his workes and to the poore creature reasonable and vnreasonable sensible and insensible Reasonable as to men hee-Saints and shee-Saints that are departed out of this world Vnreasonable and to Images carrion or reliques His workes are the Sacraments especially the Sacrament of the Eucharist which headoreth as God and as Iesus Christ seruing things blessed and consecrated and forbidding the worship of the onely God The second worke of Antichrist is that he robbeth Christ of his merit with all the sufficiency of grace righteousnesse regeneration remission of sinnes sanctification confirmation in grace and spirituall nourishment and imputeth and attributeth it to his authority and to the forme of words and to his workes and to Saints and to their intercession and to the fire of Purgatory drawing the people from Christ and his conduct vnto the things aboue-named to the end men should not seeke the things of Christ nor by Christ but trust only to be saued by the works of their hands and not by a liuely faith in God and his Sonne Christ Iesus and his holy Spirit but by the will and workes of Antichrist for so he teacheth that all saluation consisteth in his workes The third worke of Antichrist consisteth in this that he attributeth the renewing by the holy Ghostto an outward dead faith and baptizeth children into that faith and that by it wee haue the Baptisme and the regeneration and therein hee giueth Orders and Sacraments and in it he groundeth all Christianity which is repugnant to the Spirit of God The fourth worke of Antichrist is that hee hath ordained and placed all Religion and Sanctity of the people in the Masse and hath patched together many ceremonies whereof some are Iudaicall some Heathenish some Antichristian To the hearing whereof leading the congregation and the people hee depriues them of their spirituall and Sacramentall food and separateth them from the true Religion and the Commandements of God and withdrawes them from the workes of mercy by his Offertory and by his Masse he setteth the people in a vaine hope The fift worke of Antichrist is that hee doeth all his workes to the end hee may bee seene of men that he may solace himselfe in his vnsatiable auarice that he may make gaine of all things and doe nothing without Simony The sixt worke of Antichrist is that hee giueth way to all open and apparant sinnes without any Ecclesiasticall sentence neither doth hee excommunicate the impenitent The seuenth worke of Antichrist is that hee neither ruleth nor defendeth his vnity by the Word and power of the Spirit of God but by the secular power and hee addeth vnto his ayde things spirituall The eight worke of Antichrist is that hee hateth and persecuteth and putteth to death the members of Christ These are in a manner the principall workes which he doth against the truth for all of them can by no meanes bee written or numbred Let it suffice for this present that wee haue noted the more generall and shall likewise set downe by what workes this iniquity is couered First and principally by an outward confession of Faith whereof the Apostle sayth They confesse they know God with their mouthes but they deny him in their hearts Secondly hee couereth his iniquity by length of time and in that he is maintained by certaine Sages and religious Monkes and Virgins and Nunnes and Widowes and other women of austere life As also by the people without number of whom it is said in the Reuelation And power was giuen vnto him ouer euery Tribe and Language and Nation and all the Inhabitants of the Earth fell downe and worshipped him Thirdly hee couereth his iniquity with the spirituall authority of the Apostles against which the Apostle saith We can doe nothing against the truth and power there is none giuen vs to destruction Fourthly he couereth his iniquity with many miracles of whom the Apostle saith 2 Thes 2.9 Whose comming is after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and with all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse Fifely by outward holinesse prayers fastings watchings and almesdeeds against which the Apostle saith Hauing the appearance of godlinesse but denying the power thereof Sixtly he coueroth his iniquity with certaine words of Christ and the writings of ancient Fathers and with Councels which they doe so farre forth obserue as that they may no way hinder their wicked liues and pleasures Seuenthly by the administration of the Sacraments viz. of Penance by which they disgorge and vomit vp all their errours Eightly by corrections and verball preachings against vice for they say and doe not Ninthly they couer their iniquity by the vertuous life of some that liue dissemblingly others truly For the Elect of God who will and doe that which is good are detained as in Babylon and are as gold wherewith Antichrist couereth his vanity not permitting them to serue the onely God or to put their trust in Christ alone or to embrace the true Religion These things and diuers others are as the mantell or cloake of Antichrist wherewith he couereth his lyes and malice to the end he may not be reiected as a Pagan and vnder which he proceedeth dishonestly and like a whore We are now to shew both out of the Old and New Testament that a Christian is bound by the Commandement of God to separate himselfe from Antichrist For the Lord saith in the 52. of Esay 11. Depart ye depart ye goe ye out from thence touch no vncleane thing goe ye out of the middest of her be ye cleane that beare the vessels of the Lord For ye shall not goe out with hast nor goe by flight c. And the Prophet Ieremy Chap. 50.8 Remoue out of the middest of Babylon and goe forth out of the Land of the Caldeans and be as the hee-goates before the flockes For loe I will raise and cause to come vp against Babylon an assembly of great Nations from the North Countrey and they shall set themselues in army against her from thence shee shall be taken And Numbers 16.21 Separate your selues from among this Congregation that I may consume them in a moment And againe in the 26 verse Depart from the Tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs least ye be consumed in all their sinnes And again Leuit. 