What a myschyef is this? be not the gates open? I trowe eyther the locke is chaunged / or elles doubtlesse it is trou­bled.

Mary loke betyme, leest per aduenture thou hast not broughte the ryght keye. For this dore is not opened with y ^e same keye, wherwith thou doest open thy treasoury. And therfore, why hast thou not brought hyther bothe twayne? For surely this is a keye of power / not of connynge.

Forsothe I had neuer other but this / neyther I se not what nedeth the other key, whā this is present.

Neyther I of trouth / but for bycause we be shet out in y ^e meane tyme.

This freateth me not a lytell. I wyl breke dowue the gates. Hey, hey, some of you, quyckely come open the gate. What a rekenynge is this? Wyl no man come forthe? What causeth this porter to tary so longe? I thynke he is fallen in to some dronken slepe.

Se ye not how this man estemeth all other men of his owne condycyons.

It is happy that we haue so stronge a gate, or elles he wolde haue broken it. He muste nedes be some gyaunt / or some great ruffler / or beater downe of walled townes. But, o, īmortall god / what a synke I smell here? I wyl not be hasty in openynge y ^e dore / but I shall spy here out at this grate what monster it is. what arte thou / or what eyleth the?

Wherfore doest thou not open y ^e ga­tes as fast as thou canst? whiche sholdest haue met [Page] me, yf thou had done thy duety, and al the pompe of heuen to.

Lordely spoken. But I pray the tell me fyrst of all / who thou arte.

As though thou mayst not se what I am.

Mayste not se quod he? of trouthe I se a newe syght, and suche one as I neuer sawe before / to speake playnly a very mon­stre.

But and yf thou be starke blynde, I trowe thou knowest of olde this key / albeit that thou kno­west not this golden oke, and thou seest here to this tryple crowne / and also this cope shynynge on euery syde [...] with golde & precyous stones.

As for the syluer keye in dede I knowe of olde, after a maner / and thoughe ye haue broughte it alone, beynge yet moche vnlyke to those which Chryst the true pastor or shepeherde of y ^e chyrche dyd ones del [...]uer me. But how were it possyble for me to knowe this crowne so gloryous, as neuer any straunge tyraunte durste weare / moche more no suche (certaynely) as wolde be let in here. As for this goodly vestiment, I passe lytel vpon / whiche dispysed & was wonte to treade vnder my fete, both golde and precyous stones, lyke as I dyd tyle stones, But what thyng is here? I se bothe in the key / crowne / & garment / tokens of some knauysshe tapster, and false iugler / hauyng my forename, y ^t is to say, Symō / but nothȳg folowyng my ꝓfession / which name I cōfounded ones by y ^e assy­stence of Christ.

Leue these brablyng wordes, if thou be wyse: for I (if y ^u knowe me not) am Iuliꝰ the lombarde, borne in Liguria / and I thynke thou knowest these .ij. letters .P. and .M. oneles y ^u dydest [Page] neuer know thy crosrowe.

I wene they signify the greatest pestylence.

Ha, ha, ha, Howe ryght he hytteth the nayle on the heed.

No not so, the greatest bysshop.

Howe great so euer thou be / and though thou were greater than T [...]ismegistus the neuewe of greate Mercurius, thou shalte not be receyued in to this place, onles thou be also optimꝰ, that is to say holy.

Yf it make any thyng to the mater to be called holy, y ^u arte past all shame, which doubteth to open me the gates / seyng thou was cal­many yeres ago, onely holy. For truely no man cal­led me but mooste holye. There remayneth at this day .vi.M. bulles.

Bulles in dede.

In whiche I am called, and that not ones, moost holy lorde. Besyde this I was intituled vnder the name of holynesse it selfe / and not of a holy man, what so euer was my pleasure.

Ye thoughe thou were st [...]ke drōke.

Th [...]t, men wolde say y ^e holynesse of moost holy lorde Iulius had done.

Than go aske heuen of suche flaterers y ^t was wonte to make y ^e moost holy / & let those gyue y ^e felycite, which gaue the holynes: But supposest y ^u alone, to be called holy or to be holy ī dede.

Thou angrest me to y ^e herte Yf I myghte lyue agayne, I wolde neyther desyre this holynes nor felycite.

O voyce the declarer of a very holy mynde. Neuertheles whan I do but onely loke on the I ꝑceyue moche vngoodlynes / but no token of holynes in the. What meneth this newe garde, so vnmete for a bysshop? For thou bryngest almoost .xx.M. with the / and I se not one amonge [Page] them all that loketh lyke a good chrysten man. I se a fylthy sorte of men / sauourynge nothynge but of bawdry / dronkenes / and gonpowder. They seme to be hyred to robbe / or rather a sorte of spyrytes come out of hell, to make bataile agaynst heuen. Now the more I beholde thyselfe / so moche lesse I se any step of an apostolyke man. Fyrst of all, what a monstre is here? Whiche wearest aboue the garmente of a preest / & vnderneth thou lokest al fyersly / and clynk­kest within with bloody harneys. Besyde all these, what a cruell loke / how stoborne a face / how thret­nynge a forheed / how hawt and disdeynous a coun­tenaunce: I am truely ashamed / and very wery for to se it / y ^t there is no parte of thy body, but it is defyled and vicyate with tokens of prodigyous / & abho­mynable lust. And ferthermore, it nede not to speake how thou doest ryfte / and smellest al togyther of ex­cesse and dronkennes / and me thynketh thou lokest as thou had of late vomyted. To be shorte, suche is the shape of all thy body / that thou apperest not so broken, roten, and ouercome so moche with age, as with surfettes.

Howe ryght he hath paynted hym in his colours.

Yet although y ^t I se the but euen nowe thretnynge me as it were with thy coū ­tenaunce. Yet for all that, I can not but vtter my thought. I do suspecte y ^t the most pestileut heathen Iuliꝰ is come agayne disguysed from hell, to laugh me to scorne / thou arte so lyke to hym in al poyntes.

Madisi.

What sayde he?

His holynes is now an angred. At this worde there is neuer one [Page] of the cardynalles that wolde tary in his syght / for yf he dyd, he sholde haue felte his moost holy fyste / and namely after dyner.

Me thynke thou per­ceyuest very well the mannes appetyte, therfore tel me who thou arte.

I am the greate spyryte or aungell of Iulius.

But I thynke the euyll an­gell.

What kyn one so euer I am, I belonge to Iulius.

But I say, leue these try flynge tales: and open the gates: excepte thou had leauer haue them brokē open. What nedeth many wordes? seest thou what a sorte of cōpanyons I bryng with me?

Truely I se a sorte of erraunt theues. But [...]o put the shortly out of doubte, these gates muste be wonne w ^t other maner of artyllery.

I say here is wordes plenty, yf thou wylte not spedely obey, I wyll bende agaynst the, the thonderbolt of excōmu­nicacyon / wherwith I haue feared somtyme the hyghest kynges of the erthe, and also many greate kyngdomes / I trowe thou seest here a bul prouyded for the same purpose.

But I pray the what thondre or thondreboltes, what bulles calues and crakynge wordes doest thou speake of to me. For I neuer herde any suche of Chryst.

But thou shalte fele, onelesse thou wylte obeye.

Yf thou hast in tyme past feared any with suche cardes of .x that is nothynge to this place / for here thou muste occupye true warre. This howlde is vaynquysshed with good werkes: not with euyll wordes: But I pray the thretnest thou me with the thondrebolte of excōmunicacyon? tell me by what auctoryte.

[Page]By very good auctoryte. For thou arte nowe but a pryuate persone, neyther any better thā euery layke preest, ye scarcely so good, seynge thou canst not now consecrate.

Bycause I trowe that I am nowe departed from that lyfe.

Euen therfore.

But thou which art more than so deed, art nothyng better than I by this reason.

Naye not so syr / for as longe as the cardynals stryue for the chusyng of a newe Pope / so longe is the offyce myne owne.

Howe he dremeth of his dremyng lyfe.

But yet ones agayne, open the dore I say.

I say thou labourest all in vayne, onelesse thou can shewe thy deseruyng merites.

what merites?

I wyll tell the. Hast thou passed all other in holy doctryne?

I knewe neuer a dele / nor I had leyser therto, hauynge so many batayls / but I haue freres ynowe, yf this pertayn to our mater

Therfore it is lyke ynoughe thou hast wonne many to Chryst, with thy good lyuyng.

Ye ra­ther to hell, and that great plente.

Wast thou clere and shynynge with myracles?

Thou spe­kest of suche maters as were clene out of vse with me.

Hast y ^u ben accustomed to pray purely, and besyly?

What tryfles he prateth.

Or was thou wonte to macerate, or subdue thy bodye with fastynges & watches?

No mo of these maters I pray the, to this man / lese not thy labour.

I neuer knewe other ornamētes of a right bysshop, yf this man hath other more lyke to y ^e apostles: let hym shewe them forthe.

Truely it is ferre [Page] vnfyttynge y ^t the great conquerour Iulius (which was neuer yet ouer come) sholde nowe gyue place to Peter / to speake no ferther, a poore fyssher, and in maner a very begger. Neuertheles bycause y ^u shalt knowe what a great prynce thou settest nought by, here me thre or foure wordes. ¶Fyrst of all I am borne in Liguria / neyther I am no iewe as thou art / with whom I am sory y ^t I haue had so moche lykenes to / as that I was ones a pylote of a shyp.

That is nothynge to be sorowed for. For here in is moche dyfference bytwene you / for he fysshed to get a poore lyuynge / thou were wonte at a lytell wage offred the, to plucke downe tht sayles:

Moreouer of Sixtus whiche was doubtlesse the greatest pope.

He meaneth his greatnes in myscheues:

I was his neuewe by his syster / and fyrst promoted by his specyall fauour, & myne owne polycye, to spyrytuall dygnytees / than after clymmed vp, as it were by stayres, to the heygth of a cardynalles hat. After exercysed with many sharpe stormes of fortune, beynge therto tossed vp and downe, w ^t moost cruell chaunces / and besyde many other dyseases. I had also the kynges euyll. To be shorte, I swarmed all full of the frenche pockes. Besyde all this I was a banysshed man, odious, condempned abiecte of all men, and almoost past all togyther / yet I neuer mystrusted [...] be the greatest bysshop / suche a courage hadde I euer. But as for thou waste afrayed at the voyce of a mayden / and was glad to deny thy mayster. A woman toke clene [Page] awaye thy stomake. It fortuned contrary wyse to me / for there was a wyse woman, or sortylege, that put me in all this trust / whiche in the tyme I was drowned in all my misforunes, whyspered me pri­ [...]yly in the eare, sayenge: Stande styfly, & be of good courage Iulian. be not agreued, whatsoeuer thou do or suffre / thou shalte ones be crowned with thre crownes / thou shalte be kynge of kynges / and lorde of lordes. Neyther my hope than her prophecy dis­ceyued me. For to that I came wrastlynge thorowe many cares: no man supposynge any lykelynes in me / partely by ayde of the frenchemen, succouryng me in my exyle / and partly with an inestimable po­wer of money, made by vsury. Neyther it came to passe without great polycy.

What policy was it?

