Elizabeth I: Translations, 1544-1589 9780226201337

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ELIZABETH I

ELIZABETH I

T R A N S L AT I O N S 1544–1589

Edited by

Janel Mueller and Joshua Scodel

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Chicago & London

JANEL MUELLER is the William Rainey Harper Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of the Department of English Language and Literature and of the College at the University of Chicago. She is the coeditor of Elizabeth I: Collected Works (2000) and Elizabeth I: Autograph Compositions and Foreign Language Originals (2003), both published by the University of Chicago Press. JOSHUA SC ODEL is Helen A. Regenstein Professor in English, Comparative Literature, and the College at the University of Chicago. His most recent book is Excess and the Mean in Early Modern English Literature (2002). The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2009 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2009 Printed in the United States of America 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-20131-3 (cloth) ISBN-10: 0-226-20131-7 (cloth)

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The University of Chicago Press gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago toward the publication of this book. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533–1603. [Selections. 2009] Elizabeth I : translations, 1544–1589 / edited by Janel Mueller and Joshua Scodel. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-20131-3 (cloth : alk. paper) I SB N -10: 0-226-20131-7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533– 1603—Literary art. 2. Classical literature—Translations. 3. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533–1603—Knowledge and learning. 4. Kings’ and rulers’ writings, English— History and criticism. 5. Great Britain—History—Elizabeth, 1558–1603—Sources. 6. Women and literature—England—History—16th century. I. Mueller, Janel M., 1938– II. Scodel, Joshua, 1958– III. Title. IV. Title: Translations. da350.a25 2009 942.05'5092—dc22 [B] 2008020375

o The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix General Introduction 1

I

1544: marguerite de navarre’s le miroir de l’âme pécheresse introduction · 25 translation · 40

ii

1545: katherine parr’s prayers or meditations introduction · 129 dedicatory letter · latin translation · french translation italian translation

iii

135 139 · 157 · 179

1545: john calvin’s institution de la religion chrestienne, chapter one introduction · 203 dedicatory letter · 212 translation · 218

iv

1547: bernardino ochino’s “che cosa è christo” introduction · 291 elizabeth’s latin translation · 300 editors’ english translation · 301

v

1563: elizabeth’s sententiae introduction · 331 sententiae · 346

vi

pre- 1558–1580s: elizabeth’s book inscriptions introduction · 397 inscriptions · 399

vii ca. 1567: seneca’s epistulae morales 107 introduction · 409 translation · 415

viii ca. 1579: cicero’s epistulae ad familiares 2.6 introduction · 425 translation · 433

ix

ca. 1589: choral ode from hercules oetaeus introduction · 439 translation · 447

Appendix 1: Translation Ascribed to Elizabeth of Francesco Petrarch’s Trionfo dell’Eternità, lines 1–90 · 457 introduction · 459 translation · 469

Appendix 2: The Reliability of Nugae Antiquae as a Source for Translations Ascribed to Elizabeth · 475 Index of Names · 483

I L LU S T R AT I O N S

1 Elizabeth’s embroidered cover for her translation of John Calvin’s Institution de la Religion Chrestienne (1545) · xiv 2 Title page of Elizabeth’s French translation of Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations (1545) · 128 3 Title page of Elizabeth’s Italian translation of Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations (1545) · 180 4 Paired antitheses of Moses and Christ in Elizabeth’s Latin translation of Bernardino Ochino’s “Che cosa è Christo” (1547) · 298 5 Last page of “De misericordia” section and first page of “De consilio” section from Elizabeth’s Sententiae in Precationes privatae Regiae E.R. (1563) · 368

Acknowledgments

In preparing this edition, we have received invaluable assistance of several sorts. Our thanks go to the various staff members who facilitated our access to rare books and manuscripts in the Arundel Castle Archives; the Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley; the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, the Bibliothèque Mazarine, and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the British Library; the Cambridge University Library; the Center for Research Libraries; the University of Chicago Library’s Department of Special Collections; DePaul University Library’s Department of Special Collections and Archives; the Duke University Library; Duke Humfrey’s Library in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University; the Folger Shakespeare Library; the Houghton Library of Harvard University; the National Archives, Kew, Surrey; the Newberry Library; the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections at Northwestern University; the Scottish National Archives; the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana; the Special Collections Library of the University of Virginia; and the Windsor Castle Library. It is a special pleasure to convey our heartfelt thanks to colleagues in the far-flung “republic of scholars” who, at times far beyond the limits of anticipated response, checked sources, answered questions, or otherwise generously gave us the benefits of their knowledge: Gordon Braden, Alvan Bregman, Gayle Cooper, Robert Cummings, Katrin Ettenhuber, Gordon Kipling, Aaron Kitch, Ullrich Langer, David Loewenstein, Lawrence Manley, Richard Maxwell, Scott Newstock, Aysha Pollnitz,

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acknowledgments

David Quint, Alice Schreyer, Bruce Swann, Katie Trumpener, and Jessica Wolfe. Our deep gratitude extends to our University of Chicago colleagues Michael Allen, Paolo Cherchi, Philippe Desan, Michael Murrin, Elissa Weaver, Peter White, and David Wray for the diverse expertise that they have readily shared with us. Anne Lake Prescott and an anonymous reader for the University of Chicago Press lavished us with comprehensive and incisive comments that improved our manuscript at a late stage. Ruth Goring, our Press manuscript editor, continued the pattern of constructive interventions and queries, steering us past numerous pitfalls. We thank her warmly. Joshua Scodel wishes to convey particular thanks to his sister Ruth Scodel, who answered philological queries, puzzled over conundrums, and checked sources with incredible generosity. Janel Mueller especially thanks Ian Mueller, who has always, on request, extended his fidelity as helpmeet beyond the domestic sphere and engaged her scholarly challenges and concerns as his own. Two conferences provided welcome opportunities to present aspects of our work on this edition while still in progress: “Producing the Renaissance Text,” organized by Maureen Quilligan and Laurie Shannon and convened by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Duke University in February 2007; and “‘Partners Both in Throne and Grave’: Mary and Elizabeth—Lessons in Tudor Monarchy,” organized by Alice Hunt and Anna Whitelock to inaugurate the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture at the University of Southhampton in September 2007. We are grateful for the suggestions and questions generated in these conference discussions. Our home institution, the University of Chicago, has demonstrated extraordinary commitment in publishing Queen Elizabeth I’s works—of which this, her Translations in two volumes, is the last. In 2001 a faculty-graduate student workshop witnessed the debut of our collaborative editing in a presentation on Elizabeth’s translation of Cicero’s Pro Marcello; the criticisms and the lively encouragement that emanated from that session were timely. Alan Thomas and Randy Petilos of the University of Chicago Press have our gratitude for their encouragement and guidance throughout this project, as do Danielle S. Allen, former dean of the Humanities Division, and John W. Boyer, dean of the College, for research and travel funds that supported our work. Four work-study students sponsored by the Division of the Humanities, Najwah el-Tabah, Michael Mols, Colin Rennert-May, and

acknowledgments

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Steven Streed, provided much-appreciated research assistance. The interest and enthusiasm of a number of faculty colleagues and current and former students in the Departments of English and Comparative Literature have also been important sources of sustenance, and, without naming names, we thank all of them. We have been grateful for the experience of working closely together, as scholarly collaborators, on the literary productions that reveal Elizabeth I at her most scholarly. We have learned much from each other in the process. We now look forward to sharing with the readers of this edition a recognition of what she achieved, early and late in life, in her considerable productivity as a translator.

ELIZABETH I

FIGURE 1 Embroidered cover of “How we ought to know God,” Elizabeth’s translation of the first chapter of John Calvin’s first French edition of Institution (1545). Courtesy The National Archives of Scotland (NAS RH13 / 78).