20.24 I am the Lord your God and haue separated you from other people Yee shall therefore put difference betweene cleane beasts and vncleane and you shall not make your soules abominable by beast or by fowle nor by any manner of liuing thing that creepeth on the ground which I haue separated from you as vncleane Againe in the 34. of Exodus Take heed to thy selfe lest thou make a Couenant with the inhabitants of the land for feare lest when they goe a whoring after their Gods and doe sacrifice vnto their gods and one call thee and thou eate of his sacrifice And thou take of their daughters vnto thy sonnes and their
Masses We do abhorre all humane inuentions Art 11 as coming from Antechrist all which bring troubles with them and are preiudiciall to the libertie of the spirit Art 12 We beleeue that the Sacraments are outward signes of holy things or visible formes of inuisible grace and are of opinion that it is good that the faithfull do sometimes vse those signes and visible formes if it may be done But neuerthelesse we beleeue and do hold that the aforesaid faithfull may be saued not receiuing the said signes when they want place or power to vse them Art 13 We do not acknowledge any other Sacrament but Baptisme and the Eucharist We do honour the secular power Art 14 with all subiection obedience promptitude and payment CHAP. XIII Another Confession of the faith of the Waldenses WE beleeue that there is one onely God Art 1 Taken out of the booke of Charles du Moulin de la Mon. des François p. 65. who is a Spirit the Creator of all things the Father of all who is aboue all and in vs all who is to be adored in spirit and truth vpon whom onely we waite and to whom we giue all glorie for our life our nourishment clothing health sicknesse prosperitie aduersitie we loue him as the author of all goodnesse we feare him as knowing our hearts Art 2 We beleeue that Iesus Christ is the Sonne and image of his father that in him dwels the fulnesse of the diuinitie by whom we know the Father who is our mediatour and aduocate and there is no other name vnder heauen giuen vnto men by which we can be saued in whose name onely we call vpon the Father and vse no other prayers but those that are contained in the holy Scriptures or agreeing vnto them in substance We beleeue that the holy Ghost is our Comforter Art 3 proceeding from the Father and the Sonne by whose inspiration we make our prayers being renewed by him who doth all good works in vs and by him we haue knowledge of all truth We beleeue that there is one holy Church Art 4 which is the congregation of all the elect and faithfull which haue bene from the beginning of the world and shall be vnto the end whereof our Lord Iesus Christ is the head the which Church is gouerned by his word and guided by the holy Ghost in which all good Christians ought to remaine for it prayeth without ceassing for all and the word thereof is agreeable vnto God without which no man can be saued Art 5 We hold that the Ministers of the Church ought to be irreprehensible both in life and doctrine otherwise they are to be deposed from their office and other to be substituted in their place And that no man ought to presume to vndertake this honourable calling but onely he which is called of God as Aaron nourishing the flocke of Christ not for dishonest gaine or as hauing any superioritie ouer the Clergie but as being an example to the slocke in word in conuersation in charitie in faith and in chastitie We confesse that Kings Art 6 Princes and Gouernours are ordained and established Ministers of God to whom we are to obey For they carrie the sword for the defence of innocents and the punishment of malefactors and for this cause are we bound to do them honour and to pay tribute From which power and authoritie no man can exempt himselfe as may appeare be the example of our Lord Iesus Christ who refused not to pay tribute not challenging any iutisdiction of temporall power We beleeue Art 7 that in the Sacrament of Baptisme the water is the visible and externall signe which representeth vnto vs that which by the power and vertue of God inuisible so working is within vs that is to say renouation of the spirit and mortification of our members in Iesus Christ by which we are also receiued into the holy congregation of the people of God protesting and declaring before it our faith and change of life Art 8 We hold the holy Sacrament of the table or Supper of our Lord Iesus Christ to be a holy remembrance and thanksgiuing for the benefits which we haue receiued by his death and passion which is to be receiued in faith and charitie examining our selues that so we may eate of that bread and drinke of that cup as it is written in the holy Scripture We confesse that mariage is good and honourable Art 9 holy and instituted of God which ought to be forbidden to none if there be no impediment by the word of God We confesse that they that feare God Art 10 seeke the things that please him doing good workes the which he hath prepared to the end we should walke in them which are charitie ioy peace patience benignitie goodnesse mildnesse sobrictie and other workes contained in the holy Scriptures On the contrary Art 11 we confesse that we are to take heed of false teachers whose end is to call the people from the true worship of God and to rest themselues vpon creatures putting their confidence in them as also to perswade the people to leaue those good duties that are contained in