That is to say not without many promised benefyces / and that by sure couenaunt / with great crafte for to finde sureties for the same purpose. For [...]ruely it had ben to moche for riche Crassus to haue payed so greate a somme of money at ones. But I speake these thynges to the in vayne, whiche euery audytor dothe not well perceyue. I haue nowe re­hersed the howe I crepte vp to myne offyce. Nowe in myn offyce I handled my selfe ī suche wyse, that there is neuer one amonge all the olde bysshoppes, whiche in respect of me appereth worthy the name of bysshops / neither there is any of y ^e newe byshops to whom y ^e chyrche, yea Christ himselfe is so moche bounde as to me.

Howe strayght this beest playeth Thrasoes parte.

I marueyle what [Page] ende thou wylte make.

For truely I (with ma­ny newe foūde offyces, as they call thē) haue highly encreased and enlarged the popes treasory. I found (than after) meanes how bysshopryches myght be bought without Simonye: For it was decreed by my predecessoures, that he whiche chaūced to haue a bysshopryche, sholde depose or laye downe his of­fyce: Which wordes I dyd interprete in this wyse. Thou arte cōmaunded to gyue vp thyne offyce: but that is not gyuen vp whiche thou haste not: thou must bye therfore that offyce whiche thou mayste gyue vp. By this policye euery bysshopryche was worthe to me syxe or seuen thousande duckates / be­syd all suche exactions as ben asked customably for bulles. Moreouer, I gate great vauntage of y ^e newe money, wherw ^t I fylled al Ytaly: Neyther I ceased at any tyme from gatherynge ryches, perceyuynge ryght well (w ^tout that) y ^t neither holy nor prophane domynion coude haue ben ryghtly done w ^tout that. But and to speke of greater poyntes of my practise, I restored and deliuered vp Bonony than in habyte with y ^e bentiuoles. To y ^• see of Rome I ouerthrwe in batayle y ^• Ueniciens, neuer vaynquesshed before I had almoost take in a snare y ^e duke Ferrare, longe vexed with batayle. The scysmatyke councell I de­luded in good tyme / feynynge an other councell / and so put away one myschief (as the cōmon saying is) with an other. Last of all I droue the frenche men (than sore adred of all chrystendome) clene forthe of ytaly / & was purposed lykewyse to do the Spany­ardes [Page] (for I dyd holly so entende) yf the fatall sen­tēce of god had not taken me out of this lyfe / But se here, how coragious a stomake I shewed. I began to vewe dylygently the borders of hye Fraunce. I let than growe my whyte berde, whan all thyng was in despyracyon. But full sodeynely cōmeth a golden messenger shewynge that at Rauenna a cer­tayne thousandes of Frenche men were slayne. At suche tydynges / Iulius reuyued agayn. Moreouer I lay thre dayes for deed. Also I felte no lyfe at all my selfe, but here (bothe aboue al other mens hope, and myne also) I reuyued agayne. So great is my auctoryte and power, w ^t my other polycy, that there is at this daye neuer a chrysten prynce, but I can cause hym to make warre / notwithstandynge they be neuer so sure inleged. For an exāple, I brake the last bande and leyge (Whiche the cameryckes made betwene my holynes, and other princes. That is to say y ^e frēche kynge, & the kyng of Romayns) so craf­tely, as thoughe there had neuer ben mencyon of it. ¶Besyde all this I kepte so great an hoost / garnysshed so many gloryous and shynynge tryumphes / so many ioly maskeryes / so dyuers buyldīges / and yet I lefte .l.C.M. ducates at the tyme of my deth / intendyng to proue hyer maistryes, if that iewe my phisicyon (that by his sorcery dyd proroge my lyfe) coude haue prolonged me any more. But wolde god nowe some magyke coude restore me to lyfe, that I myght yet finyshe suche thynges, as I dyd gorgy­ously begynne. Albeit at the poynte of dethe I was [Page] moost besy to prouyde, that batayles whiche I had graciously begon in al partes sholde not cease by my dethe. And I laboured that the treasour whiche I lefte myght be saued for y ^e same purpose, this was my last wordes at my departynge. Now disdeynest thou to open Christes gates, to a bysshop deseruyng so moche, bothe of Chryst, and his chyrche. He shall more maruel at these thynges that perpendeth and consydereth by what wysoome & pollicy I brought all these maters to passe, hauynge no other helpe at all, as other be cōmenly wonte, nor of my kyn. For I knewe neuer my father, whiche thynge I say to my prayse / nor by beautie, for euery man abhorred my vgly face / neither by any lernyng, whiche I ne­uer tasted / nor by bodyly strengthe, whiche chaun­ced me in lyke maner, as I haue descrybed befo [...]e. Neyther by fauour of aege / for I dyd all these thynges beinge an olde man. Not by y ^e cōmen fryndshyp for euery man hated me. Nor with any clemency or gentilnes, which beinge so harde herted, y ^t I wolde often be so cruell agaynst some, to whome all other were wonte to be entreated by.

Good lorde, what a tale is this?

Althoughe this appere to an other man harde to brynge to passe, yet it is but a tryfle to hym.

But notwithstandynge that fortune, aege, ꝑsonage of body. To make fewe wor­des, bothe goodes and men were agaynst me. I (hauynge no other ayde but myne owne wytte and mo­ney) haue done these great and valyaunte feates in fewe yeres. Leauynge also so moche ayde to my po­steryte, [Page] that they may haue ynoughe to do withall [...] for the space of .x. yeres. I haue spoken these thyngꝭ of my selfe, & that very truely / but nothynge to that I coude say. But yf one of my rethoricyēs handled the mater, thou sholdest say thou herdest a god, and no man.

Moost valyaunt warryour / for so moche as all these maters whiche you shewe me be to me very straunge, and suche as I neuer herde of before. I pray you to pardon myne ygnoraunce and rudenes, & that it be not greuous to your hyghnesse to make an answere playnly to me, in suche thinges as I wyl aske of you. What be these goodly miny­ons that folowe you?

I kepe them for my plea­sure.

What be these blacke company all full of skarres?

They ben souldiers, and theyr capi­taynes: whiche haue ben māfully slayne in batayle for loue of me and the chyrche. Some in the syege of Boleyn le grace / & many also at the batayle agaynst the Uenyciens. A great sorte at y ^e syege of Rauenna, to whom heuen is due by couenaunt. For I promy­sed them longe ago, by my great bulles, that al they sholde fle strayght to heuen, that fought for y ^e mayntenaunce of Iulius power, howe soeuer they lyued before.

Therfore to my ymaginacion they were of this good fraternite, that hath ben very often greuous to me, or thou came hyther, shewynge forthe theyr folysshe bulles. Howbeit they made no suche facynge as to entre in by force.

Therfore as fer as I can se, thou woldest not suffre them come in.

I trowest thou? no neuer one of the lynage. [Page] For truely so hath not Chryste taught me, to admyt any that bryngeth suche instrumētes. But to them that hath clothed the naked, and fedeth them that be an hongred / gyuen drynke to the thyrsty, and vi­syteth the sycke, and helpe poore prysoners, and harborowe the barbourlesse. For seinge he wolde, they sholde be excluded y ^t hath prophesyed in his name / that hath cast forthe deuylles / that hath wroughte myracles. Thynkest thou than that they shall be let in, that bryngeth hyther nothyng but a bare bull in the name of Iuliꝰ.

Ah, what if I had knowne this before.

I wote well what ye wolde haue done, if any of your frendes had come from hell, and shewed you these thynges / ye wolde haue proclay­med open warre against me.

And not onely that, but I sholde haue cursed the, as blacke as a cole.

But go forthe / wherfore art thou all in ar­mour?

As though thou knewest not that bothe the swerdes pertayned to the hyest byss [...]op, excepte thou wylte haue men fyght naked.

Truely whan I occupyed thy rowme, I knewe no swerde at all, but the swerde of the spiryte / whiche is the worde of god.

But Malchus wyll tell an o­ther tale, whose eare thou cut of. I trowe without a swerde.

I remembre and knowe that ryghte well. But thā I fought for my mayster Christ. Not for my selfe, for my maysters lyfe. Not for money, or temporall dignyte. And than I fought beinge ney­ther pope nor bysshop. And at that tyme whan the keyes were onely promysed me, but not receyued. [Page] Neyther I had receyued yet y ^e holy goost. And not­withstandynge at that tyme I was cōmaunded to put it vp agayne / and monysshed openly, that suche maner of fyghtynge, was not syttynge for preestes, neyther for any christen man. But these thȳges shal be more mete for an other place. Why doest thou so moche boste thy selfe to be a L [...]mbarde / as though it were any thynge materyall to the vycar of Christ what countre man he be.

Yes surely / for I thynke it the hyest kynde of loue to auaunce and magnifie my countre. Therfore I wryte this tytle in all my coynes of money / pictures in all vautes, and walles.

Ergo he knewe his countre, whiche knewe not his father? But at the fyrste I thoughte thou haddest mente of the heuenly Hierusalem / the coūtre of beleuers, & of the onely prince of the same / by whose godly power, they whiche be there desy­reth to be sanctifyed / that is for to say, made clene. But what meaneth this addicyon? Sixtus neuew by his syster, whom I maruell neuer came hyther, namely whan he was the hyghe bysshop, and cosin to so great a duke as thou arte. Wherfore tell me I pray the, what maner of felowe was he? Was he any preest?

I promyse the he was a valyaunt warryour, & of an hygh religyon / that is to wyte of saint Fraūces ordre.

In dede I knewe somtim [...] Fraunces, one of the beste syse amonge the laye fee / and an vtter despyser of ryches / pleasure / & worldly ambicyon. But hath that poore creature goten hym nowe suche great rulers vnder hym?

As ferre [Page] as I perceyue, thou wylte not that any man shall ryse to promocyon. Truthe it is, y ^t Benet was ones a poore monke / neuertheles his posteryte or succes­sours, be now so ryche that we popes do enuy them

Uery well. But retorne to thy mater of Sixtꝰ neuewe.

I sayd for the nonest, to stop theyr mouthes, which affyrme liberally that I was his sonne / and begoten on his syster.

Liberally spoken in dede. But what of that, saye they not truely?

How soeuer it be, it is not for y ^e popes honour, wherto specially I must haue regarde.

To speake of regardy [...]ge, surely me thynkes y ^t honoure coude not be more regarded, than if they dyd noth [...]g th [...]t myght iustly be layde to theyr reproche. But I requyre, and adiure the / and that by thy pontyficall maiestie, to tell me without fablynge. Is this way (that thou tellest me nowe) [...]he cōmen trade & mea­nes to come to the hygh papacy.

Well I wote there was no other fassyon in many yeres, o [...]les he y ^t succedeth me, be made otherwyse. For after y ^• I had my purpose / by and by I sent a bull vnder leed to warne them, leest any man sholde entre in to the honorable see, by suche meanes. And also renewed the sayde bull a lytell before my dethe. Howe moche it shall preuayle, let them care that nede hath.

I suppose there coude no man descrybe the mische­uous corrupte fassyon, better than [...]hou. But one thynge I maruell of, howe any can be founde that wyll take the offyce vpon hym / seynge that it is so paynefull to kepe, & daungerous to come by / whan [Page] I was y ^e bisshop I coude scarsly enforce any to take on hym y ^e offyce of a poore preest, or deacon.

