Prolicionycion [sic]

¶ Capitulum 26

WHile constantyn dyde nobly and bare hym myghtly / and strongly the knyghtes of the pretory at Rome toke maxē∣cius herculius sone & callyd hym augustus / thenne galerius Au¦gust{us} sente seuer{us} that he had made cesar with al his hoost ayenst him to rome. seuer{us} besieged the cyte & was bytrayed by falshede of his owne knyghtes and fled to Rauenna & ther was slayn Herculius maxencius fader herde therof & brake oute / of his hu∣dels and wold be empepour. and dyde his best for to pryue max∣encius of myght and of power / therfor he & galerius comforted

dyoclisianus for to take 〈◊〉〈◊〉 dygnytees that he hadde y lefte. And he setted not therby but answerd and sayde / wold god that ye myght see wortes in myn honde in salon / Sikerly thēne wold ye not deme that I shold take this agayne ¶ Thenne herculius for stryf of knyghtes was openly sory and aferd· & wente in to fraunce for to reue byneme and take thempyre with treson from constantyn that had wedded his doughter· but he was bewreyed by the same doughter fausta constantinus wyf and fled to mar∣selle and was there slayne Thenne galerius 〈◊〉〈◊〉 licinius em¦perour at tarent the worst of all men in couetyse. sharpest in leche∣rye and moost enemy to lettred men / he called lettres comyn pes∣telence / And the meyne of the palays he called spadones that is to saye ghelded men. And also he called hem mowhthes and rat¦tes of the palays / Whan galierius had pursiewed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 greued men ten yere. thenne his brest roted withyn and by cause phisici∣ens myght not endure the stenche of hym / he slough of hem ful ofte / In a tyme a phisician sayd to hym th•••• this meschyef was goddes wratthe and wreche / Thenne he sente out maundementes and reconseyled cristen men that were exy••••d· and thenne he dey∣de After melchiad••s siluestre was pope four and twenty yere He crystned the grete constantyn 〈◊〉〈◊〉 clensed hym of his mesel¦rye in his crystnynge ¶Also he delyuerd the cyte of Rome of the pestelence of the dragon. by his prayer he reysed a dede boole to lyf. he ouercome the Iewes in disputision / he made the firste gre•••• counseylle at nycen / ther were four honderd bisshops and eyghten ¶ He had the names of poure men of wydowes of faderles and Moderles children wryten in a booke and fonde hem what them neded / he ordeyned to faste the wednesday fry∣day and saterday ¶ Also he ordeyned that the thyrsday shold be worshiped as the sonday / for that day cryst ordeyned the sacra¦ment of his body / And on a thursdaye he ascended vp in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 nene / And holy crysme and oyle is halowed on a thursday 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ¶Gir / p. Thenne constantyn in his seuenth yere wente toward a batayle ayenste maxencius and sawe in his slepe the signe of the crosse shynynge in heuene. as it were brennynge layte of fyre And angels stode beside and sayde / Constantyn· Thoycana∣ta. that is to saye by thi•• tokene thou shalt haue the vyctorye

¶ Thenne he awoke and made peynte the signe and token that he hadde seen in the baners and penons of his knyghtes /

¶ Atte laste Maxencius was ouercome atte brydge

pount milinum / And constantyn went to Rome and made peyn¦te the signe and tokene of the crosse in the right hondes of the y∣mages that the senatours had areysed in the worship of his triū¦phis and of his vyctory / and he made wryte vndernethe / this is the signe and tokene of that god of lyf that may not be ouerco∣me Gaufr and Alfrd Constantyn wente oute of brytayn to thempyre of Rome ¶ Thenne octauius duc of the Iewesses werryd in brytayne and toke the kyngdome ¶Constantyn her∣de therof and sente on trahern the came of his moder helene with thre legyons of knyghtes ayenst octauius / but hem byfell diuer¦se happes soo that in dyuerse tymes one had the maistrye / and efte that other An•• soo trahern was slayne by fraude and gyle And soo octauius regned vnto the tyme of gracianus & valen∣tinianus themperours Gir de p ¶After that maxenaus was ouercome constantyn was smeton with a stronge lepre or mesel∣rye ¶R As it is wreton in legenda sanctorum in siluestris lif

