Popish Clergy preached that the way to pacifie Gods wrath and to remove the plague was to cut off Hereticks whereupon these two godly men were brought out and condemned and presently after burned Also one Nicholas a godly man was apprehended at Antwerp bound up in a sack cast into the river and drowned Also Pistorius a learned and godly Preacher coming from Wittenburg into Holland preached against the Masse Popish pardons c. Whereupon he was cast into prison amongst Malefactors whom he instructed and much comforted in their distressed condition and one of them being half naked he gave him his gown His father visiting him in prison encouraged him to constancy At last he was condemned and carried forth to execution with a fools coat on his back when he was tied to the stake he said O death where is thy victory and so he was first strangled and then burned Another for speaking against the Masse and Reliques was hanged in Suevia Another godly Minister being commanded to go to sixteen men that were to be beheaded to counsel and comfort them at their death when they were executed was himself bidden to kneel down and so they cut off his head Also George Scherter a godly Minister that took great pains in instructing his people in the knowledge of the Gospel in a town near Salizburg was apprehended and cast into prison where he wrote a Confession of his faith and afterwards was condemned first to be beheaded and then burned As he went to the execution he said to the Spectators That you may know that I die a true Christian I will give you a signe and accordingly when his head had been cut off so long as whilst a man might eat an egge his body all the while lying upon the belly it turned it self upon the back crossing the right foot over the left and the right hand over the left by which miracle many were induced to believe the Gospel Another godly man was burned at Dornick Anno 1539. A godly minister not far from Basil was murthered in his own house by a Popish Priest whom he had kindly entertained many other Ministers about that time were some drowned some beheaded Anno 1543. Notice was taken that there were divers godly persons in Lovain whereupon an Inquisitor came from Bruxels thither and having gotten a company of souldiers in the night time he brake into their houses plucking men and women out of their beds from their children and casting them into prison Thither the Doctors of Lovain came thinking either to convert them or confound them but the spirit of God assisting his Saints the doctors went away confounded themselves Then did they cruelly torment every one of them by themselves amongst these an aged Minister of about sixty years old was condemned to perpetual imprisonment in a dark and stinking dungeon where he could neither read nor write nor might any man come to him and he was fed onely with bread and water Two were burnt alive in the fire an aged man was beheaded Two aged women were buried quick others for refusing to do pennance were burned also All which took their death very patiently and cheerfully The year after in the same University of Lovain was one Master Persival a very learned and godly man cast into prison and because he could by no means be brought to recant he was adjudged to perpetual imprisonment and there to be fed only with bread and water neither would they suffer the Citizens to send any relief to him shortly after he was made away in prison Also one Justus Insberg in the same city for having a New Testament and some of Luthers Sermons found in his house was cast into prison and command given that none should speak with him At the same time there were prisoners in a room under him Aegidius and Encenas metioned before whose door being left open accidentally they went to this poor man and much confirmed and strengthned him in the faith insomuch as when the Lovain Doctors came to perswade him to recant he before them all made a bold confession of his faith from which he would not be disswaded whereupon he was condemned and beheaded About the same time there was one Giles Tilleman a Cutler at Bruxels who by diligent reading of the Scriptures through Gods grace was converted and became very zealous for the truth he was also very humble mild and merciful whatsoever he could spare from his own necessity he gave it to the poor living by his trade himself Some he refreshed with meat others with cloathing to others he gave shooes to others houshold-stuffe to others he ministred godly exhortations for their edification One poor woman being delivered of a child and wanting a bed to lye on he sent her his bed and himself was content to lie on the straw At last he was discovered and cast into prison where much pains was taken to bring him back to Popery but alwayes his adversaries went away with shame After eight months imprisonment he was sent to Bruxels to be judged in which place he comforted many that he found in prison there exhorting them to constancy that they might attain the Crown Most of his food he divided amongst them contenting himself with some few scraps He was so ardent in Prayer kneeling by himself in some secret place that often he forgat himself and being many times called to his meat he neither heard nor saw them that stood by him till he was lifted up by the armes Divers Friars coming to reduce him he would still request them to go their wayes for he was at a point and when they reviled him he would not answer them again insomuch as they reported abroad that he had a dumb Devil in him But when they spake of matters of Religion he answered them freely mightily confuting them by the Scriptures Often he might have escaped the prison doors being set open but he would not that he might not bring his Keeper into trouble Afterwards he was removed to another prison where they sought by torments to enforce him to recant and when all would not prevail he was condemned to the fire which when he heard of he gave hearty thanks to God for that the hour was come wherein he might glorifie his name Seeing a great pile of wood prepared for his burning he desired that most of it might be taken away and given to the poor for a little said he will serve to burn me and seeing a poor man by that lacked shoos he gave him his Being tied to the stake the hangman would have strangled him but he refused saying It needs not I fear not the fire and so in the midst of the flames he gave up the Ghost Anno 1543. and 1544. There was a great persecution all over Flanders so that there
to his bowels then basted with salt and vinegar then scraped and bemangled with sharp cutting shels that his whole body seemed to be but one wound yet afterwards through Gods goodness it was restored again whole And lastly was he burned In Alexandria Peter the Bishop and his Deacons constantly suffered Martyrdom as also many other Bishops in Egypt together with many famous and excellent men suffered about the same time A whole legion of Christian souldiers that lay at Thebes in Egypt under their Christian Col Mauritius because they refused to sacrifice to Idols were first tithed over by the Emperours command once and again and afterwards by the exhortation of Mauritius they died all together constant Martyrs The persecution raged not only in Asia and Africa but also in Italy France Spain c. in all which countries an innumerable company of Christians were martyred by sundry kindes of death In Trevers were so many Christians slain that their bloud ran like small brooks and discoloured great rivers yet this sufficed not the Tyrant but he sent abroad his horsemen to command all those which had apprehended any Christians immediately to put them to death At Collen also and in Rhetia many were martyred yea this persecution extended into our Britan where all the Christians were put to death Besides the kindes of death the punishments were so great and horrible as no tongue is able to express as whippings scourgings rackings horrible scrapings sword fire shipboats whereinto many were put and sunk into the sea Also hanging upon crosses binding some to the bodies of trees with their heads hanging downward hanging others by the middle upon gallowses till they died of hunger throwing others alive to Lions Bears Leopards wilde Buls c. Pricking others with bodkins and talons of beasts till they were almost dead In Thebaide