The original [and] sprynge of all sectes [and] orders by whome, wha or were they beganne. Translated out of hye Dutch in Englysh.

Fourtene fay∣thes or sectes of Christendome onely, besyde all other straunge orders, and faythes.

i. The secte, order and fayth of the Latines or Romanes, that is, the Byshops of Rome.

THe fyrst & princypall of al Roma∣ne Christē is y^e B. of Ro. w^t al his mēbres & adherentes, wherfore he wyll be called heade of y^t church, and vseth the Latine tunge. This fayth or secte is torne in many thousandes within it selfe, & hys kyngdome parted many wayes. Under this head are gathered in y^e vnite of his sprete al y^e aforesayd sectes. Theyr faith & vse is metely well knowen vnto vs, seyng we haue gone to scoole vnder hym, & haue bē rocked & lulled in his ceremonies. This

manyheaded fayth (I saye) hath noryshed & brought forth all these doughters. Surely ther shalbe lytel lacke also in other faythes, seynge this onely fayth hath so many dough¦ters disagreynge within themselues. This fayth hath a great deale of Europa tyll the weste, & compasseth & reacheth to the Easte vntyll Hungary: (Bohemy or Beme is de∣cyuered frō them.) Towarde the South vn¦tyll Italy, Sicily & Naples: Towarde the West vntyll Portingale, Spayne, Fraūce, and low Bermany. These haue many king¦domes belongynge to theyr fayth, as name∣ly: The kynge of Castyle, Arragony, Por∣tingale, Nauerne, all these are in Spayne. Item Fraunce, Sicily, Naples, Hungary, Pole, Scotlande, Denmarke, Sueden, Nor¦waye, Sclauony. &c. with many other Du∣kes, Coūties, Marquisses & other, Uenice, y^e Ile Cipres. &c. Al these be vnder y^e iurisdic¦tion of y^e B. of Ro. with the Emperour also, that duely ought to be a Germane.

ii. Greci, the fayth, order and secte of the Grekes.

THer is another sorte of Christians in the Easte, called Greci, that is Gre∣kes: They haue had theyr Byshoppe

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MArouini holde in many poyntes w^t the Iacobites, yet is ther some diffe¦rence. Theyr speche is Arabysh. They dwel by and aboute the hyl Libanus. They are honest, but warrefaryng people, which are ofte assaulted of the Saracenes.

vi. Nestorini.

THese also are seuerall Christians, whiche are so taught and informed of Nestorinus the heretike. This Nestorinus was a Byshop of Constantino¦ple, & sayd ther were. ii. persones in Christ, the one the Godheade, the other the man∣hode: and sayd that Mary shulde not be cal∣led the mother of God, but of the māhode, & bryngeresse forth of Christ the man, or af¦ter y^e māhode only. These consecrate the sa¦crament in leuended bread, and vse y^t Chal∣deysh spech. They dwell in Tartary, and in greate India are also many of them.

Theyr borders conteyne asmuche in com∣passe, as Dutchlande and Italy, wherin they all haue this fayth, and holde with Ne¦storinus.

vii. The Moronites.

THese Christians haue theyr sprynge and begynnynge of one Moron an heretike. They graunt onely one vn¦derstandynge, worke, kynde, nature & wyll in Christe. These dwell by Libia in the pro¦uince of Phenicia, a great multitude, war∣farynge men, quick with bowes & arowes & good archers. I beleue they be the same that aboue are called Morouini. They vse after the maner of the Latines bels, byshops or∣namentes, cope, rynge, myter, crosyer. &c.

Theyr scripture is Caldeysh, but theyr na∣tyfe speche is Arabysh. They haue ben vn∣der the B. of Rome, vntyll the tyme of In∣nocentius the. iii. for than was theyr Patri¦arke in a coūcell at Rome, but afterwarde whan he was at Cōstantinople, in a coūcell that he helde, he fel frō the Romane church, he fel therto & from it agayne: But nowe do they stāde stedfastly vpō theyr own brayne.

viii. The Armenians of y^e greater Armenia.

