Court as well for the reasons abouesayd as also for that your people shal be indoctrined and maintayned in better behauiour and your haule and buttry more throughly furnished Farther you commaund me to write vnto you particularly whē the Carthaginians entred into Spayne at what time Scipio the African did take Carthage the chiefe Citie of youre Bishoprick and that you haue layd a wager with the Lord sir Peter of Mendoza gouernour of the same Citie vpō the same matter being of cōtrary opinions haue chosen me for iudge or arbitrator of your contentiō Certaynly these be things very farre from my profession for being religious as you know it shoulde serue much better to the purpose to sit and vnderstand of the time that my religion was inuented and in what countrey S. Francis was borne than to vnderstande when the Carthaginians entred Spayne at what time the Romaynes did sack subuert Carthage But since you haue chosen and established me for your iudge will that I shal say my opiniō that which I know I shal not fayle to yéeld rēder my endeuor without any remissiō of the Mule which you promised me But comming nowe to the purpose you haue to vnderstād during the warres betwixt the Gaditains the Turdetaynes the Gaditains sent their embassadors to the Carthaginians to draw thē to their party to haue succour from them whervnto the Carthaginians consented and at the instant sent Marhaball a man very valiant to go into Spayne to the succour of the Gaditains This Marhaball vnder the colour of giuing aide vnto the Gaditains brought himself in possession of a certayne part of Andolozia and reduced the same vnder the gouernmēt of the Carthaginians folowing his secret commission and the order which was giuen him in his eare This was broughte to passe in the yeare of the general Floud M. D.CCCX This was the first discent of the Carthaginians in Spayne In the days when the Romaynes expelled their kings But afterwards the Carthaginians diuers times by diuers Captayns did inuade had possessiō of many countries cities of Spayne which they held vnto the time that the Romayns comming vnto the succour of the Saguntines where the Carthaginians wer discomfited distressed driuen away both the armies being conducted by Hanniball Scipio the first being the leader and Captayn of the armies of Carthage the other for the Romains This Scipio was thē intituled Scipio the great renoumed with the surname African for that after he subdued the great Carthage did take the same by diuers assaults This City as is knowen to your Lordship it holdeth on the East part a certaine hill with a ridge compassed with the Sea and on the other side wher this hill or ridge ioyneth vnto the Citie there is a lake on that side of Bize The Carthaginians supposing theyr Citie to bée sufficiently strong vpon that side gaue no order thereof either for watche or ward As Scipio battred the Citie by Sea land he had aduertisemēt by certaine fishermen of Tarresko which at othertimes had repaired and gone to Carthage that the water of the lake did vse to fall at an houre By whiche aduertisement Scipio caused the water to be sounded and hauing found the greatest depth but to the girdle in most places but to the knées he caused certayne chosen souldiers to enter the water whych passing without impediment did climbe the walles entred the Citie obtayning thereby possession with small losse hauing executed great slaughter of the people thereof and Hanno the Captayne of the Citie being taken prisoner And as the Romaines did prosecute and performed the destruction of the Citie forcing to passe by the edge of the sword al that euer they met a Damsel of Spayne of a noble house the wife of Madonius brother to Indibilis Lord of the Illergets did yéelde hir selfe prostrate and groueling at the féete of Scipio most humbly beséeching that it might please him to vouchsafe to recommende the honor of the women vnto the souldiers And as Scipio answered that he woulde gladly performe the same this Lady replyed saying after this manner O Scipio I am charged with one particular and right sorrowfull griefe whiche pearceth my heart in this present fortune to solicite thy excellēcie to vse thy mild fauour with great diligence for I haue héere my two nices shewing two most excellent right singular yong Ladies daughters of Indibilis which hold and estéeme me as their onely mother who teare mine entrayles and breake and pearce my hart to sée them in seruitude amids the armies Whereof Scipio being moued by great compassion and no lesse reuerence made answer vnto this Lady Madame you haue to vnderstand that notwithstanding the common courtesy of the Romayne people and my naturall condition doe prouoke me to defend the honor of Ladies yet therewithall youre great vertue and dignitie constraynes me to vse more spéedy diligence therein considering that in the mids of youre aduersities you forget not the chiefe poynt of honor whiche al Ladies of chast renowne ought to mayntaine kéepe defend The which being sayd he commended these thrée Damsels to the gard and defence of a gentleman of name and much estéemed for his vertue straightly commaunding the same to entreate and serue these Ladies with no lesse courtesie than if they were the wiues or daughters of gentlemen of Rome And nowe since you haue bin aduertised of one vertuous acte of Scipio I will yet recite another right famous déede of great vertue to shew vnto the world that Scipio doth worthily deserue eternall prayse to serue as an example and perfect spectacle of continencie to all yong Captaynes The cause was thys at the very instant that Scipio hadde dispatched these thrée Ladies aforesayd the Souldiers brought vnto him a certayne yong Damsell the fairest that euer they had séene but Scipio vnderstanding that she was betrothed to Lucius Prince of the Celtibires and that she was discended of parents very noble would in no wise touch hir but rather had a duble care to defend hir honor And hauing commanded the father and the husband of the sayd Lady to be called vnto hys presence and also vnderstanding the sayd Prince to loue with an ardent desire and an inflamed affectiō said thus vnto him O Lucius hauing thy loue in my power and being yong as thou art I might well enioy the delight of hir beauty but hauing aduertisement that thou bearest hir great and most perfect affection I haue thought good not only to defende but also to preserue hir for thée and render the same into thy handes as chast a virgin as she was deliuered vnto me And I wil no other recompence at thy hands but that thou cōtinue a faithfull friend vnto the Romaines for thou shalt not find a Nation in this world of so perfect friendship as are the Romayne people neither of
neuer gaue obedieÌ„ce to any but alwaies made a Seigniory of it selfe The seate of the Citie of Sagunto was foure leagues from Valentia where is now Monviedro he that shall say that which we call now in Castile Ciguenca was in time paste the Citie Sagunto it shall be because he dreamed it not to haue read it Being Inquisitor of Valentia I was many times at Monviedro as well to visite the Christians as to baptise the Moores And considering the sharpnesse of the place the antiquitie of the walles the greatnesse of the colledge the distaÌ„ce from the Sea the statelinesse of the buildings and the monstrousenesse of the sepulchers there is none but he may vnderstand that to be Monviedro which was Sagunto and that which was Sagunto is now Monviedro In the fields of Monviedro and in the ruinous buildings that be there at these daies there are found many stones ingraueÌ„ and many auncient Epitaphes of the Hannibals of the Asdrubals that died there in the siege of Sagunto the which were two linages of Carthage very notable of bloud and also famous in armes Neare to Monviedro there is a certaine place that in those daies was called Turditanos is now named Torres torres for that they were mortall enemies of the Saguntines Hanniball put himself in with them and from thence did make his batterie did throw downe burne the citie of Sagunto not succoured then of the Romanes or euer after reedified Behold here my Lords how your contention was which was Sagunto and not whiche was Numantia So that Soria and Samorra doth rather giue doubte whiche was Numantia and Monviedro and Sigentia which was Sagunto But the resolution and conclusion of all the aforesayde considering the merites of the processe and what eyther partie hath alledged for him selfe I doe say and declare by my definitiue sentence that the Archbishop of Ciuile did faile and the Duke of Naiara did erre in the thing that both did contend and lay their wager And I condemne either of them in a good Mule to be employed vpon him that shall declare whiche was the greate Numantia I my Lordes will now recount and declare whiche was that Citie Numantia and also say who was the founder therof where it was foÌ„nded how it was founded and what time it lasted and also how it was destroyed for that it is an history very delectable to read worthie to be vnderstood pleasant to recount and lamentable