A VEry profitable treaTISE MADE BY M. IHON Caluyne declarynge what great profit might come to al christendome yf there were a regester made of all Sainctes bodies and other reliques which are aswell in Italy as in Fraunce Dutchland Spaine and other kingdomes and countreys Translated out of Frenche into English by Steuen Wythers 1561. ¶ Set furth and authorised according to the Queenes Maiesties Iniunctions ¶ Prynted at London by Rouland Hall dwellyng in Goldyng lane at the sygne of the thre arrowes A very necessary TREATISE OF THE BOdyes and reliques of Sainctes and martyrs SAinct Augustine in the booke which he entituled Of the labour of Monkes complayning of certaine trifle bearers who already in hys time did exercise a most vilainous filthy kynd of cariyng hyther and thether reliques of martyrs addeth yea yf they be reliques of marters By the which word he signifieth that euen then the abuse and deceyt herein was committed in making the poore simple people to beleue that bones gathered here there were the bones of saynctes But seing the originall of this abuse is of such antiquitie it is not to be doubted but that it hath ben in the meane while by so long continuaunce of time greatly multiplied especially seyng the worlde since that tyme is merueylouslye corrupted and hath declined from worse to worse euen vntill it be come to the extremitie in the which we see it Nowe the first vice as it were the roote of this euill hath bene this that in stede of seking Christ in his worde in his sacraments and his spirituall graces the world accordyng to the olde wont therof hath bene occupied in the renewing of his garmentes shyrtes and other lyke cloutes and in so doing hath left the principall to folowe the accessary In like maner hath it done concernyng the apostles martyrs and other sainctes For in steade of imitating their liues to folowe their examples it hath ben geuen wholly to contemplate and reserue as a treasure their bones shyrtes girdles cappes and other lyke baggage and trifles I knowe righte well that thys hath a certaine kinde and colour of good deuotion and zeale whylest some alledge that they kepe the reliques of Iesus Christ for the honor they beare to him for the intent to haue a better memorie of him so likewise of the saincts but we must consider that which sainct Paule sayeth that all seruyce of God inuented by mans braine what shew so euer it hath of wisdome is not withstanding but vanitie and folishnes yf it haue not a better and more sure grounde then our seming or iudgement Moreouer it behoued to waigh the profyte that myghte comme thereof with the danger and in so doing it woulde haue bene founde to haue bene very litle profitable or altogether superfluous vaine to haue the reliques in such sorte and contrariwise it is verye harde or altogether impossible that therby men shoulde not decline by lytle and litle to ydolatry For man can not kepe himself in the beholdyng and handling of them but he will also honor them and in honoring them there is no measure but incontinent life that is attributed vnto them the which apperteyneth onely to Iesus Christ So then to speake briefly as the thing is the desire to haue reliques is almost neuer without suspition and that worse is it is the mother of ydolatry which is ordinarely connexed and ioyned therwith Euery man doeth confesse that the cause that moued oure Lord to hyde the body of Moyses was for feare least the people of Israell shoulde abuse it in worshippyng of it Now it behoueth to vnderstande that that which hath bene done in one sainct is done in al the rest seyng that there is one selfe same reason touching all although we leaue to speake of the saynctes here yet let vs marke what sainct Paule sayeth euen of Iesus Christ himselfe for he protesteth not to know him any more according to the fleshe after his resurrection admonishyng by these wordes that all that is carnall in Iesus Christ oughte to be forgotten and set aside to the ende to applye and set our affection to seke and possesse him according to the spirite Now then to pretende that it is a goodly thyng to haue some memoriall as well of hym as of the sainctes for to styrre vp to deuotion What is this els but a false cloke to paint out our folishe and vayne desier whiche is grounded on no reason And when this reason shoulde seme to be sufficient yet for so much as it dothe manifestlye repugne to that which the holye gost hath pronunced by the mouth of sainct Paul what wold we haue more Although it be not now nedefull to dispute longe vpon this poynct to wit whether it be good or euill to haue reliques for to kepe them only as precious thynges wythout worshippynge them For euen as we haue sayde experience sheweth that the one is almost neuer with out the other In the oration of the death of Theodosius It is very trew that sainct Ambrose speaking of Helene mother to the Emperour Constantine who with great payne and great expences soughte the crosse of our Lorde sayeth that she worshipped only the lord that had hanged thereon and not the wodde But it is a very rare thing to haue the hart addicted to any kinde of reliques whatsoeuer they be that one do not by