General Introduction Elizabeth’s Translations: Sources, Contexts, and Phases

Long before attaining preeminence as England’s Virgin Queen, Elizabeth Tudor was recognized for what John Bale publicly saluted in 1548, when she was fifteen, as “so much virtue, faith, science, and experience of languages and letters, especially in noble youth and femininity.”1 Elizabeth’s early and ongoing reputation as a lover and practitioner of learning was based on her proficiency in foreign languages. In her Latin prayers of 1563 she thanked God for giving her a knowledge of languages beyond that of most other women.2 She repeatedly demonstrated her capacities in multilingual exchanges with foreign emissaries at court and in the extemporized Latin she spoke on her formal visits to the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. But the supreme proof of her mastery of other tongues is the sizable body of translations that she made through the course of her lifetime, with the heaviest concentrations early and late, in the 1540s and the 1590s. Although nothing seems to have been recorded about Elizabeth’s acquisition of the rudiments of French, Italian, and Latin, Henry VIII’s formal provisions for the education of her younger brother, Prince 1. John Bale, ed., A Godly Medytacyon of the christen sowle (Wesel [Marburg], 1548), sig. 7r-v. Here and elsewhere, in citing sixteenth-century English sources we modernize spelling. 2. Elizabeth I: Collected Works, ed. Leah S. Marcus, Janel Mueller, and Mary Beth Rose (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 141, hereafter cited as CW; Elizabeth I: Autograph Compositions and Foreign Language Originals, ed. Janel Mueller and Leah S. Marcus (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 121, hereafter cited as ACFLO.

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Edward, in 1544 introduce the set of Cambridge-educated Protestant humanists, supervised by John Cheke, who were entrusted with the formation of the heir apparent—and, by extension, it seems, the sister four years his elder—in good letters and godly learning. William Grindal appears as Elizabeth’s first Latin tutor, followed after his death in 1548 by Roger Ascham, with whom she also studied Greek during his time as her tutor in 1548–50 and later when she was queen. In all likelihood Queen Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife and a solicitous stepmother to Edward and Elizabeth, played some role in engaging these Cambridge humanists to educate the royal children, although the decision was Henry’s alone to make.3 After the all-important provision for Latin instruction, the teaching of French and Italian was consigned to émigré Protestant humanists. Jean Bellemain, who arrived in England around 1540, taught French certainly to Edward and quite probably to Elizabeth as well; there is evidence of her contact with him in the 1540s.4 Battista Castiglione, who probably settled in England in 1546 after fighting in Henry VIII’s recent military campaigns, served as Elizabeth’s formal tutor in Italian; however, her use of the language in a letter of 1544 suggests that she received instruction prior to the date of Castiglione’s probable arrival.5 Queen Katherine appears to have been a major influence on Elizabeth’s early translations. The first four were made as New Year’s gifts for members of her immediate family, and three of these have overt connections with Queen Katherine. The group includes an English prose translation of Marguerite de Navarre’s French verse composition Miroir de l’âme pécheresse, under the title The Glass of the Sinful Soul, dedicated to Queen Katherine in a letter dated December 31, 1544; a trilin3. Queen Katherine maintained a correspondence with Ascham and other scholars at Cambridge University in 1546–47; see Susan E. James, Kateryn Parr: The Making of a Queen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1999), 31, 38. 4. Gordon Kipling notes the possibility that Bellemain, who assumed responsibility for teaching Edward in the fall of 1546, had entered the service of the Tudor court earlier as Elizabeth’s French tutor and was involved in her translations from and to French in 1544–45; see “Belmaine, Jean (fl. 1546–1559),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 60 vols., ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 5:33–34. 5. On Castiglione, see Maria Bellorini, “Giovan Battista Castiglione, consigliere di Elisabetta I,” in Contributi dell’ istututo di filologia moderna, Serie inglese, ed. Sergio Rossi (Milan: Pubblicazioni dell’ Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 1974), 113–41. For Elizabeth’s letter in Italian, see ACFLO, 5–6.

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gual (Latin, French, Italian) translation of Queen Katherine’s Prayers or Meditations, dedicated to Henry VIII in a letter dated December 31, 1545; an English translation of the first chapter of the first French edition (1541) of John Calvin’s Institution de la Religion Chrestienne, under the title How We Ought to Know God, dedicated to Queen Katherine in a letter also dated December 31, 1545; and a Latin translation of one of Bernardino Ochino’s series of Italian sermons on the subject “De Christo,” dedicated to Prince Edward in a letter dated “December 30,” probably in 1547. In her dedicatory letters Elizabeth adopts a posture of filial humility toward her stepmother’s superior judgment and piety, pleading with her to “mend (or else cause to mend) the words (or rather the order of my writing), the which I know in many places to be rude and nothing done as it should be,” and to “pay more regard to the zeal and the desire that I have of pleasing you than . . . to the capacity of my simple ability and knowledge.” She similarly makes Katherine’s virtues primary and her own secondary in recommending her trilingual translation to Henry VIII: “I do not doubt that your fatherly goodness and royal prudence will esteem this inward labor of my soul . . . and will regard this divine work as more to be esteemed because it has been composed by the most serene queen, your spouse.”6 All of the source texts for Elizabeth’s first group of translations are imbued with the intense evangelicalism—heartfelt immersion in the text of Scripture—that characterized Queen Katherine’s own piety as expressed in her Prayers or Meditations and Lamentation of a Sinner. Whatever the extent of Parr’s influence, Elizabeth’s initiative and self-investment in her first translations were considerable. She personalized these New Year’s gifts by writing out her translations in her careful italic handwriting, always with finely ruled page borders and sometimes with ornamentally retraced capital letters. In the case of the one volume for Henry and the two volumes for Katherine, the front and back covers are bound in fabric embroidered by Elizabeth with the superimposed initials HR (Henry Rex) and KP in gold and silver threads, with chain-stitching around the edges of the covers, and with pansy flowers (for pensées, thoughts) in the four corners.7

6. CW, 7, 12, 10. 7. For descriptions and illustrations of these embroidered bindings, see Margaret H. Swain, “A New Year’s Gift from the Princess Elizabeth,” The Connoisseur 183 (1973): 258–66.

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Beyond her handiwork, Elizabeth’s earliest translations began an association between linguistic exercise and spiritual exercise that would mark her literary production for the rest of her life. Bale recognized the association, observing of her translation of Marguerite’s Miroir that “chiefly hath she done it for her own exercise in the French tongue, besides the spiritual exercise of her inner soul with God.”8 From close absorption in the language of a text she was translating, Elizabeth evidently derived an inducement to reflect and to feel by way of that text. In the process she sustained and deepened her thoughts on themes and concerns that were important to her, well beyond the immediate considerations prompting her to translate a given work at a given date. Thus there were the gift-giving obligations of New Year’s, but even more there was the ongoing Christian imperative of the soul’s relation to God, rendered a matter of immediate, personal answerability by the Protestant emphasis on the equal access and equal accountability of all souls to God. The point, moreover, applies to all of Elizabeth’s translations, whatever their subject: her close engagement with their original language made these texts objects to think with and think through as she turned them into the language of her choosing. Although there may have been other translations, now lost, Elizabeth’s output in this vein between the 1540s and the 1590s is comparatively meager, bespeaking the multitude and weight of the affairs of state that devolved upon her after she became queen in November 1558. Her 259 Latin sentences on the responsibilities of sovereign rule, published with her Latin prayers in 1563, are her most substantial production involving a language other than English during these four decades. Very probably this compilation is Elizabeth’s expansion of the “Century of Sentences” that she made for Henry VIII sometime before his death in January 1547.9 These Sententiae and the multilingual marginal notes that she entered in various volumes she was reading claim a place in the present edition because they closely relate to the linguistic and intellectual exertions of her translations. In the Sententiae Elizabeth culls short quotations from diverse au8. Bale, A Godly Medytacyon, sig. 40r. 9. James Mountague, bishop of Winchester, mentions that he had seen in the Whitehall Palace Library (subsequently destroyed by fire) “A Century of Sentences,” an autograph work that Elizabeth had compiled and “dedicated . . . to her Father” (Mountague, “Preface to the Reader,” unpaginated, in The Works of James I, King of Great Britain, ed. Mountague [London, 1616]).

