatly / and bryngeth to moche mischiefe For hit dothe nat become amayd to make any signe / that she wold fayne be maried / or that she loue any yōge man to wedde For if she loue hym afore or she haue hym / that it be knowē / what shall he thynke / but that she wyll as lyghtly loue another as she hath done hym / whom as yet she ought to shewe no loue vnto neither he wil beleue that she loueth hym alone / seynge there is as great cause to loue other And if he shulde marie her / he wyll thȳke she wyll haue as good mȳde to other as hym selfe / whan she is so lyght of loue Let euery body excuse the matter as they wyll / but in very dede euery woman / that loue the any man vesyde her husbande / is accursed / if she haue a do with hym and though she haue nat / yet is she an harlotte in mȳde And there hath bene many that haue loued so outragiously / that they haue bene obedient vnto the pleasure of those mē / whom they hoped shulde be their husbandes And afterward that men haue dispised cast them vp whiche in my mynde was well and wysely done For they be vnworthy for to be maried / that dare shewe an example vnto those men / whom they shulde haue / howe well they can fynde in their harte to lye with a mā / that is nat theyr husbande For by likelihode they wyll both do that same with other men afore their mariage / and in their mariage with theyr adulterers There is no daye / wheron these thynges by chance nat in euery cite nor there is no woman so ignorāt what is done in the cite / but she hereth tell of these thynges I haue harde tell in this countre / that wowars haue bene forsakē for none other cause / but bycause there was no loue betwene the parties afore For the yonge women sayde / they coulde nat loue them / nor fynde in theyr harte to haue them in mariage / whom they loued nat / nor knewe before and this is a great vse they saye / in Candye What nede is it to rebuke suche myndes with wordes / whiche who so dothe nat perceyue to be vnchaste / I holde her farre more noughtye than they be Nowe than louest nat thou thy husbande / bycause he is coupled vnto the by goddis lawes and goddis commandement / but bycause thou arte vsed to his loue before So do drabbes and harlottis / whiche for lyke cause loue theyr louers and thou arte nat farre vnlyke vnto those drabbes And so hit chanceth vnto suche women / euen by the punyshemēt of god / that all the loue / whiche they ought to kepe in theyr mariage / they spende it out afore Wher of this common sayenge came vp that they that marie for loue / shall leade their lyfe in sorowe For it chanceth by many / that after the heate of loue is ones past / there foloweth great hate / whiche thyng ofte tymes maketh wōdre and talke amonge the people / whan they here tell / howe so great louers within .iii. or .iiij. dayes fal at debate / and begynne to deuorce / or the bryde cake be eaten Nor it is no maruayle for neyther the fyre maye laste / that lacketh wodde neyther loue / that is nat nourisshed with honest louynge For amonge yll folkes / as Cicero sayth / can be no sure frendshippe Wherfore hit is nat expedient to make maryages by loue afore hande / neither to couple and bynde that mooste holy charite with so fylthy and brytell bandes and yet moche worse is it to make them to marye by stryuyng / and hate / thretnyng / and sute as whan they go to lawe to gether / the man for the woman / bearynge her in hande / that she is his wyfe and the woman in lyke maner for the mā I neuer harde tell of more folysshenes / than for a woman to laboure to haue a mā / agaȳst his wyll / with whom she shall bothe lyue atwynne and excepte he loue her / she shall lyue in perpetuall sorowe And loue muste be gotten with fayre meanes / and nat compelled For he wyll neuer be a sure frende / that is drawen and holden by force What a madnes is hit to begynne that sacrament of holy loue with hate I wolde nat / so god me helpe / haue a seruant agaynst his wyll moche lesse a mate neyther hit is nat good to compell a man agaynst his wyll Nor I wolde the woman shulde be maryed vnto hym / excepte he desyre her with all his harte nor hit becometh nat the maydes frēdes to pray or labour for a maryage / or ones to offre the mayde of theyr partye but the mā shulde seke for mariage and so it shulde be done in dede / sauyng that money ruleth and ordreth all thynge For nowe they be maryed vnto money / money marieth And as Senec saythe / men drawe theyr wyues to them with theyr fyngers And therfore se we so many sorye and vnluckye maryages / whan bothe the partyes se them selfe coupled vnto the money / and nat vnto the mā or the woman Therfore bothe of them enbraseth and holdeth faste it And as for the wyfe / the husbande kepeth her but as his concubyne / and she hym as aduoutrer neyther loueth one another /
