The Last Age Of The Church - free ebook by John‏ Wycliffe

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The Last Age Of The Church

John‏ Wycliffe

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THE LAST AGE OF THE CHURCH.

THE LAST AGE OF THE CHURCH.

The Last Age of the Church . By JOHN WYCLYFFE. Now first Printed From a Manuscript In the UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, DUBLIN. EDITED WITH NOTES, By JAMES HENTHORN TODD, D.D., Fellow of Trinity College, and Treasurer of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Dublin : AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. M.DCCC.XL....

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¶ The Preface.

¶ The Preface.

A well known popular Writer on the History of the Christian Church has given it as his Opinion, that whoever will carefully examine the original Records, will soon be convinced that the Merits of Wyclyffe , as a Reformer, have been considerably exaggerated. [1] How far this is true or not, the Writer of these Pages will not attempt to determine; but certain it is, that to “examine the original Records,” with a View to discover the real Doctrines and Opinions of Wyclyffe , is much more easily sai

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¶ The last Age of the Chirche. By John Wyclyffe, S. Th. P.

¶ The last Age of the Chirche. By John Wyclyffe, S. Th. P.

M.ccc.luj....

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The last age of the Chirche.

The last age of the Chirche.

Alas forsorwe grete prestis sittinge in derkenessis [16] &amp; in schadewe of deeþ/ noȝt hauynge him þat openly crieþ/ al þis I wille ȝeue ȝif þou auaunce me. Þei make reseruaciouns/ þe whiche ben clepid dymes/ ffirst fruytis/ oþer penciouns/ aftir þe opynioun of hem þat trete þis matir. For no more schulde fatte beneficis be reserued þāne smale/ ȝif no pryuy cause of symonye were tretide/ þe whiche I seie noȝt at þis tyme. But Joachur [17] / in his book of þe seedis of profetis &amp; of

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NOTES.

NOTES.

How far the foregoing Tract has suffered from the Carelessness or Ignorance of the Transcriber, it will not be possible to determine, until another Copy shall be discovered. It is the Object of the following Notes to correct some of the more obvious Mistakes, as well as to trace the Historical Origin of the Tract, and to explain its References and Allusions. The Editor has not thought it necessary to preserve in every Instance the Contractions of the original Manuscript; but he has carefully ret

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Page xxiii. line 3.

Page xxiii. line 3.

Noȝt hauynge him þat openly crieþ. There seems some Error or Omission of the Transcriber here; but the Allusion is probably to St. Matt. iv. 9. A learned Friend has ingeniously suggested to the Editor, that “nought-having” may mean disregarding, pro nihilo habentes , not fearing, abhorring, or thinking any Harm of him that openly crieth, “all these Things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me;” i. e. not fearing the Demon of Simony. “Avaunce” is perhaps substituted for adoraver

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Ibid. line 6.

Ibid. line 6.

Þei make reseruaciouns. The Exactions of the Court of Rome had been made the Subject of Legislation in England , from the 35 of Edw. I., in which Year (A.D. 1306-7) Petitions were presented to the King from the Nobility and Commonalty of the Realm against the intolerable Exactions of the Pope [43] ; ( Super variis novis et intollerabilibus gravaminibus, oppressionibus, injuriis, et extorsionibus ... auctoritate et mandato Domini Papæ ;) and these Petitions were the Occasion of a Statute [44] , p

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Page xxiv. line 2.

Page xxiv. line 2.

smale. This Word in the MS. is written apparently “samle,” which must be an Error. The Editor has ventured to adopt a conjectural Emendation, and print it “smale,” i. e. small . This, at least, will make Sense; for, the Author’s Argument is, that if there were nothing of a Simoniacal Nature in the Reservation of Benefices, the small Benefices would be as often made the Subjects of the Papal Provisions and Reservations, as the “fatte” or more valuable Livings; but the contrary being the Case, it

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Ibid. line 4.

Ibid. line 4.

Joachur. An evident mistake of the Scribe for Joachim . In another Place, by a different Error, we find the Abbot called Joachrin . See p. xxvi....

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Ibid.

Ibid.

In his book of þe seedis of profetis, &amp;c. Whether one Book or more be here referred to seems doubtful. The Editor is disposed to think that three different Works are intended;—the first, Of the Seedis of Profetis ; the second, Of the Seyingis of Popes ; and the third, Of the Chargis of Profetis . In another Place (p. xxvi) we find Joachim quoted “in his Book of the Deedis of Profetis ;” and (p. xxix) “ Joachim in the Book of the Seedis of Prophetis .” Again (p. xxx) “the Bookis ” of Joac

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Ibid. line 9.