to heare VVhich was the great Citie Numantia in Spaine THe Citie of Numantia was founded by Numa Pompilius the second king of Romanes in the fiftie and eight yeere after the foundation of Rome and in the eightenth yeare of his raigne in suche sorte for that the founder thereof was called Numa it was named Numantia In the old time they did much vse to name their Cities they builded by their owne proper names as Ierusalem of Salem Antioche of Antiochus Constantinople of Constantine Alexandria of Alexander Rome of Romulus and Numantia of Numa Onely seuen Kings there were of Romanes The first of the which was Romulus the seuenth was Tarquine of these seuen the moste excellent of them all was this Numa Pompilius for he was the first that brought the Goddes into Rome he did inclose the vestall Virgins builded the temples and gaue lawes to the Romanes The situation of this Citie was neare the riuer of Dwero and not farre from the head of the same and it was set vpon the heigth of an hill and this heigth was not of a Rocke but vpon a certaine plaine Neither was it towred within nor walled without onelâ— it was compassed about with a broade déepe dischâ—… was inhabited with more than fiue and lesse than sixe thousand households two partes of the which did follow the warres and the third parte their tillage and labour Amongst them exercise was much praised and idlenesse greatly condemne which is more not couetous of goods and yet very ambitious of honour The Numantins of their naturall coÌ„dition were more flegmatike than colericke suffring dissembling suttle and of great actiuitie in such wise that that whiche they did at one time dissemble at another they did reuenge In their Citie there was but one crafts man that was the Smith Goldsmiths Silkworkers Drapers Fruters Tauerners Fishmongers Butchers such like they would not coÌ„sent to liue amongst them For al such things euery maÌ„ ought to haue in his owne house not to séeke them in the common wealth They were so valiant and so doubtie in the affayres of warre that they neuer saw any Numantine turne his barke or receiue any wound in the same in such wise that they did rather determine to die than to flée They could not go a warfare without licence of their common wealth and those also must goe altogether and followe one quarell for otherwise if one Numantine did kill another Numantine the murtherer afterwards was put to death by the common wealth Foure kind of people the Romanes had very fierce to tame and very warlike to fight that is to wit the Mirmidones whiche were those of Merida the Gauditanes whiche were those of Calis the Saguntines whiche were those of Monviedro and the Numantines whiche were those of Soria The difference amongst these was that the Mirmidons were strong they of Calis valiant the Saguntines fortunate but the Numantines were strong valiant and fortunate Fabatus Metellus Sertorius Pompeius Caesar Sextus Patroclus all the other Romane Captaines that by the space of one hundred and foure score yéeres held warres in Spaine did neuer conquere the Numantins neither at any time had to doe with them Amongst all the Cities of this world onely Numantia did neuer acknowledge hir better or kisse the hands of any other for lord This Numantia was somewhat Rockie halfe coÌ„passed with out-towers not very well inhabited and lesse riche With all this none durst hold hir for enemie but for confederate and this was the cause for that the Fortune of the Numantins was much more than the power of the Romanes In the warres betwene Rome and Carthage Caesar and Pompey Silla and Marius there was no King or kingdome in the world that did not follow one of those partes and against the other did not fight except the proude Numantia which always made aunswere to those that did persuade hir to followe their opinioÌ„ that not she of others but others of hir ought to make a head In the first Punick warres neuer would the Numantines follow the CarthaginiaÌ„s or fauour the Romanes for which occasion or too say better without any occasion the Romanes determined to make warre vpon the Numantins not for anye feare they had of their power but for enuie of their great fortune Fouretene yeares continually the Romanes besieged the Numantins in which great was the hurt the Numantins receiued but much more meruelous of the Romane Captaines that there died There were slaine in
and by feare so we of loue and good wil their law is called hard and that of the christians sweete The propertie of loue is to turne the rough into plaine the cruell to gentle the bitter to swéete the vnsauory to pleasant the angry to quiet the malicious to simple that grosse to aduised and also the heauy to light Hée that loueth neither can he murmur of him that doth anger him neither denie that they aske him neither resiste when they take from him neyther answere when they reproue him neither reuenge if they shame him neither yet will be gone when they send him away What doth he forget that dothe loue with all his hart what leaueth he vndon that knoweth not but to loue wherof doth he complaine that alwaies doth loue If he that doth loue hath any cause of complainte it is not of him that he loueth but of him selfe that hath made some fault in loue the conclusion is The hart that loueth entierly without cōparison much more is the pleasure that hee taketh in loue than the trauell he passeth in seruing Oh to how greate effect should it come too passe if being Christians wée should therewith be enamored of the lawe of Christ for then surely neither should wée be pensiue nor liue in paine for the heart that is occupied in loue doth neyther flie daungers nor is dismayed in trauelles The yoke that cattell do beare when hée is new is of him selfe very heauie but after when he is drie and somewhat worne he is more soft to be suffered and more light to be caried Oh good Iesu Oh high misterie of thée my God Since thou wouldest not incontinent after thy byrth burden vs with the yoke of thy lawe but that thou thy selfe vppon thy selfe didst beare the burden and thirtie yeares firste didst cary the same that it should drie and growe light and be seasoned What hath Christ cōmaunded vs to do that he first hath not done what yoke hath he cast vpon our backs that he first hath not borne vppon his shoulders If hée commaunded to fast he fasted if he commaunded to pray he prayed if he commaunded wée should forgiue he pardoned if he commaunded to die he died if he commaunded vs to loue he loued In such wise that if he commaunded vs to take any medicine first in him selfe hée made experence Christ doth not compare his blessed lawe vnto Tymber Stone Plants or Iron but only to the yoke bycause al these things may be caried by one alone but to drawe the yoke of necessitie there must be twain High also most profoūd is this misterie by the which is giuen vs to vnderstand that euen at the present houre that the good Christian shall put downe his head vnder the yoke to cary the same forthwith on the other part Christ puts himselfe to helpe him None calleth Christ that he doth not answere None doth commend himselfe vnto him that he doth not succour None doth aske him that he giueth not some what None doth serue him that he payeth not Likewise none doth trauell that he doth not helpe The yoke of the lawe of Christ doth more cure then wound doth more pardon than chastise doth more couer than accuse doth more feare than weary and also doth more lighten than burden For Christ him self that commaunded to beare he himself no other doth helpe vs to cary Oh good Iesu O loue of my soule with such a guide as thou who can lose the way with suche a patron as thou who feareth drowning with such a captaine as thou who dispaireth victory with such a companion as thou what yoke may bée painefull Oh swéete lawe oh blessed yoke oh trauell well imployed by the whiche wée passe vntoo Christe for not only thou dost make accompt too bée with vs in all our trauels but also dost promise not to leaue vs to our selues He that in the garden of Gethsemany came forth to receiue those that were come too take him It is firmely to bée beleued that he fayleth not to come forth to imbrace them that come to serue him If any worldly and mightie riche man doe contend at any time with a poore Christian truely we shall finde that the helpe is much more that Christe giueth vnto his poore seruant than all the cost that the world giueth to those that do followe the same Those that the world doth leade vnder his yoke to them hée giueth al things variable dismesured and by false waight but in the house of god all things are giuen whole entier without counterpeyse and most perfect We may well say with great reason that the yoke of Christe is swéete and his burden light for that the world doth not so muche as pay for the seruice wée do him but Christ doth pay vs euen for the good thoughts we hold of him Christ doth well sée that of our owne nature we be humane weake miserable foule and remisse for which cause he doth not behold what we are but what we desire to be Moyses gaue the lawe to the