the sepulture / and royalties of the funerall / be rather the consolations of them that lyue / than any ease to the deed For if solemne buryeng myght helpe an iuyll man any thyng / than shulde poure buryeng orels none at all / hyndre a good mā but we se far contrary / nor the great royalte of sepulture dyd nat ease the payne of the ryche man / spoken of in the gospell nor hit was no rebuke to the lazer man / that his body lay on the erthe abiecte and nought set by For after warde the ryche man was punysshed in hell for his yll lyuyng / and the lazer was refresshed in the lap of Abraham / had his rewarde for his lyfe innocētly vertuously spente Neither I wolde nat that sepulture shulde be put awaye For holy fathers / as Abraham / Isac / and Iacob / and Iosephe / whan they dyed / commaūded moche of theyr buryeng And Tobias was preysed of the angel of god / bicause he had burted deed people But all the ornamētes of sepultures ought to go to the profet of them that be deed / and nat to them that lyue For he that is deed must make his rekenȳge to god only / whiche reioyseth of the merites of them that be deed / done before in theyr lyues / and of the clene pure myndes of them that be alyue Ther is no shewe of ryches nor pride pleasant to hym / but holle trust and hope in hym / and charite with thyn euē Christen For if thou gyue almys / thou shalte haue almys and if thou be mercifull / thou shalte receyue mercye Therfore make frendes to thy selfe and to thy louers / that are deed / with thy worldly treasure / that thou mayste fynde in the other lyfe them that shall receyue the in to eternall herborowe For our lorde in the gospell gyueth paradise to them / that gyueth the workes of mercy and denyeth hit to them / that denye the workes of mercy Also he teacheth the wayes of gyuyng almes / that thou gyue none of thy goodes to them that be of great habylyte / and maye quyte the / or do a better tourne for the agayne but gyue to poure folkes and beggars / that be nat able to do as moche for the agayne and so thou shalte haue great rewarde of god Thanne howe moche is hit better to cloth poure strangers / than thy ryche kynsfolkes / and poure lay men / than riche prestis and that that is spēded on waxe and costly sepultures / to be bestowed on poure wydowes / and fatherles children / and suche as lacke And moche surer and more plentuous aduantage shall comme hereof And in the day of thy weping / thou shalte remember them that euer wepe / beyng opressed with necessite their teares shall folowe thyn their mirthe shall chere the. Thy frende that is deed shall finde them atournees and aduocates / moste pleasant to the iudge eteruall / to pleade his matter / and be as diligēt in his peryll as in theyr owne Nowe it appereth well inough / what I iudge of those wydowes / that disceyue their creditours of theyr payment / to brynge forthe theyr husbandes royally / orels do nat accomplysshe and perfourme the wyll and bequestis of the deed mā / whiche thyng ought to be done speciallye I nede nat to declare here / howe moche men be boūde to the payeng of theyr dettes / nor howe moche the fulfyllyng of testamētes ought to be regarded For the true and durable honour of the corce standeth in mennes hartes / nat in the pompe of sepulture / or tombes of marble and metall / costly wrought For men saye well by the buryeng of a good mā / be it neuer so poure and pray for hym / and curse sumptuous tombes / and that the more spitously / if the money be ill gotten / that it was made with Of the myndyng of her husbande The .iij. Chaptre LEt a wydowe remēber / and haue styll before her eies in her mynde / that our soules do nat perisshe together with the body / but be losed of the bondes of our corporall grocenes / and be lyghtned from the burden of the body / and that death is nothyng / but a seperation of the soule from the body / and that the soule departeth nat so from the body in to an other lyfe / that it clerely gyueth ouer our matters here in this worlde / they haue bene ofte tymes harde of them that were on lyue / and they knowe moche of our actis and fore times by the shewing of angels / that go betwene Wherfore a good wydowe ought to suppose / that her husbāde is nat vtterly deade / but liueth / both with lyfe of his soule / whiche is the very lyfe / and besyde with her remembraunce For our frendes lyue with vs / thoughe they be absente from vs or deade / if the lyuely image of them be imprinted in our hartes / with often thynkyng vpon them / and dayly renewed / and theyr lyfe euer waxe fresshe in our myndes And if we forgette them / than they dye towarde vs. The bretherne of Valeria Messalina / that was Sulpicius wyfe / asked her after her husbandes deth bicause she was yet in the flowers of her youth / and helthfull of body / and therto goodly of beautie whether she wolde marye agayne Nay verily sayd she for Sulpicius is still alyue to me And this was the sayeng of a pagane / nat assured of the eternall lyfe Than what shulde a christen woman do Lette her kepe the rememraunce of her husbande with reuerence / and nat with wepyng and let her take for a solempne and a great othe / to swire by her husbādes soule / and let her lyue and do so / as she shall thynke to please her husbande / beynge nowe no man but a spirite purified / a deuine thynge Also let her take hym for her keper and spy / nat only of her dedes / but also of her conscience Let her handell so her house householde / and so bryng vp her children / that her husbande may be glad / and thinke that he is happy to leaue suche a wyfe behȳde hym And let her nat behaue her selfe so / that his soule haue cause to be angry with her / and take vengeaunce on her vngratiousnes Cyrus the elder kynge of Perse / whan he dyed as Xenophon wryteth / commaunded his sonnes to kepe his memory with deuotion and purenes / for cause of the honour of the god immortall / and the worshyp and the immortalite of his soule Let the wydowe make an ende of wepȳg / leste we shulde seme to mourne for our folkes / that are departed / as thoughe we counted them clene deed / and nat absent Of the chastite and honestie of a wydowe The .iiij. Chaptre IN gyuyng instruction to a christen woman / whom may a man do better after / than saynt Paule / that sayd /