the holy Scriptures and to do those that are inuented by men Art 12 We hold the old and new Testament for the rule of our faith we agree to the generall Confession of faith with those articles contained in the Symbole of the Apostles which doth thus begin I beleeue in God the Father Almightie c. And for as much as the Pastors of the Waldenses taught their people the Athanasian Creed in the Waldensian language we haue taken it out of their bookes word by word as they pronounced it in old time CHAP. XIIII The Symbole of Athanasius in the Waldensian language QValquequal vol esser faict salf deuant totas câ—sas es de necessitatenir la fe Catholica laqual si alcun non tenré entierament sensa dubi periré eternalment Ma aquesta es la fe Catholica Qunos houran vn Dio en Trinita la Trinita en vnita non confondent personnas ni departent la substantia Car antra es la personna del Paire del Filli del Sanct Esperit La Paire non crea lo filli non crea lo Sanct Esperit non crea Lâ— Paire non mesuriuol lo Filli non mesuriuol lo Sanct Esperit non mesuriuol Lo Paire Eternal lo Filli Eternal lo Sanct Esperit Eternal Emperço non tres Eternals ma vn Eternal enaimi non tres mesuriuols non crea Semeillament lo Paire tot Poissant lo Filli tot poissant lo Sanct Esperit tot Poissant emperço non tres tot Poissants ma vn tot Poissant Enaimi lo Paire es Dio lo Filli Dio lo Sanct Esperit Dio emperço non tres Dios ma vn Dio. Enaimi lo Paire es Seignor lo Filli Seignor lo Sanct Esperit Seignor emperço non tres Seignors ma vn Seignor Ca enaimi nos sen costreit confessar per Christiana verita
as from his friend that if he did not acknowledge his fault he would be in great danger of his life Copin answered him that his life was in the hands of God and he would neuer desire to preserue it to the preiudice of his glory and forasmuch as he had but two or three paces to walke in his iourney to heauen his hearty prayer vnto God was that he would be pleased to giue him the grace not to turne back Some few daies after he was examined by a Monke Inquisitor in the presence of the Bishop who tormented him a long time with sweet and gentle perswasions endeauouring to winne him by faire words to the abiuration of his beliefe but Copin alwaies conuinced him by the word of God alleadging vnto him that if he should be ashamed of Christ Iesus or deny him before men Christ would be ashamed of him and deny him before his Father in heauen The Monke ended his disputation with these and the like threatning speeches Goe thou waies thou cursed Lutheran to all the diuels in hell and when thou shalt be tormented by those vncleane spirits thou wilt remember those good and holy counsels which we haue giuen thee to bring thee to saluation but thou haddest rather go to hell then to reconcile thy self to our holy mother the Church It is long agoe saith Copin that I was reconciled to our mother the Church After many violent incounters they caused his wife and a sonne of his to come vnto him promising him liberty and to depart with them if hee would amend his fault by confessing it They suffered his said wife and sonne to sup with him in prison which time he spent in exhorting them to patience the wife for that shee should want a husband the childe a father but yet should assure themselues that God would be their father and more then a husband and for his owne part he was not bound to loue either wife or children more then Christ that they should hold it to be no small happinesse that it hath pleased God to do him that honour as to be a witnesse vnto his truth with the losse of his life and that he hoped that God would be so fauourable vnto him as to giue him strength to endure all manner of torments for his glory He committed to the care and charge of his wife his sonne and his daughter which they had in marriage enioyning her to bring them vp in the feare of God He commanded his sonne to obey his mother for so he should drawe downe vpon him the blessing of God he prayed them to pray for him that God would be pleased to strengthen him against all temptations and so hauing blessed his sonne and taken leaue of his wife they were dismissed out of prison and he locked vp where he was before His wife and child shedding fountaines of teares and crying out in such a lamentable manner as would haue moued the hardest hearts to compassion This good man not being content with what he had said vnto them by word of mouth writ vnto her this Lettre following the originall Copy whereof shee deliuered vnto vs written and signed with the hand of the said Copin the superscription whereof was this To my louing Companion Susan Copin At the Tower of Lucerna MOst deare Companion I haue receiued much comfort by your comming into this place and so much the more by how much the lesse I expected it And I thinke it was some comfort to your selfe that you had the meanes to sup with me as it came to passe but yesterday being the fifteenth of September in the yeere 1601 being Saterday I know not the cause why this was permitted but all things are in the hand of God and whatsoeuer were the cause I doe not thinke we shall euer eate together againe And therefore pray vnto God to be your comforter and put your trust in him who hath promised neuer to forsake those that trust in him You are wise and therefore gouerne our house in such sort that you keepe our children Samuell and Martha in obedience whom I command by that authority that God hath giuen me to be faithfull and obedient vnto you for then God will blesse them For the rest be not grieued concerning my selfe for if God haue appointed that I am come to the end of my daies and that it pleaseth the Almighty God that I shall render vp my soule which hee hath long time lent me my trust in him is that out of his abundant mercy hee will receiue it into heauen for the