Hebrewes Solon to the Greekes Phoroneus to the Egyptians Numa Pompilius to the Romanes but as mē made thē euen as men died so they ended but the yoke of the law of God shall endure as long as God doth endure What may Moyses lawe be worth in whiche was permitted diuorcements and vsury What may the lawe of Phoroneus be estemed in which was graunted to the Aegyptians to be théeues Of what value may the law of Licurgus be accompted in whiche man slaughter was not chastised of what accompt may the lawe of Solon Solonius be reputed in which adultery was dissimuled Of what reputation may the lawe of Numa Pompilius be weighed in which it was allowed that as much as you coulde take was lawfull to conquer Of what consideration may wée iudge the law of the Lidians in which the maydēs vsed no other mariage but vnto him that did win them by adultery Of what iudgemēt may we thinke the law of the Baleares wherein it was commaunded that the bride shoulde not be giuen vnto the bridegrome before the next kinsman had vsed hir These and suche like lawes wée cannot say otherwise but that they were beasily brutish and vnhonest since they did containe vices and by vicious men were permitted He that is entred into the religion of Christ to be in déede a Christian hath no licence to bée proude a théefe a murderer an adulterer a glutton malicious neither blasphemous And if we shall happen to sée any to do the contrary he shall haue onely the name of a Christian but for the rest he shal be of the parish of Hell. The holy and sacred Lawe of Christe is so right in the things it doth admitte and so pure and sincere in the things it doth permit that it doth neither suffer vice nor consent to the vicious man Quia lex Domini immaculata The Hebrewes the Arabians the Pagans
to renewe your Iudges chaunge your Iustices make proclamations and to remoue your seruice to other persons vnknown Consider very well if they attempte the same to the ende that you shall not erre or else to amend their owne estate For it was a lawe amongst the Athenians that he shoulde haue no voyce in the common wealth that pretended to haue interest in that which he counselled Now at the beginning you haue muche cause to consider in whom to trust and with whom to take counsell for if the counseller be such as hopeth thereby to gather any gaine to that end he will direct his counsell where his affection is enclined In suche sorte that if he be couetous he will séeke to rob and if he be malicious or matched with enimies how to be reuenged And also such things as you shall finde in your house to be reformed and your common welth to be chastised It is not my opinion that you amend or reforme all things in hast that is amisse For it is not iust neither yet sure that ancient customes of the cōmon people be taken away sodeynly being brought in by little and little The customes that touch not the faith neither offende the Churche eyther offende the Common wealth take them not away neither alter thē the which if you will not for their cause yet for your owne cause disfauor the same for if I be not deceiued in the house where dwelleth nouelties there lodgeth want of iudgement Also my Lord I counsell you that you in suche wise measure your goods that they liue not with you but that your lordship liue with them I say it bicause there be many noble men of your estate that kéepe a great house with other mens goodes he that hath much spendes little they call him a nigarde he that hath little spendes muche they hold him for a foole for which cause men ought to liue in such sorte that they bée not noted mizers for their kéeping either prodigal for their spēding My Lord Earle be none of those that haue two quentes of rent foure of follies which alwayes go taking by lone dealing by exchāge taking rent aforehand and selling their patrimonie In such maner as all their trauel doth cōsist not in mainteyning house but in sustayning follies Many other things I might say vnto youre Lordship in this matter the which my pen doth leaue to write to remit them vnto your prudencie No more but the Lorde be your protector From Valiodolid the thirde of Nouember A letter vnto the Admirall Sir Fadrique Enriques wherin is declared that olde men haue to beware of the yeare three score and three MOste renoumed Lorde and great Admirall I assure you I maye firmely aduouche vnto your honour that at the instant there was not anye thyng farther oute of my mynde than was your letter when I sawe it enter into my Cell and incontinente I imagined with my selfe that you wrote vnto mée some iest or sent vnto me to declare some doubt To the very like purpose the diuine Plato did say that such is the excellencie of the heart aboue all the other membres of man that many tymes the eyes be deceiued in the things they sée and the hart doth not erre in that it doth imagin The Consul Silla when he sawe Iulius Caesar being a yong man euill trussed and worse girt for whiche cause many did iudge him to be negligent and also doltish sayd vnto all those of his band beware of that il girt youth that although he appeareth to be such yet this is he that shall tirannise the Citie of Rome and be the ruine of my house Plutarch in the life of Marcus Antonius recounteth of a certaine Gréeke named Ptolomeus which being demaunded wherefore he did not talke or was conuersant with any man in all Athens but with the yong man Alcibiades answered bycause my hart giueth me that this yong man shall set Greece on fire and defame all Asia The good Emperour Traiane sayd that he was neuer deceyued in choosing fréends and in knowing of enemies for presently his hart did aduertise him to whome he shoulde repaire and of whome he should beware And if we well consider the foresayd neither the hart of Silla was deceyued in that he propbesied of Iulius Caesar neyther the Art of Ptolomeus did erre in that he diuined of Alcibiades bycause the one depriued Rome of hir libertie and the other darkned the glory of Greece Thus much I thought to saye vnto youre Lordship to the ende you might sée how my hart was not deceiued in diuining what you had written and also what you craued I may very well say that sometimes your Lordship writeth me some iests that makes me mery and sometimes you demaund questiōs that makes me watch for your Lordship hath your iudgement so cleare your memorie so readye the Scripture so prompt the time so disposed and aboue all great swiftnesse in writing and much vse in reading that you doe me great gréefe to importunate me so often to declare that which you vnderstande not and to séeke out that whiche you may not finde to expound as I did the verses of Homer too declare the life of Antigonus to search you the historie of Methiados the Thebane to relate you the Ceruatica of Sertorius you haue iudged to be don in maner without trauel but I sweare by the law of an honest man I was ouer watched in séeking spent in disposing and tried in writing it Many other Lords of this kingdome and also out of the same do write vnto mée and craue that I declare them some doutes and send thē some histories which doutes and demaundes be all plaine and easie and at thrée turnes I finde them amongst my writings but your Lordship is such a frend of nouelties as always you aske me histories so straunge and peregrine that my wittes may not in any wise but néedes go on pilgrimage My Lord comming to the purpose you say that the Earle of Miranda did write vnto you that eleuen dayes before the good Constable Sir Ynnigo of Velasco died he hard me say and certifie that he shoulde die the whiche as I then spake so afterwards it came to passe but I would not declare vnto him by what meane I vnderstood it Youre Lordships pleasure is that I shoulde write vntoo you whether I did speake it in earnest or in iest or if I sawe in the sickeman any prognostication or if I knewe in thys matter any great secret the which I will discouer vnto you if you promise me to kéepe it secret and that vnto me thereof you be not ingrate The truth is I sayd it to the Earle of Miranda and also to the Doctour Carthagna neyther did I know it by reuelation as a Prophet either did I obtayne it in Circle as a Nigromanticke either did I finde it in Ptolomeus as an Astronomer nor vnderstand by the pulse as a
