Selected quad for the lemma: son_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
son_n	husband_n	sister_n	wife_n	31,415	5	10.2119	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68233	The determinations of the moste famous and mooste excellent vniuersities of Italy and Fraunce, that it is so vnlefull [sic] for a man to marie his brothers wyfe, that the pope hath no power to dispence therewith; Gravissimae atque exactissimae, illusstrissimarum totius Italiae, et Gallicae academiarum censurae. English	Fox, Edward, 1496?-1538.; Cranmer, Thomas, 1489-1556, attributed name.; Stokesley, John, 1475?-1539. aut; Burgo, Nicholas de, b. 1506. aut	1531 (1531)	STC 14287; ESTC S107438	118,498	310

haue ben as wel forbidden to mary as they that be of consanguinite but there hadde ben a greatter cause why they that be of consanguinite shulde be forbidden then they that be of affinite truly so wise lawe makers wolde haue boūde these persones of consanguinite vnto a streiter bond of mariage then persons that be onely of affinite and not bothe vtterly of lyke and in one degre But nowe seynge one selfe same prohibicion of the lawe of god dothe conteyne all persons aswell of consanguinite as of affinite in the fyrste degre and of the fyrst kynde and that bothe by the lawe of god and the lawe Canon we ought to absteyne aswell from these persons that be of our wyues bloudde as from them that be of our owne bloudde by cause that man wife be bothe one flesshe bloud as witnesseth this sayinge of god They shal be .ij. in one flesshe And bycause that the kynred of bothe sydes that is to say of the mans side and the womans side ought to be compted cōmune to them bothe truly we shulde take our brothers wyfe euen as our owne natural sister as touching the ꝓhibition of mariage like as our doughter in law ought to be taken of vs euen as our owne doughter as saint Augustine sayth ¶ And that the secōde also is very true it is very euident playne For he that marieth his broders wife taketh his fathers flesshe bloudde to mariage The whiche thing plainly is ageynst the law of nature For seinge the husbande the wife be one flesshe bloud truely he that taketh his brothers wife takethe also the flesshe and bloud of his brother as for our brother is the flessh bloud of our fader moder that more nerer vnto them than any of both theyr sisters bicause he is their owne son Therfore if it be forbiddē by the lawe of god also by the lawe of nature to marie our fathers sister or our mothers sister or els the wyfe of our fathers brother or mothers brother whose wyues be but of affinite to vs that onely in the seconde degre truly moche more it shuld be ageynst nature to mary our brothers widow For the nerer that they come to the stocke to be one flesshe bloud the more thei ought to be forbid But our brother is more nerer vnto our fader as it is aboue sayd then is either of our vncles or auntes ¶ And here be proues inough by the whiche we haue shewed as it becommed vs that these Leuiticall prohibitions that we shulde not marye our brothers wyfe c. come of naturall reason ¶ Nowe there remaineth to shewe how the same be toucht vs by the sayde naturall reasone accordynge to the reules and teachynge of generall iustice or vertue for to fourme and ordre the maners of men And this we dyd proue partly before and nowe we shall speake of this same matter more largely For the reule of commune Iustice or vertue dothe teche vs tho thinges only whiche in the maners of all men vniuersally be good euyll rychte croked iuste vniuste and suche as ought to be folowed or auoyded euen of them selfe and for the obteynynge of euerlastynge blysse And truly there is no man but sayth that tho thinges whiche be forbyd in the Leuitical lawes be such thinges For fyrst they perteine and serue to facion and order mennes maners For here truely we calle the MANERS of men the outwarde dedes of men and also the inwarde affectiōs and disposytions of the mynde what so euer they be that come of morall vertue the whiche who so euer dothe kepe and performe it shall be sayd that he lyueth well and doth well and he shal be called verely and truly a good man Nowe as for these Leuyticall lawes do not onely belonge to chastite but also to PIETIE by the whiche as Cicero defineth we be taught to do our duetie and dyligente honoure and seruice to our countrey to our parentes and to them of our bloudde and vtterly to all men all that ryght and reasone wyll we shall do This thynge the fyrste lawe of maryage declarethe playnely inoughe whiche is this THIS BONE nowe is of my bones and this flesshe and bloudde of my flesshe and bloudde For the whiche thynge a man shall leaue his father and his mother and shall stycke to his wyfe The whiche sayenge all be it other men drawe it to the dwellynge to gether of man and wyfe and other to the loue that ought to be betwene them to vs it semeth that these two thinges were chieffly commaunded vs in this lawe Firste that the housbande shuld euermore with out any departynge sticke