/ as myghty of possessions as she / he bad haue wolle in her handes and her selfe either to spynne / to warpe / orels wynde spyndels in a case for to throw wofe of / to wynde on clewes the spynnyng of others / to ordre suche as shulde be wouen For the dressyng of wolle hath ben euer an honest occupatiō for a good woman In Rome all maydes / whā they were fyrst maryed / brought vnto theyr husbandes house dystaffe and spyndell with wolle / and wyped / stryked / and garnysshed the postes with wolle Whiche thyng was a great ceremony with them And aft / she shulde be made sytte on a felle with wolle / that she myght lerne / what she ought to do at home Than after warde she shulde saye these wordes vnto her husbande Where as thou arte Caius / there am I Caia Nowe was this Caia Tanaquil an Etruscian borne / a very noble woman and a sadde / wyfe vnto kynge Tarquine Priscus Whiche Caia Tanaquil vsed all her labour in wolle Therfore after her deth she was worshypped for a goddis / and her image set vp with a rocke / as a token and a signe of chastite and labour Also there was a custome to crye at the weddyng oftētymes / Thalassio Thalassio / that is as ye wolde saye / The wolle basket The wolle basket to th entent / the newe maried wyfe shulde remembre / what she shuld haue to do Therfore it was rekened a sygne of a wyse and a chaste womā to do that busynes The kynges sonne of Rome / and noble yonge men of the kynges bloode / whan they fell at argument about theyr wyues / came sodaynly home to Rome / they founde other of the kynges daughters in lawe amonge theyr companions and mates makynge good chere But they founde Lucrecia syttyng at her wolle vntyl late in the nyght / and her maydes busy about her / in her owne house Than all they by one assent gaue her the price of goodnes and chastite What tyme all the empire and dominion of Rome was in Augustus handes / yet he set his daughters his necis to worke vpō wolle Like wyse Terence / where he doth describe a sobre a chaste yōge womā sayth Gettynge her lyuyng by wolle webbe And Solomon / where he doth speke of the preyse of an holy woman sayth She sought for wolle and flaxe and wrought by the counsayle of her hādes Nor it maketh no force after my mynde / whether it be wolle or flaxe / for bothe perteyne vnto the necessary vses of our lyfe and be honest occupations for womē Anna mother vnto Samuel the prophet / made with her owne hādes a lynen rochet for her sonne The moste chast quene of Ithace Penelope passed the .xx. yeres that her husbāde was away / with weauynge Quenes of Macidony Epyre weaued garmentes with theyr owne handes / for theyr husbande 's / bretherne / fathers / chyldren of whiche maner garmentes / kynge Alexāder shewed some vnto the quenes of Perse lande / that his mother and sisters had made Writers of histories make mention / that molde tyme there was wonte in Spayne great wagers to be layde / who shuld spȳne / or weaue most / and tymes were apoynted to brynge forth theyr worke to shewe it / and gyue iugement of hit And great honour and preyse was gyuen vnto them / that labored moste and dilygentlyest And yet vnto this day / remayneth the same mynde and loue of sobre sadnes in many and thapplyenge of theyr worke is bosted and talked of And amonge all good women hit is a great shame to be idell Therfore quene Isabell kynge Fardinandos wyfe taught her doughters to spynne / sowe / and peynte of whom two were quenes of Portugal / the thyrde of Spayne / mother vnto Carolus Cesar the fourth mooste holy and deuoute wyfe vnto the mooste gratious kyng Henry the .viij. of Englande Let the maide also lerne cookery / nat that slubberyng and excesse in meates to serue a great meyny / full of delicious pleasures glotony whiche cookes medle with / but sobre and measurable / that she maye lerne to dresse meate for her father / and mother / and bretherne / while she is a mayde and for her husbāde and chyldren / whan she is a wyfe and so shall she gette her great thāke both of the one and thother whan she doth nat laye al the labour vpon the seruantes But her selfe prepare suche thynges as shall be more pleasant vnto her father and mother bretherne / and husbāde / and children / than if they were dressed by seruātes And that the more pleasant / if they were seke Nor let no body lothe the name of the kechyn namely beyng a thyng very necessary without the whiche neither seke folkes can amende nor holle folkes lyue The whiche occupacion Achilles both a kyng a kynges son a lorde most noble dyd nat disdayne to do For what tyme Vlisses and Nestor came to hym / for agrement betwene hym and Agamemnon / he layde the tables hym selfe / and tucked vp his clothes / and went in to the kechyn / and prepared theyr meate / to make the noble prīces sobre and tēperate chere / whom he loued so well Also hit is a thynge perteynyng vnto temperance and honestie for whan the maistres or her doughter is by / all thynge is done the more diligētly What deyntenes of hāde is that / and what lothyng of the kechyn / that they maye nat abyde to hādle or se that / whiche theyr father / or mother / or husbande / or brother / or elles theyr childe must eate Let them that do so / vnderstande / that they beray fyle theyr hādes more / whā they lay them on an other mā thā their owne husbāde / thā though they babled blacked them in soute And that it is more shame to be sene in a daūce thā in the kechyn / to handle well tables cardes thā meate And worse becometh a good womā to tast a cuppe of drynke in a feast or a bāket / reached vnto her by an other man / than to taste a suppynge in the kechyn to gyue her husbande Therfore by my coūsaile a woman shall lerne this crafte / that she may in euerye tyme of her lyfe please her frendes / and that the meate may come more clenly vnto the table I haue sene in Spayne and in France / that haue mēded of their sickenes by meates dressed of their wyues / doughters / or doughters in lawe haue euer after loued them farre the better for hit And agayne I haue sene / that haue ben hated / as doughter of the father and doughter in lawe of the father in lawe / and wyfe of her husbande / bycause they haue sayde / they coude nat skile of kookery Of the lernyng of maydes The fourth chaptre OF maydes some be but lyttell mete for lernyng Lyke
greattest poyntes in a maryed woman The .iij. Chaptre AMonge all other vertues of a maryed woman .ij. there ought to be mooste speciall and greatest the whiche onely if she haue them / may cause mariage to be sure / stable / durable / easye / lyght / swete / and happy and agayne / if the one be lacked it shal be vnsure / paynfull / vnpleasant / and intollerable / yea full of myserye / and wretchednesse These two vertues / that I mean / be chastite and great loue towarde her husbande The fyrst she muste brynge with her forthe of her fathers house The seconde she muste take after she is ones entred in at her husbandes dore / and bothe father and mother / kyns folkes / and all her frendes lefte / she shall reken to fynde all these in onely her husbande And in both these vertues she shall represente the ymage of holye churche whiche is both moste chaste and mooste faythfully doth kepe trouthe and promyse vnto her spouse Christe whiche beynge solicited / and laboured within of so many wowers / that is to say / christen folkes / that haue ben commyn heritickes / and besyged without of pagans and Iewes yet neuer hath bene wonne nor corruptedde and hath euer rekenedde all her good and treasure to reste in her onely spouse Christe A maryed woman ought to be of greatter chastite than an vnmaryed For if that thou than pollute and defile thy chastite / as god forbede thou shuldest / herke I pray the / howe manye thou shalte offende and displease atones / with one wicked dede Howe many reueÌ„gers thou shalte prouoke agaynst the. They be so many and so henus / that amonge some a man can make no difference / but I shall gether them without any ordre / and set them before theyr eies Fyrste thou offeÌ„dest .ij. Whiche ought to be vnto the both most in price / and moste dere and best / that is to say / almyghty god / by whose meanes ye were coupled to gether / and by whose deite thou haste made othe to kepe the purenes of bodye And nexte vnto god thou offendeste thyne husbande vnto whom only thou hast gyuen thy selfe in whom thou breakest all loues and charites / if thou ones be defiled For thou arte vnto hym as Eue was vnto Adam that is to say his doughter / his sister / his companion / and his wyfe / and as I myght say another hym selfe Wherfore thou desperate woman that hast abused thy selfe so / thou farest in lyke maner as though thou hâ—â—deste strangled / distroyed / or murdered thy 〈◊〉 Thou hast broken the greatteste bande that can be in the worlde Thou haste broken thou false woman the moste holy bande of teÌ„poral lawe that is to say / thy fayth and thy trouth / whyche ones gyuen / one ennemye in the feelde wyll kepe to another / though he shulde stande in daunger of dethe and thou lyke a false wretche doste nat kepe it to thyn husbande whiche ought to be more dere vnto the by ryght / than thy selfe Thou defylest the most pure churche / whiche holpe to couple the thou breakeste worldely companye thou breakest the lawes thou offendest thy countrey thou beatest thy father with a bytter scurge thou beatist thy sorowfull mother / thy systers / thy bretherne / thy kyns folkes / alyances / and all thy frendes thou gyueste vnto thy companye on s an example of myschiefe / and castest an euerlastyng blotte and shame vpoÌ„ thy kynne thou / lyke a cruell mother / castest thy children in to suche a necessite / that they can neuer here speke of their mother / without shame / nor of theyr father / without doutynge What greatter offence canne they do or what greatter wyckednes can they infecte them selfe withall / that distroye theyr countrey / and perisshe all lawes and iustice / and mourther their fathers and mothers / and finally defyle and marre all thynges / both spirituall and temporall What good saint / or god / or what man thynkest thou can fauour the / that doste so All thy countrey folkes / all ryghtes and lawes / thy countrey hit selfe / thy parentes / all thy kynsfolke / and thyne husbande hym selfe shall damne and puâ—â—â—â—he the All mighty god wyll auenge moste ryghâ—â—usly his maieste