Prolicionycion [sic]

¶Capitulum Octauum

CLaudius the ••ame of gayus and of drusus whan Gayus was slayne was made emperour by sleyhte and helpe of he¦rode Agrippa and bygan to regne in lammesse moneth and reg¦ned as it were fyften yere The dedes of this be s••lde in mynde but that he made the Bryto••s subget for he gaue hym alway to mete and drynke and lechery oute of mesure And cast hym to make a lawe to excuse all that behynde let go a blaste / for somty¦me he spared it to moch and fel in grete peryll ¶ Iosephus libro visesimo This claudius had thre wyues / the firste hete pet••na & he gate on her a doughter that hete Antompde / petina deyd and he wedded messalina / ¶ And gate on her a sone that he¦te britannicus and a doughter that heet octauia / his / thyrd wyf hete Agrippa germanicus doughter and she had a sone that heete nero Claudius wedded his doughter octauia to this nero and for loue that Claudius had to this Agrippina / he slewe hi•• wif messalina and whan she was slayn claudius in triclinio sittyng at mete vsed for to speke as though he were out of mynde & axed why his lady messelina wolde not come ¶Agrippina drad leste B••tannicus the sone of messalina shold regne after his fader And therfor she poysened claudius for her sonne nero shold be Emperour· And nero quyt his moder that triacle whan he was Emperour· For he poysoned brytannicus and slewe his moder & his owne wyf octauia R Of the forseyd messalina speketh iu¦uenalis satiricus and sayth that ••he was so lecherous that firste she dyde hir pryuely to the pryue harlattes place & / afterward she put her forth openly & went thens not fulfylde of the maner doynge but wery of trauaylle & also she exyted noble wyues to the same maner of doyng Beda libro primo capitulo quarto That yere was the grete honger in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that Agabus the pro∣phete had prophecyed in Actibus Apostolorum ¶Petrus 81

While this hongre was stronge in euery place of Siria and in the Iewry moost / helene the quene of adyabenes come to Ieru∣salem and bought corn al aboute for to susteyne nedy cristen mē at Ierusalem / and atte las•• she made two vnryels and heete bu∣rye therinne her body and her sonnes bodye the buryels beene yet seen / therfor many ben disseyued and trowith that there is the buryels of helene / constantyns moder· for mē rede of her that she come to Ierusalem and highte the cyte in many thynges Also that yere powle come to Ierusalem to talke with peter of the gospel. ¶Also that yere the fyftene day of Iuyll the Apos∣tles were departed in to al the world aboute ¶ Than peter come to rome & sente marcial to lymonica & appollinaris to rauen and marcus in to egypte This marcus of leuyes kynde was peters sone by baptym and his disciple and come to Rome with peter Ther atte prayer of cristen men he wrote the gospel that peter a∣lowed and approued and toke it to be rudde in chirches ¶Thanne marcus was sente in to Aquileya there he conuerted moche folke Atte last he was sente to Alexandria in Egypte and there he was doo to dethe / thanne aboute the yere of our lord iiij C thre score & seuen he was translated & brought frō alex∣andria in to venys / this kyt of his thōbe somtyme leste he shold be made preest other bisshop but goddis ordenaūce had the mays¦try and auctoryte of peter that made him bisshop of Allexandria Beda libro primo capitulo quinto ¶ Kyng guiderius regned amonge the brytons and warned the romayns trybute / therfor claudius cesar come and conquered brytayne as it were without bataylle and grete noyse of grutchyng was arered in brytayn as it semeth for her men that fled were not restored ageyne He come in to an Ilond there Iulius cesar durste neuer come nother other man after hym Also the ylondes orchades that ben beyonde brytayn in the see of occean / he made subget to the empy¦re of Rome and torned agayne to Rome the sixth moneth after that he wente oute and gaue his sone that name brytannicus Lelius hamo a leder of claudius slewe kynge guyderius at por¦chestre And this hamo deyde afore hamoes hauen that was soo called by his name that is now hampton Than claudius after dyuerse happes of batayll toke Aruiragus guiderius broder to his grace and brought his doughter genuyssa from Rome and maryed her to kynge Aruiragus And for he wold make the pla¦ce of the mariage solempne he callyd it claudyocestria by his own