kyng of Gothia and many other women moo / whiche haue broughte theyr husbandes to good order and vertue Of children and the charge and care about them The .xi. Chap. Fyrst of all if thou beare no children / take it with a pacient a coÌ„teÌ„t mynde in maner reioyse / that thou lackest that incredible payne busynes There is no place here to declare / what mysery she must suffre / whyle she is great what dolore and perell / whan she laboreth More ouer / what werynes care she hath in the nourisshyng and bryngyng vp of them / leste they shulde waxeyll / or any mysfortune by chaunce them what coÌ„tinual feare she hath / whyther they go what they do / lest they do or take any harme Verily I canne nat expresse the cause of this great desyre / that women haue to beare children Woldest thou be a mother Wherto That thou mayst replenysshe the worlde as who say / the worlde coude nat be filled / excepte thou brynge forthe a lytell beaste or two orelles that god coulde nat reyse chyldren vnto Abraham of these same stones Be neuer carefull in the house of god / howe hit shall be fylled he wyll prouide well inough for his house / that it shall nat be emptie But parauenture thou feareste the rebuke of bareÌ„nes Thou arte a Christen woman Therfore vnderstande / that nowe this sayenge is past / Cursed be that woman in Israell that is barenne Thou lyueste nowe vnder a lawe / where in thou seeste virginyte preferred aboue maryage and herest the sayeng of thy lorde wo be vnto women / that be great and beare chyldreÌ„ and blessed be they / that be baren blessed be the wombes that beare nat / and the breast is that gyue nat souke Howe canst thou tell / whether god wyll haue the to be one of those happy and blessed womeÌ„ Howe moche more shamfully dyd the woman of Flaunders / whiche had be maried almost fyfty yere / and neuer had childe / and after that her husbaÌ„de was deed / maryed vnto another man / layeng only for her cause / to proue whether the faute was in her selfe or in her husbande / that she had no chyldren Wherfore she was worthy to beare a chylde with great payne and werynes and in her laboure to be delyuered of her chylde and her lyfe both / with extreme tourment Howe be it I can nat tell / whether she had any other cause to marye agayne / at the least wyse she layde that / whiche semed moste honest in the cares of the folisshe people ParaueÌ„ture thou woldest fayne se children comen of thyne owne body shall they be of any other fassyon trowest thou / than other chyldren be and thou haste chyldren of the cite / and also all other ChristeÌ„ chyldren / whom thou mayst beare motherly affection vnto And thynke that they be all thyn For so the lawe of mankynde doth exorte the / and our faithe commauÌ„deth Wher to haue you so great a delyre of chyldren you women For if the cares and sorowes / that chyldren cause vnto theyr mothers / were paynted you in a table / there is none of you so gredy of children / but she wolde be as sore aferde of them as of deth and she that hath any / wolde hate them lyke cruell wylde beast is / or venymous serpentes What ioye / or what pleasure can be in children Whyles they be yonge / there is nothing but tediousnes and whan they be elder / perpetuall feare / what wayes they wyl take if they be il / euerlastyng sorowe and if they be good / there is ê‘petuall care / lest they shulde dye / or some harme bechaunce them and lest they shulde go away / or be chanÌ„ged What nede me to brynge in Ortauia / syster vnto Augustus / for an example I wolde there were nat so many examples / as there be / of suche as haue be made of welthy fortunate mothers myserable / and pyned away / and died for sorowe More ouer / if thou haue many / than haste thou greatter care / where the vnthriftynes of one shall wype away all the ioye that thou hast of the reste And this I meane by the sonnes Nowe to speake of the doughters / what a tourment of care is hit to kepe them And in maryeng them / what payne shall she haue besyde this / the fewe fathers and