hart strongly armed her selfe, her .ij. doughters, and .v. thousande
women more of the Britannysh bloude in battayle agaynst the furyouse
fearce Romanes, to suppresse their tyranny and execrable fylthynesse
in abusynge maydes, wyues, and wydowes. But as she behelde the vyctory
vpon their sydes bycause she wolde not come vndre their captyuyte, she
poysened her selfe, & so dyed. Voadicia her yonger doughter, afterwarde
escapynge the handes of the seyd Romanes, with a myghty power of the
Brytanes entered into the yle of Māne, and in a nyght battayle, there
slewe thē in a wonderfull nombre, destroyenge their fortalyces, and
holdes. Notwithstandynge at the lattre beynge taken, she was byheaded,
her eldar syster beynge maryed to kynge Marius. Athildis the doughter
of the seyd kynge Marius, was also a most noble woman, whom the Frenche
kynge Marcomerus marryed for the only naturall gyftes and scyences whych
she had aboue other women, and had .vij. sonnes by her. Claudia Rufina,
a noble Brytayne, wyttye and lerned both in Greke and Latyne, hauynge
to husbande one Aulus Rufus a lerned knyght, a poete of Bonony & a
phylosopher of the Stoycall sort, is moch cōmēded of Martialis the poete,
for the Epygrammes and poemes whych she than compyled in both those
tunges.
[Sidenote: Emerita.]
[Sidenote: Helena Flauia.]
[Sidenote: Cōstātia.]
[Sidenote: Vrsula.]
Emerita the syster of kynge Lucius, whych is called the first christened
kynge, a lady most vertuouse and faythfull for cōstauntly affermynge
the veryte of Christ, suffered most tyrannouse death and was brent in
the fyre. Helena Flauia, the doughter of kynge Coelus, and mother to
great Constantyne the Emprour, was a woman of incomparable bewtie and
lernynge. Non coulde be founde lyke her in the artes lyberall, neyther
yet in the fyne handelynge of all instrumentes of musyke. She excelled
all other in the dyuerse speches of nacyons, specyally in the Latyne,
Greke, and Hebrue. She made a boke of the prouydence of God, an other of
the immortalyte of the sowle, with serten Greke poemes, epystles, and
dyuerse other treatyses. Constantia her doughter, was also a woman of
most excellent giftes, had she not in the ende declyned to the detestable
secte of the Arryanes, by serten hypocrytysh prestes. Vrsula Cynosura,
the floryshynge douter of Dionothus the duke of Cornewale, was so nobylly
brougt vp in all lyberall dyscyplyne, that Conanus the kynge of lytle
Brytayne desyred her to wyfe, and as she went thydrewarde with .xi.
thousande Brytaynes wyues more, by chaūce of wether and vyolence of see
rouers both she and they peryshed by the waye.
[Sidenote: Annae duae.]
[Sidenote: Morganis.]
[Sidenote: Hermelinda.]
[Sidenote: Hylda.]
[Sidenote: Tres filiae.]
[Sidenote: Alenora.]
Anna the syster of Aurelius Ambrosius whych was afterwarde marryed to
Lotho the kynge of Pyctes, & Anna the twynne syster of kynge Arthure, are
of writers magnyfyed, for their dyuerse and excellent graces. Morganis
a woman of incomparable loue towardes her parentes, and contraye, so
secretly and wysely conuayed the body of kynge Arthure, the most worthy
gouernour of the Brytaynes, that the Englysh Saxons coulde neuer come to
it, to do their vyolēce theron. Hermelinda, rysynge of the Englysh Saxons
bloude, for her excellent bewtie and noble behauer became the wyfe of
Cunibertus the kynge of Lombardy. Hylda, a noble woman, both godly, wyse,
and lerned, not only dysputed in the open Synode at Streneshalce in the
North contraye agaynst the prelates, concernynge their newly founde out
celebracyon of Eastre, and their crowne shauynge, with other ceremonyes,
but also wrote a treatyse agaynst byshopp Agilbert a Frenche man, the
busyest amonge them. The thre doughters of kynge Alphrede, Elfleda,
Elfritha, and Ethelgora, were wonderfully experte in the lyberall
scyences. Alenor the wyfe of kynge Henry the seconde, was lerned also,
& wrote dyuerse epystles to pope Celestyne the thirde, & also to kynge
Iohan her yongest sonne.
[Sidenote: Ioanna.]
[Sidenote: Margareta.]
[Sidenote: Elisabeth.]
[Sidenote: Names.]
Ioāna the yongest doughter of the seyd kynge Henry, so moch delyghted
in good letters, that before she shulde be marryed to kynge wyllyam of
Cycyll, she caused her father to sende ouer .ij. lerned men of Englande,
walther and Rycharde with a French doctour called Petrus Blesensis to
instruct hym in them, specyally in the arte of versyfyenge. And at her
cōmynge thydre, the one of those Englysh men was made archebyshop of
Panorme, & the other byshop of Siracusa, in recompēce of their labours.
