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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16282	The manners, lauues, and customes of all nations collected out of the best vvriters by Ioannes Boemus ... ; with many other things of the same argument, gathered out of the historie of Nicholas Damascen ; the like also out of the history of America, or Brasill, written by Iohn Lerius ; the faith, religion and manners of the Aethiopians, and the deploration of the people of Lappia, compiled by Damianus a ̀Goes ; with a short discourse of the Aethiopians, taken out of Ioseph Scaliger his seuenth booke de emendatione temporum ; written in Latin, and now newly translated into English, by Ed. Aston.; Omnium gentium mores, leges, et ritus. English. 1611	Boemus, Joannes, ca. 1485-1535.; Góis, Damião de, 1502-1574.; Nicolaus, of Damascus.; Léry, Jean de, 1534-1611. Histoire d'un voyage fait en la terre du Brésil.; Scaliger, Joseph Juste, 1540-1609. De emendatione temporum.; Aston, Edward, b. 1573 or 4.	1611 (1611)	STC 3198.5; ESTC S102777	343,933	572

as good plight as it was or an other as good But if he tooke it out of the water and concealed and denied it being asked it was accounted as theft and he then paide for it as if he had stole it He which stole a hound restored him backe againe or an other as good and paide sixe shillings besides and three shillings for a sheap-heards cur And these were the lawes that the Bauarians liued vnder not many ages since and diuers of them be yet in force at this day The Bauarians be earnest deuout Christians wil goe on pilgrimage by great troups to Churches and Monuments a far off and especially to a Temple in Aquisgrane And within their owne Prouince there be two notable famous places both for miracles of the Saints great concourse of pilgrimes which are the blessed Virgin Mary of Ottinga and Saint Wolfangus The country yeeldeth no vines vnlesse some few in the south part therof for it is ful of mountaines and great woods the trees whereof affoord great plenty of Acornes and wilde Apples by which meanes they haue great store of hogges so as Bauaria furnisheth other countries of Europe with as many swine as Hungary doth with oxen and the people themselues bee very hoggish and perticipate of a swynish nature so as in comparisō of al other Germans they may iustly be tearmed barbarous and fauadge and surpassing al others in two horrible and abhominable vices that is to say cruelty and theft Their apparel is for the most part blew and they goe more commonly in bootes then in shooes vpon that side of Bauaria towards Austria lieth part of Carinthia part of Stiria Carinthia is a mountanous country and bordereth East-ward vpon the people called Carni and vpon the West South vpon Stiria so reacheth to the Alpes of Italy and Forum Iulij In Carinthia bee many fruitfull valleies and hils for wheat and other graine there be many great meeres and riuers the chiefe whereof is the riuer Drauus which running by Stiria and Pannonia falleth into Danubius and is not much inferior to the riuer Savus This country is vnder the dominion of the Archduke of Austria and when a new Prince is ordained and taketh vpon him the gouernment of their common-weale they obserue a strange solemnity the like whereof is not vsed in any other country the manner of it is this In a large valley neere vnto the towne of Saint Vitus are remayning the ruines of a decaied City neere vnto which place in a plaine field standeth there on end a great marble stone and when a new Archduke is to be created a country clowne to whom that office descendeth by inheritance standeth vpon the stone hauing vpon his right hand a blacke Cow in Calfe and a Mare vpon his left so leane as she is nothing but skinne and bone and round about him stand a great rable of country people and others gazing at him in which interim a great multitude of nobles and gentlemen in gallant and sumptuous attire hauing the ensignes of principality carried before them conduct the new Prince towards the stone the Prince himselfe beeing meanely arrayed in a clownes cap high shooes and a sheap-heards staffe and seeming indeed rather a silly sheap-heard then a powrefull Prince when the clowne vpon the stone perceiueth him comming so gallantly attended hee crieth out with a lowde voice in the Slauonian tongue for the Carinthians be Slauonians who is this that commeth so proudly to whom the whole multitude make answere that the Prince and gouernor of the country is comming what is hee saith the clowne is hee a iust and vpright Iudge Doth hee regard the welfare of his county Is hee of a free condition and worthy of honour Is he a professor and defendor of the Christian religion And all the people ●●erre that hee both is and will be such a one then the clowne againe demaundeth how or by what right hee can displace him from his seate to whom the maister of the Dukes household answereth and saith the Duke shall giue thee for thy seat sixty pence and these two beasts which stand on each side of thee besides that thou shalt haue all the Dukes apparel he now weareth and both thou and all thy family shall for euer after be free from tribute which said the clown giueth the Duke an easie blow vpon the checke willing him to bee an vpright Iudge and so receiuing the rewards promised hee departeth from the stone and the Duke getteth vp into his place and there drawing a naked sword and brandishing it round about vpon euery side he speaketh vnto the people and promiseth them to bee an equall and iust Iudge and gouernor the report is also that they giue him drinke in a clownes cap which hee drinketh in token that euer after hee will bee sober and continent After this hee goeth thence to the Church of Solemnensis that is scituated vpon a hill neere adioyning and is dedicated to our blessed Lady and called after her name and there hee heareth masse which done hee putteth off the base attire which hee wore till then and putting on a coate armor hee banketteth and feasteth with his nobles and lastly hee returneth againe into the same field and there sitteth in Iudgement doing right vnto euery one and casting and reckoning his yeerely reuenewes This honour of inuesting the Prince is giuen vnto clownes for because they were the first in that country that imbraced the Christian religion the Nobility and Princes remayning in error vntill the time of Charles the Great in whose daies they were baptized and became earnest followers of the faith likewise The Duke of Carinthia was maister of the Emperors hounds wherevpon the deciding of all controuersies and contentions concerning huntsman and hunting was referred vnto him And when any one is accused before the Emperor for any such cause he must answere his accusors in the Slauonian tongue They haue an other custome in that Prouince which is chiefly put in vse about the towne called Klagen concerning theft which is most strickt seuere withal very vnreasonable for there if one be but suspected of theft he is instātly trussed vp the next day after hee is hanged they inquire of the suspition and then if hee prooue guilty in deed they suffer him to hang stil vntil hee rot and fal downe peecemeale but if it appeare that he was vniustly put to death then is he buried and his funerals performed at the common cost of the citty The Carinthians weare for the most part cloakes made of such wooll as their owne country sheepe beare and selfe colloured and cappes vpon their heads their language is the Slauonian tongue But the Stirij be a more rude and rusticall kinde of people hauing maruelous great throates yea their throat boales are so bigge as they are an impediment vnto their speech and that which is more if it bee truely reported of them the women