Ibid. line 9.

þe seuynty &amp; nyne chapitre. The Passage quoted is taken from the ninetieth Psalm , as it is numbered in the Latin Vulgate, (ninety-first in our English Version.) The Editor is not aware of any Reason why this Psalm should be referred to as “the seventy and ninth Chapter,” and he is, therefore, constrained to assume, that there is here a Mistake of the Transcriber, who, perhaps, had before him numeral Letters or Figures, which he read erroneously. The Words referred to are to be found in

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Ibid. line 11.

Ibid. line 11.

And Bernard acordiþ þere wiþ. The Passage here referred to will be found in St. Bernard’s Works [59] , Serm. xxxiii. in Cantica , num. 14, et seq. Adhuc nisi tædio fuerit longitudo sermonis, has quatuor tentationes tentabo suo ordine assignare ipsi corpori Christi, quod est Ecclesia. Et ecce quam brevius possum percurro. Videte primitivam Ecclesiam, si non primo pervasa est acriter nimis a timore nocturno . Erat enim nox, quando omnis qui interficeret sanctos, arbitrabatur obsequium se præstare

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Page 25. line 7.

Page 25. line 7.

chaffare walkynge in derkenessis is þe pryui heresie of symonyans. Here our Author abandons St. Bernard’s Interpretation, which expounds negotium perambulans in tenebris , not of Simony, but of Hypocrisy, and Avarice. Serpit hodie putida tabes per omne corpus Ecclesiæ, et quo latius, eo desperatius: eoque periculosius, quo interius ... omnes quæ sua sunt quærunt. Ministri Christi sunt, et serviunt Antichristo. Honorati incedunt de bonis Domini, qui Domino honorem non deferunt. Inde is quem quoti

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Ibid. last line.

Ibid. last line.

on lyue. As Chaucer . On live is now contracted or corrupted into alive . Thus we say, a-coming , a-saying , a-board , a-purpose , a-sleep , a-way , &amp;c., for on coming, on saying, on board, on purpose, &amp;c. By which it appears that Dr. Wallis [62] is mistaken in supposing this Class of Words to be compounded with the Preposition at . John Hopkins , in his Version of Psalm lxxvii. 16, has retained the old Form, on trembling , for a-trembling ; Numerous instances will be found in Ch

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Page xxvi. line 2.

Page xxvi. line 2.

haueþ. This Word should probably be haven ; but it is haveth in the MS. In the next Line, “byngȳn̄ge,” for “bygynnynge,” is an obvious Mistake of the MS....

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Ibid. line 9.

Ibid. line 9.

weren two and twenty hundriddis of ȝeeris. By this Date the Writer probably intended the Interval from the Birth of Heber , to the Birth of Christ : which by the Computation of Bede in his Chronicon sive de sex ætatibus mundi , wanted but five Years of 2200, a mere Trifle with such Expounders of Prophecy as our Author....

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Ibid. line 12.

Ibid. line 12.

Eusebi, Bede, &amp; Haymound. The Works here referred to are, probably, the Chronicon of Eusebius , translated and preserved by St. Jerome [65] ; the venerable Bede’s Chronicon, sive de sex ætatibus mundi ; and the Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ Breviarium, sive de Christianarum rerum memoria , Libb. X. of Haymo , Bishop of Halberstadt , who died A.D. 853....

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Page xxvii. line 5.

Page xxvii. line 5.

fro þe bygynnynge of Latyn lettris. That is to say, from the Foundation of Rome . The Writer speaks in round Numbers....

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Ibid. line 15.

Ibid. line 15.

demynge. This Word is perhaps a Mistake of the Transcriber for demed , i. e. deemed , considered ....

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Page xxviii. line 8.

Page xxviii. line 8.

and þes ben uerse of .m. lettre. The Editor has not been able to find these Verses elsewhere. The Letters of the Alphabet are represented as Collegæ , or Members of a College, all the rest of whom go forth when the Gates are open; one only, viz. m , when they are shut. College is for Collegæ ....

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Page xxix. line 3.

Page xxix. line 3.

but bi helpe of Poul. This alludes to the well-known Story, told by a great Number of the Antients, of the Destruction of Simon Magus , by the Prayers of Saints Peter and Paul . Sulpitius Severus [66] relates this Event in the following Words: Etenim tum illustris illa adversus Simonem, Petri ac Pauli congressio fuit. Qui cum magicis artibus, ut se Deum probaret, duobus suffultus dæmoniis evolasset, orationibus Apostolorum fugatis dæmonibus, delapsus in terram, populo inspectante disruptus est.

