Book of the Knight of La Tour-Landry : compiled for the instruction of his daughters : translated from the original French into English in the reign of Henry VI / [by Geoffroy de La Tour Landry] ; edited ... with an introduction and notes by Thomas Wright

CHAPTER XXIX.

And here is an ensaumple how no man thorugℏ his clateringe shulde desturbe the devine seruice of God.

YEt wiƚƚ y teƚƚ you what befeƚƚ atte the masse of the holy man, seint Martin of Towres, And as he saide masse there

halpe hym seint Brice, the whiche was hys clerke and godsone, that after seint Martin was Ershebisshope of Towres, the whiche Brice toke up a gret laughinge, and seint Martin perseiued it. And whanne the masse was done, seint Martin asked hym whi he laughed, and he ansuered, that he saw the fende write aƚƚ the laughinges that were betwene the women atte the masse, and it happed that the parchemyn that he wrote in was shorte, and he plucked harde to haue made it lengger with his tethe, and it scaped oute of hys mouthe, and hys hede had a gret stroke ayenst the waƚƚ, " & that made me to laugℏ." And whan seint Martin herde hym, he knewe that seint Brice was an holy man. And he preched this to the women, and how it was a gret periƚƚ and synne to speke and counsaile of worldly materes atte the masse or atte Goddes [fol/col 14b/2] seruice, and that it were beter not to be there thanne to haue suche langage and clateringe. Asid yet sum clerkes susteinithe that none shulde not speke no manere thing whiles they bene atte masse, and in especial atte the gospeƚƚ, nor atte the 'per omnia;' and therfor, doughtres, here is an ensaumple how ye shaƚƚ holde you humble and deuoute in the chirche, and for no thinge haue no iangelynge with nobody while ye are atte the masse, nor while ye serue God.