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thorities to assemble her thoughts on the delicate balancing of action and reflection, rigor and leniency, that the judicious exercise of royal power requires. Here Elizabeth “translates” in its most general Latinate sense: she moves things from one place to another. She thereby performs an act of cultural translation: even when she leaves her excerpted quotations unchanged, sayings from a context remote in time and place from her own often acquire new senses through their relocation within her assemblage. While she quotes Hebrew and Greek authorities from preexisting Latin translations, she often adapts the Latin wording to express her own perspectives on monarchy. Such free handling of her sources accords with Elizabeth’s practice as a translator: at recurring points she modifies the sense of a source to align it with her own religious or political or social outlook. In good Christian humanist fashion, the Sententiae foreshadow her later translations by combining Biblical texts and Christian authors with classical authors, who claim a share in her work here for the first time. Likewise, the proportionate weight of authorities in the Sententiae anticipates the translations to follow: its two most cited classical Latin authors, Cicero and Seneca, are the only ones whom Elizabeth would translate twice. Although classical authors become the exclusive sources for her subsequent translations, Christian inflections persist, especially in her rendering of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, a classical philosophical work by a Christian. Elizabeth’s multilingual marginalia in several of her books date from before her accession to the throne in 1558 until sometime around 1581. Conspicuous among them are Latin mottos drawn from classical and Christian authorities. The entries both criticize and perform acts of translation. In the margin of her French Psalter, for example, she emends the French translation in light of the Vulgate text; in the margin of Thomas Cranmer’s 1550 treatise attacking the Roman Catholic dogma of transubstantiation, she translates a phrase from St. Paul into French and Italian, probably by way of the Vulgate, to epitomize the archbishop of Canterbury’s internationalist Protestant zeal. Preservation of what remains of Elizabeth’s translating activity between the late 1540s and the 1590s is principally due to the Harington family and a literary compilation they produced. John Harington, Elizabeth’s godson, vouched for the authenticity of her renderings of two classical texts, Seneca’s Epistulae morales 107, translated ca. 1567, and Cicero’s letter to Curio (Epistulae ad familiares 2.6), translated ca. 1579. He received both, he says, from her hand as gifts in the respective years.

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As indicated below, our examination of the relevant evidence supports Harington’s claim regarding the authenticity of these two translations. By contrast, we argue that Elizabeth is unlikely to have been the producer of another translation associated with the Harington family that some modern scholars have ascribed to her, a fragment of Petrarch’s Trionfo dell’eternità (or Trionfo della divinità), rendered into English cross-rhymed quatrains and copied into the Arundel Harington manuscript of Tudor verse (see appendix 1). Elizabeth’s translations of the Seneca letter and the Cicero letter given to her godson John appeared in Nugae Antiquae (1769), the anthology of the family’s most important letters and other texts of historical interest, arranged and published by an eighteenth-century descendant, James Harington. We discuss the general reliability of Nugae Antiquae as a source for Elizabeth’s texts (appendix 2) and our specific grounds for accepting these two texts as hers in their respective introductions. In Nugae Antiquae, as excerpted from his manuscripts, John Harington follows up the text of Elizabeth’s translation of the Seneca letter with “a precious token of her Highness’s great wit and marvelous understanding.” He describes her as engaged in three discourses simultaneously: “the letter the Queen’s Majesty wrote, whilest she gave instructions for the other that followeth, and hearing a tale which she made answer unto.”10 Harington’s glimpse of the multitasking queen and her discursive prowess indicates how far Elizabeth had come from her diffident beginnings as a translator. It also indicates how unlikely it would have been for her to undertake a substantial translation project in such distracting circumstances and helps explain her meager output. The two letters address matters of equal interest in republican Rome and the Elizabethan court. Seneca’s letter offers a spirited exposition of the Stoic tenet that one should bear one’s fortune with equanimity, while Cicero’s letter raises rhetorical, ethical, and political issues regarding the concept and practice of friendship. The dates given by Harington for the translations of the Seneca letter and the Cicero letter stand out as precipitating occasions for Elizabeth to think with and through classical texts in facing contemporary challenges. In 1567 she struggled to maintain her equanimity as she wrote blunt, reproachful letters to Mary, Queen of Scots on the crimes and scandals that 10. Nugae Antiquae: Being a Miscellaneous Collection of Original Papers in Prose and Verse. By Sir John Harington, 2 vols. (Bath and London, 1769–75), 1:115.

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were alienating the loyalty of the Scottish people; translating the Seneca letter on accepting adversity that one cannot control may have provided a counterbalance, if not a catharsis, for Elizabeth’s anxiety. In 1579 she was at her most positive about the prospects of her marriage with “Monsieur,” the brother of the French king Henri III and the next in line to the French throne, despite opposition at court and among her people. She translated a letter exposing potentialities and complications in Roman friendship relations that open perspectives on her final, and finally abortive, set of marriage negotiations. This translation was also an appropriate gift for the eighteen-year-old Harington, who was just beginning to cultivate connections and find his way as a courtier. Surprisingly, Elizabeth produced her largest body of translations in the late 1580s and 1590s. The earliest item appears to be the nonautograph English blank-verse version of the choral ode in act 2 of the tragedy Hercules Oetaeus, ascribed to Seneca in the Renaissance, which, for reasons given in our introduction to that text, we accept as Elizabeth’s work, most probably done in or shortly after 1589. The other translations compose a sizable corpus, most of it in her own handwriting: her English prose translation of Cicero’s oration Pro M. Marcello, probably made during a visit to Oxford University in September 1592; her English translation of Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae in September-October 1593; her English verse translation of Desiderius Erasmus’s Latin translation of Plutarch’s treatise Пερì πολυπραγμοσύνης (De curiositate / On Curiosity) in early November 1598; and her English verse translation of the first 178 lines of Horace’s De arte poetica (On the Art of Poetry), also in November 1598. The late 1580s and 1590s were a period of unrelieved difficulty and anxiety for Elizabeth, including the challenge posed by Mary, Queen of Scots, the recurrent threat of a Spanish invasion, the contestation over the monarchy in France, the deaths of some of her most trusted courtiers, the rise of factionalism at court, mounting insurrection in Ireland, and a run of droughts and bad harvests in England.11 In some measure, the translations must have provided outlets beyond the pressing problems of state for Elizabeth’s mental energies, opening up a do-

11. See John Guy, ed., The Reign of Elizabeth I: Court and Culture in the Last Decade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995; rpt. 1999), 1–19, for claims that the 1590s were so categorically unlike earlier decades that they in effect constituted Elizabeth’s “second reign.”

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main of literary exercise where she could engage with the conceptual and rhetorical fascinations of venerated texts of antiquity and allow herself to be transported, for a time, to another cultural moment and milieu. Her fragmentary translation of the Ars poetica seems primarily to be such an exercise, mingling the aesthetic pleasure and didactic benefit that, in Horace’s judgment, characterizes the best poetry (line 343). Nonetheless, the weight of circumstance and the urgency of a particular time also register to varying degrees in these translations. The sources that Elizabeth chose to translate engage with issues that go to the heart of her convictions and concerns regarding her rule, her court, and her realm of England. The choral ode from Hercules Oetaeus on the discomforts and dangers of wearing a crown gives voice to attitudes that Elizabeth expressed at several junctures in her reign. It particularly resonates, however, with her reflections on this subject in her first reply to the parliamentary petition urging the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in November 1586. Cicero’s celebration of a ruler’s clemency in his oration Pro M. Marcello appealed to a monarch who, throughout her reign, wished to be known for her mercy. The translation also seems to link closely with a moment in 1592 when Elizabeth felt compelled to take action regarding the ambition and the insubordination of her last favorite, the Earl of Essex. Boethius’s Consolation, a work combining prose dialogue and lyric poetry that was highly esteemed for its literary artistry and its philosophical reflections on happiness and evil, presents Stoic arguments for cultivating equanimity under reversals of Fortune. While such equanimity held a long-standing appeal for Elizabeth, observers recognized its compelling attraction when she decided to translate Boethius after confirming that Henri IV of France had converted to Catholicism in the summer of 1593. Her translation of Erasmus’s Latin version of Plutarch’s essay in 1598 responds to her deep-seated awareness of the dangers that gossip, rumor-mongering, innuendo, and slander posed to social and political cohesion. Her recognition of these dangers undoubtedly became acute in the late 1590s, when her court was sharply divided between supporters of Essex and supporters of his rivals, the Cecils. There can be no question of the strong provocations that Elizabeth received in the 1590s to channel her thought and feeling into the process of translating. The question is how she managed to find the time for her translations. Unlike the New Year’s gifts of her girlhood and the Cicero and Seneca letters presented to John Harington, there is little to no evidence that