so displeased and offended of the. And knowe thou this / womaÌ„ / that the chastite honeste / whiche thou hast / is nat thyne / but committed / and betakeÌ„ vnto thy kepyng by thyne husbande Wherfore thou dost the more wronge to gyue away that thynge / whiche is an other bodies / without the ownuers licence And therfore the maried woman of Lacerdemon / whan a yonge man desired of her that vnhonest thynge / answered hym I wolde grauÌ„t the thyne askynge yonge man / if it were myne owne to gyue that thou askest but that thyng / whiche thou woldest haue / whyle I was vnmaried was my fathers / and nowe is myne husbandes She made hym a mery and a wise answere But saynt Paule speketh full wisely for the monition of good women / where he techeth the churche of god / sayeng A woman hath no power of her owne body / but her husbande Whiche sayenge oughte so moche to kepe a womaÌ„ / excepte she be to vngratious / from all fylthy actis / that saynt Augustine dothe nat alowe perpetual chastite in a maried woman / without her husbande be content with the same Wherfore there is an holy maÌ„ / whether it be saynt Hieronyme or some other I wote nat well / that dispreyseth one Celantia a vertuous woman and a good wyfe / bicause she auowed perpetuall chastite without her husbandes coÌ„sent For a womaÌ„ hath no power on her owne body / no nat vnto the goodnes of continence Nowe than let euery man consyder what lycence she hath that whyle vnto the noughtynes of â—â—yâ— behauynge her bodye / she is discommended for chastite / her husbande nat beynge of counsell Nowe than / what shal she haue / that commytteth adultery agaynst her husbaÌ„des wyll Herke what wordes this holy man saythe But this I haue vnderstande also / whiche trowbleth and greueth me nat a lytell / that thou haste taken vpoÌ„ the that good purpose of chastite / without thyne husbandes wyll / clene contrarye to the commaundement of the apostell whiche in this case commaundeth / nat onely the wyfe to be subiecte to the husbande / but also the husbande to the wyfe The wyfe saythe he / hath no power on her owne body but her husbande Lyke wyse the husbande hath no power of his owne bodye / but his wyfe and thou / as though thou haddest forgotteÌ„ the bonde of maryage / nor remembryng thy bargeyne and promise / haste made a vowe of chastite to god / thyne husbande vnknowyng / but it is ieoperdie to promyse that / the whiche is in an others power And I can nat thinke that gyfte very pleasant vnto god / where one
gyueth away that / whiche perteyneth vnto .ij. Thus saythe this holye man whiche if he take vppe so sharpely this vertuous woman for an holy thyng gyuyng / whiche was nat in her power for to gyue / what wordes suppose ye / wolde he vse / in rebukynge a wicked or a fylthy dede And that thou mayste vnderstande more playnly / howe great a vice adultery is rekened / bothe of god and man / Christe in his gospell / where he wolde algates that men shall kepe theyr wyues / nor deuorse from them for none occasion yet he doth excepte adultery Therfore a mā must be cōtēt with his wyfe / though she be a drōkarde / though she be ireful / though she be shrewde / a waster / a glotten / a vacabonde / as kowlder / a rayler / onely an adulterar is at a mannes lybertie to forsake Also the other vices be displeasant in dede / but yet they may be suffred but she that breaketh the promise of wedlocke / is intollerable Wherfore Homer the poet / amonge the cursynges and bannynges / that he gyueth vnto certayne men / putteth this for one of the forest I pray god sayth he / theyr wyues mutte medle with other men Also Job prayeth / that if euer he lay in wayte to do his frendes displeasure / this misfortune myght light vpon hym / sayeng I pray god my wyfe may be an other mannes harlotte and other men mutte lye downe vpon her And these poyntes dyd nat only holy christen women vnderstāde / but also pagannes of whom there were some / whiche after they were corrupted / thought them selfe vnworthy for to lyue / as Lucrecia / wyfe vnto Collatyne whose acte is moste famous / for the marueylous loue that she had vnto chastite and many moo / whiche leste they shulde lose theyr chastite / perysshed them selfe What tyme the cite of Athens was wonne by Lisander the kynge of Lacedemon / and xxx tyrātes were set to gouerne the cite / and they ruled moste proudely and hautely / and iaped and mocked the honestie of many women / the wyfe of Niceratus slewe her owne selfe to escape / that she shulde nat be at theyr fylthy pleasure Also the wyues of the Almannes / of whom Caius Marius had slayne an infynite multitude / desyred hym / that they might be gyuen vnto the religious maides of Rome / called the virgins of Vesta / sayeng / that they wolde lyue as chastely as they shulde Whiche thynge whan they coulde nat optayne of that harde stomacke of Marius / all in the nyghte nexte ensuyng hāged them selfe Also in the warre / whiche the people of Phoces had with the Thessaly ans / and the Thessalians came in to their countre with an incredeble power / Deiphantus the chiffe capitayne of the Phoceance / counsayled the people to go agaynst theyr ennemyes but as for children / theyr wyues / and aged mē / with other / that were nat able to beare harneis / to shutte them vp in some secrete place / and to brynge them plente of wodde strawe / that if the ooste were ouer come / they there myght burne them selfe Nowe whan mooste parte of the people consented to the same / there rose vp an aged man / whiche sayd It were well done to wytte the womēnes wyll in that matter that if they agreed therto / than shuld it so be if nat / he sayde hit was vnreasonable / to apoynt them suche a thynge agaynst theyr wyll where vpon the women were examyned / whiche answered all to gether / that they were very well agreed / with Deiphantus counsayle / and also gaue hym great thankes / bicause he had so well prouyded for the safegarde of them and of theyr countrey and vpon this pourpose they were conueyed in to a secreate place Nowe be it the Phocians retourned agayne with the victory nor I doubt nat / but it was through the merite of the good women And thus dyd pagans / whiche lyued in the obscurite and darkenes of ignorance Wherfore christen folkes maye be the more ashamed / whiche be redemed with the blood of our lorde / wasshed with baptisme / instructed with doctryne / and illumyned with lyght Howe she shall behaue her selfe vnto her husbande The .iiii. Chaptre HIt were alonge matter and harde to expresse / and therto wōderous / if I shuld reherse euery poynt of the wyues duetye vnto her husbande Our lorde comprehendeth it in the gospell with one worde Therfore let vs remembre / howe we haue sayd before / that she is as one body with her husbande Wherfore she oughte to loue hym none other wyse than her selfe I haue sayde before / and ofte shal agayne For this is the great test vertue of a maried woman this is the thyng that wedlocke signifieth / and commaundeth that the wyfe shulde rekenne to haue her husbande for bothe father / mother / bretherne / and systers / lyke as Adam was vnto Eue / and as the moste noble and chaste womā Andromache saide her husbāde Hector was vnto her / in these wordes Thou arte vnto me bothe father and mother Myne owne dere husbāde / welbeloued brother And if it be true that men do saye / that frenshyp maketh one harte of two Moche more trewelye and effectually ought wedlocke to do the same / whiche farre passeth all maner bothe frendshyppe and kynred Therfore hit is nat sayde that wedlocke dothe make one man / or one mynde / or one bodye of two / but clerely one person Wherfore the wordes that the man spake of the woman / sayeng / for her sake a man shulde leaue bothe father and mother / and byde with his wyfe / the same wordes the woman ought bothe to saye and thynke with more reason For all though there be one made of two / yet the woman is as doughter vnto her husbande / and of nature more weaker Wherfore she nedethe his ayde and succoure Wherfore if she be destitute of her husbande / desart / and lefte alone / she may sone take hurte and wronge Therfore if she be with her husbande / where he is / there hath she bothe her countre / her house / her father / her mother / her frendes / and all her treasure of the whiche thynge Hipsicratea / wyfe vnto Mithridates the kynge of Pontus / gaue good example / whiche folowed her husbāde in mānes aparayle / whan he was beaten and dryuen out of his lāde / fleyng styll from one place vnto an other / nat hauynge / where to reforte or abyde and where so euer he was / she acompted there to be her ryches / her realme / and her countrey Whiche thynge doubtles was the greattest cōforte and ease of his sorowe and aduersite Flaccilla / wyfe vnto Nouius Priscus / and Egnatia Maximilla wyfe vnto Glitto Gallus / both folowed their husbandes out of theyr coūtre / whan they were banysshed / with great losse of treasure and possessions And