wyse as some men be vn apte / agayne some be euē borne vnto hit / or at lest nat vnfete for hit Therfore they that be dulle are nat to be discoraged / and those that be apte / shulde be harted encoraged I perceiue that lerned women be suspected of many as who sayth / the subtyltie of lernynge shulde be a noryshement for the malitiousnes of theyr nature Verely I do nat alowe in a subtile and a crafty womā suche lernȳg / as shulde teche her disceyte / and teche her no good maners and vertues Natwithstandyng the preceptes of lyuȳg / thexāples of those that haue lyued well / and had knowlege to gether of holynes / be the kepers of chastite and purenes / and the copies of vertues / and prickes to pricke and to moue folkes to contynue in them Aristotel asketh a question / why trompetters and mynstrelles / that playe at festis for wagis / and resortynges gatherynges of people / whom the grekes call in their langage / as ye wolde say / Bacchus seruantes / be euer gyuen vnto pleasures / and no goodnesse at all but spēde out theyr thryfte / and theyr lyfe in noughtynes He maketh answere hym selfe / that hit is so / bycause they be euer amonge volupteis and pleasures / and bankettyng nor here any tyme the preceptes of good lyuyng nor regarde any man that lyueth well and therfore they can lyue none other wyse thā they haue lerned / eyther by seynge or heryng Nowe haue they harde / nor sene / neither vsed any thynge / but pleasure and beastlynes / amonge vncomely cryeng and shouttyng / amonge dauncers and kyssers / laughers and eaters / drunkerdes and spewers / amonge folke drowned in excedyng ouermoche ioye and gladnes all care and mynde of goodnes layde aparte Therfore muste they nedes shewe suche thynges in theyr conditions and all theyr lyfe But you shall nat lyghtlye fynde an yll woman / excepte it be suche one / as eyther knoweth nat / or at leste way consydereth nat what chastite honestie is worthe nor seeth what myschiefe she doth / whā she for goth it nor regardethe howe great a treasure / for howe fowle / for howe lyght / and transitorie an image of pleasure she changeth what a sort of vngratiousnessis she letteth in / what tyme she shutteth forthe chastite nor pōdreth what bodily pleasure is / howe vayne and folyshe a thynge / whiche is nat worth the turnynge of an hande / nat only vnworthy wherfore she shulde cast away that / whiche is moost goodly treasure / that a woman canne haue And she that hath lerned in bokes to caste this and suche other thynges / and hath furnyshed fensed her mynde with holy coūsailes / shal neuer fȳde to do any vilany For if she can fynde in her harte to do naughtyly / hauyng so many preceptes of vertue to kepe her / what shulde we suppose she shulde do / hauynge no knowlege of goodnes at al And truely if we wold call tholde worlde to remembraunce / and reherce theyr tyme / we shall fynde no lerned woman that euer was yll where I coude brynge forth an hundred good / as Cornelia / the mother of Gracchus / whiche was an example of all goodnes chastite / and taught her childrē her owne selfe And Portia the wyfe of Brutus / that toke of her fathers wysedome And Cleobula daughter of Cleobulus / one of the .vij. wyse men / whiche Cleobula was so gyuen vnto lernynge and philosophie / that she clerely dispised all pleasure of the body / and lyued perpetuallye a mayde at whom the doughter of Pythagoras the philosopher toke exāple / whiche after her fathers deth was the ruler of his schole / and was made the maystres of the college of virgins Also Theano / one of the same secte schole / doughter vnto Metapontus / whiche had also the gyfte of prophesie / was a woman of syngular chastite And saynt Hieronyme sayth / that the .x. Sibilles were virgins Also Cassandra / and prophetis of Apollo / and Iuno at Cryssa / were virgins / and that was a common thyng / as we rede / that those women that were prophetes were virgins eke And she that answered suche as came to aske any thyng of Apollo in Delphis / was euer a virgine of whom the fyrste was Phemone / whiche fyrste foūde verse royal Also Sulpitia / wyfe vnto Caleno / lefte be hynde her holy preceptes of matrymony / that she hadde vsed in her lyuynge her selfe / of whom the poet Martial writeth on this wyse Redeth Sulpitia all yonge women That caste your mynde to please one man Redeth Sulpitia also all men That do entende to please one woman Of honest and vertuous loue doth she tell / Chaste pastymes / playes and pleasure Whose bokes who so consydreth well Shall say / there is none holyer And hit is playnly knowen / that no man in that tyme was more happy of his wyfe / than was Caleno of Sulpitia Hortentia the doughter of Hortentius thoratour / dyd so resemble her fathers eloquence / that she made an oration vnto the iuges