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Elizabeth circulated, or intended to circulate, her late translations. However, since the Bodleian Library holds the manuscript copy of her verse rendering of the choral ode from Hercules Oetaeus and her autograph manuscript draft of her Pro Marcello translation, some acts of transmission must have occurred. We have no idea how the copy of the choral ode came into the possession of Robert Clay (d. 1628), who donated his papers to the Bodleian. We conjecture that Elizabeth speed-translated Pro Marcello during her 1592 visit to Oxford University and left her autograph text behind as a memento. A further fact militating against the prospects of circulation is the nonfinal state of the late translations. The Horace is fragmentary while the Pro Marcello, Boethius, and Plutarch are complete versions of their source texts; yet all are first drafts, extensively revised and susceptible of further revision. Apart from the prose sections of Boethius that Elizabeth dictated, these drafts survive almost exclusively in her handwriting. There are scattered indications that she gave instructions for fair copies to be made of some drafts or parts, suggesting that she wanted the translations preserved for herself or for some future purpose that required a legible form. The manuscript of her Boethius translation, bound with her Plutarch and Horace at a later date, contains brief stretches of text in fair copy, recopied from her original by a clerk. A fair (though textually faulty) copy of her Plutarch translation survives as a separate manuscript in the same clerk’s hand. Although Elizabeth might eventually have decided to make gifts of one or another of these translations, as she had done earlier, the readership she primarily envisaged for them seems to have been herself— and her all-seeing, all-knowing God. Such a trajectory from her first translations, done for others, to her final translations, apparently done for herself, suggests that she came increasingly to value translation as a way of being productively and pleasurably alone, yet not alone, because engaged in interchange with the author she was translating. By withholding her translations from circulation, the queen of England could head off any challenge to her competence and authority that might arise from her courtiers’ critical judgments. Nonetheless, a reputation for translating would affirm that very competence and authority while witnessing as well to the ethical and political self-dedication that she so movingly emphasized to her subjects in her late addresses—especially her “Golden Speech” and her last speech, both of 1601.12 12. CW, 337, 339, 340–41, 347–48, 353–54.

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There is indeed some evidence that Elizabeth wanted the facts, if not the texts, of her late translating activity to be known. William Camden records for the year 1598 that the queen “had lately translated Sallust, De bello Jugurthino, into English; and about this time the greatest part of Horace, De arte poetica, and the book of Plutarch, De curiositate; all which she wrote with her own hand, for all the rebellion in Ireland grew so hot as it did.”13 Significantly, Camden makes no claim to having seen any of these; the Sallust, in any case, seems to have disappeared from view early. In dedicating to Elizabeth the translation of Tacitus that he published in 1591, the Oxford academic Henry Savile urges her “to communicate to the world, if not those admirable compositions of your own, yet at the least those most rare and excellent translations of histories, . . . making evident demonstration to all who have seen them, that . . . stories composed or amended by princes are not only the best pattern and rule of great actions, but also the most natural registers thereof, the writers being persons of like degree and of proportionable conceits with the doers.”14 Savile is unspecific about what histories Elizabeth has translated and unclear about whether he is among those “who have seen them.” In any case, his blandishments must have failed to persuade her to circulate her translations, since he reprinted this dedicatory letter verbatim in the second edition of his Tacitus translation in 1598. The objects that made the rounds with some of Elizabeth’s contemporaries were, evidently, reports on her prolific activity as a translator, not the translations themselves. Elizabeth’s Practices as a Translator On the evidence of her translations no less than her original compositions, Elizabeth had an impressive mastery of Latin, French, and Italian.15 As with most highly educated persons in the sixteenth century, her knowledge of Greek apparently extended to the reading and trans13. William Camden, Tomus Alter, et Idem, or The Historie of the Life and Reigne of that Famous Princesse, Elizabeth (London, 1629), 231. 14. Henry Savile, trans. and ed., The End of Nero and Beginning of Galba: Four Books of the Histories of Cornelius Tacitus; The Life of Agricola (Oxford, 1591), sig. π2r–v. 15. For Elizabeth’s original compositions in Latin, French, and Italian, see ACFLO, which also includes three prayers in Spanish (141–43). Several Spanish ambassadors to England mention conversations had with her in their language. But Elizabeth almost never used Spanish—for obvious political reasons.

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lating of excerpts but not to extended translation or original composition. In 1548 John Bale recorded that he saw successive Latin, French, and Italian translations of Psalm 14:1 in Elizabeth’s girlish hand; the verse reads in English: “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, and abominable in their impiety; not one of them doth good.” Below these, Elizabeth had written a much simpler dictum in Greek; it reads in English: “Fear God, honor thy parents, and reverence thy friends.”16 Under Ascham’s guidance, resumed after she became queen, Elizabeth’s proficiency in Greek certainly increased, for he reminisced about her translating of Demosthenes and Isocrates from Greek into English and then back into Greek, performed faithfully every morning, and the same procedure applied to the Latin of Cicero every afternoon, “for the space of a year or two,” producing “a perfect understanding in both the tongues.” In the 1560s he claimed of Elizabeth that “the best-given gentlemen of this court, and all they together show not so much good will, spend not so much time, bestow not so many hours, daily, orderly, and constantly, for the increase of learning and knowledge as doth the Queen’s Majesty herself. Yea, I believe that, beside her perfect readiness in Latin, Italian, French, and Spanish, she readeth here now at Windsor more Greek every day than some prebendary of this church doth read Latin in a whole week.”17 Because Ascham at this date had every reason to praise his former student and queen as highly as possible, his implication that Elizabeth’s capacity in Greek differs from her “perfect readiness” in other foreign languages is noteworthy.18 Among her translations, the most conspicuous evidence of the difference is her English translation of Plutarch by way of Erasmus’s Latin translation; accessing a Greek original through a Latin intermediary was a well-trodden literary pathway in the Renaissance. Even so, she sustained a working capacity in the language throughout her life, 16. Bale, Conclusion, A Godly Meditacyon, fol. 41v. 17. Roger Ascham, The Schoolmaster (1570), ed. Lawrence V. Ryan (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia for Folger Shakespeare Library, 1967), 87, 56. 18. In a 1550 letter to the humanist pedagogue Johann Sturm, Ascham implies a similar difference in Elizabeth’s linguistic attainments when, after praising her fluent French and Italian and smooth, correct Latin, he notes that she readily speaks Greek “mediocriter” (medium well) and writes Greek excellently. He offers this qualified praise even though he felt a need of restoring his close relation with the princess at this date. See Whole Works of Roger Ascham, 3 vols. in 4, ed. Rev. Dr. Giles (London, 1864–65), 1:191; Letters of Roger Ascham, ed. Alvin Vos, trans. Maurice Hatch and Vos (New York: Peter Lang, 1989), 157, 167.

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as demonstrated in her 1593 translations of the brief Greek sayings and quotations in Boethius.19 Ascham boasts that there be “scarce one or two rare wits in both the universities” or “few in number in both the universities, or elsewhere in England, that be . . . comparable with Her Majesty” in her “perfect understanding” and “ready utterance” of Latin and Greek.20 On the evidence of her translations, however, comparison with university learning is misleading. Elizabeth was always tutored individually, except possibly for some early shared sessions with her brother Edward. She never tasted the benefits of university life or even of grammar school—the lectures, disputations, informal and formal colloquies, and dramatic productions, all in Latin, that could yield such fruitful peer relations and literary selfcultivation for her male contemporaries—except during three short visits to Cambridge and Oxford when she was queen. The resulting deficit in certain areas of technical vocabulary or “terms of art” is perceptible in her translation of books 3–5 of Boethius, where she struggles with astronomical, cosmological, and logical turns in the argument. Although superbly taught by her tutors, Elizabeth was untrained in the habits of a textual scholar. Her translations yield no evidence that she consulted the editorial apparatus or commentaries in the sources she used, except for sometimes adopting a variant reading in the margin opposite a line that she was translating. Throughout her practice as a translator, she also seems not to have consulted dictionaries for the meanings of words unfamiliar to her—instead, for example, construing “struthiocamelum” (ostrich) in Erasmus’s Latin translation of Plutarch as “camel” (De curiositate, line 343) on the basis of the final three syllables of the Latin word. Compounding the cultural distance from a scholar’s study or library is the testimony already noted from John Harington regarding Elizabeth’s engagement with three discourses at once, and from her clerk Thomas Windebank regarding the short time spent on her transla19. Elizabeth composed four prayers in Greek, three of which appeared as the last section of her multilingual prayers published in 1569, the fourth of which is contained in her girdle prayer book of ca. 1579. The vocabulary and syntax of these Greek prayers are heavily formulaic, reliant on set phrases from Christian liturgy and Scripture. See ACFLO, 51–52, 147–49. Leicester Bradner has convincingly argued that a translation of Xenophon’s Hiero once thought to be hers is not Elizabeth’s; see “The Xenophon Translation Attributed to Queen Elizabeth I,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 27 (1964): 324–26. 20. Ascham, Schoolmaster, 56, 87.

