Here begynneth the table of the rubryshys of the boke of the fayt of armes and of chyualrye whiche sayd boke is departyd in to foure partyes ...

¶Whether a gentylman prysoner of good werre ought ra¦ther deye than to be false of hys othe Capytulo / xxiiij /

I suppose master that a knyght or a man of armes be wythyn the lordys pryson or of som other of the tow∣ne / but so grete a rygoure is made to hym / that men telle & afferme to hym for certeyne / that yf he wythin certeyn espace

of tyme haue not doon his raunson / he shal be slayne / wher∣fore he requyreth for goddis loue and for pyte that men wil late him goo in to his coūtrey for to gete his raūson & that without any fawte he wil come ayen within a certeyn day / And shortly to saye men gyue hym leue to goo vpon hys othe made and taken of hym vpon the holy gospell of oure lorde / by whyche he swereth that for to deye he shall not leue but that he shall come ayen within the day that he hathe pro¦mysed / and so it happeth that it is Impossyble to hym for to gete hys raunson / now is to be knowen whether he ought to tourne ageyne for to presente hym self to the dethe why¦che is promysed to him / for namely it is wryton in the roma¦yn histories that the noble romayns conquerours dyde som tyme soo that rather wolde expose hem self to the dethe than to breke the othe of pryson / & yf they that were paynemys & of euyl byleue that swered wolde leuer deie than for to forswere them / It is thēne to byleue that bettre ought the crysten men to kepe theire othes made vpon the holy gospel of almighty god than they / fayre loue thou saist wel / & yet many moo rai¦sons to thy propos thou myght saie / but to y^e trouthe of the dede ben ouer many that myght excuse man in suche a cas what that som doctoures wil holde y^t a man shulde rather be willing for to deye / than for to forswere the name of god the whiche thus is true in som cas / but as to the same whiche is parforced & vyolently made for to saue his owne lyfe •• it is not determyned y^t it were the best / & wat he is holden therto I shall say the reasons / I telle the that after the ryght wryten an othe that ayenst wele and vtylyte and namely ayenst good condycyons made / is not to be kept / And what that it is evyll to forsuere hym self / It is yet worse to kepe suche an othe / ¶Soo ought to be chosen of thees two

euyll the best / lyke as a man shalbe sworne vpon the gospel or vpon the holy body of oure lorde that he shal slee a man or ellis shal do som other gret euyll / it is noo dowte but that moche more werse he shulde doo for to slee a man or to sette a house on a fyire or som other grete euyll / than he shulde doo in suche a cas for to forswere himself / what though he dede dedly sinne at the fyrst whan he dede swere / for thinges that be vnraisonable he ought not to be sworne / now it is so that noon ought to thīke the contrary / that noo man after the la¦we is not master of his body for to putte hit to be slayne or his limes to be cut asondre nomore / than of an another body for yf he slewe himself / the iustice wil punyshe the body & att a gybet shal hange hit shamefully / also yf he dede cut hys ly∣mes he shulde also be punished by the iustice as another had doon hit / wherfore I telle y^t yet ayen that it is not in him for to binde himself by suche manere of wise / nor the othe bindeth him not for it is of noo value / & more I telle the / It is of right writon that yf a man may kepe another from deth / & he doth it not / we saye that he hathe killed him / he thēne tres¦passeth not / yf he doo kepe for hym self that right whiche he ought to kepe for another / that is to wit to eschewe his dethe & this is as for to excuse the extremytee of the thīge / & to sup¦plie that whiche he coude not amende touching the payemēt of his raūson / But for al this I telle the not / but that he is holden to make his raunson assoone as he may / and to put∣te hym self in peyne and deuoyre for to acquytte hym self /