mothers seeth good chyldren of theyr owne For very goodnes whiche is neuer without wysedome / cometh nat but in discreate age Plato calleth hym happy / that may attayne in his last age vnto wysedome and good lyfe But whan the children be of that age / fathers and mothers be tourned to douste O vnkynde woman / that doste nat reknowledge howe great a benyfite thou haste had of god / that either neuer dyd beare children / orels loste them before the tyme of sorowe Wherfore Euripides sayd full well She that lacketh children Is happy of that mysfortune Therfore thou that bearest nat / put nat the faute of thy barennes in thy husbande for the faute is parauenture in thy selfe whiche arte comdempned to be baren / either by nature or by the wyll of god And greattest philosophers agre in this opinyon / that women beare no children more longe of them selfe than of theyr husbandes For nature neuer broughte forthe but very fewe baren men / and many women And that vpon great consyderation / bicause there is more losse in the barennes of the man / than of the woman For there cometh more increase in generation by the man / than by the woman Wherfore woman / if the barennes be in the / thou dotest vngraciously in vayne for ther shall neuer man get the with chylde And so thou conceiuest many vngratious dedes in thy mynde but thou shalte neuer conceyue any frute in thy wombe And many tymes by the ryghtous prouision of god / vnknowen vnto vs / there commeth none issue in mariage For lyke as hit is the gyfre of god / that good children be hade / so is it his gyfte / that any children be had at all Therfore to seke any other remedy than by prayer / is nat only super fluous / but also a cursed dede Therfore aske childreÌ„ of god / that good childreÌ„ For if thou haue an ill chylde / hit were better beare a snake / or a wolfe Therfore aske thou a chylde as Anna / wyfe vnto Helcane / dyd aske Whiche by prayer / wepyÌ„g / and holy lyuyng optayned a sonne / a prophet and iuge of Israell / called Samuell lyke as the other Anne / wyfe vnto Ioachim / whiche trustyng holly in god / bare Mary the quene of the worlde / vnto maÌ„nes saluatioÌ„ Also Elisabeth / wyfe vnto zacharie / whiche had ben baren / brought forth saint IohnÌ„ / the messynger of our lorde Whiche gatte many a childe vnto Christ aboue the whiche saynt Iohan there was neuer man borne of woman
and gētilnes / that wyll nat be moued and mytygated with this worde / mother / of whom so euer hit is sayde And specially of chyldren / whiche can nat flatter / but speke so euē with theyr stomacke / lyke as they wolde theyr owne mother / of whom they were borne Howe swete is the name of frendship Howe many displeasures and hateredes doth it put awaye Thame / howe moche more effectuall oughte the name of mother to be / whiche is full of incredible charite Thou most irefull woman / dost thou nat mollyfye / whan thou herest thy selfe named mother Thou arte more ragious than any wylde beaste / if that name wyllnat sturre the. For there is no beaste so ragious and cruelle / but if another yonge of hit owne kynde faune vpon hit / hit wyll be by and by mylde vnto hit And thy husbandes children can nat make the gentyll and mylde with swete wordes Thou arte called mother / and shewest thy selfe an enemye Thou many tymes gatherest hate without cause / and vseste vpon that weake and immcent age And whan it were conuenyent / that all Christen mē shulde be as bretherne to the in beniuolēce and charite / thou hatest those / that be conioyned vnto the in house and blode / and that be bretherne vnto thy chyldren Hit is maruayle / that the soule of their mother doth nat pursue the / vexe and trouble the. Do you vnderstāde / you stepmothers that be suche / that your vnruely ire and hate commeth but of the dreames of your owne folly For why do nat stepfathers hate theyr wyues childrē in lyke maner For there is no stepfather / but heloueth his wyues saie as wel as his owne I haue redde of many stepfathers / that hath gyuen the inheritance of realmes vnto their wyues sonnes / euen as they had bene their owne / as Augustus sefte th empyre of Rome vnto Tyberius / and Claudius vnto Nero ▪ And yet had Augustus childrens childrē childre of them agaye and Claudins had a sonne Whiche thynge they dyd nat for lacke of knowlege / that they were nat theyr owne sonnes / but bycause they perceyued in reason and consideration / that