for I haue red more in Hostiensis that instructeth to giue counsell thā in Ouid that teacheth to be enamored Of a troth master Mosen Rubin I say that it is neither you or I that loue dothe like and with whome she doth delight For you are now olde and I am religious in such sort that in you age doth abound and in me wanteth libertie Beléeue me sir be out of doubt it is not loue but sorow not mirth but displeasure not tast but torment not recreation but confusion when in the enamored there is not youth libertie and liberalitie The man that is now entred into age and wil be yong againe and enamored they neuer terme him an old louer but a filthy old foole and as God saue me they haue great reason that so do call them for old rotten strawes are more fit to make dung than to bée kept The God Cupid and the Goddesse Venus will not haue in houshold but yong men that can serue liberall that knowe to spend and frée that can enioy and delight pacient that can suffer discréete that haue skill to talke secret that knowe too kéepe silence faithfull to gratify and valiant that can perseuer he that is not endued and priuileged with these conditions it should bee more sound counsell for him to delue in the field than to be enamored in pallace For there are not in this world men more miserable than the enamored that be foolish The doltish louer besides that his dame scorneth him his neighbours iest at him his seruantes beguile him Pandar bepéeleth him he is blinded with gilefull spéeche euill imployeth his iuels goeth without foresight he is light of beliefe and in the end findes himselfe beflouted All the offices crafts and sciences in this world may be learned except it be the skil and occupation to know to loue the whiche neither Salamon had skill to write Asclepius to paint Ouid to teache Helen to report either yet Cleopatra to learne but that from the schoole of the hart it must procéede and pure discretion must giue instruction There is not any thing wherein is more necessitie to be discréet than in being a louer for if a man haue hunger cold thirst and werinesse the only body feeleth it but the follies that is committed in loue the hart chiefly bewayleth thē To the end that loue be fixed sure perpetuall and true there must be equalities betwixt the enamored for if the louer bée yong and she old or he old and she yong or he wise and she a foole or he a foole and she wise or he loue hir and she abhorreth him or she loue him and he abhorreth hir beléeue me sir and be out of doubt that of fained louers they shall ende assured and vnfained enemies Master Mosen Rubin I thought good to say thus muche vnto you to the ende that if the louer that you haue now chosen be in possession of thrée score and thrée yeres as you are there is no greate perill that you loue and know hir For most of the time you shall spend shall bée in recounting vnto hir the louers that you haue holden and she in reckoning vp vnto you all such as hath serued hir Speaking more in particuler I woulde knowe to what purpose a man as you that hath passed thréescore yeares that is full spent and laden with the goute will nowe take a Curtisan yong and faire which will rather occupy hir selfe in robbing than delighting of you To what ende will you haue a loue of whome you may not be serued but to bind vp grieues and to driue away flies Wherefore will you haue a daintie Dame since betwixt you and hir there may rise no either cōuersation or communication but to relate and count reckonings and tales and how little you haue eaten all the daye and howe manie tymes you haue tolde the clocke that night For what cause wold you haue a loue since you want strēgth to folowe hir goodes to serue hir patience to suffer hir and youth to enioye hir Why will you haue an amorous dame vnto whome you can not represente howe muche you haue suffered and endured for hir sake but reporte howe the goute is rysen from the hande to the shoulders To what conclusion will you loue an infamous woman whiche will not enter in at your dores that daye whiche you cease to giue hir or shall grow negligent to serue hir To what consideration doe you delite to haue a wanton loue vnto whome you shall not dare to deny any thing that she craueth either chide for anye displeasure she giueth To what seruice will you haue a lawlesse loue who may not be serued conformably to youre good but agréeable to hir foolishnesse For what skill will you haue alemman which must be gratified for the fauour she beareth you and dare not complayne of the ielosies she shal demaund of you For what conceyt will you haue a seconde Lais which when she shall flatter you it shall not only be to content you but something to craue of you For what intente will you haue a loue before whome you must néedes laugh althoughe the goute make you raue For what meaning will you haue a dissolute dame with whom you shall spend all your goodes before you shall haue acquaintance with hir conditions And why desire you a lustie Lasse with whom you are ioyned for money and also susteyn hir with delights and yet in the end must depart from hir with displeasures If you M. Mosen Rubin with these conditions will néedes be enamoured be it so in a good houre for I am sure it will rayne into your house To your age and infirmitie it were more cōuenient to haue a friend to recreate than a Lamia with whom to putrifie Samocratius Nigidius and Ouide did wryte many bookes and made greate treatyses of the remedies of loue and the rewarde of them is they sought remedies for others and vsed none for themselues all thrée dyed persecuted and banished not for those offences they committed in Rome but for the loues they attempted in Capua Let Ouide say what hée dreameth Nigidius what him pleaseth Samocratius what hée thinketh good but in fine the greatest and best remedy against loue is to flée the conuersation and to auoyde the occasion for in causes of loue wée sée many escape that doe flée it and verye fewe that abide it Sir take you héede that the Dinel deceyue you not in your reckenyng a freshe to be enamoured since it is not conuenient for the health of your person either aunswerable to the authoritie of youre house For I assure you of my faith that sooner you shall be deliuered of the displeasures of your Courtizan than of the paynes of the goute My pen hath stretched out farther than I thought and also farther than you would but since you were the first that laid hand to weapon the fault is not myne if I haue hapned to giue you
and to driue the Erle of Alua de Lista out of Zamora If you enter in reckening with all those of your bande which goe in your companie certainly you shall fynde that passion was your foundation not reason neither zeale of the common wealth but ouermuche desire in euery one to augment his owne house and estate Sir Peter Giron woulde haue the possession of Medina the Earle of Saluatiera commaunde the royall Pastures Fernando de Aualoes reuenge his iniurie Iohn de Padilia be maister of S. Iames Sir Peter Lasso the onely ruler in Toledo Quintanilla Controller of Medina Sir Fernando de Hulloa expell his brother out of Toro the Abbot of Compludo obtaine the Bishoprike of Zamora the Doctor Barnardine the Auditor of Valiodolid Ramir nimez the possession of Leon and Charles de Arrelano ioyne Soria with Vorobia The wise man sayeth hée séeketh occasion that will depart from a frend in like maner we may say that sedicious men séek not but rebellious times for that it séemeth vnto them whiche want are in necessitie while rebellion lasteth they may feed of the sweate of other mens brows and profit by their neighbors losse The arte séemeth not a litle gracious which you haue vsed to deceiue and persuade Toledo Burgos Valiodolid Leon Salamanca Auila and Segouia to rebell saying that by this meane they shal be established and made frée as Venize Geneua Florence Sena and Luke in suche wise that from hencefoorth they shall not bée named Cities but Seigniories Musing what was to be said in this matter a good space I had my pen in suspence and in the end I conceiued that vpon so great a vanitie and mischief neuer lyke heard of there is nothing to be sayd much lesse to be written For I hold it for certain and dare auouch that you make not those Cities frée but a praye not entitle them with seigniories but profit your selues with their riches Those the wil take in hand any enterprise that naturally is seditious or offensible haue not to consider of the occasion that moueth thē to ryse but only the good or euil end which therof may procéed for all famous offences haue had always a beginning of good respects Silla Marius and Cateline whiche were famous Romains and glorious Captaines vnder the coloure to delyuer Rome from euill gouernours made themselues tirants of the same At sometymes it is lesse euill in greate Cities to beare with some want of Iustice than to moue the people and therby to raise warre for that war is a certain net that catcheth away all weale from the common wealth The great Alexander being demaunded for what cause hée would be Lord of the whole worlde made answere All the warres that are raised in this worlde is for one of these thrée causes which is eyther to haue goodes many lawes or else many Kings therfore would I obtain the same to cōmaund throughout the whole worlde that they honour but one God serue but one king and obserue but one law But let vs now conferre your Lordship with Alexander the great and we shal finde that he was a King and your Lorship a Bishoppe he a Pagan and you a Christian he bred in the warres and you in the Church he neuer heard of the name of Christe you haue sworne to obserue his Gospell and with all these conditions he would not for the whole worlde haue but one king and your lordship wold haue seuen only for Castile I say vnto your Lordship that you wold establish seuen kings in Castile for that you would make the seuen Cities