a mayden ought to loue The .xv. Chaptre ANd yet I wold nat a mayd shuld clerely be without loue / for mankynde semeth to be made and shapen vnto loue / to th entēt / they may be coupled to gether / in charite / and nat with this carnall and fylthy erthly Cupide Venus / but the heuenly and spirituall / whiche causeth holy loue Wherfore the mayde shall haue to loue the father almyghty god / her spouse Christe / and his mother the holy virgin / and the churche of god / with all the holye virgins / whose soulis dwelle blessedly in heuē and theyr names be had in honour / here in erthe She hath also her owne father and mother / whiche brought her in to the worlde / and brought her vp / and nourisshed with so great labour and care whom she ought to haue in the stede of god / and loue and worshyp / helpe with al her power Therfore let her regarde greatly their cōmandementes / and mekely obey them / neyther shewe in mynde countinance nor testure any stubbernes / but reken them to be as it were a verye image of almyghtye god / the father of all thynge She hath also to loue / her owne vertues and soule / and mynde gyuen vnto god and more ouer the eternall pleasure and welthe / whiche neuer shall haue ende Whiche thynges if she loue truely / she shall neither loue man aboue god / neyther set more by a baudye felowe / than her spouse Christe nor regarde more an olde fylthye baude / than the pure virgin Mary neyther loue better the stynkynge stewes thā the holy churche of god nor the company of vnclene women / aboue the cōpany of holy virgins nor strangers aboue father and mother nor her body aboue her soule neither set more by other folkes vices / thā theyr vertues nor myndes that seruethe deuyl / aboue those that serue god neyther them that wolde haue her distroyed / aboue them that wolde haue her saued nor a shorte pleasure / aboue ioye euerlastyng nor the myserye of damned folkes / aboue the perfyte welthe of them that be saued By these meanes the commandementis of god shal be more estemed with her / than the counsayles of a disceytfull mā and rather gyue credence vnto Christe / than vnto the wordes of a lecherous knaue and rather folowe the virgin Mary / than bodily pleasure and haue hym more dere / whom she hath cōciled vnto the / than whom a haudy drabbe counsayleth the vnto Neyther breke the lawes of the churche / to kepe the lawes of the brothell house and rather chose the company of saynt Catherin / Saynt Hagnes / saynt Clare / saynt Tecla / and saynt Agatha / than the company of them / of whom bothe the lyfe is vnknowen vnto god / and the names vnto mā / and both well inough knowē vnto the deuyl Neither forsake thy father and mother / to folowe thy louer nor gyue them perpetuall sorowe / to gyue thy louer the shorte pleasure of thy selfe Neyther wysshe rather to fare well in thy body / than in thy soule neither thy body to be in ioye / and thy soule in wo neyther gyue an eare rather vnto an vnthrifty tale / than a vertuous nor beleue the minister of the deuyl / rather thā the minister of Christ For the pleasure is but shorte / and the payne euerlastynge Howe the mayde shall seke an husbande The .xvj. Chapter THe wise poet virgil / where he doth brynge in kynge Latinus / and his wyfe Amata / talkyng to gether with Turnus / whiche shulde be their doughters husbāde / theyr doughter also presēt / he maketh the mayde to do no more but wepe and blusshe / without speakynge of wordes wherby he signifieth / that it becometh nat a mayde to talke / where her father and mother be in cōmunicatiō / about her maryage but to leaue all that care and charge holly vnto them whiche loue her as well as her selfe dothe And lette her thynke that her father and mother / wyll prouide no lesse diligētly for her / thā she wolde for her selfe but moche better / by the reasō they haue more experience wysedome More ouer / it is nat comely for a mayde to desyre maryage / and moche lesse to shewe her selfe / to longe therefore It was a custome in olde tyme amōge the Romayns / while that chaste worlde lasted / whiche was the example of honestie / that whan a mayde was fyrste maryed / and brought in to her husbādes house / she shulde nat go in at his dore her selfe / but be taken vp and be caryed in by other as a token / that she came nat thether with her good wyll / where she shulde lose her virginite Therfore whan the father and the mother be busy about theyr doughters maryage / let her helpe the matter forwarde with good prayer and desyre of Christe and his mother with pure affection / that she maye haue suche an husbande / whiche shall nat let nor hynder her from vertuous lyuynge / but rather prouoke / exorte / helpe her vnto hit And the fathers on theyr parties / let them calle to remembrance / the sayeng of Themistocles the noble man of Grece / whyche whan he was asked of one whether he had leauer marie his doughter to a ryche ill mā / or to a poure good man / made answere agayne I had leauer haue a man without money / than money wtout a man Also let hym remembre the doynge of Pittachus / the wyse man of Mytilena / whiche whā a yonge man / that had chose of .ij. wyues / the one of great substance and kynne / the other egall vnto his selfe of ryches and byrthe / asked hym counsaile / whether were better to marye the wise man had hym go to children playenge Nowe had the children a playe / wherin they were wonte to synge and repete often these wordes Take to the thy pere wherby they mēt / that most wysedome was for euerye man to do so It is a great charge for a mā to seke an husbande for his doughter / neither it ought nat to be gone about negligently It is a knotte that can nat be lyghtly losed / onely deth vndoth it Wherefore the fathers and mothers / procure vnto theyr doughters / either perpetuall felycite / if they marye them to good men / or perpetuall misery / maryeng them vnto yll Here is moche to be studied / and great delyberation to be taken / with good auisement and counsaile / afore a man determyne ought For there is moche werynes in mariage / many paynes must be suffred There is nothynge but one / that shall cause maryage to be easy vnto a woman that is / if she chaunce on a good and a wyse husbande O folysshe frendes / and maydes also / that set more by them / that be fayre / or ryche / or of noble byrthe / than them
fore her tyme / and so dyed Also Cornelia / the laste wyfe of the same Pompei / sayde Hit was shame for a woman / that coude nat dye with only sorowe whan her husbande was slayne Arthemisia / the quene of Lyde / dyd drynke the asshes of her husbāde / after his deth / bicause for very loue she wold haue her owne bodye to be her husbandes graue These great thynges haue I rehersed / that women that be nowe a dayes may be ashamed / whithe wyll nat endeuour them selfe to perfourme other more easye thynges Wherfore theyr cruelte and wickednes is more intollerable / that can fȳde in theyr hartes to se theyr husbandes lye in trowble / damage / and worldly shame / and all the sorowe that canne be for a small money / whan they haue inoughe in stoore to rydde them out of dangere O harte more harder than any beast / that canste suffre thy blode / thy body / and thyne owne selfe on thy husbandes parte / to be so vexed Doutles the lawes that suffre that iniquite / haue more regard of money than feith or consciēce But this maner hath bene lefte vs of the pagans / with many other / whiche abyde more surely in vs / than the lawe of Christe doth alowe whiche commaundeth vs to lay forth both clothyng / metall / and what treasure so ouer we haue in store / nat only the wyfe for her husbande / but also one christen man for another / be he neuer so vnknowen Wherfore lette the woman vnderstande / that if she wyll nat spēde all her substance to saue her husbande from neuer so lytell harmes / she is nat worthy to beare the name / neither of a good / nor christen woman / nor ones to be called a wyfe Neither I wold that she shulde loue her husbāde / as one loueth his frende / or his brother / that is to say / I will that she shall gyue hym great worshyp reuerēce / great obediēce / seruyce also whiche thynge nat only thexāple of the olde worlde teacheth vs / but also all lawes / both spiritual tēporal / and Nature her selfe cryeth and cōmaūdeth / that the woman shal be subiecte obedyent to the man And in all kyndes of beastis the femals obey the malles wayten vpō them / fawne vpon them / and suffre them selfe to be corrected of them whiche thynge Nature sheweth must be / and is conuenient to be done Whiche as Aristotel in his boke of beastis sheweth / hath gyuen lesse strength and power vnto the femalles of all kyndes of beastis / than to the males / and more softe flesshe / and tender heare More ouer / these partes / whiche nature hath gyuen for weapons of defence vnto beastis / as tethe / hornes / spores / and suche other / the most parte of females lacke / whiche theyr males haue / as hartes and bores And if any females haue any of these / yet be they more stronger in the males / as hornes of bullis be more stronger than of kyne In all the whiche thinges Nature sheweth / that the males dutie is to succour and defēde / and the femals to folowe and to wayte vpon the male / and to crepe vnder his ayde / and obeye hym / that she may lyue the better But let vs leaue the examples of beastis / whiche make vs ashamed of our selfe without we passe them ī vertue / and lette vs ascende vp vnto mannes reason Nowe than / what woman wyll be so presumptuous and so haute / to disobey her husbandes byddynge / if she consyder that he is vnto her in steede of father and mother and all her kynne / and that she oweth vnto hym / all the loue and charite that were due to them all A ragious and a folisshe woman doth nat consyder this / the whiche is disobedyent vnto her husbande Excepte parauenture she wolde say / she oweth none obedience / neither to father nor to mother / nor to none of her kynne For if she obey them / she must nedes obey her husbād in whom by al rightes / by all customes / by all statutes and lawes / by all preceptes and commaundementes / both naturall / worldely / and heuenly / she oughte to acompte all thyng to be The womā is nat rekened the more worshipful amonge men / that presumeth to haue mastrye aboue her husbande but the more folisshe / and the more worthy to be mocked Yea and more ouer than that cursed and vnhappy the whiche tourneth backewarde the lawes of nature / lyke as thoughe a sodioure wolde rule his capitayne / or the moone wold stāde aboue the sonne / or the arme aboue the heed For in wedlocke the man resembleth the reason / and the woman the body Nowe reason ought to rule and the body to obey / if a man wyl lyue Also saint Paule sayth The heed of the woman is the mā Here nowe I entre in to the diuyne commaundemētes / whiche in stomackes of reasonable people / oughte of reason to beare more rule and valewe / than lawes / more than all mannes reasons / and more than the voyce of nature her selfe God the maker of this holle worlde / in the begynnynge whan the worlde was yet but rude and newe / gyuynge lawes vnto mākynde / he gaue this charge vnto the woman Thou shalte be vnder thyn husbandes rule / and he shall haue dominion ouer the. The Apostle Paule / teacher of the Christen wysedome / that is for to say / of the heuenly wisedome / wolde nat haue the woman to rule the man / but commaundeth her in many places to be subiecte Peter also / the prince of the apostles / commaundethe in this wyse Lette all women be subiecte to theyr husbandes / as holy women / trustynge in our lorde Sara was obediēt vnto Abraham / and called hym her lorde Saynt Hieronyme wryteth vnto Celantia in this wyse Let the auctorite and rule be reserued vnto thyn husbande and be thou an example to all thyne house / what soueraynetie they owen vnto hym Do thou proue hym to be lorde by thyn obediēce / and make hym great with thyne humilite For the more honour thou gyuest vnto hym / the more honourable thou shalt be thy selfe For as the Apostle saythe / the heed of a womā is the mā Nowe the holle body can no where haue more honour / than of the heed / this saith saint Hieronyme But folysshe women do nat se / howe sore they dishoneste them selfe / that take the soueraynte of theyr husbandes of whom all theyr honoure muste come And so in sekynge for honour / they lose it For if the husbande lacke honour / the wyfe must nedes go without it Neither kynred / ryches / nor welthe can a vayle her For who wyll gyue any honour to that man / whom he seeth mastred by a woman And agayne / if thy husbāde be honorable / be
