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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

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receiued his griefe must be so hearty effectual as he must thereby assuredly hope to bee reconciled againe vnto God then must he humbly acknowledge and make verball recitall vnto some reuerent priest his confessor as vnto the vicar and minister of God of al thse sins offences as were causers of the losse of that innocency stirred vp the wrath of God against him then let him firmly beleeue that such power and authority is giuen by Christ vnto his priests ministers on earth that they can cleerely absolue him from al such sins as he confesseth is heartily sory for Lastly for a satisfaction amends for al his sins let him with alacrity cheerefulnes vndergo do whatsoeuer his confessor shall enioyne him beleeuing most stedfastly that he is absolued from al his sins as soone as the priest hath pronounced the words of absolution 7 The seuenth and last Sacrament is the Sacrament of extreame vnction which is ministred with oyle which for that purpose is yeerely consecrated and hallowed in euery Diocesse by the bishop himselfe vpon the thursday before Easterday as the holy Chrisine is cōsecrated by the priest This Sacrament according to the councel of the holy Apostle Saint Iames the institutiō of Pope Felix the 4. is ministred only to such as are at the point of death of ful age and not then neither vnlesse they desire it and by the prescript form repeating of the words of the Sacramēt often inuocation of the Saints those parts of the body being annointed which are the seats of the fiue sences seeing hearing tasting smelling and touching and are the chiefest instrumēts in offending as the mouth eyes eares nose hands and feet the holy fathers haue bin euer of this opinion and firme beleefe that he which is so anointed receiueth it worthily is not only thereby remitted purged frō al his light and venial sins but is either sodenly restored to his former health or else yeeldeth vp his spirit in more tranquility and peace of conscience The festiual daies which were cōmanded to be obserued in The festiuall dayes which were commanded to be obserued in the Church throughout the yeare begin with the Aduent of our Lord Iesus Christ In which by the institution of Saint Peter in the month of December the continuall exercise of fasting and prayer was commanded for full three weekes and a halfe together before the feast of the Natiuity of our Lord with vs called Christmas which with all ioy and solemnity is celebrated all the last eight dayes of December The yeare is deuided into 52. weekes the weekes into twelue months and euery month for the most part into thirty dayes vpon the first day of Ianuary the Church celebrateth the circumcision of our Lord according to the law of Moses Vpon the third day after is represented vnto vs how our Sauiour Christ by the adoration of the three Kings and his beeing Baptised of Iohn in the riuer Iordane laid the foundation of the new law vpon the second of February is shewed how his imaculate mother shewing her selfe obedient to the ceremonies of the Iewes presented her sonne Iesus in the Temple and was purified in memory whereof there is on that day a solemne procession vsed by the Church and all the tapers and wax lights bee then hallowed Vpon the 25. day of March is represented vnto vs the Annuntiation of the birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary by the Angel and how he was conceiued in her wombe by the inspiration of the holy ghost at which time is commended vnto vs also the remembrance of the forty daies which our Sauiour when he liued here on earth amongst vs vouchsafed to fast willing vs likewise to fast that time after his example then to celebrate his passion and death which willingly he offered himselfe to suffer to enfranchise and redeeme vs from the thraldome and slauery of the diuell Vpon the last day of which feast which often falleth out in Aprill is solemnised the greatest of all feasts how Christ hauing conquered death descended into hell where after hee had ouercome the Diuell he returned aliue againe to his Disciples and in a glorified body appeared vnto them In May is solemnized his Ascension into Heauen by his owne vertue in the sight of al his Disciples at which time by the ordinance of Saint Mamertine Bishoppe of Vienna it was instituted that throughout the whole Christian world Pilgrimages and processions should bee vsed vpon that day from one Church to an other In Iune and sometimes in May is the feast of the comming of the Holy Ghost who being before promised was on that day infused vpon all the Disciples of our Sauiour Christ appearing vnto them in the forme of fiery tongs by vertue whereof they spake and vnderstood the languages of all nations The eight day after is the feast of the blessed Trinity and then out of the first decretal of Pope Vrban the sixt the feast of Corpus Christi was instituted and with great solemnity generally celebrated the fifth day after Trinity Sunday as a perpetual memoriall of the most wholesome Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ by him bequeathed vnto vs in his last supper vnder the formes of bread and wine and continually of vs to be seene and eaten after his departure vpon the fifteenth day of Iuly wee are put in minde by a new festiuity of the departure of the blessed Apostles according to their seueral alotment the twelfth yeare after the assention of our Lord into heauen to preach the Gospell vnto all nations of the world The death of the Mother of Christ is celebrated the fifteenth day of August and her natiuity the eight of September How being presented in the Temple she continued in the dayly seruice of God from three yeares of age till shee was maryageable is shewed the one and twentih day of nouember vpon the eight day of December the Church reuerenceth her immaculate conception of her long barren parents And the second of Iuly how passing ouer the Mountaines shee visited her Cosin Elizabeth There are likewise holy-daies dedicated to the memory of the twelue Apostles of whom some were martirs some confessors and some Virgins as namely the twenty foure of February to Saint Mathias the twenty fiue of Aprill to Saint Marke the Euangelist on which day Saint Gregory ordained the litanies called the greater litanies to be said To Saint Philip and Iacob the elder the first of May to Saint Peter and Paul the twenty nine of Iune the twenty foure day of which moneth is dedicated to the natiuity of Saint Iohn Baptist the twenty fiue of Iuly to Saint Iames the younger to Saint Bartholemew the twenty foure of August to S. Mathew the twenty one of September the twenty eight of October to S. Simon and Iude the last of Nouember to Saint Andrew the twenty one of December to Saint Thomas and the twenty seauen