by defile polute himselfe wyth some kynde of superstition I grant that men do not com incontinently or at the first to manifest Idolatrie but by litle and litle thei com frō one absuse to another euen vntyll they fall to the extremitie So much there is that the people that name themselues Christians are come euen to this poynte that they haue in this case committed as great ydolatrye as euer did the heathen For they haue bowed them selues and kneled before the reliques euen as before god They haue lyghted candles and torches in sygne of homage and honour They haue put their trust in them they haue had theyr refuge to them as though the vertue and grace of God had bene enclosed in them If ydolatry consist in transferryng the honor of God to others shall we denye this to be ydolatry Neither must we excuse the matter in sayinge that it hath ben a disordinat zeale of certaine rude and folishe people or of simple women For it hath bene a general disorder approued of them which had the guydynge and gouernement of the churche And likewise thei haue placed the bones of the dead and all other reliques vpon the high aulter and on highest and most euident places to the end to make them with more authoritie honoured Beholde then howe the beginning of this folishe curiositie that men haue had in tymes paste to make a treasure of Reliques is come euen to thys most manifest abhomination that not only men haue turned thē selues altogether frō god for to occupy their minds on vayne and corruptible things
with great assuraunce al these antiquities which the poore Idolatours that be about vs thynke that they haue What is to be iudged betwen the one and the other We shall saye the reliques were broughte vs frō those countreys The Christians that yet remain ther affirme that they haue them and deride our folyshe bostyng How should one decide thys processe without an inquisition which can not be made nor neuer wil be made wherfore the only remedy is to leaue the thyng as it is not caryng neither for the one part nor for the other The laste reliques that appertain to Iesus Christ are those that they haue had since his resurrection as a morsell of a broyled fyshe which sainct Peter presented him when he appeared to hym on the border of the sea We must nedes say that it was wel spiced or that it was merueylously well soussed that it coulde be preserued so long a time But withoute laughter it is to be thought that the Apostles made a relique of the fishe which they had prepared for their dynner Whosoeuer shall not see that this is a manifest and open mockedge of God I leaue him as a beast which is not worthye that one shoulde teache hym anye further Ther is also the miraculous blood which issued out of the cake Gods as at Paris in sainct Iohns churche at Dion at Sainct Iohn the Euangelists church and elles where in many places And to the ende they might make the heape more greater they haue ioyned thereto the holye penknife where with our maister of Querne was not content but did reproch them that thei were worse then Iewes For asmuche as they did worship the knife that had bene an instrument to violate the precious bodye of Iesus Christe The which I alledge because as much might be sayde of the speare nayles and thornes That is that al they that worshyppe them according to our mayster of Quernes sentence are more wycked then the Iewes who crucified our Lord. Likewise they shewe the forme and prynt of his fete where he marched whē he appeared to certaine of his disciples after his ascention as there is one at Rome in Sainct Laurence church in the place where he met Sainct Peter when he foreshewed him that he shoulde suffer at Rome Another at Poiters at S. Raguonde another at Soison an other in Arles I dispute not weather Iesus Christ coulde haue imprinted the fourme and fashion of his fete on a stone But I only dispute of the facte and I saye that seyng there is no lawfull probation hereof all this ought to be coūted for a fable But the most beastly relique of this kynde is the forme of his hippes which is at Reins in Champania vpon a stone behynd the hyghe aultare And they saye that thys was done at such tyme as oure Lorde became a Mason for to buylde their church porche This blasphemie is so execrable that I am ashamed to speake any more thereof Let vs then passe further and let vs se what is said of his images I mean not of them which are comonly made by painters stonegrauers or Ioyners for the number of them is infinite but of those which haue a certayn special dignitie for to be kept and contende with some singularitie as reliques Now hereof there are two sortes Some were made miraculouslye As that whiche is shewed at Rome in Sayncte Maries churche that they call in Poeticu Item another at S. Iohn of Latrans Item another wherein is drawen his picture at the age of .xii. yeres Item that of Lukes which the saye was made by the angels which thei cal vultus sanctus These are such fonde vayne fables that it semeth to me it shoulde be lost labour yea that it should be rediculous and folishe if I dyd occupy my selfe therein Wherefore it sufficetth to haue noted them by the way for men knowe ryghte well