anothers Howe frayle / and vnto howe many ieoperdies indangered / howe fletynge / and howe vnstable a thyng is beautie / whā one agewe / one wart / or one heare maye of the mooste goodly make the moste lothsome And in men no body desyreth suche grace of fayrnes but they thynke in a woman very comely and yet shalte thou rede in the wyse kynges sayeng fauour is a disceitfull thyng / and beautie is vayne But the woman that dredeth god / she shal be preysed Fynally / seynge that ye be one fleshe / or rather one person bothe thou and thy husbande / than can he neuer be foule that hath a fayre wyfe And if thou wylte nat suppose neither the wyfe nor the husbāde to be fayre / vertue alone is both beautie noblenes I wyll let passe here / howe folisshe a thynge hit is / that they call noblenes Whose opiniō and estimation standeth in the comen voyce of people / whiche is maister of all errours But be thou neuer so noble / if thou marye to one vnnoble / thou arte made vnnobler than he nor the wyfe can nat be more noble than her husbande For that thynge canne nat be alowed in no kynde of beastis The chyldren haue the name of the father thorowe all the worlde / as of the better and than if thou be very noble / either muste he be made very noble / or thou vnnoble And in the Ciuile lawe the women haue theyr dignite of theyr husbandes / and nat of theyr fathers / in so moche that those that were commyn of mooste noble father / if they maryed vnto one of lowe degree / they were nat called noble And that appered well in the noble women of Rome / whiche droue out of the chapell of chastite / that was ordayned for noble women / one Virginia / commen of noble parētes / bicause she was maryed vnto a mā of lowe byrth therfore they sayde she was none of them / but of the comen rate of people neither she denyed that / nor was ashamed to be taken for one of the lowe people / nor dispised the commen people in comparison of the noblys / nor abashed to be called Virginia Volūnius wyfe Also Cornelia / doughter vnto Scipio / whan she was maryed vnto an house / whiche was in dede great and famous / and honorable Howe be it / nothynge able to be compared with her fathers / beyng her selfe of the best bloode in Rome / and one the mooste chefe of that bloode / doughter of Scipio whiche was the conquerour of Affrike / the prince of the Senate / and all the people of Rome / and also of all the worlde most excellent / though she hadde to her mother Emylia / comen of the blode of the Emylians / the most honorable and famous / bothe in Rome / and all the worlde yet she hauynge so great honour bothe of fathers syde and of mothers / had leauer euer be called Cornelia Gracchi / by her husbādes name / thā Cornelia Scipionis Wherfore some were discontent / whiche for honour vsed to cal her Cornelia Scipionis / by her fathers name Thesia / sister vnto the elder Dionisius the tyrant of Syracuse / was maried to one Philoxenus / whiche whā he had gone about to do a displeasure vnto Dionisius / and whan he was spyed was constrayned to fie out of Sycille / this Thesia his wyfe was sēt for by the kynge her brother / and rebuked of hym / bycause she dyd nat discouer her husbandes flyghte vnto hym Whye sayde she / wenest thou that I were so vile and abiecte / that if I hadde knowen of his goynge / I wolde nat a gone with all and folowed hym / and bene rather the wyfe of Philoxenus the out lawe in any place in the worlde / than kynge Dionisius syster here at home in my countrey And all the Siracusyans hadde in great reuerence this gaye and vertuous mynde of hers And whā the tyrās were banyshed / they bothe worshipped her in her lyfe / and honoured after her deth Mary the wyfe of Maximilian the emperour / whiche had by her father of inheritance all Flanders and Pycatdye / and the people set nought by the symple and softe disposition of Maximilian / and sewed for all theyr matters vnto Mary his wyfe / yet wolde she neuer determyne nothȳg without her husbādes aduise / whose will she rekened euer for a lawe / though she myght well inough haue ruled and ordened all as she lyst / with his good wyll whiche vsed to suffer of his mylde stomacke any thing that she lyst / vnto his good and prudēt wyfe / that in her owne goodes So Mary by obeynge her husbande / and regardyng hym so well / brought hym in to great auctorite / and made the people more obediēt vnto them both / as though their powers were increased and ayded either by other And these dueties be in the mynde Nowe must we brydell the tonge / whiche if the mynde be well brydeled it shall rule it well inough For the cause why many women be catle of tonge is bicause they can nat rule their mȳdes For ire occupieth them holle / and plucketh out of scaam / nor suffreth any pte of them to rule it selfe and therfore haue they neyther measure nor reasō in their chydyng and scolding For they be put besyde all reason and discretion / whan the fyre hath catched all to gether and made his owne whiche soone increaseth in softe tymber and apte for fyre Wherof commeth ragyng / bothe of stomacke and tonge without measure Whiche I haue ofte wōdred on and that in very good and honest women / in whom sauyng this one vice / there lacketh neither chastite nor goodnes manyfolde great vertues Yet haue I myssed in them moderation and temperaunce of ire language in so moche that I haue ben ashamed of it / though none of it hath pertayned to me / but bene amōge those that haue bene very strangers to me / at least if one Christen body ought to be a stranger vnto an other Therefore as it is a harde vertue for a woman to temper her tonge / so verily hit is the moste goodly vertue that can be longe to any Whiche thynge she shall easly do / if she abyde in her owne power / nor suffer her selfe to be caried away with her owne fātasies / as it were with stormes of wether And this lette her ofte call to mynde specially / and purpose while she is safe in her owne power / that if she chaunce to falle at wordes with her husbande / she rebuke nat nor dispreyse either his kynne / or person / or cōditiōs / or his lyfe / whiche thing she woteth shulde greue his stomacke For if he be angred / with suche a thynge / he wyll bothe be worse to reconsyle / and after that he is agreed agayne / yet as ofte as that worde commeth vnto his remembraunce
nat onely men be subiectes vnto hym / but also angels / and the elementes / and the heuens whiche thyng the verite it selfe testifieth of his owne selfe / sayeng Al power is gyueÌ„ vnto me in heuen and erthe If thou woldest haue a wyse husbaÌ„de / all thynges be naked open vnto the eies of hym Nor he is nat onely wyse / but also the very wysedome hit selfe nat the wysedome of Socrates / or Plato / or Aristotel / but of god almyghty whiche by that same wysedome hath made gouerneth this worlde the thou seest Nowe thynke with what diligence this perle ought to be kepte / that maketh the lyke vnto the churche / lyke vnto our lady / sister vnto angels / mother vnto god / the spouse of Christ / besyde worldly honours / whiche ought to haue no place / or a very lytell place / in a christen bodyes hert But yet also they as it were festyn theyr eies vpon a virgine Howe pleasaunt and dere to euery body is a virgin Howe reuerent a thynge / euen vnto them that be yll and vicious them selfe And amoÌ„ge those foule filthy goddis of the pagans / they say that Cybele / whom they all called mother / was a virgin And Diana was the moste fauored of the goddis / bicause she was a ê‘petuall virgin Also thre thynges made Pallas honorable / virginite / strengthe / wysedome and she was feyned to be bredde of Iupiters Brayne / whom they called the greatteste and prynce of the goddis of whiche nothynge myght growe / but pure / chaste / wise So that they thought virginite wysedome were ioyned to gether And they dedicated the noumbre of seuen bothe to chastite and wysedome And saide that the muses / whom they called the rulers of all sciences / were virgins And in the temple of Apollo Delphicus / the wyse woman / whiche inspired with the heueÌ„ly spirite / shewed thynges to come vnto them / that demanded to knowe / was euer a virgin whom they called alwaye Pythia Also saynt Hieronyme saythe that all the Sibylles / whom Varro saythe were tenne in noumbre / were virgins At Rome there was a temple of Vesta vnto whom virgins dyd mynister whiche were called Vestales and all the Senatours wolde ryse and reuereÌ„ce them / euery officer gaue them the waye / they were in great honoure with all the people of Rome Virginite was euer an holy thing euen amoÌ„ge theues / breakers of Sayntuary / vngratious lyuers / mourdeters and also amoÌ„ge wylde beastes Saynt Tecla / as saynt Ambrose sayth / altered the nature of wylde beastes with the reuerence of virginite Virginite hath so moche marueylons honoure in hit / that wylde lyons regarde hit Of the kepyng of virginite and Chastite The .vij. Chaptre HOwe moche than ought that to be setby / the hath ofte tymes defended women a gaynst great capitaynes / tyrantes / great ostes of men we haue redde of womeÌ„ that haue ben taken let go agayne of the moste vnruly soudyours / only for the reuerence of the name of virginite / bicause they sayde that they were virgins For they iugged hit a great wickednes for a short and small ymage of pleasure to mynishe so great a treasure And euery of them had leauer that an other shuld be the causer of so wycked a dede than hym selfe O cursed mayde / nat worthy