twy-light Mattins in the morning and their houres at the first third sixt and ninth houre of the day and that all this if it be possible should be done in the Church humbly kneeling or standing before the Altar with their faces towards the East The Lords prayer and the Apostles Creed were then vsed to be sayd as they are now at this day Saint Hierome at the instance of Pope Damasus distributed and digested the Psalmes by the dayes assigning to euery houre his proper Psalmes and their number as nine at nocturns vpon holy dayes and 12. vpon working daies for the laudes at Mattins fiue fiue at euen-song and at all other houres three and it was chiefly he that disposed and set in order the Gospels Epistles all other things which as yet be read out of the old new Testament sauing only the hymnes Damasus diuiding the Quire of singing men into two parts appointed them to sing in course the Anthemes written by S. Ambrose Bishop of Millaine added Gloria Patri to the end of euery Antheme The Toletan Agathon Councels allowed the lessons hymnes which be read before euery houre The prayers grails tracts alleluias offertories communions in the Masse anthems versicles tropes and other things sung and read to the honor of God in the office of the Masse as well for the day as night were penned by S. Gregory Gelasius Ambros and diuers others of the holy Fathers not all at once but at diuers times The Masse for so is that sacrifice called was celebrated at the first in that simple furniture and plaine manner as it is now vsed vpon Easter Eue. Pope Celestinus added the Priests manner of entrance to the altar the Gloria in excelsis was annexed by Telesphorus the hymne which begins et in terra was composed by Hillarie Bishop of Poictiers and was afterwards by Symachus ordained to be sung The salutations taken out of the booke of Ruth which the priest pronounceth 7. times in the Masse by saying Dominus vobiscum were appointed by Clement Anacletus Gelasius disposed the rest to the offertory in the Order they be now vsed except the Sequentiae which are said after the Masse and these Nicholas added the Apostles Creed which Damasus annexed vnto them out of the Constantinopolitan councell The Sermon which is preached to the people by the priest or deacon standing in a pulpit vppon holy-daies was rather vsed by tradition after the examples of Nehemias or Esdras then instituted by any other in which Sermon the people that be present at Masse bee admonished to communicate as in duty they are bound and that they should imbrace mutual loue that they should be purged from their sins not be polluted with vices when they receiue the Sacrament of the altar and for that cause he concludeth his Sermon with the publike confession of sinners he declareth moreouer vnto them the contents of the old and new Testament and putteth them in mind of the ten Commandements the twelue Articles of our beleefe the seuen Sacraments of the Church the liues and Martyrdomes of Saints the holy-dayes and fasting daies instituted and ordained by the Church the vices and vertues and all other things necessarie for a Christian to know Pope Gregory added the Offertory to the Masse and Leo the Prefaces Gelasius and Sixtus the greater and lesser Canons and Gregory the Lords prayer out of the Gospell of Saint Mathew Martial Saint Peters Disciple instituted that Bishoppes should giue the benediction and Innocentius that inferior Priests should offer the Pax Agnus Dei was adioyned by Sergius the Communion by Gregorie and the Conclusion in these wordes Ite missa est Benedicamus Domino or Deo gratias was inuented by Pope Leo. The twelue Articles of our Faith which the holy Apostles haue commanded euery one not onely to acknowledge but most constantly to beleeue be these following The first that there is one God in Trinitie the Father Almightie Maker of heauen and earth the second That Iesus Christ is his onely begotten Sonne our Lord the third that he was conceiued of the holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Mary the fourth that he suffered vnder Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried the fift that he descended into hell and the third day rose againe from the dead the sixt that he ascended into heauen and that there hee sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty the seuenth that he shall come againe in glorie to iudge both the quicke and the dead the eight that there is a holy Ghost the ninth that there is a holy Catholike Church the tenth that there is a Communion of Saints and remission of sinnes the eleuenth that there is a resurrection of the flesh and the twelfth that there is an eternall life after death in another world The tenne Commandements which were written with the finger of God and deliuered by the hands of his seruant Moses to the people of Israel and which he willed vs to obserue and keepe be these following The first to beleeue that there is one God the second not to take the name of God in vaine the third to keepe holy the Sabbath day the fourth to honour our fathers and betters the fift to do no murther the sixt not to commit adulterie the seuenth not to steale the eighth not to beare false witnesse the ninth not to couet other mens goods and the tenth not to desire another mans wife nor any thing that is his The seuen Sacraments of the Church which bee included in the last fiue Articles of our faith and which the holy Fathers haue commanded vs to beleeue be these following First Baptisme and this Sacrament heretofore as it was established by a canonicall sanction was not ministred vnto any vnlesse vpon very vrgent necessitie but vnto such as were afore-hand well instructed in the faith and sufficiently catechised and examined thereof seuen sundrie times to wit vpon certaine dayes in Lent and vppon the vigils of Easter and Penticost beeing the vsuall times for consecration in all Parishes But this Sacrament beeing aboue all the rest most necessarie vnto saluation and least any one should depart out of this life without the benefit thereof it was ordained that as soon as an infant was borne he should haue God-fathers procured for him to be his witnesses or sureties and that then the child beeing brought by his God-fathers before the church doore the Priest standing there for the purpose should demand of the child before he dippe him in the holy Font whether he will forsake the Diuell and all his pompes and whether he stedfastly beleeue all the Articles of the Christian faith and the God-fathers affirming on his behalfe the Priest bloweth three times in the Infants face and when he hath exorcized and catechized him he doth these seuen things in order vnto the child first he putteth hallowed salt into his mouth secondly hee annointeth his eyes eares and
of the same month to the Euangelist Saint Iohn the next day before Saint Iohns day is dedicated to Saint Seeuen the first Martir and the next after to the blessed Innocents the tenth of August to Saint Lawrence the twenty three of Aprill to Saint George To Saint Martin and S. Nicholas onely of all the confessors are dedicated particular feasts to the one the sixt of December to the other the eleuenth of Nouember the twenty fiue of nouember to Saint Katherne the Virgin and to Saint Mary-Magdalen the second of Iuly They haue likewise appoynted one day to be kept Holy and dedicated to all the blessed Angells in the name of Saint Michells feast the Arch-Angell and the first of Nouember as a generall feast and common solemnity to all the Saints and elect of God Furthermore vpon euery seuenth day called by the name of Sunday they haue commanded all Christians as the Iewes did on their Sabboth to abstaine from all seruile labours which day they must onely spend in the seruice of God and hearing of Masse in the Church to heare the Gospell and precepts of faith explained and taught by the Priests in their Sermons and to pray and make satisfaction to God for all such offences whereby wee haue cause to feare that wee haue in the other sixe dayes any way prouooked the wrath of God towards vs. In times past euery fift day was in this manner kept holy but least wee should seeme to leane vnto the custome of Idolaters who on that day did sacrifice to Iupiter it was otherwise determined Moreouer the Priests and people did vse euery Sunday and Thursday