to his wyfe Seconde that no sonne shulde mary with his mother nor no doughter with her father But for this thinge that is to saye bicause the strength and power of mariage is suche that it gleweth faste to gether with streite and moste holy bonde the man and the woman and dothe make of them that be .ij. seuerall and distincte persons one body and one flesshe therfore shall man leaue his father his mother shall sticke to his wife that is to saye man shal absteyne from the mariages of father and mother nor shall not disclose their foulenes nor shame them agaynste the holines and chastite of maryage and agaynst naturall honeste and shamefacidnesse and against reuerence whiche by nature is due vnto them For seynge that those persons be ioyned moste nye vnto vs longe syns by the bonde of bloudde and cōsanguinite to whome also nature teacheth vs that we shulde owe other loue shamfacydnes and reuerence be syde the loue and reuerence of mariage truly if they shulde ioyne them selfe to vs by maryage bothe the cause why maryage was ordined shulde lacke the chiefeste and beste ende nor shuld not take effecte and shamefacydnes honor and reuerence naturall shulde be vyolate and broken contrary to all comelynes and goodly behauour ¶ And that this was the very reasone and intente of the Leuiticall prohibitions this thynge playnly declareth For god did put to the cause of the forbyddyngis after thē which is this For it is the foulenes or shame of the father it is the foulenes shame of the brother so forthe so that if one wolde aske why it is not lauful for vs to mary our stepmother to discouer her foulnesse there it is answered For her foulenes is the fathers foulenes whiche is one body and one flesshe with the father And if a man wolde demaunde agayne why it is not laufull to discouer the foulenesse of thy father the answere is by cause he is nieste of bloud to the to whome thou must before al other do honour reuerēce cōtrary to do him sham villany it is an vnlouinge and not to be spoken dede And plainly so did Sem Iaphet iudge which tought by the prescriptes of nature before any lawe was written couered them selfe with a

difference betwene them and other women Therfore I wyll haue my people to be very farre from their maners and conditions And therfore I myn owne selfe theyr verye lorde and god saye vnto them cōmande them that no mā so hardy to come nye any woman that is nere of his bloud for to discouer her foulenes or shame as to his owne mother to his step mother to his syster to his nece to his aunte or fathers syster to his mothers syster to the daughter of his son in lawe to the daughter of his daughter in lawe or to his wyues syster Also no man shall take the wyfe of his brother and no man shal discouer the foulenes of his brothers wyfe bycause it is the foulenes of his brother For who so marieth his brothers wyfe dothe a thynge that is vnlefull he shall be without sonnes or heyres male Therfore lette nat my people be polluted with none of these thynges with whiche all the hethyns be defyled whome I shall cast out before their faces and with whom that lande is polluted and I shall visite loke on the mischeuous sins of that lande that it shall vomette and spewe forth the inhabitantes of hit Lette them kepe my lawes and my iugementes and se they do none of all these abhominacions whether he be of the countrey borne or a tyll man that is a straunger amonge them For the dwellers of this lande whiche were in hit before them and haue polluted hit haue done all those cursed thynges Therfore let them beware lest that whan they haue done like thingis the lande vomet spewe them out likewyse as it hath vomet and spewed out the nacion that was there before them For euery soule that shall do any of these abhominations shal perisshe from the myddes of my people nor shall nat be rekened amongest my holy people ¶ And trewly hytherto we haue shewed you by a certain breue exposition and that only vpō the feythe credence of the most approued doctours that be and also as shortely as we coulde almost all that euer is prescribed and commaunded in the olde testament by the mouth of god hym selfe vpon the begynninge and fyrst ordynāce of maryages and of the lawes thereof and more ouer vpon the impedymentes or lettes of maryage by the meane of kynrede and affinitie the which haue place at this day wherby it may easely be perceyued that suche an impedyment of mariage is expressely foūde in the holy scripture wher by persones be made vnlefull to contracte matrimonie that is to say the impedimēt by nerenesse of bloudde as Moses called hit by the whiche we vnderstande bothe them that be of kynred and them that be of affinitie also and that nat generally in al kynsfolke but specially in those degrees and persons whiche bothe we haue rehersed and they be expressely rekned vp in the foresayde .xviij. chaptre of the Leuiticall And by the same foresayde thynges a man may also well se that no man can pretende any colour or cloke or fynde any maner of cauillation wherby