It was no great meruel. For y ^t tyme y ^• state or cōdicion of the by [...]shops and other fathers was nothyng els but laboures / watchynges / fastinges / preachynge / and often tymes deth. But now it is al hole a kyngꝭ lyfe, and better. Therfore who is it / yf he haue any tru [...]t at all to vaynquysshe / y ^t wolde not go to hande grypes for so swete a lyfe.

But tel forthe, what sayde thou of Bonony. Wente it out of y ^e fayth, that it neded to be restored to y ^• see of rome.

Peas y ^t was no mater.

Perchaunce the cominalty de­cayed by the mysgouernaunce of Bentinofus.

No in dede. For at that tyme the citie was moost in his floures / repayred, and illustrate w ^t many goodly buyldynges. And therfore I was more gredy ouer it.

I ꝑceyue y ^e mater now. Did he not thā come in by a wrōge title?

That was not the mater. For he came to it by y ^e fauour of the hole body of the towne.

Than y ^e Bononyes wold not suffre hym to be rule ouer them?

Yes mary. They helde styfly w ^t hym / and were almost all togyther agaynst me.

What than was the cause?

Playnely this was al y ^e mater. Bycause he gouerned in suche wyse, that there came but a fewe thousandes of the vnreasonable sōmes of money, whiche he gathered of the cyrezyns to our treasour house. Besyde al this it was a very necessary thynge so that, whiche I wente aboute. And so by helpe of the Frenche men, and many other whiche I en [...]orced therto with the [Page] thondrebolte of my curse, I voyded him and his the towne. I put in theyr rowmes cardinalles and bys­shops to rule the same / so y ^t no parte of the profytes myght escape the see of Rome. An other cause was, that the chief tytle and honour of y ^e empyre of Rome appered ell togyther to be theyrs. But nowe are set forthe in euery parte of the towne our ymages / our tytles be red / our tokens and monumētes of victory be worshipped / and in many sondry places standeth a Iulius of stone or brasse. To be shorte yf thou had sene w ^t what a regal pompe and triumphe I entred in to Bonony, perchaūce thou woldest the lesse haue set by all the tryūphes of Octauians or Scipions / and y ^t it was not w ^tout a cause, that I entreprised so ferre. For y ^u myght haue sene there the very chyrche milytaunt & tryūphaunt, bothe at ones.

Ther­fore whan thou reygned (as I perceyued) that for­tuned whiche Christ cōmaunded vs to praye for, in the Pater noster. Let thy kyngedome come to vs. Nowe I praye the, what heynous displeasure had the poore Uenyciens done to the?

Fyr [...]t of all they folowed all togyther the Grekes, and made me theyr laughyng stocke / speakyng euer al they coude to my reproche.

But was it true or false y ^t they spake.

What mater is that? It is playne sacri­lege ones to whysper of the byshop of Rome, excepte it be done to his prayse. Moreouer, they bestowed al theyr benefyces at theyr owne pleasure. Nor they wolde suffre no appeles hyther, nor bye any dispen­sacyons. What nede many wordes? They vexed the [Page] see of Rome [...] suche wyse, that it coude not be suffred Whiche moreouer w ^thelde a great parte of thy pa­trimony.

Of my patrimony? I pray the what patrimony tellest thou me of? that lefte all togyther and poorely folowed poore Chryst.

I speake of certayne townes that belonge to y ^e see of Rome. For so it pleased the moost holy fathers to call a ꝑticuler parte of theyr possessyons.

Truely ye haue gotē moche lucre and auantage to my greate sclaundre. And doest y ^u therfore call this an intollerable hurte?

What elles?

Ye but was theyr maners to be suffred? or theyr loue towarde god decayed?

Tusshe, thou speakest of tryfles / the mater is this. They w ^thelde from vs yerely infinyte thousādes of duccates, whiche had ben suffycient to fynde an ar­myryall.

Be my trouth a great losse to suche an vsurer. But that same duke of Ferrare, what had he done?

What had he done? A chorle of al chorles: whom Alexandre the vicare of Chryste had in [...]uche fauoure (thoughe he was but of base bloode) that he maryed one of his doughters to him / & gaue therto great possessyons, for her dowry. And yet no­thynge at all remēbryng his humanyte & kyndnesse euer barked and whyned agaynst me / callynge me often scismatyke / [...]ggerer / & frantyke felowe. And farthermore, he claymed many trybutes / which al­beit they were but small / yet a dilygēt curate wolde not vtterly dispyse them.

Nay, a crafty mar­chaunt.

But to come to our mater / it was somwhat expedyent to that whiche I wente aboute, to [Page] haue that goodly towne coupled to our patrymony / bycause it lay cōmodyously for vs, therfore I was purposed (that ones brought to passe) to gyue it to a kynsman of ours / a felowe very actyue, and bolde inough to attēpte any maner of thing, for y ^e auaūce­ment of the chyrche, / which slewe not longe ago the cardinal of Papia w ^t his owne hāde, for my pleasure but as for his doughters husbande is cōtented wel ynough.

What here I? Hath also the hye bys­shops wyues, & chyldren?

They haue no wy­ues of theyr owne, but what straunge thynge is it for them to haue chyldren / sith they be men as other be, and no geldynges?

But tel me what caused that scismatyke counsel.

It were very tedious to recyte all from the fyrste begynnynge, therfore I shall touche the affecte as briefly as I can.

¶Certayne ꝑsons began to waxe wery of y ^e courte of Rome, they reported, y ^t al togyther was corrupte w ^t fylthy lucre. With prodigyous, and abhominable lechery. With preuy poysonyngꝭ / sacrilege / murdre / symony / and other vnlaufull marchaundyse. They sayde also, that euen I my selfe was a symoniake / a dronkerde / a buggerer / puffed vp with a worldly spiryte. And all to gyther suche a one, that hath vn­thryftely occupyed y ^e rowme / and to the great confu­syon of all the christianyte. And so these maters out of frame must be (in gods name) redressed, by a generall counsell. They sayde therto, y ^t I was sworne to sōmonde a generall counsell w ^tin two yeres after I toke my honour / and y ^t vpon this condicyon I was [Page] made pope.

But was it truely sayde?

Yea, it was trouth in dede. Neuertheles I losed my selfe from y ^t othe / whan I thought moost expedient. For what is he that wyll doubte any thynge to swere a mayne, to come to suche a botye? Godlynes may be reuerēced otherwyse / as one Iulius / suche an other as I am / was wonte to saye moost elegantly. But marke the boldenes of these loselles: and se to what poynte the mater came. Nyne cardynalles shronke from me at ones. They shewed me they wolde haue a counsell, & cyted me to be there / & prayed me to syt as resident or iudge. Whan they coude not brȳge me to the poynte / they sent out a general cōmaundemēt euery where, by y ^e auctoryte of Maxymilian the emperour / & also by the auctoryte of Lewes the frenche kynge, the .xij. of that name, [...]ycause the hystoriens wytneseth, y ^t in tymes past che counsel was wonte to be sōmoned by the emperours of Rome. I quake in speakinge it / howe greatly they indeuore them to cut asondre y ^e cote of Christ w ^tout any seame / which his crucifyers lefte hole.

But was thou suche a felowe as they reported the?

What mater is it, if I were? I was y ^e hye bysshop. But I put case I were more tyrannous than y ^e Cercopyans / more folysshe than Morichus / or most asse in the worlde / yea more fylthy than a cōmen synke / who soeuer kepeth this key of power, it is mete he be had in reue­rence, as Christꝭ vicare, & to worshyp hym as moost holy father in god.

Ye, thoughe he be an open mysdoer?

That forceth not. But to be playne, it [Page] is not conuenient, that he whiche is in gods stede in erth / & represēteth al hol [...]ly as it were a god amōge men, sholde be rebuked, or euyll spoken by of euery vyle felowe.

But y ^e cōmen reason cryeth against this, that we sholde iudge wel of hym whom we se do openly euyll, or say well of suche as we perceyue to be nought.

I am content, euery man thynke what he lyst, so he say well, or els holde theyr peas, For truely the bysshop of rome may not be rebuked, no not of a generall counsell.

This is one thyng I am assured of [...] who soeuer is in Christꝭ stede here in erth, ought to be as lyke to hym in lyuyng as can be. And so lykewyse to lede al his lyfe, leest any thȳg may be reprehended in hym, or leest any persone (of his deseruȳge) might speake euyl of hym. It is not well w ^t popes & bysshops, yf they be come to enforce and constrayne men, rather w ^t thretnyng than with good dedes to speke well of them, whom y ^u canst not lawde w ^tout ly [...]nge [...] whose greatest glory is, the const [...]ry [...] seylēce of suche as thȳke [...]uyl of them. But answere me hereunto. I pray the may not the pope (yt [...]e [...]e a pestilent caytyfe, & a capitayn of mischif) be in no wyse deposed [...]

Oh, wyse man? who sholde depose him, which is y ^e hyest of al?

Mary so m [...]he y ^• rather ought he to be put downe. For the gr [...]e [...] man, the more myschief may he do. And to proue [...]hat, the lawe cyuile doth not onely depose an emp [...]rour for his euyl rulyng, but also wylleth hi [...] to be put to deth. [...], what an vnhappy cōdicion and sta [...]e is the chyrche in, whiche must [...]e constrayned [Page] to susteyne a bisshop of rome, doyng what myschief soeuer he lyst, & may in no wyse blisse vs from suche a cruel tyraunt.

That reason is nought worth For yf the bysshop of Rome myght be put downe, it must be done by the auctoryte of a generall counsell. yea, & besyde this, a counsel can not be holden w ^tout the popes consent / for els it is but a conuētycle, & no counsell. But yf so be it be gathered in most due ma­ner, yet nothynge at all may be ordeyned & decreed, but yf y ^e pope be wyllynge therto. Therfore y ^e nexte way I knowe to surpresse a pope is an absolute po­wer, wherby (yf it sholde be tryed) one bysshop is a­ble to do more than all the hole counsell. Therfore it is euydent, y ^t he may not be depriued his patrimony for any maner offence.

No? not for murdre.

No if he killed his fader.

Nor for aduoutry.

Ynough of suche wordes: Not yf he had lyen w ^t his syster.

Neither for wicked symony.

No not for .vi.C. symonyes.

Not for poysonynge.

No, nor for no sacrylege neither.

Nor for blasphemynge agaynst god?

I say no.

What yf he had done all these togither?

It forceth not. For put therto (yf y ^u wylte) .vi.C. mo, and worse yf thou can feyne them, & ioyne them all togyther / yet maye not the hye bysshop of Rome be put out of his place, for them all.

Thou tellest me of a dignyte which I neuer herde of before / if he only may be as noughty as he lyst, & no man correct hym. And also a more newe vnhappy case of y ^e chyrche, if it may in no wise dryue out so abhomynable a monstre / but be cōstreyned [Page] to worshyp and kepe suche a byshop, as no man wold suffre to kepe his horses.

Some say that he may be put out for one thing alone.

For what goodnes is that? For as for noughtynes, it can not, yf these thingꝭ before rehersed can be no causes.

For heresy / and yet must he be openly conuycte. But that is but a fable / and hurteth hym not a poynte / and this is the reason. ¶For fyrst of all, he may at his pleasure abrogate the lawe, if he lyke it not. And agayne / who dare accuse his hyghnesse of heresye? namely, beynge so stronge in power, and hauyng so moche ayde. Moreouer, if it chaūce hym to be thyrst downe by the counsel, yet hath he a good remedy, as to reuoke his heresy, if y ^t he may in no wyse deny it. To make shorte, there be a thousāde stertinge holes for to escape out easyly at them, w ^tout he be all togy­ther a stocke and no man.