before Masse to goe on procession about the Church and then the Priests sprinckled holy water vpon the people and this ceremony did Pope Agapite institute in remembrance of the Ascention of Christ in that glorious day of his resurrection which is celebrated with a perpetuall festiuitie Sunday after Sunday as it were by so many Octaues all the yeare about All the Cleargie and people by the institutions of the Church were wont to watch all those nights which went before the principall solemne feasts but in respect of sundry enormous scandalls and crimes committed in the darke by lewde people vnder pretext of watching that vse was taken away and prohibited and insteed thereof the day immediatly before euery such solemne feast was commanded to bee fasted which fasting dayes doe yet retaine the name of Vigils The ancient Fathers haue determined that the Church shall represent vnto vs foure things in her yearly seruice from Septuagesima sunday so called of the seauenty dayes included between that Easter the Church representeth vnto vs the fast of our Lord Iesus Christ his passion death and buriall and besides these the miserable fall of our forefathers as also those grosse errors of mankinde through which being drawne from the knowledge and worship of the true God they haue fallen to the prophane worship of Idols and malicious diuels together with the slauish and intollerable seruitude which the people of Israel were subiect vnto vnder Pharoa King of Egipt for which cause the bookes of Exodus and Genesis are read in the seruice of the Church which all that time weareth a mourning habite both in her seruice and ceremonies from the Octaues of Easter till the Octaues of Whitsuntide the Church celebrateth the Refurrection and Ascention of Christ and the comming of the Holy Ghost and withall the redemption and reconciliation of mankind to God the Father by his sonne Christ of all which the Reduction of the children of Israell to the land of Promise was a figure wherfore the bookes of the New Testament are then read and all things expresse mirth and reioycing From the Octaues of Whitsunday till Aduent which is twenty weekes and more wee are appointed to celebrate the miracles and conuersation of our Sauiour Christ whilest hee liued amongst vs in the world as likewise that long peregrination of mankinde from generation to generation since the redemption of the world euen to the last day thereof Wherefore in respect of the multitude of vncertainties through which wee are tossed like a ship in the raging sea the Church exceedeth neither in ioy nor sadnesse but to the end that we should walke warily and be able to resist all turbulent stormes she readeth for our instruction and hartning diuerse bookes of the New and Old Testament Moreouer from the time of Aduent to the feast of the Natiuity wee are put in minde of the time betwixt Moses and the comming of the Messias in which interim mankinde beeing assured of their saluation by him out of the law and Prophets did with most ardent desire expect his comming and future raigne ouer them for which cause they haue caused the Prophets to be read and this time to be fasted that the Church being instructed in the one exercised by the other should both worthily and ioyfully as it were with one continuall solemnity celebrate the natiuity of Christ her Sauiour which alwayes falleth the weeke after Aduent till Septuagessima receiuing him into the world with all deuotion and with condigne ioy and exultation accepting the first apparance of their saluātiō The Oratories or Temples which are vsually called Churches they would not suffer to be erected without licence of the Bishop of the Diocesse whose office is after all things necessary for the buildings bee prepared and the place where it shall stand agreed vpon to blesse the first corner stone of the foundation to put on it the signe of the crosse and to lay it Eastward towards the Sunne rising which done it is lawfull for the workemen to lay on lime and to goe on with their building This Church is to bee built after the forme of mans body or of a crosse The Quire in which the high Altar is to bee placed and where the Clergie doe sing whereof it is so called must represent the head and it is to bee built towards the East and to bee made rounder and shorter then the rest of the building and because the eyes are placed in the head it is therefore to be made more lightsome and to be seperated from the body of the Church with barres as it were with a neck adioyning herevnto must stand a steeple or more properly two on eyther side one insteed of eares and in these ought bells to be hanged to call and summon the people by their sound to diuine seruice The lower part of the building must be euery way so disposed as that it may aptly expresse and represent the armes and feete and the rest of the body with a conuenient length and breadth There ought to bee also a priuate roome with partitions which is vsually built vnder one of the Turrets hauing a doore opening into the Quire in which the holy Vessels ornaments and other necessaries belonging to the Church may bee kept This priuate roome is called the Vestery There must bee two rowes of pillars
but onely to dance drinke and reuell for their manner of comming argueth little deuotion but rather an intention to brawle and quarrell for they come all well weaponed and Minstrils playing before them and often-times they fall out and goe together by the cares and part with crackt crownes The like kinde of meetings and assemblies we haue in many places of England which we call wakes Vpon Munday Tuesday and Wednesday in Rogation weeke or crosse weeke when as generall Letanies and Processions are vsed to bee said ouer all the Christian world there meete together at one Church in most parts of Franconia many crosses for by that name bee the whole company of parishioners called that goe the preambulation with the Procession and haue a banner with the signe of the crosse caried before them when many seuerall crosses or companies be mette together in one Church they sing not altogether but each seuerall company hath a seuerall quire and a seuerall place to sing by themselues The yong men and maides bee arrayed in their holy day apparell with wreaths or garlands of flowers about their heads and willow staues in their hands The Priests and Ministers of the Church stand by giuing diligent eare to their singing and which of the Quiers they thinke haue song sweetest and made the best melodie they adiudge that the other Quiers shall giue vnto them certaine bowles of Wine And vpon Whitsunday this is their order euery one which hath either a horse of his owne or can borrow one doe meete in one place and ride together to view the bounds and limits of their fields hauing with them a Priest with the body of our Lord Iesus Christ put in a pursse and hanging at his neck and all the way as they ride they sing and pray beseeching God of his great mercy to defend and preserue their corne and to send such temperate and seasonable wether as they may receiue the fruits of the earth to their comfort and sustentation Vpon Saint Vrbins day all the Vintners and maisters of Vineyards set a table either in the market steed or in some other open and publick place and couering it with fine napery and strawing vpon it greene leaues and sweete flowers doe place vpon the table the Image of that holy Bishop And then if the day bee cleare and faire they crowne the Image with great store of Wine but if the wether prooue rugged and rainie they cast filth mire and puddle water vpon it perswading themselues that