couered with thin skinnes or filmes as wee may perceiue by experience in the fennes standing waters of Aegipt when as the heate of the ayre vpon a sodaine warmeth the cold earth so that heate abounding in moysture caused generation and a certaine winding ayre incompassing the moysture preserued that from danger by night which by day was made solide by the heate of the sunne so as in the end those putrifactions being brought to perfection as it were their time of birth drawing neere the skins wherewith they were couered beeing burned and broken they brought foorth the formes of all creatures of which those that did most participate of heate tooke theyr place in the vppermost region and became flying fowles those which were most neere vnto the nature of the earth became serpents and other earthly creatures and those of the watery condition were allotted the Element of the same nature and were called Fishes But when the earth with heate and wind waxing euery day dryer then other surceased from bringing forth the greatest sorts of creatures those which shee had already produced brought forth others of the same kinde by mutuall commixtion one with another And in this manner did those Philosophers affirme that men had their beginnings likewise and that they seeking the fields for such foode as herbes and fruites of trees did naturally yeeld them liued a wilde vnciuill and brutish kinde of life And being much annoyde with beasts the better to resist them partly mooued with feare and partly for their common profit gathered them-selues into companies and ioyning their forces together sought out fit places for themselues to dwell in That the sound of mens mouthes being first confused and disordered by little and little became a distinct and intelligible voice and gaue vnto euery thing his proper name And that men being placed and dispersed into diuerse parts of the world vsed not all one but diuerse languages and for euery language diuerse caracters of letters That the first company of men gaue beginning to euery country wherein they liued And that those men which were first so procreated being vtterly voyde of succour and ayde of any thing and not knowing how to gather the fruites of the earth and to lay them vp and keepe them to serue their necessitie lead so hard a life at the first as many of them perished in winter by cold or famine who afterwards growing wiser by experience found them out holes and caues in the ground both to auoyde the extremity of colde and to preserue fruites to defend them from famine And hauing found out the vse of fire and other things profitable and all other commodities of mans life beeing made manifest vnto them and finally making necessity the mistresse of their labours they commended to their memories the knowledge of all things to whom were giuen as helpers hands speach and excellencie of minde Now those which attributing nothing to Gods prouidence were of opinion that man had this manner of beginning did hold also that the Aethiopians were the first of all mortall men vsing this coniecture for their reason that the country of Aethiopia by reason of the vicinity and neerenesse of the heauens did before all other lands begin to waxe warme the earth from the beginning lying long soaked in water whereof it happened that of that first temperature of heate and moysture man himselfe being first begotten would with a better wil hold that place wherein hee was borne than to goe seeke strange countries all other places beeing vtterly vnknowne vnto him Wherefore beginning there yet first speaking a word or two in generall of Affricke one of the the three parts into which the world and this my present worke is diuided wee will first speake of the situation of Aethiopia and of the customes and orders vsed in that country and afterwards wee will treate of all other lands in order as they lye with what diligence we may Of the scituation and perfection of the world CAP. 3. OVr Ancestors as Orosius reporteth were of opinion that the circle of the whole earth inclosed within the borders of the Ocean is in the forme of a Triangle and that there be three parts thereof Affricke Asia and Europe Affricke is deuided from Asia by the riuer Nilus which running from the South into Aethiopia and passing by Aegipt maketh it exceeding fruitfull by his ouer-flowing and dischargeth himselfe into the sea in no lesse then seauen sundry places The Mediterranean sea deuideth Europe from Affrick which according to Pomponius Mela making breach into the earth from the West Ocean about Gades Iland and Hercules pillers is not there in bredth aboue ten miles ouer Asia is seperated from Europe by the riuer Tanais which flowing from the North almost into the middle of the poole of Maeotis meeteth there with the sea called Pontus which parteth the rest of Asia from Europe Affricke is bounded vpon the East with the riuer Nilus and vpon all other parts with the sea it is shorter then Europe and broder when it ioyneth to the sea and fuller of hills and holding on a crooked course towards the West by little and little growing sharper and narrower is then the narrowest when it is neerest to an end As much of Affricke as is inhabited is wonderfull fertile but the greatest part thereof lyeth desert being eyther couered with drye barren sands forsaken for the vicinitie of the Sunne or annoyde with sundry sorts of hurtfull creatures Vpon the North it is compassed with the Lybian Sea with the Aethiopian on the south and with the sea Atlantick on the west The whole country of Affrick was inhabited from the beginning but of foure sundrie sorts of people whereof two as Herodotus writeth were borne bred in that countrey and the other two were strangers the homebred and naturall countrimen are the Carthagenians and the Aethiopians the one inhabiting in the north of Africk the other in the south The strangers be Pheniceans and Grecians The ancient Aethiophians and Egiptians if all be true which they report of themselues were at first rude and barbarous and feeding commonly like bruite beasts with hearbes and wilde flesh vsing neither manners lawes nor gouernement but wandring and straying abroad without consideration or regard and vtterly destitute of any certaine habitation reposing themselues wheresoeuer they were benighted But afterwards beeing made more ciuill and humane by Hercules who is said to haue brought Colonies into that Country and making themselues houses of those shippes wherewith they had before sayled into Libia they beganne to dwell and inhabite together But of this we will speake more at large hereafter The soyle of Affricke is vnequally inhabited for the South part thereof by reason of the exceeding heat lyeth for the most part desert and that part which lyeth next vnto Europ is very populous the fruitfulnes of their ground is admirable

