To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
MVlier, is a word vsed in our law, but how aptly I cannot well learn: For according to the proper si∣gnification, Mulier is a de∣filed woman, like as it is vsed by Vlpianus in a cer∣taine place after this sort. If I thought that I had bought a Virgin when she was a defyled woman, the bargaine was not good. Hereby you may sée, that Mulier is a woman y• hath had the company of a man.
But to leaue the right sig∣nification, Mulier is ta∣ken in our law for one that is lawfully begotten and borne: and is alwaies vsed in comparison with a ba∣stard, onely to shew a diffe∣rence betwéene them, as thus for example. A man hath a sonne of a woman before marriage, that is called a bastarde, and vn∣lawfull. And after he mar∣rieth, the Mother of the bastard, and they haue an∣other sonne, this seconde sonne is called Mulier, that is to say lawfull, and shall bée heire to his father: but that other cannot bée heire to anie man, because it is not knowen nor certeine in the iudgemēt of the law, who was his father, and for that cause is said to bée no mās sonne, or the sonne of the people, and so with∣out father, according to these old verses.
To whom the people fa∣ther is, to him is father none and all.
To whom the people fa∣ther is, well fatherlesse we may him call.
And alwayes you shall
finde this addition to them (Bastard eldest, & mulier yongest) when they be cō∣pared together.