that man which hath maried his brothers wyfe shulde nat be iuged of all the holle people nat onely to haue contemned and dispised god the whiche hath with so great maiestie cōmaunded the contrary but also to haue offēded by infectynge and corruptinge the maners of the people by suche a mischiuous example to haue done agaynst the lawes of nature and also to haue broken fouly and vngodly the ryghtes and holy kepynge of shamefastnes and mariage finally to haue hyndred vniuersally the propagacion and increasynge of loue and charitie betwene christen people For who so euer wyll consyder aryghte and accordynge to reason the order the strength and vertue of these lawes and also the wyse intent and reason of the makinge of them he shal sone perceiue howe true it is that we haue seyde And first of al consider howe greatly these lawes of matrimoni do helpe for the maynteininge exercise of vertue of chastite of clennes of holynes puritie of mariage of natural demurenes shamefacidnes reuerence that ought to be betwene kynsfolke specially in mariage of propagacion or increasement of loue and charite and finally of diuers other dueties offices and dedes of vertue whiche both of them selfe be honest good and besydes forth be necessary also to the purchasing obteining of euerlastinge felicitie Ageyn ponder how god most of power and most best doth exhorte in a maner by certaine obtestations or affectuous harty desiringes prayengꝭ nat only the Iues but also the strangers that lyue after Moses lawe to perfourme and fulfyll these foresayde lawes nat onely for his benefites and goodnes that they haue had shulde haue of him but also for his owne auctorite and maieste which is most great and in no wise to be disobeyed Ouer beside al this consider with howe great strengthe weyghte of wordes and with howe great care and thought god in decreenge these lawes doth often reherse sayeng ▪ It is nat for a man it is foulenes it is mischeuousnes it is cursidnes it is abhomination it is nat to be spoken it is nat lefull it is agaynst the very lawes of god breuely hit is fylthye and sklaunderous that any man shulde do any suche thyng ▪ Last of all for a conclusion consider what and howe greuous punysshementes god dothe threten them with whan he dothe require of them the kepyng of this lawes ye and more ouer how sore he hath taken vengeaunce and hath punysshed the hethens by cause they had contracte cursed mariages within these degres and that before this lawe was made And he dothe threten also lyke and not a whitte lesse punisshementes vnto the Iues and hethins that professe the Iues lawe if at any tyme they dyd cōmitte like enormities Forsoth if any man will wey well and examin these foresayde thynges religiously and with good conscience so as they oughte to be howe shal he nat streight approue and allowe the conclusions and determinations of those Vniuersities and to thynke certaynely that it is forbydden bothe by the lawe of god and the lawe of Nature that any christen man shulde take to wyfe his brothers wydowe For seynge that these prohibitions as we shall here after more largely declare were hallowed founded by god hym selfe vpon the feare of god vpon the treuthe vpon iustice vpon holynesse and equite and conscience on feyth apon perfetnesse and ryghtnes and on charite and for to declare and open the knowlege of our synne for to declare the knowlege of the grace and fre goodnes of god for clennes for comelinesse finally for good reasonable and holy obedience or seruice of god and suche as shuld be to our lorde god pleasaunt and acceptable what man hauynge pure conscience in his soule doth not iudge suche forbidden mariages to be incestuous foule vncleane abhominable and a cursed before god and manne And what man ye though he were gouernour

speke ageynst this poynte And agayne whan he was asked of the same bysshoppe vnto what degree Christis faithfuls might marye with their kynsewomen and whether it was lefull for them to marie with their stepmothers with their brothers wiues whom at that tyme they called cosyns he answered in order to both two questions in this maner There is a certayne erthly and worldly law within the dominiō of Rome that the sonne and daughter of brother and syster or of two brothers germayns or of two sisters may be maried to gether but we haue lerned by experiēce that ther coulde neuer issue come of suche mariage and the holy lawe of god forbyddeth vs to discouer the foulenes of our cousyns wherfore it muste nedes be amongest faith full or Christian people that if they that be of kynne will laufully mary that they be in the thirde or fourth degre of kynred For they that be in the secōde degre whiche we spake of before maye in no case be maryed to gether And as for a man to be maried with his stepmoder it is a greuous synnne why so bicause it is written in the lawes of god thou shalte nat discouer the foulenes of thy father For although the sonne can nat discouer the foulenes of the father yet bicause it is written The man and wife