of the cite for the women whiche oration the successours of that tyme dyd rede / nat only as a laude and preyse of womens eloquence / but also to lerne counnyng of it / as well as of Cicero or Demosthenes orations Edesia of the cite of Alexandre / kins womā vnto Syryā the philosopher / was of so great lernyng and vertuous disposition / that she was a woundre vnto all the worlde in her tyme. Corinna Theia a vertuous woman ouer came the poete Pindar .v. tymes in verses Paula the wyfe of Senec / enfourmed with the doctrine of her husbande / folowed also her husbande in conditions And Senec him selfe maketh sorowe / that his mother was nat well lerned in the preceptes of wyse men / whiche she had bene entred in at her husbandes commandement Argentaria Polla / wyte vnto the poete Lucane / whiche after her husbandes dethe corrected his bokes / and it is sayde / that she helped hym with the makynge / was a noble woman of byrthe / ryche and excellent of beautie and wyt / and chastite of whom Calliope in Statius speaketh thus vnto Lucane / I shall nat only gyue the excellence in makynge But also bynde in maryage the vnto One mete for thy wytte and great counnyng Suche as Venus wold gyue or the goddes Iuno In beautie symplicite / and gentilnes In byrthe / grace / fauour / and ryches Also Diodorus the logitiā had .v. daughters excellent in lernynge and chastite of whom Philo / mayster vnto Carneades / wryteth the historye zenobia the quene of palmyra / was lerned both in latyn and greke / and wrote an historie of whom / with other mo in the next boke / I shal tel the maruaylous chastite I nede nat to reherse the Christen women / as Tecla disciple of Paule / a scholer mete for
it / and so she oughte to prepare her selfe / that so great a sacrament fyrste vnderstande / she may afterwarde fulfyll hit After that god the prince maker of this excelleÌ„t worke / had brought maÌ„ in to this worlde / he thought it vncoÌ„uement to leaue hym all alone / and so ioyned to hym a lyuynge creature / mooste lyke vnto hym of mynde and shappe with whose conuersation and compenable wordes / he myght swetely speÌ„de his tyme and also bycause of generation / if hit pleased hym And in dede wedlocke was nat ordeyned so moche for generation / as for certayne coÌ„pany of lyfe / and coÌ„tynuall felowship Neither the name of husbandets a name of bodely pleasure / but of vnite and affinite God led the woman to the man whiche meaneth none other thynge / but that god hym selfe was chiefe author and maker of wedlocke Therfore Christe in the gospell calleth them coupled of god Assone as the man lokedde vpon the femalle of his kynde / he beganne to loue her aboue all thynges / and sayde / Nowe is this a bone of my bones / fleshe of my fleshe And for her a man shall forsake both father and mother / and abyde with his wyfe and they shal be .ij. in one fleshe Where hit is sayde in one fleshe / it is to be vnderstanden one fleshe fleshe / aff the ê“pretie of the Hebrewe speche signifieth maÌ„kynde both man and woman So that they whiche fyrste were .ij. man and woman conioyned in wedlocke / be made one This is the marueylous mesterye of wedlocke / so to myngle and to couple the man and the womaÌ„ / that .ij. shal be made one The whiche thyng also it hath done in Christ and the churche / as teacheth Paule the apostle / whiche no power saue only goddes power myght brynge about Of necessite that thynge must be moste holy / at whiche god is so specially present Therfore what time a womaÌ„ cometh here vnto / she ne shuld suppose / that she cometh to daunce / play / and lest / but muste ponder higher thynges in her mynde God is the ouer sear / the churche is the medyatryce in maryage For whiche cause that thynge that is ioyned and fastned to gether by so high auctorite / Christe suffereth nat eyther to be broken or losed of any mortal creature / sayeng in his gospel That god hath ioyned to gether / man may nat de uyde Nowe if it be nat lefull to lose it / that knot is nat to be vnknytte with mannes handes / whiche god hath knytte Lyke wyse no man ought to open that thyng / whiche is shutte with the key of Dauid whiche allonely that immaculate lambe hath in kepynge Nowe than streyghte in the begynnynge / thou that arte an honeste woman / appoynt thy selfe / that thou maist in suche wise byÌ„de hym vnto the with loue / whom god by the sacrament hath ioyned vnto the that the bande maye be easye and lyght Nor neuer desyre that knot to be vnknytte nor caste nat thy selfe and hym bothe that is knytte with the / in to grefe without ende / ê‘petuall mysery For a great ê‘te of this mater resteth in thy haÌ„de other with pure chastite / mekenes / buxum vsyÌ„g of thy selfe / to haue thy husbaÌ„de plesaÌ„t louyÌ„g vnto the / to lede thy lyfe welthfully orels with thy vices of myÌ„de body / to haue hym frowarde / crabbed to ordeyne for thy selfe greuous turment / whiche by deth shall nat be ended Thou shalt toyle / thou shalt wepe / thou shalt be troubled / thou shalt curse the day that euer thou were ioyned vnto hym / thou shalte curse hym that the begate her that the bare / al thy kyn / ye al them the any thyng dye in thy mariage / if thou through thyÌ„ owne vices cause thy husbande to hate the. But on the other ê‘tie / if thou by vertuous lyuynge / and buxumnes / gyue hym cause to loue the / thou shalte be mastres in a merye house / thou shalte reioyse / thou shalte be glad / thou shalte blesse the day the thou were marted vnto hym / all them that were helpyÌ„g ther vnto The wise