ARmeni are Christiās in greater Ar∣menia dwellyng by Antiochia, which cc. yeare agone were subdued of the Turkysh Emperoure & made tributary to hym. These Christiās differ muche frō the

Romanes. They kepe no feaste or holydaye saue only the Sondaye. They faste not on Easter euen, they knowe nothynge of the Newyeare, Candelmasse & such lyke dayes. They saye that Christ rose on Easter 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at euensonge tyde. They eate flesh euery frydaye betwene Easter and Wytsontyde. Neuerthelesse they kepe and fast lent tho∣rowout, and that so straytly, that on wednis¦dayes and frydayes they nother eate fysh, flesh nor oyle, nor yet drynke wyne, coūtyng it more synne to vse wyne on these dayes, thā yf they stayned thēselues with goynge into an vnhonest house. Thre dayes in the weke do they absteyne from all maner of meate, but two dayes they eate once. On y^e Tewsdaye and Sondaye make they mery. They haue no masse all Lente, saue onlye on Satyrdayes and Sondayes. Nother say they masse on ony frydaye of the whole yeare: for they wyll not offer on that daye that the oblacion was made. They housie yonge chylderen of two moneths & al other without excepcion. They mixe no water wyth wyne at theyr masse. They playe the Iewes wyth theyr vnclenly beastes, as hares, crowes and suche other beastes.

They consecrate wyth wooden and glassy chalices, some wyth patine, some wythout ony massynge apparrel, some haue nomore but a cope on. Usury and Simony are com∣munely vsed amonge them both prestes & laye people, euen as the Georgians do, w^t whome they are alwaye at variaunce, and ech part counteth y^e other heretikes. Theyr prestes haue maryed wyues, but after hyr deceasse they renew not matrimony. They geue a man power to put frome hym hys wyfe that breaketh wedloke, and to take a∣nother. They vtterly denye purgatory, and saye ther are two natures in Christe. They shew the Georgians to erre in. xxx. artikles from the true fayth of Christe. Theyr pre∣stes are lusty, and ful, more than the laymē, and vse nigromancy for the moost parte.

They haue theyr owne spech and language wherin they execute all theyr Gods seruice preachynge and syngynge, so that both men and women do vnderstande them. Theyr chefe or heade byshop is called Catholicon, whome they worshyp reuerently. Some say they eate flesh all the yeare thorow.

ix. The Surian order, or

Samaritan fayth.

IN Syria or Assyria is the heade cytie Sur, whiche hath a sundery fayth.

They vse in theyr masse and scriptur the greke tunge, but els, the Saracēs, theyr natyfe langage. They haue a byshop, whose cōstitucions they obey in all thynges. They consecrate with leuended breade, wherein they holde wyth the Grekes agaynst the Ro¦manes. Some Christians dwellynge in Ie∣wry aboute Ierusalem, called Samaritani do hold with these, the which were cōuerted fyrst in the Apostles tyme. They differ frō y^e churche of Rome in many artikles, which what tyme they were obedient to y^e churh of Rome, they obserued: but now they are ••ecyuered and parted from it.

x. The Mosarabites, or A∣rabysh Christians

THys secte dwelled somtyme in great nombre in Aphrica and Spayne, but now are there but a fewe. They kepe the vse of the Christians in Aphrica, nearehande in all poyntes. They say masse in latine, they obey y^e churche of Rome they cōsecrate with vnleuended breade, yet vary

they in many thynges from the Romanes. The daye is diuided wyth them in. xxiiii. houres, and so many collets, Psalmes or ser¦uices haue, they to euery houre a seuerall, but not after y^e latine fashion. That the La∣tines saye in the begynnynge that do they saye in the ende. The sacrament of altare do some diuide in. vii. or. x. peces. They are a very deuoute people. They mary none without they be of theyr nacion and fayth. Yf a man dye, y^e woman marieth not agayn but remayneth in chastite & wedowheade.

xi. The Moscouites and whyte Russes fayth.

MOscouites is a naciō in Asia whose lande is called Moscouia. Theyr kynge and gyde that now is, is cal∣led Basilius, a quicke, victorious and for∣tunate man of warre. Which was in y^e sege with the Turkysh Emperoure before Ui∣enne in Eastenrich. anno. M. D. xxix He hath aboute a. xx. contryes vnder hym, ac∣cordyng as he auaunceth hym in hys tytle. Thys kynge with hys subiectes wyl be cal∣led a good Christian: he boasteth hym to be of saynt Paules fayth, whiche shulde haue prescribed them theyr fayth, lawe and ordi∣naunce,

and to kepe and retayne thys vntyll hys returnynge. In thys lande (as in many other partyes of Grece) do the wyues wear alway a shewsole vpon theyr heades, but y^e poore weare thē of cloth & the rych of gold & beluet, to signifye theyr subiection and obe¦dience due to the man, so that she is content so to submitte herselfe as thoughe the man shulde go vpon hyr heade, and knowledge hym for hyr Lorde. Thys fayth vse the whyt Russes also.

xii. The fayth of the Bemes or order of the Hussites.