Margarete the noble mother of kynge Henry the .vij. so plenteously
mynded the preferment of scyences & goynge forewarde of lernynges, that
she buylded in Cambryge for the same porpose, the colleges of Christ &
of S. Iohan the Euāgelyst, and gaue landes for their mayntenaunce, as
quene Helisabeth ded afore, to the quenes college there. Longe were it
to rehearce the excedynge nombre of noble women, whych in thys lande of
Brytayne or realme of Englande, haue excelled in bewtie, wytte, wysdome,
scyence lāguages, lyberalyte, polycyes, heroycall force, and soch other
notable vertues, and by reason of them done feates wonderfull. Eyther
yet to sort out their Names and regestre them one by one, whych haue
bene marryed out of the same, to Emprours, kynges, dukes, earles, worthy
captaynes, Phylosophers, phesycyanes, astronomers, poetes, & other of
renomed fame and letters, only for their most rare graces and gyftes.
[Sidenote: Writers.]
[Sidenote: Alenora Cobham.]
[Sidenote: Double honoure.]
Though non in thys lande haue yet done as ded amonge the Grekes
Plutarchus, & amonge the Latynes Boccatius with other authours afore
named, that is to saye, left beynde them Cataloges or Nomenclatures of
famouse and honorable women, yet haue it not at any tyme bene barrayne
of them. No, not in the dayes of most popysh darkenesse. As apereth by
Alenor Cobham, the wyfe of good duke Vmfrey of Glocestre, brother to
kynge Hēry the fift. Whom Antichristes grande captaynes, the byshoppes
than of Englāde, in hate of her name and beleue, accused of sorcerouse
inchauntmentes and experymentes of Necromancy agaynst their holy horned
whorysh churche. And at the last slewe her noble husbande in a false
parlement at Bury, by their owne hyred slaughter man Pole, as they neuer
are without soch. If they were worthy prayse, whych had these aforenamed
vertues syngle, or after a bodyly sort only, we must of congruence graunt
them worthy double honoure, whych haue them most plēteously doubled. As
now sens Christes Gospell hath rysen, we haue beholden them, & yet se
them styll to thys daye in many noble women, not rysynge of flesh and
bloude as in the other, but of that myghty lyuynge sprete of hys, whych
vanquyshed deathe, helle, and the deuyll.
[Sidenote: Anne Askewe.]
[Sidenote: Noble.]
[Sidenote: Women.]
[Sidenote: Prayer.]
Consydre yet how strongly that sprete in Anne Askewe, set them all at
nought with all their artyllery and mynysters of myschefe both vpon
the racke and also in the fyre. Whose memory is now in benedyccyon (as
Iesus Syrach reporteth of Moses) and shall neuer be forgotten of the
ryghteouse. She as Christes myghty membre, hath strongly troden downe
the head of the serpent, and gone hence with most noble vyctory ouer
the pestyferouse seede of that vyperouse worme of Rome, the gates of
helle not preuaylynge agaynst her. What other noble women haue, it doth
now, and wyll yet herafter apere more largely by their godly doctryne
and dedes of fayth. Marke thys present boke for one, whose translacyon
was the worke of her, whych was but a babe at the doynge therof. Marke
also the graue sentences, whych she geueth fourth to the worlde, & laude
that lyuynge father of our lorde Iesus Christ, whych hath thus taken hys
heauenly wysdome from the great graue senyours, that only are wyse in
their owne consaytes, and geuen it so largely to chyldrē, Math. 11. That
heauenly lorde graūt her and other noble women longe contynuaūce in the
same to hys hygh pleasure. That lyke as they are become gloryouse to the
worlde by the stody of good letters, so maye they also apere gloryouse ī
hys syght by dayle exercyse in hys dyuyne scriptures, Whose nature is in
processe of tyme to kyndle their myndes and inflame their hartes in the
loue of Christ their eternall spouse, as thys present boke requyreth, So
be it.
* * * * *
Thus endeth thys godly Medytacyon of the christen sowle concernynge a
loue towardes God and hys Christ, aptely translated into Englysh by the
ryght vertuouse lady Elyzabeth doughter to our late souerayne Kynge Henry
the .viij.
¶ The .xiij. Psalme of Dauid, called, _Dixit insipiens_, touched afore of
my lady Elizabeth.
Fooles that true fayth, yet neuer hod,
Sayth in their hartes, there is no God.
Fylthy they are, in their practyse,
Of them not one, is godly wyse.
From heauen the lorde, on man ded loke,
The knowe what wayes, he vndertoke,
All they were vayne, and went a straye,
Not one he founde, in the ryght waye,
In harte and tunge, haue they deceyte,
Their lyppes throwe fourth, a poysened beyte.
Their myndes are mad, their mouthes are wode.
And swyft they be, in shedynge blode.
So blynde they are, no truth they knowe,
No feare of God, in them wyll growe.
How can that cruell sort be good?
Of Gods dere folcke, whych sucke the blood?
On hym ryghtly, shall they not call,
Dyspayre wyll so, their hartes appall.
At all tymes God, is with the iust,
Bycause they put, in hym their trust.
Who shall therfor, from Syon geue,
That helthe whych hāgeth, in our beleue.
Whan God shall take, frō hys the smart,
Than wyll Iacob, reioyce in hart.
Prayse to God.
[Illustration]
Imprented in the yeare of our lorde 1548, in Apryll.