of the same seauen seigniories The good and loyal gentlemen of Spayn vse to remoue kings to make one king and such as be traytours and disloyall do vse to remoue the King to make kings For vs and our friends we wil no other God but Christ no other law but the Gospell or other king but the Emperoure Charles the fifth And if you and your commoners will haue an other king and an other lawe ioyne your selues with the Curate of Mediana which euery sunday doth establishe and take away kings in Castile And this is the case In a certain place named Mediana which is néere vnto Palomera of Auila there was a Biskay priest and halfe a foote whiche was moued with so great affection to Iohn of Padilia that at the tyme of bidding of beads on the holy days he recōmended after this maner My brethren I commend vnto you one Aue Maria for the most holy communaltie that it neuer decay I commende vnto you an other Aue Maria for the maiestie of king Iohn of Padilia the God may prosper him I cōmend vnto you an other Aue Maria for the Quéenes highnesse our mistresse and Lady Mary of Padilia that God may preserue hir for of a troth these be the true kings and all the rest before time were tyrantes These prayers continued aboute thrée wéekes little more or lesse After whiche tyme Iohn of Padilia with his menne of warre passed that waye and the souldiers that lodged in the priests house inticed away his woman drank his wine kilde his hennes and eate vp his bacon The sundaye folowing in the Churche he sayde It is not vnknowne vnto you my brethren howe Iohn of Padilia passed this way and howe his souldiors hath left me neuer a henne haue eaten me a flitch of bacon haue drunke out a whole tinage of wine and haue caried away my Cateline I say for that from hencefoorth you shall not pray vnto God for him but for king Charles and for our Lady Quéene Ione for they be the true Princes giue to the diuell these straunge kings Behold here my Lord Bishop how the Curate of Mediana is of more power than your Lorshippe for that he made and vnmade Kings in thrée wéekes whiche you haue not performed in eyght moneths and yet I doe sweare and prophesie that the King that you shall establish in Castile shall endure as little as that king whiche was made by the Curate of Mediana No more but that our Lorde be your protectour and lighten you with his grace From Medina del rio secco the .xx. of December .1521 A letter vnto the Bishop of Zamora sir Antony of Acunna in whiche the Author doth perswade him to turne to the seruice of the kyng REuerend disquiet bishop by the letter of Quintanilla of Medina I was aduertised in what maner your lordship receiued my letter and also vnderstoode that in the ende of reading thereof presentely you beganne to groue and murmuring sayd Is this a thing to be suffred that the tong of Frier Antony of Gueuara may bee of more power than my launce and that he be not contented to haue withdrawne Sir Peter Giron euen from betwixte oure hands but also now euen here doth write me a thousand blasphemies It hath much pleased me that my letter was so wel cōfected that with such swiftnes it
stilled water Although Doctor Soto tolde me this tale in iest I did firmly beléeue it bicause you Master Doctor did once saye vnto mée in Madrid that in all the days of your life you neuer receiued compound purgation either proued the fast of stilled water Ther is no arte in this world that makes me lose the stirops or to say better my wits but the maner that Physitions do vse to cure For wée sée them desirous to cure and enimies to be cured And bicause Master Doctor you write vnto me also you sweare and coniure me by the desire I wishe to the welfare of my father that I write vnto you what is my iudgement of Physike and what I haue read of the inuenters birth and first rising thereof I will performe your request although it be more than others would wish for it is a matter that the wise Physitions will delight in but wherefore the foolish will giue both you and me to the diuell Of the moste auncient inuenters of Physike and medicine IF Plinie doe not deceyue vs there is no arte of the seuen liberall Artes wherein there is practised lesse trouth and whiche hath passed more mutabilitie than the Arte of Medicine Bicause there hath not bin kingdom people either notable natiō in this world wher she hath not bin receiued and after entertaynment againe throwne out of the same For if as she is a medicine she were a man immesurable wer the trauels that she wold report that she had suffred and many and very many are the kingdoms that she hath traueled and prouinces that she hath wandred not bycause they neglected to be cured but for that they helde Phisitions suspitious to be doubted The first that amongst the Greekes found the art of curing was the Philosopher Apollo and hys Sonne Aesculapius which for being so famous in Phisicke they concurred vnto him as vnto an Oracle throughout all Grecia but the chaunce was thus This Aesculapius was but a yong man and by greate mischaunce was slayne with lightning And as he left no disciple that knew his secretes neither that could make his medcines the master and the Art of medcine ioyntly did perish Four hundred and forty yeres was the Art of Phisicke lost in suche wise that in all the worlde there was not a man founde that did cure publikely or was called Phisition for so many yeares passed from the time that Esculupius died vntill the birth of Arthaxerxes the second in whose time Ipochras was borne Strabo Diodoro also Plini maketh mention of a woman of Grecia that in those most aunciente times did florish in the art of Phisicke of whome they recite so many mōstrous things and so incredible that to my iudgemēt they be al or the more part of thē fayned for if they shuld be true it séemed rather that she raysed the dead than cured the sicke In these days there did rise in the prouince of Achaia an other womā that began to cure with psalmes and words without applying any medcine simple or compound whyche being knowne in Athens was condemned by decrée of the Senate to be stoned to death saying that the Gods neyther nature had giuen remedies for sicknesse in words but in herbes and stones In the dayes that they had no phisitions in Asia the Gréekes held for custome when any man had made experiēce of a medcine and did heale with the same he was bound to write it in a table and to hang it vp in the temple of Diana that was at Ephesus for that in the like case any other might vse the same remedy Trogos Laertios and also Lactantius saith that the cause whereby the Gréekes did sustayne themselues so long time without Phisitions was that in May they dyd gather swéete herbes whiche they kept in their houses they were let bloud once in the yeare did bath once euery monthe and also they did eate but once a day Conformable to this Plutarch doth say that Plato being demaunded by the philosophers of Athens if he had seene any notable thing in Tinacria which is now called Sicilia made aunswer vidi monstrum in natura bominem bis saturum in die whiche is to say I did see a monster in mās nature which did fill or féede himselfe twice in one day he sayde thus by Dionysius the tyrant which was the first that inuented to eate at noone and afterwards to suppe at night for in the olde worlds they did vse to suppe but not to dine I haue curiously considered and in great varietie of bookes I haue sought and that whiche I found in this case is that all the nations of this world did eate at night and onely the Hebrewes did féede at none but following our intent it is to vnderstand that the temple most estéemed in all Asia was the Temple of Diana the one cause was for that it was stately of buildings another for that it was serued with many Priests but the most principall cause was for that the tables of Medicines were hanged there to cure the diseased Strabo sayeth that eleuen yeares after the battells of the Peloponenses the great Philosopher Ipochras was borne in a little Iland named Coe in whiche also were borne those glorious personages Licurgus and Brias the one Captayne of the Athenians and the other Prince of the Lacedemonians Of this Ipochras it is written that he was of small stature somewhat poare blind with a great head of much silēce paynefull in study and aboue all of a high and delicate iudgement From xviij yeares vnto thirtie fiue Ipochras continued in the scholes of Athenes studying Philosophie and reading and notwithstanding that in his time many Philosophers did flourish he was more famouse renoumed and estéemed than all the rest After that Ipochras departed from the studies of Athenes he wandred throughout diuers kingdomes and prouinces inquiring and searching of all men and women what they did knowe of the properties and vertues of herbes and planets and what experience they had seene of them At which things he did write and incommend vnto his memorie Also Ipochras did search with most great diligence for other bookes of Phisick written by any other auncient Philosophers and it is sayd that he found some written bookes in whyche theyr authours had written no medcine that they had made but such as they had séene made Of the Kingdomes and Prouinces where Phisitions were banished TWelue yeares Ipochras did trauell in this peregrination after which time he retired vnto the temple of Diana that was in Ephesus and translated al the tables of medcines and experiments that were there preserued many yeares he put in order all that was before confused and added many things that he had founde out and other things that he had experimented This Philosopher Ipochras is Prince of all Phisitions in the world for he was the first that tooke penne to write and to put Phisicke in order Also it is
