Prolicionycion [sic]

¶ Aylon ¶ Abdon ¶ Capitulum 25

AYlon of the lygnage of Zabulon was Iugge of Israel ten yere· Netheles the seuenty acounten hym not / and ther¦fore Eusebius acounteth his yeres with the yeres of Iosue of

samuel and of saul for the scrypture spekyth not of theyr ye∣res / Netheles they sette moo yeres than be founden by Iosephus So that from the goyng oute of egypte vnto Salamons temple were four honderd yere and four score Abdon that heet labdon also was Iugge of Israel echt yere in his thyrd yere Troye was takē echt honderd yere and four and fourty after abrahams birth thre honderd yere and fourty after the goyng out of egypt the yere of kyng latyn in ytaly / xxv· byfore the byldyng of Ro¦me four honderd yere and two and twenty ¶ Augustinus ·18 / capitulo ·16 ¶ After that Troye was destroyed· yet while kyng latyn regned in ytalye / the grekes that torned agayne & hadden in the way many myshappes / For varro libro tercio de his¦toria sayth that diomedes were torned in to foules and dyomedes was no more seen· ¶So that he was holden a god / his temple is solempne in the Iland dyomedia not fer fro mount Gargan in Apulia / Me saith that fowles be / and flee about this temple and serue wonderly and sprynge water· Yf the grekes or ony of the kynde of the Grekes come thyder / the birddes make hem good semblaunt and yf ony other come / they wounde hem with theyr greet billes / and for to conferme the same / varro tellyth not a fa∣ble lesyng but sothnesse of story of that famous dyuyneresse sor∣ceresse and wytche / Cirte that transfourmed vlyxes felaws in ro beestes / And of the Archades that by lo••t swam ouer a p••ole & than were tourned in to wolues and lyued with wylde beestes· and yf they ete ther no mannes flesshe they shuld after nyne ye∣re swymme home ouer the poole. and tourne ayene in to shap of mankynde / He sayth also that demenetus whan he had tasted of the sacrifice of Archad was torned in to a wolf / and after ny∣ne yere he was restored ayene to his owne shappe of mankynde and vsed afterward geantes dedes / and had the maystrye in a tornyng of Olimpe ¶ Plenius libro sextodecimo capitulo vy∣sesimo secundo That men be transformed in to wolues / and oft in to her owne shappe we trowe it be fals / Netheles Auctours of Grece tellen that Archades were ledde to a pool in the same lan∣de & henge her clothes on an ooke and swam ouer the poole & in wildernesse torned in to wolues and dwellyd nyne yere among wolues / And yf they kepte hem all that tyme and ete no man∣nes flessh· they shold swymme home ageyne and take her owne clothes and her owne shappe. and be nyne yere older than they were whan they wēt out / but ther is no lesing so greet but it may

be confermed Augustinus libro / 18 / capitulo .16 Than what shall we saye to alle this sayngys / Certeynly whan we were in ytalye we herd ynowe of women hostelers of that lande that vsed to yeue chese that was bywytched to men that trauaylled by the way and anone the men torned in to beestes and bare heuy char∣ges and hadden kyndly wytte and reason / and whan they had done her seruyce they torned ayene in to theyr owne shappe / Also epuleus in his book seyth that so it happed hym self that he toke suche venym and had his wytte and reason and was made an asse R Willelmus de regib{us} libro secundo Tellith such doing of tweyn wytches or enchāteresses / that dwellid in the high wey to Romeward And yf ony gest come allone they torned him in to a beest and soo come by them aminstrele that couth moch mirth and they transformed hym to an asse and sold hym to a ryche man for a greet som of money. netheles with such warnyng that he shold neu{er} passe water & his warden kept hem besily long tyme Netheles in passynge of tyme he toke lasse hede to his Asse and escaped to water and torned ayene to shap of mankynde / the war¦den of the Asse folowed after and axed after his asse of euery man that he mette / And he that had bene an Asse. and was tour∣ned to a man ayene sayde that he had ben an asse and was bycomē aman / & his warden ledde hym to his lorde & the lord ledd them both to leon the pope & the old wytches were cōuyct bifore the po¦pe & knowleched the dede the pope douted of this thyng & petr{us} da¦mian{us} a cōnyng man of letture confermed the maner doyng by ensample of Symon magus that tourned Faustinus in to his owne shappe and made his owne childer drede hym ful soore ¶ Augustinus vbi supra / ¶ It is to be bileuyd that fendes may nought doo but at goddes suffrance and soo they may make noo man kynde neyther transforme ne chaungebodyes / ¶ Ne¦theles it semeth semtyme that they chaunge lykenesse and shap of thynges that God made and wrought· So that the fantasye of a man that chaungeth in thought & in metyng of dreames by dyuerse maner thynges and taketh the likenes of bodyes with a wonder swyftnesse though no body be presente· whan the wyt∣tes of the bodye be absente and lete of theyr worchynge and the ymage and lykenes that is in thought & in fantasie is as it we¦re emprynted in the lykenesse of sōme beest and semyth to other mēnes wyttes in the same lykenesse / And soo a man maye seme to hym self such as he semeth in metyng of sweuenes and so him

maye seme that he bereth berthens and charges But and they be veray berthens and charges fendes bere hem that men maye be so begyled For one prestācius told that suche an happe befelle his owne fader that he toke suche venym by these in his owne hows and lay in a bedde as he were slepyng and no man myght hym wake but after many dayes he awoke and told as it were a sweuen how hym was bifalle for hym thought that he was ma¦de an hors and bare corne among other beestes to knyghtes that were at Rethica and it was founde right as he told it was done in dede / ¶ He sayde also that he sawe a philosopher at home in his hows. whiche philosopher expowned to him many secretes of platoes bookes whiche thynges he had boden hym expoune bifore and he wold not and whan me axed of the philosophre. why he wold expowne in an other mannys hows. that he hadde denyed in his owne: nay quod he / I dyd not so but I mette that I did

¶ And in that maner by the ymage and lykenesse of fanta∣sye it was shewed to that one wakynge what that other mette in his sleepe Therfor that the Orchades torned in to wolues by wytchecraft of Cirta. me semeth it myght be in this maner / Nethe¦les yf it were soth but for dyomedes felawes vanysshed sodenly away & were neuer after foūde me troweth that wycked angels toke wreeche on hem and torned hem in to other fowles that we∣re made and brought theder by crafte of men As it is knowen that an hynde was brought in stede of ephigenia Agamenons doughter and she was ladde away The fowles that at dyomedis temple that spryngen water and flateren the grekes is by exci∣ting of the deuyl to bryng men in wytte to bileue diomede be ma¦de a god and soo begyled in worshipyng of fals goddes ¶R Loke moore of this mater in the first book capitulo hibernia / ¶ Girald{us} in top ¶Fendes and wycked men may not chaunge kynde but by suffraunce of god / they maye chaunge lykenesse & shappe and lette mennes wyttes and begyle men so that thyng••s seme not as they be but by strengthe of fantasye and of wytche crafte men haue semyng by feyned shappes / But it is not vn∣sytting that we trowe that god as he maketh thynges of nought so he chaungeth one in to an other for to take rightfull wreche / owther for to shewe his myghte or mercy. So he tourned Lo¦thes wyf in to an ymage of salt and water in to wyne / owther chaunge the lykenesse without and leue the kynde vnchaunged within·