Somme suppose that constantyn was smeton with meselrye for wreche of persecucion and tarauntrye that he vsed poursiewed & greued cristen men· durynge that persecucion siluester amonge other fledde out of the cyte. But withoute ony doubte for what cause it euer were that he was smeten with meselrye / It is sothe that siluestre he led him of it / Gir vbi supra / By coūseyl of the se¦natours & of the bisshops of mysbyleuyd men were brought / iij / M· smal children that sholde haue be slayne and costantyn sholde haue ben wasshen in the warme bloode of the children for to hele hym of his lepre / whan the kynge sawe the moders of the chil∣deren wepe and make grete sorow· thenne he sayde / the dygnyte of thempyre cometh of the welle of myldenes For it is demed that he shold dyʒ that sleeth a childe in batayll ¶ De legenda sancti siluestri Thenne it were a c••uel dede for too do to our owne / that we be forboden for to doo the straungers / what prouffyte is it to ouercome straung•• men and be our self ouercome with cruelnes Hit is the vertue of strengthe for to ouercome straunge men· but but is the vertue of thewes for to ouercome vyces and synne In that bat••••l w•••• be strenger than they. but in this batayll we ben strenger than we oure self· Thenne late myldenes haue the maystrye in this ••••yng that we mowe the better haue the mays¦trye of our eaemyes For it is better to vs for to deye and sa∣ue the childrens lyf than to gete a greete cruel lyf by the dethe of Innocent children / ¶ And yet it is not certayne

that we shal saue our lyf / but it is certayne that yf it were soo saued it were a cruel lyf / thenne the next nyght after peter and paule appiered to hym and sayde. For thou were agrysed and a¦gast and sparedest to shede the children bloode take to. the coūseyl of heele and of sauacion / ¶ Sende after siluestre that hydeth hym in the mount sarapt and make hym come to the. and whan he was brought he shewed the kynge the ymages of thappostles peter and paule that had appiered to hym in his sleepe Thenne he fasted eyghte dayes and made hym cathecuminus And was crystned atte laste and knowleched that he had seen crist ¶ Treuisa / Cathecuminus is he that lerneth the fayth of holy chirche and is in wylle to be crystned R ¶ But Ambrose & Ierome in a cronyque tellen that constantyn abode with his bap¦teme to his last dayes that he myght be crrystned in Iordane. ¶Thenne whan constantyn was crystned / he made the prisons to be opened & lete the prysoners goo oute And temples and mawmettes were destroyed / And chirche dores opened olde chir¦ches amended and newe chirches buylded-And he graunted to chirches fredome and pryueleges. and ordeyned that the bis∣shop of Rome shold be hyest of al bisshopes and yaue the tenthe deele of al his possession to chirches / but atte the reparaylynge of s••int peters chirch he wente with a mattok and opened the fyrst erthe and bare cleye to the werke on his sholders / ¶ Giraldus vbi supra From that tyme forwarde by cause of the grete Ry∣chesse that the chirch of Rome had it was made the more seculer And had more seculer besynes than spirituel deuocion / And mo∣re pompe and boost outward than holynesse within forth as it is supposed Therfor it is wreton that whan constantyn hadde ma¦de that yefte to the ch••rches. the olde enemy cryed openly in tha∣yer· This day venym is heled and shedde in holy chirche Ther¦fore Ierome in vitas patrum seyth· Syth that holy chirche encre¦aced in possessions / it is decreced in vertues ¶ Also themperour in the palays laterane bylded a chirche in th•• worship of seynt Iohn and made therinne a fonte stone of a maner stone that he¦te porphiriticus and arayed it within with siluer ¶And in the myddel therof was a pyler that bare a vy••l of gold with baw¦me brenning alwey ¶In legenda siluestri ¶Siluester halowed this chirche the ix day of nouembre ¶That day was the ymage of our sanyoury peynted on the wal by goddes oune werk and by no mannes dede. that ymage was s••en of al men / And is there