seÌ„teÌ„ce sayth A good womaÌ„ by lowely obeysaunce ruleth her husbaÌ„de Plinius the yoÌ„ger / whaÌ„ he had a wyfe as his myÌ„de desyred / he was mylde gentyll vnto her agayÌ„e / thaÌ„ked Hispula his wyues aunte / both for his owne his wiues sake / sayÌ„g I thaÌ„ke you the ê“uided me of her she thaÌ„keth you bicause you got her me / as it were haue choseÌ„ the one vnto the other Aboue all this / that fyrste as I suppose onely chapter of the lawes of wedlocke / that they shal be .ij. iÌ„ one ê‘soÌ„ / is the very grouÌ„d of wedlocke / and the boÌ„de of that most holy felowship Wherfore if a womaÌ„ directe all her thoughtes / her wordes / and her dedes vnto this poyÌ„t / that is to kepe truely safely the purenes of wedlocke / she caÌ„ nat but lyue well vertuously Therfore an honest a chaste womaÌ„ ought euer to haue this in myÌ„de Therfore she shall studie both day night howe she may fulfyl this lawe / to expresse shewe it in dede trustyÌ„g verily here vpoÌ„ / that what so euer she be that fulfylleth this law / that is to say / that rekeneth her selfe her husbaÌ„de all one persoÌ„ / so liueth / that she may both be iÌ„ dede / apere to be all one with her husbaÌ„d / she caÌ„lacke no kyÌ„de of vertue she that doth nat so / shall haue no vertue at al. O reuereÌ„t power of the deuine worde / whiche in thre wordes hath coÌ„pÌ„heÌ„ded as moch as mortal meÌ„ go about to expÌ„sse nor yet caÌ„ nat with longe sermoÌ„s Wherfore I wil make noÌ„e other lawe of mariage for only this is sufficieÌ„t only this coÌ„teyneth as moch as either maÌ„s wit can coÌ„ceyue / or mans eloqueÌ„ce can vtter Therfore the womaÌ„ shall nat beleue my faÌ„tasye / but the fyrst father of our kyÌ„d AdaÌ„ or rather obey Christe / coÌ„mauÌ„dyng iÌ„ the gospel of Mattheu / that they shal be two iÌ„ one ê‘soÌ„ And thaÌ„ hath she fulfylled al the dutie of a vertuous wyfe This one precepte of god might haue eased me of allabour of writyÌ„g / if the it had eÌ„tred so depe iÌ„ to womeÌ„s hartes that they might both haue wel ê‘ceiued it / beare in myÌ„de / executed it But nowe to th eÌ„teÌ„t that it maye sticke more fast / growe more surely / it must be turned haÌ„dled many wayes / be made iÌ„ many fashoÌ„s / so be set afore their eies taught vnto them / that they may both take kepe it the bett Nat wtstandyng a wise womaÌ„ shall remeÌ„bre / that all that euer I say is but one pÌ„cepte / as it were one maÌ„ in diuerse apparell Of .ii. the
they rekened theyr husbandes farre aboue al those vnto them Wherfore their names were had in great honour Also Tauria deserued no lesse commendation / whiche whā her husbāde was outlawed / hydde hym vp betwene the silyng and the roffe of her chambre / no moo of counsayle but one mayde and her selfe and so saued his lyfe with her owne great ieoperdy Also Sulpitia wyfe vnto Lentulus / whā her mother Tullia watched her diligētly leste she shulde folowe her husbande / that was banyshed / she gotte vpon her poure rayment / and so with .ij. mayde seruauntes / and as many men / stale away and came to her husbande nor refused to banyshe her owne selfe for his sake / that her husbande myght se in his outlawry her faythfulnes towarde hym And there haue bene very many / that hadde leauer be in ieoperdye them selfe / than theyr husbandes shulde The wyfe of Fernando Gonzalis therle of Castile / whan the kynge of the Legion of Germany / whiche is a cite in the parte of Spayne called Astury / hadde her husbande in prison / she came vnto her husbande / as it were to visite hym / and there counsayled her husbande to change raymēt with her / and steale his way / and leaue her in the ieoperdye that shulde falle and so he dyd Wherfore the kynge wondryng vpon that great loue of hers towarde her husbande / prayed god to sende hym and his chyldren suche wyues / and so let her go agayne to her husbande There was also an other of the same kynredde / whiche was maried vnto a certayne kynge of Englande / that what tyme her husbande in warre agaynste the Syryans / had catched a great wounde in his arme with a venomed swerde / and so came home in to his owne countre / nor coude neuer be healed / excepte that venome and matter were sucked out The kynge seynge that who so euer shulde do that dede / were in ieoperdy of their life / wolde suffre no man to take it vpon hym Wherfore in the nyghte whan he was a slepe / his wyfe losed the bandes of the wounde / fyrst her husbande nat perceyuynge / and after warde dissemblyng / and so by lytell and lytel sucked and spitted out the poyson / and prepared the wounde curable and redy to the phisition Wherfore I am very sory / that I haue nat the name of that noble woman / whiche were worthye to be commended with mooste eloquent prayses Howe be it / it is nat vnspoken of / for it is redde in the actes of Spayne / whiche Rodericus the bisshope of Tolet dyd write From whense I shall ones translate with honorable mention of her Lyke wyse vpon a season men of Tyrthena came a great meny out of their ile vnto Lacedemō / whom that Lacedemonyans suspected to go about some subtilte / and ther vpon set them in holde / and iudged them to dye Wherfore theyr wyues gate lycence of the kepers for to go in vnto them / as it were to visete and comforte them / and there changed rayment with them / and so they in the womens rayment / and their faces couered / as the custome of the coūtre was / escaped awaye / and lefte their wyues behynde them whom afterwardes with their children to gether they recouered agayne / and put all the Lacedemonyans in