A godly medytacyon of the christen sowle, concerninge a loue towardes God and hys Christe — Reading Companion

Transcriber’s Note: Biblical references in the sidenotes are not always possible to make out, due to the quality of the print. Where this is the case it has been noted with [unclear] or [unreadable], as appropriate.

A Godly Medytacyon of the christen sowle, concerninge a loue towardes God and hys Christe, compyled in frenche by lady Margarete quene of Nauerre, and aptely translated into Englysh by the ryght vertuouse lady Elyzabeth doughter to our late souerayne Kynge Henri the .viij.

Inclita filia, serenissimi olim Anglorum Regis Henrici octaui Elizabeta, tam Græcæ quam latine fœliciter in Christo erudita.

To the ryght vertuouse and christenly lerned yonge lady Elizabeth, the noble doughter of our late souerayne Kynge Henry the .viij. Iohan Bale wysheth helth with dayly increace of Godly knowledge.

[Sidenote: Nobylyse.]

Diuerse and many (most gracyouse lady) haue the opynyons bene amonge the prophane philosophers and christen dyuynes, concernynge ryght Nobylyte, and no fewar stryues and contencyons for the same. Some autours haue vaynely boasted it to take orygynall of the olde Goddes of the Gentyles, as euery lāde hath had hys peculyar Saturne, Iupiter, & Hercules, yea our Englāde here and all. Some hath fatt it from the foure generall monarchyes of the Assyrianes, Perseanes, Grekes, and Romanes. Some haue attrybuted it, to the bolde battayles and bloudshedynges, in Ninus of Babylon the first inuētour of polycyes in warre, in our great Albion the Chamesene, whych first in thys regyon suppressed the posterite of Iaphet, vsurpynge therin the first monarchy, in Brute that more than six hondred yeares after defaced of hym the tyrannouse yssue, in Ebrāck and Dunwallo, in Brenne and Belyne, in great Constantyne, Artoure, Cadwalader, Engist, Egbert, Alphrede wyllyam cōquerour & soch other, for lyke cōquestes of the Romanes, Grekes, Galles, pyctes, Brytaynes, Saxons, Danes, Iryshens and Englyshens.

[Sidenote: Kyndes of Nobylyte.]

The hawty Romanes set not yet a lyttle by themselues, that they haue rysē of Aeneas & Romulus, of whom the one most shamefully betrayed hys owne natyue kyndred and contraye, and the other most vnnaturally slewe hys owne brother for worldly domynyō. Lyke as our walshemen here in Englande, aduaūcynge their successyon or progeny aboue the Englysh wyll nedes come of Sardanus & Bute, a foūdacyō not all vnlyke to the other. These gloryouse champyons for thys farre fatched groūde of their Nobylyte, accoūte all other nacyons and peoples, ignoble, profane, and barbarouse, as is to be seane in the monumētes of their writers. But in the meaneseason, they are not aware that they wndyscretely prefarre cursed Cham to blessed Iaphet, by whose posteryte the Iles of the Gentyles were first sorted out in to speches, kyndredes, and nacyons, Gene. 10. and not by Chams ofsprynge, of whome the Troianes and Romanes had their noble begynnynge. That the Chamesenes had in those Iles, was by cruell vsurpacyon & tyrāny, as testyfyeth Berosus the Caldeane and therfor that groūde of Nobylyte is not all the best. Ouer and besydes all thys, some haue applyed it to renomed byrth or successyon of bloude, some to the habūdaūce of pleasures worldly some to the mayntenaūce of great famylyes, some to the sūptuousnesse of notable buyldynges, some to the hygh stomake & stature of persone, some to valeaūtnesse in marcyall feates, some to semely maners of courtesye, some to lyberalyte of rewardes and gyftes, some to the auncyentnesse of longe coūtynuaunce, some to wysdome lernynge & stody for a cōmēwelth with soch lyke. And these are not all to be dysalowed, for we fynde them in Abraham, & Dauid with other iust fathers.