THough the Bemes haue ben vnder the B. of Romes iurisdiction and acco∣stumed wyth hys lawes and fayth, yet are they conuerted and seduced by Ihon Husse that was burnt in the councell of Constaunce. anno. M. cccc. xvi. so that they are deciuered and fallen from the sye Rome. They geue the sacramente of the altare vnto theyr laymē vnder both kyn¦des, agaynste the commaundement of the B. of Rome: yee and vnshryuen also. But in other thynges do they cleue to the Byshop of Rome: for they nother do eate

flesh on wednisdayes, nor frydayes, they syng, hepe holy dayes and worshyp sayntes as in the byshopryke of Rome. They kepe theyr fastes very straytly. It is a fearce peo¦ple and enclyned to lyberte.

xiii. The order of Waldenses or Picardes.

THe Picardes (that were seduced by Waldus the heretike) area seuerall kynde of Christen people in Beme. These leade a very Christen and blamlesse lyfe, they call vpon no sayntes or creatures but only God. They sweare not atall, coun¦tynge it to be vncomly for a Christen man so to do. They haue no image at all, they knele not afore them nor pray to thē. They say y^e sacramēt ought not be worshipped, but Christ at y^e ryghthād of hys father, & God in sprete & truth. They haue no begger amōge thē, & helpe & coūsel ech other brotherly. Yet are they diuided in two, or as some saye, in thre partes: namely, y^e greate, y^e lesse & y^e leest of all. They hold greatly w^t y^e Anabaptistes they haue all thynges cōmune, they Christē no chyldrē, they graūt not Christes body to be in y^e sacramēt: neuertheles y^e great heape beleue in y^e sacramēt. They psue ech other, whereby

they vtter theyr sprete, though they shyne neuer so fayre. They are alwaye at y^e least. lxxx. thousande. They set nought by the B. of Romes fayth orders, spiritualty, fastyng, holydayes, masse, prayenge, syngynge, rea∣dynge. &c. I passe ouer here the Taborytes, which also haue a seuerall fayth.

xiiii. The Georgians secte and fayth.

THese Christians haue the Tartaries made tributaryes to them. two. C. yeare ago. They vse the Grecians maner in many poyntes. They broder vpō the Perses, reachynge from Palestina vn∣tyll the mountaynes called Caspy. They hadde. xviii. byshoprykes, and one heade or chefe byshop whome they called Catholicō. They were fyrste subiecte vnto the sye of Antiochia, a warrefarynge people. Theyr prestes haue crownes shauen rounde, but y^e layemen foresquared. Theyr wyues be par¦tly vsed to warre, and be hyred therto. Be∣fore they stryke ony felde they do drynke lar¦gely, that they maye fall on theyr enemyes with the better corage and more fearcely.

Theyr prestes & spiritualty kepe the walles

and fenses, and vse vsery, finaunces and sy∣mony. They are euer at debate with the ar¦menians, whom they call heretikes. Both the Armenians and Georgians ar now sub¦iecte to the Turke. Theyr name haue they of saint George theyr patron, in whose na∣me they fyght, whom also they haue in theyr standarde and banners. They border also vpon the Medes and Sirians, of whō they are greatly dradde, yee and of all the Easte partes also. Whan they go to the holy Se∣pulchre, they entre the cytie Ierusalē with spled banners: for the Saracenes shune thē sore, nother paye they ony where tribute. Theyr wiues haue heere & beerdes as y^e mē, and go also to warre. They weare hygh to∣ted hattes. What so euer they ascribed some tyme vnto the Soudane, y^t dyd he graūt thē agayne: for they were of great estimacyon by hym, & are greatly accepted euery where for theyr valeaunt dedes and worthynesse.

Here do I passe ouer also the Gothyes and Wandalyes, whose landes and kyngdo¦mes hath euery one his Christen fayth.

Sclauony also hath in many thynges an o∣ther religion, Gods seruice and maner, se∣uerall from all other.