shal be two in one flesshe or body doutles who so shall presume to discouer the foulenesse of his stepmother whiche hath ben one flesshe and body with his father he in dede doth discouer the foulenes of his father Ageyn it is forbidden by the Leuiticall lawe that a man shulde myngle or marye with his cosyn that is to sey his brothers wyfe bycause that she being ones ioyned with the former brother is made his flesshe and for the same thynge saint Ihon̄ Baptist loste his heed and by an holy martyrdome was brought to his ende Vnto whom it was not seyde that he shulde deny Christe yet he was slayne for confessynge Christe But bycause our lorde Iesus Christe had sayde I am the treuth saynt Iohn̄ truely shed his bloud for Christe by cause he was slayne for the treuth But bycause there be some amōge the Englysshe people whiche whyle they were yet infidels or vnfaythfuls as hit is sayde haue myngled them selfe by suche abhomination and not to be spoken mariages they muste be warned whan they come to the faith that they absteyne and forbere their carnal pleasure betwene man and wife and that they beleue and graūt that it is a greuous sinne to vse it let them feare the terrible iudgement of god lest for a lyttell carnall pleasure they falle into the tormentes of euerlastinge paynes ¶ Nowe reder marke diligently with me these wordes of saint Gregory consider me here in his writinge .iii. or .iiii. thinges Fyrst that the most holy most excellēt lerned doctor both in the law of god of mā vtterly plainly affirmeth these Leuitical lawes that a mā shulde not mary his brothers wyfe with the other to be of suche auctorite that he saythe openly that they be the very lawe of god Secōde that the same lawes be nowe at this tyme of suche auctoritie strengthe that it is not leful in any case to contracte matrimony contrary to that is forbidden in the same Thirdly that the occasion of saynt Iohn̄s martyrdome was this bicause he wold meinteyn vphold the truth auctorite of the same lawes ageinst Herode the king which had maried his brothers wyfe Fourthe that the mariages which certain englisshe men had cōtract with their broders wiues and that euen before they had taken the fayth vpon them to be so vnleful not to be spokē that they could not without dedly sinne rendre their duetie of mariage one to an other nor yet abide stil in thesame mariagꝭ the whiche thing truely we thynke ought not lightli to be passid ouer For ones saint Paule biddeth and cōmandeth that they whiche be laufully maried shulde nother be diuorsed nor yet the ton to deny the tother the right dutie of mariage Agein saint Gregory had graūted licēce vnto the said englisshemen that they might cōtract matrimoni in the .iiij. degre that mariage cōtract in the .iiij. degre shuld nat be brokē wherfore these thingis cōsidered it must nedes be that there was doutles some great cause why saint Gregory wold nat admit or suffre such mariages as the englisshmē had cōtract with their brothers wiues at the lest wise to haue suffred them by a dispensation or lycence if it had ben lefull to haue dispēsed with thē And truli ther lacked not causes which ought to haue moued him for to haue dispēsed with thē As bicause of the faith of christēdom the whiche some freill persons had leuer ꝑauēture vtterly to forsake and renoūce thā to haue departed from their tenderly beloued wyues as the tymes were than in the begynnynge of the faith An other cause shulde haue ben this that they had boūde them selfe by maryage before the wasshynge of baptisme at the whiche tyme there were no lawes wrytten by the whiche the heathens were forbidden from suche mariage of their brothers wyues But this moste holy and moste wyse man thought that in all and before all a man shuld regarde the commaundement of god And he wolde nat be author nor causer to no man for to breake that lawe He sawe and playnely dyd iudge that he whiche had maryed his brothers wyfe hath done contrary to the principal cause of mariage and against the naturall inclination of man whiche he hath to haue issue and posterite bycause that god saith He that marieth his brothers wyfe shall dye without children he sawe that this is plainly an vngodly dede abhominable before god and man and also ageynst the nature of man and as nygh as can be vnto the nature and lyfe of beastes He sawe howe greuous punisshment is abiding them which haue defiled them selfe with this foule synne Therfore he iuged that nother peace nor yet faith and christendome nor any other thinge in this worlde beside forth is of suche vertue and goodnes that it is able to recompēce and weye out the malyciousnes of this dede He wolde nat than that suche mariages shulde stande styll and remayne or be called or so moche as be thought to be mariages but he wolde rather haue them broken and vndone and dyd commande that as many as had intangled them selfe with suche mariage shuld be admonisshed and warned that if they wolde professe Christes religion they shulde from thens forwarde absteyne and forbere from medling the one with the other If nat they shuld haue for theyr carnall pleasure the tourmentes of euerlastyng punisshment ¶ Furthermore reder there be other bysshops also whiche in tyme passed were in very dede greattest and hyghest nat onely for their lerninge and wysedome but also for the holynesse of theyr lyfe that maye clerely teache the that these Leuitical forbyddynges of