feare / as Plutarke wryteth More ouer Admetus the kynge of Thessaly / hauynge a dysease raynynge vpon hym / whiche coulde neuer be healed / without the dethe of an other body / coude fynde none / that wolde gladly die for his sake / but his wyfe Alcest Also many there hath bene / whiche after theyr husbandes dethe / wolde in no wyfe abyde on lyue Laodamia / after she had harde tell that her husbāde Prothesilaus was slayne at Troy of Hector / she kylde her selfe And Paulina / wyfe of Senec / wolde fayne haue died with her husbande / and had her vaynes cut / as he had / but she was letted by Nero and holden agaynst her wyll / tyll her armys were bounde / and her blode stopped nor she lyued nat many yeres after And whyle she was alyue / was so pale and so leane with sorowe / that she was a wōder to euery man to loke vpon and in all the state of her body shewedde manifest tokens of the kynde loue that she hadde to her husbande The doughter of Demotion / the chiefe mā of Areopagites / a yōge mayde / whā she harde tell of the deth of her spouse Leosthenes / she slewe her selfe affyrmȳg / that all though she was vntouched / yet bycause she was maryed vnto hym in mynde / she shulde be adulteter / if she maryed vnto any other afterwardes Olde wryters of stories tell / that Halcione wolde nat abyde on lyue after the dethe of her husbande Ceyx And therfore she lepte downe in to the see The fables of poetes / whiche were made to instructe out lyuȳges / adde more vnto the tale / that they were chaunged in to byrdes called Alciones and so well beloued of the goddes Thetis / that whan so euer these byrdes buylde / there is great caulmenes in the see / and fayre wether in the ayre that chaunseth yerely at certayne tymes Wherfore for those dayes he called in laten Halcionii / that is as you wolde say / the Halcyon byrdes dayes and that gyfte they say / the goddis gaue for the great loue of that woman towarde her husbāde Euadna / whan she kepte the funerall of her husbande / she lepte in to the fyre and folowed her husbande Cecinna Petus had a wyfe called Arria / this Cecinna / whan he had rysen in batayle with Scribonian agaynst Claudius themperour / and was brought to Rome / Arria desyred the sodiours to let her wayte vpon her husbande as a seruaunt whiche thynge whan they wolde nat suffre / she hyred a fysshers boote / folowed the great shippe And within a fewe dayes after the deth of her husbande / kylled her selfe at Rome and yet had she a doughter on lyue maried vnto Thrasea / the most noble and wysest man in his tyme. Portia doughter of Cato / wyfe vnto Marcus Brutus / whā her husbande was slayne / she sought for her owne dethe and whan weapōs were taken from her / she thruste hote coles in her mouthe / and choked her selfe Panthia / wyfe of kynge Susius kepte her faith vnto her husbande / beyng in captiuite / and spended out all her goodis for his lyfe And whan he was slayne in batayle / she dyed voluntarily after hym The doughter of Iulius Cesar / whiche was maryed vnto Pompey the great / whan one brought vpon a tyme home out of the feelde a cote of her husbādes be bloded / she suspectȳg that her husbande had be wounded / fell to the grounde in swonynge / and almoste deed with the whiche aflyghte of her mynde / she fell to labour of chylde a
qualitees of the ayer or erthe / where they dwell But the nature of the countrey is cause of no vicis For than the coūtrey ought to be punysshed / and nat the offensours We take no vice of the heuen / or ayer / but of our owne maners For vnder euery skye is both good lyuynge and yll Nor there is no countrey so wretched in the worlde / that it ne hath some good people there in nor none so good / but hit hath some naught I haue sayd here afore / that I haue sene some / nothyng moued with the deth of their husbandes Lyke wyse / I haue sene some / that wold with a ryght good wyll haue quitte their husbandes lyfes with theyr owne Wherfore ther is no reson / why they shulde lay theyr fautes in the condicion of the Region For in the countrey / that is called Getica / the ayer is colde / and yet say the Pomponius Mela / that the very womē lacke no stomake to dye on the bodyes of theyr husbādes / and haue a speciall desyre to be buryed with them And bycause chat the custome is there to mary many women vnto one mā / there is great stryuyng amōge them / whiche shall haue the prayse there in / of them that shall gyue the iudgement The victory is gyuen to the most vertuous and hit is a great pleasure to them that may optayne hit Lyke wyse great lerned men wryte / that women vse to do in Ynde Also in olde tyme the women of Almayne / from whens the Flandryns toke theyr originall fyrste begynnyng / maried neuer but of maydes and so made an ende of all hope and desyre of mariage at ones For they toke one husbāde as one body and soule / and neuer desyred / nor thought of maryage after hym as though they loued the matrimony it selfe / and nat the husbādes Wherby nowe thou mayst se / that vertues and maners be chaunged with abundance / ryches / and pleasures and the euyll fyre of ryches quencheth the good fyre of charite All the lawe of Christe soundeth noue other thyng / but charite / loue / and heate For our lorde sayth I am comen to cast fyre in to the erthe / go about nothyng so moche as to make it to bourne But whanne we couple the ryche deuyll to poure Christe / and vnto sobre vertue / reuell and dronkenes / vnto chast sadnes desolute and wanton pleasures / pagante and hethennes vnto Christianite / and