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tions. The manuscripts of her Boethius, Plutarch, and Horace translations were initially in the safekeeping of Windebank, to whom she dictated the extensive prose portions of Boethius, recorded in his rapid, professional secretary script with its many cursive forms and contractions. Windebank’s notes and endorsements in this manuscript reveal that Elizabeth dispatched these translations in short order, a fact she wanted documented. He records that her Boethius translation occupied not more than two hours out of each of eighteen working days and that the Plutarch was finished in less than a week—presumably under similar conditions. Elizabeth’s rechecking and revision of her late translations was intermittent and piecemeal at best. The clearest instances of loose ends are recorded in our notes to her Boethius, where Windebank’s writing at her dictation produced obvious yet uncorrected errors. From time to time in her heavily revised autograph translations of Boethius’s lyrics, she does not notice that she has deleted a phrase without supplying a replacement. At the broadest level of coherence and consistency, moreover, there is no evidence that she went back to revise what she had already translated to take account of later passages or the developing overall context. Her translations do not always track verbal associations across a text. In her early translation of Ochino, for example, she misses the connotations of spiritual delusion that he generates by way of the related terms “fantasia” (fantasy, fancy), which she translates into Latin as “arbitri[um]” (will), and “fantasma” (phantasm, ghost), which she translates as “spectrum” (ghost). Similarly, in book 3 of her Boethius translation, her rendering of the related words “clarus” (famous), “claritas,” and “claritudo” (fame) with a host of English terms of diverse connotations obscures Boethius’s ongoing logical argument concerning the limits of fame. Yet very similar observations apply to translations made in her day that have attained the status of English Renaissance classics—for example, Thomas Hoby’s translation of Castiglione’s Il cortegiano (The Courtier) (1561), Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579) using Jacques Amyot’s French version as an intermediary, and John Florio’s translation of Montaigne’s Essais (1603).21 However nonscholarly her own approach, Elizabeth 21. See F. O. Matthiessen, Translation: An Elizabethan Art (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931), 32–50, 65–95, 108–56.

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embodied the “hard wit” that Ascham so much exalted over “quick wit” in the formation of a well-educated, diversely capable, publicly devoted servant of the English commonweal.22 Her hard—that is, retentive, steady, and probing—wit is well demonstrated by her adaptation of his method of “double translation” to derive both guidance and satisfaction in the handling of her source text. In his account, “double translation”—from Latin to English, and back to Latin again—involved “marking, first, the cause and matter; then, the words and phrases; next, the order and composition; after, the reason and arguments; then the forms and figures of both the tongues; lastly, the measure and compass of every sentence, [which] must needs by little and little draw unto it the like shape of eloquence as the author doth use which is read.”23 Ascham presents double translation as a means by which good literature can make receptive students both good scholars and good persons by inculcating precision, order, and consonance in their handling of language and, as a consequence, in the processes of their thought. The influence of double translation shapes Elizabeth’s single translations to varying degrees. In their intention and their execution, they are generally faithful to their originals while also being lively, artful specimens of English prose. Training in double translation encouraged Elizabeth in the use of cognates and word-for-word or phrase-for-phrase construal. How better, after all, to ensure tallying with one’s source than by employing linguistic elements as similar as possible to those of the source?24 A great many of her cognates are recorded in our footnotes to the translations. On occasion, however, cognates can mislead—in cases of the phenomenon of “faux amis” (false friends). Thus, Elizabeth’s “thy familiar” (intimate friend or associate) is cognate with but differs in sense from Boethius’s “tuorum quidam familiarum” (one of your servants) in book 1, prose 4, while “palms” does not accurately render “palmites” (vinesprouts) in book 1, meter 6. Similarly, while her word-for-word construals are often apt and clear, they may be obscure at times, as where

22. Ascham, Schoolmaster, 21–26. 23. Ibid., 87. 24. For a harsher assessment of the influence of Ascham’s training, see Steven F. May’s introduction to Queen Elizabeth I: Selected Works, ed. May (New York: Washington Square Press, 2004), xxv–xxvi.

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“action of common rule” (“actum publicae administrationis”) requires glossing as ‘practice of public administration’ (book 1, prose 4). A cautionary note is in order, however: to assess Elizabeth’s cognates one must take into account early modern English locutions whose semantic range is close to that in the source language. In the Pro Marcello translation, for example, her “compound” in its obsolete sense of ‘settle a quarrel’ felicitously renders the cognate “composita” (settled, pacified); in line 45 of her Ars poetica translation, the very same verb “compound” in its obsolete sense of ‘compose’ precisely conveys the import of Horace’s cognate “componere” (line 35). Even the most literal approaches to translation in the sixteenth century admitted deliberate departures from the source text, especially if these were embellishments that, by period standards, enhanced a work’s eloquence. Both in England and on the Continent, the principal resources for heightening style were (1) doublets, chiefly lexical primaries (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) conjoined with “and” or “or,” and (2) parallel construction of phrases and clauses. The premium placed on doublets and parallelism emerges not only in the frequency with which they occur in every literary genre but also in the latitude allowed them in translation: they could be used even if the source text gave no warrant for them.25 From her first efforts at translation onward, Elizabeth created doublets to intensify expression or convey emphasis, as in “Thy clemency and goodness” and “Hark, and ponder,” rendering Marguerite de Navarre’s “vostre grand’ clemence” and “Escoutéz” (lines 796, 1399) respectively. Later, after much intervening experience, she interposed doublets such as “extols and enlarge” and “stirrers and raisers” as she translated Cicero’s Pro Marcello. Her versatility in embellishing her source texts attests her literary sensitivity: she can be periphrastic as well as very literal, and she adds doublets to Cicero’s high-style epideictic rhetoric much oftener than she does to Boethius’s more sober argumentative prose, evidently because Cicero’s fondness for doublets as a means of rhetorical heightening makes their use seem appropriate for his text. By contrast, Elizabeth’s very first translation eliminates many of Marguerite’s doublets and trims repetitions and pleonasms as well. At the age of eleven, she seems already to have recognized that 25. See Massimiliano Morini, Tudor Translation in Theory and Practice (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2006), 85–87, 92–94.

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an English prose translation might be more succinct than Marguerite’s decasyllabic couplets, with their ornate copiousness and rhyme-driven redundancies. Elizabeth’s translations of Latin poetry—and, in the case of Erasmus’s Plutarch, Latin prose—demand special attention because of the distinctive stamp that she gives to these renderings in English verse. Judged by sixteenth-century metrical norms, the rhymeless iambic lines of varying lengths in her Boethius, Plutarch, and Horace translations are highly experimental. Scholars have not generally been receptive to the anomaly they present. We undertake to show in our introductions to her several translations in verse that, at their best, these compositions effectively exploit the native resources of iambic verse form and sensitively respond to the artistry of their Latin originals. Elizabeth does not overtly appropriate or update her sources in the manner of her godson John Harington, who freely added English allusions to his 1591 translation of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, or of Ben Jonson, who on occasion replaced ancient Roman references with contemporary English ones in imitating Latin poems. Yet with more or less self-awareness, Elizabeth at various points adjusts the sense of her sources to her own conceptions and values. Where Cicero in Pro Marcello generalizes regarding “omne genus hominum” (every race of man, all mankind), she makes reference to “all kind of estates”—the early modern construct of a graded set of social ranks or positions.26 She exhibits feminine delicacy and womanly self-esteem as she reworks bodily and sexually explicit locutions and misogynist formulations found in Erasmus’s Plutarch. Elizabeth translates “fistula iuxta posticum” (a fistula near the rear) as “a fistula in the thigh” and “cancrum in membro pudendo” (a cancer in her private member) as “a cancer in secret, hidden place” (De curiositate, lines 233–34). She blunts the force of Erasmus’s—and Plutarch’s—characterization of female prostitution as widespread by departing from the Latin and distinguishing “most” women from “common women,” and, at another juncture, attaching the verb “sold” to “forms”—pictures and statues—“of boys, of women,” rather than to the boys and women themselves, as the Latin has it (De curiositate, lines 306, 339–40). Elizabeth is especially prone to translate freely and even to recast her sources in order to conform them more closely to her own reli26. Compare her 1572 reference to “our own subjects of all estates” (CW, 206).