they hanged up women naked by one of their feet the rest of their body hanging downwards with many other sorts of punishments most cruell to be thought of Some were bound to the boughs of trees and had their members torn asunder others were mangled with axes some choaked with smoak over a slow fire some had their hands ears and feet cut off others were scorched and broiled upon coals yet not to death but had the torment renued every day In Pontus the Martyrs had other horible torments inflicted on them Some had their fingers-ends under the nails thrust in with bodkins Some were sprinkled all over with boiling lead having their necessary members cut from them others suffred most filthy and intolerable torments in their bowels and privy members what the outrage of this persecution was in Alexandria Phileas a Bishop thus writeth Because saith he every man might torment the holy Martyrs as he listed some beat them with cudgels some with rods some with whips some with thonges some with cords some having there hands bound behind them were lifted upon timber-logs and with certaine instruments had their members and joints stretched out where their bodies hanging were subjected to the will of the tormentors who were commanded to afflict them with all manner of torments on their sides bellies thighs legges they scratched them with the claws of wilde beasts some were hanged but by on hand one the engine that they might feel the more grievous pulling out of the rest of their members Some were bound to pillars having no stay under their feet that wâ—th the weight of their bodies being drawn out they might feel the greater torment and these torments endured all day long the Judge commanding that they should not be let down till either by the extremity of torment or by the cold they were near death and then they were let down and haled upon the ground They devised also another greater torment for when the Christians were lamentably beaten they had a new kinde of rack wherein they lying upright were stretched by both the feet above the fourth hole with sharp shels strawed under them Others were cast down upon the pavement where they had so many torments inflicted upon them that their sufferings cannot be imagined what they were In the midst of which torments some died their enemies being confounded with their singular patience Some half dead were thrust into prisons where with their wounds and pain they ended their lives Others being cured of their wounds were again put to their choice whether they would sacrifice to the Idols and have their liberty or have the sentence of death pass upon them who did willingly chuse death for Christs sake rather then to sin against him In Nicomedia a Christian pulling down and tearing the Emperors Edict was stript and beaten till the bones appeared and then washed in salt and vinegar under which torments he died Yet notwithstanding the horribleness of these tortures the Christian Martyrs were so farre from being dismaied that they were confirmed and strengthned thereby merrily and joyfully undergoing whatsoever was inflicted upon them Eusebius saith that himself saw the cruel Persecution in Thebade where the swords of the Persecutors were blunted with the great slaughter of the Christians and they sat down with weariness to rest them whilest others took their places Yet still the Christians shewed their willingness and with courage joy and smiling received their sentâ—nce of death from the Judge and to the last gasp sang Psalms and Hymns of praise to God In Alexandria the holy Martyrs led with the love of better rewards did not only bear the menaces of the cruel souldiers wherewith they threatned them but also whatsoever torments they could devise for their destruction Yea saith Sulpitius then the Christians with more greedy desire pressed and sought for Maryrdom then now they do for Bishopricks Yet some through infirmity in this Persecution fell back for which they were excommunicated by the Church Damasus and others witness that there were slain in thirty daies seventeen thousand persons besides a great number that were condemned to the Metall-mines and quarries with the like cruelty In Alexandria were slain with axes three hundred At Collen three hundred Mauritius with his Christian legion six thousand six hundred sixty six whose story deserving perpetually to be remembred is this Maximian sent for his Mauritius with his legion of Thebane souldiers under a pretence of imploying them against his enemies When they came to Rome Marcellus the Blessed bishop laboured to confirm them in the truth to whom they promised perseverance in the faith unto the death Then they followed they Imperial army into France and when they were cowe thither Maximian offered sacrifice to the devils and called all his souldiers to the same strictly charging them to fight against his enemies and against the Christians which were enemies to his gods These Christian Thebans resolved rather to die then to sacrifice or to bear arms against the Christians wherewith the Tyrant being enraged commanded every tenth man of the legion to be put
the wilderness Thither came two Arrian Earls and with great subtilty sought to withdraw them from their stedfastness saying What mean you to be so obstinate as not to obey the Kings Laws whereas by complying with him you may be preferred to honour Then did they all cry out We be Christians we be Catholicks we believe and confess the Trinity in Unity Hereupon were they shut up in a grievous prison Many mothers also voluntarily followed their little children much rejoycing that they had born Martyrs Others sought to draw them to rebaptization by the Hereticks but through Gods grace they could not prevail As they passed on the way travelling more by night then by day because of the excessive heat a woman hasted after them leading in her hand a little child encouraging him saying Run Sirra seest thou all the Saints how merrily they go forwards and hasten to their Crown One of the company rebuked her and asked her whether she went To whom she answered Pray for me I go with this little boy my nephew to the place of banishment least the enemies finding him alone should seduce him from the way of truth into the way of Error The enemies being more enraged because of their constancy when they came to their lodgings penned them up in narrow places Then was denied to them all the comfort of access of their friends for permitting whereof formerly their Keepers had been beaten with staves These blessed Saints were tumbled one upon another as grains of corn neither could they have means of stepping aside to ease nature so that the stink of their excrements exceeded their other pain Then were they brought forth their garments heads and faces besmeared with dirt in a pitifull manner and by the clamorous Moors they were hastened forward in their journey yet they went singing with great joy unto the Lord Loe This honour have all his Saints Then came to them the blessed Bishop Cyprian who to their singular consolation comforted every one of them with fatherly affection and with streams of tears was ready to lay down his life for the brethren and would fain have accompanied them if he might have been suffered He bestowed all that he had amongst them for which he afterwards suffered imprisonment and much hard-ship and at last had his hearts desire in being banished There came great multitudes from sundry Countries and Cities to behold these servants of God and many casting their Children at their feet cryed thus To whom will you leave us wretches whilest you go forward to your Crown Who shall baptize our infants instruct and administer the Sacraments to us our hearts serve us well to go with you if we might But now none were suffered any more to go with them for their comfort but they were pressed forwards and made to run When any of the aged or tender Children fainted they were first punched forwards with staves Then were the Moors commanded to tie ropes to the feet of such as were unable to go and to hail them thorow the rough places so that first their garments were rent then their flesh and their heads were dashed against the sharp edges of rocks whereby very many of them died The rest that were stronger came at last to the wilderness where like beasts they had barly given them for