at any time their footing fayle them yet will they claspe theyr hands about the twiggs and so saue and defend them-selues from falling and though by some mischance they should fall yet receiue they no hurt by reason of the lightnesse of theyr bodyes These people goe alwayes naked and haue theyr wiues and children in common They fight one against another onely for places to liue in being weaponed with staues and domineere and exult greatly ouer those they vanquish They die for the most part by famine whem their sight faileth they are depriued of that sence wherewith they sought their food In an other part of the region dwell those Aethiopians which bee called Cyneci they bee few in number but of a different life from all the rest for they inhabit the wood-land and desolate countrie wherein be but few fountaines of water and they sleepe vpon the tops of trees for feare of wilde beasts Euery morning they goe downe armed to the riuer sides and their hide themselues in trees amongst the leaues and in the heate of the day when the Beefes and Libbards and diuers other kindes of wilde beasts goe downe to the riuers to drinke and that they bee full and heauie with water these Aethiopians descen'd from the trees and fall vppon them and kill them with staues baked at the fire and with stones and dartes and then deuide them amongst their companies and eate them By which cunning deuise they deuoure many of those beasts and sometimes though but seldome they are foyled and slaine themselues And if at any time their cunning faile them and that they want beasts to eate they take the hides of such beasts as they haue eaten before and plucking of the haires laie the hides in steepe and then drie them before a soft fire and so deuiding to euery one a share satisfie themselues with that Their young boyes vnder the age of foureteene yeeres practise throwings at markes and they giue meate to those onely which touch the marke and therefore beeing forced thereto by famine they become most excellent and fine darters The people called Acridophagi border vpon the desert the men bee something shorter or lower of stature then other Aethiopians beeing leane and marueilous blacke In the spring time the West and South-west windes blow an infinite number of slies called Locustes out of the deserts into their Country which bee exceeding great but the collour of their wings is foule and lothsome These Aethiopians as their custome is gather out of places there-abouts great store of wood and other sorts of fuell and laie it in a great large valley and when at their wonted time as it were a whole cloude of Locusts bee carried by the windes ouer the valley they set fire on the fuell and with smoke stiphle and smother to death the Locusts which flie ouer it so as they fal downe vnto the earth in such aboundance as are sufficient to serue the whole countrie for victualls and these beeing sprinckled with salt which that country plentifully yeeldeth they preserue for a long space beeing a meate very pleasant vnto they taste And so these Locusts bee their continuall sustenance at all seasons for they neither keepe cattell nor eate fish beeing farre remote from the sea nor haue any other maintenance whereof to liue They bee nimble of body swift of foote and shorte of life so as they which liue the longest exceede not aboue fortie yeeres their end is not onely miserable but also incredible for when old age creepeth and commeth vppon them there doth certaine lice with winges of a horrible and vglie shape ingendring in their bodies knaw out and deuour their bellies guts and intralls and in a small time their whole bodies and he which hath the disease doth so itch is so allured to scrach as he receiueth thereby at one and the same time both pleasure and paine and when the corruption cometh forth and the lyce appeare he is so stirred with the bitternesse and anguish of the disease as hee teareth his owne flesh in peeces with his nayles with great wayling and lamentation for so great is the number of those vermine issuing out of the wounds heape vppon heape running as it were out of a vessell full of holes as they cannot be ouercome and by this meanes they die a very miserable death the cause whereof is ether the meate they liue vpon or the vnholesomenesse of the aire Vpon the vtmost parts of Affricke towards the South dwell a people which the Greekes cal Cinnamimi but of their neighbouring Barbarians they bee called wild or vplandish people These haue very great beards and for the defence of their liues breed vp great number of Mastiues and wild dogs for from the Summer troppicke to the middle of winter an infinite number of Indian Beefes come into their country the cause of their comming is vncertaine whether it bee that they fly from other wild beasts which pursue them or for the want of feeding or that they doe it by instinct of nature all which are wonderfull but the true cause is vnknowne from these the people defend them-selues with their dogges their owne forces being insufficient to withstand them and kill many of them some whereof they eate fresh and some others they powder vp for their prouision afterwards and with these dogges they take many other beasts in like sort The last people and the vtmost towards the South bee the Ichthiophagi which inhabite in the gulph of Arabia vpon the frontiers of the Trogloditae these carry the shape of men but liue like beasts they be very barbarous and go naked all their liues long vsing both wiues and daughters common like beasts they be neither touched with any feeling of pleasure or griefe other then what is naturall Neido the discerne any difference betwixt good and bad honesty and dishonesty Their habitations are in rockes and hills not farre from the sea wherein they haue deepe dennes and holes the passages in and out being naturally very hard and crooked The entrances into these holes as if nature had framed them for their vse the Inhabitants damme vp with a heape of great stones wherewith they take fishes as it were with nets for the flowing of the sea which hapneth euery day twise about three of the cloke and nine of the Cloke surrownding the borders neere vnto the shore the water increasing very high and couering all places carrieth into the continent an innumerable company of diuers sorts of fishes which seeking abroad for sustenance at the ebbing of the sea are by those stones stayd vpon dry land those doe the inhabitants make hast to gather vp and taking them lay them vpon the rockes against the noone Sunne till they be scorched with the heate thereof and when one side is scorched inough they turne the other when they bee thus broyled against the Sunne they take all the meate from the bones and put it into a

by certaine women asfigned to that businesse he answereth in the middle of the people and all men to whom he speaketh ought to listen vnto him kneeling vpon their knees when how long soeuer his speech be and so diligently to attend his words as they misconster not his meaning in any point for it is not lawfull for any to alter the Emperours words nor in any sort to contradict or gaine-say the sentence hee pronounceth hee neuer drinketh in any publick assembly nor yet any other Tartarian Prince vnlesse some doe sing and play vnto him vppon a harpe before hee drinke and men of great worth when they ride are shadowed with a certaine fanne or curtaine fastned to a long speare and caried before them which custome is said to be vsed also by the women And these were the customes and maner of liuing of the people of Tartary about two hundred yeares sithence The Georgiani whom the Tartarians ouercame much about that time were worshippers of Christ obseruing the custome of the Greeke Church they dwelt neere vnto the Persians and their dominion extended a length wayes from Palestine to the Caspian hilles they had eighteene Bishopricks and one Catholicke or vniuersall Bishop who was insteed of a Patriarch at the first they were subiect to the Patriarch of Antioch the men be very warlike their Priests heads bee shauen round and the lay-men foure square some of their women were trained vp in the warres and serued on horseback The Georgians hauing disposed their armies and entering into the battell were wonte to carouse a gourd as bigge as ones fist filled full of the best wine and then to set vpon their enimies with greater courage The Cleargie bee much addicted to vsury and symonie there was mutuall and perpetuall enmity betwixt the Armenians and them The Armenians were Christians also vntill the Tartarians after they had subdued the Georgians ouer-came them likewise but they disagreed in many things from the faith and approoued