if that day be faire and calme their grapes which then begin to florish will prooue good that yeare but if it bee stormie and tempestious they shall haue a bad vintage Vpon Saint Iohn Baptists day at night in euery village and streete in Germany be common fires or as wee call them heere in England bone-fires about which all the people gather together both men women and children dancing and singing and vsing many other superstitions as wearing vpon their heads garlands made of Mugwort and Veruin and flowers in their hands wreathed and pleated together in fashion of a spurre which wreathes they call military spurres and they dare not looke vpon the fire vnlesse they looke through those spurres firmly beleeuing that by that meanes their eyes be preserued all the yeare after from all paines and diseases and euery one as he goeth away throweth the garland hee wore about his head into the fire vsing this coniuration Goe thy way and burne and all my ill luck perish and burne with thee The like fashion is vsed by the Bishop of Herbipolis seruants and courtiers for they cause a great fire to bee made before the tower which standeth vpon a hill aboue the citty of Herbipolis and throw into the fire many wodden hoopes bored full of holes which when they bee all of them on a red fire they put crooked stickes into the holes of the hoopes and cunningly and forceably hoyse them vp into the ayre a great height so as they flying from the top of the hill ouer the riuer of Moganus which runneth vnder the hill seeme to bee firie Dragons to those which neuer saw the like before At the same time of the yeare their manner is to make earthen potts with so many holes in them as they will hardly hold together and these potts doe the maides buy and couer them round about with red Rose leaues and then put Candles into them and hang them vpon the toppes of the houses insteed of Lanthornes the yong men at that time bring into their villages each one a Pine tree with all the little shootes and vndermost branches lopped off and garnishing and triming the vpmost boughes with little hoopes garlands glasses and glittering rayes or plates of golde or copper they set their trees fast in the ground where they must stand all summer resembling many poles in England In Autumne when their Grapes wax ripe they gather not their Grapes one one day and an other an other day but all the owners of a Vineyard are appointed to pull their Grapes all at one time to continue pulling till they haue all done that Vineyarde for they haue not power to pluck them when they please them-selues but when they be allowed by those to whom the tithe is due And these tithe-maisters appoint such a hill of Grapes to bee got such a day and such a Vineyard such a day and their tithes be euer brought by the owners of the Vines into the valley at the hill foote but those which neglect to gather their Grapes at the time appointed ought and are inforced whether they will or no to carry the tithe into the Lords Wine-presse at their owne cost and charge But about the citty of Herbipolis the owners of tithes bee more precise for they distrusting that the Vine maisters will not tithe truly set a boy ouer euery one of them to marke their manner of tithing and to see that their maister haue his due and when haruest is done and all the Grapes gathered all those boyes meete together in the field and euery one beeing couered all ouer with strawe and a Torche or two in his hand they kindle their Torches a little before night and so come singing with their Torches burning into the citty And in this sort they say they burne and make cleane Autumne The Franconians celebrate the feast dayes of the two pillers of the Church Saint Martin and Saint Nicholas with great ioy and triumph but after a diuerse maner for the one is solemnized in Churches and Altars the other in victualing houses and tauernes and there is 〈…〉 throughout all the whole country be hee neuer so needy or neuer so niggard but vpon Saint Martins day hee will haue some roste meate or boild meat and it be but Hogs intrailes or Calues intrailes glut themselues with wine for then they tast of their new wines from which till that time they haue abstained and all their housholds drinke wine with
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
elect another Patriarch by the most voyces but it is not lawfull to elect any other than one of Alexandria and one of incorrupt manners and vntainted conuersation who being created they signe their suffrages and giue them into the Legates hands that came for that purpose he foorthwith goeth to Cayre whither when he is come he offereth that creation vnto the Patriarch of Alexandria whose seate is alwaies there to be read And when he perceiueth which of the people of Alexandria they haue elected he foorth-with sendeth the man ordained to such honors with the Legate into Aethiopia who by an old ordonance ought alwaies to be an Eremit of the Order of S. Anthony with whom the Ambassadour goeth straight into Aethiopia where he is receiued of all men with great ioy and honor in which busines somtimes is spent a yere or two in al which time precious Iohn doth dispose of the reuenues of the Patriarke according to his pleasure Now the chiefest office of the Patriarch is to giue orders which none but he can either giue or take away but he can bestow vpon none either Bishopricke or other Church-benefice this onely belongeth to precious Iohn who dispenceth of all things according to his will And the Patriarch beeing dead he whose power and yerely reuenues is the largest is made heire of the whole substance of all his goods Moreouer the office of the Patriarch is to proceed to excommunication against the stubborne the obseruation whereof is so strict as the punishment of perpetuall steruing to death is inflicted vpon the offenders Indulgences he giueth nor granteth none neither bee any interdicted the Sacraments of the church for any offence whatsoeuer be it neuer so hainous but onely for homicide the name of the Patriarchship in our speech is called Abunna but he which now executeth the office is called Marcus which was the proper name giuen him in Baptisme he is a man of an hundred yeares of age or aboue And you must note that we begin our yeare in the Kalends of September which day alwaies falleth vpon the vigill of Saint Iohn Baptist the other festiuall dayes as the Feast of the Natiuity of our Lord Easter and the rest bee celebrated with vs at the same times they be in the Roman Church And this I may not obscurely passe ouer as though it were not so that Saint Philip the Apostle did preach the Gospell and faith of our Sauiour Iesus Christ our Lord in our countrie Now if you desire to know of the name of our Emperour he is fully perswaded that hee was euer called precious Iohn and not Presbiter Iohn as is falsly bruted abrode for in one speech it is written with characters that signifie Ioannes Belull that is as much to say as precious or high Iohn and in the chaldaean tongue it is Ioannes Encoe which beeing interpreted doth signifie precious or high Iohn Neither is hee to be named Emperour of the Abyssini as Matheus hath vntruly declared but Emperour of the Aethiopians and Mathew beeing an Armenian could not throughly vnderstand our matters especially those which appertained vnto faith and Christian Religion and therefore he related many things in the presence of the most prudent and most potent king Emanuel of happy memory which with vs are nothing soe and this hee did not with a desire to speake vntruths for hee was a good man but for that hee was not throughly