holy scripture Amonge whom Origen cometh first to our remēbraunce for he expoūding the .xx. chaptre of the Leuitical doth declare at large this sentence of god Kepe you all my commaundementes and my iustifienges and my iugementes it semeth saith he requisite and necessary that we shewe what is signified by euery one of these wordes and truly as farre as euer I coulde perceiue a precepte or commandement is As for an example that whiche is sayd in the .x. commandementes Thou shalt not slee thou shalte not do none adulteri for this is only precept or cōmāded but there is no punisshemēt put to for the breking of it but nowe these same selfe preceptes or teachynges be rehersed agayn but here penalties be putte to them For in this place it is sayde what so euer man cōmitteth adultery with a mans wyfe and with his neyghbours wife lette them dye both the man that doth adultery and the woman that he doth it with and he that shal slepe with his fathers wyfe and shall discouer the foulenes of his father bothe two lette them dye for they be gyltie and deathe worthye There were preceptes or reules gyuen alredye of these thynges before but there was not putte to what punysshement he shulde haue that dydde breake them Nowe therfore these same thinges be rehersed agayne and the penalties of euery trespas is set And therfore these lawes may well be called iustifiinges and iudgementes by the whiche he that doth synne or breketh the cōmaundement is iudged to receyue that is iuste for his trespas But beholde the order of the godly wisedome god doth not set punysshement by and by at the fyrste as sone as he had yeuen the preceptes or rules bowe men shulde lyue for he wyl haue the kepe the preceptes of thy father and to do as thy father wylleth and byddeth the not for feare of punisshement but for loue that thou haste to vertue and goodnes and to thy father But if thou dispysest to do as thy father techeth the than there is a cōmandement that thou shalt be punisshed not bycause thou arte a man so moche as bycause thou art a contemner and dispiser of thy fathers teachynge Therfore fyrste of al thou art prouoked and moued by gentylnes and fayre meanes as a chylde and Dauid testifieth that we be children wher he sayth you al be goddes and the children of hym that is hyghest that if thou wilt not be obedient like a good childe but wylte be a transgressour and a dispiser of thy fathers teachynge thou shalte be punysshed lyke a bonde man After this he saithe furthermore And if any man shall slepe with his doughter in law his sonnes wyfe let hym dye both .ij. haue cōmytted impiete or abhominacion and they be gyltie and deth worthie These lawes and preceptes god had gyuen before without any punysshmentes or penalties For he had sayde Thou shalt not discouer the foulenes of thy sonnes wyfe and all the other preceptes that there do folowe And this place lyke wyse there he putteth withoute punysshementes but here he hath put hit with dyuers kyndes of punysshementes And in the ende where he speaketh of the same Leuitical prohibitions at the last he maketh this cōclusion Therfore it is good saythe he to take good kepe leste at any tyme we reuerence our carnal fader or our father of heuen with lesse honour than we ought and they deserue And like wise hit is good to obserue honour our mother and also to obserue and kepe all other such cōmandemētes what so euer they be that commende to vs shamefacidnes clennes and chastite to th entent that we shuld folowe and lyue accordyng to the same that we shulde nother accordynge to the carnal lawe of Moses be in daūger of deth here in this present lyfe nother after falle in to the punysshement to come of euerlastinge fyre of helle after the spirituall lawe of the gospel ¶ And lyke wise Chrysostome dothe agree with this sayenge of Origen where as he doth stiffly and playnly hold that fable tale that the Sadduces made vpō the womā that they said was maried to .vij. brothers to be but a fantasy and a thing fained and imagined For the Iues saith he be such men that we se them euen nowe at this tyme to be mightily afferd to marie with their brothers wyues bicause as you wold say they thynke surely there shulde some mischiefe come of it And not withstanding that the law shuld constrain and binde the Iues to mary their brothers wiues yet for all that we se them often tymes lyttell regarde it and make lyghte of hit and not to do hit wherfore Ruthe a womā also of Moab was driuen to mary with one of her kynne whiche was verye farre of And Thamar was constrayned to disguise her selfe in a common womans apparell and to steale seade of her father in law ¶ Also