But tel me by thy po­pysshe dignyte, who made all these goodly lawes?

Who els but the bysshop of Rome, wellheed of al lawes. And yet may he at his pleasure both abro­gate & expounde, wrythe, & wrest them how soeuer he semeth best, for his ꝓfyte.

An vnhappy pope by my trouthe, whiche may delude, not onely a coū ­sell, but also god hym selfe. Neuertheles agaynste suche a wretche as y ^u hast described to me euen very now. That is to say an open maintener of mischief / a drōkerde / a manqueller / a symoniake / a poysoner / a ꝑiurer / an extorcyoner / an open buggerer. A coūsel is not so moche to be desyred, as all the multitude armed w ^t stones to kyl hȳ, as a cōmen pestilēce of al the [Page] worlde. But go forthe & tel me, for what cause thou abhorrest so moche a general coūsell?

Nay, but fyrst of al, aske this one thyng of great princes of the worlde / wherfore they hate great semblees, & tem­poral parlyamentes. Sure y ^e cause is, y ^t at the great confluence of so many honorable prelates, y ^e dignyte of the pope is somthynge shadowed, & suffreth some domage. And it fortuneth euer in suche semblees, y ^t they whiche be of great lernyng & iudgement, theyr cōninge maketh them bolde to speke, suche as haue a clere cons [...]ience speake more liberally than is expedient for vs. And lykewyse some there be called to great offyce and rule, which vse theyr auctorite and power to the vttermost. Amonge whom cōmeth cō ­menly many, which sore disdeyneth our glory. And at theyr cōmynge be of this entent, that they wolde pare away parte, bothe of our auctoryte & rychesse. The worst of al is, that there sytteth neither better nor worse, but he thynketh y ^t he may speake lefully agaynst the pope, by reason y ^t he is one of the coūsel, whiche elles durst not ones say, buffe. Therfore I knewe neuer counsell y ^t chaunsed so well, but y ^e pope hath had some of his fethers plucked / wherunto y ^u may bere wytnes thy selfe, oneles y ^u haue clene for­goten, For although your counsel holden at Ierusa­lem, were but for tryflynge maters, neyther of hole empyres, & kynges raunsoms, as ours be now. Yet Iames was not afrayde to adde a great pece of his owne mynde, after y ^u haddest gyuen sentēce. As it is euident in y ^e .xv. chap. of y ^e actes. For whā y ^u haddest [Page] clene delyuered y ^e Gentyles al togyther fro y ^e burden of Moyses lawe, Iames reasonyng after the, excepted fornycacion, cloked blood, and eatyng of thinges offred to ydolles. Correctyng as it were thyne or [...]y­naunce & power. In so moche that some there be at this day moued by this example, y ^t say, Iames had the auctoryte of the pope, & not y ^u.

Thinkest thou than that the kyngly maiestie of one hyghe bysshop is rather to be preserued, & maintened in high estate and welth, thā y ^e hole multi [...]ude, & comynalte of the christen people.

Let euery man prouyde y ^e most for his owne singler profyte and aduauntage, we do worke for our selues.

But & if so be y ^t Christ had do [...]e in lykewyse the same, than sholde we not haue had any chyrche at all, wherof y ^u bostest thy selfe to be onely the heed. And surely I do not perce [...]ue by what rea [...]on he whiche wyll be estemed as y ^e vicar of god, may enbrace a maner of lyuing clene cōtrary But tell forthe nowe, by what prety polycy & shyfte y ^u dasshedest out of coūtenaūce y ^e foresayd scismatyke counsel as thou callest it.

Forsoth I wyl tel the truely, vnderstande it well yf that y ^u canst. ¶Fyrst of all Maxymilian the emperour, for so they do call hym, lykewyse as he is very tretable. And albeit y ^t he had sōmoned by his solempne & accustomed mes­sagers a counsell. Yet notw ^tstandynge I led hym an other way, by suche meanes as I wyl not speke of. Moreouer I perswaded by a lytell pollycy certayne cardinalles in suche wyse, y ^t they were glad to deny that thyng before notaries & wytneses, which they [Page] had confyrmed before by theyr open wrytingꝭ.

And myght y ^t be suffred?

Wherfore not, y [...] the pope approue the same?

Than it recketh lytel of takynge an othe, seynge he wyl dispence w ^t al at his pleasure.

Nay, to speake y ^e truthe playnly, that was somwhat beyond good fassyon / but there was no better shyfte to be made. Besyde this, whan I espyed it wolde come to passe, that by y ^e enuy of the coūsel I sholde in many places be thyrst vnder fete, namely whā it was prouulgate, not to exclude me. But they prayed me in the humblest wyse to syt as resydent in the coūsell. Merke what a prety wyle I founde here, folowyng y ^e trade of my predecessours. I lykewyse appeled to the counsel nexte to come cō ­playnynge, and feynynge cause, y ^t neyther the tyme nor place whiche they appoynted was conuenyent. And by & by sōmoned a counsel to be kepte at Rome. where I supposed none other wolde come, but Iu­lius frendes, or y ^• wolde be intreated, for so I lerned by many examples. And in all haste to this purpose I created many suche cardinals, which I thought mete for to bryng my maters aboute.

That is to say of the most vnthryftes,

And agayne this coūsel, oneles it had ben sōmoned by me, had ben no counsel at all. And yet for al that, it was not greatly expedient for my maters y ^t suche a company of bys­shops / and abbottes sholde come thyther. Amonge whom it coude not be thought, but that some shold be godly & wel dysposed persones. Therfore I gaue them warnynge to spare theyr purses: and euery [Page] countre sholde sende but one or two at the vttermost Notw ^tstandyng whan I ꝑceyued this deuyse scant sure inough / and y ^t those fewe of so many sondry prouinces sholde al togither amount to ouer great a nō ­bre for me. I sent them worde aboute y ^e tyme y ^t they were preparing them to take iourney, to defer theyr cōming for y ^t tyme. And y ^t y ^e coūsel shold be proroged vnto an other tyme. Feynyng for y ^e same prorogaciō many probable and apparēt causes / and agayne by suche maner of pollycyes all luche thynges dashte. I preuentynge ones agayne y ^e day prescrybed helde a counsel at Rome / w ^t suche alone as I prouyded for the same intent. Amonge whom also yf there was any y ^t durst be so bolde to desent fro me. yet I was sure y ^t y ^e proudest of thē al durst not resist me. I was so ferre aboue them al in artillery & souldiers. Now I brought this scismatyke cōuentycle of Fraūce in suche hatred, by this maner that foloweth. Fyrst I sent out letters agaynst y ^e coūsel whiche was kepte in Fraunce, to euery coūtre / where I made mēcion of our moost holy counsel holden at Rome, cursynge theyr counsel / callynge it oftentymes, the cōuenticle of Sathan / the deuyls parlyamēthous / a cōspiracy of scismatikes, against y ^e holy chyrche.

I thinke those cardynalles, which were the authors & doers of y ^t wycked counsell must nedes be false traytours.

As for theyr falshode I let passe. But the chief capitayne of all this besynes, was the cardinall of Roan, who euer applyed hym selfe (by what a po­pishe holynes I wote not) to redresse the maners of [Page] the chyrche, and lykewyse shewed his tendre loue in diuers places / but deth happely toke him, to whom succeded a spanyshe cardinal, a good lyuer, wel aged and a doctour of diuynite, which people be wont to be vnfrendly to y ^e popes of Rome.

But had your man, which thou namest to be lerned in diuynite no ꝓbable reasons to lay for y ^t which he dyd.

Yes, to many. For he sayd y ^t there was neuer so vnquyet a world as it was at those dayes. And y ^t the chyrche had neuer more nede to haue her sykenes cured and healed. And therfore (he sayde) it was my duety to helpe it w ^t a general counsell. Also that I had taken myn othe at my [...]reacyon, to sōmonde it within two yeres after. Yea, so to be bounde by vertue of myn othe, y ^t I myght in no wyse be dispensed therwith. No not by the consent of the collleyge of cardinalles And y ^t it had ben often put in remembraunce of my brethren y ^e cardynals, & instantly desyred. Also often instaunsed by great princes / and how I coude in no wyse here of it. In so moche they sayd, y ^t euery man myght se, as longe as Iulius was lyuynge, there was no lykelyhode to haue any coūsel. Therto they alleged agaynst me the exāples of y ^e counsels holden by our predecessours, to bynde me therto. And alle­ged moreouer certeyne auntike lawes, to proue that I & myn adherentes dyd refuse a connsel. And ther­vpon y ^t the very auctoryte to let call it dyd pertayne vnto them. But for so moche as other prīces did also (for the popes pleasure) winke at the mater / y ^t than the auctoryte to somonde the counsell dyd rest onely [Page] in the emperour of Rome, the whiche was wont in tyme past to cōmaunde it at his owne wyll. And to the fr [...]che kynge, which by y ^e tytle of moost christen kynge was wo [...]te to bere a stroke in the same.

But dyd this doctour and cardynall w ^t his parte ta­kers vse in theyr wryting to the no suche fassyon as did become them.

No mary they / the vilaynes were wyser in this behalfe than I wol [...]e they had ben. They handled the thyn̄g of trouthe very abho­minably w ^t great sobrenes. And they dyd not onely refrayne from euyll wordes / but they dyd neuer so moche as named me, without an honorable preface desyrynge and prayenge me for sayntes and soules, that I wolde (accordynge as it besemed me, and for the performaūce of myn othe) syt as iudge ouer the counsell / and helpe to cure the diseases reignynge in the chyrche. Nor a man can not thinke ī what enuy I was brought by theyr meke & colde fassyon / specially bycause they saused al theyr wrytinges in with holy scrypture, wherby it semed some well lerned men were procured for that purpose. They ioyned hereto y ^e cōmendacion of fastyng / prayer / watching with other good dedes, to the [...]tent they myght the rather thrust me downe w ^t the title of holynes.

Under what pretēce dydest y ^u thā sōmonde a coūsel?

Under as goodly as might be. I tolde thē that I was minded, fyrst of all to correcte the heed of the chyrche, y ^t is to say my selfe. Than after the christen princes. And last of al, y ^e hole cominalte.

Surely I here of a goodly pastaunce. But nowe I am desyrous [Page] to here the conclusion, of all togyther. And also it sholde please me well to here what the diuynes in Sathanas parliamēt decreed.

Most miserable and abhominable maters: my herte riseth to [...]emē ­bre them.

But I pray y ^e may they not be spokē?

Forsothe not well / they be ferre worse than sa­crilege, or heresy. Agaynst whiche yf I had not set to my helpyng handes in tyme: yea both w ^t wepon & w [...]t, y ^e dignitie of y ^e chyrche had ben clene cast downe vnder fote.

I am w ^t childe for to here of them.