instructed in matters concerning our religion The succession of his Kingdomes and Empire doth not alwaies descend vpon the eldest sonne but vnto him vpon whome the father pleaseth to bestow it And hee which now gouerneth the Empire was his fathers third sonne which hee merited and obtayned by an awfull and holy reuerence to his father for when his father lay a dying he commanded all his sonnes to sit downe vpon his throne which all the rest of his children did sauing he and he refused saying God for bid that so much should be attributed vnto me that I should sit in my Lords chaire whose deuotion when his father saw hee indued him with all his Kingdomes Empire he is called Dauid the power of whose Empire as well ouer Christians as Ethnickes is large and ample wherin be many Kings and petty Kings Earles Barons and Peeres and much Nobility all which be most obedient to his command In all whose dominions there is no mony vsed but such as is brought from other places for they giue and receiue siluer and gold by weight wee haue many citties and great townes but not such as we see here in Portugall the reason whereof for the most part is that precious Ioan liueth alwaies in campes and tents which custome is vsed for this purpose that the nobility may continually excercise themselues in military affaires And this I may not omit to tell you that wee bee compasled about on all sides with the enimies of our faith with whom we haue many and euer prosperous conflicts which victories we attribute to gods diuine assistance written lawes we haue none in vse amongst vs neither be the complaints of those which sue others expressed in libells or writings but by words which is done least by the couetuousnesse of Iudges and counsellors controuersies should be protracted And this more I thinke sit to shew you that this Mathew was not sent by Dauid our Emperor vnto the most inuincible and potent King Emanuell of happy memory but by Queene Helena the Emperors wife surnamed the hand of Mary who at that time by reason of Dauids nonage tooke vpon her the gouernment of the Kingdomes being a woman without doubt most prudent and holy And the same Helen as shee was excceeding well learned writ two bookes in the Chaldean tongue one of the which is called Enzera Chebaa that is to say praise God vpon the Organes and instruments of Musicke in which booke shee disputeth very learnedly of the Trinitie and of the virginity of Mary the mother of Christ The other booke is called Chedale Chaay that is to say the sonne beame contayning very acute disputations of the law of God All these things concerning our faith religion and state of our country I Zaga Zabo by interpretation the grace of the father both Bishop and Preest and Bugana Raz that is Captaine Knight and Veceroy of the Prouince haue declared which I could not deny at your request my most deere Sonne in Christ Damianus nor yet any other man desiring to be instructed there in neither is it lawfull to deny it for two causes the first whereof is for that I am commanded by my most mighty Lord Precious Iohn Emperor of the Aethiopians to satisfie euery one that demandeth of me concerning our faith religion and prouinces that I should conceale nothing but faithfully declare vnto them the truth of al things both by words and writing the other reason is for that I deeme it very fitting and labour well spent that our names customes and ordinances and
vppon the toppes whereof the roofe must rest and bee supported and the Altars must leane to the lower parts The Altars are alwayes to bee decently couered with two linnen clothes hauing a crosse set vpon them or a shrine containing the Relicks of Saints two Candlesticks on each end and a booke The walls both within and without must bee fretted and carued with variety of sacred Images In euery parish Church there must be a hollow Font stone in which the hollowed water to baptize withall is preserued and kept Vpon the right side of the Altar must stand a Pix or Custodia which is either set vp against the wall or carued out of it in which the blessed sacrament of Christs body holy oyle to annoint the sick Chrisme for those which are baptised is to be kept fast shut vppe Furthermore in the midest of the Church must be placed a pulpit out of which the Curat on festiuall dayes teacheth the people all things necessary to saluation The Cleargie onely are permitted to sit in the Quire and the laitie in the body of the Church yet so deuided as that the men take place on the right side and the women on the left both of them behauing them-selues modestly and deuoutly and diligently auoyding whatsoeuer is opposite to good manners and Christian religion In the Primitiue Church the manner was both for men and women to suffer their haire to grow long without cutting and to shew their naked brests nor was there much difference in their attire Saint Peter the Apostle did first command that men should cut their hayre and women should couer their heads and both should bee apparelled in distinct habites That there should bee layde out to euery Church a peece of ground in which the bodyes of Christian people deceased should be buried which peece of ground is called the Church-yard and is hallowed by the Bishop and hath all the priuiledges belonging to the Church it selfe The funeralls of the departed are not solemnized in all places alike for some weare mourning apparell seauen dayes together some nine others thirty some forty some fifty some an hundred and some for the space of a whole yeare The Toletan Councell hath decreed that the dead body shall be first washed and wraped in a shrowd or sear-cloth and so carried to the graue with singing by men of the same condition as Priests by Priests and lay folkes by lay folke and that a Priest should goe before the coarse incensing it with Franckincence and sprinckling holy water on it and that it should bee laide in the graue with the face vpwards the feete to the East and the head to the west the Priest vsing certaine imprecations all the while the Sexton is couering the dead body with earth And to shew that a Christian is their buried their must be erected at the gate a crosse of wood with a wreath of Iuy cypresse or bayes about it And these bee the institutions of the Christian religion The end of the second booke THE THIRD BOOKE Of the most famous countries of Europe the third booke CAP. 1. NEXT vnto Asia order induceth mee to speake of Europe the third part of the world which is so called of Europa the daughter of Agenor King of Phaenicia who was rauished by Iupiter brought into Creet It is bounded on the West with the Atlanticke sea with the Brittish Ocean on the North on the East with the riuer Tanais the poole of Maeotis and the sea called Pontus which is the Sea betweene Moeotis and Tenedos and with the Mediterranean Sea on the South The soyle of Europe is of diuerse sorts and qualities very aptly befitting the vertue and disposition of the people of each seuerall Prouince euery one transferring the commodities of their owne countries vnto other nations for Europe is all habitable some little part onely excepted which by reason of the extremity of colde can hardly bee indured which is that part that is neerest vnto the riuer Tanais and the poole of Meotis as also those that dwell vpon the banckes of Borysthenes which liue altogether in Chariots That habitablest part of the Region which is also extreame cold and mountanous is very hardly inhabited and difficult to dwell in and yet all the difficulties and extremity thereof is well mitigated and appeased by honest and good gouernors euen as