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gious and political beliefs. At the age of eleven and twelve, steeped in Queen Katherine Parr’s Erasmian evangelicalism, she elides a division drawn by Calvin between the elect and other professing Christians. As a young princess and as a elderly queen, she tones down the respective claims by Marguerite de Navarre and Boethius that human beings can unite with the divine, whether as a gift of grace (as in Marguerite) or an attainment of virtuous reason (as in Boethius). Any such implication evidently violated Elizabeth’s lifelong conviction that humility in the presence of God was a sacred obligation, repeatedly shown in her Latin prayers where she styles herself God’s “handmaid” (“ancilla”). She Christianizes Seneca’s references to the gods and fate in Epistle 107. Along comparable lines, where Seneca, Plutarch, and Horace variously invoke achievements of kings or challenges faced by them, Elizabeth expatiates as she translates, interjecting her own ideas of monarchical status and probity. The idealizing touches added to the depiction of friendship in Cicero’s letter to Curio suggest her belief that this relation was genuinely available to persons in exalted positions and immersed in political intrigue. Her translation of Erasmus’s Plutarch strikingly deviates from its treatment of tyrants and informers by transferring the moral onus of spying from rulers to their spies. Even a single touch, as when she renders “praeclarissimam” (most admirable) as “princely,” heightens the pertinence of Cicero’s Pro Marcello to issues and choices that she faced as a “prince.” Yet other departures that Elizabeth makes from her source texts can frequently be explained by the speed at which she worked. Although it is impossible at many points to determine whether an omission occurred by mistake or by design, sometimes it seems clear that her eye skipped where she fails to translate a line or part of a line. The process of dictation, with its premium on speed, also leads to errors, even if it is uncertain who is to blame. In Windebank’s transcript of Boethius, where “can he bear” should read “can he not bear” and “possessed of money” should read “not possessed of money” (book 2, prose 6, and book 3, prose 3), who mistakenly left out the nots, the royal mistress or the professional clerk? We have, nonetheless, identified several passages where Windebank’s production of wording that is far from the original and contextually inappropriate indicates that he must have misheard Elizabeth. Recourse to the source not infrequently allows her close translation of the original passage to be reconstructed. Elizabeth can be insufficiently attentive to Latin grammar, with

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its elaborate noun and pronoun declensions, verb tenses and moods, and clause types that so powerfully determine meaning. For instance, in translating Boethius she renders as present indicatives, “heaps not riches” and “adorns,” two subjunctives that should have been phrased as admonitions (book 3, meter 3). Other examples include intermittent confusions of subjects and objects and mistaken pairings of adjectives and nouns caused by disregard of case endings. A subtler form of inattentiveness involves the choice of a possible but contextually inappropriate sense for a word or phrase. Sometimes such a choice suggests Elizabeth’s unfamiliarity with a word’s more technical sense. In translating Calvin she renders “temerairement” as “rashly” where the context requires the metaphysical sense of ‘at random’ or ‘by chance.’ Similarly, in the prose sections of Boethius she translates forms of Latin “temerarius” and its cognates in the psychological sense of “rash” where the metaphysical sense of ‘fortuitous, accidental’ is called for (book 1, prose 3 and 6; book 4, prose 5 and 6; book 5, prose 1). Most often such “off ” choices seem to result from construing a word or phrase at a glance without reflecting on the context. Elizabeth’s largest, most colorful category of error also results from something likely to happen when a translator is working quickly: mistaking one word for another or confusing the sense of similar words. She misreads Calvin’s “invincible” as “invisible.” In Pro Marcello, she mistakes Cicero’s “turma” (squadron) for “turba” (mob, crowd) and accordingly renders this as “rascal,” an early modern term for ‘the rabble.’ In her Boethius, “shade” instead of “winter” results from transposing letters and mistaking “brumae” for “umbrae” (book 1, meter 5). In line 167 of Horace’s Ars, she mistakes “inservit” (he serves) for a form of the verb “inserere” (to ingraft), either present “inserit” or perfect “insevit” construed as a gnomic perfect denoting habitual action, whence her rendering “engraffing” (line 181). Elizabeth famously described her bloodline as “mere English.” The phrase aptly characterizes major features of her language and style as a translator as well. Despite her heavy use of cognates, she had a penchant for deep-rooted colloquial vocabulary from the native English word stock. She also tended to use words and grammatical forms that were passing out of use in the English of her day. As our footnotes to her various translations indicate, words and meanings labeled “obsolete” or “archaic” in the Oxford English Dictionary constantly need to be taken into account in assessing her renderings. Other no longer current aspects of the English of her time include possessive constructions

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that did not yet require marking with an apostrophe and s; freedom to combine singular and plural forms of subject nouns and verbs in the absence of a strict agreement rule; similar freedom in varying personal and impersonal pronouns—for example, “who” / “whom” with “that” and “his” with “its.” There was a still fluid distinction between temporal and causal senses of the conjunction “when,” so that it could be used to render Latin “cum” with the meaning ‘since,’ as in “when but only the ill they can do, wicked men can do nothing” (Boethius, book 4, prose 2). But for a modern reader the most serious source of difficulty with Elizabeth’s English is likely to be her frequent use of ellipsis: omission of some lexical item that must be inferred from the context. Nouns, pronouns, main verbs, the infinitive marker “to,” auxiliaries, adverbs, prepositions—she elides them all. Recurrent ellipsis of “which” in relative or conjunctive pronoun constructions may impede understanding: for example, “that is given to another” as ‘that which is given to another’ (Boethius, book 2, prose 5).27 The nativism of Elizabeth’s grammar carries over into her style, where she conspicuously employs alliteration as one among several means of heightening intensity or conveying emphasis in prose as well as verse. The range in her use of alliteration extends from local effects like “gainful grasp” and “hoarded heaps” (Hercules Oetaeus, lines 34, 35) and “woe and wail” rendering “maiestitiam luctumque” (Boethius, book 2, prose 1) to more complex sound configurations that grace, especially, her translations in verse: for example, the admixture of assonance and consonance with alliteration in “Unseasoned, hoary hairs upon my head are poured” (Boethius, book 1, meter 1) and “The goodliest world, that mind’st, and of like mold it made” (Boethius, book 3, meter 9). There is much vigorous colloquialism in Elizabeth’s translations. In her early Glass, a homely reference to “grudging and beating” replaces the military image with which Marguerite figures an assault on her sinful soul (lines 362–63). In the last line of her translation of Seneca’s Epistle 107, Elizabeth vividly recasts his verb “obluctatur” (struggles against) as “wrestles a pluck”—literally, has a go of it—against Fortune. Similarly, in her late translation of Erasmus’s Latinized Plutarch, she sharpens the moral point of the objectively couched passive construc27. For an inclusive overview of period features of grammar and syntax, see Manfred Görlach, Introduction to Early Modern English (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).