Basilius the great is of the same sentence and mynde that these other two foresayde doctours be whiche wrote vnto Diodore the bysshoppe of Tarsus on this wyse There be come to my handes certayne writynges whiche be sente out vnder the name of Diodore but the thingꝭ that were cōteyned in them were like to be any other mans writingis rather thā Diodors But me semeth that there is some craftie felowe that hath put vpon him thy persone that by this meanes at the lest he might misuse the auctoritie of thy name to gette hym credence and to be beleued of his herers and schollers For this man that wrote this thing whan he was asked whether it was lefull for a man whan his wyfe was deed to marie his wyues syster dyd nat abhorre this question in so moche that he suffred to here it with a very good wyl and dyd study and labour to promote and sette forwardes this lust whiche is to shameles to wanton to foule vncleanly And if I had those same wrytynges with me I wold doutles now or this time haue sent them to the bicause thou mightest socour and helpe both thy selfe and also the treuth But bicause the same man whiche brought the writinges caried them by and by away with him again and afterwardes bore them about with him shewyng them in euerye place as thoughe he had gotten the victorie of vs whiche before tyme had forbydden suche maner of maryages and dyd boost that he had this licence of vs in writing I determined to write vnto the of this thinge to thintent that we shulde of both handes go about to reproue this imagined tale and falsly forged sayenge of this felowe to shewe that it is nothynge but a sterke lie lest it may hurt them into whose handes it shal fortune to come And truly firste of al we may leye ageynst him the cōmune custome and suche a custome which by ryghte and reason is as stronge as any lawe bycause it is no newe thing but hath continued of longe tyme and was brought vnto vs nat by euery body

their hartes cowardelike and as it were womās hartes by the meanes of lechery and beastly pleasure of the bodye And therfore in the olde Leuitical lawe those persones seme specially to be forbydden maryage whiche muste nedes dwell to gether The thyrde reason is bicause that by suche mariages shulde be lettedde the multyplyenge and increace of frendship For whan a man dothe take a wyfe that is a straunger to hym all the kynsfolke of his wyfe be knytte vnto hym by certayne frendeshyppe and loue as if they were his owne kynsfolke wherfore Augustin sayth There was very great regarde taken of loue and charite and that accordynge to ryght and reason to the intent that men vnto whom loue and concorde is bothe profitable and also honeste shulde be knytte to gether by sondry degrees of kynred And that one man shulde not haue many but sondry to be disseuered in sondry persones And Aristotell an heathen man in the .ij. boke of the politikes putteth to the .iiij. reason bicause that where a man doth loue his kinswoman by Nature if there shulde be put to the loue that comethe of bodely medlynge there shuld be to moche heate and feruentnes of loue and to great a prouocation of flesshly luste whiche is contrary to the chastite of mariage where suche pastime is to be vsed for necessitie and not for pleasure Thus sayth saint Thomas here And in an other place he sayth thus That thynge in mariage is cleane contrarye to the lawe of nature wherby matrimony cometh not vnto the ende whiche it was ordyned for by cōuenient meanes And the chiefe and fyrste ende of mariage of it selfe is the good or benyfite of issue the whiche doubtles by some certayne degrees of kynrede is lette as betwene the father and the doughter the mother and the sonne not bicause that issue here is vtterly taken a waye for the doughter maye haue issue of her fathers sede and nourysshe it vp with the father and teache and instructe it in the whiche thyng stondeth the benifite of issue but by cause that this ende of mariage that is to haue issue childrē can not be brought to passe in this case by any lefull honest maner For it is ageynst all good ordre reason that the doughter shuld be coupled bi mariage with her owne fader to be his cōpanion to bringe hym forthe children to brynge them vp seinge that she ought to be subiecte to her father in all thynges as that dothe come of hym and hath her beinge of hym and therfore by the lawe of nature hit is forbydden that any persone shulde marie father or mother yet more with the mother than with the father by cause that hit is more contrarie to the honour and reuerēce that is due vnto the parentes if the sonne take his moder to wife than if the father shuld take his doughter to his wyfe bicause that the wife is boūde by the cōmandement of god to be subiecte and obedient vnto her husbande ¶ But the seconde ende of mariage is repressynge and quenchinge of bodely luste and concupiscence whiche restraint of carnall luste though it be not the fyrst chiefe ende of mariage but the seconde yet of it selfe it is an ende of mariage And this ende also