to loue / the whiche wyllyÌ„gly spoyleth her selfe of so precious a thyng Whiche men of warre / that are accustomed to all myscheffe / yet drede to take away Also louers / whiche be blinde in the heate of loue / yet they stay and take auisement For there is none so outragious a louer / if he thynke she be a virgine / but he wyll alwaye open his eies / and take discretion to hym and deliberation / take counsayle to change his mynde Euery man is so sore a drad to take awaye that / whiche is of so great price / that afterward neither caÌ„ they their selfe kepe / nor restore agayÌ„e though they shall haue no losse by the meaÌ„es And the vngratious mayde douteth nat to lose that / whiche ones gone / she shall by no meanes recouer agayne whan she hath ones lost the greattest treasure that euer she had And if motioÌ„s of the mynde may do ought / whiche if they be reasonable and honest ought to beare great rule Lette her / that hath lost her virginite / turne her whiche way she will / she shal fynde al thynges sorowfull and heuy / waylyng / mournyng / angry / displeaserfull What sorowe wyll her kynnes folkes make / whan euerye one shall thynke them selfe dishonested by one shame of that mayde What mournyÌ„g / what teares / what wepynge of the father and mother and bringers vp Dost thou quite them with this pleasure for so moche care and labour Is this the rewarde of thy bryngyng vp What cursyng wyl ther be of her aquayntance what talke of neighbours / frendes / and companyons / cursynge that vngratious yonge woman what mockynge and bablynge of those maydens / that enuyed her before What a lothyng abhorryÌ„ge of those that loued her What fleyng of her company and desertnes / whaÌ„ euery mother will kepe nat only their doughters / but also theyr sonnes from the infection of suche an vnchrifty maide And woars also / if she had any / all fle away from her And those that before sembled loue with her / they openly hate her Yea and nowe and than with open wordes / wyll cast the abominable dede in her tethe that I wouÌ„der howe a yonge woman / seyng this / can eyther haue ioye of her lyfe / or lyue at all / and nat pyne a way for sorowe Nowe wherto shulde I reherce the hate anger of folkes For I knowe that many fathers haue cut the throtes of their doughters / bretherne of theyr systers / and kynnesmen of theyr kynnes women Hippomenes a great man of Athenes / whan he knewe his doughter defoyled of one / he shutte her vp in a stable with a wylde horse / kepte meateles so the horse / whaÌ„ he had suffered great houÌ„ger loÌ„ge / and bycause he was of nature fierse / he waxed mad / and all to tare the yonge womaÌ„ to fede hym selfe with Pontius Aufidianê° a romaÌ„e whaÌ„ he perceiued his doughter to be betrayed / vnto Fannius Saturninus by her tutour / he slewe both her and the seruant Publius Attilius Philiscus slewe his doughter / bicause she defouled her selfe in aduoutry In the same cite / Lucius Virgineus the Centurton / bycause he had leauer lose his doughter / and se her dye a good mayde / than haue her deflowred / slewe with a sworde his welbeloued and onely doughter Virginea / whan he coude fynde none other meanes / lest she shulde be compelled to be at the lust of the iuge In Spayne by our fathers dayes in Tarraco / two
that be good and caste your selfe in to perpetuall care For if thou be maryed to a fayre one / he wyll be proude of his person And if thou marye to a rythe one / his substance maketh hym stately And if thou be maried to one of great byrthe / his kynred exalteth his stomacke Nowe / if thou marye vnto one for his fayrenes / whiche hathe neyther reason / nor vertue / nor any droppe of wytte / as it is ofte proued by experience / as the wyse man of Grece sayd by these goodly Innes / where be foule hostesses by lyke reason thou myght marye an ymage or a paynted table Canst thou fynde in thy harte to be a foles wyfe / for his goodes Thanne mightest thou as well desyre to be maried to an ymage of golde Woldest thou be maried vnto a getylman borne / whiche is of fylthye and nought ye lyuynge / for his blode as well than thou myghteste those the ymage of Scipio or Cesar And in very dede it were better to be maried vnto an ymage / or a picture / or to a paynted table / than to be maryed to a vicious / or a folysshe / or a brayneles man Wherfore I may better compare them vnto asses / or swyne / lyons / or wolfes / than to mad mē And in tyme passed / I thought it had bene but a fable / that men telle / howe Palyphat the quene of Candy / dyd lye with a bulle and other as vngratious dedes as that whiche I haue harde say / other women haue done but nowe me thynketh them all lykely inough to be true / whan I se women can fynde in theyr hartes / to tomble and lye with vicious and fylthy mē / and dronkerdes / and braulers / and dawysshe / brayneles / cruell murderars For what difference is betwene them and asses / swyne / bores / bulles / or beares What madnes is it to haue delyte in suche men / and to flee and eschewe wyse men / as Plutarke the philosopher sayth / flee honeste men and good men / as warely as they wolde flee from venomous bestis Wherfore it was well and aptly spoken / that a countrey man of myne sayde / that the nature of women was in chosynge mē / lyke vnto the female wolues whiche amonge a great sorte of males / take the fouleste and worste fauored but men neuer caste any fauoure to a woman / but for some good propretie / either of substāce / person / or witte And women many tymes loue some men / bycause there is nothynge in them worthye to be beloued ▪ wherby they declare the more playnly / that they go without reason whiche thynge I say by some that haue nothynge a do with theyr reason / but all gyuen and applied vnto their bodye Agaynst whom I haue spoken sharpely / bicause they dote / and fonde good yonge men / and brynge them to fylthynes and foly / whan they wolde fayne please the women / and se they can nat / excepte they go wyde from all conditions perteynynge vnto men For lyke as childrē / whiche be gyuē all vnto sporte and playe / neither haue discretion for lacke of age to comprehende any depe matter / haue onely in pryce and regarde those / that can hādle theyr sportes and pastymes the moste aptly so women set all vpon pleasures / and volupties / wantonnes / and foly / thynke no man wyse / but those that can well conuey suche matters and what so euer perteyneth to wytte sadnes / they counte foly So their discretion is blynded so sore / that they loue / estyme and set by foles / and coūte them for great wyse men abhorre them / that be wyse in dede / hate dispyse / and lothe them / and take them for foles in lyke maner as folkes that be sicke of a great agewe / wene that swete meate is bytter and as sowes haue more delice in myre and durte than in swete flowres What hope shall we haue of them / that haue so feble discretion and so corrupted For maydes that desyre and wysshe for suche husbande 's / in whom be the externall gyftes of fortune / whiche the people calle good / nor haue no respecte vnto thyn warde goodnes / they be worthy to fele perpetuall sorowe / and to be punysshed for theyr errour / so longe as they lyue bicause they dispise that / that is the more noble and excellent in dede / in cōparison of that / whiche is more vyle lesse worth O folysshe mayde / whiche haddest leauer haue cōtynuall sorowe in golde and sylke / than haue pleasure in wollen cloth whiche had leauer be hated beaten in rayment of purple and ryche colour / thā beloued and set by in a course garment of meane colour If thou haddest leauer haue that other / take that thou haste chosen / nor be nat discontent with that / whiche thou hast wyrtyngly takē with thyn owne hādes More ouer / we haue harde tell of some so folisshe husbandes / that they haue kylled theyr wyues / as Iustina a mayde of Rome / borne of noble blode / whom her father mother maried vnto a yonge mā of great possessions / but of smale discretion and witte whiche whā he sawe his wyues whyte necke / as she was stowpyng to vnlose her shone / fell streight in to a suspection and ielosye ouer her / bycause of her beautie with a sworde cutte her necke in sunder of whom was made this epitaphie folowynge My cruell husbande to deth hath de done And with a sworde my necke in sunde cutte As I was stowpynge to vntye my shoone And to pulle out my praty fote And that besyde the bedde / where I was layde With hym nat long before O harde cruell mȳde In that same place / where as he had hadde My mayden heed / to shewe hym so vnkynde Yet I neuer offended / wherfore I ought to dye All myghty god to recorde I take And loo nowe here-slayne I lye Thus pleased fortune myne ende to make But fathers all example take by me Iustina / as warely as you can If ye loue your doughter tenderly That you ne marye her to a folisshe man Fathers and mothers whiche marye theyr children vnto good and vertuous mates / do nat onely prouyde well for them / but also for them selfe For they get them suche sonnes daughters in lawe / that shall be socoure and ayde vnto them in theyr olde age And if they be noughtys vngratious / they prouide them of enemyes Nowe of the sonne in lawe / we haue an example in the gospell For saint Peters mother in lawe / whā she lay sicke of great ague / was made holle of our lorde / at thin-stance of her son in lawe Suche it was to haue so good a sonne in lawe / that Christ disdayned nat to take vnto his disciple And of the doughter in lawe / we rede an
