Prolicionycion [sic]

¶ Capitulum 29

UAlentinianus with his broder valent regned enleuen ye∣re· This was gentil and curtoys. For whan the hoost la∣boured to gyue hym a felowe of thempyre. he answerd and say¦de / ¶ O knyghtes it was youres to yeu•• me the kyngdome and now I haue receyued it· hit is myn to thynke on the comyn prouffyte. And made his broder felaw of thempyre ¶ He ouer∣come the saxons and the sarmates. his fader gracian•• was cal∣led funarius that is a roper· For he bare a roope that was for to selle / and fyue knyghtes myght not wreste the roope oute of his honde / And therfor he was worthy to be take to knyhthode In a tyme valentinianus wyf preysed the feyrnes of Iustina And therfor valentinianus wedded Iustina and yaue a lawe that euery man that wold shold wedde two wyues. In this emperours tyme the erthe quoke in al the worlde and the See aroose and passed the clyues and destroyed many cytees / After liberius damasus was rope nyneten yere this was a fair maker of metre· And wrote verses vpon tombes that he fonde of holy sayntes / And ordeyned also that by day▪ and by nyght psal¦mes shold be sayd in queor· and that one verse shold be sayde on one side and the other verse in that other side / And that gloria patri shold be sayde on eche psalmes ende / ¶And by comfort of this pope Ierom translated the byble oute of hebrew in to latin / & amēded also the psauter of the lxx interpretes that thēne was vsed for the moost part in al chirches: & that sauter was efte ape¦yred & he translated new agayne / & damasus the pope ordeyned that to be songe in the cyte of rome & in the chirches of fraūce & therfor the sauter is called the frenssh sauter psatelriū gallicanū

yet he made the thyrdde translacion of the sawter word forword That yere deyde seynt hillarye bisshop of peytow vnto the songe that the Aungel songe gloria in excelsis· he put to laudamus te / benedicimus te· Adoramus te / and soo forth ¶ Seynt dydimus of Alexandria that lost both his eyen after the fyfth yere of his age and herde ones redde in the chirche that word of the gospell What man maye not doo god may not doo ¶ Thenne he was soo besy aboute the lyght of his sowle that he had parfyght knowlech of seuen artes and was made doctor & made & expowned many bo¦kes by notaryes and wryters Seynt martin was made bisshop of turone the yere of his age lxj and was Bisshop there xxvj yere The grete basile bisshop of cesarea in capadocia is dede Among his other grete dedes of vertue he reconciled a yongling to god almyghty that had oblyged hym self to the deuyl for the loue of a wenche· and gate agayne the chartre of his oblygacion Also Ioseph a Iewe was connyngest of alle phisicians. And Basyle lengthed this Iosephs lyf one day and tourned hym to the fayth of holy chirche / And he made and instituted the rule of monkes and many other holy tretys ¶ Seynt Ambrose a man of the dignyte of consuls while he spak to the pepl̄e· he was made bisshop of melane / for the voys of a child that cryede that he shold so be ¶ Seynt patrik in this tyme was born / his fader hete calprun whiche was a preest and a dekens sone that heyte fo dun patrikes moder hete conches martyns suster of gallia that is fraunce / In his crystnyng he was called sucat / And seint germā called hym magonius / And celestinus the pope callyd hym Pa¦trik that is to saye fader of cyteseyns ¶ Valentinianus Augus¦tus was strongly meued agaynst the messagers of the sarma••es And deyde in a maner outbrekyng of his veynes / and is an euil that grekes clepe Apoplexia. That tyme in egypte were noble faders in her floures pastor pambo / and tweyne either hete macha¦rius Arsenius· Paphinisius Agatho moyses / Ioseph enagrius & theodorus. Pambo wold lerne no more of the sawter than one verse that he had herd er he had fulfylled that verse· This was the verse▪ Dixi custodiam vias meas vt non delin∣quam in lingua mea that is to saye· ¶I haue sayd I shal kepe my wayes that I trespace not in my tonge

Pambo sayde that vnnethe he fulfylled this verse in nyne and fourty yere ¶ The two Macharyes / one of Egypte that other of Allexandria were bothe noble men in abstynence·