shulde perysshe and be loste if a man myght marye whiche of his kynswomen he wolde For there shulde be opened a great wycket vnto lustes of the bodye except there were some restraint and flesshly medling forbidden amonge those persons whiche muste nedes be conuersaunt to gether in one house And therfore the lawe of god hath not only forbiddē mariage with the father and the mother but also with other persons that be of our kynred whiche muste nedes company to gethers and are bounde to conserue the one the others chastite and honestie And the lawe of god doth assygne this cause sayenge Vnheale not the foulenes of suche suche persones bicause it is foulenes But an other ende of matrimony not properly and of it selfe but ioyned vnto it is byndynge and knyttynge to gether of men and multiplyenge and increasse of frendshyppe loue and charitie while a man is in lyke maner to his wynes kynsfolke as he is to his owne kynsfolke ▪ therfore this increase of loue and charite shulde wrongfully take harme if any man shulde mary her that is knytte vnto hym all redy by bloudde For by this mariage there shulde be none increasse of any newe frendeship loue and charite And therfore by the lawes of man and also by the estatutes of the church there be many degres in the whiche folke are forbidden to mary ¶ Ande saynt Thomas sayth in an other place on this wyse Accordynge to dyuers tymes it is founde that kynrede hath lette mariage in diuers degres for in the beginnynge of mankynde father mother were onely forbydden to marye with by cause there were fewe men and of necessite men were boūde to do al their labour diligēce that they coulde for the increase of mankinde therfore there were no more ꝑsons to be except but those whiche were not fit to be maried withal I say fit as concerning the principal ende cause of mariage which is the good or benifit to haue issue childrē as I said before But afterwardes whan mankinde was increased and multiplied there were many mo persons excepte by Moses lawe whiche began euin at that time to restrayne and refrayne mans concupiscence luste wherfore as sayth Rabbi Moses al those persones be excepte from mariage whiche be wonte to dwelle to gether in one house For seinge it must nedes be that they whiche come of one parētes or of one father and mother bothe men women indifferently company to gether of lōge tyme in one house plainly they shuld haue great prouocaciō stirringe to flesshly luste if it were not forbidden that there shulde be no suche medley betwene those persons And now whan that they thinke sureli and beleue that there can in no meanes mariage be contracte made betwene them laufully streight wayes that filthie luste and plesure is quenched ceassed nor doth not prouoke nor stirre their myndes any longer to desyre tho thynges that be vnpossible can not be done wherby they instructe and taught to tame and refrayne their fylthy desire as it were by a certayne former exercise practise and assayenge of them selfe no doubte but by this custome they shal the better absteyne afterwardes from other women for as saynt Augustin saythe custome to a thynge maye do very moche either to prouoke mans appetite and to make him haue a lust or desire to it or to turne away his appetite from it and to make hym to abhorre it And therfore seinge that custome doth kepe in restrayn our vnmoderate luste and concupiscence in this matter men do well to iudge that it is a shamfull thynge to breke and corrupt it For if hit be ageynst right for

of god betwene these persones whiche be in the first degree of consanguinite or affinite not the one streight aboue the tother but the one of side halfe to the tother as brother syster and therfore in this degree also the pope hath non auctorite to dispēse bicause that this dispensation also is some wise agaynst nature And therfore the loue and bonde that is betwene suche persons naturally doth not suffre vs to suspect or surmyse that there shulde be any heuy crime commytted betwene suche persones And for this men beleue that euen before the lawes of Moses whā that mankinde was ones encreased other before the fludde or after they dyd absteyne from their owne systers and from their brothers wyues but if it were to stirre vppe sede to the brother that was deade as it is manifeste in Thamar and in Iudas children Nor it is nothinge ageynst this that we say that is writen of the wyues of Abraham Isaac whom their husbondes called systers by cause doubtles they were of their bloudde or kinrede euen like wise as Loth was called Abrahams brother whiche was ī dede Abrahams brother sonne and not his brother No more the Pope hath no power to dispense that a man shulde marie the wife of his brother although he died with out children For howe be it men were suffered to do thus in tyme passed yet that was nat but by dispensation yea and that dispensation was by the lawe of god not by no mā For cōmunly by the lawe of god they did absteine from their brothers wife as from their owne sister but it was suffered in