loue of his Sonne Christ Iusus by whom I belieue that our sinnes are blotted cut euen by his precious death and passion And I begge at his mercifull hands that he will accompany mee vnto the end by the powerfull assistance of his holy Spirit Bee alwaies carefull to pray vnto God and to serue him for so God will blesse and serue you Take no care to send me any thing for these three weekes and then you may send me if you please some money to pay the Iaylor and some thing else to succour me if I liue till then Remember also that which I haue often told you that is that God prolonged the life of King Ezechias for fifteene yeeres but that he had prolonged mine a great deale more for it is a long time agoe that you haue seen me in a manner dead and neuerthelesse I am yet aliue and I hope and hold for certaine that hee will still preserue mee aliue vntill my death shall be better for his glory and mine owne felicity through his grace and mercy towards me From the Prison at Ast Sept. 16. 1601. The Bishop of Ast was much troubled what to determine concerning this poore man For if he should let him goe they feared a scandall and that many would gather heart and courage to speake with a loud voice against the Romish Religion On the other side there was a clause in the treaty made betweene his Highnesse and the Waldenses which cleared him from all offence in these words And if any question shall bee mooued vnto them touching their faith being in Piedmont with other his Highnesses Subiects it shall be lawfull for them to answere not incurring thereby any punishment reall or personall Now he was asked the question and therefore to be quit from blame But the Bishop would not haue it said that hee had committed him to prison vniustly To the end therefore that his death might not bee imputed vnto him and it might not be thought that he sent him away absolued he sent his indictment to Pope Clement the eight to vnderstand what course hee should take herein It could neuer be knowne what answere the Bishop had but shortly after hee was found dead in prison not without some appearance that he was strangled for feare least if he should haue been publikely executed he might edifie and strengthen the people by his confession and constancy After his
of Calabria soiourned in in Prouence that is to disburden their Valleys of the great multitudes of people that were there And though in the beginning of their arriuall in Prouence the Country where they made their abode was a desart yet they made it in few yeeres fertile and fit by the blessing of God to yeeld Corne Wine oyle of Oliues Chestnuts and other fruits and that in great aboundance The first persecutions which they suffered are not come to our knowledge notwithstanding we finde ouen at this day the Commissions that haue been giuen by the Popes and Anti-popes residing in Auignon very neere to the place of their abiding against the Waldenses inhabiting in Prouence as that of the Arch-deacon of Cremona See before in the 3. Chap. Albert de Capitaneis and of the Monke frier Minor Francis Borelli hauing Commission against them in the yeer 1380 to make inquiry of the Waldenses in the Diocesse of Aix in Prouence Arles and Selon As also when they were retired into the said Prouince in the yeere 1228 when the Arch-bishop of Aix Arles and of Narbonne were assembled at Auignon to giue aduice to the Inquisitors touching the Waldenses See Chap. 2. who then said as you haue heard before that the Inquisitors had apprehended so great a number that there was not onely a want of victuall to feed them but of lyme and stone to build their prisons It is most certaine that then the Waldenses of Prouence dwelling as it were in the very gates of the Popes Palace and about their Earledome of Auignon were not forgotten But forasmuch as we haue no Copies of instruments that may make good the said persecutions we will insert into this discourse nothing but what we shall be able sufficiently to proue The first persecution is that whereof we haue the History in the time of King Lewis the twelfth about the yeere 1506 That is that this good King being informed that there were in Prouence a certaine kind of people that liued not according to the lawes of the Church of Rome but were an accursed people committing all manner of wickednesse and villanies euen such as the very memory of them strooke a horrour into mens hearts and the Christians in the primitiue Church had been vpbraided with he gaue Commission to his Court of Parliament in Prouence to take knowledge thereof and to chastise them according to their merit Whereunto the said Court hauing diligently attended so soone as the King vnderstood that diuers innocent persons were put to death he limited the authority of the said Court and would not suffer them to continue their executions vntill he were truely informed Vesembecius in Oratione de Waldensibâ—s what kind of people they were that to him had been reported to be so wicked To this purpose he sent Master Adam Fumee his Master of requests who told him at his returne that what had been giuen him to vnderstand touching the Waldenses of Prouence was very vntrue for they were not any way tainted either with sorcery or whoredome but that they liued like honest men doing hurt to no man they caused their children to be baptized taught them the Articles of their beliefe and the Commandements of God they carefully kept the Lords day and the word of God was purely expounded vnto them Vesembecius in Orotione de Waldensibus His auditis Rex iureiurando addito me inquit caetero populo meo Catholico meliores illi viri sunt A certaine Iacobin Monke named Parui confessor to the King witnessed as much who by the King was ioyned in Commission with the said Master of Requests Which the King hauing vnderstood he said and bound it with