fashion of the true Church they knew not the day of our Lords natiuitie for they obserued no feasts nor no vigils nor yet the foure Ember weekes they feasted not vpon Easter Eue alledging that Christ rose from the dead about the euening of that day they would eate flesh vpon euery Friday betwixt the feasts of Easter and Penticost yet they fasted much beginning their fast so strictly and precisely in Lent as they would neither vse oyle wine nor fish vpon Fridayes and Wednesdayes throughout the whole Lent holding it a greater sinne to drinke wine on those dayes then to lye with a strumpet in a brothell house Vpon Mondayes they abstained wholy from all meates vpon Tuesdayes and Thursdayes they did eate once and receiued no sustenance at all vpon Wednesdayes and Fridayes but vpon Saterdayes and Sundayes they would eate flesh and refresh themselues well They would not celebrate the office of the Masse throughout all Lent but vpon Saterdaies and Sundaies nor vpon Fridayes throughout the whole yeare for thereby as they were of opinion they brake and violated their fasts Infants moreouer of the age of two months and all others whatsoeuer were indifferently admitted to their communion and they put no water into the Sacrifice In the vse of Hares Beares Choughes and such other like creatures they imitated the Iewes as well as the Greekes they celebrated their Masses in glasse and wodden Chalices and some hauing no paraments nor Priest-like vestiments at all some of them also wore Miters belonging to Deacons or Subdeacons both Clergie and Lay-men allowed of vsury and Symony as well as the Georgians the Priests exercised themselues in Diuinations and Negromancie they vsed more drinking then lay men and all of them had or might haue wiues but after the death of one wife as well lay-men as the clergy men were prohibited to marry againe the Bishops gaue liberty to any to put away their wiues that were sound in adultery and to marry an other they beleeued not that there is a purgatory and obstinately denyed that there was two natures in Christ The Georgians report that they erred in thirty articles from the right path and diameter of Christian religion Of Turcia and of all the manners lawes and ordinances of the Turkes CHAP. 11. THat country which is now called Turcia or Turkie hath vpon the East the greater Armenia and extendeth to the Cilicke sea vpon the North it is bounded with the Euxine sea Aitonus calleth it Turquia it consisteth of many Prouinces as Lycaonia wherein Iconium is the chiefe towne Cappadocia where Cesaria is chiefe citty of the Prouince Isauria where Seleucia is head Licia now called Briquia Ionia now called Quiscum wherein standeth the citty of Ephesus Paphlagonia where Germanopolis and Lenech where Trapezus be chiefe cities All this vast country which is now called Turcia is not inhabited by one onely people but by Turkes Greekes Armenians Sarrasins Iacobitans Nestorians Iewes Christians all of them for the most part liuing after the lawes and institutions which that false Prophet Mahomet a Sarrasin ordained for the people of Arabia in the yeare of our Sauiour Christ 631. This Mahomet some say was an Arabian some a Persian but whether he was it is doubtfull but his father was certainly a worshipper of euill spirits his mother an Ismaelite and therfore not ignorant in the true law now whilst his father and mother instructed him in both their lawes they distracted the boy and made him doubtfull and wauering betwixt both so as being trained vp in both religions when hee grew of mans estate he followed neither of them but being a very crasty fellow of a subtill wit and long conuersant with Christians he framed and inuented out of both those lawes a religion most dangerous and pernicious to all mankinde First he affirmed that the Iewes did very ill in denying that Christ should be borne of a Virgin seeing that the Prophets men of wonderfull sanctity and integrity of life indued with the spirit of God did long before prophesie and soreshew that it should be so and that hee was to bee expected on the other side he condemned the Christians folly in beleeuing that Iesus the deerest friend of God borne of a Virgin would suffer reproches punishments of the Iewes Martinus Segonius Nouomontanus hath written thus of the Sepulcher of Christ our King and Lord. The Sarrasins and Turkes saith he by the ancient preaching of Mahomet laugh the Christians to scorne which attribute any honor to that Sepulcher affirming that the great Prophet Christ proceeded from the spirit of God that he was voide of all earthly blot or sinne and that hee he shall come to be iudge of all people but that they may approach vnto his true Sepulcher they vtterly deny because his glorious body conceiued by the diuine spirit was altogether impassible thus much hath Segonius written more to the same purpose which the Mahometans are wont to

yet of that validity estimation as the people of euery village yeeld there obedience to their parish Priest the parish Priest to the Deane the Deane to the Bishop the Bishop to the Archbishop the Archbishop to the Primate or Patriarch the primate or Patriarch to the Legate the Legate to the Pope the Pope to general councels and general councels only vnto God 4 The fourth Sacrament is the most holsome Sacramēt of the body bloud of our Lord Sauiour Iesus Christ euery priest that is duly called ordained according to the rules of the Church and intendeth to consecrate may by obseruing the vsual forme of words vsed in the consecration make the true body of Christ of a peece of wheaten bread and of wine his right and perfect bloud And this Sacrament the same Lord Iesus Christ in the night before he suffered his bitter passion did celebrate with his disciples consecrating it and ordaining that it should euer after be celebrated and eaten in remembrance of him It behoueth euery one that receiueth this Sacrament to bee strong in faith that he may beleeue and credit these thirteene things following First that he beleeue the transmutation or transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and bloud of Christ Secondly that though this be done euery day yet is not the body of Christ thereby augmented Thirdly that the body of Christ is not diminished though it be eatē euery day Fourthly that though this Sacrament be deuided into many parts that yet the whole and intire body of Christ remaineth in euery little particle Fiftly that though it be eaten of wicked malicious men yet is not the Sacrament thereby defiled Sixtly that to those which receiue it worthily as they ought it bringeth saluation eternal damnation to those which receiue it vnworthily Seuenthly that when it is eaten it conuerteth not into the nature property of him that eateth it as other meate doth but rather conuerteth the eater into the nature of the Sacrament rightly that being eaten it is taken vp into heauen without hurt Ninthly that in euery little forme of bread and wine is comprehended the great and incomprehensible God and Man Christ Iesus Tenthly that one and the same body of Christ is receiued and taken at one moment in diuers places of diuers men and vnder a diuers forme Eleuenthly that the substance of the bread being turned into the true body of Christ and the substance of the wine into his bloud the natural accidents of bread and wine doe yet remaine and that they are not receiued in forme of flesh and bloud Twelfthly that vnto those that eate it worthily it bringeth twelue great commodities which are expressed in these verses following Inflammat memorat substentat roborat auget Hostin spem purgat reficit vitam dat vnit Confirmat fidem minuit fomitemque remittit The effect whereof is that the hoast inflameth remembreth sustaineth strengthneth and augmenteth