that thys is not the exercise or vocation of angels to to be paynters and that our lorde Iesus wyll otherwise be knowen of vs and brought into oure remembraunce then by carnal images Eusebius in dede writeth in the Ecclesiasticall historie that he sent a lyuelye Printe of hys visage to kynge Abagarus but this is as certaine and of as much credit as one of kyng Melusines commandementes in his chronicles and folishe that the most part count this as certaine as the Ghospel I place also in this ranke the crucifixes that haue spoken wherof the multitude is great but let vs be content with one for an example To witte with that of sainct Denis in Fraunce It spake saye they for to beare witnesse that the church was dedicated I leaue it to be cōsidered whether the thing were worthe so much But yet I aske them howe is it that the crucifix could be then in the Church seing that when men wil dedicate them they remoue all the Images howe stale it then away or hide it selfe to the ende it myght not be caried awaye with the others we must neades saye that they thoughte to deceaue the world at their pleasure seing that they haue not cared manifestly to contrarye them selues but that it hathe suffysed them to lye with open mouth not regardinge what men mygth reply agaynst them There remaineth last of all the teares wherof one is at Vandosme one at Trier one at saynct Maxymyn one at sainct peters in Orleans besydes them that I knowe not Some as they say are naturall as that of sainct Maximin which according to their Chronicles fell from our Lord Iesus whilest he washed his Apostles fete the residue are miraculous As thoughe it were to be beleued that the woden crucifixes were so greued or sorowful that they shoulde weape But we must pardē them this faught For they were ashamed that theyr Idolles shoulde not doe asmuch as those of the heathen Nowe the heathen haue fained that theyr Idolles did wepe certain times Wherfore we maye right well put them together As concerning the viergen Mary forsomuch as they holde that her bodye is no more in yearthe the meane for to bost themselues to haue her bones is taken awaye From them Otherwise I thynke they woulde haue made the world beleue that she had had a body sufficent to fell a great poudryng fatte Moreouer they haue venged them selues vpon her heare and on her milke for to haue some parte of her bodye There is of her heare at Rome at sainct Maries Churche vpon miuerne at sainct Sauiour ī Spaine at Mascon at Cluny at Noers at sainct Flour at S Iaqueries and in many others places touching the mylke is not nowe nead full to number the places where ther is of it neither shuld we come to any ende therof for their is not so littell a towne nor so wicked a conuent be it of monckes or be it of Nones wher some percell therof is not showed some more some lesse not that they were not ashamed to bost thēselues to haue had holle potte
As much is of the head of Mary Magdeline which is showed nere the towne of Marseilles wyth the morsel of past or ware that is fastened vpon her eye Men do make a treasure of her as it were a god descended from heauen but if a trial wer made of things men might clearely finde the deceyt and craft It wer then a thing to be desired to haue a certentie of al the trifles that men kepe heare and there for reliques or at the least to haue a regester of thē to shew how many falshodes there are But seyng this is not possible to be done I wishe to haue onely the Inuentory of ten or twelue townes as of Paris Thoulous Raines and Poiters yf I had but onely these yet neuerthelesse men shoulde see a meruelous great swarme or at the least a confused heape And it is a wishe that I haue many times desired that I might recouer suche an Inuentory neuertheles for so much as that would also be hard for me to doe I thought it much better in the ende to giue this lytle aduertysement which foloweth To the ende to awake them that slepe and to make them thynke what may be sayd of the whole number when that in so very a lytle a portion there is founde so much abuse I meane when there shall be founde so much vntrueth in those Reliques whiche I shall name the which is almost not the thousande parte of that which is shewed and sene what maye one thynke of the residue Moreouer if it apear that those which were counted and estemed for the moste certayne haue bene fraudulently inuēted and counter feyted what maye men thynke of those that are more doubtfull And woulde to god that Christen Princes would somewhat thinke vpon thys For it were their office and dutye not to suffer theyr pore subiects to be so deceiued not onely by false doctrine but visibly in makynge them beleue as the Prouerbe sayeth that Rammes bladders are lanternes for they shall make accounte before God for their dissimulyng yf seing and beholdyng the same they kepe silence and it shall be dearely solde them to haue permitted men to mocke God where as they myght haue remedied the same How soeuer it be I trust that this lytle treatise shal serue al geuing euery one occasion to thinke with himselfe that which the tytle importeth that is yf there were a regester made of all the reliques of the worlde