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Ibid. line 6.

Ibid. line 6.

Crist schal clanse his Chirche. In the Original this is, “Chirche schal clanse his Chirche;” the Editor has not hesitated to correct so obvious a Mistake....

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Page xxx. line 1.

Page xxx. line 1.

þe deuel of mydday. Demonium meridianum , alluding to Ps. xc. 6, in the Vulgate....

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Ibid. line 6.

Ibid. line 6.

whefore. A Mistake of the MS. for Wherefore ....

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Ibid. line 10.

Ibid. line 10.

in derkenessis. The Word in was omitted by the Original Scribe; but is added in the MS. by a more recent Hand....

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Ibid. line 12.

Ibid. line 12.

Bede vpon þe profetis of Sibille. This Reference is to some spurious Work attributed to Bede , and which is probably not the same as the Tract De Sybillis [72] , published among Bede’s Works, and also by Joh. Opsopæus Brettanus , at the End of his Edition of the Sybilline Oracles; for that Tract does not contain any thing like the Computation from the Latin Letters, for which Bede is here referred to by our Author....

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Page xxxi. line 8.

Page xxxi. line 8.

Goddis Chirche is foundid in kynrade of prelatis. This Expression is illustrated by the Preamble of the Statute of Provisors , (25 Edw. III.) [73] : “Whereas late in the Parliament of good Memory of Edward King of England , Grandfather to our Lord the King that now is, the xxv. [ leg. xxxv.] Year of his Reign, holden at Carlisle , the Petition heard, put before the said Grandfather and his Council, in his said Parliament, by the Communalty of the said Realm, containing: That whereas the Holy Chu

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Ibid. line 13.

Ibid. line 13.

þe whiche may wel be clepid collibiste. Collybiste , from the Greek Word κολλύβιστης, which is used St. Matt. xxi. 12, where St. Jerome remarks: Sed quia erat lege præceptum, ut nemo usuras acciperet, et prodesse non poterat pecunia fœnerata, quæ commodi nihil haberet, et interdum sortem perderet, excogitaverunt et aliam technam, ut pro nummulariis, Collybistas facerent, cujus verbi proprietatem Latina lingua non exprimit. Collyba dicuntur apud eos, quæ nos appellamus tragemata , vel vilia munus

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Page xxxii. line 1.

Page xxxii. line 1.

schal be seyd in a manere of careyne. Careyne , from the old French, carogne , carrion ; “seyd in a manere of careyne,” perhaps may mean, “they shall be spoken of as a Sort of Carrion,” unless there be here some Mistake of the Transcriber, which is not improbable. The next Clause, “thei schal be cast out as dogge in myddis places,” is possibly an Allusion to Is. v. 25. Et facta sunt morticinia eorum, quasi stercus in medio platearum ; the Word dogge being a Mistake for donge ; and, “in myddis pl

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Ibid. line 3.

Ibid. line 3.

her wiþ acordiþ Carnosencis. John of Salisbury , called Carnotensis , because he was Bishop of Chartres . The Passage referred to occurs in his Polycraticus, sive De Nugis Curialium , Lib. vii. cap. 20. [76] Si dicas quia ignis per septuaginta annos Babylonicæ captivitatis sub aqua vixerat, demum extinctus est, Antiocho vendente Jasoni sacerdotium; aut quod Beatus Gregorius testatur, quia pestilentia et fames, concussiones gentium, collisiones regnorum, et quamplurima adversa terris proveniunt,

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Ibid. line 10.

Ibid. line 10.

beþ ȝeue. A Mistake probably for ben geve , i. e. been given ....

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Ibid. line 16.

Ibid. line 16.

alle children boren siþþen þe first pestylence, &amp;c. The Year 1348 and two following Years are recorded in all our Chronicles, as remarkable for a most formidable Pestilence which devastated Europe [78] , and is said to have been attended with this singular Circumstance, that the Children born after the Pestilence had begun, were found to be deficient in the usual Number of Teeth. It may be enough to quote from our English Annalists, the Chronicle of Caxton . Speaking of the 23rd Year of

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Page xxxiii. line 1.

Page xxxiii. line 1.

Merlyn Ambrose. For the History of Merlyn , see Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniæ , Lib. vi. c. 17, 18. The famous Prophecy of Merlyn will be found in Lib. vii. c. 3, 4. It has also been repeatedly published in a separate Form, with the Commentaries in seven Books of Alanus de Insulis....

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Ibid. line 3.