but for the fylthy pleasure of lechery and elles either hateth enuieth other But they that wolde kepe the nature of thynges holle and pure / neyther corrupte them with wronge vnderstandyng / shulde reken / that wedlocke is a bande couplyng of loue / benyuolence / frendshippe / and charite / cōprehendynge with in hit all names of goodnes / swetnes / and amyte Therfore let the mayde neither catche / and disceyue by subtylte hym / that shulde be her inseparable felowe / nor pull drawe by playne violence but take and be taken by honeste / symple / playne / and good maner / that neyther of them complayne with both their harmes or say / they were disceyued or compelled Here endeth the fyrst boke of the instruction of a Christen woman The seconde boke of the instruction of a Christen Woman Of Wedlocke The fyrst Chaptre THis is no place here to reson either the laudes or dispreyses of wedlocke Nor the olde questiōs are to be touched as / Is it for a wyse man to wedde a wyfe Nor the questions of our christen men / concernynge wedlocke / single lyfe / and virginite / and other / that saynt Augustine / and other doctours of our christen faith haue disputed I knowe / there haue bene some that haue sore rebuked wedlocke and that nat only heretickes / as the Manicheis / that vtterly commanded to absteyne from maryage whose errours be clene damned and banished but also pagans / whiche haue gyuen iugemēt of the holle kynde of women / vpon certayne euyll ouer moche folowyng the common gyse / whiche vpon the knowlege of a fewe / deme the holle natiō So the Carthaginences were defamed as false of promyse So the Cilicians as theuis and robbers the Romayns as couetous / the Grekes as inconstant and variable The honeste wyues ought to hate and blame the noughty wyues as a shame and sklander vnto all the kynde And truly no mā durst euer so farre dispreise woman kynde but he muste nedes confesse / that a good woman is the beste treasure / and mooste luckye and prosperous thynge that can be And as Xenophon saythe / she is the greattest cause of mānes felicite There is nothynge more swete than a good wyfe / sayth the wyse man Theognis lykewyse Xystus in his sentenses callethe her mannes ioye Eurypides the poet / whiche was sharpely vexed with .ij. noughty wyues / stuffed his tragidies with rebukes and raylynge on women / he was named in a greke worde / the hater of women yet neuer the lesse he douted nat to affyrme / that no pleasure was lyke theyrs / that had good wyues And Hesyodus the poet / a very enemy of women / sayth that as nothynge is more infortunate than a mā / that chaūceth on an euyll wyfe so lyke wyse no greatter felicite and welthe any man maye haue / than hath he / that hath a good wyfe Kyng Solomon / whithe was bysyde hym selfe for women / and of the moste wyse made the moste vnwyse / often tymes as cursynge his wyckedde dedes / he fyersly rebuketh women But so yet that he sheweth playnly by whom he mente For in his prouerbes he wryteth / that an vnwyse woman and full of boldenes shall lacke breadde And as a tre is cōsumed of the tymber worme / so he saythe is a man of an euyll wyfe But loke in the same boke / howe goodlye gaye is the preyse of a good woman of whom he sayth thus Noble is her husbande in the gates whan he sytteth with the auncient fathers of the erth Fortitude and beautie shal be the rayment of an holy woman / and she shall laugh in the laste day She hath opened her mouth vnto wisedome / and the lawe of mekenes is in her tonge / her children haue rysen vp and called her the most blessed and her husbande hath commended her Many women haue gethered ryches but thou haste passed them all These many other good wordes hath the wyse kynge spoken whiche are approued and alowed of euery wyse man with one assent Nowe I force nat for those disputations or more lyke sermons that sharpe wytted men haue made of wedlocke For doutles allerned men byd wed whiche thynge they dyd them selfe The .vij. wyse men of Grece were maried fyrst / and after that Pythagoras / Socrates / Aristotel / and Theophrast / bothe the Catons / Cicero / and Senec bicause they wel perceyued that nothynge was more after nature / than the couplyng of man and woman Wherby man kynde beynge in sundrye persons mortall / is made in all to gether euer lastynge and wherby a man yeldeth agayne vnto his successours / that whiche he taketh of his predecessours and as hit were rendreth a benifite vnto nature Aristotel in his morall bokes exorteth wyse men vnto maryage / nat onely to th entent to haue childrē / but also bicause of company For that is the principal and greattest vnite that can be For thus goth the matter in dede Of that consyderation and vniuarsall frēdship / wher with all folkes are knytte to gether as bretherne descēded of god one father of all thȳges where with nature her selfe / that in all men is the same / byndeth vs to gether with a certayne charite / more nere is that frendship / whiche is amonge folkes of one faith and it is plucked more narowe by mannes ordynaunce and lawe ciuyle For citizens fauoure more one an other / than they do foreyns and of cytyzens our speciall frendes are most dere to vs of them we loue best our owne kyns folke and of kyns folke nothynge is more nere than the wyfe whom the fyrst father of mākynde / as sone as he sawe her / sayde by by / that it was a bone of his bones / flesshe of his flesshe And whan there was yet neyther fathers nor mothers / he gaue a lawe / as in the name of nature / sayeng in this wyse For her sake a mā shall leaue bothe father mother / and abyde with his wyfe Who than can denye but that wedlocke is a thing most holy Whiche god ordeyned in paradise / whā mankynde was yet pure and clene / with no spotte defyled He chose hit in his mother he alowed hit with his presence and wolde do his fyrst myracle at the solemnyte of maryage / and there shewe an euydent token of his godheed / vnto the entent he myght declare / that he was comen to saue them / that were bothe lost by folkes so coupled / borne by folkes so coupled But I wryte nat here of the preyses of wedlocke / wher vpon often tymes most eloquente men haue made longe sermons For I do onely instruct vertuous women What a Woman ought to haue in mynde whan she maryeth The .ij. Chaptre wHat tyme a woman maryeth / she shulde calle to remembraunce the begynnynge of wedlocke / and busily consyder in her mynde and thought the lawes of
they loue agayne suche as make semblaūce as though they loued them and do nat in dede Hit were good for a wyfe to vse that counsayle / that Horace the wyse poet gyueth vnto Lollius / howe to vse his frende / vyddyng hym applye hym selfe vnto his frendes appetyte If he lyste hunte sayth he / do thou nat syt to make versys / but cast vp thy muses / and folowe the herses caryeng the nettes / leade forthe dogges Amphion and zetus were bretherne and twynnes borne of Anthiopia / the one was verye coūnyng in harpyng / thother rude and vnlerned Nowe whan the sounde of the harpe pleased nat zetus / and lyke to departe company betwixte the two bretherne / Amphion therfore layde downe his harpe and so let the wyfe ordre ber selfe after her husbandes maners / and pleasure / lest he hate and set noughte by her We rede in histories / that Andromacha Hectors wyfe gaue hay ootes vnto his horses with her owne handes / bycause she sawe what delyte her husbande had in them / and kepte them for warre / as dilygently as coulde be And Cecilius Plinius sheweth in many pistelles that he loued his wyfe moste derely / in whiche pistolles ther is one writen vnto Hispula his wyues awnt / whiche had brought her vp / where he gyueth her great thākes / that she so taught her and brought vp / whan she was a chylde and also shewed the cause why he loued his wyfe so well / wrytynge of his wyfe in this wyse She loueth me / whiche is a sygne of chastite And more ouer she is greatly gyuen vnto lernyng whiche fantasy she hath taken by the loue she hath vnto me She hath my bokes / and redeth / and lerneth them without boke whāso euer I shall pleade / she is wōders carefull and whan I haue done merueylous ioyfull She settes folkes to watche / howe I am lyked of the people / what countenaunce / what noyse I cause them to make / what iudgement I get in the ende And whan so euer I reherse a lectoure / she getteth her nexte vnto me / seperate from the other herers with a vayle / and herkeneth moste diligently for my prayses She syngeth my verses / and playeth them on the lute None other maister teacheth her / but the loue she hath vnto me / whiche is the best schole maister of all This wryteth Plinius A late whā I was at Paris and talked with Guilielmus Budeus at his owne hous / and his wyfe come bye / where as we walked / a goodly personne and a fayre / as a man shulde loke vpon / whiche as I coude deme by her comly maner and countenance / me thought shulde be both a prudēt and vertuous huswyfe So she after she hadde salued her husbande / with suche reuerence as a good woman shulde / and had welcommed me curtesly and honorably / I asked hym if she were his wyfe / yes forsoth saythe he / this is my wyfe / whiche so diligently foloweth my pleasure / that she intreateth my bokes no worse than her owne chyldren / bycause she seeth me loue studye so well In whiche thyng me thynke her worthy more preyse than was Plinius wyfe in as moche as she was lerned her selfe / and this is nat Nowe howe moche more honestly dothe she / than suche as drawe theyr husbandes from study / and counsayle them to luker / playe / or other pleasures / that they may obtayne parte them selfe / either of luker / playe / or volupties / bycause they can get no parte of theyr study And the foles knowe nat howe moche more sure and veraye pleasure hit were / to haue a wyse man than a ryche or voluptuous Moreouer they shulde lyue a great deale more quietlye with wyfe men than with ignorant foles / that neuer had set the brydell of reason to rule theyr fantasyes withal / whiche be for the more parte caried quite away with suche motions as comme in theyr myndes Nor she shulde loth in her husbande neither study nor any thing els / either by wordes / countenance / or gesture / or any maner of sygnes she shall loue all thynge in hym / haue all thynge in reuerence / and set great store by it / what so euer he dothe / assent all thyng vnto hym / and beleue what so ener he sayth / though he tolde that neither were true / nor lyke to be / nor presume aboue her husbande in any maner thyng she shall reken hym her father / her lorde / her elder / her better This shal she both knowlege in dede / and make semblaunce of For howe can any loue or frendship stande / if thou beynge ryche dispise hym poure or fayre thy selfe / loth hym beyng foule or thy selfe of great bloode / disdayne hym as of lowe byrthe Iuuenall saith / there is nothynge more intollerable than a ryche wyfe Saynt Hieronyme saith the same / writing agaynst Iouyntane And Theophrast sayth / it is a turment to suffre a ryche wyfe but I canne nat beleue that / excepte they say / if she be ill and lewde with all For what a lewdenes is hit / nat to consyder howe vayne a thyng that money is for hit is the vylest of all thyng that men be proude of But many lyghte and frayle myndes wyll ryse a lofte with a lyttell wynde Ah foole / doth nat wedlocke make all thynge commen For if that frendshipe make all thyng commen / howe moche more dothe maryage make commen nat onely theyr money / but also frendes / kynsfolke and all thynges elles Wherfore the Rhomayns as Plutarche saythe / commaunded in theyr lawes / that the husbande and wyfe shulde gyue nothyng one vnto a nother / bycause that neither shulde reken any thynge pryuatly theyr owne In a good commen wele Plato sayth / that these wordes / myne and thyne / shulde be put awaye Than moche more in a good house holde / whiche is than the beste most perfet / therto moste welthfull / whan there is as one body vnder one heed For if it haue many heddes or many bodyes / hit is lyke a monster Moreouer all the husbandes and after the similitude of Plutarch / though there be more water thā wyne in the cuppe / yet is all the myxture called wyne / so thoughe the woman brynge neuer so moche with her / and the man neuer so lytell / yet all is his For he muste nedes haue all that the woman hath / that hath her selfe is her lorde And thou mayst here our lorde say to the Womā thou shalte be in the rule of thy husbande and he shall haue the maistre on the. Nor he is to be dispised for his fauoure For thou haste fauour / he hath the / with thy fauour I wyll nat dispute / howe sklender a thing beautte is / whiche standeth but onely in mennes opynyons For she that is fayre in one mannes sight / is foule in