their food there were also abundance of venemous serpents and scorpions in that place whose sting was deadly yet thorow Gods great Providence none of these servants of Christ gat any hurt thereby Hunrick in the seventh year of his reign directed his Mandate to Eugenius Bishop of Carthage and told all other Bishops in Africk that they should by such a day meet at Carthage to defend by disputation their faith against the Arrian Bishops but withal by the tenour of the decree they perceived that he would not suffer any of them to live within his dominions which caused great heaviness amongst them Eugenius returned answer that since it was the common cause of all the Christian Churches it was but equal that Bishops out of other Countries should be requested to be there present also and this he did not because they suspected their own abilities to defend the truth but because he knew that strangers might use more liberty of speech then they could and that other Bishops might be witnesses of their sufferings but this request did but more enrage this unreasonable Tyrant The appointed day approaching many Bishops resorted to Carthage worn out with afflictions and sorrows yet for many days after their coming there was no mention of disputing till in the mean time the King had singled out the learnedest and skilfullest of them that by sundry Calumniations he might make them away Amongst whom was Laetus a stout and learned man whom he first imprisoned and then burnt him in the fire that so he might strike a fear into the rest At last the Disputation began and the Orthodox to avoid tumult chose out some to answer for all the rest The Arrians placed themselves upon lofty Thrones whilest the Orthodox stood below upon their feet Whereupon they said Conference is to be taken in hand not where proud superiority of power bears sway but where by common consent the Disputants upon equal tearms debate the controversies that truth may come to light c. Then were all the Catholicks commanded to have an hundred stroaks a piece with a cudgel given them for this speech Whereupon Eugenius said The Lord from heaven behold the violence which we suffer and consider the tribulation which we sustain from our persecutors Then did the Orthodox Bishops desire the Arrians to propound what they intended But the Arrian Bishops seeing them ready to dispute with them sought out tergiversations and declined the dispute Hereupon the Orthodox drew forth a declaration of their faith excellently well penned and exhibited it with this Protestation If you be desirous to know our belief the faith which we hold is herein comprised The Arrians stormed exceedingly at this giving them outragious language and presently by false Calumnies they accused them to the King and so incensed him that by an Edict in one day he caused all the Christians Churches through Africk to be shut up giving to the Arrians all the goods and Churches of the Orthodox Then did he command that all those godly Bishops that were met together at Carthage should be spoiled of all that they had in their lodgings and so driven out of the City-gates having neither servant nor beast nor garment to sâ—ift them in left unto them and all men were forbidden either to harbour them or give them any sustenance the King threatning to burn him and all his family that should relieve them The Bishops being thus turned out lay in the open fields round about the Wals and when the Tyrant went forth to the fish-ponds they met him saying Why are we so
then this To whom she answered seeing his inexorablenesse You shall never more espouse me to any and so beating her breast and tearing her hair she followed amongst the rest When the Martyrs came to the river whilest Ferries were preparing they with loude voices call heaven and earth to witnesse their innocency and so taking their leave of their wives children and friends exhorting them to constancy and zeal for the truth they were carried and cast into the middest of the river with their hands and feet bound together and so drowned and if any were driven to the banks they were stabbed with iron forks and pikes The Majors daughter seeing her husband thrown into the river leaped in to him caught him about the middle but being unable to draw him forth they were both drowned the next day they were found embracing one another and were both buried in one grave Anno 1421. About the same time a company of souldiers going towards Prague seized upon a godly Minister and four other men and four boys the eldest not being aboue eleven years old for administring and receiving the Sacarament in both kindes and carried them to their Colonel the Colonel sent them to the Bishop who required them to abjure or else he would burn them the Minister stoutly answered But the Gospel teacheth otherwise so that you must either approve what we do or blot it out of your Bible Hereupon one of the troopers smote him so violently on the face with his gantlet that the bloud ran out of his mouth and nose The Bishop made this Minister the subject of his mirth and scorn all that night and the next day being the Sabbath he burned them all in one fire and when the Bishop would have perswaded them to abjure the Cup in the Sacrament the Minister answered That he would rather suffer a thousand deaths then deny a truth so clearly revealed in the Gospel Another Captain violently entring into a Church where many godly people were met together he killed some and took others prisoners and going to the Communion Table he took the Cup being full of wine and drunk to his horse who having pledged him he said his horse was now one of the communicants in both kindes About the same time also a Godly Tayler was burned at Prague Also one Martin Loquis should have suffered the like death but his life was begged by the Thaborites Afterwards taking another associate with him he was travelling towards Moravia but by the way they were taken by a Captain who manacling them with irons examined them about the Sacrament Martin answered The body of Christ is in heaven and he hath but one not many bodies Hereupon the Captain gave him a box on the ear as not enduring such blasphemy and would have had him presently burned Then did a Priest beg him to see if he could convert him but when that succeeded not he thrust them into a dark stinking dungeon for two moneths Then did he torment them with fire till their bowels came forth to extort from them who were their companions Afterwards they were both shut up in a tub and so burned Anno 1421. A godly and eloquent Preacher in Prague was together with twelve more apprehended by a Captain carried into the common-hall and there privately beheaded but their bloud running out caused a great tumult in the City wherein some of the Senators were slain and others saved themselves by flight Not long after there sprung up a Schism amongst those that were called Hussites for some of them began in other things to comply with the Pope only they insisted upon the Cup in the Sacrament whence they were called Calixtines Others of them stuck close to Husse his doctrine and cried down all superstition And this contention was cunningly fomented and increased by some that sought thereby the advancement of the Pope and Emperour And to make the professors of the pure Doctrine odious they branded them with the hatefull name of Piccards by which name the Waldenses in Piccardy were called Yet both these parties when they were assaulted by the Emperour joyned together in opposing him and obtained many great victories against him Yet Anno 1444. the Thaborites were utterly oppressed by fraud and force Anno 1459. There were divers godly people in Bohemia Ministers Nobles and Commons who being much pressed in conscience about the superstitions in the Church of Rome obtained of their King George Pogiebracius a place in the hilly Countrey near to Silesia to inhabit where throwing off all superstious practices they applied themselves to the form of the Primitive simplicity calling themselves Brethren and Sisters The beginning of this Church displeased the Devil and therefore he raised a sudden and violent tempest to overthrow it For the same of it being spread abroad the Priests in every pulpit stirred up the hatred of the people against them crying out Blow out these sparks blow them out before