the deuyll to god than god disdaynyng suche felowship taketh his gyftes from vs / and leaueth vs the gyftes of the deuyll Nat withstandyng / it may so chaunce / that there be in womēs myndes suche constauncy and stedfastnes / that they maye comforte them selfe and though they be ouercome opressed / may by wysedome yet recouer agayne That wolde I greatly preyse in a man / but in suche a frayle kynde / hit is no good token to haue so passynge great wysedome I haue harde of great wyse men / that haue taken very heuyly the dethe of but lyght frendes / and wepte for them habundantly Solon / whiche made the lawes of the people of Athens / one of the .vij. wyse men / commaūded his owne buryall to be kepte with wepȳg and waylynge / that his frendes myght shewe / howe moche they loued hym Also after that Lucrecia was slayne in Rome / whan Iunius Brutus / whiche was reuengeor of her dethe and rape / done by the kynges sonne / had dryuen the kynges out of Rome / and warre was made agaynst the kynge In the fyrst settynge together / this Brutus was kylde / and the wyues of the cite mourned a twelue moneth the deth of hym / that had be the defender of their chastite And yet mourned they / but an other womans husbande / and bicause he defended an other womās chastite Tha howe moche more oughtest thou to mourne the deth of hym / that is the defender of thyne owne chastite / sauer and keper of thy body / father and tutour of thy children / welthe of thy house / householde / and thy goodes / yea and more to / thy gouernour lorde And thou woldest wepe in dede / if thou shuldest nat departe rycher from hym / than thou camest to hym But nowe the ioye of money / taketh away all the grefe of thy sorowe Thou woldest wepe for his dethe / if thou haddest loued hym / whan he was on lyue But nowe thou art nat sorye for his departynge / whom thou settest nothyng by / whā thou haddest hym Also many be glad / that theyr husbādes begone / as who were ryd out of yocke and bondage and they reioyse that they be out of domynion and bonde / and haue recoueredde theyr lybertie but they be of a folysshe opinion For the shyppe is nat at liberte / that lacketh a gouernour / but rather destitute neither a chylde that lacketh his tutoure / but rather wandrynge without order and reason Nor a woman / whan her husbande is gone For thā she is in dede as she is called a wydowe / that is to say / desarte and desolate Than is she in dede tost at aluētures / as a shyp / lackynke a maister and is caried without discression and cōsyderatiō / as a childe whan his ouer seer is out of the waye Here parauenture some wolde say / He was suche an husbāde / that better were to be without hym / thā to haue hym But so wolde neuer good womā say / nor yll kepe it in For if he were of the beloued as the lawes of god do commaunde / he shulde be / that is to say / as he were thy selfe thou wolde be as sorye that he shulde dye / as thy selfe Vnto an il woman / excepte her husbande let her haue her Itberte to all vices / that her mynde lyeth to / he is in tollerable But vnto a good woman / no husbande can be so yll / that she ne had leauer haue his lyfe than his dethe But what shulde I speake moche of this matter I haue shewed inough in the boke a fore / that she is neither worthy the name of a good woman nor wyfe / that can nat loue her husbande with all her harte / as her selfe O circumspecte nature / or rather god / the mooste wyse mayster of all good maners There is no kynde of vertue / but he hath created some lyuyng thyng / that vseth it / for to reprehende reproue those that dispice that vertue as bees by theyr crafte reproue the leudnes of them / that can nothyng do And the faithfulnes of dogges damneth the vntrustynes of fals people shepe condemne fraudes and gyles with their symplenes stockedoues and turtuls gyue exāple of true faithfull loue / in mariage For those byrdes / as Aristole sayth / lyue content with one male nor take none other The turtle doue / whanne her male is deade / neither drynketh lyquore /
nor sytteth on the grene tre ne commeth amonge none of her felowes playenge sportyng together These chast and holy loues meaneth Solomon / whā he calleth his spouse to hym / sayeng The voyce of a turtle doue is harde in our realme And cōpareth his spouse some tymes to a turtell / and some tyme to a stocke douue Also they that can haue no measure in theyr wepyng and mournyng / be as farre to blame on thother syde For whan they be newly wounded with the chaunce / they confounde and fyll all the place full of cryeng / teare their heare / beate theyr breastis / and skratche theyr chekes / knocke theyr heddes to the walles / their bodyes to the grounde / and drawe forth longe the tyme of theyr mournynge / as in Secill / Asia / Grece / and Rome in so moche / that the senate was fayne to make statutes and lawes / whiche was called the lawes of the twelue tables / for to modyfie and appease the mournyng And therfore the apostle also / whan he wrote to this people / was compelled to comforte them / sayenge Bretherne / I wolde ye shulde haue knowlege of those that slepe / that ye be nat sory and pēsyfe / lyke other people that haue no faythe For if we beleue that Iesus is deade / and reuyued agayne so shall god lyke wyse bryng agayne with hym al that be deade by him Nowe a wydowe / let her bewayle her husbāde with harty affection / and nat crye out / nor vexe nat her selfe with dasshyng of her handes / neither beatynge of her body but let her so mourne / that she remēbre sobernes