shall performe with right good wyll what your honor doeth commaunde as touching the exposition of the passage in Exodus which I preached last in the presence of Caesar In Exodus the .25 chapter it is written that our Lord God sayde vnto Moyses Emunctoria quoque facies vbi ea quae emuncta sunt extingantur fiant de auro purissimo As if he would haue said About the lampes of the Temple thou shalt haue snuffers of most fine golde to snuffe withall and also thou shalt make a basen of gold wherein to laye the same But now to vnderstande this text very well it is conuenient and necessary to take holde of the Scripture farder of and more déeper bicause in the profound and delicate passages of the holy scripture it doth muche importe to declare the texte from the bottome and very roote Wherein it is to be noted that immediatly after our Lord God had deliuered the children of Israell out of the country of Aegipt he gaue them a lawe to obserue Priestes to informe them magistrates to gouerne them a land to inhabite Manna to susteyne them and a tabernacle to praye in The curious reader shall find in the Psalmes and Prophets many times these names repeated that is to saye Tabernacle Sanctuarie Aultar Propiciatorie Sancta Sanctorum Which names although they were verified in the synagoge of the Hebrewes there was notwithstanding a difference of the one and other Tabernacles among the Iewes was as muche as among the Christians at this present wée call Churche The order wherof although it be difficile to write neuerthelesse it is very mysticall and worthie the vnderstanding In the middes of the hoste where the Hebrues did aduance their pauilions they left a certayne space of an hundreth cubites in length and fiftie of breadth where on both sides they erected twoo stately pillers which did serue for distinctions or separations of the roume for the Priests from the people All which place as well in length as breadth the Israelites did name Tabernacle whiche is as muche to saye as a place dedicate onely to god In the middes of this tabernacle was placed a solemne and a magnificent altar where vpon the sacrifice was done there was also the greate bason of water where the Priestes did washe and for that vnto that place and no further the Israelites might not enter it was named Sanctuarium which is to say a place sanctifyed Within the Sanctuarie there was another separation of the space of thirtie cubites in length and ten of breadth made of Sittim woodde and alofte hauing the fashion or forme of heauen it was couered with a triple couerture whereof the one was made of red shepes woolle the other of goates heare and the other of Taxus skinnes whiche was for defence of the rayne and Sunne Vnder this sayde heauen and in the mids of this sayde place there was the holy table vpon which was sette the holie breade called the loues of proposition and the holie incense and other swéete odors This place héere named was called the holie Tabernacle bycause the Priestes onely myght enter vnto the whiche place no other person would aduenture to approche In the middes of this tabernacle ther was a great curtaine strained betwixt the pillers within the which was the tabernacle of witnesse wherein also was placed the tables of the law the Manna of heauen Aarons rod. This place was intituled the holy of holiest wherin the high Priest might enter once a yeare Within the sayd Arke there was a table of fine gold somwhat more long thā broad wheron were placed two Cherubins of golde at euery corner their wings alofte stretched abroade beholding eche other In the middes betwixt the cherubins there was a darke clowde within the whiche was the Angell that gaue answeres as God commanded And also answered what the good olde Moyses determined In this place where these cherubins are was the moste secrete and sacred of all the tabernacle This place was called the Propitiatorie bycause in that place the Lorde God did manifest himselfe more propice and neare as well to pardon as to answere them Besides the propitiatory and neare the aultar of the tabernacle night and daye was fire wherein also they did burne the holocaustes sacrifices and oblations Within the tabernacle and propiciatory ten paces or there aboutes off the mercie seate or Sancta Sanctorum was placed a magnificent candelsticke of fine golde whereon were fyxed sixe lampes full of oyle Olyue which did burne day nyght to giue light to the tabernacle Héere it is to be noted that neither in the auncient Tabernacle of Moyses either in that famouse Temple of Salomon it was not commaunded either permitted to burne tallowe candels eyther tapers of waxe but lampes of oyle for the mysterie of the waxe the onely woorkmanshippe of the hony Bée was left to lighten the Catholicke Churche And bycause the Tabernacle the Sanctuarie the Aulter the mercy Seate and Sancta Sonctorum were holie places and edifyed onely vnto God The law commanded they shooulde be decked nete cleare and gladsome and not fowle or fylthie Wherefore the Priestes had alwayes neare vnto the candelsticke snuffers of golde to snuffe the lampes and a basen of golde incontinently to place and put out that whiche was snuffed Beholde the litterall sense and that whiche was permitted in the Synagogue nowe ryght reuerende it is greate reason that wée declare what wée vnderstande as touching these snuffers and the snuffing of the lampes The signification of this discourse touching the mysterie of the snuffers of Golde SVrely a thing woorthie the noting also to be maruelled at that fire or flame being a thing that doth purifie mundifie and giue light notwithstanding it throweth from it selfe and produceth fume and smoke bothe tedious and stinking and therefore I would gladly demaund of him that shal heare or reade the same what hée woulde answere whereof it is That the aultar beyng holy the Tabernacle holy the Propipitiatorie holy the Arcke holie the candelsticke holy and all that there is holy and blessed notwithstanding there remaineth alwayes in the Temple to clippe to nete to purge to snuffe and whervpon to set the foote We haue hereby to vnderstande and to inferre That there hath not bene neyther is there any nation congregation common wealth estate or person so holy so perfect or so reformed that there is not in the same to be amended or else purged wiped also snuffed For to say the troth we sée no person lyue so well that might not and ought not to liue better than he doth And howe commeth it to passe that any dare canonize for Saint the most holy man in this worlde séeing the scripture sayeth The childe new borne to be in sinne God finding causes to chasten the Angels doth he not finde wherfore to purge and snuffe men Hée that heareth the royall Prophete Dauid speake after this manner Ecce
interpretation of bookes If ye will say that those whiche presently be called Moores or Turkes be the same people whereof the Prophet speaketh Scrutati sunt iniquitates herevnto I answer that as false is the one as the other for as muche as if we will haue regarde vnto the time of the raigne of King Dauid which did prophesie the same vntill the time of Mahomet the first inuentor and conductor of the sect of the Moores we shall find that there dyd passe lesse than 2000. and more than 1800. yeares If we would say and affirme that the Prophet did meane and direct his speech vnto the Christians I saye also it is most false and repugnant vnto all troth for being admitted that the Christian faith had beginning to raigne 600. yeares before the sect of the Moores and more than 3000. yeares after the beginning of the Gentilitie or the Heathen from the tyme that this prophecie was written at Ierusalem vnto the time they began to name themselues Christians at Antioch there passed more than a thousand yeares and also thrée hundred yeares more for aduantage Behold here truly verifyed that since the prophecie may not be aduouched vpon the Gentiles the Moores neyther yet the Christians that it is to be vnderstood spoken vnto you Iewes more expressely for that the Prophet saith not Scruteront but Scruterent giuing vs to vnderstande that many yeares before King Dauid did pronounce the same youre auncesters had then already begon to corrupt the sacred Scriptures and to adde vnto the same erroneous glosses I lie not neyther do I repent to haue sayd that your auncient fathers Scrutati sunt iniquitates since they haue no grace to vnderstand the