our hope It purgeth refresheth quickneth and vniteth It confirmeth our faith and mitigateth and vtterly quencheth in vs all concupiscence Lastly that it is wonderfull good and profitable for all those for whom the priest specially offereth it as a sacrifice be they liuing or dead and that therefore it is called the communion or Sacrament of the Eucharist In the beginning of Christian religion yet in some places there was consecrated at one time such a loafe of bread as being afterwards cut into small mamocks by the priest and laid vpon a sawcer or plate might well serue all the communicants that were present at the sacrifice and at that time did Christians communicate thereof dayly And afterwards they were limitted to receiue it only vpon sundaies but when the Church perceiued that this sacrament was not taken euery sunday so worthily and with such due obseruation as was sitting it was ordained that euery Christian man of perfect reason vnderstanding should with all diligence he could and with his best preparation both of body and soule receiue the same thrice a yeere or at the least euery yeere once at Easter as also when hee found himselfe in any danger of death as a ready preparatiue against al perils by which name it is often called 5 Matrimony which is a lawfull coniunction of man and wife instituted and ordained by the law of God the law of nature the law of nations is the fift Sacrament and the holy fathers in Christian piety haue commanded that but one marriage shall be solemnized at one time and that it shal not be done in secret but publikely either in the Church or Church-porch but most commonly in the Church-porch where the priest meeting the parties that are to be married first asketh of the man and then of the woman whether they be willing to be contracted who answering that they are content and agreed which is a thing most necessary in that Sacrament he taketh them by the right hands ioyning them togither in the name of the blessed and indeuided trinity in vnity the Father Sonne and holy Ghost hee admonisheth and exhorteth them that being euer mindefull of this vnion and holy communion they neuer after forsake one an other but to liue in mutual loue honor and obedience one to an other that they should not desire one an others company for lust but for procreation of children and that they should bring vp their children honestly carefully and in the feare of God this done he marrieth them with the ring and sprinkleth holy water on them and then putting on his stole which is thither brought him he leadeth them into the church and causing them to kneele humbly before the Altar there blesseth them if they were not blessed before the woman when she is married hath her haire tied vp with a red fillet or headband and a white veile ouer it without which veile or head couer it is neuer lawful for her after that time to goe abroad or to be in the company of men There be twelue impediments that hinder marriage before it be solemnized and dissolue it after it is contracted that is to say the error or mistaking of either party the breach of some condition kindred a manifest offence disparity of religion violence or forcible rauishment from their parents holy orders breach of reputation publike defamation affinity and dissability to performe the act of matrimony 6 The sixt Sacrament of the church is penance which is giuen by Christ as a second repaire of our shipwrake and euery Christian man is bound vndoubtedly to belceue that this Sacrament consisteth of these foure things to wit repentance for sins past cannonical confession absolution and satisfaction for he that will be partaker of this Sacrament must first of al repent be sorrowful in his very soule that through his grieuous and heinous sins hee hath lost that purity and innocency which he once had either by the Sacrament of Baptisme or by this Sacramēt formerly

pearles and precious stones which in men is not so commendable but onelie while they bee children and then it is decent inough a woman that hath had two husbands may bee thought chaste but shee that hath beene thrice married is condemned as lewde and lasciuious and yet it is no impeachment to mens credits though they haue had three wiues Maides before mariage suffer there haire to hange down behinde them but when they bee married they couer it carefully and men cut theirs short rounde about their eares esteeming all trimming of there haires to be a reproach vnto them This Nation is generally addicted to venery and drunkennesse for to bee drunke they hold a glory vnto them and esteeme of lust and lasciuiousnesse as of a thing lawfull and commendable so as the marriage bed be not defiled Vsury also is there very common and vsuall and not held to bee deceite in any one not so much as in the Clergie A great part of the Russians be bond-men and seruile and that willingly for many of them and those sometimes of the better sort set to sale themselues their wiues and children other for because they may thereby liue more idlely or enioy greater pleasure The inferior priests weare blacke copes after the manner of the Gretians and the better sort of them weare white hauing hanging at their breasts tablets or bullions wherein bee written the decalogue or precepts of the law diuine The holy Virgins or Nunnes whereof there is but one family or order which is the order of Saint Anthonie the Abbot by the ordinance of the same Saint Anthonie their author and first founder bee apparelled in blacke stoles The Russians haue a speech peculiar to themselues but whether it bee the Scythian tongue or no I am not able for to Iudge their letters are not much vnlike the Greeke caracters they doe for the most part learne musicke and gammer after the Greeke manner and haue all other arts in contempt Touching matters of faith they beleeue as the Greekes doe vse like ceremonies in their seruice and like honour to the Saints There bee twelue men chosen and elected for to doe Iustice and determine controuersies whereof one first searcheth out the quality of the crime and then maketh report thereof to his fellowes and sometimes to the Duke himselfe And if the matter bee of greater weight or difficulty then can well bee discerned and decided by that councell or that it rests doubtfull so as the accused cannot bee conuicted then the defendant is inforced to try the matter with the plaintife by combat and hee which is vanquisher shall haue double the value in money of the vanquished as the wronge supposed to be done was valued at They bee very much giuen to husbandry they plow with horses and their soile is very fruitfull of all things but wine there drinke is a kinde of beere or ale made of millet and barley boyled together which kinde of liquor is most commonly drunke in all the Northerne partes They make oyle of hempe-seed poppie and nuts oliue trees they haue none nor is the iuse or liquor thereof brought thither from other countries Russia breedeth many sorts of wilde beasts whereof diuers bee of rich furres and highly commended of ancient writers there is great store of fish amongst which is a most excellent one called Seldis which is taken in a lake called Pareslacus and is very like the fishes that bee caught in the lake Benacus which is a lake neere Betrona in Italie In Ruthenia be seuen famous lakes and nine great riuers one of which is by some coniectured to bee the riuer Borysthenes by reason of the wonderfull things they report of the bignesse and nature thereof Of Lithuania and of the manner of liuing of those people CAP. 7. LITHVANIA ioyneth vpon the East vnto Poland it is nine hundreth miles about and the greatest part thereof is either moores fennes or woods which is the cause that it is very hard and difficult to come vnto