measure / that other may vnderstande her sorowe / without her owne hostȳg vtteraūce And after that the fyrst brōte of her sorowe is past and swaged / than let her begynne to study for consolation Nowe here will I nat brynge forthe preceptes out of the longe volumes of philosophers For my purpose is to instructe a Christen woman with Christis philosophy in cōparyson of whom / all mannes wy sedome is but folye My mynde is to seche a remedy Let vs remēber the sayeng of the apostle / that they whiche slepe with Iesu / shall be brought of god with Iesu agayne Wherfore we ought to be of good cōforte And she that is a wyse woman / let her remembre that all men be borne / and lyue in this lawe and condition / to paye theyr duete vnto nature / as theyr creditoure / whan so euer she asketh it / of some soner / of some later howe be it all be coupled with in the comon lot and rate / to be borne / lyue / and dye but our soules be immortal / and this lyfe is but a departyng in to a no ther eternall lyfe and blessed / to them that haue passed wel and vertuously this temporall and trāsitory lyfe The whiche thyng the Christen faythe maketh easye inough / nat by our desarte and merite / but of his goodnes / the whiche with his deth losed vs from the bādes of dethe and deth of this lyfe is but as a saylȳg out of the see in to the hauyn They that dye / go afore / and we shall sone come after and whan we be departed and losed out of this bony / shall leade our lyfe in heuen vnto that tyme / that euery man shall receyue his owne body agayne howe be hit nat so coumberous and heuye as it is nowe / but lyghtly couered and arayde with it we shall haue blessed and euer lastynge lyfe This is the true and sure christyan consolation / whā they that be a lyue thynke and trust / that theyr frēdes / whiche are deade / be nat seperate from them / but only sente before in to the place / where with in shorte space after they shall mete to gether full merily / if they wyll do theyr diligence / that they may by the exercise of vertues come thether / as they beleue that they be gone These thinges ought christē prestis to shewe and tell vnto yonge wydowes / and comforte theyr heuy myndes with these consolations / and nat as many do drynke to them in the funeral feast / and byd them be of good chere / sayeng / they shall nat lacke a newe husbāde / and that he is prouided of one for her all redy / and suche other thynges / as they cast out at bākettes and feastis / whā they be well wette with drynke Of the buryeng of her husbande The .ij. Chaptre ALso amōge many other thynges / that we vse after the example of the pagās / this is one to kepe the buriall with great solēnite For the pagans and gentils beleued / that if the bodye were vnburyed / the soule shulde haue great payne in helle / and that the royaltie and cerimonies of buryenge shulde be an honour bothe to them and theyr successours Nat withstandynge / there were some of them / that coūted these but fātasies and vanitees For Virgyll in the person of Anchises / whom he induceth for an erāple of wisedome / sayth / that the losse of sepulture is but a small thȳg And Lucane in this maner sayth Nature in her quiet lap doth all thyng receiue He is couered with the sky / that hath none other graue Also wyse philosophers / as Diogines / Theodorus / Senec / Cicero / but in especiall Socrates / did proue by great reasōs / that it forsed nat where the carcas became and rotted Marcus Amilius / whiche was the chefe of the senate of Rome / commaunded his sonnes alyttell before he departed forth of the worlde / to cary hym out on a bere apoȳted without any shetes or purple / nor shulde spēde vpon any other solemnitees beside past x.s for he sayd / the corses of noblemen were commended by theyr owne noblenes / and nat by coste of money Valerius Publicola / and Agrippa Menemius / the one beynge banissher of the kynges / and restorer of the comon lybertie / the other broker and arbytrator of the comon peace / and many other mo excellēt men / dyd vtterly dispice the royalte of sepulture in so moche that whā they had bene in great auctorite ryches / yet they lafte nat behȳde them so moche as to hyre an ouer sear of the funeral with And if they had counted so great goodnes in burieng / as the people supposed / they wolde sure haue sene there vnto Nowe I wyll speake of our martyrs of the Christyan faythe / whiche cared nat / where theyr deed bodyes lay / so that the soules fared well For Christe / what tyme he shall restore the soules to the bodies / shall easely fynde in his house / whiche he knoweth wel inough / the least asshes of the bodye Saynt Augustyne in the boke that he named the Cite of god / in the fyrst sayeth All these busynes / as kepynge of the corce / and order of