Prophecie of Ieremie which sayth post dies multos dicit dominus dabo meam legem in visceribus illorum in corde eorū ad scribā legem meam As if he wold haue sayd After many dayes and after many yeares I will create a newe people and will giue them a new lawe whiche I my selfe will wright in theyr bowells and hide within their harts to the ende that no persone shall falsefy the same and muche lesse shall they be able to forget it Then as the Prophecie which sayth Scrutati sant iniquitates c. is spoken onely vnto you and not to all men in lyke manner this Prophecie of Ieremy whiche sayth dabo legem in visceribus illorum c. is spoken vnto vs Christians and not to you Iewes For as muche as our Catholike fayth consisteth more in that which is rooted within our hartes than in that whyche is written in bookes in such manner the weale of the Christian lieth not in that whiche hée readeth but in that which he beléeueth The maruels that Christe hathe done and the doctrines which he hath giuen vnto the world It is necessary and well done to knowe and also to reade them but it is muche more founde and sure to beléeue them for the number is infinite which be saued without reading but not one persone without well beléeuing The Edicts and Proclamations which they ordeyned and the lawes of Moses Promotheus Solon Licurgus and Numa Pompilius were all written with their handes and preserued and kept safe in their originals within their liberties but the law of Iesus Christ ought most certaynly to be writtē within our harts for that in as much that the Lord gaue vs no other law but the law of loue he did like and thought it better that we shoulde search and find the same within our hartes than within our bookes And not without great mistery God sayd by the mouth of your Prophet that the law which his sonne should giue vs that he shuld first write it within the harts before the Euangelist shuld reduce them by writing into bookes for after this manner it might not be forgotten neyther yet burned And so if youre auncient predecessors hadde obtayned the law of Moyses written in their harts as they had them writtē in old parchment they had not in times past worshipped the Idolls of Baal Bell Pegor Asterot Bahalim and Belzebub for whiche offence you were caried captiue into straunge countries and falne into your enimies hands How it came to passe that the Hebrew tong was lost IN like manner ye vsed me with no small despight for that in disputing against you I alleaged youre Esay where God the Father speaking vnto his owne proper sonne sayde these wordes parum est mihi vt suscites tribus Iacob feces Israell dedit te in lucem gentium vt sis salus mea vsque ad extremum terrae As if hée would haue sayd it is no great matter that thou serue me to suscitate and raise vp the lies of Iacob and to conuert the dregges of Israell for I haue giuen thee also for a light vnto the Gentiles to the ende that thou shalt be my sauing health vnto the ende of the worlde There is no man hauing read although but little in the holy Scripture that will not saye and affirme that the Prophet Esay was not an Hebrew borne a Prophet of a noble line and right eloquent in the scriptures for which cause you ought rather to blame and complayne of him which doth call and tearme you lies and dregges of Iacob than of me the which in all oure diputations haue not at any time alleaged any Christian doctor but only Hebrewish Prophets I saye agayne that you haue small reason to be offended with him or me for there is another Prophet which doth call you off scowring another venim another lies another dregs another ordure another slime another smoke another filthe in suche wise that as oft as ye did not ceasse to sin so did they not ceasse to blason and to expresse you with most perfect tearmes Are ye able to denie that of your priesthood of your Scepter of your Temple of your Realme of your lawe of youre tong either of your scripture is there any remayning but the lies which smelleth and the dregs which stinketh Surely that which was in youre lawe cleare nete precious and odoriferous long before the incarnation was consumed and that little which remayned in Iesus Christ did take an end And as cōcerning the priesthood of your law the great sacrificer or the high Priest ought he not to be extract out of the Trybe of Leuy whereof you haue nothing left but the lies for yet in the time of yonger and better dayes it was no more giuen vnto the Leuits that did best deserue it but vnto him that offred most siluer in such wise that to him that offred most and had greatest skill to flatter the priesthood was giuē as when a garment is sold by the drumme Likewise of your Scepter royal what haue you but the lyes for Herod Eskalonite a straunger did not onely vsurpe your Realme but by industry caused the Prince Antigonus sonne to Alexander your King
gréeues and things amisse and to vnderstād for the remedie therof for by this meanes you should growe to more ripenesse for the things you haue to demaund and in our king and maister more facilitie in that whiche he shoulde graunt If it may please you to leaue your armour and giue faith vnto my words I sweare by the faith of a Christian by this letter of credence that I bring with me do promise you that you shall be pardoned of the king and well intreated of his gouernors that you shal neuer for this déed be chastized neither yet in wordes be blamed or defamed And bicause it shall not séeme that your zeale hath bin in vaine and that the Gouernours doth not desire the common wealth I will here shew vnto you what they wil do for the kingdome and what kindnesse on his Maiesties behalfe they will bestowe vppon you which is as followeth First they promise you that at any time whē the kings Maiestie shall be absent from this kingdome he shall place a Castilian to gouerne Castile bicause the authoritie greatnes of Spaine endureth not the gouernment of straungers Also they promise you that all the dignities holdings and offices of the kingdome and Court shall be giuen to Spaniards and not to straungers notwithstāding there be many noble personages that haue well deserued and in whome they were well employed Also they promise you that the royall rents of the people shall be rated at an indifferent rente in such wise that the Cities may haue reasonable gayne and no greate losse to the king Also they promise you that if in the regall counsell shal be found any examiner or any other officer although it be the president vnwise or vnapt for gouernement and not learned to giue sentence or not honest of lyfe that his maiestie shall absolue him of his office notwithstanding they may be affectionate to some and also offended like other men Also they promise that from hencefoorth his Maiestie shall commaund his Iustices of Court and Chauncery that they shall not vse their commaundements so absolute neyther their chastisements so rigorous notwithstanding that sometimes they be in some things fierce bycause they may be more feared and also more esteemed Also they promyse that from henceforth his Maiestie shall commaunde to reforme his house and also remoue the excessiue charges thereof considering that disordinate expences bryng forth newe tributes Also they promise you that for any neede the Kings Maiestie may haue hée shall not carry neither yet commaund to be caried any money out of this kingdome to bée transported into Flaunders Almayne or Italy considering that incontinent trafficke decayeth in kingdomes where money wanteth Also they promise that his Maiestie shall not permitte from henceforth Biscay Iron Alum of Murcia Vitailes of Andolozia nor Sackes of Burgos to be laden in straunge botoms but in shippes of Biscay and Galizia to the ende that straungers shall not robbe and our Countrey men to gayne whereby to eate Also they promise that his Maiestie shall not permit to be gyuen from henceforth fortresse Castell bridge gate or towne but vnto Gentlemen plaine and curteous and not vnto Gentlemen or Knights of power which in reuolting times may rise with the same considering that in the ancient times none might haue Artilery or Fortresse but the King in Castile Also they do promise you that from henceforth his Maiestie shall not permitte licences to cary corne into Portingall neyther from Mancha to Valentia consideryng that many tymes to haue licence to transport thither is here amongst ourselues cause of greate dearth Also with all breuitie his Maiestie wil commaund the contentions and matters in law to be examined and considered that haue bene continued betwixt Toledo and the Earle of Velalcassar and Segonia and sir Fernando Chichon and of Iaen with the towne of Martos and Valiodolid with Simancas and that of sir Peter Giron with the Duke of Medina considring that those in possession do delay and the dispossessed complaine Also they promise that the King will commaund to reforme the excesses giue lawe for banquets reforme Monasteries visit Chanceries repayre sorts and fortifie all the frontiers considering that in all these things there is necessitie of reformation