an oath that they were honester men then himselfe or the rest of his Catholike people This persecution being stained by King Lewis the twelfth they continued in peace vnto the raigne of King Francis the first of that name and at what time there was some speech in France of a reformation of Religion they sent two of their Pastors that is to say George Morel of Frassinieres in Dauphine and Peter Masson of Burgundy to Oecolampadius Minister at Basse to Capito and Martin Bucer at Strasbourg and to Berthand Haller at Berne to conferre with them about matters touching their Religion and to haue their aduice and counsell about many points wherein they desired to be better satisfied The Letters which Oecolampadius and Bucer sent vnto them are set downe at length in the first Booke of this History the Sixt Chapter where I endeauoured to make it appeare vnto the world that many great personages amongst them that made profession of reformation haue giuen testimony of their piety and probity which is the reason why we insert them not againe in this discourse onely we will produce those of the Waldenses in their own language and afterwards in English Salut a Monseignor Oecolampadio CAr moti racontant a sona a nostras oreillas que aquel que po totas cosas c. The Letter of the Waldenses of Prouence to Mr. Oecolampadius Health to Master Oecolampadius FOrasmuch as diuers haue giuen vs to vnderstand and the report is come vnto our eares that he that is able to doe all things hath replenished you with the blessings of his holy Spirit as it well appeares by the fruites we who liue farre distant from you haue thought good to haue recourse vnto you and with ioyfull hearts we hope and trust that the holy Ghost will illuminate vs by your meanes and will satisfie vs concerning many things whereof we are now in doubt and are hidden from vs because of our ignorance and negligence and as it is to be feared to 〈…〉 and the people whom we teach with great insufficiency For that you may know at once how matters stand Wee such as we are weake instructers of this little flocke haue remained for aboue foure hundred yeeres in the middest of sharpe and cruell thornes and yet in the meane time not without the great fauour of Christ as all the faithfull can easily testifie for this people hath many times been deliuered by the fauour and mercy of God being gored and tormented by the said thornes And therefore we come vnto you to be counselled and confirmed in our weaknesse They writ another Letter to the same purpose to Martin Bucer the which for breuities sake we omit wherein they relate that they had addressed themselues for the selfe same cause to their brethren of Newcastle Morat and Berne which shewes how carefull the Waldenses were to seeke out all manner of meanes that their vnderstandings might be enlightned in the mysteries of piety for the saluation of their soules especially seeing that then they sought the meanes to aduance and order their Church in the open view of the world when the fires were kindled throughout all France against those of the same Religion that they were who in those times were called Lutherans The greater
opposed themselues against them they haue defended it to this day CHAP. XV. That many Waldenses haue been persecuted at Paris IN the yeer 1210 foure and twenty VValdenses were apprehended at Paris The history of Languedoc 1. Forier fol. â— wherof some were imprisoned some burnt It happened also that during the one twentieth schisme and during the time of Pope Iohn the one and twentieth of that name the persecution was great throughout all France against the VValdenses but especially at Paris Againe in the yeere 1304 the Monkes Inquisitors appointed for the search of the VValdenses 1. Tab. pa. 15 2. apprehended at Paris a hundred and fourteene who were burnt aliue and endured the fire with admirable constancy We find also in the Sea of Histories that in the yeere 1378 The Sea of histories in the yeere 1378. the persecution continuing against the VValdenses there were burnt at Paris in the place de Greue a very great number CHAP. XVI Of the Waldenses inhabiting in Italy and the persecutions which we can proue they haue there suffered IN the yeere 1229 the Waldenses were spread abroad in great numbers throughout Italy Sigonius de regno Italico lib. 17. Valcamonica onely they had Schooles and from all parts of their abode they sent money into Lombardy for the maintenance of the said Schooles Vignier in the 3 part of his Bibl. hist Rain in summa fol. 18. Rainerius saith that about the yeere of our Lord one thousand two hundred fifty the Waldenses had Churches in Albania Lombardy Milan and in Romagina as also at Vincence Florence and Val Spoletine In the yeere of our Lord 1280 there were many Waldenses in Sicile Le Sieur de Hail in the life of Phil. 3. as le Sieur de Haillan obserueth in his History In the yeere 1492 Albert de Capitaneis Inquisitor and Arch-deacon of Cremona apprehended one of the Pastors of the Waldenses It appeares by the inditemet of the said Pasto the orginal whereof is in our hands named Peter de Iaeob passing ouer a mountaine in Dauphine called le Gol de Costeplane as he was going to Pragela in the Valley of Frassinieres Being asked from whence he came he answered that he came from the Churches of the Waldenses in Italy where he had been to performe his duty to his charge and that he had passed by Gennes where he told them Genoa that the Waldensian Pastors had a house of their owne which agreeth with that which Vignaux noteth in his Memorials Vignaux in his memorials fol. 15. That is that a certaine Pastor named Iohn of the Valley of Lucerna was suspended from the office of a Pastor for the space of seuen yeeres for some fault he had committed and that during the said time he remained at Gennes where saith he