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tions in “commonstrans illis quid sit cavendum quidve corrigendum” (revealing to them what is to be avoided or what is to be corrected) by making the verbs active and turning the whole into plainspoken English: ”That telleth them their lacks, and where they do amiss” (De curiositate, line 66). Her Boethius translation offers numerous turns of colloquial utterance, such as the pronouncement, particularly notable in coming from the queen of England, that power “cannot chase bites of care nor shun the stings of fear” (book 3, prose 5). Editorial Principles and Practices Any attempt to assess Elizabeth’s accuracy, license, or fallibility as a translator requires that her version be compared with the text in the Renaissance edition that afforded her access to her original. What may initially seem to be latitude or error frequently proves to be close rendering of her source text. Breaking early ground in the direction of identifying Elizabeth’s sources, Geoffrey Riddehough posited a number of textual variants that must have been present in the Boethius edition that served as Elizabeth’s source, while Leicester Bradner did the same regarding editions of Boethius, Plutarch, and Horace. In seeking to identify the source for Elizabeth’s Glass, Renja Salminen decisively eliminated editions of Marguerite’s Miroir that predate December 1533.28 Building on this scholarship, our edition has consistently applied the principle that a candidate Renaissance source must contain all relevant substantive variants and no disconfirming ones. We have, for the first time, identified with a high degree of certainty the editions Elizabeth used for her translations of Parr, Calvin, Ochino, 28. See G. B. Riddehough, “Queen Elizabeth’s Translation of Boethius’ De consolatione philosophiae,” Journal of English and Germanic Philology 45 (1946): 89; The Poems of Queen Elizabeth I, ed. Leicester Bradner (Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1964), 83–91; and Renja Salminen’s commentary in Marguerite de Navarre’s Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse: Edition critique et commentaire suivis de la traduction faite par la princesse Elisabeth, future reine d’Angleterre, “The Glasse of the Synnefull Soule” (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1979), 5–19, 253–54. As Bradner and Riddehough note, Caroline Pemberton’s claims regarding inaccuracies are vitiated by her lack of attention to Renaissance editions of Elizabeth’s sources in her pioneering transcription: Queen Elizabeth’s Englishings of Boethius, “De consolatione philosophiae,” A.D. 1593; Plutarch, “De curiositate” [1598]; Horace, “De arte poetica” (part), A.D. 1598, Early English Text Society, orig. ser. 113 (London, 1899). The recent selection from Elizabeth’s translations edited by Steven F. May does not address the question of her source texts; see Queen Elizabeth I: Selected Works, 268–328.

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Seneca, Boethius, Horace, and Plutarch, as well as the edition she most likely used for the choral ode ascribed to Seneca. We have narrowed the range of possible sources for Cicero’s letter and Pro Marcello—in the latter case, to two extremely similar editions. We have confirmed Salminen’s likeliest candidate as the source for Marguerite’s Miroir. The presentation of our transcriptions of Elizabeth’s original-spelling manuscripts adheres to the procedures described in the introduction to ACFLO. We offer typographical reproductions of all translations that survive in Elizabeth’s handwriting, retaining her spellings, capitalization, punctuation, and paragraphing, and indicating her additions, deletions, and other corrections. We have also typographically reproduced the prose portions of Boethius that Elizabeth dictated to her clerk Thomas Windebank, because they contain corrections in her hand. This accords with the policy for letters in CW. Our modernization of Elizabeth’s spelling and punctuation conforms to the guidelines set out in the introduction to CW. When the spelling of a word is close to its form in modern English, we have silently modernized its spelling. We distinguish between “aught” and “ought,” “other” and “utter,” “then” and “than,” “whether” and “whither,” as Elizabethans did not. We have modernized “the” as “thee” or “they,” and “ne” as “not,” “neither,” or “nor,” depending on the context. We have inserted apostrophes as markers of possessive constructions where the original lacks an -s. We have modernized archaic forms of past participles, changing “astonied” to “astonished”; “constrain” to “constrained”; “graffen” to “graven”; “knowen” to “known”; “lese” to “lose”; “setted” to “set”; “strake” to “struck.” We have modernized names of persons and places. We have also silently regularized in our modern-spelling versions several of Elizabeth’s orthographic idiosyncrasies, including her omission of the final t from such words as “naught,” “aught,” and “right” and her use of the Greek letter φ for the f sound. Our practice with other lexical items can be suggested by a series of paired examples, in which our modernization appears in second place: accompted / accounted; burthen / burden; ensaumple / example; furth / forth; hit / it; mo / more; scace, scacely / scarce, scarcely; syth / since. We have also normalized the spellings of certain English words to which Elizabeth gave a French or Latin coloration in translating from these languages: thus, clartie / clarity; confort / comfort; exul / exile; mervayle, mervaylous / marvel, marvelous; parfait, perfet / perfect. Since the majority of Elizabeth’s translations are auto-

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graph texts presented in original-spelling versions as well, the reader can readily retrieve most of the forms that we have modernized. Our introductions to individual texts describe the source text and its cultural significance, the historical context of Elizabeth’s translation, the edition or editions that she might have used, and the most striking aspects of her translation. In our facing-page presentation of originalspelling and modern-spelling texts or (in the case of Ochino’s sermon) Elizabeth’s Latin rendering and our English translation, our footnotes to the text in original spelling appear first, beginning on the left-hand page, with lightface numbers; our footnotes to the text in modern spelling follow immediately, with numbers in boldface. In annotating words and phrases, our footnotes aim to clarify three issues fundamental to a reader’s understanding. First, many of our footnotes aim to explain Elizabeth’s often obscure meaning, primarily by clarifying her ellipses as well as usages and vocabulary that are unfamiliar. Such clarification, especially regarding former meanings of words that are still in English usage, frequently shows that her meaning is much closer to her source than might at first appear. Second, many of our footnotes record her actual or apparent deviations from her source. We ordinarily give the reading of the original together with our own literal translation, allowing the reader to compare her English with her source. Sometimes, however, we speculate on how and why Elizabeth got from the language of her source to her English rendering. Here we aim to capture her in revelatory moments of construal and rerendering. We attempt to show the reader that even her errors often demonstrate a close, serious engagement with the language of her texts. Finally, we have noted the passages where apparent peculiarities in her translation correspond to substantive variants in the Renaissance editions from which she translated. We have used Loeb Classical Library editions, supplemented by various critical editions and commentaries mentioned in our introductions and footnotes, to ascertain the modern sense of Elizabeth’s source texts and to assist with translations of passages. Occasionally we cite Renaissance dictionaries and commentaries, not to imply that these played a role in Elizabeth’s translation procedure but to reveal period understandings of the texts that she translated. For modern versions of Latin church fathers and medieval ecclesiastical writers, we cite the Patrologia Latina, ed. J.-P. Migne, 221 vols. (Paris, 1844–65), as PL followed by the volume and page number.

How the eleven-year-old Princess Elizabeth came to translate Marguerite de Navarre’s Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse (1st ed. 1531) as a 1545 New Year’s gift for Queen Katherine Parr remains unknown. While modern scholars a century apart have speculated that Elizabeth worked from a copy of the Miroir once in the possession of her mother, Queen Anne Boleyn, and possibly a gift from Marguerite, no such manuscript or printed volume has yet been found.1 As noted in our general introduction, the Huguenot Jean Bellemain may already have been tutoring Elizabeth in French.2 If so, he may have put Marguerite’s poem into Elizabeth’s hands. Again, if so, the translation could have been his or Elizabeth’s idea; in either case, he would have been likely to oversee her efforts. Perhaps Queen Katherine, the eventual recipient of the translation, obtained Marguerite’s Miroir and encouraged her precocious stepdaughter to turn the poem into English prose.

1. For such speculation, see Percy W. Ames, introduction to The Mirror of the Sinful Soul: A Prose Translation from the French of a Poem by Queen Margaret of Navarre, Made in 1544 by the Princess (Afterwards Queen Elizabeth, Then Eleven Years of Age, Reproduced in FacSimile (London, 1897), 31; Marc Shell, Elizabeth’s Glass, with “The Glass of the Sinful Soul” [1544] by Elizabeth I and “Epistle Dedicatory” and “Conclusion” [1548] by John Bale (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), 3n291; and Maureen Quilligan, Incest and Agency in Elizabeth’s England (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 47–48. 2. Elizabeth’s earliest italic handwriting is all but indistinguishable from Bellemain’s, suggesting that she was his pupil in this aspect of humanistic study also at this period (see introduction to ACFLO, xiv–xvii).