and also of correction If you my Masters bée suche as you publishe your selfe throughout Castile whiche is to witte that you bée the redéemers of the Common wealth and the restorers of the libertie of Castile behold here wée offer you the redemption and also the resurrection thereof bycause so many and so good thinges as these are neyther did you remember to demaunde eyther woulde presume to craue nowe is the houre come wherein of necessitie it muste bée manifested whither you speake and meane one thing For if yée desire the generall wealth now is it offred you and if you pretend your particuler interest it may not be graunted you for speaking the troth it is not iust but most vniust that with the sweate of the poore common wealth you shoulde séeke to amend the state of your owne houses But let it be for cōclusion since we be here in the Churche of the towne of Braxima of my part I do humbly beséeche you vppon my knées and in the behalfe of the gouernours I doe request you and on the Kings name I commaund you to leaue your armour to discamp your camp and to vnfortifie Tordisillas if not I iustifie this offer for the gouernours that all the euils mischieues and slaughters that hereafter shall happen in this kingdome be vpon the charge of your soules and not vpon the burden of their conscience As I knéeled downe at the speaking of these last wordes forthwith came vnto me Alonso of Quintanilla and Sarabia bare headed and with great courtesie did help me to rise and forced me to sitte downe During the time I didde speake all that is aforesaid it was a thing to looke vpon and worthy consideration how some of them did behold me some did stampe some did eye me and also some did mocke me but I neuer the more did leaue to note either stay to speake After I had finished my Oration they all with one voice said and desired the Bishop of Zamora to speake his iudgemente and that afterwards they would all sée what were conuenient to be done Forthwith the Bishop toke me by the hand in the name of thē all he said vnto me Father frier Antony of Gueuara thou hast spoken sufficiently and also for the authoritie of thy habite as a man ouer rash but for that thou art a yong man and of small experience neither knowest thou what thou speakest eyther vnderstandest thou what thou demaundest eyther wast thou made a Frier being a boy or else thou art angrie or knowest little of this worlde or thou wantest iudgement since thou presumest to speak such things wouldest make vs beleue but thou father being stayd within thy monasterie knowest not of tirānies
whiche they execute in the kingdom that which the knights noble mē hath tirānised of the reall patrimonie for whiche cause thy entent shall be receyued although thy wordes not beléeued I haue heard say that thou arte rashe in thy spéeche and sharpe in reprehending and ioyntly therewith I did beléeue since the Gouernours had thée in their cōpany that thou hadst a good zele and no want of iudgemente but since they suffer they foolishenesse it is not much that we endure thy wordes God hathe bin thy good Lord that none of the captains of the warre hath bin present for according to thy disordred talke whiche thou hast vsed they woulde firste haue taken away thy life before thou mightst haue finished thy tale then it might be in oure hands to be sory but not to remedie When some other daye thou shalt talk in the presence of so great authoritie grauitie as these are which be present thou oughtest to be in that thou shalt say very moderat in the maner of thy spéech very much measured bycause thy spéeche hath bin rather to scandalize than to mitigate vs for that thou pretendest to condemne vs and discharge the gouernours and since we be but Captaines to execute and not iudges to determine it is conuenient that thou giuest vs by writing firmed with thy hande al that thou hast sayd and promised on the Kings behalfe that wée maye sende it to the Gentlemen of the holie assemblie and there they shall sée what they haue to commaunde vs and to answere to thy ambassage presently they sente a post to Tordisillas for there was the assemblie with the credence that I brought and with the talke I had vsed whiche gaue for answere that so colde a message and suche disordred talk deserueth no other answere but to be wel reprehended also greuously punished Presently they commaunded me to departe from the towne of Braxima without any letter neyther any worde that I should say to the gouernors except this Bishop that said vnto me Father Gueuara fare you wel beware you come not againe for if you do you shal returne no more and say vnto your gouernours that if they haue authoritie from the king to promise much their cōmission extendeth to performe very little This done and said I returned to Medina del rio Secco euill vsed and worse answered and from thence after I had spoken the Bishop aunswered me warres was determined and peace neuer more spoken of It was no small griefe vnto Sir Peter Giron and Sir Peter Lasso of the foule wordes they vsed with me and of the euill aunswere their felowship gaue me for surely they would right gladly haue ben reduced to the Kings seruice and that peace should haue bene established Sir Peter Giron met me vpon the way when I retorned and there conferred vpon such and so delicate things whereof did rise that he retired from the Campe to Villalpandos and that the gouernours should marche vnto Tordisillas so it was brought to passe By that iourney the Queene was deliuered and they of the assembly taken A letter vnto Doctor Melgar Phisicion wherein is touched by great eloquence the hurtes and profites that Phisicions commit RIght reuerent Doctor Caesars Phisicion I haue receyued your letter and the receipt that came therein whether I did speake or not speake vnto the President in your case you may vnderstand by the dispatch therof by the report of your seruant in suche wise that you haue performed with me like a Phisicion and I with you like a friend And whether you or I haue done best it is to wit you in curing of me or I in dispatching of you let good mē sée iudge since I remaine with my gowte you haue obtayned good deliuerance Sir I commaunded those hearbes to be sought the rootes to be gathered and according to the tune of your billet I haue gathered stampt dranke them and God giue your soule better health than they did profite mee any thing for my goute for they did inflame my liuer too much coole my stomacke I wil confesse vnto you that as in this my disease you did not onely erre but also you did hurt me euery time that with the cold my stomacke beginneth to belke presently I say a shame beshine Doctor Melgar since my disease was not aboue the girdle but from the thigh downewards I did not craue that you should purge the humors but deliuer me from payne I know not why you should chastise my stomacke my foote making the offence I cōmoned with Doctor Sotto here in Toledo as cōcerning a Sciatica I had in my thigh he cōmanded to be giuē vnto me two Cautories with an bote instrument behind the eares the profite I gathered thereof was he gaue all the Court occasion to laugh and mine eares to endure great paine And in Alcala I cōmoned with Doctor Cartagema and he did ordayne me a certaine receit wherein was contained the gal of an Ox the ordure of a Rat the bran of Otes the leaues of nettles the buddes of Roses and Scorpions fried to make a plaister to be layd vnto my thigh The profite and greate ease I gathered thereof was it kepte mée from sléepe thrée nights and I payde to the Apoticary that made it ten grotes but from henceforth I renounce the counselles of suche counsellers the Aphorismos of Ipochras the fines or conclusions of Auicene the cases of Ficino the compositions of Rasis and also the Canons of Erophilo if in their writings that wretched and cursed playster be to bée found which as it did not suffer me to sléepe much lesse to take any rest I did not only take it away but also buried it for that it did not onely stincke most filthily but burned mée most grieuously I remember that in Borgos Anno 21. Doctor Sotto cured me of a certaine wandring feuer made me eate so muche Apium take so much Barley water and drinke so much stild Endiue that I fel into such a thirst that only I could not eat neither so much as to abide that fauor of meat Not many yéeres after I wēt to visit the same Doctor Sotto being sicke in Tordisillas and saw him eat an Orange drinke a cup of fragrant white wine after the cold had left him and the heat began to come vpon him Wherfore I did not a little maruel and half offended I sayde vnto him laughing tell mée Master Doctor in what lawe is it contayned or what Iustice doth suffer it that you cure your selfe of your Ague with wyne of S. Martin and on the other side you cure my Sciatica with dung of oxen Whervnto graciously he made me answere your Lordship Master Gueuara hath to vnderstand that our maister Ipochras hath giuen commaundement to all Physitions his successors that vpon paine of his malediction we shoulde cure our selues with wine and our pacientes with