Prolicionycion [sic]

¶ Capitulum 14

LOtharius lowys sonne was kynge of westfraunce / and dyed withoute childer / In hym the grete charles ofspryng loste the kyngdom / Somme men say that this lotharius had chil∣dre that regned not after hym / By helpe of Rychard duc of Nor¦mandye / that was somtyme gretely greuyd by lotharius / ¶Lotharius sonnes were taken / and the grete hugh capette was made kynge of fraunce / and regned nyne yere / this hugh Capett was the sone of duc hugh / whos suster duc rychard had spoused

¶ Seynt oswald archebisshop of yorke / and of worcetre also / dyed & was buryed at wyrcetre / The / v / gregorius was pope as it were thre yere / this was byfore called brunus / & was othoes themperours kynnesman / At his instaunce he was chosen pope / But afterward whan themperour was absente one Crescenci{us} prefecte of the cyte toke one placentinus a ryche man of moneye / and putte hym in the poperyche / and callyd hym the seuenth Io¦han / But the Emperour came ageyne / and putte oute this Io¦han / and putte ynne the seconde Syluester / ¶ That ye∣re / the Bisshops see that somtyme was callyd Lyndeffarn was chaunged to durham / ¶ And seynt Cuthbertus bodye was translated thyder / the whiche bodye / ardulphus ledde aboute with hym somtyme / The fyrste Rychard the thyrd duc of Nor∣mandy is dede / ¶ After hym his sonne the seconde Rychard was duc / xxviij / yere / For his grete goodnesse he was callyd the good Rychard / he was deuoute in goddes seruyce / & wyse & redy to the worlde warde / Curtoys and large of yeftes / On his fyrste wyf he bygate thre sonnes / Rychard Robert & Wiliam / & thre doughters On his seconde wyf he gate wyliam and Robert /

archebisshop of rothomage / One of thes second rychardes knygh¦tes stale a spone / & leyd it to wedde among other thynges / The duc espyed it & none other man / & lete quyte oute al the knygh¦tes weddes / the knyght espyed that the spone was so espyed / & was soo ashamed that he fled pryuely awey / The kynge wente after the knyght that fledde / and brought hym ayene and made hym ryche / and loued hym afterward ryght wele / One mays¦ter Bernard herde the dukes loos / and wold be knowen to him / And bythought hym on euery syde how he myght beste doo for to come therto / he come atte last with a bowe and an arowe to a wyndowe of the castel / there the duc was wonte to stande / And walked hyder and thyder as though he wold haue shotte to the duc / the duc was war therof / and espyed what the cause was / & loued hym ryght wel / After the seuenth Iohan was put oute the second syluester was pope four yere and twey monethes / W / v / su / This hete fyrst gerebertus by his name / & was of the naciō of frensshmen / & was shorn monk at Floriacio besyde aurelyans / Whanne he come to pyctagoras double wey / he was caught with noye of his ordre with couetyse of worship / and left his habyte on a nyght / and fled in to hyspals / that is syuyl le grannt a cy¦to of spayne for to lerne subtyle and curyous artes & scyences / there as crysten men haue Tolet / Sarasyns haue hyspals / ther gerebertus lerned and passed tholomeus in astronomye & Alcā¦drius in the space bytwene the sterres & Iulius fermicus in des∣teny / there he lerned what sygnefyed song / and flyghte of foules what the curyosite of kynde may take that Carsong I leue / But he drank therof that he passed all other / he was the fyrst that toke Agabus of Sarasyns / and yaue rules therynnne / that maye vnnethe be vnderstanden of the connyngest men of that crafte / whiche craftes men ben cleped Abacyste / Gerebertus was at In with one that was moost connynge philosophre / that was boūde with promyses and with yeftes / Gerebertus hadde wryton and copyed al this philosophres bookes / excepte one that conteyned all the pryuyte of the crafte / For that booke myght he not geete by noo maner of sleyght / But the philosophre was otherwhyle dronken· And soo Gerebertus wayted his tyme / and toke the booke / that was vnder the philosophres heede and fledde aweye therwyth / Thenne he awoke. and pursued Gerebertus by crafte of the stere••s / in the whiche crafte he was parfyht ynowe /