wee see those Greekes which dwell vppon mountaines and rockes liue indifferently well by reason of their great care and prouidence of Ciuilitie Artes and vnderstanding how to liue The Romaines also receiuing vnto them many people out of those cragged and cold countries or vnfrequented for other causes which naturally were barbarous inhumaine and insociable haue so reclaimed them by mingling them with other people as they haue learned those rude and sauadge people to liue together soberly and ciuilly The Inhabitants of so much of Europe as is plaine and hath a naturall temperature are apt to liue orderly for those which dwell in temperate and fortunate Regions be quiet and peaceable but the rough and difficult places are inhabited by quarrellous and cumbersome people and yet all of them participate their commodities one with an another some helping and furnishing others with weapons some with fruites and some with arts and instructions of manners the inconueniences and hinderances which happen to those that vse not this reciprocal ayd is most apparant for that the other by meanes of this mutuall intercourse of commodities are of sufficient power puissance to carry weapōs wage war and defend themselues so as they bee neuer vanquished vnlesse by a greater number And this commodity also is incident and naturall to all Europe as that it is plaine and euen and distinguished with hils wherby it is in al parts limitted wel ordered ciuill and valiant and that which is more well disposed to liue in peace and tranquillity so as what first by the Grecian forces next by the Macedonians and lastly by the Romaines no maruaile though it hath atchiued great conquests and notable victories by which it plainely appeareth that Europe is sufficient of it selfe both for war and for peace as hauing a competent and sufficient number of able fighting men and husbandmen and Cittizens enough besides Evrope moreouer aboundeth with the best fruites and those which be most profitable for mans life and all manner of mettells whereof is any vse besides odors for sacrifices and stones of great worth by which commodities both poore and rich haue sufficient meanes to liue It yeeldeth also great store of tame Cattell but very few rauenous or wild beastes And this is the nature of Evrope in generall the first Particular part whereof East-ward is Greece Of Greece and of Solons lawes which hee made for the Athenians and which were after established by the Princes of Greece CAP. 2. GReece a country of Europe was so called of one Graecus who had the gouernment of that country It begineth at the straights
especially honour and adore is the Fire which they perswade themselues to be most holy and euerlasting because it is fedde with continuall fuell and there was a fire kept euer burning by the Priests vpon the top of a high hill neere vnto the Riuer Meuiasa Vladislaus King of Poland who first reduced that nation to the Christian Religion quenched that fire and ouerthrew the turret wherein it was kept together with all the woods which the people of Sarmatia held to be as holy as the fire and worshipped them with as much deuotion and Religion esteeming and accounting them to bee the dwellings and habitations of the gods according to the saying of the Poet The gods inhabited and kept the woods Nor did they worshippe and reuerence the fire and woods onely but euery other thing likewise which vsually remained and abidde in the woods as birds and wilde beasts and if any one violated and contemned their witchcrafts and Inuocation of diuels their heads and feete would incontinently close and shrinke together by the deceipt and illusion of their euill spirits Within the woods each family had a place or hearth wherein they kept a fire for all that family in which fire their custome was to burne their dead bodies with their horses saddles and best garments firmely beleeuing that in that place those which be dead and burned meet together in the night and therfore they made them settles or benches to sit vppon of Corcke tree and placed them in readines the best meath and a kind of meate made of paste like vnto a cheese for them to eate Euery yeare vppon the first day of October all the people of the whole countrey assembled and mette together in those woods and there vsing all kind of deuotion celebrated a sollemne Feast each family feeding in his owne cottage vppon the daintiest fare and most delicious viands they could get At which feast they sacrificed by the firesides vnto all their goddes and especially vnto one who me they called Percumo which in their language signifieth thunder Their language is all one with the Lithuanians and the Polonians for the Priests preach vnto the people in the Polonian tongue they obserue the Customes of the Romane Church although there be some Ruthens towards the South and Muscouites which dwell farre north which obserue the Ceremonies of the Greeke Church yeelding their obedience to the Bishoppe of Constantinople and not to the Bishop of Rome Vppon the North side of this Countrey lyeth Muscovia it is fiue hundred miles in compasse rich in siluer and vppon all sides so garded enuironed and defended with such strong holds as not only strangers but their owne natiue countrey-men be interdicted and prohibited to passe in and out at their pleasures without the Dukes letters of safe-conduct The countrie is euen and plaine no hils but great store of woods and marish grounds it is watered with many great riuers as Occa Volha Dzuvina Boristhines and Dinaper and therefore affoordeth as many fishes and wild beasts as Lithuania from which it differeth not much neither in customes nor situation sauing that it is somewhat colder because more North-ward and therefore bee their cattell little and small and for the most part halting and lame of their lims The Metrapolitane and chiefe Cittie of the Region is Moscua it is twise as bigge within the compasse of it as Prague in Bohemia the building is of timber as all their other Citties bee it hath many streetes and lanes but they stand straggling with broad fieldes betwixt them the riuer Mosca runneth through the middle of it and diuideth it into two parts and in the middest of the Cittie standeth a castell or tower builded vppon leuell ground wherein be seuenteene turrets and three bul-warkes or Blocke-houses so strong and so stately as there be but few such to bee found within this Castell bee seuenteene Churches whereof those three which be dedicated to our blessed Ladie Saint Michael and Saint Nicholas bee walled about with stone but the rest be made of timber there is also in it three large and spatious Courts for Noblemen and Courtiers to spend their time in a stately and beautifull pallace also for the Duke to dwell in builded after the Italian fashion but not very large The Countrey containeth many famous Dukedoms out of which vppon any occasion in the space of three or foure dayes they will get together in a readinesse two hundred thousand able men Their vsuall drinke is water and meath and a certaine leauened or sowre liquor which they call Quassatz they plow with woodden ploughes and harow their ground with branches of trees or thorns Their corne by reason of continuall cold ripeneth but slowly and therefore they drie it in hote houses and so thresh it Against the extremitie of cold they vse diuers spices and make a kind of water to drinke of oates hony and milke so strong that they will sometimes be drunke with it Wine and oyle they haue none and to auoide drunkennesse the Gouernour of the countrey forbiddeth the drinking of all strong drinkes vppon