the Pastors had a house as also they had a faire one in Florence Besides all these restimonies of the abode of the Waldenses in Italy we haue those of Calabria Chap. 7. of whom thâ—re was question before The persecutions that they haue suffered in Italy were continuall vntill they were wholly rooted out The Emperour Frederic the second of that name did grieuously persecute them by Edicts In the coÌ„stitutioÌ„ which begins Jnconsutilem tunicam by the Inquisition by constitutions especially by that which condemneth Gazaros Patarenos Leonistas Speronistas Arnoldistas c. where hee bewailes the simplicity of those whom he calleth Patareniens as if he should say exposed to passions and suffrings in that they prodigally yeelded their liues to contempt affecting martirdome whereas if they would peaceably maintaine the faith of the Church of Rome they might saith he liue peaceably amongst other men who acknowledge her to be their mother and the head of all the Churches in the world It was his pleasure that they should be seuerely and speedily punished for feare lest they should farther spread themselues seeing also that they had begun to inhabit in Lombardie and within his Realme of Sicile where he commanded they should be persecuted with all rigour to the end they might be driuen out from thence and the whole world together Roger King of Sicile made also constitutions against them and caused them to be persecuted Pope Gregory the 9. did grieuoâ—sly persecute them Sigonius de regno Italico li. 17. A Legat of his banished them out of all Italy Citties and Countries and gaue command that their houses should be razed He appointed in the Citty of Milan two Pâ—eachers who by the authority of the Archbishop made a strict enquiry of the Waldenses and where they could apprehend any they caused them to be brought by the Pretor to the place where the Arch-bishop had appointed and that at the publike charge Pope Honorius caused them to be grieuoursly persecuted vnder the name of Fraticelli that is to say shifting companions for some doe hold that as many as were so called in Italy were no other but Waldenses In the time of Boniface 8 they were charged with the same calumnies as the Waldenses of Dauphine and the Christians of the primitiue Church The Monkes Inquisitors haue alwaies made in Italy an exact search that they might deliuer them to the secular power and not being content to condemne the liuing they framed indictments against the dead dis-interred their bodies burnt their bones and confiscated their goods Paulus Aemilius speakes thus of these shifting fellowes Paul Aemil in Charles the faire In the time of Charles le Bel saith he there were many great spirits and men very learned That age flourished in learning and some there were that were truely holy others who endeauouring vnseasonably and without measure to out-strip others became wicked others whose manners and institutions were doubtfull as for the best and holiest the wicked of those times bare them a grudge afflicting them not speaking a word or telling them wherefore And as for those whom they called Fraterculos Shifters the Preachers condemned them both by word and writing I vnderstand the words but not the sence cest escarlotte ces biens ceste domination and taught that they agreed not with the Religion of Christ They were said to be of the same beliefe with the Waldenses because such was their doctrine One amongst the rest named Herman being buried at Ferrara See the Sea of histories in the yeer 1300. was condemned twenty yeeres after his death to bee dis-interred and his bones to be burnt notwithstanding that whilest hee liued hee were accounted a holy man Also there was another named Andrew and his wife Guillaume that were dis-interred and their bones burnt CHAP. XVII That some of the Waldenses did flie into Dalmatia Croatia Sclauonia Constantinople Grecia Philadelphia Digonicia Liuonia Sarmatia Bulgaria and were there persecuted THe Monke Rainerius in his booke of the forme of proceeding against the Heretickes Rainâ—de forma baereticaÌ„di fol. 10. in that Catalogue that he made of the Churches
hee sent the holy Ghost from heauen to comfort his Apostles and to replenish his Church with the same Spirit We must beleeue that the same God hath chosen vnto himselfe a glorious Church without spot or wrinckle or such like thing as Saint Paul speaketh to the end it should be holy and vndefiled according to the commandement of the Almighty Be ye holy for I am holy And in the fift of Saint Matthew Be yee perfect as your beauenly Father is perfect for nothing that doth commit abomination shall enter into the Kingdome of God but onely they that are written in the Booke of life as it is sayd in the Reuelation We must beleeue the generall resurrection of which our Sauiour speaketh in the Gospell of Saint Iohn The houre shall come when all they that are in their graues shall beare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that haue done euill to the resurrection of Iudgement And Saint Paul saith in the first to the Corinthians that all shall arise and all shall be changed And Iob saith Chap. 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liueth and that hee shall stand at the latter day vpon the earth and though after my skin wormes destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my selfe and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my reines be consumed within mee Wee must beleeue the generall Iudgement vpon all the children of Adam as the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament doe affirme As our Sauiour promiseth in the 25. of Matth. 