and in a manner inaccessible all the whole country being ouerflowed with moorish waters There is no other fit or conuenient time for merchants strangers to trade and trafficke in this Country but in winter onely then the fennes beeing all congealed and frozen together and the ice of an exceeding thicknesse and couered with snow euery place is passable and all the whole country beeing of a sea they can finde no more certaine way to any place but as they be guided by the starres In Lithuania bee very few townes citties or villages the inhabitantes chiefest wealth is cattaile and skinnes of diuers kindes of wilde beasts as of the Harmoline and Zobelline whereof there bee great plentie in that country Of waxe and honey there is great aboundance but they haue no vse of money The women haue their chamber-mates friends by their husbands permission those they cal helpers or furtherers of matrimony but for a husband to commit adultery is held disgracefull and abhominable Marriages there bee very easily dissolued by consent of both parties and they marry as oft as they please This people is so different from all other nations in their manner of liuing as they hold with the absurde opinion of Aristippus which is that honestie consisteth not by nature but by custome Wine is very scarce and geason amongst them the want whereof is supplied with milke by reason of the great aboundance of beasts and there bread is browne beeing neither sifted nor boulted they speake the Slauonian language as the Polonians doe which language is common to many other nations besides whereof some follow the rites and ceremonies of the Romaine Church as the Polonians the Dalmatians the Croatij and the Carni some others the Greeke Church as the Bulgarians Ruthenians and most of the Lituanians and some againe hold certaine opinions differring from both Churches as the Bohemians Morauians and Bosnienses of which some follow the opinion of Iohn Husse and many others the sect of the Manachies and there bee some which as yet continue still in their paganisme and superstitious blindnesse by worshiping of Idols and such bee many of the Lithuanians Ierom of Prage who in the time of Pope Eugenius the forth of that name preached the gospel in the country was the first that acquainted vs with the manners and ceremonies of that people before that time vtterly vnknowne vnto vs reported that diuers of the Lithuanians amongst whom hee first arriued had certaine serpents euery house-hold one to whom they sacrificed as to their house-hold-gods and that hee wrought so farre with the worshippers of them that they destroyed and killed them all one onely excepted which could not bee burned some others worshipped the fire and from it receiued their diuinations and many others the Sunne in the forme of a huge iron mallet accounting that to bee there guide and giuing it to name Magnus These people bee oftentimes subiect to the King of Poland the chiefe

they had a very prouident care and extraordinary regard for doing any thing that should be a touch or debasement to their stockes or against their honours holding it a staine and pollution to their bloud to marry with women of other nations or with any inferior to themselues and indeuouring their vttermost to make themselues a people proper and naturall without mixture of other nations and onely like vnto themselues whereof insued that though the number of them were great yet in their externall habites in the stature and proportion of their bodies and collour of their haire they were almost all alike The Saxons were deuided into foure sorts or differences of people which were noble men freemen libertines that is such as had beene slaues and obtained their freedome and manumission and bound-men or slaues and to the end that each of these orders might remaine in his owne Estate it was established by a law that no man of one estate should marry or take to wife a woman of an other but that the Nobility should match with nobility the free-men with free-men the manumitted with those which were manumitted and the slaues with slaues the penalty for the transgressing of which law was present death They had many good and holesome lawes for the punishment of malefactors They were vpright in condition sincere in life and of vncorrupted and irreprehensible manners doing nothing but what was profitable honest and agreeable to the lawes of nature all which had beene sufficient for their saluations if withall they had knowne and beleeued in the true and euerliuing God But they were great Idolaters worshipping trees and fountaines of water but more especially a huge stock of wood set vp an end which they accounted for a god calling it in their language Irminsaul that is to say a vniuersall and generall piller or colume whereby all other things are sustained held vp Mercury also they obserued and honoured as a god offring vnto him vpon certain daies humaine sacrifices nor did they hold it fit or lowable by reason of the great dignity and diuinity of their gods to include them in Temples and Churches nor to figure them in the proportion of men but they consecrated vnto them woods groues calling them after their names and they neuer perused those secret and misticall places but with great deuotion and reuerence Witchcraft and socery was much in practice amongst them Their manner of taking aduise whether a thing were to bee done or not done was thus first they would cut from a fruite tree diuers little sprigs or young sprouts marking and distinguishing them each from other with certaine notes or differences and so cast them sodainely and at aduentures vpon a white garment And then if the consultation were general for them al the priest if priuate the goodman of the house-hold lifting vp his eyes towards heauen and praying to their gods taketh vp those branches one by one and layeth them downe againe three sundrie times and euer as hee taketh them vp he expoundeth and interpreteth what is to be done according to the note or imprese written vpon them and then if the priest or good men of the house forbid it to bee done they aduise no more of the matter that day but if they allow it the people were so stronge of beleefe as they would put the proiect in practise what euer they euent proued they gathered and coniectured of many things by the chirping and flying of birds and oftentimes made experiment of forewarnings and admonitions of horses which to presage of things to come were nourished and kept in those woods and groues dedicated to their gods These horses were white and neuer did any manner of worke and beeing coupled together and set before the holy Chariot they were attended and followed either by the priest the King or chiefe ruler of the city who diligently marcked and obserued their neying whynying and stoming and this manner of prediction or foreshewing of things to come was of all others in greatest credit and estimation both by the Princes priests and people for they held them to bee the ministers of the gods and partakers of their diuine councels They vsed also an other sort of sooth-saying or witchcraft whereby to know aforehand what successe they should haue in the warres which was in this manner when they tooke a captiue of any nation against whom the waged battaile they compelled him to fight with one of their owne people and as the victory went betwixt them two so would they iudge of the insuing warres The Emperour Charles the Great was the first that by continuall warres compelled this impious people to admit the Christian religion which both they and all other Germaines doe now most religiously adore In Saxonie be many sumptuous and Princely palaces and magnificent and stately Temples Churches and Monasteries as one in Alberstandium