name ¶R Claudyocestra hete caertleon in brytyssh speche that is claudius cyte / But after that it was callyd glocestre and glo¦uernia also And had that name of the duc of demecia that hete glora Me sayth that claudius cesar gate hym there at gloucestre Than claudius sente legyons of knyghtes in to Irlond· But he torned ageyne to Rome and aruiragus withdrowe hym and wold not be vnder the romaynes ¶ Therfor vaspasianus a duc of Rome was sente and made the kynge of the kyngdome and the yle of wyghte that is nexte to brytayn in the south syde sub∣get to thempyre of Rome Herodes Agrippa whan he had gre∣ued somme of the holy chirche· he come in to cesarea for to make pleyes in worship of cesar And there to lete him self be callyd god / therfor an Angel smote hym and his body swal and he sa∣yd to his frendes / Lo I that was callyd god / now I am right fully bounden with bondes of dethe and so he dyed Peter ca 60 This herodes Agrippa was Aristobolus sone / Aristobolus was the sone of the grete herodes ascolonita & his suster was herodias her oldest eam•• herodes Antipas the forsayd Aristobolus broder This herodes agrippa was a man of grete herte a grete w••rriour and fre of gyftes but he was pour ¶He come to Rome while Tiberius cesar liuede for to geete another tetrarchia that is an other fourth deele / of the kyngdome of Iewes and hadde grete frendship of drusus tiberius cesars sonne and obleged hym self for moche dette for to wynne the wyll of the Romayns ¶But drusus was hastly dede and therfor tiberius cesar was sory that he dide al drusus seruauntes oute of his presence leste drusus dethe come to his mynde by syghte of his seruauntes ¶ Therfore hi•• happyd that herodes Agrippa wente ageyne to the Iewry / as it were a man withoute comforte and for shame and for nede and for meschyef he closed hym self in a toure that he myghte dye for hongre but at prayer of his suster herodyas he was releued by herodes Antippa But herodes antippa repreued hym in a ty∣me for the good that he had doo hym / and herodes agrippa hadde indignacion therof and wente to tiberius cesar and gate grace of hym atte laste and leefte with gayus Germanicus sone / In a tyme he sate with gayus in his chaar and wyssched that tibe¦rius the oldman and vnnesy were dede that gayus myghte be emperour The charyoter herde that and warned the emperour And therfor Agrippa was prysoned six monethes vnto the deth of tiberius cesar. While this Agrippa was in prisonne one of his

prysonners that was kunnynge in dyuynynge warned hym· that he sholde be sone delyuerd oute of prysonne and be a kyng soo that his frendes sholde haue enuye to his welthe. this dyuy∣nour dyuyned soo while he sawe an owle sitte vpon the tree that Agrippa lened to And sayd that as sone as he sawe efte such a maner byrde sitte aboue hym he shold dye the fyfthe day after / ¶Whan tiberius was dede gayus delyuerd Agrippa and gaue him two tetrarchyes of philip and of lisania and crowned and called hym kynge / ¶ Therfor his suster herodyas was wrothe & had grete indignacion for her husbonde herodes Antippas that was retrarcha had not gete hym the nāme of kynge and she ex¦cited her husbond herodes Antippa that he shold goo to gayus & beye the name of a kynge but gayus was warned afore honde by lettres of Agrippa and put herodes to lugduns in fraunce And for herodyas was Agrippaes suster / she had choes where she wolde goo agayne other folow her husbond / And she chees to be exyled with her husbonde and said that she wolde not leue her husbonde in his meschyef that she had folowed in his bonechefe And soo the thyrd tetrarchia was take from herodes Antippa and geue to herodes agripp•• ¶ Atte last gayus was slayne whan there was stryf bytwene the senatours and knyghtes & the peple of Rome· For the senatours drad the cruelte of the empe¦rour and the disauauntage of the comynte. And the peple dradde the couetyse of the consuls / thanne by sleyght of Agrippa clau∣dius was made emperour and anone he gaue herodes agrippa the fourth tetrarchia that is Iudea ¶And so herodes agrippa was made grete and wente agayne in to Iewry ¶ And afterwarde there he slowe Iames and prysonned peter Than he made pla¦yes at cesarea as it is sayd afore hande and swal and was ete with wormes and deyde / And lefte after hym two other lygna∣ges and an halfe beyonde flume Iordan his sone herodes agrip¦pa was not callid herodes but only agrippa ¶ To hym cristen men fled afterward oute of Iewry whan the cyte sholde be ta∣ke and destroyed / Seynt mary our lordes moder deyd the yrre of her age thre score and thre for in the byrth of her sone she was fourtene yere olde and leued with her sone thre and thyrtty yere Afterward sixtene yere as somme men wol mene and so she was take hennes whan she was sixty wynter olde and more / for men say that the apostles prechyd after crist in the Iewry and in the countreyes aboute ful twelue yere. ¶ Philip the apostel was

nayled to the cros in the cyte Iherapolis the yere of his age thre score and eyghten· Lasarus the first bisshop of cipris deyde in his second deth and had four and twenty yere bytwene his two dethis Felix procurator of the Iewry was sente by claudi{us} afore this felix / powle was accused and appeled for his offence to the emperour / that tyme were many fals prophetes Egesip∣pus libro secundo Also that tyme were many shrewyd swerd men in Ierusalem and were medled amonge the peple and sle¦we many men so subtily & so pryuely that no man coude them aspye / soo the drede of them that liued was more greuous / than the meschief of them that were dede ¶Therfor many men wente in to wildernesse for to haue refute and socour ¶ Claudius died at Rome in his owne palis. the yere of his age thre score and four as it were in the moneth of marche for his wyfe Agrippina slewe hym with venym for to put of his sone brytannicus and to make her owne sonne Nero emperour