Yea, but I quake for to speake of them. These moost vngracyous wretches wente fyrst aboute to brynge the holy chyrche (moost flourysshynge nowe bothe in domynions & inestimable rychesses) to her olde beggery & myserable pouerte wherin she was in the apostles tyme, and to brynge the cardynalles (Whiche in all worldly porte, at this day passen fer all kynges chrystened) to some poore lyfe. That bys­shops abbottes, & other prelates sholde lyue moche more scarcely, & to be content w ^t fewe waytyng men and horses / and as some say hoores. And that y ^e car­dynalles sholde not so vniuersally swalowe vp both byshoprykes / abbeyes / & benefices. And y ^t no man sholde kepe two bysshoprykes. And y ^t suche preestes as wolde heape benefice vpon benefice tyll they had vi.C. at ones / and care not if they might be suffred, sholde be corrected, and be content w ^t suche a lyuinge as might suffyse a sobre and honest preest. An other was, that neyther pope / bysshop / nor preest, sholde be made for money, fauour, or flatterynge seruyce / [Page] but onely for his pure lyfe. But yf y ^e contrary sholde chaunce, that he sholde by & by be deposed. Yea y ^t it was also lauful to thrust out y ^e pope also, if he were knowne an euyl lyuer. And y ^t dronken and lecherous bysshops sholde be put from administracyon. That prestes which were openly knowne hooremongers and mysdoers, sholde lese, not onely theyr benefyce, but also be gelded / w ^t many suche lyke (I am wery to shewe al) which were onely to lode vs w ^t holynes takynge away our rychesse & dominion.

What was ordeyned agaynst these in your holy counsell at Rome.

Me thinketh y ^u hast an yl remēbraunce. I tolde the before that myn entent was nothing els but vnder the pretence of a counsel (as the prouerbe sayth) to dryue forthe one pegge with an other. My fyrst syttinge was dryuen forth w ^t certeyne ceremo­nyes, & auntyke customes, whiche pleased me well inough, although they were nothing at al material. There were two solēpne masses, one of y ^e holy crosse an other of y ^e holy goost, as though that al togyther sholde be cōduced & led by his holy inspiraciō. Than after was made a goodly oracion, all to the lawde of my holynes. In y ^e nexte syttyng I cursed as depely as I coude those scismatyke cardynalles pronoun­synge, as dampnable, accursed, and heresy, all those thynges, y ^e which they had decreed, or sholde decree. At the thyrde metynge I did excōmunicate or curse the realme of Fraunce / and chaunged y ^e Martes fro the cite of Lyons. And neuertheles in the sayd interdiction, I excepted by name certeyn places of y ^e said [Page] realme. And all this was to alyene and tourne the hertes of al y ^e people from theyr kynge. And to reyse some rebel & sediciō amonge thēselues. And for to cō fyrme y ^e same, I sent out y ^e curse vnder my bulles of leade, to suche princes & gouernours as I perceiued propense and bowynge towarde our pretenced facti­ons and sedicions.

But dyd they nothyng elles?

That thynge was done whiche I desyred, for if our deuises be regarded I know I haue y ^e victory As for those .iij. cardynalles whiche were so styffe agaynst me in those noughty maters, I with all so­lempnite belongynge therto, depryued theyr cardy­nalshyps. I haue also gyuen all y ^e pencions of theyr benefices to other beinge frendly to me / so that they can neuer be restored to them agayne. Themselues I haue gyuen to sathan, moche rather wyllynge to brenne them clene vp, yf I myght catche them.

Mary, but yet for all that, if all be as y ^u doest say, the decrees of that scismatical parlyament semeth to be moche more holy, thā is thy holy synode, wherof I se nothynge els at all, but tyrannous thretnynges / cursynges / and great cruelnes mengled w ^t myschief and deceyte. And yf so be that Sathan was in dede as thou sayest, the author of the sayde parlyament. Surely me thynketh y ^e deuyl goeth more nigh vnto Christ than y ^e sory goost, the holy goost I wolde say, whom ye bost the moderatour of your holy counsel.

Nay but take good hede what y ^u saist. For in al my bulles I haue cursed al suche which fauoureth by worde or dede that same false conuentycle.

[Page]Oh, caytife / he is yet y ^e same olde Iuliꝰ. But what was the ande of this besynes?

In this case I lefte it, wherto it shall come lette fortune rule.

Truely the scisme remayneth styll.

Ye mary I warrāt the, & y ^t most peryllous.

And haddest thou (beinge gods vicare) rather haue so horryble a scysme than a true counsell.

One scysme ꝙ he? by my mothers soule, a hondred suche rather thā I wolde be cōstrayned to kepe theyr ordinaunces, & to make them accompte of all my lyfe.

Thou kno­west thy selfe so gilty.

What mater is y ^t to the?

It is surely so, the mater myght well ynoughe haue ben vnmoued. But who thynkest y ^u shall haue the victory?

All that is as it pleaseth fortune. Neuertheles we haue more money in our party, for as for Fraūce is nowe w ^t longe warres sterke beggered. England which I suppose be my frendes, hath yet hylles of golde vntouched. But this I maye be sure of: Yf Fraunce haue y ^e victory as god forfende, there must nedes be a great and horryble chaunge. Than shall our holy counsel of Rome be called y ^e con­uenticle of sathan, and I an ydoll of a pope. And the holy goost is all togyther theyrs / & we haue done all [...]y y ^e spirite of sathan. But surely I haue yet great truste in my money, whiche I haue lefte.

But what chaunced than at the length agaynst y ^• frēche men & theyr kyng, whom your pdecessours adorned and decorate w ^t the title of most christē, namely whā thou ca [...]st not denay, but through their ayde & helpe thou hast not onely be socoured in thy pouertie, but [Page] also exalted to this dignyte moche aboue any kynge or emꝑour, by whose ayde y ^u dydest recouer Bonony w ^t other cities, & vaynqueshed the Uenicyens, neuer ouercome before. But howe chaūced the to forget all togyther so great kyndnes, & so lately done? brokē so many leages.

It were to longe to tel y ^• this tale from the begynning. But for to make fewe wordes, I began nothyng newly of my parte, but y ^t whiche I was so longe before w ^t chylde within my mynde I began to attempte. Whiche thyng I had also (for lacke of portunite, & many other causes) dissembled vnto y ^• tyme. For trouth it is, I neuer fauored h [...]rt [...] ly the frēche nacyon. Nomore doth any Italyen en [...]tyerly fauour any forayn nacyon (as we call them) any otherwyse, but as y ^• wolfe doth the lambe. But I being not only an Italyen, but also a Ienuay, did so longe kepe those rude people my frēdes, as I had nede of theyr ayde & socoure, whiche hytherto was necessary for me. Where in the meane tyme I bothe suffred, dissēbled, and imagined many m [...]rs. But as shortely as all my maters were brought to suche effect as I wold haue them / thā reimaned nothing but y ^t I sholde shewe me what I was in dede. And thrust out the filthy forysters clene out of Ytaly.

What maner of beestes be they which y ^u callest barbariens & forysters?

They be men as other be.

Be they men say [...]t thou, & be not also christened.

And also christen men to. But what is y ^t to the purpose?

Ergo, they be christē men. But ꝑauen­ture without lawes and lernynge / lyuynge [...]estly.

Without lernyng qd he? Mary syr they excede vs both in lernīg & riches / wherat we do most enuy

What meaneth this worde barbariens? Why spekest y ^u not?

I wyll tell the, for he is ashamed. Ytalyens bycause they be begoten of the vilest cast aways of al other nacyons, resortyng among them, beinge the pumpe of all fylthynes: yet out of theyr gentyles lernynge, they conceyued suche a furyous pryde, as to cal other countre men barbaryens & fo­rysters. Which worde is more heynous to thē than to be called a murderer of thy parentꝭ, or sacrilegian

So it appereth. Neuertheles in as moche as Christe dyed for all maner of men, hauynge nomore respect to one man than an other. Forthermore in so moche as thou professest the to be y ^e vicare of Christ, wherfore than didest thou not fauour alyke al them whom Christ hath not forsaken, but redemed w ^t his blood.

I can be cētented to fauour, ye euen the yndiens / affricans / ethiopiens / & therto the grekes: yf they wolde fortify me, and aknowlege me theyr prīce by some customary dueties. But as for al these iij. co [...]ntrees we refused & shaked of longe syth / and nexte after the grekes, for bicause y ^e wretches were so couetous, and wolde but litel reuerence the popes power.

Than I se well that y ^e see of Rome is as it were the cōmen barne of al y ^e worlde.

A great mater surely, if we repe temporall goodes of al men whā we be redy to sowe our spiritual sede to al men.

What spiritual sede doest y ^u tel me? For hitherto I here nothynge of the but fleshly sede / perchaunce [Page] thou drawest men with thy holy doctrine to Christ.

There be ynowe besyde me, to preache yf they wyl, which I do not inhibyte, so lōge as they barke not agaynst our power & profyte.

What yf they be ynowe. what therof?

What? For what cause doth the cōmens gyue to theyr heedes what soeuer they do demaunde? but to knowlege y ^t they possesse what soeuer they haue by lycence of theyr princes, yea thoughe they receyued neuer of them one myte, euen so what soeuer y ^e ꝓphane sorte hath any where perteynyng vnto godlynes, y ^t must be imputed vnto vs, as our dede / yea albeit we do but slombre all our lyfe tyme. And yet also besyde all this, we do gyue moost large indulgences, & pardons. And that for a very smal sōme of money. And moreouer we do also dispence after the same wise, in great weighty ma­ters. We gyue our holy blyssynges, in euery place where we come / yea and y ^• all togyther Gratis.

I do not know, what so moche as one of al these maters doth meane. But retorne agayne to the effecte of the purpose. For what maner of cause did thy ho­lynes so moche dispyse these alyens, & barbariens? as y ^u callest them. So that y ^u haddest rather set al on heapes, thā to suffre them styl in Ytaly.

I wyl tel the. All these barbarous sorte (but in especial the frenche men) be very persticyous. And as for y ^e spa­nyardes dyffers not moche from vs, neither in lan­guage nor maners: Yet notwithstandyng I wolde haue vtterly exiled them as wel as y ^e other, to then­tent that we might haue vsed al togyther our owne [Page] fassyon, w ^tout any checke.

Doth the barbarous curres, as y ^u callest them, worship any straūge gods besyde Christ?

Nay, but they worship him but to curyously. I [...] so moche that I do wonder ryght greatly to se how greuously they be offēded w ^t a sorte of olde wordes, the which of a trouthe in tyme past hath ben moche accustomed amōgest vs but as now they be clene lefte out of vse.

But ꝑchaunce they were some vnthryfty wordes of coniuracyon.

Mary y ^u mayst say y ^t agayn, for theyr maners were symony, blasphemynge of almyghty god zodomite / Intoxicacion, or poysonīg / sortilege.

Peas man.

Nay, they abhorre suche maters, as moche as thou doest.

Wel, as for suche names I let passe, but the thynges selfe doth so moche reigne amonge you as I thy [...]ke in any countre in the worlde.

