Prolicionycion [sic]

¶ Capitulum nonum:

IN sarugges tyme belus neinprothis sone kynge of babilon went in to assiria & wan it aftward within a short tyme & whan he had regned· lxv yere: than he deyed / & his sone nynus regned aftir hym & began to regne the yere of thare abrahās fa∣der euen thrytty & was kyng wel nygh of all asia oute take In∣de / liij. yere. In the yere of his kyngdom .xliij· abraham was born bifore the buyldyng of the cyte of rome nygh a thousand yere & thre· C / : Oro{us} li. 1 The yere bifore the buyldyng of the cyte of rome a thousand and thre hondred nynus kyng of assiriens for couetise to make his lordship grete bare oute armure and lyued cruel lyf fyfty yere in all asia in warre and in batayll / & aroos out of the south and from the reed see & destroyed in the northe vpon the see that heete eusinū that stretcheth fro the riuer thanay to the endes of hiberia and armenia / ¶ And soo this kyng Nynus ouercome men of Scicia barbaryca that were yet no wer¦rours but stille men and pesible & made hem knowe strengthe & taught hem to lyue by mannee b••ode that liued bifore hād with mylke of beestes / And atte laste he slough Zoroastes kynge of battryans that was synder of wytche craft but atte laste deyde

whyle he besegied a cyte that was torned from hym he was hitte with an arowe and soo he was slayne petrus 36 / ¶Nynus belus sonne whan his fader was deede had assiria and the Cyte Nynyue and named it after his name And made that Cyte Nyniue chyef of his kyngdom and enlarged the cyte gretely by thre iourneyes· For nemproth had biforehand founded that cy∣te and slowe also cham that heete zoroastes also kyng of battri∣a that wrote the seuen sciences in fourten pilers in seuen of bras¦se and seuen of brand tyle for to saue hem both ayenste fyre and water / but Nynus brent his bookes Ysidorus libro 8 Aristo¦tle of Zoroastes he wrote that he made twenty honderd thousand verses of wytccherafte and democritus made that c••aft more af∣terward in ypocras tyme Petrus 36 Of this nynus maw∣metrye began in this maner ¶Whan belus was dede his sonne nynus for to haue somme comfort of his sorow made an ymage of his fader and he dide that ymage so gret worship and reueren¦ce that he spared al euyl doers that fled to that ymage by ensā¦ple of this doyng many men made ymages to her lyef frendes. And so by ensample of belus mawmett come forth other maw∣mettis also of bel{us} name come forth the comune names of maw∣mettes in dyuerse langages and tonges For somme men calle her mawmett beel. somme Baal and som baalym. and somme gafe her mawmete a surname and cleped her name Belphegor and somme belesebub ¶Alexander in mytiloḡ ¶ Idola¦tria mametrye ¶Of the bryngyng forth of mametrye come wele nyghe the feynyng of Poetrye For whan Syrophanes of Egypte had an ymage of his sonne that was deede That y∣mage he cleped ydolum that is lykenesse and shappe for lyke∣nesse of sorowe whan he had made that ymage in mynde of his sonne that ymage was gretely worshipped of his seruauntes / It was refute and socoure to mysdoers as he had y ordeygned

¶And while he sought helpe and remedye of sorowe / he foun∣de seede and spryngyng of wel more sorowe / for the olde erroure in worship of mawmettes gan to sprede ¶Netheles the same maner doynge was. not ordeyned and comfermed of al men· Fo•• Phylosophers worshipped oo god and yaue hym many names for many manere doynges and worchynges / that he worcheth and lyueth for he yeueth lyf / felith for he yeueth felynge Iu∣piter that is helper For he helpeth / ¶ Also Plato in the booke callyd Philosophus sayth: that Poetes by cause

of wynnyng and of fauour peynted reasons science and myght that were graunted to the vse of lyuyng in many maner shap¦pes: and yaf to eueryche a propre name And so connyng of til¦lyng of feldes he cleped cereres: Connyng of tyllyng of vynes he called bachus: and acoūted foule dedes of men amonge goddes ¶Ysidorus eth̄ libro octauo They that paynyms cleped goddes they were men: And as they bare hem in her lyf better or wers: so they were worshipped after her deth / But by fals loore of fen¦des men that come afterwarde worshipped hem for goddes· that were first worshipped only for mynde / And than for to make it more solempne come feynynges of poetes ¶R Augustinus de ciuitate dei libro secundo capitulo vndecimo The poete with his lyppe speketh of thre maner of goddes: ¶For somme they clepe goddes as mars and Iupiter / Somme half goddes as hercules and Romulus: And somme vertuous men that men trowed that had somwhat of godhed as hector and achilles Of mame∣trye come many maner of euyl doyng ¶Suche is that / that Ie¦rom speketh vpon ysaye / 18: And seyth that the egypcians and wel nygh al men of the eeste landes worshipped fortune· that is god of happes / as they mene the ymage of fortune is y sette in a place that is wel knowen / and hath in his right hand an horne ful of mede al that sitteth aboute foundeth to taste of that horne the last day of nouembre / And yf they fynde than the horne ful it bodeth a good corne yere. And yf they fyndr it voyd or empty / than they make sorow ¶Crogus libro primo ¶ Whan nynus was deed his wyf Semyramys with her sonne nynus that heet nynyan also regned in this maner· ¶ The woman durst not be∣take the kyngdom to the yong child nowther she durst her self reg¦ne openly. Therfor she disguised her self in the childes lyche the moder for the sonne a woman in stede of the childe· For eyther had a smale voyce and mene of stature ¶Therfore they hidde her armes and her thyes with dyuerse helynges and hir heede with a cap· And for me shuld not say that she had ony thyng with newe maner clothynge· she hight that her peple shulde go clothed in the sam̄e araye. and yet the peple vse the same maner clothing Than this woman did many grete dedes and whan she had ouer come the enemye of al enemyes· than she knowleched what she was & how she had don than that doyng torned her to right greete worship for she ouercome ethiopia blew men lande & Inde also And atte last she desired her own sone and bade hym for to ligge

by hir / And he slowe her. whan he had regned two and fou•••••• yere But her sonne nynus helde him appayed with the trauai•• of his fader and moder· and was afterward seld y seye amonge men and lyued and wexe old among women ¶And his succes∣sours kynges that come aftir hym folowed the ensample of him and yaf answer to the peple by messagiers that shuld goo by∣twene R¶That maner doyng was vsed vnto kyng Sarda∣napalis tyme