31. When the Sonne of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall hee sit vpon the throne of his glory and before him shall bee gathered all nations and hee shall separate them one from another as a shepheard diuideth his sheepe from the goates and hee shall set the sheepe on his right hand and the goates on the left And Iude in his Epistle Vers 15. Behold the Lord commeth with ten thousand of his Saints to execute iudgement vpon all And the Prophet Esay saith The Lord commeth in iudgement with the Ancients of his people and with his yong men also These things are set downe in the Old and New Testament and especially the foure Euangelists and the Prophets witnesse it in many places CHAP. V. An Exposition of the Waldenses and Albingenses vpon the Lords Prayer SAint Augustine being requested by a spirituall Daughter of his Taken out of a Booke of the Waldenses intituled The treasure of faith to teach her to pray hath thus said and written That multitudes of words are not necessary in prayer But to pray much is to be feruent in prayer And therefore to be long in prayer is to present things necessary in superfluous words To pray much is to solicit that we pray for with a seemely decency and affection of heart which is better done by teares then by words because God who seeth the secrets of our heart is more moued with a deepe grone or sigh by plaints and teares that come from the heart then by a thousand words But many there are in these dayes that refemble the Pagans to whom Christ would not haue his Disciples to be like for they thinke and beleeue that they shall bee the rather heard for their many words in their prayers whereby it comes to passe that they loose much time vnder a pretence of prayer Iob saith besides experience makes it good that a man is neuer in the same estate in this life but hee is now disposed to doe one thing and presently to doe another And therefore there is no man that can keepe his minde his spirit bent and attentiue to prayer a whole day or a whole night together except God giue the especiall assistance of his grace And if a man bath not his heart setled vpon that which he speaketh he looseth his time because hee prayes in vaine and his soule is troubled and his minde wandring another way And therefore God hath appointed to his seruants other exercises vertuous spirituall and corporall wherein a man may ordinarily exercise himselfe sometimes in one sometimes in another either for themselues or their Neighbours hauing their hearts lifted vp vnto God with all their power in such sort that they may not bee idle And therefore that man that liues well according to the will of God and the Doctrine of his Saints prayeth alwayes For euery good worke is a good prayer vnto God And as for thou that readest know that all the prayers of the old and new Testament doe agree with this and that no prayer can be pleasing vnto God that hath not a reference some way or other vnto this And therefore euery Christian ought to apply himselfe to vnderstand and to learne this prayer which Christ himselfe hath taught with his owne mouth Now it is necessary that he that is heard of God be agreeable vnto him and know those benefits hee hath receiued from him For ingratitude is a winde that dryeth vp the Fountaine of the mercy and compassion of our God And therefore if thou wilt pray or aske any thing at Gods hand thinke with thy selfe before thou aske what and how great benefits thou hast receiued from him and if thou canst not call them all to minde yet at the least forget not to beg that grace that thou mayest be bold to call him Father And thinke and know in how diuers a manner he is thy Father for hee is the Father of all Creatures generally by creation for he hath created them all He is a Father by distribution for he hath ordained them and disposed them all in his due place as being very good By preseruation for he hath preserued all Creatures that they faile not in their kinde amongst which his Creatures thou art one And besides hee is the Father of mankind by redemption for hee hath bought him with the precious bloud of his Sonne the Lambe without spot By instruction for he hath taught him by his Prophets by his Sonne and by his Apostles and Doctors and that after a diuers manner the way to returne into Paradice from whence wee were driuen by the sinne of our first Father Adam By chastisement for he chastiseth and correcteth vs in this life diuers wayes to the end wee may returne vnto him and not be condemned eternally in another life Lo teo nom sia sanctifica Hallowed be thy Name THy Name amiable to Christians and fearefull to the Iewes to Paynims and to the wicked Of this name saith the Prophot O Lord thy Name is admirable and wonderfull O our Father which art in Heauen we humbly beseech thee that thy Name which is holy be sanctified in vs by purity of heart by the contempt of the flesh and the world and that by an assured perseuerance of thy loue wee may be holy as thy name is holy which we beare and by which wee are called Christians For
Egyptians It is called Antichrist because being couered and adorned vnder the colour of Christ and of his Church and the faithfull members thereof it oppugneth the saluation purchased by Christ and truely administred in the Church of Christ whereof the faithfull are partakers by Faith Hope and Charity Thus it contradicteth the truth by the wisedome of the world by false religion by counterfeited holinesse by spirituall power secular tyrannie riches honours dignities and the delights and delicacies of the world Forasmuch therefore as it is manifest to euery one that Antichrist cannot come in any forme or fashion whatsoeuer but so as that all these things aboue mentioned must bee ioyned together to make a perfect hypocrisie and falsehood that is to say with the wise of the world the Religious Pharises Ministers Doctors with the secular power with the people of the world ioyned all together who then altogether make the man of sinne and errour fully compleate