Neyther those barbariens are al without vice. But bicause they be infect w ^t other maladyes, they wȳke at theyr owne, and cry out vpon ours. And we on the other syde do fauour our owne ded, & abhor theyrs. We esteme pouertie none other wyse than a greate offence, and to be eschewed of al men, though it force not howe. They contrary wyse thinke it a poynte of a scarse good christyan to haboūde in riches, though they be goten without fraude or gyle. We darre not so moche as ones name dronkenshyp. Neuertheles the Almaynes thynketh it a lyght faute. yea rather a mery iape or pastaūce thā offence. Albeit we wyll not so moche dyffer for this, if we agreed in al other maters / they abhor greatly vsury / neuertheles we [Page] thynke no maner men vnder heuen, so mete for the chyrche of Rome. As for buggery, they reken so de­testable, that if so be a man do but ons name it, they thinke both the ayre and sonne, by & by enfected, and also polluted. But we Italiens be not al togither of that minde. As for symony whose name was longe sith gone and banysshed, they flee as the deuyll doth holy water / agaynst whiche they had made certeyn lawes, though they be now out of vse, albeit here in our conceyte is somwhat differynge / & many suche other they be infect w ^t, which be clene cōtrary to our fassyō of liuyng. In so moche thā as we be so cōtra­ry to them ī our maner of lyfe: so moche more necessary it is to kepe them from knowlege of our secretꝭ, The more they be ignoraunt of our maners; y ^e more praise they wyl gyue vs. For if they ones knewe the secretes of our courte, they wolde surely vtter them to our rebuke. For how euer it fortune / they be som­what quycke in reprouynge theyr neyghboures fautes. They wryte cursed bytynge bokes agaynst the abusynge of some of theyr countree. They preache and cry euery where, that the see of Rome is not the see of Chryste, but rather the greate pumpe of Sa­than. They dispute of myne auctoryte and power, whether I came by y ^e popedom by reasō of my good lyuing, or no. Also if I ought to be taken as gods vycar or not? And so fyrst of al by this meanes they di­mynishe y ^e good opynion that the people had in vs / and so consequently abateth our authorite and rule. For before suche brabblinges, the people herd neuer [Page] other thinge of vs, but that we dyd bere the rowme of Christ / & that we had the nexte authoryte to god / yea rather chek mate with hym. But by reason of suche vnprofytable opynions, y ^e chyrche susteyneth intollerable domage. For we vtter nowe fewer dis­pensacyons, and suche other wares, and be fayne to sell them better cheape. Also our rente & casualtees is lesse leuyed of bysshoprykes / abbotshyppes / and other benefyces. Yea and y ^e people payeth w ^t moche worse wyll that whiche is requyred of them. To be shorte, our rentes on euery syde decaieth, our fayers and markettes waxeth barayne. And that is moost of all to be lamented, our dredfull dartes be lesse and lesse feared. But if theyr malipertnes come to suche a wylfull and beestly boldenes, that they dare ones say that the pope beinge cursed of god, can hurte no man with his curse, and so dispyse cursynges / than it wyll shortly come to passe, that we shal surely dye for hongre, but yf they be kepte farther of from rea­sonynge of suche maters, and rather be broughte in feare of our curses. For than suche is the nature of suche stoborne lowtes, y ^t they wyll haue vs in great awe and reuerence. And so shall we with our bulles and other instrumentes (yf they be discretely hand­led) ordre al thinges as we wolde haue it.

It is an heuy case if thauctoryte of the pope and bisshops depende vpon this hasarde, only y ^t yf theyr noughty lyuynge were knowne, they were euen vtterly vn­done. For whan we lyued vpon erthe truely we co­ueyted nothyng more than y ^t all y ^t we dyd myght be [Page] knowne, yea that whiche we dyd in our preuy chā ­bres. For we were moost regarded whan our lyues were moost manyfest and knowne. But one thynge I pray the / be the princes so godly nowe adayes, as thou reportest theym / or do they so moche feare the preestes: as to renne one vpon an other, euen at the becke of suche an holy plate, as it might be thyselfe? For in my tyme I remembre well, they were y ^e ex­tremest enmyes we had.

As touchynge theyr godly lyuyng, they be not (thanked be god) very su­persticious. And as to our honour they regarde not very moche / but maketh vs theyr laughinge stockꝭ, excepte some certeyne of spyced conscience / which so moche feareth our thondrebolte & curse / as thoughe it coude hurte them y ^t deserued it not. And yet those same persones all togyther ignoraunt in the nature of the thynge, be onely moued of a mad spyced con­science, rote [...] by longe custome of time. Some there be lykewyse, whiche for the hope they haue to come to our riches / and some for feare of vs, do gyue place to our dignyte. Other there be y ^t thynke veryly they shall come to an yll ende, whiche in any wyse doeth hurte a prest, what maner a lyuer soeuer he be. And mooste comenly all men, the more gentylly they be brought vp, the more they regarde our ceremonies: prouoked therto by suche prety feates as we haue deuysed, but to comen people they be as fables and disgysingꝭ. Neuertheles we practise more weighty maters by meanes therof. For somtyme we paynte and set out the great princes of the worlde w ^t glory­ous [Page] tytles, callynge hym defender of the chyrche, an other defender of the faythe, though it be nothynge so, & al suche as wil ayde vs, our welbeloued sones. They on the other syde, call vs in al theyr wrytingꝭ most holy fathers, and somtyme they submyt them for to kysse our holy fete. Nowe and than in thinges of no estimacyon gyue place to our power, to the en­tent they might be called vertuous prīces. We send to some halowed roses / cappes of mayntenaunce / swerdes, & suche other. And also longe & large bulles to confyrme theyr dignyte. And they sende agayn to vs fayre coursers / men of warre & money / yea som­tyme fayre yonge chyldren. And thus one of vs cla­weth an other, as mules be wonte.

Yf they be so spyced conscyence: yet I do not well ꝑceyue howe thou sholdest so sone styre thē vp to so great warres, seinge thou hast broken so many truces with them.

Yet yf thou be able to perceyue these thynges whiche I wyll tell the y ^u shalt perceyue a cōueyaūce ferre aboue any of thappostles.

Say on I wyll do my best endeuour.

Fyrst of al my study was euer to know y ^e natural īclinacion of al coūtrees: but namely of princes & rulers, & in lykewise theyr cōdi­cyons, affections, power, & endeuermentes / whiche of them wer frendes, and whiche not. And so to vse euery & singuler of them to our cōmodite & profyte.

¶And to begyn withall, I reysed the frenche men agaynst the Uenyciens / renewynge the olde festred malyce which had be betwyxt thē longe before / per­ceyuyng moreouer the vnsacyable lust of the frenchemen [Page] to amplyfy theyr domynion, & that y ^e Uenyciēs did vniustly w ^thold dyuers of theyr cities, wherupō I intermedled my cause w ^t theyrs, & so toke a parte w ^t Fraunce agaynst the other, & so dyd Maximilyan also / although he fauored them but fayntly, not knowyng any other meanes to redeme suche fayre tow­nes as y ^e Uenyciens w ^thelde from hym. But shortly after whan the frenche men began to be more wel­thy, thā my wyll was, for (to say as I thinke) they had but ouer good chaunce at that tyme. I not long after founde meanes to reyse the kynge of Spayne (a man of no great constancy) agaynst them. Whose profyte it also somwhat touched, y ^t the frēche mens fethers sholde be blucked, and y ^t for dyuers maters. But namely, leest it myght be theyr chaūce to flee in to his lordeshyp of Neaples, and put hym out. And albeit I loued in no wise y ^e Uenyciens: yet for a face I made them my frēdes, to thende I my myght set them vpon the frenche dogges. Whiche Uenyciens were not longe before sore vexed of the frenche men. And agayne I made the emperour & them twayne, whome a lytell before I had made all one. This I brought to corum, w ^t certeyn of my letters to them­perour, wherin I feyned the kynges enuy agaynst themperour, & partely with money, which beareth euer a great stroke w ^t suche men as haue nede. After I had renewed agayne the festred wrathe whiche Maximylian bare agaynst the frēche curres, wher­with y ^e man wolde haue merueylously fret hȳselfe / yea though he coude in no wyse reuenge his cause. [Page] Ouer this I was perfyte of the deedly enmyte by­twene y ^e Englyshe men & the frenche men. Betwyxt the scottes also & the frenche men. Moreouer I per­ceyued the englysshe nacyon very welthy, ferce, and desyrous of batayle / and that specyally where any thynge is to gete / & also somwhat supersticyous, for the ferre distaunce from Rome. Finally they beinge somwhat wanton, halfe at sedicyon amonge them selues: so that I thought it easy ynoughe to encyte them agaynst the frenche men. All these pagyentes I played, for the auaūtage of the chyrche. Than af­ter I wrapped the princes in deedly warres w ^t my crafty letters: not leuyng so moche as one in al chri­stendom vnattempte co the same. Neyther y ^e kynge of Hongary / nor yet of Po [...]tyngale / nor the duke of Burgony, a man nothynge inferyor in domynion to many kynges. But bycause that mater perteyn [...]d nothynge to them, I coude in no wyse induce them to i [...]uade the frenche men. But one thing I percey­ued wel, y ^t if the other princes fell ones by the eares togyther, they sholde not be in quyetnes. Now these princes which by my practised polycy made warre one agaynst an other receyued of me agayn for theyr good seruyce gloryous tytles, to thende they myght be brought to byleue y ^t the more chrysten blood they shed, y ^e more godly they appered to defend y ^e chyrche of god. But that y ^u mayst the more cōmend my clene conueyaunce & happy chaūce / the same tyme it for­tuned the kynge af Spayne helde warres with the Turkes, whiche torned to his great cōmodyte, and [Page] profyte. Yet he leuynge all togyther came downe w ^t all his power to ayde me agaynst the frenche men. And although I had incitate the emperour agaynst thē, as I sayd before / yet was he other wyse boūde by dyuers cōposicyons, betwene hym and me. Albe it that he (by theyr manyfolde benefytes and ayde) had wonne agayn his townes in Ytaly. And besyde all this, that he had moche to do of his owne / as to socoure his neuewe y ^e duke of Burgony, agaynst his mortal enmy the duke of Gelders. Yet I brought to passe that he lefte his neuewe in y ^e bryers: and toke vpon him (for my pleasure) to warre agaȳst Fraūce And farthermore although there be no nacyon that passeth lesse vpon the authoryte of y ^e pope of Rome, than y ^e Englysshe nacyon, as it is open to hym that lyst to rede & merke well the lyfe of saynt Thomas of Cauntorbury, & the cōstitucions of y ^e olde kinges. Yet the same prouynce, so impacient of all exactions and taxes, suffred for my pleasure to be shorne to the bare skynne. To speake of y ^e spiritualty of y ^t realme, it is wonder to se howe they were wonte to w ^tholde from y ^e pope of Rome all they myght, yet to ayde me in my besines were cōtented to pay exactions howe paynfull so euer they were. Not merkyng very dily­gently what a wyndowe they opened to theyr lorde and kynge, in so doyng. And to speke y ^e blunte truthe the kynge and his nobylles was not than most cyr­cūspecte to suffre suche exactions to be gathered in his realme. ¶But to shewe by what craftes I bronght these chrysten princes one agaynst an other [Page] it were very tedious. Whiche prīces no pope before me, coude at any tyme styre vp agaynst the Turke.

It may chaunce that warres thus kyndled by the, may destroy all y ^e worlde.

Let them brenne on hardely, so the dignyte and possessyons of the see of Rome maye be kepte safe. Howbeit I dyd all my deuour to rydde the Ytalyens from all warres / and to cast all the besynes on the neckes of other straūge nacyons. Therfore let them stryue as longe as they lyst, we shall gyue them the lokynge on, and laughe them loudly to scorne.

Be these y ^e actes of a good shepeherd, or of a moost holy father, takyng on hym to be called the vicare of Chryste?

Why sholde they than cause a scysme in the chyrche of god?