they grow into a flame Anno 1461. One of their Ministers with some others of them coming to Prague to visit their friends were betrayed and some Officers coming to apprehend them said to them All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution therefore come forth and follow us to prison which they did The King believing the slanders that were raised against them as that they were attempting some sedition c. he commanded the aged Minister to be tortured but he falling into an extasie felt no pain at all the tormentors supposing him to be dead took him down from the rack but after some hours he came to himselfe and by the intercession of a friend was dismissed Presently after their came forth from the King an Edict forbidding all Pastors to administer holy services without ceremonies and withall threatning death to those that should administer to the brethren called now by the hateful name of Piccards The brethren hereupon were brought into great extremity being like sheep destitute of shepherds Yet presently came forth a new Edict that none of them should be suffered to live either in Bohemia or Moravia Hereupon they were dispersed amongst the woods and mountains dwelling in caves where yet they were scarce safe so that they were forced to make no fire nor dresse any meat but in the night time least the smoak should betray them In the cold winter nights sitting by the fire they applied themselves to the reading of the Bible and holy discourses When in the snow they went abâ—â—ad to provide them necessaries they went close together and lest their foot-steps should betray them the hindermost of them did draw after him a great bough to cover the prints which their feet had made These brethren chose by suffrage certain Elders to whom they promised obedience and by the advice of these Elders the chiefest of the brethen in Bohemia and Moravia were
and where as some were allured to deny the truth that they might be eased of taxes and quarterings of souldiers this was not performed whereupon they complained that promise was broken with them but the Jesuits answered them that they had no cause to complain for they had provided for their souls and therefore they ought cheerfully to help the King by contributions and quarterings of souldiers and that Hereticks must be dealt with as mad men and children from whom â—f you desire to get a knife you must shew them something else though you never intend to give it them Thus the Kingdom being emptied of gold and silver counterfeit and adulterate money was coined in great abundance that so the common people might rejoyce in their plenty but in the mean time the souldiers would recâ—ive none but good money Gold and silver also was raised to ten times the price of it and on a sudden the Emperour diminished the value making every piece of money to be worth but the tenth part whereby the Bohemians were more impoverished suddenly then if they had lain under the burden of an Army ten years Then was it ordered that the creditor should lose all the money that he had lent in the time of the rebellion as they called it And thus they were first impoverished after which the enemies insulted over them by infamous books insolent pictures and proud words Then did they send abroad their Commissioners of Reformation who in every Town and Village endeavored to bring Protestantism into disgrace and highly to magnifie and set abroad their owne cause The most eminent men for honour and estates are invited to Apostasie the inferiour sort are either fooled by their examples or compelled by threâ—tnings Then was there an High-Court of reformers set up from which there was no appeal In the next place the souldiers exercised barbarous Tyranny against the Ministers of Jesus Christ. One aged minister lying sick in his bed they shot him to death as he lay The next day they robbed and murthered another Another as he was preaching to his people they came into the Church and shot him to death Another Nobleman and a Minister hearing of souldiers that were coming that way conveighed themselves away into a place of safety the souldiers when they came caught a Schoolmaster and binding him in cords examined him where the Lord of that place and the Minister were and where they had hid their treasure he professed that he knew neither the one nor the other whereupon they beat him first with their fists then with cudgels then stripping him naked they so extreamly singed him with fire that at last he promised to bring them where the treasure was shewing them a ditch full of stones which for greediness of gold they emptied but finding nothing they beat him afresh and when he professed that he knew of no treasure though through pain he had said so much they cudgelled him and with clods beat him into the ditch and buried him under the stones Presently after they lighted on another godly Minister whom they so miserably tortured that he â—ied within five daies shamefully abusing his daughters also whom they led away with them Another godly Minister for a moneth together they excruciated with new invented mockeries they spit in his face buffeted him with their fists exposed him to be beaten by every vile rascall They with a knotâ—y cord twisten about his forehead with a stick so strained his head that his very eyes were ready to start out Then they let loose a wilde horse upon him which yet leaped quite over him and did him no harm at last with much adoe he redeemed himself with five hundred Florences Another Pastor they lighted on and because he had a better estate then the former they tormented him more sometimes covering him over with hot burning coals sometimes with Ice till they had forced him to pay a thousand five hundred Florences for his ransome though shortly after through extremity of the pain he died Another Minister they fetched from his house and miserably tortured him by twisting a cord about his head then tied they his hands behinde him and his legs with a small cord intending the next morning to torture him with fire but in the night time as he was earnest at his prayers repeating those words In thee O Lord is my trust he perceived his hands and feet miraculously to be loosned Whereupon getting up he went to the gate where were three Watchmen one of them standing with his hand on his sword yet he passed by them undiscovered When he came to the Town-gate he was known by the Souldier that stood Sentinell but he being a Bohemian was overcome by entreaty and let him passe over the bridge whereby he escaped Another Minister together with his wife they cruelly burnt Another was hanged upon a crosse-beam and making a fire under him they broiled him to death Another they cut into small peeces Another Minister they sought for but he being escaped they took a young man in his house laid him on his back filled his mouth with gunpowder which setting fire to they miserably tore his jaws in pieces and then killed him When some souldiers came to the house of another he entertained them courteously and made good provision for them but when they knew he was a Minister they first beat him cruelly then killed him stripped and plundered his house they also burnt his Library and would not suffer his body to be buried for seven weeks during their abode there Another aged Minister and his wife were so sorely burned by a souldier that demanded money of them that presently after they died Another was hung up by the privy members being seventy years old and his own books burnt under him and at last was shot through and slain Another was first assessed at seven hundred florences then had his house plundred and lastly himself was murthered Another they caught and wounded cutting his neck half through but being afterwards carried by some friends to a Chirurgion he lived about two years but in much pain and torment Another being above seventy years old they carried into the market-place where laying him upon a fire they burnt him to death Another was beaten so that he died three daies after The Jesuites laid wait for one Pescinus a man eminent for learning and piety at last they suborned an Apostate to betray him who discovering him as he rode in a Coach with a Nobleman fourty horsemen came suddenly and took him away but by the importunity of some Noblemen he was ransomed for four thousand Florences and ended his life in banishment Another being bound to a Tree was made a mark for the Musquetiers to shoot at and though they did not hit him yet by reason of the affrightment he died within three daies Another being met by a