For notwithstanding Antichrist were long since conceiued in the Apostles times yet it was then in the infancie and it wanted members both inward and outward And therefore it was the more easily knowne and destroyed and keptvnder and being but rude and rusticall as yet was dumbe For it had not the wisedome nor the reason to excuse it selfe to define and pronounce sentence It had not as yet Ministers without truth it wanted humane Lawes and Statutes and outwardly it had no religious followers And therefore though it were fallen into errour and sinne yet it had nothing wherewith to couer its villany and the shame of errour and sinne for hauing neither riches nor doctations it could not winne Ministers for seruice nor multiply and preserue and defend its owne for it was destitute of secular power and helpe and could not inforce or constraine any from the trueth to falsehood And forasmuch as many things were wanting it could not pollute nor scandalize any with its trumperies and therefore being as yet tender and feeble could obtaine no place in the Church But afterwards growing in its members that is to say in its blinde Ministers and hypocrites and the vassals of the World it is growen to a perfect man in the fulnesse of age that is to say when the spirituall and secular louers of the World blinde in faith were multiplied in the Church with all power These being wicked and willing to be entreated and honoured touching things spirituall they haue couered their maiesty malice and sinnes by making vse of the wise men of the World and the Pharises to this purpose as it is said before Now this is a great wickednesse to couer and to adorne that iniquity worthy excommunâ—cation and to establish it by such a meanes as cannot by man bee giuen to man but belongs onely vnto God and to Iesus Christ as he is Mediator Most deceitfully and by rapine to take these things from God and to transferre them to it selfe and it workes seemes to be a great robbery as when it attributeth to it selfe the power to regenerate to forgiue sinnes to distribute the graces of the holy Spirit to make Christ and other the like things And in all these to couer it selfe with the cloake of authority and of the Word deceiuing by this meanes the rude people who follow the World separating themselues from God and the true Faith and the reformation of the holy Spirit from true repentance and the powerfull operation of perseuerance in good forsaking charity patience humility and that which is worst of all departing from the true hope and putting their trust in the vaine confidence of the World making themselues seruants to ceâ—emonies which make for these things fraudulently causing the people to fall downe and to worship the Idols of the World vnder the name of Saints and reliques in such sort that men wandring wickedly from the way of truth thinke they serue God and doe well and so they are moued to hatred and malice against those that loue the truth commit diuers murders of soules as the Apostle speakes truly This is that compleat man of sinne which exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God and that oppugneth all truth who sits in the Temple of God that is in the Church shewing himselfe as if hee were God who is come with all falshood and lying for those that perish And forasmuch as he is truly come wee neede no longer expect him for hee is already olde by the permission of God yea he is already in the wayne and his power and authority much diminished for the Lord hath long since slaine this man of sinne with the breath of his mouth by sundry good and godly persons giuing them a power contrary to his and those that loue him and hath brought vnto naught his place and his possessions and diuided this City of Babylon in which all manner of wickednesse is in his full strength and vigour What the workes of Antichrist are THe first worke of Antichrst is to take away the truth and to change it into falsehood and errour and heresie The second to couer falsehood with the truth and to confirme an vntruth by seeming faith and by vertue and to mingle falsehood with things spirituall amongst those people that are subiect vnto him whether it bee by meanes of his Ministers or the Ministerie Now this two-fold manner of proceeding containeth a perfect and most accomplished malice which could not bee in any tyrant or powerfull Potentate from the beginning of the world vntill the time of Antichrist Neither hath Christ had any enemy before this which could so change the way of truth into falsehood or that had power to peruert those that make profession either of the one or the other that is to say of truth or falsehood In such sort that our holy Mother the Church with her true children is trodden vnder-foot especially for the true seruice of God and the Ministery thereof inso much that shee and her members breake out into those mournefull complaints of the Prophet Ieremy How doeth the Citie sit solitary that was full of people How is shee become a widdow that is destitute of the trueth of her Spause Shee that was great among the nations because of that power shee had ouer sinne and errour and the Princesse among the Prouinces by that part shee had in the world and the things in the world Mourne and behold with a carefull eye and thou shalt finde all these things accomplished euen in these times For the holy Church is reputed a Synagogue and the Synagogue of the wicked is acknowledged to bee the mother of those that beleeue in God and obey his Lawes Falsehood is Preached for truth wrong for right Iniustice is held for Iustice errour for faith sinne for vertue vanity for verity Obiect But what other workes proceed from these first Answer These that follow The first worke is that hee turneth that seruice and worship which is onely proper and due vnto God to himselfe and