/ he wyll neuer loke merily on her / besyde the displeasure that it is to god For our lorde sayth in the gospell of Mattheu who so saythe vnto his brother Racha / that is to saye / braynles / shal be accusable vnto the counsaile and he that sayth fole / shall be dampnable vnto the pyt of fyre Nowe than consyder what thou shalte haue / that makest that great raylyng / nat onely on thy brother / but also thy father / and as moche as lyeth in the / on the deputy of god and all thy kyn And if thy husbande laye any suche thyng vnto thy charge / be wyse / that it abyde nat in thy remembraunce / but suffre it patiently and whan he is commen vnto hym selfe agayne / thou shalte optayne great thanke of hym for thy sufferaunce / and shalte tourne his furious mynde vnto good and shalte haue hym the more gentyll afterwarde and easyer to deale with Terence / whose purpose was none other / but to expresse the conditions of the worlde in his comedies / writeth of a chast and honest yonge woman in this wyfe She as becometh an honeste woman / shamfast / sad / and demure / suffred all the iniures and fautes of her husbande / and kept close the displesures And for these causes / the husbaÌ„des myÌ„de tourned agayne vnto his wyfe / from whose loue he abhorred And that was the counsayle of the wyfe nurce in Seneke the poet / whiche she gaue vnto Octauia the wyfe of Nero / sayenge Vanquishe thy cruell husbande rather with obedyeÌ„ce Nor let nat a woman cast in her husbandes tethe any benyfyte done vnto hym by her / whiche is an vnsyttyng and a displeasant thynge / yea amonge those that be nothynge a kynne to gether and he that casteth his benifyte in an other maÌ„nes tethe / loseth his thanks that he shulde haue had For he hath stryken hit out of the others haste Moreouer if thou consyder well / there can be no benifyte done by the to thyÌ„ husbaÌ„de / to whom thou arte bouÌ„deÌ„ as moche / as vnto thy father or thy selfe other Nor any good woman wyll make moche rehersall of her kynred or gooddis / whiche thing will lightly wery her husbande beynge neuer so louynge The poet Iuuenal sayth / that he had leauer haue a poure woman and of lowe byrth / than Cornelia the doughter of Scipio Affrican / of whose vertues we haue spoken here before if she be proude and stately of her fathers noblenes For he sayth in this wyse I had leauer haue a poure Venusyne Than the Cornelia mother vnto Gracchis If thou brynge with thy vertues fyne Proude lokes / and reken vp triumphis Away with Anniball I pray the / in armes Ouer commen / and Syphax vanquished / And with holle Carthage all to gether flyte The sage man Plutarche commaundeth / that in the begynnynge of mariage all occasions of debate shulde be eschewed / whan the loue is yet nat wel knitte to gether / and is yet tender and weake / and easye to breake with any lytell cause / as a vessell newe made wyll a sonder with a small knocke Nor let her nat chide a bed For where shulde they lay awaye theyr displeasure / if they make the place troublesome / and comberous with scoldyng / whiche is most mete for loue and concorde / and as hit were / corrupteth the medicine / that the disease of the mynde shulde be holpen with Howe she shulde lyue betwene her husbande and her selfe priuately The .vj. Chaptre HIt were nat vnmete for this place to reherse howe she oughte to behaue her in priuite and secretly vnto her husbande / betwene hym and her Fyrst let her vnderstande / that they that were wonte to make sacrifice vnto Iuno / whom they called the ruler and ouer fear of wedlocke / neuer offred the gall in sacrifyce that they made / but toke it out of the beaste / and cast it away behynde the alter / signifieng that there ought to be neither displeasure / nor any bytternes amonge maryed couples Also they were wonte to couple Venus and Mercury to gether in mariage / as a pleasure and myrth For the wyfe shulde couple and bynde her husbande vnto her euery day more and more / with her gentyll and pleasant conditions For nothynge doth more drawe and entyse vnto hit / than doth pleasant conditions and swete speche A wise woman shulde haue in mynde mery tales / histories howe be it yet honest wherwith she may refreshe her husbande / and make hym mery / whan he is wery And also she shal lerne preceptes of wisedome to exhorte hym vnto vertue / or drawe hym from vice with al / and some sage seÌ„tences agaynst the assautes and rages of both fortunes / bothe to plucke downe her husbandes stomacke / if he be proude of ê“sperite and welth and coÌ„forte harte hym / if he be stryken in heuynes with aduersite So Placidia daughter vnto Theodosius themperoure / whan her husbande Athaulpus the kyng of the GothiaÌ„s / was in purpose to vtterly distroy Rome / and the name of Romans / with her swete eloquence and pleasant behauour / brought hym out of that vngratious purpose / saued her countre And agayne the wyfe shall make her husbaÌ„de a counsayle of all her sorowes and cares so that they be mete to tell a wyse man of She shall take only for her companyon / and talkyng felowe / couÌ„sellour / maister / and lorde / and vtter vnto hym all her thoughtes / and rest in hym For these thyÌ„ges make loue and coÌ„corde For lyghtly we loue them / whom we tell our counsayle vnto / and as it were vnlade vs of our thoughtes / in whom we truste moche And lyghtly folkes loue them agayne / of whom they reken themselfe loued and trusted A wyse woman shall as moche as she maye / serche diligently whether her husbande haue any ill susspectioÌ„ ther / wheder ther be any sparkes of aÌ„ger / or hate / or any resydues or steppes of them lefte in his mynde / if there be any suche thyng / let her labour to get it out or hit growe greatter For these thynges increase lyghtlye with a lytell cause Let her therfore get this out of her husbandes mynde by gentyll meanes / and content hym agayne For vnknowyng sickenes increase and distroye the body soner / than those that appere Let her nat stryue to plucke it out / nor handle it harde / lest she fasten it the more sure in / whaÌ„ she may better auoyde it without any payne / that is to say / without complaynt / without gronyng Nor let her nat thyÌ„ke that either god or man is content with her / whyle her husbande is displeased with her Our lorde sayth in the gospell If thou come to do thyne offrynge at the alter / and there remembre that any displeasure be yet remaynyÌ„g betwene thy brother and the / lay downe
The mother is discontent / that all her sonnes loue shulde be tourned vnto her doughter in lawe and the wyfe can nat suffce any to beloued / but her selfe And there of ryfeth hate / enuye / and braulyng / as it were be twene two dogges / if a man stryke and sherysshe the one the other beynge bye Pythagoras scholers in olde tyme / and those that were of his secte / dyd nat reken frendship mynysshed / the mo that come vnto it but to be the more encreased and streÌ„gthed so the mother ought nat to thynke her selfe a mother euer the lesse / if her sonne marye a wyfe nor the wyfe ought to counte her selfe a wyfe the lesse / if she haue a mother in lawe but rather either of them ought to reconsile the man vnto the other / if any discorde chaunce betwene them Thou folishe mother in lawe / woldest thou nat haue thy sonne to loue his wyfe / whiche is a companyon frende inseparable Coudeste thou haue suffered nat to haue bene loued of thyne owne husbande What greatter mysery canst thou wisshe vnto thy sonne / than for to dwell with his wyfe with displeasure And thou folysshe doughter in lawe / woldeste nat thou haue thy husbande to loue his mother doest nat thou loue thy mother Thou shalt be loued of thy husbande as his felowe and dere mate and thy husbaÌ„de shal loue his mother / as vnto whom he is dounde / for his lyfe his norisshyng / and his bryngyng vp and therfore he oweth great loue kyndnes The daughter in lawe / knowynge that her husbaÌ„de and she is all one / shall reken her husbandes mother her owne / and shall loue her and reuerence her no lesse than her naturall mother / but be more seruiseable vnto her / that she maye bynde her the more to loue her She shall nat be displeased / if her husbande loue his mother / but rather and she be a good and a vertuous womaÌ„ / if she se hym nat behaue hym selfe vnto his mother accordynge lyke / she shall exhorte hym and desyre hym to behaue hym selfe as a son ought vnto his mother There is no mother in lawe so out of reason / but she wyll be the better content / if she knowe her doughter in lawe chaste / louyng to her husbaÌ„de Agrippina / nece vnto Augustus theÌ„perour by his doughter Iulia / whiche was maried vnto Germanicus / neuew vnto Liuia theÌ„presse / by her sonne Drusus / she was hated of Liuia / both as a doughter iÌ„ lawe / and as a stepdoughter / was of her owne