consecrated to our blessed Ladie whereinto neuer entreth any prophane or vnhallowed person but onely such as bee professed in Religion and to the seruice of God except vpon Ashwednesday and then is there one of the people brought into the Church who must euer bee such a one as in the eye of the world is of most wicked and abhominable life and conuersation this man beeing brought into the Church all in blacke and his head couered is placed where hee may heare masse which beeing duely solemnised hee is cast out of the Temple and inforced to wander vp and downe the citie bare-footed all the time of Lent visiting all the Churches one after an other during which time he is maintained by the priests and by them brought againe into the Church vpon Easter-day where hauing first an almes giuen him which he offerreth with great deuotion to the Church after the consecration of the oyle he is expiated and hallowed by the whole Clergie and so dismissed This man they commonly called Adam comparing him for his innocency vnto Adam our first father and founder who was voide of all sinne and by him they suppose their city to be purged and purified The soile of Saxony is very fruitfull of all things but wine and hath diuers mines of siluer and basse toward Gosleria and in many places besides be brine-pits and fountaines of salt water whereof they make a fine white and most delicate sault which yeeldeth them a large commodity yeerely They haue great store of barley and wheate whereof they make very fine white bread and a kinde of ale or beere to supply the want of wine which they drinke so immoderatly and out of measure as when they bee at their feasts and bankettings and that their ordinary cups and drinking glasses will not hold sufficient for them to carouse at one draught those which doe giue attendance at the table will set before them a great paile full of that drinke with a dish in it wishing euery one to bee their owne skinkers and so to drinke what they please and

chiefe guide and conductor in all their trauels and very propitions vnto them in trafficke and trading All the spoiles they tooke in the warres they vowed and consecrated vnto Mars for their victory obtained so as in many Cities you might see great heapes of warlike spoiles laide together and if any one stole any part of the prey to his owne purse hee was seuerely punished The Gaules perswaded themselues that they were the of spring of Pluto the god of riches and therefore they celebrated the beginning of their feasts the night before the feast day supposing that night to bee consecrated vnto Dis The men suffered not their children once to come into their sights before they were growne to mans estate that they were able to manage armes holding it vnfitting and absurde that the sonne while hee is a childe should approach neere the presence of his father The husbands looke how much money they receiued with their wiues in portion so much did they adde vnto it out of their owne stocke and all the increase that came of that coyne was reserued and kept for him or her that was suruiuer The husbands had power and authority of life and death as well ouer their wiues as ouer their children and if any mans wife were conuicted of witch-craft or sorcery she was put to death by her husbands neighbours and friends either by fire or by some other greeuous torments In their funerals all those things which the deceased person held deere vnto him in his life time yea the beasts he loued best were burned with him and not much before the Country was conquered by Iulius Caesar their seruants and retainers were burned with their Maisters dead bodies In their Cities which were maruellous wel gouerned a few of the most worthy and substantialest men amongst them ruled the rest hauing at the first one chiefe ruler ouer them who continued his office for a yeere and in warres they vsed likewise to appoint one to take the charge and command vpon him of al matters belonging to the warres If any priuate person heard any thing spoken by strangers touching the common-wealth they were to make report thereof to the Magistrates though some things they might conceale without danger It was not lawfull for any one to mutter any thing in secret of the common-wealth but in publike places and hee that came last into the councel-house was put to death If any factious fellow raised any tumult or mutiny there was sent vnto him an officer with a sword in his hand ready drawne to proclaime silence and if hee desisted not at the second or third proclamation the officer would curtaile so much of his cloake or cassocke thereby to put him to disgrace as the remnant that was left would serue him to no purpose The chiefe Magistrates had golden maces carried before them they wore chaines about their neckes and bracelets on their armes The common people wore short cloakes and in steed of coates a loose garment slit on the one side that would scarce couer halfe their buttocks their wool is very rough long and shaggy so as their cassockes they called Lenae were maruellous rugged and hairy They tooke great delight in trimming dressing their haire They be tal of stature and for the most part pale of complexion and their armor and weapons are answearable to the proportion of their bodies for they wore long swords hanging at their right sides and long shields proportionable to their speares wherewith they might couer their thighes some of them also had bowes and were very good archers but yet they vsed shooting more in fowling and birding then in the warres and few of them would goe into the field either with slings or clubs They lay vpon the ground and eate their meate sitting vpon straw the substance of their meate was either milke or flesh and especially hogs-flesh for they haue such store of swine feeding in their fields and so large so strong and so swift that strangers that know not their nature are as fearefull of them and in as much daunger as if they were wolues They haue sheepe in as great aboundance as swine whereof when they bee fed and powdred they send many to Rome and diuers other parts of Italy and there sell them Their buildings dwelling houses were made of wood in proportion of shels beeing very large with many spars or rafters They bee naturally cruell and simple withall and in the warres more valiant then politike and much more addicted to follow the warres then husbandry The French women be exceeding fruitful in so much as Gallia Belgica alone sent vnto the warres at one voyage aboue three hundred thousand fighting men when they haue had any victory they bee wonderfull ioyfull and as much amazed after an ouerthrow Their custome was when the battaile was ended and the souldiors departed the field to cut off the heads of their vanquished foes and to hange them at there horse neckes and so to carry them home and there to sticke them vpon poles for a spectacle vnto others But the heads of worthy and renowned souldiors if any such were slaine they would season with odors of Cedar-tree and keepe them for strangers to looke vpon not suffering them to bee ransommed for their weight in gold The ancient Country guise was to weare chaines of gold bracelets and garments spangled with gold In their Diuinations their manner was to strike a man ordained for that purpose vpon the backe and then by his impatience and manner of affliction in his death to Iudge of future euents They had other sorts of humaine sacrifices also for some they would shoot to death and then hang them vpon gibbets within their Temples and some of them would make a great huge Image and put therein men wood sheepe and diuers other sorts of cattaile and so sacrifice them altogether The Frenchmen by reason of their continuall labour and exercise were wont to bee very macilent leane and lanck bellyed for they were so carefull to auoyde all pampering and excesse that if any young mans belly did out-grow his girdle he was openly punished But at this day the French-men by reason of their commerce conuersation and continuall acquaintance with the Romaines are greatly altered from what they were and their manners much bettered for they bee now most ardent professors of the true Religion and all vnder the gouernement of one King Their marriages be solemnized after the Italian rites they be very studious in all the liberall arts and in diuinity especially which is well demonstrated by the great multitude of Students in the citty of Paris which is now the most famous and renownedst Vniuersitie in all Christendome The lawes in France be executed by Magistrates but instituted by the kings their horsmen in time of warres go al in compleat armor and their footmen in light harnesse they haue many good archers that shoote well in long bowes and their bowes be not