that men should clearly see how they haue bene deceyued and blynded heretofore and what darkennes and ignoraunce hath bene throughoute the whole earth Let vs begynne then at Iesus Christe of whome because they coulde not saye that they had the naturall body for concerning hys miraculous body they haue found such meanes to forge it and that in such number and at all times as often as semed good to them they haue gathered in stede therof thousands of other trifles to supplye this want Although yet not withstanding they haue not to let the bodye of Iesus Christ escape without retaynyng some lytle gobbet thereof For besides the teath and the heare the Abbey of Charour in the diosis of Poiters vanteth it selfe to haue the prepuce that is to saye the foreskyn that was cut from him in the circumcision I prai you from whence came this skinne vnto them Sainct Luke the Euangelist reciteth very well that our Lord Iesus was circumcised but that the skinne was locked vp to be reserued for a relique he maketh no mencion at all All the auncient histories speake neuer a worde thereof And for the space of fiue hundred yeres it was neuer spoken of in the Christian churche Where is it then that it was hidden for to be founde agayne so sodenly Moreouer howe coulde it flye vnto Charour But for to proue it to be that thyng they say that certain droppes of bloode fell from it This is their saying which had nede of probation Wherefore a man maye well see that it is but a plaine mockery or delution Yet neuerthelesse although that we shoulde graunte them that the skynne that was cut from Iesus Christ was kepte and that it might be either there or els where What should we sai of the foreskinne which is shewed at Rome at Sainct Iohn of Latrans It is most certain that there was neuer but one It coulde not be then at Rome and at Charour both together So then beholde a most manifest fashold and deceite There remanieth afterwardes the blood for the which there hath bene great stryfe and much dissention For many haue sayde that there was found no blood of Iesus Christ but miraculous bloode yet neuerthelesse it is shewed natural in more then an hundred places In one place certaine droppes as at Rochell in Poitou the whiche Nicodemus as they saye dyd gather in his gloue In other places violes full as at Mantone and els where in other places gobblets ful as at Rome at sainct Eustace Yea men haue not bene content to haue bloode alone but they must haue mingled it wyth water as it did issue out of his side when he was pearced on the crosse This merchandise is to be founde in the church of S. Iohn of Latran at Rome I leaue the iudgement to euery man what certentie may be had hereof And namelye whether this be not a manyfest lye to say that the blood of Iesus Christ hath bene founde seuen or eyghte hundred yeres after his death for to be shewed throughout the world seing that in the auncient churche there was neuer made mencion thereof There foloweth after that which did touche the body of our lorde Iesus or rather al that thei could gather together for to make reliques of in memorie of him in stede of hys bodye Fyrst of all the Maunger in the which he was put at the tyme of his birth is to be shewed at Rome in the church called our Ladye the greater Also in S. Paules church the clothe wherein he was wrapped although that there be some lytle part of it at S. Sauiours in Spaine Hys Cradle is also at Rome wyth the shyrte that hys mother Mary the Virgyn made hym Item in s Iames church at Rome they doe shewe the aulter on the whiche he was set in the temple in the time of his presentacion as though there had then bene dyuers aulters as they make in the Papistrie as manye as they wyll So herein they lie without colour or cloke Beholde what thynges they haue had for the time of Christes childhode It is now not nede full to dispute muche where it is that they haue founde all this baggage so longe a tyme synce the death of Iesus Christ For there is none of so litle iudgement that doth not see their foly Throughout the whole historie of the gospell there is not so muche as one worde mencioned of these thynges In the tyme of the Apostles it was neuer harde once spoken of Aboute fyftye yeares after the death of Christ Iesus
at Dise When they were not in vsage at the least such as we haue it now in our time for in steade of sixe and ace and other poynctes they had certayne markes which thei named by theyr names as Venus or dogge Now let thē that wyll go kisse the reliques in credite of so loude playne and manifest lyers It is time to entreat of the head shete wherein they haue yet more plainly shewed as wel their impudencie as their folyshenes for besides the heade shete of the veronicque which is shewed at Rome in Sainct Peters church and the kercher that the virgyn Mary as they say put about the priuy membres of our Lord which is shewed at Sainct Iohn of Latrans The whiche is also at the Augustines of Carcossone Item the cloth that was put vpon his head in the sepulchre whiche likewise is shewed there There are halfe a dousen townes at the leaste that doe boaste to haue whole wyndynge shete of the sepulchre As Nice it was