the principall Aldermen were summoned and kept for nine weeks space till by threats they had obtained from them to make these two men free Five moneths after one of them is made an Alderman that so they might have their spies in every place there were also cunning seducers sent thither to withdraw the people from their Religion But when this prevailed not Anno 1625. they took the names of every Citizen commanding them constantly to come to the Masse and every one to sâ—ew his name to the Sexton that they might know that all were there present or else for every omission they should forfeit five pound Then bringing in more souldiers they commanded all the inhabitants to be present at their idolatrous Procession and because the Recorder came not they sent a whole company of souldiers to plunder his house who also abused and threatned his wife The year after they brought more in souldiers quartering them in the principall mens houses in some ten in some twenty and in others thirty who abused them fearefully but through Gods assistance they bore it with such admirable patience that the enemies were weary with plaguing them and began to be more moderate yet they published an order that whosoever would not turn Catholick should with their wives and children depart the City Kingdom by a certain day wherevpon many of them removed into Misnia At the City of Radecium they drave away the Ministers and placed there a merry Archdeacon who protested that all violent means were displeasing to him and therefore he entertained the Citizens with jests and merry speeches and would draw them to Taverns and Gameing houses But when after four years triall he found that he had not converted any one of them by these means he brought in souldiers for his help Then did he assemble the people requiring them to go in Procession with him but when none would follow the souldiers rushed in amongst them with their drawn swords whereupon the people ran some one way some another others were forced to follow the Procession whether they would or no and some for refusing were slain Then was a whole Regiment of souldiers sent thither with expresse charge not to depart till the City was reformed The Archdeacon taking some of these went to a Physitian that had been lame for some years and asketh him whether he would become a Catholick which he stoutly refused saying that he had rather his half rotten carkasse should be drawn through the fields and torn in pieces then to do any thing against his conscience Then were all the inhabitants called together the City gates shut and the people grievously threatned if they would not turn and such as refused were thrust into prisons and souldiers were sent to their houses who raged and domineered over their wives and children wherupon they ran to their husbands with tears and intreaties and prevailed with many of them to desire time to be given them to learn the Romish religion only twenty eight of them together with their wives and children forsook their earthly Estate and went into banishment to preserve their consciences clear Don Martin went also to Bidsove ten-miles from Prague attended with his souldiers and assembling the Citizens he made an Oration to them to turn Catholicks they answered that they could not unlearn that in an hour which they had been learning all their life this so enraged Martin that he assaulted the man that answered for all the rest with a club beating him extreamly and then he commanded the chief Officer to carry him out of the City not suffering him so much as to visit his house before his departure This so terrified the rest that they promised to be taught within a certaine time and whereas some of them thought to save themselves by flight sending their wives and some of their goods privately before with whom went also some godly widows Martin having intelligence of it sent some souldiers after them that stript them of their goods and brought them back and cast them into fetters refusing to release them till both they and their husbands turned Catholicks At Zaticum another City famous for religion the Minister being banished Friers were put into his place who being assisted with souldiers used to cane those that would not bow to the Host and because the Major and some of the Aldermen were absent at a solemn Procession they sined them Then came thither Don Martin and proclaimed that whosoever had any Bibles or other Evangelicall bookes if they brought them not in 〈◊〉 they should be fined at a hundred florences or suffer five weeks imprisonment As also whosoever refused to come to Masse should pay five Florences and three pounds of wax All the books that were so brought he burnt them without the wals and for such as still stood out he quartered Troopers upon them which extorted mony from them day by day Hereupon many forsook their houses and betook themselves to the hardship of a banished life Then did he proclaim that without his leave none should go out of the gates upon pain of death The next day he arrested the Major and would not release him but upon the promise of Apostacy Two of the Aldermen he bound with iron chains for refusing to adore the Host and for fourteen daies together tormented them grievously till he had forced their consent to the like Apostacy Then assembling the whole Senate he commands them presently to submit to Caesars will to go to auricular confession and to communicate in one kinde promising that such as obeyed should be eased of souldiers that the others should have their burthens doubled requiring every one in order to answer for himselfe whether he would promise to perform this within three weeks One of them modestly pleading to be excused in regard of his conscience the furious beast fell upon him beat him about the head and abused him with cursed words saying Thou art an unworthy knave to be in this place I will have thee bound hand and foot and cast into a deep dungeon and when thou hast vomited out thy wicked soul I will deliver thee to the hangman to be buried c. Then he cals to his souldiers for chains and fetters with which they bound his hands and feet and put an iron coller about his neck with a thick chaine and so brought him to the Dungeon where he was tormented for three weeks neither wife nor children being suffered to come to him and fed with bread and water the Jesuites also were daily molesting him Then was he sentenced to death which he chose before Apostacy Then said one of the Jesuites he is possessed with the devil therefore he commanded him to be bound more straitely whereby at last he was forced to go to auricular confession but by that means getting out of the Prison he fled into Misnia to escape their tyranny All the
that did bear the Host and then stepping forwards he plucked it out of his hands threw it to the ground saying aloud Ye wretched Idolaters do ye fall down to a morsel of bread This so provoked the People that they had almost torn him in pieces and yet they spared him and sent him to prison Complaint being made to Pope Clement the eighth he was so incensed that he appointed him to be burnt the same day but some of the Cardinals advised that he should rather be kept in prison and examined by exquisite torments to find out his abettors and setters on This accordingly was put in practice yet could they draw nothing from him but these words Such was the will of God Then was he adjudged to be led from the Capitol naked to his middle and to wear on his head the form of a Devil his breeches to be painted over with flames of fire and so to be carried all about the City and then to be burnt alive When he heard this sentence he lift up his eyes to heaven and implored the help of Almighty God As he passed through the streets he was mocked and derided of all the People but he continued his fervent Prayers to God At last he spake something against the filthy lives of the Cardinals which so enraged them that they caused him to be gagged which cruelty he patiently endured When he came before the Church where he cast down the idol the hangman cut off his right hand and set it on a pole in the