that case wherfore like wise as the Pope hath no power nor auctorite to disspense for a pluralite of wyues al though it was suffred in time passed bicause it was suffred by a certayne dispensation and priuilege granted by god and was forbidden by the cōmun lawe no more auctorite nor power hath the pope to dispēse in the matter that we speke of that a man may mary the wife of his brother departed without children for to stirre vp the sede to his brother bicause that wher that thing was suffred afore times it was suffred only by dispensation of god for a certayne tyme lyke as it was to haue many wyues was forbydden generally by the commune lawe Nor ageyn he can not dispense with them that be in the seconde degree the tone aboue the tother but on the syde halfe as to marie with the father or mothers sister for this is forbidden by the lawe of god ¶ And with this dothe agre in this matter Antonine archebisshop of Florence Ihon̄ de Turre cremata some tyme Cardinall of saynt Syxt for Iohn̄ partly vpō the auctorite of Pope Innocent and Peter of Palude and of Alexander de Hales partly of .iii. other foūdations or resons at the last after that he had cōfoūded his aduersaries sayenges and opinions he cōcluded that al the degres of consanguinite and affinite whiche be forbydden by the lawe of god procede and come by the shewynge and instruction of naturall reason and that therfore these preceptes were not taken away in the tyme of grace that is to say whan the lawe of grace and of the godspell began and that the Pope can not dispense with them And the selfe same Iohn̄ writeth howe that Eugenius and Pius beynge Popes and rulers of the churche of Rome when that the kynge some tyme of Fraunce and the Erle of Arminache did instantly desire the forsayde two Popes that they wolde do them so moche pleasure as to dispense with them that the Erle myght marye his naturall syster and that the kynge might mary the syster of his wyfe that was departedde these forsayde Popes did cōmitte these .ij. matters vnto the presidētes of the audiēce of the Rote of the courte of Rome amōge whom was this forsaide Iohn̄ of no small reputation and to all the other great lerned men whiche at that tyme chaunced to be at Rome that this matter shulde be examined by their lernynge and discrecion that is to wit whether it was lefull for the Popes to dispense in these cases And after that they had disputed longe tyme vpon this matter and had taken as moche deliberation in it as the thynge required all those lerned and wyse men with one consent and agrement came to this poynte gaue this sentence and made answere on this maner that the Popes had no power nor auctorite to dispense in these degrees Their reasone was this bicause that these degres were forbidden by the lawe of god The whiche verdit and sentence was of so great auctorite and strengthe that afterwardes when a certayne bishop had forgid a false bull by the colour and pretense of the whiche the Erle was maried vnto his owne sister the bisshop was bothe depriued from his dignitie was cōdemned to perpetuall prisone That if so be quod Iohn̄ that euer any Pope had dispensed in these degres bycause that either he was ignorant in the scripture of god or elles all to blynded with couetous of money whiche customably be wonte to be offered for suche vnreasonable and shamfull dispensacions contrary to all goddes lawe and mans or by cause he wolde please men rather then god it foloweth not for all that that he myght do it iustly and ryghtfully For the churche of god muste be ruled by ryght and lawe not by suche dedes or by sone that is ouer vs side wise ¶ And thus also Astexan sayth that the Pope can not dispense in the degrees that be forbiddē by the law of god in the .xviij. chapter of the Leuiticall and yet in degres forbidden bi the lawe of man he may Agayne he saith If vnfaithfuls haue cōtracte in any degree forbidden by the lawe of nature or by the lawe of god the mariage betwene them is no mariage nor yet neuer was For all be bounde to obeye the lawe of god and the lawe of Nature be they faithfull or other And therfore after that they be conuerted to the fayth they muste be departed But if they haue contracte in any degre that is forbydden onely by the churche seinge that the lawes of the churche made for christian men be not extended vnto the vnfaithfuls or hethens that were neuer baptisid the mariage that was contracte betwene them was laufull and therfore after that they be conuerted vnto the faith they ought not to be diuorsed And the same man saith furthermore that if mankynde shulde fayle and decay as hit dydde in the tyme of Noe yet hit shulde not be lefull for the brotherne by their owne auctoritie to mary their sisters bicause it is forbiddē bi the law of god but it might be leful for them by the dispēsatiō of god ¶ Beside all this Iohn̄ Bacon an englissheman was in time passid clapped whistled out at Rome bycause a while he helde the cōtrari opinion that is that the Pope might dispēse with degres forbiddē bi