simple and they couet for nothing but to suffice nature they eate flesh some-times boylde and sometimes broyld and dresse their meate them-selues reiecting the Arte of Cookery and all seasoning of their meates with salte or spices as friuolous and vnnecessary They worship the Firmament the Sunne and the rest of the celestiall bodyes they catch diuerse sorts of fishes and birds and they haue great store of Olyue trees and Vines which naturally hold their increase so as they haue Oliues and Grapes in aboundance without trauell or cost These Ilands also produce serpents that bee great ones but nothing hurtfull the flesh whereof is maruelous sweete and delicious Their garments are of a sine white Cotton or Downe which groweth in the middle of Reedes which being dyed with the Iuyse of these sea fishes that coloureth purple they make themselues purple garments thereof There be also diuerse sorts of liuing creatures of strange and almost incredible natures They obserue a certaine order and strict course in their dyet eating but onely one kinde of meate vppon one day for some day they eate fishes an other day fowles an other flesh of beasts and some-times Oyle and the table where they eate theyr meate is very meane and simple They bee addicted to diuerse exercises for some serue and are serued in course some are imployed in fishing some in fowling some in sundry Artes and manuall occupations and all of them in generall are busied in some one thing or other that redoundeth to their common good In their sacred ceremonies and vpon holy dayes they sing lawdes and himnes in honor of their gods and especially of the Sunne to whome they dedicate themselues and their Islands They bury their dead bodyes vpon the sea coast couering the carcasse with sand that by the flowing and inundation of the waters there may bee a great heape of sand in the place where the corpes are buryed The canes whereof they eate the fruite as they say doe increase and decrease according to the disposition of the Moone The water of their fountaines is both sweet and holsome alwayes hotte vnlesse it bee mingled either with wine or cold water When Iambolus and his companion had liued in that Iland seauen yeares they were forced to depart for the Ilanders held them to bee euill liuers and of bad behauiour and conuersation and therefore prouiding their shippe ready and victualling her they set forward on their iourney though fore against their wills and at the foure months end they came to the King of India by whome they were afterwards safely conducted through Persia and brought into Greece Of the Iland called Taprobane and of the manners of the Inhabitants CAP. 26. TAPROBANE before mans venterousnesse by exquisit searching into euery creeke and corner of the sea had truely and throughly discouered it was held to be as it were an other world that wherein the Antipodes were supposed to dwell But Alexander the great by his prowesse and valour remooued the ignorance of this common error which did much augment and increase the glory of his name for Onesicritus the praefect of his nauie being by him sent to search out what manner of land it was what commodities it yeelded and how and by whom it was inhabited made it most apparent and manifest vnto vs. The length of the Iland is seauen thousand stadia and fiue thousand in breadth and it hath a riuer running through the middle of it that deuideth it into two parts Some part of this Iland is wholy replenished with beasts and Elephants which be farre bigger then India breedeth any and some part of it is well peopled There bee great store of Pearles and precious stones of diuerse kindes It is situated East and West and beginneth at the sea called fretum Indioe from Prasla a countrie in India into Taprobane at the first discouery thereof was the space of 25. dayes sayling but it was with such boates as the riuer of Nilus carried that were made of reedes for at this day with our shippes it is not aboue seuen dayes sayle The sea that deuideth the Iland in twaine in many places is very shallow being not aboue seuen foote deepe but in some other places againe the channell is so exceeding deepe that no anchor can reache the bottome In sayling they obserue not the course of the starres for the North pole and the seauen starres doe neuer appeare to their view and the Moone is no longer seene in their Horizon but from the sixt day after his change to the sixteenth but the cleere and radiant starre called Canopus shineth there very bright and the Sunne riseth vppon their right hands and setteth vppon their left With coyne they were altogether vnacquainted vntill the raigne of the Emperour Claudius and it is reported that they were greatly amazed at the sight of money because it was stamped with sundry figures and similitudes and yet in weight and substance was all one In stature and bignesse of body they exceed all other men of what nation so euer They dye and coulour their hayre browne their heires bee gray or blew their visage grimme and sterne and their voyce harshe and terrible Those which dye an vntimely death liue commonly till they bee a hundred yeare old but those which spend out the full course of nature liue till they bee maruelous old farte exceeding mans ordinary frayltie They neuer sleepe in the day time and but part of the night neyther for they ris● exceeding early Their buildings bee meane and lowe and their victualls alwayes alike they haue great store of Apples but no Vines They honor Hercules as their God Their Kings are elected as well by the voyces of the commons as by the nobility for the peoples care is to choose one of great clemencie and vnprooueable manners and such a one as is well striken in yeares and withall that hath no children for he which is a father is not there admitted to be a King be he neuer so good and vertuous and if the King at any time during his raigne hap to haue a child he is therefore instantly deposed and depriued of all Princely iurisdiction and this they doe for because they will not haue their kingdome become hereditary Moreouer bee their King neuer so iust and vpright yet will they not commit the absolute gouernment wholy into his hands for to the end he should not be sole Iudge in capitall causes there be forty Rectors or Guides annexed vnto him as his assistants and if the iudgement of the King and his forty assistants seeme partiall or distastfull to any one he may from them appeale to the people who haue likewise seuenty Iudges allowed them for the determining of such causes as come to them by way of appeale and the sentence that is pronounced by these seuenty Iudges must of necessity stand inuiolable The King in his apparell differeth much from the people and if he be found guilty of any offence