Cart to which he was tied then did two Tormentors with flaming torches scorch and burn his flesh all the way as he went through the City of Rome all which he bore with admirable patience By that he came to the place where he was to be executed his body was all over scorched blistred and bloody having no part free but his head Then was he taken from the Cart and seeing the Post to which he should be tied he went of himself to it and kneeling down kissed the chains which should bind him to it The Friars urged him to worship an idol which they presented to him but he turning away his face shewed his detestation of it holding on his Christian course unto the end and when the flames of fire seized on him he bowed his head and quietly yielded up his soul to God The same year there was an old godly man that had long lain in the Inquisitors dungeons who was at last brought forth and condemned after which the Friars brought to him a Crucifix importuning him to kisse and adore it He seeing their impudence said unto them If you take not this idol out of my sight ye will constrain me to spit upon it The Friars hearing this sent him away immediately to the fire where with great courage and constancy he resigned up his spirit unto God CHAP. XXIX The Life and Martyrdom of William Gardiner in Portugal Anno Christi 1552. WIlliam Gardiner was born at Bristol and well educated and when he was grown up was placed with one Master Paget a Merchant by whom when he was twenty six years old he was sent into Portugal to Lisbone the regal City to be a Factor there he learned the countrey language and became a profitable servant both to his Master and others He was careful to keep close to God and to avoid the superstitions of that countrey and there being divers good men in that City he associated himself with them used good conference and often bewailed to them his own weaknesse as being neither sufficiently humbled for his sins nor yet enflamed with a love of godlinesse as he ought he had also good books which privately he made much use of Now whilst he was here abiding it so fell out that a great marriage was to be solemnized betwixt the King of Portugals sonne and the King of Spains daughter Great preparations were made for it and a great concourse there was of Persons of all Ranks that came to it and upon the wedding day they went to Church in great pomp and amongst multitudes of Spectators William Gardiner made one rather for the novelty of the businesse than for any desire that he had to see their Ceremonies and going to Church early in the morning he got a convenient place to hear and see in When all were come to Church a Cardinal began to say Masse The People standing with great silence and devotion The fight of these superstitions did wonderfully grieve the mind of William Gardiner not so much to see the folly of the common People as to see that the King himself and so many sage Nobles should be led away with such abominable idolatry wherewith he was so exceedingly moved in his spirit that he had much ado to refrain himself from doing something whereby he might manifest his dislike but the great throng that he was in hindred him that he could not come neere to the Altar When all was ended he returned home very sad seeking out solitary places where falling down prostrate before God with many tears he bewailed the neglect of his duty and studied how he might revoke that People from their impiety and superstition At length his mind was fully setlet not to defer the matter any longer whereupon he renounced the world exactly made up all his accounts both what he owed and what was owing to him to a farthing Then did he continue night and day in Prayer unto God and in continual meditation of the holy Scriptures so that he would scarce take any meat by day or sleep by night as one Pendigrace his bed-fellow testified The Sabbath following Masse was to be celebrated with the like solemnity Whereupon William Gardiner went early in the morning handsomely apparalled to Church setting himself neer to the Altar After a while the King and States came Gardiner with a New Testament in his hand stood near the Altar privately reading it all the while A Cardinal began the Masse consecrated the Host lifted it up an high shewed his God to the people they adored it yet Gardiner contained himself all this while Then the Cardinal took the Host tossed it to and fro about the Chalice made divers circles c. With that Gardiner stept to him took the Host out of his hand and trampled it under his feet and with his other hand overthrew the Chalice At first all that were present stood amazed then arose a great tumult and one drawing his dagger wounded Gardiner in the shoulder and as he was about to have slain him the King commanded him to forbear whereby his life was saved for the present the tumult being ceased the King demanded of him what Countryman he was He answered Most noble King I am not ashamed of my Countrey I am an Englishmam by birth and Religion and came hither as a Merchant and seeing so great idolatry committed in this
Lords body but the people making a tumult carried him out of the Church in a croud and he had not gone far before he was apprehended by an Officer and carried to prison Then came divers Friars to reason with him and he stood to the trial of the Scriptures only which they refused During his imprisonment he wrote a consolatory letter to his wife exhorting her to bring up his children in the fear of God Being condemned he was commanded not to speak to the people being bound to the stake he prayed for his enemies and was first strangled and then burnt The same year there was at Dornick one Bertrand who to enjoy the freedome of his conscience went to Wesell but being desirous to draw his wife and children thither he went thrice to Dornick to perswade her to go with him yet could he by no means prevail with her Then did he set his house in order desiring her to pray that God would establish him in the work that he went about and on Christmas day he went to the great Church at Dornick and the Priest being at Masse when he was about to elevate the Host Bertrand took the cake out of his hand and trampled it under his feet saying that he did it to shew the glory of that god that they worshipped or rather what little power he had labouring to perswade them that the cake was not their Saviour At first the people stood amazed but presently they raised such a tumult that Bertrand hardly escaped with life The Governour hearing of it was exceedingly enraged and sent for Bertrand into the Castle asking him whether he was sorry for his fact and whether he would do it if it were to do again Bertrand answered That he would and if he had a hundred lives to lose he would lose them all in that quarrel Then was he thrice put to the rack and tormented cruelly to draw from him who were his setters on yet could they get nothing from him Then was he condemned and drawn from the Castle to the Market-place with a Ball of iron in his mouth There he was set upon a stage and had his right hand wherewith he did the fact crushed between two hot irons with sharp edges till the form of his hand was quite changed Then did they bring other red hot irons for his right foot which they used as they had done his hand which he with marvellous patience and constancy underwent putting out his foot of his own accord to them Then taking the ball of Iron out of his mouth they cut out his tongue notwithstanding which he continually called and cryed unto God which caused them to thrust in the ball of iron again Then was he let down in an iron chaine upon the fire and pulled up again and so they continued pulling up and letting him down till he was burnt to ashes which ashes they threw into the river From Locrane in Helvetia the Ministers were banished but were entertained by the Tigurines Two other good men born in Dornick went into divers reformâ—d Churches where they increased much in knowledge and godlinesse and at last resolved to return to Dornick to do what good they could in their own Country and it so fell out that on a day when many good people were gone to a wood to hear the Word of God preached to them by a Minister of Jesus Christ their Adversaries having intelligence of it followed them thither and took about thirty of them amongst whom were these