Synne must than be suffred, if more hurte depende vpon the medicyn than remedy. But and thou had­dest suffred a counsell to be, there coude haue ben no scysme.

Speake no more of that. I had leuer haue .vi.C. batayls than one counsell. For what I pray you, if they had put me down, as a symoniake and a marchaunt of spirituall wares, & not the true vycar of god? What yf so be they had vttred my lyfe to the cōmen people people?

Admyt thou were neuer so good a bysshop, yet were it better thou lost thyne honour wrongfully, than to kepe it in suche wyse as it is to y ^e great hurte of al christendom, yf it may be sayd a dignite, whiche is bestowed to a very w [...]etche / but I sholde not cal y ^t gyuen which is but rather solde, yea rather stolen. But it is comen euen nowe vnto my mynde, that by the prouysion of god [Page] thou haste ben his scourge to the frenche men, the whiche fyrste of all brought the a peste and plage in to the chyrche.

I swere by my tryple crowne, and by my gloryous tryumphes, yf thou breake my pacyence, thou shalte fele myne omnypotent power.

O madde Bedlem, what crakest thou of thy power, whan I here nothynge elles hytherto, but an vnpreestly and worldly capytayne. Thou gloryest that thou arte able to breake peas betwene prynces / to cause batayles / to cause them murdre one an other, which power belongeth to the deuyll / not to Chrystes vicare, to whome it behoueth to fo­lowe as nyghe as can be his example. There is in hym (I graunt) an hye power as can be, but suche a power as ought to be ioyned w ^t moost hyghe wys­dome, and knowlege of gods worde / and therby at all tymes ruled. There ought to be in him the wys­dome of serpentes: but withall muste be ioyned the simplycite of a douue. In the surely I se the ymage of power, coupled with great malyce and folishnes: so that yf the deuyll wolde make a deputy, he coude chuse none more mete than one lyke to the. Tell me yf thou can, wherin thou dyd ones fulfyll the offyce of a true apostle?

What can be more aposto­lyke than for to encreace the chyrche of Chryst?

But yf the chyrche of Chryste be as it is in dede / the christen people conglutynate and vnyed in Chrystes spirite, than me thinke y ^u hast al togyther subuerted this cōgregacyon, in mouyng al the worlde to these most cruell bloodsheddynges / to the entent y ^u myght [Page] passe thy lyfe in all mischyef without any correction at all.

We cal the chyrche the temple which is made w ^t mans hande, & the preestes also but in espe­cyall th [...] courte of Rome, and me namely, which am the heed of the chyrche.

But Christ made vs minysters, & hymselfe the heed, excepte any other heed be spronge out of late, bycause one is not [...]uffycient / But wherin is the chyrche so moche amēded?

Nowe thou cōmest to the mater / this I wyl tel the / that same hongry and poore beggery chyrche florys­sheth nowe w ^t all ornamentes.

With what ornamentꝭ? With a sure fayth in Christ.

Yet agayn thou plaist Iacke ouerth warte.

With holy prechyng?

Thou makest me wery of y ^e.

With contempte of worldly thynges?

Tusshe, let me speke. I say it is garnisshed w ^t such as be worthy to be called true ornamentꝭ: for these which y ^u spake of be but wordꝭ.

With what ornamētes therfore?

With goodly palaces mete for kynges / w ^t ma­ny goodly horses and mules / with great bondes of men folowynge theyr tayles / with armyes wel ap­pointed.

With fayre hoores and trusty bawdes.

With golde / purple / customes / so that there is no kynge, but he myght be coūted as a begger, yf he were compared w ^t the richesse & pompe of the pope. Neuer a man so ambicyous, but he graūt hymselfe ouercome in this behalfe. No man so welthy, but he may gyue vs ouer hand. Neyther any so great gay­nes, but he may grudge at our ryches. These be or­namentes wherw ^t I haue endowed and amplyfied [Page] the chyrche.

But now tell me who fyrst infected and surcharged the chyrche with suche ornamētes which Christ wolde haue kepte clene frō al worldly fassions.

But what is that to our mater? We kepe, occupy, and enioye our possessyons, and that is the surest waye of all. Howbeit some saye that Con­stantyne did gyue to Syluester the pope y ^e hole ma­gesty of his empyre: as his hors and harneys / cha­ryot / helmet / gyrdle / cote armure / his garde / swerde crowne of golde / yea, and y ^t of the most pur [...]st golde. His hole army w ^t all maner of artyllery belongynge to warre / townes / cities / countrees / & kyngdomes.

And be there any sure specyaltees of this lybe­rall gyfte?

None, but sely gloses ioyned to the decrees.

Perauēture it is but a fable.

That I cōiecture my selfe. For who is he in his wyt that wolde gyue so worthy an empyre to his owne fa­ther? but it pleaseth y ^e chyrche of Rome to gyue cre­dence here vnto / and put to scylence all that endeuo­reth them to refell these.

Yet I here nothynge sauynge worldlynes.

Truth it is, for thou dre­mest yet of the state of the chyrche as it was in thy tyme / wherin thou with certeyne hongry bysshops dydest lyue very nedyly, subiecte to pouertye, swete, perylles, and infynite ieopardyes, and daūgers / but now processe of tyme hath chaūged it to better. The pope of Rome is an other maner man now, than he was thā / as for thou wast but a syphre in augrym. What if thou dydest se so many sūptuous temples / so many thousādes of fat benifyced preestes / so ma­ny [Page] bysshops / whiche may be felowes (both in theyr cychesse, & power) to kynges. Suche a sorte of fayre houses belonging to prestes / specially if thou dydest se at Rome so many purple cardynals wayted vpon with legyons of seruauntes / so many palfreys passynge ferre any kynges / so many mules trapped w ^t veluet, golde & perle, and some of thē shod w ^t syluer / some w ^t golde. Nowe yf thou dydest se the pope hym selfe, sittyng on high in a chayre of clene beatē golde, and caryed vpon men sholdres / and how all men fall downe on theyr knees at y ^e waggyng of his fynger / the noyse of the hagbusshes, the melody of the shawmes, and trumppes: the clappynge of handes of the people / the showttynges / all the stretes shynynge w ^t torches / and howe hardely the great prynces of the worlde shal be admytted to kysse his blyssed fete. Yf thou haddest sene the same preest of Rome settynge a crowne of golde vpon the emperours heed with his fete / notwithstandynge he is the hyghest of the worldly princes (if lawes wryten for the same be of any authoryte) howbeit he hath not moche more of that whiche he sholde haue besyde the shadowe and [...]ytle. These thynges I say, yf y ^u haddest herde and also sene, what woldest thou thā say?

I wolde say, I dyd se a deuyllysshe tyraūt, y ^e enmy of Christ / and pestylēce of the chyrche.

Thou woldest say other wyse, if thou haddest but sene one of my tryū ­phes. Whether it had ben y ^t wherin I was caryed in to Bonony / or suche one as was at Rome, after I had ouercome the Uenyciens / or at my departynge [Page] from the sayd Bonony to Rome agayn. Eyther that same which I caused to be made at Rome last of al, at the tyme whan so many frēche men were slayne at the syege of Rauen [...]a, aboue al lykelyhode / and in maner possibylite. Yf y ^u haddest sene the goodly bond of men, all at ones in aray / y ^e good palfreys / so great an army all in complete harneys / theyr capitaynes so well appoynted / so goodly a syght of fayre & amy­able boyes / the torches and cresettes brennyuge in euery corner / the costly purueyaunce for bankettyn­ges / the pompe of bisshops / the great & lusty porte of cardinalles / the gloryous monumentes, & tokens of victory / the raunsomes & spoyles goten in warres / the cry and showte of the cōmen people, & of the men of warre / the ioye of them, and noyse of theyr speche and feates / the melodye of y ^e shawmes / the thōdring of drommes / the bounsynge & crackynge of hagbus­shes / the plenty of money cast amonge the people. And yf thou haddest therwith sene my holynes, the heed & author of all this goodly pompe, caryed vpon mens sholdres in a chaire of golde, as though I had ben god himselfe / thou woldest counte the tryūphes of both y ^e Scipions Emilians, & al the emperours, but very beggery, in respecte of my maiesty.

Oh, moost gracyous knyght, y ^u hast rehersed ynowe of thy chymiryng tryūphes / in so moche y ^t I vtterly dispyse al those hethen princes, which your holynes hath vouched to me in comparyson of you, whiche most lyke an holy father in Christ hast caused so many gloryous tryumphes. Forthermore of so many [Page] christen men slayn for your gracyous pleasure, your grace beinge the author and causer of the slaughter of so many legyons / neuer wan yet so moche as one poore soule to Christ, neyther w ^t your preachyng nor lyuynge. O, moost fatherly loue. O worthyest vicar of Christ, which cōtented to bestowe thy lyfe to saue thy flocke / or els carest not for y ^e mayntenaūce of one pestylēt caytife, to destroy y ^e hole worlde.

Well, I se nowe y ^u speakest all this, bycause y ^u enuyest my glory / and specyally whan y ^u remembrest how poore and beggerly a bysshopriche as thyn was in respect and comparison of myne.

How darest thou most shameles wretche, cōpare & liken thy glory w ^t myne, whiche is yet not myne, but rather Christes. F [...]rst of al, yf thou wylte graunt me that Christ is y ^e best, and the very prince, & souerayn he [...]d of the chyrche, thā is all thy pompous glory not o [...]es to be cōpared to myne. For he in his owne ꝑsone gaue me y ^e keyes of his kyngdom / that is to say, authoryte to preache his lawe and gospell / & cōmytted vnto me his shepe to be fed. He cōmēded my fayth w ^t his owne mouth. But as for y ^u arte come to dignyte by meanes of thy money / by parcyall fauour of men / through deceyte and subtilte. Yf a man so ꝓmoted may haue y ^e name of bysshop, I haue wonne to Chryst by preachynge gods worde many thousādes of soules / but y ^u with thy abhomynable lyuyng, hast brought innumera­ble to confusyon. I taught Chryst to the Romayns, lyuynge before in all gentylite / but thou hast ben to the same Romayns a teacher of all gentylyte, & fals [Page] worshippynge I healed suche as were sycke, with the [...]hadow o [...] my body. I delyuered men beinge possessed with deuyls / restored the deed to lyue. And in euery place y ^t I came I was benefycyal to all men. What lyke I pray y ^e were done in al thy tryūphes? I coude with my worde delyuer whome I lyste to Sathan. The experyence wherof thou mayst se in Saphyra and Ananias her husbande / the fyfthe of the actes. Moreouer what power soeuer I had, I spent it to the profyte of euery man. But thou was euer so vnprofytable to all men as thou myghte be. Ye, what was that thou might not do to the cōmen confusyon of al y ^e worlde?

I wonder why thou doest not recyte amonge thy other honours, thy beg­gery & watchynges / traueylinges / enprysonmētes / fetterynge / thy checkes and rebukes / beatynge, and scourgyng, with suche lyke promocyons.