transported from Chamberie thither Item Aix in Dutchlande Item at Traicte Item at Besanson Item at Cadoin in Limosine Item a towne of Lorraigne standyng vpon the porte of Assois Besides the peces that are disparsed from one side to another As at Sainct Sauiours in Spaine and at the Augustins of Albie I leaue oute yet a whole windyng shete which is at Rome in a monestarie of women because that the Pope dyd forbyde to shew it solemnlye I praye you hath not the worlde bene merueylouslye enraged to trot a hundred or sixe score legues longe wyth greate charges and great paynes for to see a cloute of the which they coulde haue no certentie but rather wer constrayned to dout thereof for whosouer estemeth or iudgeth the windyng shete to be in one certaine place he maketh all the others false which boste that they haue it As for example he that beleueth that the cloth of Chamberie is the right windynge shete he condemneth those of Besanson of Aix of Cadoin of Trier and of Rome as lyers and as them that wickedly make the people commit Idolatrye in deceyuyng them and making them beleue that a prophane cloth is the winding shete wherein theyr redemer was wrapt Let vs nowe come to the gospell for it wer but a smal matter for them to accuse one another of a lye but the holy ghost speakynge agaynst all doeth confounde them altogether aswell one as another Fyrst of all it is much meruaile that the Euangelistes make no mencion of this portrature that touched the face of IESVS CHRIST with a kercher seing they make mencion of all the women that did accompany hym to the crosse It was a right notable thyng and worthy to be regestred that the face of Iesus Christ should be miraculouslye imprinted in a lynnen clothe contrarywyse it semeth that it is but a matter of small importance to saye that certayne women dyd accompanye Iesus Christ to the crosse without there had chaunsed some miracle to them How is it then that the Euangelistes rehearse smale thynges and of lytle importance holdyng their peece and makynge no mencion of principall thinges Truly if such a miracle had bene done as some make men to beleue we muste needes accuse the holye ghost of forgetfulnesse or lacke of discretion that he could not chuse prudently that which was moste expedient for to be reported Thus much be spoken touchyng the veronicque shete to the end that men might know what an euident and manifest lye it is which they wold persuade the simple in Moreouer concerning the windyng shete in which the body was wrapped I aske them a like question the Euengelestes recite diligently the miracles that were done at the death of Iesus Christ and do leaue nothinge out that appertaineth to the historie howe is it then that thys escaped them that they speake neuer a worde of so excellent a miracle To wit that the printe of the body of our Lord Iesus dyd remaine in the lynnen cloth wherein he was buried This if it had bene so was as worthy to be spoken of as manye other things Yea the holy Euangelist sainct Iohn declareth howe that Sainct Peter beyng entred into the sepulchre saw the linnen clothes of the sepulchre the one of one side the other on the other syde but that there was anye miraculous portrature he maketh no mencion And it is not to be thought or presumed if there had ben any such matter that he wold haue suppressed such a worke of God There is yet another dout to be obiected that is that the Euangelists make no mencion that any of the disciples or of the faythfull women did cary awaye the shetes wherof the question is out of the scripture but rather they giue vs to vnderstand that they left them there although they playnely expresse not the same Nowe the sepulchre was kept with the souldiours Who afterwardes had the shete in their owne power Is it to be supposed or thought that they gaue it some faithfull man or woman for to make reliques of Seinge the Pharises had corrupted them for to make them forsweare them selues saying that the disciples had stolne the bodye I leaue to reproue them of falsehode euen by the very sight of the pictures that they shew For it is easie to be sene that they were payntinges made by mans hande And I can not merueyll ynough fyrst howe they were such blockheads that they had no better fetch for to deceyue and much more how the worlde hath bene so doltishe for to suffer it selfe to be blinded in such sort that it could not see so euident a thyng Moreouer they haue well declared that they had the painter at commaundement For when one wyndyng shete was burned there was alwayes another found the next daye They woulde notwithstandynge saye that it was the selfe same that it was before the which miraculouslye was saued from the fyre but the pryntyng was so freshe that the lye auayled nothyng if there had bene eies for to haue sene and to behold But yet to make an ende wyth There is a paremptorye reason by the which they are all together conuinced of their impudencye In all places where as they saye they haue the holye winding shete thei showe a greate shete whiche did conuer all the body with the head and their in is to be sene the printe of a body togeather al in one pece Nowe the Euangelyste S. Iohn saithe that Iesus Christ was buried accordinge to the maner of the Iewes And what their maner was one maye not onely vnderstande it by the custume that the Iewes obserue yeat to this daye but also by their bookes whiche sufficiently declare the auncient custume that is to binde the body a parte euen to the shoulders after to wrappe the heade in a kerchere bindinge it at the foure corners The which also the Euangeliste expresseth whan he sayethe that sainct Petter sawe the linnen clothes of one side wherein the body hade bene