two men who fell to singing of Psalms supposing that they should be presently burned but afterwards they were condemned to be beheaded and so they comfortably ended their lives Also divers godly men and women suffered Martyrdome at Valence amongst whom was James Faber an old man who when they argued with him about his religion said Though I cannot satisfie you by reasoning yet I can constantly abide and suffer for the truth of the Gospel Also one Godfride being condemned at Dornick for an Heretick Nay said he Not an Heretick but an unprofitable servant of Jesus Christ. When the Hangman would have strangled him to ease his pain in burning he refused saying that he would abide the sentence of death which was passed upon him Besides these there were both in the upper and lower Germany many others secretly made away some drowned some bured quick some murthered in prison c. A godly Minister was also poisoned by a Priest at Erford for preaching the truth of Christ Besides many others In the city of Lile the Gospel was secretly preached for three years together sometimes in houses then in woods fields and Caves of the earth not without hazard of their dearest lives if they had been discovered yet did not dangers cool the zeal of Gods people but what was preached was accordingly practised amongst them works of mercy and charity were their exercise not only towards those of the houshold of faith but towards those which were without also so as many by means hereof were drawn and brought to the knovvledge of Christ. This so enraged Satan and his instruments that Anno 1556 the time being come wherein God had given them power to try and exercise the faith of his people they neglected not to shew their cruelty upon them and for that end one night about ten of the clock the Provost of the City with his armed Sergeants made search to see if they could find any met together but by Gods Providence there was no meeting of Gods People at that time then went they to the house of one Robert Oguire which was a little Church for all in it both small and great were familiarly instructed in the knowledge and fear of God Being violently entred into the house seeking up and down for their prey they found certain books which they took away with them but Baudizon the son of Robert whom they principally sought after was not then at home being gone abroad to confer of the word with some of the brethren Before the Provost was departed Baudizon came home and knocked at the door Martin his younger brother who watched for his coming bade him presently to be gone but he thinking that he had mistaken him for some other continued knocking saying It is I open the door Then came the Sergeants and opened the door and laying hold on him said Ah Sir you are well met and with that the Provost arrested him in the Emperours name withall causing the Father Mother and two sons to be bound and so carried them away towards the prison As they went through the streets Baudizon said aloud Oh Lord assist us by thy grace not only to be prisoners for thy names sake but to confess thy holy truth in all purity before men so far as to seal the same with our blood for the edification of thy poor Church they were all
but the Prince as God would have it turning at the same instant the bullet entred in at his throat under the right chap being so near that the fire entred with the bullet into the wound burning his Ruffe and Beard it brake out one of his teeth pierced the jugular vein but hurt not his toungue and so came out at his left cheek hard by his nose the blow being given one with an Halberd could not contain himself but thrust the Villain through and slew him The Chirurgions being sent for found that the fire which entred the wound had cauterized the jugular vein and had done him much good so that the wound was not mortal The Friar was afterwards apprehended and executed Anno 1584. The Spaniards thinking they had no greater enemy in the world than the Prince of Orange and that if he were dead they should quickly attain their desires in the Netherlands they suborned one Baltazar Gerard an high Burguignon to murther him who bought a good paire of Pistols and on the tenth of July watched when the Prince should go down into the Hall to dinner at Delpht in Holland and as he passed by he demanded a Pasport of him the Princesse observing that he spake with an hollow and unsetled voice she asked her husband who he was saying that she did not like his countenance the Prince answered that he demanded a Pasport which he should presently have After dinner the Prince going out of the Hall the murtherer stood behind a Pillar in the Gallery and as the Prince passed by suddenly shot him from the left side to the right through the stomack and the vital parts who said no more but O my God take pity of my soul I am sore wounded my God take pity of my soul and of this poor people and presently after he gave up the Ghost Collected out of Sleidens Commentaries and the History of the Netherlands c. CHAP. XXXII The Modern Persecutions of the Church in Germany since the year 1630. THe Swedes being possessed of a Town called Pasewalck the Imperialists took it by storm beat killed and drave out the Swedes and not content therewith they fell to torturing of the townsmen ravishing women and gilrs in the open streets and Church-yards yea women in child-bed then they killed the men fired their houses and burnt many in them thrust straw into Cellars where children were hidden and so burnt and smothered them Then they burnt the Churches and massacred the Ministers and at last burn down the whole Town The like cruelty was used against the City of Magdenburg famous for Religion which being taken by Tilly and Pappenheim Anno 1631. was in twelve hours space wholly turned into cindars except one hundred thirty nine houses by which fire six godly Churches were burnt down no mercy was shewed to any age sex or condition above twenty thousand persons were slain burnt and smothered to death six thousand were drowned in the river Elve Ladies and Gentlewomen like beasts were yoked together all about the Country and driven into woods to be ravished and such as resisted were stript stark naked whipt had their ears cropt and so were turned up Anno 1634. The Popish Army having taken the town of Hoxter they spared neither man woman nor child most inhumanely butchering and hewing in pieces all without respect of age sexe or condition and what the sword could not spoile they caused the fire to consume and the dead corpses they cast into the Weser At Griphenburg they kept the Senators shut up in a Chamber macecrating and tormenting them so long with hunger and smoak that divers of them died In Heidleberg they shut up divers Reverend Ministers and Bourgers in prison allowing them nothing to eat but bread and water Frankendall being surrendred upon Articles contrary to Covenants the grave Counsellors and other Electoral Ministers were forced to endure such conditions as were fitter for Dogs than men Some were cast into prison and so abused that they died there others were forced to redeem themselves with unreasonable ransoms the goods of such as were fled were confiscated and though the inhabitants were willing to have left their houses and all their goods yet were they detained in the City and their destruction most cruelly plotted Their rage was so great against the Professors of the Gospel that neither Turks nor Heathens did ever exceed them Princes sacred Person were not exempted from their fury The old Lantgrave of Hessen and the old Dutchesse Dowager of Wittenburgh were taken prisoners reviled and abused In Saxoni Tillies Souldiers tortured the Protestants by half strangling them and pressing their thumbs with wheels In Pomeren they forced the people to eat their own excrements and if they refused they thrust them down their throat whereby some of them were choaked If they suspected that any had hidden their gold or silver they used exquisite torments to make them to confesse it They wound and tied about the heads of some strong matches or cords and with short truncheons twisted them till blood came out of their eyes ears and noses yea sometimes till their eyes started out of their heads to others they tied burning matches between their fingers yea to their eyes ears noses tongues cheeks