Ibid. line 3.

of þe myscheif . In the original MS. these Words are repeated, “ in the tyme of the myscheif of the myscheif of the Kok ;” the Editor did not deem it necessary to retain so obvious a Mistake of the Transcriber....

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Ibid. line 5.

Ibid. line 5.

þe sixte of irlond . This Personage is mentioned in numerous Prophecies circulated under the Names of Merlyn , Gildas , Robert of Bridlington , Sybill , and others, in the fourteenth and fifteenth Centuries, many of which appear to have had their Origin in the Prophecy of Merlyn , preserved by Geoffrey of Monmouth , already referred to, where we find “the sixte of Irlond ” thus noticed:— Sextus Hiberniæ mœnia subvertet, et nemora in planitiem mutabit: Diversas portiones in unum reducet, et capit

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Ibid.

Ibid.

þe witt is our kyng wiþ his children. “ The witt ,” i. e. the Meaning; alluding probably to the Interpretation given of this part of the Prophecy by Alanus de Insulis , who supposes the then reigning King Henry II. and his Sons to be intended; his Words are [91] :— Henricus qui nunc in Anglia regnat, quinque filios suscepit ex Regina conjuge sua, quorum unus mortuus est, quatuor vero supersunt. Habuit et sextum ex concubina, qui clericus est, magnæ, ut aiunt, juxta ætatem, probitatis. Hic itaque

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Ibid. line 9.

Ibid. line 9.

Sibille acordiþ herto. The Verses of “Sibille” here quoted are to be found in a large Collection of other Prophecies of the same character, in a Manuscript [92] of the fourteenth Century, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin . The Editor is also enabled, through the Kindness of Mr. Holmes , to give here a complete Copy of them from the Cotton MS. Claud. B. vii., collated with the Arundel MS. 57, fol. In this latter MS. which is written, as Mr. Holmes conjectures, in a Hand of abou

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Ibid. last line.

Ibid. last line.

elispirid . This Word is very probably corrupt, although Lewis , who appears to have received from Dublin a Transcript of this Tract, or copious Extracts, does not seem to have considered it so, for he has inserted the Word in his Glossary , and quotes for it only the Authority of the Passage before us; he says [103] , “ Elispired , perhaps for expired . Secular power of the Hooly Goost expired , alluding to the secular Power the Popes have. For having quoted four Verses of Sibille , one of whic

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Page xxxiv. line 13.

Page xxxiv. line 13.

þe wordis of Josue 2. cᵒ. þe þridde. The Editor is unable to explain this Reference....

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Ibid. line 17.

Ibid. line 17.

þe Mayster of Scholys rehersiþ. Peter Comestor , Chancellor of the Cathedral of Paris in 1164, and Author of the Historia Scholastica , is the Person here called Master of Schools . The Passage referred to occurs in the Hist. Schol. on the third Book of Kings, cap. viii. (not cap. v. as quoted by our Author), and is as follows [104] :— Fabulantur Iudei ad eruderandos lapidei celerius habuisse Salomonem sanguinem vermiculi qui Tamir dicitur: quo aspersa marmora facile secabantur, quem invenit hoc

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Page xxxv. line 1.

Page xxxv. line 1.

aftir þe talis of iewis of Salamon . That is, “reherseth, after, or according to, the Tales or Legends of the Jews , concerning Solomon .”...

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Ibid. line 8.

Ibid. line 8.

Þe glass to barst. To , perhaps for “al to,” statim , penitus . Thus in our English Version of the Bible, (Judg. ix. 53.) “And a certain Woman cast a Piece of a Millstone upon Abimelech’s Head, and al to brake his Skull.”...

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Ibid. line 14.

Ibid. line 14.

þe on &amp; twenty Salme. 2i. The Editor is not sure that he has rightly deciphered the Letters represented by “2i;” he once thought they were “xi,” but this seemed inexplicable, and he now believes them to be an Attempt of a very ignorant Transcriber to represent in Arabic Numerals the Number of the Psalm referred to....

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Page xxxvi. line 15.

Page xxxvi. line 15.

Poul writiþ to þe romayns. This Reference belongs to what goes before, not to what follows. Mr. Vaughan , in his Life of Wycliffe [108] , not perceiving this, has altered the Text to make the Sense perfect, and quotes the Passage thus: “So, when we were sinful, and the Children of Wrath, God’s Son came out of Heaven, and praying His Father for His Enemies, He died for us. Then much rather shall we be saved, now we are made righteous through His Blood. St. Paul writeth to the Romans , that Jesus

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