there was no cause of hate betwene stepfathers and steppesonnes / excepte theyr owne condition dyd cause it For what offence hathe stepsonnes made vnto theyr stepfathers / excepte they haue offended them bycause they were nat theyr owne sonnes As for that thynge lay in goddes handes / and nat in mannes power Yea but some wolde say / the stepfathers do nat play and trifle with theyr stepsōnes / as theyr mothers wolde To make answere there vnto / by that argument theyr naturall fathers do nat loue them But wherto shulde I say any thyng of the stepfathers loue / whan there be some mothers so mad / that they wene theyr husbandes loue nat theyr owne naturall children / bycause they do nat trifle and fole with them all the daye and all the nyghte styll / as them selfe doth Man can nat dote as the woman can For that same stronge stomake of mā can holde and couer loue well inough / and ruleth it / and dothe nat obey hit But you stepmothers / why do nat you euer kysse / combe / and pyke your stepchildren / as you do your owne ther is so great darkenes of mysty fātasies ī your mȳdes / that what so euer you loue / you thȳke euery body shulde loue that same / that no man loueth that inough and what so euer you hate / you thinke is worthy to be hated of euery man / and that euery body loueth that to moche And some there be / whiche whā they hate theyr stepsonnes deadly / yet they swere they loue them whiche be madde / and if they beleue / that any man wyll beleue them And yet they be more madde / if they wene to disceyue god Doest thou loke after / that Christe shulde here the / whā thou callest hym father / whan thou wrythyest awaye from the steppe chyldren / callynge the mother Saynt Johan thappostle dothe nat beleue that any suche doth loue the inuisible god / that hateth his brother / whom he loketh vpon Howe she shall behaue her selfe with her kynsfolkes and alyaunce The .xiii. Chap. THe great lerned man Nigidius Figulus sayth / the deryuation and signification of syster is as though I wolde saye / seperate and goynge asyde / bycause she is seperate goeth in to another house and kynred Whiche thyng seyng it is so / that womā that is maried shall begynne to be more seruyseable vnto her alyaunce / than to her kyns folkes / and so hit is conuenient for many causes Forst / bicause she is as it were skyfted and planted in to that kyn / vnto whiche she shall beare children / and the whiche she shall multtylye with her temynge Secondly / bycause she hath the benyuolēce and loue of her owne kynsfolkes alredy Therfore she must seke for the loue of her alyaunce after wardes Thyrdlye / that her chyldren maye haue the more loue of their fathers kynted / whan they shall be holpen nat only with the beniuolence of theyr father / but also of theyr mother And in shorte conclusion / hit shall be cause of many pleasures / if thou be loued of thyne alyaunce / many displeasures if thou be hated And this was the thynge that those men loked after / whiche skyfted manage out of kynred in to other folkes / that loue and frendshyp amonge peaple myght spreade the broder Therfore it is conuenient / diligētly to get the loue of thyne alyaunce / or if thou haue it all redy / to kepe holde it Hit is saide / that mothers in lawes beare a stepmothers hate vnto theyr doughters in lawes And agayne / doughters in lawes beare no great loue and charite towarde their mothers in lawe Therfore Terence after the comon custome and opinyon of people / sayth All mother in lawes hate their doughter in lawes And these was a mery woman / whiche whan she sawe her mother in lawes image made in sugare / she sayd / hit was bytter Plutarche / and saynt Hieronyme takynge of his auctorite / where he writeth agaȳst Iouinian / telleth / that it was an olde custome in Lepers / a cite of Affcyke / that a newe maryed wyfe / on the nexte daye after her maryage / shulde come vnto her mother in lawe / and pray her to lende her a porte and she shulde say she had none to thenrēt that the yonge wyfe myght knowe / by and by after her maryage / the stepmotherly hate of her mother in lawe / and be lesse greued afterwardes / if any thyng bechanced that she wolde nat But whā I consyder the cause of this enemyte / me thynke both theyr enuies very folysshe For the man standeth as hit were in the myddes betwene his mother and his wyfe and so either of them hateth other / as an expulser of her selfe