yet vnto this tyme Siluestre ordeyned to arere in alle chirches auters of stone but in that chirche he stāblysshed an auter of tre that was therinne afore ¶ Men saye that peter & his successours songe masses vpon that auter For holy chirch was soo strong∣ly poursued to that tyme / y^t the bisshop had no certayn abydynge in the cyte of Rome / but they songe masses in holowe caues and dennes where they myghte beste vpon holow auter of tree whiche was born aboute Helene was in brytayne and herde how her sonne spedde and sente hym lettres and praysed hym moche by cause he hadde forsake mawmetrye. but she praysed hym not in that he worshiped and byleued in a man that was nayled to the crosse· themperour wrote ageyne to his moder that she shold brynge maystres of Iewes that the sooth myght be knowen by disputacion ¶Thenne helene brought forth seuen score wysemen of Iewes and syluester come ayenst hem ¶And two wysemen that were no Iewes ne crysten men were ordeyned by comyn assent for to deme the sothe / Thenne the Iewes were ouercome· And after that they had longe disputed one of the Iewes spa¦ke certayne wordes in a wylde booles eere. and the boole dyed anone: thenne anone men repreued siluestre and he sayde it is not goddes name that he had nempned / For god sleeth and yeueth lyf as it is wreton / I shal slee and I shal make thynges lyue and be a lyue. But this hath named the deuyls name that maye not but slee· & yet not ••••at by suffraunce of god / For lyons and wylde beestes maye slee. but they maye not make thynges that they slee to lyue ag••••ne Thenne yf he wole that I byleue on hym late hym areyse the boole fro deth to lyf that he hath slayne And by cause he myght not areyse the boole that he hadde slayne the Iewes promysed that they w••••d byleue in criste yf siluestre myght areyse the boole from deth to lyf / Then̄e by the praiers of siluestre the boole was reysed from deth to lyf / and helene the que and the Iewes and the Iugges byleueden al in crist / thenne constantyn sente his moder helene to Ierusalem for to bryng thēs the •• holy crosse / Ambrose sayth that this helene was an hosteler at Treuere in Fraunce and constantinus cezar wedded her for her beaute / but the storye of Brytons telleth that she 〈◊〉〈◊〉 coelus doughter kyng of brytayne as it is sayde to fore honde ¶ This helene cam to Ierusalem and fonde there the holy crosse and de∣parted it and lefte one part in Ierusalem and brought to her so¦ne that other deele and the foure nayles and she dyde do▪ putte

tweyne of them in her sones brydel And the thirdde in an yma¦ge of the rode / And she threwe the fourth nayl in to the see adri∣aticus that was to fore honde a sw••lo••••ful peryllous to seyle by And so syth that tyme the fest of inuencion of the hooly crosse hath ben holden· thenne themperour wente from Rome to bysan∣us and callyd after his owne name constantinople and made fayr that cyte feir howses and chirches and with d••gnyte of patri¦arke and brought theder the noblest of Rome Gir vbi supra

In the begynnyng of holy chirche were but thre patriarkes as it were in stede of Abraham. Ysaac and Iacob. One was at an¦tiochia in asia Another was in Allexandria in Affryca / And the thyrdde was at Rome in europa / these thre peter halowed. by his owne sittynge / In tweyne th••rof he was Bisshop hym self / But his disciple marcus helde the thyrdde at Al••••••ndria in Pe¦ters name / After 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the synodus nycena hadde yeuen that pry¦uelege to the Bisshop of Rome that he sholde be aboue al other bisshops as them perour is aboue all kynges· And that he sholde be callyd pope as the chyef fader / And the right of the patriarke was torned to constantinople as it were to the second Rome The oth••r se••s of patriarkes were chaunged· the see of antiochia to Ierusalem And the see of Alexandria to Aqu••••ia And it is supposed that the cause therof was for wycked cristen men shold be take in to the lond of mysbyleuyd men. and soo it sholde folo¦we that they shold lese the hooly places ¶ Eusebius in historia ecclesiastica libro decimo Constantynus dyde to god almygh∣tyes p••••estes grete reuerence and worshipe ¶ Therfor whan the bisshops were assembled in the Synode of nycena by commaun∣dement of constantyn and by counseylle of siluestre for to decla∣re the fayth of holy chirche ¶ Many of hem playned eche vpon other and put vp bylles to themperour for he shold do hem right Themperour sawe that holy chirche for the whiche the bisshoppis were comen myght lyghtly be l••tte by suche playntes & strif Therfore he set••e hem a certayne day after the sinode and counseil for to make an ende of al thylke causes and playntes· But he brente priuely alle thylke bylles of hem that made playntes & sayde ¶God hath ordeyned yow as it were goddes to be your owne I••gges. ¶Therfore I holde that it were vnsittynge that we that sholde be demed of you shold deme you that ben goddes But in holy chirche among you self trete ye of youre errours &