breasts leggs and secret parts yea such parts that nature hideth they either stuffed with gunpowder or hung bags of powder to them and so giving fire to it in an horrible manner they burst their bellies and killed them With bodkins they made holes or with knives they cut the skin and flesh of many They drew strings and cords through the fleshie parts of some and through the muscles of their thighs leggs armes c. or through their noses ears lips c. Some they hung up in the smoak drying them with small fires and sometimes refreshing them with small drink or water taking care lest in their torments they should die too soon Some they put into hot Ovens roasting or smothering them there Some they roasted with fires of straw Some they stifled strangled or hanged and this was a great favour so soon to rid them out of their pain Of many they bound their hands and feet so hard that the blood spirted out their fingers and toes ends Of some they tied their hands and feet backwards together stopping their mouths with clouts to hinder them from praying Some they hung up with ropes fastened to their privy parts and hearing their cries strove by their roarings to drown their cries as in sport Where they found poor creatures troubled with ruptures they enlarged them by villanous means filling them with gunpowder and blowing them up as a Mine by giving fire thereto Many they drew up on high hanging great weights at their feet to pull their bodies out of joynt Of some they plained their faces with Chisels Some men they openly gelded in the presence of their wives and
to the slaughter as well by reason of its being very much frequented and grown famous as also because of the Synod there usually celebrated as likewise a famous University and Printing-house and books frequently published to the world When therefore in the year 1655. the Swedish Army out of Pomerania drew near to the borders of Poland and the Nobility were summoned to Arms according to the custome of the Countrey it came to passe that the Papists brake forth into many furious expressions crying out That the Hereticks had invited the Enemy and therefore they were first of all to be put to the sword and extirpated which reports though most falsly scattered abroad for the searcher of the heart and the reins knoweth that we never so much as dreamt of it yet they easily found credit among the sworn Enemies of the Gospel who sought nothing more than our ruine Hereupon they who first consulted to agree with the Swedish Army being terrified by its power concluded about the surrender of all Great Poland into the Kings protection and namely the Royal Cities of Posen Calissen Meserick c. to which also Lesna was expressely added In a little time after they endeavoured to cast off the Swedish Yoke and turned their Arms not against the Swedes but first against our Evangelical Professors as conspiring with the Swedes upon the account of Religion and none of them scrupled to take revenge upon them They first of all set upon those of Lesna with resolution of putting all to the sword and destroying that Heretical City by fire and they had effected both unlesse God had by sending some persons before who by signifying the coming of the Enemy and with what intent they came had possest the Citizens with a Panick fear so that leaving all their Estates they every man fled and thus within the space of one hour a most populous City abounding with all manner of wealth was left without Inhabitants who in a miserable condition wandered then into the neighbouring Woods and Marishes into Silesia But the Polish Nobility with their Army entring the City did what they pleased slaying a number of decrepit old people and sick persons that were not able to save themselves by flight then the City it self was first plundred and afterwards so destroyed by fire for three dayes together that no part of it remained beside rubbish and ashes In what manner they would have handled the Citizens especially their Pastors they shewed by their heroick actions performed in other places by the most savage slaughtering of divers Ministers of the Church and other faithful Members of Christ of both Sexes for of all that they laid hold on they gave not one man quarter but very cruelly put them to death with most exquisite tortures They endeavoured to force Master Samuel Cardus Pastor of the Church of Czuertzinen to renounce his Religion after they had taken him and miserably handled him with all manner of cruelty but he stoutly resisting they first put out his Eyes and led him about for a spectacle then they pulled off his Fingers-ends with pincers but he not yet condescending to their mad Fury they found out a new kinde of torment poured molten Lead into his mouth and at length while he was yet half alive they clapt his Neck between folding Doors and violently pulling them together severed his Head from his Body They took John Jacobides Pastor of the Church of Dembnick and Alexander Wartens his Colleague and another that was in company with them as they passed through the Toun of LUBIN and hurrying them up and down for divers hours and grievously handling them after the manner of Tyrants then last of all cutting their Throats with a Razor threw them headlong while they were yet breathing into a great pit which had been before-hand prepared for their Martyrs and stifled them by casting down Dung and Dirt upon them They a great while pursued Andrew Oxlitius a young man designed for the Ministery whom after long seeking they at last found in the open field and in the end having taken him they cut off his Head with a Sithe chopping it into smal pieces and the dead carcase also they slasht in a barbarous manner The same fate befell Adam Milta a Citizen of Lesna but they more grievously handled an old man of above seventy whose name was Simon Priten and many others whose names it were too tedious to relate Of that barbarous execution which they did upon the weaker Sex there were besides other examples horrid Trophies of Cruelty erected in the said City of Lesna a pious Matron there who was the mother of three children not being able quick enough to leave the City and being slain in the open street they cut off her hands feet cutting off her childrens heads they laid two of them at her breasts and the third by her side In like manner another woman having her hands and feet cut off and her tongue cut out being inclosed and bound in a Sack lived the space of two dayes making most miserable lamentation Grief forbids us to adde more for they behaved themselves so furiously towards us that there remains not an example of any one man saved of all those that happened to fall into their hands It is notoriously known how that fury of theirs tyrannized also over the dead some they dragg'd out of their graves and cut in pieces as at Zichlin others they exposed naked for a publick Spectacle as at Lesna of which outragious action we had an example even in the dead body of the most Serene Landgrave of Hassia which was drawn out of the grave who was heretofore slain in a most barbarous and tyrannical manner at Koscian but buried by our Friends at Lesna The like was acted also upon the Body of the most Noble Arciszevius heretofore the valiant Admiral of the Hollanders in Brazile which was likewise dragg'd out of the grave and being stript of the grave-clothes was found after the firing of Lesna There are divers other examples which the Christian Reader may finde in the Book Entituled Lesnae Excidium faithfully written and lately set forth in print but they are such examples onely as are commonly known for who is able to relate all things in particular as burning men alive drowning others with stones tied about their necks c. Now Lesna being destroyed the fury of the Enemy proceeded to the persecutions of others they in a short time utterly demolished all our Congegations not onely driving away the Pastors but also either burning or leaving most of the Temples desolate as at Karmin Dembnick Skochy Czriuczin c yea and the Auditories themselves were either slain as in the Town of Skochy where there was a very flourishing Church of the Bohemian Exiles Sixty persons both men and women were cruelly put to death or else they were scattered abroad so that there remained not one place wherein the Worship of God may be celebrated Lo