paine of death except twise or thrice in a yeare and then it is tolerable for them to be drunke They haue siluer coyne of two sortes a bigger and a lesser it is not made round but somewhat long and with foure corners This coyne they call Dzuvingis They speake the Slauonian language and in religion follow the Greeke Church Their Bishops bee vnder the Patriarch of Constantinople and by him bee confirmed They be all Christians sauing the Kosannenses which worship Mahomet like the Sarrasins there dwell some Scythians also towards the North which speake their owne language and worship Idolles and one Idoll aboue the rest which they call Zlota baba that is to say the image of an old woman made of gold this Idoll they do so highly reuerence and adore as euery one that passeth by it falleth downe and worshippeth it offering thereunto a haire from their garments if they haue nothing else to offer And although the Slauonian toung be generally spoken throughout the whole nation yet is there so great difference in their speech it beeing so mixt confounded and corrupted with other languages as they can hardly vnderstand one another In the time of Idolatrie they had one high Priest or Bishop which they called Criue his dwelling was in the cittie Romoue so called of Roma And this custome was generall to all the whole nation not onely to sell their seruants and slaues like beasts but their sonnes and daughters likewise yea sometimes themselues suffering thē to be carried into other countries in hope of better meanes to liue for in their owne their diet was grosse and bad Of Polonia and of the latter customes of the Polonians CAP. 9. POLONIA a vast countrey of Europ is so called of his plainenesse and eeuennesse for Pole in the Slauonian toung which is spoken by the Polanders signifieth plaine leuell or eeuen it is otherwise called
not forthwith to be admitted but they will that hee first come vnto the gate of the Church and there to heare Sermons and the words of our Sauiour Christ that before he be incited and brought as it were by stelth vnto the faith hee may know the yoke of the law which when hee hath done hee may be called halfe a Christian although he be not baptised as the Ghospel teacheth he that beleeueth and is baptised shal bee saued and hee which beleeueth not shall bee damned And our custome is that women with child before they be deliuered should be confessed and that then they should receiue the Lords body and those which doe not this as also the fathers of those children which compel not their wiues to doe it bee accounted wicked and euill Christians Moreouer you must vnderstand that confirmation and chrisme or extreame vnction of oyle bee not accounted Sacraments nor bee in any vse with vs as I see they bee heare by the custome of the Romane Church Also by Moyses lawes and the ordinance of the Apostles it is not lawfull for vs to eate vncleane meates and this wee doe for the full obseruation of the law and the Scriptures which consist of one and foure score bookes in both Old and New Testament that is to say forty and sixe bookes of the Old Testament and thirty fiue of the New which expresse number of bookes of the Scriptures wee haue by computation from the Apostles themselues from which bookes of the Old and New Testament it is not lawful for vs to ad or diminish any thing no though an Angell from heauen should indeauour to perswade vs therevnto And hee which dare to attempt any such thing ought to be reputed as accursed Wherefore neither the Patriarcke nor our Bishops by themselues nor in their councels doe thinke or suppose that they can make any lawes thereby any one may bee bound to a mortall or deadly sinne for in those bookes of councels it is ordained by the holy Apostles that wee should confesse our sins and what penance wee ought to take according to the heinousnesse of each sinne is there set downe They instruct vs also how we should pray fast and doe deedes of charity and this is very familiar in vse amongst vs that as soone as wee haue committed any sinne we forthwith runne to the feete of the confessor and this is vsed both of men and women of what estate or condition soeuer they bee of And as oft as wee bee confessed we receiue the bodie of our blessed LORD in both kindes in sweete or vnleauened wheaten bread and if wee should bee confessed euery day wee should likewise euery day receiue the most blessed and reuerent Sacrament and this custome is common as well to the Clergie as to Lay people And the Sacrament of the Altar is not kept with vs in Churches as it is heere amongst the people of Europe Neither doe those which be sick receiue the Lords body vntill they begin to waxe strong and recouer there helth and this is done because all men both Lay and Clergy doe vsually receiue it euery weeke twice and all which bee willing so to doe come vnto the Church for it is ministred to none but in the Church not so much as to the Patriarch or to Prestor Iohn himselfe We alwaies vse one consessor and doe neuer take any other vnlesse he bee absent and at his returne wee goe to him againe and the confessors by there power they haue from the Church giue vs absolution of all our sinnes reseruing no case to the Bishops or Patriarcke though it bee neuer so heinous Moreouer the Priests may not heere their confessions to whom they bee confessed themselues Both priests also and Munkes and all Ecclesiasticall Ministers with vs liue by their owne labour for the Church neither hath nor receiueth any tithes Yet it hath reuenewes and lands which both Clerkes and Monkes digge and till either by there owne or other mens labour and other almes haue the none but such as bee freely offered in the Churches for the buriall of the dead and other Godly matters neither is it lawfull for them to begge in the streetes nor to extorte or wrest any almes from the people In our Churches also is euery day onely one Masse celebrated which we account as a sacrifice nor is it lawful by our old ordinances to solemnize more then one in a day for this Masse we take no hire nor reward and in the ministery thereof the Sacrament of the Altar is not shewed as heere I perceiue it is And with vs all Priests Deacons and Sub-deacons and those which come vnto the Church receiue the bodie of our Lord and wee say no Masse for the remission and forgiuenesse of soules departed but the dead bee buried with crosses and Orizons in a certaine place and ouer the dead bodies wee chiefly amongst other praiers recite the beginning of Saint Iohns Ghospel and the day following the buriall of the corpes wee offer almes for him which wee doe vpon certaine daies after vpon al which daies we keepe funerall bankets and thus far I haue spoken of our faith and religion But now for that after our comming into Portingal we had many and often disputations and contentions with diuers Doctors especially with our Maisters Didacus Ortysius Bishop of Saint Thomas Isle and Deane of the Kings Chappel and with Peter Margalhus concerning the choise and difference of meates it shal not be vnfitting to say something of that matter First you must vnderstand that wee obserue a difference of meates out of the Old Testament which difference is appointed by the word of GOD it selfe which word was afterwards borne of the Virgine Mary and walked and was conuersant with his Disciples and that word of God I haue alwaies accounted an euer liuing whole and inuiolated word neither did that mouth which heeretofore forbad to eate of vncleanesse say afterwards in any part of his Gospell that wee should eate And whereas it is said in the Gospell that which entereth in by the mouth defileth not the man but such things as proceed forth of the mouth hee pronounced not this speech for because hee would breake that which before hee had appointed but that hee might refute the superstition of the Iewes which taxed and blamed the Apostles because they did eate meate with vnwashed hands for neither the Apostles at that time that they liued with our Lord Iesus Christ did euer vse any vncleane things or tasted of those things which bee forbidden in the law nor yet did any of the Apostles transgresse the law nor can it bee prooued by any of our writings that the Apostles at those times which followed our Lords passion when they beganne to preach the Gospell did either eate or kill any vncleane things and yet it is true that Paul sayd eate of euery thing that commeth into the shambles making no question for conscience sake and