he was all thinge to al men to th entent that he might wynne them to Christe also putteth in his owne laudie prayse the busyues of all churches so he / writȳng to the Corinthies / saythe on this maner Let syngle folkes applye them selfe to the busynes of our lorde / howe they may please hym and let maried folkes take hede of worldlye matters / howe they maye please and content theyr spouses For hit is conuenient / that the wyfe be all at her husbandes wyll / and that a syngle woman gyue her selfe hollye to Iesu Christe / whiche is spouse of all good and vertuous woman Therfore thā let passe all that trȳmyng and arayeng of her body / whiche whan her husbāde lyued / might seme to be done for his pleasure but whan he is deed / all her lyfe and all her apparell muste be disposed and ordered after his will / that is successour vnto her husbande / that is immortall god vnto mortall man Therfore must only the mynde be pyked and made gaye for that only is it that Christe marieth / and in the whiche Christe resteth and deliteth But those that intēde to mary / tyre tryme vp them selfe / and that that I haue sayd before of maydes / may be applyed to this place yet moche lesse is becomynge for a wydowe to garnisshe vp and paynte her selfe whiche shulde nat only seke for no bargayne / but rather refuse them offered neither take any offers / but fore agaynst her wyll / and compelled to the secōde maryage / if she be a good woman Howe be hit in a mayde goodly arayment maye be more suffered / but in a wydowe it is to be discōmēded For what bodye wolde nat abhorte her / that after her fyrste husbandes death / sheweth her selfe to longe after an other / and casteth away her spouse Christ / and marieth the deuyll fyrst / fynst man / beyng bothe wydowe / wyfe / adulterar But they haue bothe a more easy state and cōdition / more ouer better / that shewe theyr wydo wheed in theyr clot hynge / and behauyng of theyr body maners For they that be neuer so vngratious / yet haue a fauour to them that be good and honest and by suche tokēs as they se in them / cast / if they shulde marie with them / and chaunce to die afore them / what maner of wydowe they shulde leaue behynde them For Iensure you / there is no husbāde / that wolde nat haue his dethe mourned of his wyfe / and be hym selfe desired of her / and myssed and seyng that we haue suche preceptes for maryed folkes / bothe of philosophers / and the apostles / what shulde we thynke that theyr iudgement was of wydowes By whom the apostle Paule wryteth to Timothy on this maner A very wydowe and desolate woman trusteth in god / and is in prayer day night / and she that is delicate and easefull / is deed / ye beyng on lyue Therfore byd them kepe them from blame For they seme to lyue in the syght of those that se them eate and drynke / and go / and speake / and do other workes of lyfe But and one coulde perse with his syght in to them / or entre with in the secretes of their myndes thoughtes / he shulde se that poure synfull soule / howe it is put from god / and spoyled and depriued of his lyfe Thus saynt Paule sayth / Thus saint Hieronyme / Thus saint Ambrose / Thus saynt Augustyne / Thus al sayntes and holy men / with one voyce and opinion say / That wepynge / and mournyng / solytarines / and fastyng / be the most precious doures and ornamētes of a wydowe Moreouer / what feast is / what playes and daunces a wydowe shulde vse / saynt Paule doth shewe / whan he byddeth her be in prayer day and nyght and so whan her mortall husbande is deed / she myght be at more lyberte with the immortal / and more by leasure / and ofter talke with hym / and more pleasantlye / yea and to saye more playnly / a wydowe ought to pray more intētyfely and ofter / and faste longer / and be moche at masse and preachyng / and rede more effectually / occupie her selfe in the contēplation of those thȳges / that may mende her lyuyng and maners Anna / the doughter of Phanuell / commen of the tribe of Aser / whiche lyued with her husbande seuen yere after her maryage / whan she had bene wydowe fourscore yere and foure / our lorde Christe founde her in the temple / out of the whiche she had neuer departed / but euer in fastyng and prayer day and nyght And in dede I wolde haue greatter vertue and perfection in a wydowe / than in a wyfe For the wyfe must apply her selfe to the wyll of her mortal husbande / to whom she is maryed / but the wydowe hath taken Christe to her husbande immortall Wherfore it is reason / that all thyng be more excellent and accordyng for suche a spouse / and wordes more sadde and sober For the communycation of euerye bodye is lyghtly a glasse and a myrrour of the mynde / and conditions of them For hit is an olde prouerbe Suthe as the lyfe is / suche is the cōmunication And foule and vnclene speche hurteth the mynde Ill speche corrupteth good conditions / as saynt Paule saythe After the wordes of the poet Menander / I wolde that a wydowe shulde nat only speke suche wordes / as myght shewe her selfe chast honest / but also that myght instrucre the herars with lernyng / and amende them with example of her lyuyng For mākynde hath speche to couple wysedome vertue to gether though it seme to do no more but vtter the thought of the mynde / yet doth it cause bothe lernynge vertue And though a woman be losed out of the bādes of worldly matrimony / let her yet nat thȳke that she may do what her lust For often tymes wydowes do shewe / what they haue bene in maryage / vnder the lybertie of wydoweheed / open and shewe that whiche they kepte in before for feare of theyr husbandes As byrdes / whan they be out of their cagis / by and by tourne to theyr olde conditions Lyke wyse many women shewe out at ones the vices that they dissembled so as they coulde whyle that theyr husbande 's lyued after that the lettes that they had of theyr husbandes be taken away For than shall hit be knowen / what nature or condition a woman is of / whan she may do what she wyll And as saynt Hieronyme sayth / she is chast in dede / that may do iuell and she lyste / wyll nat Therfore a woman had nede to worke more warely / whan bothe the disprayse of vices and the prayse of vertue is imputed to her selfe For as longe as her husbande lyued / he had a great parte of both In the wydowheed