By that same crafte he that fledde was ware of the perylle /

and dressyd hym vnder a treen brydge that was there nexte and henge ther by the armes / soo that he touched neyther erth ne wa¦ter / and soo by that crafte he was begyled that sought hym right besyly / and withdrough hym and torned home ayene / Thenne this gerebertus cam to the see / and called forth the fende and be∣hete hym homage yf he wold bere hym ouer the see / and saue him fro hym that pursued hym / and soo it was done / Than he come agey•• in to Fraunce / & helde open scole / and had with hym Con¦stantin thabbot of saynt mayimin besydes aurelyans / To hym he made and yaue a rule of Abacus / Also he told the skylle and reson of the dyameter aboue macrobius / Treuisa / The dyameter is of a fygure owther of a shap the lengest euen lyne that is de∣uyded therynne / take who that may / Than it foloweth in the sto∣rye / Gerebertus hadde s••olers Robert the sonne of hugh Capette kyng of fraunce / and otho / Otho the emperours sonne / But ro¦bert was afterward kyng of fraunce / and made this gerebertus Archebisshop of remensis / yet in that chirche is mynde of his lore for ther is an orloge made by crafte of honde / and water organs that sowneth by eyr and water / there by strengthe of hoot•• wa∣ter the wynde brekyth oute and fylleth the holownes of the Or∣gans / and thenne by shaply draughtes the brasen pypes sende oute swete crye and noyse of melodye / therafter Otho was Em∣perour and made Gerebertus bisshop of Rauenna / and sone ther after pope / ¶ Marianus / ¶ Of that happe is a vers ma¦de / Scandit ad / R / Gerebertus / ab / R / post papa vygens / in / R / That is Gerebertus passyth vp to / R. oute of R / and is theraf∣ter pope in his floures in R / ¶R / He passed oute of Remence to Rauenna / and the thyrde tyme to Rome / ¶ Willelmus de Regibus / Fauour of the fende droof forth his fortune / for by help of the fende / and by crafte of nygromancye he fonde tresour that was hyd of olde tyme / in that felde callyd Campus Mar¦cius / besydes rome was an ymage that tyme that helde streight oute ¶ the fynger / of his right hande / the which fynger som men calle lyk pot / that is the fynger nexte the thombe / and on the ymages heede it was wreton / smyte her / men of olde tyme wend & trowed tresour ther to fynde / & brake sōwhat of the ymage with many hard strokes / gerebert{us} blamed hem therfor / & euē at mid∣day whā the sōne was highest / he toke hede wher the shadow of that finger fil on the groūd & pight ther a stake & at night he toke with him his chāberlayn alone that bare with him light & opened the

erth there as the stake was pyght and went in and sawe the••e a kynges hows of gold and knyghtes of gold playng with dyses of gold / and kyng and quene of metal sitting atte borde & serued with mete sette on the borde / seruauntes standyng byfore hem / & cuppes of grete wyght and pryce / In the ynner place of the ho••s a carboncle stone shoone clerely / and dyd awey al the derknesse of the nyght. On the other syde stode a yonglynge with a bowe bente / But amonge al these no thynge myght be touched though it myght be seen / yf ony man wente ner to handle ony thynge h••r of / it semed that al the ymages wold on him rese / Gerebertus was war therof and absteyned hym & withstode his couetyse / & desyre / but the chamberlayn absteyned not atte full / for he toke a knyf that lay on the boorde / Anon as he had taken the knyf / all ymages bygan to grutche / and to aryse / & the child lowsed / and shotte and hytte the carboncle stone with a reode / and made alle the hows full of derknesse / Soo that but yf he hadd leyd downe the knyf as his lord bade hym / bothe sholde haue payed the peyne So it is redde that Ioseph dalf with his fader moche tresour in to the erthe / ¶ And hircanus toke vp thre thousand talentes of kyng dauids graue / for to breke vp the syege of Ierusalem / Also it is a comune faine that this gerebertus by certayne crafte of the sterres / dyde ghete an hede that spak not / but whan me ax¦yd of hym and seyd nought but soth / That hede warned gereber∣tus that he shold be pope / and that he shold neuer dye er he ••ad son¦ge a masse in Ierl̄m / but he was not ware that in Rome was a chirche that hete ierl̄m / ther the pope singith masse thre sondayes in the yere in the stacion tyme / In that chirche he arayd hym to masse on one of these sondayes / and was taken with strength of sekenesse / and lay seke in his bedde / and counseylled with his y∣mage / and knewe that he was begyl̄ed and was war of his oun¦deth / he sente for the cardyuals and knowleched his euyl dedes / and wepte ful soore / And as it were a woode man for sorow of his synnes / he made men kytte him self lymmele· and throwe out his lymmes / and sayd lete hym haue thoffyce of the lymmes that axyd homage of hem & lete the spyryte go to god that made it of of nought / Mar / Than he bade doo the stoke of the bodye vpon a cart and burye it where the beestes wolde abyde / & ••o it was done Than the beestes steynte at seynt iohans the l••ran and he is bu∣ryed there in token that his synnes were foryeuen / his graue bo∣dethe and warneth yf the pope shal sone dye / And that by

sterynge and rustlyng of the bones that be therynne / & by swe∣tynge of the tombe as it is yet there wreton in lettres of latyn /