coueteousnes and intollerable impiety and from Godly brests to be expelled both by weapons writings and all our forces and without doubt it had beene quenched and buried by this time if this good man were restored to his former dignity for he desireth nothing more nor meditateth of any thing more earnestly than that this people may be reduced to the faith of Christ nor doth he lament for any thing more than that by his means as he euer desired in his hart these miserable beasts as yet by reason of their impious religion be not made the flocke of Christ by imbracing the Christian faith nether doth he complaine so much for the losse of his Archbishoppricke nor that he was thrust from his goods left him by his ancestors as for that hee wanteth strength aid and substance where-with to cure this plague of Lappia to bring them vnder the yoke of Christ and to vnite them to the Roman Church And this hee often-times confirmed by his letters sent me wherewith my selfe not fully contented made earnest mention of this businesse in the end of that first Embassage of precious Ioan which I dedicated to the same Iohn Magnus Gothus neither did I then satisfie my selfe in this businesse but by my letters dealt with Erasmus Rothrodamus that hee would commit the cause of this matter to writing Afterwards liuing in his company for I was with him at Friburg Brisgoia the space of 5 months I had speaches with him of that busines by which meanes he was induced and appoynted to frame a iust volume of this matter but being preuented by death the substance of the busines he had vndertakē was vtterly dissolued notwithstanding vpon his death he concealed not the wicked Ecclesiastical impiety which truely he did that he might accuse al Christians to whome God hath graunted power and learning and cry for reuengement against them in the last iudgment before Christ the iust Iudge of all men the Christian Princes Monarches may now see what account and reckoning of so many lost soules they can make at the last day before the Tribunall seate of Christ where is no place for pardon or grace and where no excuse nor faire speaches will be receiued And you most reuerent Bishop are only he that can cure this infirmity you only are hee that can shew vnto this people the waies of the Lord and direct them that they may walke rightly in the same you onely are able to redeeme them from the lowest hell by you little children may come vnto Christ and by the power of thy right hand bee deliuered from the bondage and deceits of the Diuell and inioy the plentifull redemption of Christ both in this world and in an other Behold what reward thou shalt obtaine if by your labour that great haruest may be carried into Christs barne and no doubt you will carry it in if once you begin There be at this day with Gostavus King of Suetia and Gothia some great peeres states that be fallen from the Romaine Church there be some in those Kingdomes also that do altogether dissent and disagree from the right Diameter and true course of religion vnto these by your dignity pastoral function may you direct your letters requiring them by the woundes of our Sauiour Christ whome all men though neuer so farre differring from the Roman Church doe acknowledge to bee Gods sonne and our Sauiour that they will permit and suffer this East and West Lappia with those large prouinces of Finmarchia Scrifinia and Biarmia the greatest part where of knoweth not Christ to come and imbrace the sweet yoke of Christ and that they wil extort no more from them then other Christian Princes are accustomed to take from their subiects either by course of law or by voluntary extorsions And it were good not onely to send letters but learned men also and men of approoued sanctity and holynesse of life that these Prouinces may be annexed to the Romaine Church by the faith of Christ whom together with the people of Aethiopia being reduced to the right law of Christ although the people be offended yet the Lord shall raigne sitting vpon the Cherubins and although the earth be mooued it shall reioyce and all Ilands shall bee ioyfull Farewell right reuerend and high Bishop in Christ Iesus Amen From Louaine in the Calends of September in the yeere of our Lord God 1540. Of the situation of Lappia and of the inhabitants of that country by the same DAMIANVS A GOES THE country of Lappia through which runneth the Botnian sea is deuided into East and West Lappia the vtmost part of which sea is Tornia vpon the East part it ioyneth vnto the white lake towards the North it compasseth diuers Prouinces and so extendeth it selfe to a place vnknowne and inclining Westwards towards Island it ioyneth vnto part of Noruegia vpon the South it is compassed about with the other part of Noruegia with Suetia Finland and both the Botnias East Lappia hath in it a church dedicated to Saint Andrew in the eighty fourth degree of the eleuation of the pole which is adorned and beautified with a magnificent and sumptuous Sepulcher and with men skilfull and learned in the holy Scriptures ' This Church is vnder the Archbishop of Vpsall within whose Diocesse it is and yet notwithstanding the neighbors round about that church whether it be by the carelesnesse negligence or through the couetousnesse of the Prelates and great men do not acknowledge Christ as is reported Lappia in the Latine toung is interpreted a foolish and sottish or hartlesse nation which name as I thinke is imposed vpon them for that the soile by the continuall and binding cold being as it were dull is lesse apt eyther to receiue or bring forth fruites the naturall borne people of Lappia be very strong set and of a middle stature they be mauelous nimble and dexterious in vsing their bowes and darts which practise of throwing the dart they exercise euen from their infancy in such sort that if a boy shoote at a marke and misse it he hath no meate giuen him vntill he haue hit the marke insteed of other garments they weare skins finely sowed together where-with they defend them-selues from the cold which they be so accustomed to indure that if need bee they will ouer-come it without any defence at all of those skinnes their dwellings are in tents for of houses they haue no vse because they often remooue out of one place into another other course of life haue they none then hunting fishing and fowling wherein they bee maruellous expert and skilfull for in that Prouince is great aboundance of those things They vse no tillage and they haue ships made without any Iron nailes or pins which being charged and burdened with fishes dried in the ayre and with pelts or skinnes they transport them to their neighbours and bordering people and get for them in exchange victuals and money in dooing whereof they vse