Auergne At the leaste it is nedeful they shoulde consult together for some good remedye that their lyes maye not be so much discouered as the Chanons of Trier haue done with them of Lieg touchyng the head of sainct Lambert for they haue geuen a certaine summe of money for the interest of the offerings to the ende they should not publikly shew them for feare least men should be astonished to see them in two townes so neare together But it is as I haue said in the beginning thei haue neuer thoght or loked for to haue any that should controle them who durste be so bolde as to open his mouth for to declare and shew their impudencie One might aske how these relique Iugglers seyng that they haue so vainlye curiously imagined al that hath come in their braines and in blowyng haue forged what soeuer hath pleased them haue left behind them and forgotten the notable thinges of the olde testament To this I know not what to answer but that thei haue despised them because that thei hoped for no great profit of theÌ„ But yet they haue not all together forgotten them for at Rome at S. Maries aboue Minerue they saye they haue the bones of Abraham Isac and Iacob At sainct Iohn of Latrans thei boste to haue the arcke of the couenant with Aarons rodde and yet neuerthelesse this rod is also at the holy chappell of Paris and they of Sayncte Sauiours in Spayne haue a certaine piece Moreouer besides this thei of Burdeaur affirme that the rod of sainct Mertial which is shewed ther in S. Seuerins church is the self same of Aaron It semeth that thei woulde haue made a new miracle to enuye god with for as this rod was turned in to a serpent by his vertue euen so nowe thei haue coÌ„uerted it into thre rods It may wel be that thei haue many other monakles of the olde testament but this wherof we haue spoken suffiseth to declare that they haue as largely delt with this parte as with al the rest I now pray thee reader to be mindfull of that which I haue saide in the beginninge That is that I haue not had commissioners for to visit the reliques of al the countreys whiche I haue here before mencioned Wherefore that whiche I haue said must not be taken or counted as a ful and perfect regester or inuentory of all that may be founde For I haue named but onelye aboute halfe a dousen Townes of Doutchelande I haue named but thre of Spaine as farre as I know Of Italye aboute the numbre of fyftene Of Fraunce from thyrtye to fourtye And yet of those haue I not spoken all that is to be sayde in that behalfe Let euerye one then coniecture in himself what a heape nuÌ„bre it shuld be if one shuld orderly place the multitude of reliques that are through out al christendom I mean only the countreys that we know where as we vse to trauail For the principal is to note that all the reliques that they do shew in these countreys of Iesus Christ and of the prophetes men shal find them aswel in Grecia and in Asia and in other regions where as there are Christian churches But I nowe aske that seing the orientall christian churches say that all that we thinke we haue here with vs is with them what resolution or assurance one may haue thereof If one shuld contrary them alledging that such a sainctes bodie was brought away by marchantes another by monks another by a bishop one part of the crown of thornes was sent to a king of Fraunce by the emperour of Constantinoble the other part conquered by war so of al the other pieces thei would nodde and lifte their heades in mockage Howe shall one auoyde these quarelles For in a doutfull matter it is requisite to Iudge by coniectures Nowe in so doyng they shoulde alwayes wynne the vpper hand for that which thei haue to sai for theyr part is more lyke to be trewe then all that one can pretende of the partie on this side It is a troublesome and angry matter to intermedel for them that woulde defende reliques For to make an ende I pray and exhort all readers in the name of God to employ them selues to vnderstaÌ„d the trueth whilest that it is so manifest and openly shewed them acknowledge that this is done by a singuler prouidence of God that they who woulde haue in suche sorte deceyued the poore worlde haue bene so blynde that they haue not considred or thoughte howe they myght haue had better hid and couered their lies but as the Madianites who hauyng their eyes pulled out were at strife and varience the one agaynst the other So we see that they make war against them selues and mutuallye belye the one the others Whosoeuer wil not harden thâ—â—r heartes to repugne against al reason and truth Albeit that he be not fullye instructed or persuaded in him self that it is execrable