nature bothe sharpe shrewed inough but she was so chaste of body / and so louyng vnto her husbande / that with those two vertues she altered the fyerce mynde of her mother in lawe Liuia / and tourned hit to good The doughters in lawe ought to nourisshe and sustayne theyr mothers in lawe in theyr necessite / none other wyse / thanne if they were theyr owne mothers Ruth / a Moabite borne / lefte her countre and all her kynne / for her mother in lawe / bycause she wolde nat leaue the olde myserable woman in sorowe and heuynes Therfore she bothe comforted her with wordes / nourisshed and founde her with her laboure / and in all conditioÌ„s fulfylled the roume of a doughter neither that same great charite of Ruth lacked rewarde For by the counsayle and helpe of her mother in lawe she gate Booz vnto her husbande / a great ryche man / and bare Isai the prophet / and was graundemother to kynge Dauid / of whose stocke our lorde Christe was borne Howe she shall lyue with her sonne or her doughter maryed / and howe with her sonnne in lawe and doughter in lawe The .xiiij. Chap. AS it is conuenient for the wyfe to apply her selfe vnto her husbandes discretion and wyll in all other thynges so whan any of her children shall be maryed / that both Aristotle in the seconde boke of house kepyng / teacheth / and reason byddeth / that the holle auctorite ouer the childreÌ„ shulde be gyuen to the fathers So by the lawes of Rome / chyldren were nat vnder the mothers rule / but the fathers and that so longe as he lyued / though they were maried / and of great age / excepte they were at theyr owne lybertie Nowe howe great power ought fathers to haue ouer theyr owne children / whaÌ„ god wolde the Ioseph shulde haue some auctorite ouer Christe Changell of our lorde / what tyme he shewed vnto Iosephe in his dreame / that that / whiche was in the wombe of Mary / was nat conceyued by mannes generation / but by the power and worke of the holy goost She shall sayd he / beare a sonne / thou shalte call his name Iesus He sayd nat / she shall beare the a sonne / as thuse is to say to the owne fathers For women beare children vnto theyr husbaÌ„des and yet he sayd / thou shalt call hym Wherby he signyfied the power and auctorite of hym / whiche was his father apparent / whan he hadde said vnto the virgin / His name shal be called Iesus A wyse woman shall nat pursue her doughter in lawe / nor wene that she wynneth loue with hatyng her / neyther of her nor of her sonne If she loue her / gyue her good couÌ„sayle / and teache her And if she do afore her suche thynges / as maye be example vnto her doughter in lawe / both of chastite and so bernes And if she make no discorde betwene the maried couples / but if any chaunce betwene them by reason of other / auoyde it / and reconsyle them agayne with all her myght Fynally / if she beare a motherly affectioÌ„ towarde her doughter in lawe / she shall lyghtely brynge to passe / that bothe her sonne shall be more bounde vnto her / and shall optayne great loue and reuerence of her doughter in lawe For howe moche more shall he loue her / of whom he hath ben borne / by whom he hath his wyfe / both more chaste and more sober / and better agreynge with hym / wherby he shall be bounde vnto her nat only for that benyfite / that she is his mother / but also bicause she hath be the instructrice of his wyfe / and causer of a great parte of his felicite And the doughter in lawe on her partie shall beare none other minde vnto her mother in lawe / than if she were her owne mother / by whom she hath â—othe gotten more knowlege / and is made better / hath her husbaÌ„de more pleasant louyÌ„g vnto her And in a sharpe a rygorous mother in lawe all thyng chauÌ„seth coÌ„trary As for that daughtÌ„ that is maryed / the mother shall nat desyre to haue so moche her owne / as whaÌ„ she was a mayde / but remeÌ„bre / that than she is skyfted in to another house kynred / to eÌ„crease that stocke but she may
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 /
bretherne that thought their syster had ben a maydeÌ„ / whan they same her great with chylde / they dissembled theyr anger so longe as she was with chylde but as soone as she was delyuered of her chylde they throuste swordes into her bealye / and slewe her / the myddewyfe lokynge on In the same parte of Spayne / whan I was a chylde / thre maydens with a longe towell / strangled a maydeÌ„ that was one of theyr companyons / whan they toke her in the abominable dede Histories be full of exaÌ„ples / and dayly ye se neither hit is maruaile that these be done of fathers and frendes / and that the affection of loue and charite is tourned so sodaynely in to hate whan the women taken with the abomynable cruell loue / all loue caste quite out of theyr harte / hate theyr fathers and mothers / bretherne and children nat only theyr frendes and aquayntance And this I wolde nat that onely maydens shulde thynke spoken vnto them / but also maryed womeÌ„ and wydowes / fynally all women Nowe let the woman turne to her selfe consydre her owne vngratiousnes / she shall feare abhorre her selfe nor take reste day nor nyght but euer vexed with the scourge of her owne conscience / and bourned as hotte fyre brondes shall neuer loke stedfastlye vpon any body / but she shall be in feare / leste they knowe some what of her lewednes that than no body shall speake softely / but she shall thynke they speake of her vnthryftynes She shall neuer here talkyng of noughty women / but she shall thynke hit spoken bicause of her Nor she shall neuer here name of corruptyon spoken by any other / but she shall thynke hit mente by her / or of her selfe Nor no body shall stoure priuely in the house / but she shal feare / lest her vngratiousnes be opened / and that she shall be punysshed streyght What realme woldest thou bye with suche perpetual vexation Whiche many a man supposeth to be none other payne in hell The same payne haue wycked men / but women farre sorer / bycause theyr offences be rekened fouler / they be more timorus of nature And doutles / if hit be well consydred / women be worthy these punisshmentes / and moche worse / that kepe nat theyr honestie diligently For as for a maÌ„ nedeth many thynges / as wysedome / eloquence / knowlege of thynges / with remembraunce / some crafte to lyue bye / Iustice / Leberalite / lustye stomake / and other thynges moo / that were to longe to reherce And though some of these do lacke / hit is nat to be disliked / so that many of them be had / but in a womaÌ„ no maÌ„ wyll loke for eloqueÌ„ce / great witte / or prudence / or crafte to lyue by / or ordryng of the commen weale / or iustice / or liberalite Finally no man will loke for any other thing of a woman / but her honestye the whiche onely / if hit be lacked / is lyke as in a maÌ„ / if he lacke al that he shulde haue For in a womaÌ„ the honestie is in stede of all Hit is an euyll keper / that can nat kepe one thyng well / commytted to her kepyng / and put in truste to her with moche commendation of wordes and specially whiche no maÌ„ wil take from her agaynst her wyll / nor touche hit / excepte she be wyllynge her selfe The whiche thyng onely / if a woman remembre / hit shall cause her to take better hede / to be a more ware keper of her goodnes whiche alone / thoughe all other thynges be neuer so well in saftye / so loste / all other thynges perysshe to gether there with What can be safe to a womaÌ„ saith Lucrecia / whan her honestie is gone And yet had she a chast mynde in a corrupt body Therfore as Quintilian saythe / she thrist a sworde in to her body / and auenged the coÌ„pulsyon / that the pure mynde myght be seperated froÌ„ the defyled body / as shortly as coude be But I saye nat this bycause other shulde folowe the dede / but the mynde By cause she that hath ones lost her honestie / shulde thynke there is nothynge lefte Take from a woman her beautie / take from her kynrede / ryches / comelynes / eloquence / sharpenes of wytte / counnynge in her crafte / gyue her chastite / and thou haste gyuen her all thynges And on that other syde / gyue her all these thynges / and calle her a noughtye packe / with that one worde thou haste taken all from her and hast lefte her bare and foule There be also other thyÌ„ges / both in the body and minde / that helpe a woman vnto the kepynge of her honestie wherof I wyll speake nowe Of the ordryng of the body in a virgin The .viij. Chaptre THough hit were nat for this pourpose to speke of the body / nat withstaÌ„dyng for as moche as some thynges that be in the mynde come of the reason and complection of the bodye Therfore must we speke some thyng of the ordryng of the body of a virgin Fyrst of all me thyÌ„ke that it is to be tolde theyr father mother / as Aristotel dothe bydde in his historie of beastes / that is that they kepe theyr doughters / speciallye whan they begynne to growe from chyldes state / and holde them from mennes company For that tyme they be gyuen vnto most lust of the body Also the maydens shulde kepe them selfe / both at all other / and at the tyme specially / from either herynge or seyng / or yet thinkyng any foule thing / whiche thing she shall labour to do Neuer the lesse at other tymes two / vnto the tyme that they be maryed / moche fastynge shall be good / whiche dothe nat feble the bodye / but brydell hit / and presse hit downe / and quenche the heate of youthe For these be only the very and holye fastes Let theyr meate be meane and easy to gette / neither hotte of hitselfe / nor spised with spices / nor delycate And they oughte to remembre / that our fyrste mother for meate was cast out of paradise And many yonge womeÌ„ that had ben vsed to delycate meates / whan they had nat them at home / haue gone forth froÌ„ home ieoê‘ded their honestie Let their drinke be the drynke prepared of nature / that is clene water Valerius Maximus sayth / that wyne was vnknowen vnto women of Rome in olde tyme / leste they shulde fall in any shame For bycause it was wonte to be the nexte waye from Bacchus the father of intemperance vnto Venus vnlefull But if theyr stomake will nat beare water / gyue them some ale / or bere / or small wyne / as shall be sufficient to digest theyr meate / and nat enflame theyr bodies Nor that is nat only good for theyr maners and rankenes of the bodye / wantonnes / to kepe them