& in loore / A woman that was with childe defamed falsely one of them and sayde that he hadde brought her with child / but she myght neuer be delyuerd of child / er she had tolde the trouth ¶Arsenius was a senatour of Rome and parfyght in the lan∣gages of latyn and of grue and made hym self a monk ¶ In a tyme he herde a voys that sayde to hym Arsenius flee fro men & kepe scylence and thou shalt be saued ¶ Also he ••are alwey a sudary in his bosome for to wype away the teeres that ranne oft fro his eyen ¶Therfor the heer of his eyen lyddes fyl al of for grete wepyng In the ester euen whan the sonne wente to res¦te / he torned his face toward the West and woke al that nyghte in his prayers vnto the tyme that he sawe the sonne aryse erly by the morowe. And thenne he was wery of wakynge and cal∣led to hym slepe and sayde / come forth euil seruaunt. And so he rested a lytell syttyng / for he wold saye that it were ynowgh for a monke that fyghteth ayenst temptacions for to sleepe one houre in the nyght and day ¶In a tyme his faders testament was brought to hym / in the which testament he was made his faders heyer / thenne he answerd and sayde that he was drede to fore his fader / how myght he thenne that shold dye make me his heyr that was dede afore ¶Also he wold not lyghtly mete ne speke glad¦ly with ony man. ne sende lettres and comynly he fledde theyr company and sayde that he myght not be at ones with god and with men· neyther he meued lyghtly questions of holy wryt / but of sterynges of the soule and temptacions. he wolde gladly spe∣ke and yet he was a noble clerke and connyng in questions of holy wrytte / therfore in a tyme he wente doune for to speke with an old man of egypte for to appose hym of thoughtes Thenne somme men seyden to hym how mayst thou Arsenius that a••t so connynge of loore ax•• for to lerne of this olde chorle I haue sayd he lerned both latyn and grue / but yet coude I neuer the / A / B / C / of this chorle / And while Arsenius dwellyd in the palays of rome. no man vsed better clothes than he / soo while he was a monke was none fowler couerd than he / he had a longe berde that henge to his myddel & he lyued in the older theodocius palays fourty yere after / & in wyldernes / lv yere / Paphinicius thabbot toke seculer clothyng & habyt & cōuerted a comyn womā that hete tharsis / he prayed thryes our lord that he wolde shewe hym to whom he was lyke to in erthe. thabbot pastor wold not see his moder in erthe for hym was l••uer to see her in heuen

thabbot Agatho bare a stone thre yere in his mouth for he wold lerne to be styl and kepe sylence. he wold no nyght slepe yf he had ony quarel ayenst ony man or ony man ayenst hym ¶ Thabbot Moyses was ones prayd for to come and deme a broder that had trespaced And he toke and bare a panyer ful of grauel on ••is bak and sayde / these be my synnes that renne after me / And I goo deme other mennes synnes and take none heede of myn owne ¶ The fader musius wente for to vysyte a broder that was seke / and made by his prayers the sonne stonde styl vnto the tyme he had doon al his offyce atte ful / Also ofte he blessyd grauel that was brought hym the whiche was sowe in feldes and the feldes bade the more corne and fruyte ¶ The Abbesse Sara was thyrten yere to geder inpugned and tempted of a fen¦de but she wolde not assente· Sara prayd not that the temptacion shold passe from her / but that god wolde yeue her grace to with∣stonde it ¶ Thenne the spyryt of fornicacion shewed hym to her sighte and sayde / Sara thou hast ouercome me. Naye sayde she I haue not ouercome the· but my lord Iesus that sa∣ueth hem / that trust on hym he hath ouercome the

Enemyes brought forth an arme and it was axed of Athana¦sius for what vse he hadde cut of that arme and he brought forth Arsenius that had bothe his armes and shewed hem bothe hoo••e and sounde. And axed of the other men / where they had that other arme that they shewed there / ¶Also his enemyes hyred a woman that sholde saye that she had ofte lodged Athanasius

R ¶ Thabbot Euarius macharius disciple wrote vitas pa¦trum in Egypte as genadius sayth in his booke de viris illus∣tribus / Valens with his broder sones gracianus and valentini∣anus was Emperour four yere / his broder hete valentinianus. Also this valens was crystned agayne of the Arrians / and poursiewed cristen men and yaue a lawe that monkes shold doo dedes of Armes or be beten with staues· And thenne were the monkes martred at Nitria in egypte. In a tyme the gothes sen∣te to this valens for to haue crysten Bisshops to teche hem the rightful byleue and he sente hem bisshops o the Arrians / And therfor alle the gothes were infecte and gleymed / And therfore by goddes rightful dome the knyghtes of Rome were ouercome by the gothes. And this valens was chaced oute of Antiochia and was wounded with an arow and fledde in to an hows & there was brente he and al his hows and had no buryels