Idolatrie to worshippe any kinde of relique what so euer it be yet neuerthelesse he seing so euident falsheade shall neuer haue the heart so much as to kisse any one of them and what deuotion so euer he hath had to them before it shall be fullye and altogether extinguished The principall should be as I haue sayd in the beginning to abolishe amongest vs christians this heathenly superstition of canonising the reliques aswell of Iesus Christe as of his saincts for to make idols This kind of doinge is a filthy polution the which ought in no wise to be suffered in the church We haue already showed by what reasons and witnesses of the scripture it shuld be so If any be not coÌ„tent or satisfied therwith let him consider the vse of the auncient fathers to the end to confirme him self after their examples There hath bene many holy patriarches many prophetes many godly kings other faithfull in the old testament God had ordeyned more ceremonies in that tyme then we ought to haue in our tyme Yea it was requisite that the buriyng places shoulde be more gorgeouslye and fairer made then now for to represent by figure and shadowe the glorious resurrection for so much as it was not so clerely reueiled by word as we haue it doe we read that they haue plucked the bodies of sainctes out of their sepulchres for to make puppies of them Abraham the father of al the faithfull was he euer taken vp Sara also Princesse in the Churche of GOD hath she bene taken oute of her graue Haue not they lefte them at rest with all the other saynctes Moreouer Moyses bodye was not it hydde by the wyll of God so that men could neuer finde it Hath not the deuil foughten against the angels as sainct Iude saieth Wherefore is it that the lorde hath hyd it from mans sight and the deuil would there again place it It is as euery one doth confesse that God would take from his people of Israell the occasion of Idolatrie The deuil on the contrary part would establishe it But some will say the people of Israel were inclined to superstition I aske what we are is there not without comparison more peruersitie amongest the christians concerning this matter then euer was amongest the Iewes Let vs consyder what was done in the auncient churche I graunt you the faithfull haue alwayes taken paines to withdraw the bodies of Martyrs for that they should not be eaten of dogges or beasts or byrdes haue honestly buried them as we reade both of S. Iohn Baptist and of sainct Steuen But this was done for to bury them in the earth for to leaue them there vntyll the daye of the resurrection and not for to place them in mans syght for men to knele before them This wycked pompe of canonisyng them was neuer broughte into the church vntyll such tyme as all was peruerted and as it were prophaned partly by the beastlinesse of the priestes and pastors partly by their couetousnes partly also because thei could not resist the custome after that it was receyued And partly in that the people did seeke to be abused in setting their mindes rather on childishe playes then on the true worshippynge of God Therefore that which hath bene ill begon and established against all reason oughte to be clean abolished who so wil rightly correcte the abuse But if one can not come at the first to thys vnderstanding at the lest let him come by litle and litle and let him open his eyes for to discerne what the reliques are that they do shewe Nowe this is not harde to be sene to them that wyll vnderstand For amonge so manye euident lyes as I haue mencioned where shall a man chose one true relique of the which he may be certainly assured Moreouer this is in a maner nothing which I haue touched in value of that which remaineth Yea in the meane time as this boke was a printing one dyd shew me of the third foreskyn of our lord Iesus which is shewed at Heldeshem whereof I had made no mencion There is an infinite number of such like Finally the visitation of them would disclose and vncouer yet an hundred times more then al that one could say or speake therof So then let euery one particulerly take hede that he suffer not hymself as a beast to be drawen or led after his own braine not perceyuing neither way nor meanes for to haue any grounde I remembre that which I haue sene done to the idols of our countrey being at that time a litle child When sainct Steuens day drew nere one did aswell trym the hattes and images of the tirauntes that stoned him for so thei are called in coÌ„moÌ„ language as his image The poore simple women seing the tyrantes so decked and set in order toke them for Sainct Steuens felowes and so euery one of them had their candell And moreouer this was done to the diuell Sainct Mibell So is it of the relique for all is so mingled and confused that one can not worshyp the bone of a Marter but he shall be in danger to worship the bones of some certaine Murtherer or thefe or els of an asse or of a dog or of a horsse neither can one worshyp our ladyes ringes or her comme or girdell but one shall be in danger of worshipping the ringes of some certaine hoore Wherefore take hede of the danger who so will for none from hense forth can pretende any excuse of ignoraunce FINIS