Tabula

¶Anno dm̄ .lxxxiiij.

CLetus a martyr was pope .xi. yere This Cletus was a Romayn / & gretly he loued pylgrymages to sayntes sayenge it was more profyte to y^e helthe of mannes soule to visyte the place that saynt Peter was in / than for to fast two yere. He cursyd all tho men lettynge su∣che pylgrymages / or counsellers contra∣ry therto. At the last he was martryd by Damician the Emperour. ¶Titus so∣ne to Vespasianus was Emperour this tyme and regned thre yere. And he abo∣de styll at Ierusalem after the eleccyon of his fader and destroyed the cyte. And slewe there as the storye sayth with ba∣tayll and hungre .xi. hondred thousan∣de Iewes. And a hondred thousande he toke and solde .xxx. for a peny. By cau∣se they solde Cryste for .xxx. pens / and brought thens all thynge that was pre∣cyous / and put them in his hous at Ro∣me / whiche was called Templū pacis / But now is that place falle downe for the moost party / and all these grete Ie∣welles ben dystrybuted to certayne chir∣ches in Rome. ¶This Titus was so full of vertue that all men loued hym / soo ferforth / that they called hym the moost delectable of men. He was full ly¦berall to all men / in soo moche that he sayd often tymes / that there sholde noo man go from an Emperour with an he¦uy herte / but he sholde somwhat haue of his petycyon. He wolde be sory that daye in the whiche he had graunted no man

no benefyte. ¶Whan that he was deed. euery man that was in Rome wept for hym / as that they had loste theyr fader. ¶Domician brother to Titus regned after hym .xxiiij. yere and .v. monethes Fyrst he was easy / and afterwarde full vnresonable. For moche of the Senate was destroyed by his malyce / and also moche of his kynrede. He began the se∣conde persecucōn after Nero ayenst cry∣sten men / in the whiche persecucyon Io¦han the Euangelyst was exiled in to Pa¦thius after the Emperour had put hym in to a tonne of oyle brennynge & hurte hym not. So this man was not the fo∣lower of his fader Vespasian / ne his bro¦ther Titus / but rather lyke Nero & his kynrede. And for these wycked condicy∣ons he was slayne in his owne palays at Rome in the .xxvij. yere of his aege / ¶ Clemens a martyr was pope .ix. yere & he succeded Cletus. This Clemens fyrst of saynt Peter was ordeyned to be successour to hym. And for peryll he wol¦de Linus and Cletus sholde be popes a∣fore hym / leest that thrugh that ensam∣ple prelates sholde ordeyne vnder them who some euer they wolde. This man made the lyfe of martyrs to be wryten by regyons. And he made many bokes He ordeyned that a childe sholde be con∣fermed as soone as it myght / namely af¦ter it was crystened. And at the laste he was martred vnder Traian. ¶Nerua was Emperour after Domician oo ye∣re & two monethes. And whan he was chosen he meued the Senate to make a lawe / that thynge whiche Domician cō¦maunded to be kepte sholde be broken / By the whiche meane saynt Iohan the Euangelyst was losed out of his exyle / & suffred to come ayen to Ephase. This man dyde an other thynge ryght comen¦dable that he assyned so wyse a man as Traian was to gouerne the people af∣ter hym. ¶Nota. ¶Traian{us} His∣panicus was Emperour .xix. yere. This Traianus many man sayd. He was the best amonge all the Emperours / but in one thynge alone he was vicyous. In so moche as he for the loue of the fals god¦des was abowte to destroye the crysten fayth. Iugynge in hymselfe so moost to please god. Some men saye not by hym self but by other he pursewed the crysten fayth / and in the ende of his lyf he dyde but fewe to deth. And all his louynge I sette at nought. But at saynt Gregory meued with pyte wepynge / and prayed vnto our lorde for hym / that he wolde ha¦ue mercy vpon hym / & by his prayer ha∣ue hym out of helle / in to whiche place he was dampned. And now yf that he be saued or not / a grete alteracyon is a∣monge doctours. And to vs that wryte Cronycles / it is no parte of our charge to determyn. But all the eest parte of the worlde. Babylon. Selencia / the vtter partes of the Ynde. Germayne the se∣conde after Alexander he helde vnder. In all these thynges so pyteous and so mekely he guyded hym to euery man as a kyng. He was gentyll / and to no man vngentyll / the whiche is redde of fewe / All his dayes he lyued / that men sayd he was the moost worthy man in all his Empyre. And thought & sayd euer mo∣re / that no man was more vnworthy to be Emperour than he.