defawtes soo that no thyng be knowen outward that is v••seme¦ly to your holynes And yf ye wyl nedes stryue Abyde ye the dome of god almyghty as the psalme sayth / God stode in the si¦nagoga of goddes Certaynly yf I saw•• ony of your ordre sin¦ne with a woman. I wolde couere hym with my· mantel by cau¦se that for none men sholde haue occasion to speke euil of your relygyon ¶ Therfor bretheren trete ye more of the fayth of holy chirche / for therfo•• ye ben comen

And whan this was sayde he threwe the billes in to the fyre & brente· hem That yere saynt martin was y bore And thenne the twellyfth yere he was made cathecuminus that is he that ler¦neth the fayth of holy chirche· / ¶ In the xvj yere he was made knyght / And the xviij yere he was made y crystned. And was knyght after that two yere vnder Iuliānus / ¶ In the synode of nycena were thre honderd and eyghten bisshops ¶ That sino∣de was made sixtene dayes to fore the moneth of Iuill in the cy¦te of nycene in bythinia And it was made ayenst the Arrians / fotmos / and the sabellians Seynt nycholas was at that syno¦de / tho it was ordeyned that the fastyng of the lente that tho fo•• hond dured fro the six••h day of Ianyuer to the xv day of feue¦rer sholde bygynne and dure as it is nowe vsed / And that for thre causes / the fyrste cause for our fastynge sholde be coupled to the tyme of crystes passion: the seconde for we sholde in thende of oure fastynge ••esseyue crystes body in clene lyf The thyrdde for oure lord shold fynde vs fastyng ¶ Hyderto Eusebius and pamphilius wryten the storye ecclesias••ica which is callyd histori¦a tripertita Thenne Ierome wryteth forth that storye vnto the yonge theodosius tyme / And th••••••erus the bisshop wryteth that story al oute ¶Arnobius re••horicus was flouryng this tyme in Affrica. he was dryuen to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 fayth of holy chirche as it were by sueuenes and the bisshop of the place wolde not receyue him er he had made cleere bookes of the fayth and delyuere them as for plegge of his trewe fayth ¶ Iuuencus the preest wrote the gospels to the chirche of Rome in verses of six feete / After siluester marcus was pope viij monethes ¶He ordeyned the bisshop hostiensis shold vse a palle and also sacre the pope To this marcus Athanasius bisshop of Alexandria and other bisshopes of egypte w••iten for seuenty chapitres that were pub∣lisshed in the synode of nycena ¶In that epystle Athanasius knowleched that his bookes shold be brente of the heretick••

Arrians / After marcus Iulius was pope sixten yere. he was ex¦yled in the second constantin{us} tyme· the bones of seynt Andrew thappostle and of seynt luke theuangelyste were translated in to constantinople the grete constantyn deyde at Nychomedia. And Ierom was borne. Ierome in historia tripertita Seyth that con¦stantin in his last dayes was crystned agayne of one eusebius bisshop of nychomedia that was of the Arrians ¶And soo Constantyn fylle in to the euil loore of the arrians / But that is vnderstanden of the second constantyn / this constantines sone namely for seynt gregory in his Regyster wryteth to maurice the emperour and callyth constantyn the emperour of good mynde And in the story tripertita his ••nde is approued And Ambrose vpon the fourten salme sayth that he was a man of grete meryte and mede· And alowed afore god / And ysidre in his cronyke sayth that he made a gracious ende· And also the grekes maketh a feste of hym the enleuenth day of may