Thou remē [...]rest me in good tyme. For herein I haue more cause to glo [...]y than in any myracles. For Christ hym selfe hath cōmaunde vs to reioyse & be g [...]ad in these thynges / and pronounceth vs all blyssed, which pa­cyently suffreth them. And so lykewyse Paule som­tyme my felowe, in the .xi. chap. of his second epistle to the Corynthiens, bostyng as it were to them his valyaūt actes / neither so moche as ones remēbreth any townes wonne by force of armes, nor legions of men, slayne w ^t y ^e swerde / neyther how many princes he prouoked and moued to warre / or any tyrannous or cruell statelynes / but rather the daungers which he was in vpon y ^e see, his enpry [...]onmētes, his whippynges, [Page] & scourgynges, the peryls of false brethren. These be the tryumphes of a true apostle. These be those thynges whiche a capitayne of Christ sholde glory and reioyce in. He bosteth howe many he hath begoten in Chryst / how many he hath withdrawen from wyckednes and vngodly lyuynge / and not (as thou doest) how many .M. duccates he hath heaped togyther. Wherfore we now make euerlastyng try­umphes w ^t god in heuen / honored and praysed bothe of good & euyll. But contrary wyse, as for the, euery man curseth, onelesse he be lyke to thy selfe, or elles suche as flater the.

I neuer herde of suche rekenyngꝭ before.

I thinke y ^e same. For how sholdest thou haue any tyme to rede ouer the holy gospelles, and the epystles (which my brother Paule & I dyd wryte) beyng alwayes besyed aboute so many ības­sades, so many legeys, accomptes, so many armyes and tryūphes. The study of scriptures requyreth a mynde voyde of al worldly cares. The discyplyne of Christ doth also requyre a brest clene purged from y ^e spotte of all worldly besynes. Thou mayst be well assured that so great a doctor as Chryst was, came not downe from heuen to teache vs any vulgare or cōmen lernynge. The profession of a christen man is no ydle tyme, nor w ^tout cares, as to despyse all plea­sures as thinges venimous / & treade ryches vnder thy fete as thou wylt do a clot of clay, to set nothing by this lyfe in gods cause & thy neyghbours. This is the professyon of a true christyan. But for bicause these thyngꝭ seme intollerable to suche as be not go­uerned [Page] with the spiryte of Christ. Therfore they de­flecte and torne them away to vaine and vnfruteful ceremonyes / and vnto suche a Chryst & heed, feyned by themselues, they countrefeyte a lyke body.

What good thyng than doest thou leaue me, if thou take away my money / depryue me of my kyngdom / spoile me of myne honour / and bare me of pleasure.

By this reason thou countest Chryst hymselfe a very wretche / whiche althoughe he was lorde ouer al togither, yet was made a cōmen laughing stocke / ledyng all his lyfe in pouertie / sweate / fastyng / hun­gre and thurst / & finally dyed a moost heinous deth.

He may perchaūce fynde some y ^t wyll cōmende his lyfe, but surely he shall fynde none now adayes that wold folow it.

Nay not so, for y ^e very praise of his lyfe, is the folowyng of y ^e same. Albeit trouth it is y ^t Christ doth not bereue any of his theyr good. But for suche thynges as are falsly called good / he enrycheth them with the true and eternall ryches / whiche he doth not before he haue purged and take clene awaye theyr flesshly appetytes. For euen lyke as he was all togyther heuēly, so his wyl is to haue his body / that is to say the congregacyon of christen men knyt togyther in his spiryte, to be in all thyngꝭ most lyke to him, that is to wyte, clene purged from all spottes of worldlynes. For elles how can he be all one w ^t him whiche sytteth in heuen moost gloryous and shynynge, yf he were drowned ouer the heed in worldly fylthynes, & dregges. But whan he is ones purged from suche pleasures, whiche be rather dis­pleasures / [Page] & moreouer from all worldly affections. Than at the last Christ sheweth forth his incompa­rable treasures, and gyueth vnto his a moost swete taste of his heuēly ioyes, for theyr voluptuous plea­sures of this worlde, euer mengled w ^t a soure sauce.

What pleasures I pray the.

Estemed thou the gyftes of prophecy, entrepretyng y ^e scryptures / the gyfte to worke myracles: but as cōmen gyftes, and no pleasure? Moreouer supposest y ^u Christ hym selfe but as a vyle persone / whom who soeuer hath hath in his possessyon all togyther? Finally, one [...]es thou thynke y ^t we here in this place do leade a my­serable lyfe.

Ha, ha, ha. Than I se well, y ^e more wretched lyfe that a man dothe lyue in the worlde / the more delycately he lyueth in Christ / y ^e more beg­gerly a man is here, the rycher he is in Chryste / the more abiecte that a man is here, the hygher & more honorable he is in Chryst / the lesse he lyueth in this worlde, the more he lyueth in Christ.

It is surely so / that Christ wyll haue al his body be pure and clene / and namely the mynisters of his worde / that is to wyte the bysshops. And amonge them the higher he is, y ^e more like he ought for to be to Christ and the lesse ouercharged, and forther from all car­nall pleasures. But nowe I se clene the contrarye, that he which wyl be estemed highest in dignitees / and next of all to Christ hymselfe, is most of al ouer­whelmed in all worldly filthynes / as in ryches / do­mynyon / strength of men / batayles / truces. As for all other vyces. I let passe. And althoughe thou be [Page] neuer so contrary to Chryst / neuertheles thou abu­sest the tytle of Chryst, for the mayntenaunce of thy deuyllysshe pryde / and vnder the pretence of hym whiche despised the kyngdome of this worlde, thou playest the worldly tyraunt / and beynge the ryghte enmye of Chryst, thou requyrest the ryght honoure dewe vnto hym. Thou doest blysse other, thy owne selfe beynge cursed of god. Thou takest vpon the to open the gates of heuen to other men, from whens thou arte nowe thy selfe exclude. Thou consecrates [...] other / thy selfe beinge vnconsecrate? Thou excom­munycatest other / thy selfe hauynge no cōmunyon or parte at all with god or his holy sayntes. Tel me wherin thou dyfferest from the great Turke, saue onely bycause thou allegest the tytle of Chryste / for clerely your entētes and myndes are both one, your beestly lyues bothe lyke: sauyng thou art the grea­ter morreyne of all the worlde.

Wherfore sayst thou so, seynge myne entent hath ben euer to endote the chyrche with all kynde of goodes? But there be dyuers whiche saythe that Arystotle spake of thre maner goodes / wherof some be called the goodes of fortune / other some goodes of the body / and rhe rest goodes of the soule. Wherfore I not wyllynge in any wyse to inuerte and transpose this diuysyon of goodes, began fyrste of all at the goodes of fortune / and perchaunce sholde haue come by lytell and lytel to the goodes of the soule, if that dethe cōmynge the soner vpon, had not to rathe haue taken me out of this worlde.

Uery rathe in dede, for bycause [Page] thou art but thre score yeres olde and .x. But what dede were it to mengle water with the fyre?

Well, but and yf these cōmodytees lacke, the cōmen people wyll not set a strawe by vs: Where as nowe they bothe feare and worshyp vs. Whiche yf they dyd not, the chyrche of god sholde soone decaye, and be ouerronne, onelesse she coude defende her selfe a­gaynst the vyolence of her enmyes.

It is no­thynge so, for yf the poore christen people coude espy in the & suche other, the very gyftes of god, as good lyuynge, holsome doctryne, brennynge charyte, the true enterpretyng of goddes worde, with other ver­tues requysyte to the true vycare of Christ / yea, and they wolde the rather worshyp the, bycause they perceyue the pure and clene from all worldely and [...]uyll affections. The cōmen welthe of all christen­dome sholde moche y ^e better encrease, if suche preestꝭ myght reygne whiche (with theyr syncere lyuyng, theyr vtter despisyng of worldly pleasures / ryches / dominyons / yea, & dethe yf nede were) wolde moue bothe the ygnoraunt people, and also them whiche hath not receyued the faythe to marueyle at theyr godly conuersation. But nowe christendome is not onely contracte and brought in to a lytell angle, but also yf thou loke nerely, thou shalte fynde a greate nombre of those fewe that be christened in names onely. But tell me I praye the, dydest thou neu [...]r so moche as ones consydre in thy mynde whan thou was the hyghe shepeh [...]rde of the chyrche, howe it began, & by what meanes it was augmented / and [Page] also wherby it was establysshed / whether w ^t blody batayles / great treasours / pa [...]frayes, & suche other. Surely it was nothynge so, but rather with pacy [...]ence / bloode of martyrs, as myne and other / with pacyent suffrynge of enpryso [...]m [...]ntes, & other paynfull beatynges. But thou callest y ^e chyrche enryched whan the ministers therof be euen loden w ^t worldly domynion. Thou callest it garnysshed and adorned, whan it is polluted with gyftes & pleasures of the worlde. Than thou callest it defended whan all the worlde lyeth by the eares for the rentes and ammi­ties of preestes. Thou sayst it flouryssheth, whan it is dronken in voluptuous pleasures. Thou sayst it is in good quyetnes / whan no man dare speake a­gayn [...]t it. And it haboūdeth in welthynes, or rather in vyce and noughtynes / but this hast thou taught the uexyble princes of the worlde, whiche blynded with theyr noughty lernynge, doth call theyr great robberyes, and furyous bataylles, the def [...]nce of Christes chyrche.

To this daye herde I neuer suche thynges before.

What dyd the prea­chers than teache the.

I herde nothynge at all of them, but hygh cōmendacions / thondrynge out my greate vertues and prayses / with paynted wordes, callynge me the greate Iupyter, whiche caused all the worlde to quake, and feare with my thondrebolt / yea, that I was a very god, the cōm [...] helthe o [...] all the hole worlde / with many moo.

No maruayle at all truely, thoughe none of them coude season the, seynge thou was but folys [...]he, and [Page] vnsauery salte. For the offyce of the true vycare of Christe, is to preache and teache hym purely to the people.

Wylte thou not than open the ga­tes?

To any other rather than to suche a pestylent wretche. For to the in thy conceyte, we be all no better than excōmunycate persons. But wylt thou haue a good and profytable counsell? Thou hast a company of worthy warryours, innumera­ble rychesse / thy selfe a wyse buylder / therfore go buylde the a newe paradyse, but take hede it be wel defended, that it be not beaten downe of yll spirites.

No syr. I shall do a thyng that shall please me a lytell better. I wyll tary a fewe monethes, tyl my company be better encreased, and stronger / and than I wyll retorne and dryue you clene out of this holde with stronge hande, onlesse you wyl yelde you vnto me. For I doubte not but within a short space here wyll be aboue .lx.M. slayne in batayle.

O moost pestylent wretche. O myserable chyrche / but come hyther Genius, for I hadde leauer comen with the, than with this horryble monstre.

What say ye to me.

Be all the bysshoppes suche?

Of trouthe a great parte of them / but this was the capytayne of all myschief.

Was it thou that moeued this man to so many horryble dedes.

No for god, it neded not. For he ran̄e so hastyly of his owne courage, that I coud scarce ouer take hym with any wynges.

Of trouthe I maruayle nothyng at al, that so fewe cōmeth to this place, whan so pestylent caytyfes be [Page] gouernours of the chyrche. Notwithstandynge the poore blyn [...]e people I coniecture hereby: is not all togyther vncurable, that they gyue suche honoure to this foule stynkynge wydraught, for the bare ty­tle of bysshop.

It is mater in dede / but I muste go strayghte awaye hence / for my capytayne hath becked vpon me to fo­lowe hym / yea, and for my longe taryenge hath shaked his staffe vpon me, therfore I wyll byd you farewell.