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Whatever the circumstances, Elizabeth’s translation, The Glass of the Sinful Soul, would have several notable consequences. The most immediate of these, for Elizabeth herself, was to arouse her appetite for close, sustained textual work with a particular species of contemporary religious writing—one steeped in Biblical citations and allusions, charged with spiritual intensity focused on the person and the office of Jesus as Saviour and sole Mediator between sinful humankind and an all-holy, all-powerful God. After Marguerite’s Miroir, Elizabeth would turn her energies in steady succession to translating Queen Katherine’s own Prayers or Meditations into Latin, French, and Italian, the introductory chapter of the first French edition of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, and one of Bernardino Ochino’s Italian sermons, “Of Christ.” Through these youthful translations Elizabeth acquired a learned, pious persona—her first public identity, and an enduring one. Under still mysterious auspices, John Bale published Elizabeth’s Glass—considerably altered at points and interlarded with Scriptural references added by Bale—under the title A Godly Meditation of the Christian Soul, at Marburg, Germany, in 1548; this version saw a London edition in 1590. Working from Bale’s version, James Cancellar brought out his own version of Elizabeth’s Glass between 1568 and 1570, substituting his own prefatory material for hers; this text was reprinted by Thomas Bentley in “Lamp 2” of his Monument of Matrons (1582) and also republished separately around the same time. Such a record of reissue implies the continuing appeal of the Glass in sixteenth-century England as an expression of and stimulus to decorous feminine spirituality. Since republication could not have occurred without Elizabeth’s permission, the record also implies that her girlish accomplishment satisfied her, despite the apologetic modesty of her prefatory letter to Queen Katherine. The period during which Elizabeth’s selected authors wrote and she translated—the two decades from the mid-1520s to the mid-1540s— was a labile phase in the expression of Christ-centered, personalized spirituality based on intense meditation on Scripture—increasingly, in vernacular versions rather than the Latin Vulgate. In the earlier sixteenth century, Erasmus influentially promoted a nonmonastic Christand Scripture-centered piety. As a renowned translator-scholar, an advocate of vernacular Bibles and Bible study by the laity, and an exponent of what he called “philosophia Christi,” he had a pioneering impact and a widening influence in northern Europe and England during

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the 1520s, 1530s, and 1540s. As elucidated in his Enchiridion (Handbook of the Christian Soldier) of 1503, “philosophia Christi” was the peaceable, charitable, humble conduct of everyday life modeled on the life of Jesus as narrated in the Gospels, accompanied by spiritual growth and deepening piety engendered by following Jesus’ example and meditating on Scripture. Erasmianism is a primary ingredient in the contemporary spirituality that attracted Marguerite, Queen Katherine, and Elizabeth, as well as other prominent personages of the time. Another primary ingredient, for which Erasmus provides no precedent, is St. Paul’s account—principally in Romans—of the ruptural formation of a true Christian’s identity. He or she is abject and desperate, filled with self-loathing, helplessness, and hopelessness, in the face of God’s law, which condemns, without exception, the sins and the utter corruption of humankind. But when the Gospel, by God’s grace, awakens and illuminates the heart so that the convert is brought to believe that Jesus has redeemed him or her from sin, death, and damnation, there ensues a state of unspeakable joy, release, gratitude, and love of the Creator and the Saviour—together with willing obedience to God, which was impossible before. This is the conversion experience that sustains and is sustained by the transformation that Paul terms being “justified by faith” (Romans 5:1) or putting off “the old man” and putting on “the new man” (Ephesians 4:22, 24). The period’s most conspicuous conversion experience was Martin Luther’s, given crucial valence as “justification by faith” in his many writings. Yet Luther himself recognized in his conversion more of a generic than an idiosyncratic religious experience—the outcome of reading and meditating on St. Paul against the backdrop of a transnational church whose power and venality were matters of offense and critique in early sixteenth-century Europe. As they read St. Paul, and the Bible more widely, against this backdrop, many contemporaries would experience and express spiritual turning points, transformation, and reorientation similar to Luther’s. One such person was Marguerite de Navarre, sister of the French king François I.3 Marguerite’s Miroir expresses a profound spiritual stirring and upheaval. Its decasyllabic verse couplets highlight sharp oscillations of 3. Gary Ferguson offers a perceptive account in Mirroring Belief: Marguerite de Navarre’s Devotional Poetry (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press for the University of Durham, 1992).

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feeling, now produced by an overwhelming sense of sin and unworthiness, now by an equally enveloping sense of the honor, worth, favor, and joy conferred on the soul through Christ’s redemptive love and grace, enacted in and assured by His death on the cross. This spiritual expression appears to have an identifiable biographical origin. Her frequent exchange of letters with Guillaume Briçonnet, Bishop of Meaux, documents a period of spiritual longing, searching, and restlessness in 1521–24, when he served as her confidant and counselor.4 Seeking to implement the ideas of Erasmus and of his own evangelical teacher, Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples, Briçonnet advised Marguerite regarding her key role, as the king’s sister, in the cause of French ecclesiastical reform, urging her to ensure that God’s Word was purely read and taught to the people. While the Vulgate was the only Bible authorized for reading in France, Briçonnet sent Marguerite a copy of Lefèvre’s 1523 French translation of the New Testament and consulted with Lefèvre and other leading evangelicals on how to instruct Marguerite.5 She became a vocal advocate for propagating and reading Scripture. Her profuse Biblical citations in the Miroir are drawn from Lefèvre d’Etaples’s complete French translation of the Bible of 1530.6 Yet because it is uncertain whether her marginal Biblical citations are her contribution or that of her printers, and because her life was eventful in the 1520s, the Miroir resists precise dating,7 It could date to 1521–24, the years of Marguerite’s spiritual crisis and Briçonnet’s marked influence, or to the later part of this period, between 1527 and 1531. In 1527 she married Henri d’Albret, king of Navarre; in 1530 she gave birth to a son who lived only a few months; in September 1531 Louise de Savoie, Mar-

4. This exchange of letters is calendared in Pierre Jourda, Répertoire analytique et chronologique de la correspondance de Marguerite d’Angoulême, duchesse d’Alençon, reine de Navarre (1492–1549) (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1930), 10–43. For discussion, see Barbara Stephenson, The Power and Patronage of Marguerite de Navarre (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2005), chap. 5. 5. See Pierre Jourda, Marguerite d’Angoulême, duchesse d’Alençon, reine de Navarre (1492–1549): Etude biographique et littéraire, 2 vols. (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1930), 1:65–92; and Renja Salminen, introduction to Marguerite de Navarre, Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse: Edition critique et commentaire suivis de la traduction faite par la princesse Elisabeth, future reine d’Angleterre, “The Glasse of the Synnefull Soule” (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1979), 40–62. 6. See Joseph. L. Allaire’s introduction to Marguerite d’Angoulême, Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse: Edition critique (Munich: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1972), 13–19. 7. See Jourda, Marguerite d’Angoulême, 2:1108–9, and Allaire, introduction, 20.

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guerite’s mother, died after a long illness. Perhaps these losses prompted Marguerite to elaborate on the mystical relations of kinship and the union with Christ in death that figure prominently in the Miroir. The first and second editions of the Miroir were published at Alençon in 1531 and 1533. The first Paris edition, which appeared in the spring of 1533, was listed by the theological faculty of the Sorbonne as a prohibited book in October, partly in reaction to religious unrest sparked by Reformist initiatives. The condemnation of the Miroir proved brief, however. Marguerite appealed to her brother the king, whose demand for an explanation from the Sorbonne produced the answer that the faculty had not read the Miroir and thus could neither approve nor condemn it.8 The Reformist Paris printer Antoine Augereau published a wholly new edition of the Miroir in December 1533, with a new selection and internal arrangement of the other contents of the volume. This edition, as will be seen, served as the source text for Elizabeth’s English prose translation. (It would have to be the edition that Anne Boleyn owned, if Elizabeth did work from her mother’s copy.) Quite probably because the queen of Navarre’s evangelical Christianity would have been denied expression in an English court where Bishop Stephen Gardiner’s conservative Catholic faction still exercised a strong influence on Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s dedication to Queen Katherine omits any explicit reference to Marguerite’s authorship. Elizabeth also substitutes a simple “me” for Marguerite’s personalizing signature near the end of the work as “moy sa MARGVERITE” (me His Marguerite 1430),9 thus opening the way for Elizabeth’s full identification with the speaker of the work. Our notes to the modern-spelling version indicate her close grappling with Marguerite’s text. Elizabeth aims at and generally attains an accurate prose rendering of Marguerite’s sense.10 Though sometimes puzzled by Marguerite’s loose syntax and, less often, by idioms or individual words, she impressively renders the heights and depths of Marguerite’s devotion to Christ with its attendant swings of mood and tone. These Pauline antinomies continue to operate in the prayers that Elizabeth composed as queen and published in Preca-

8. See Salminen, introduction, 21–26, for further specifics. 9. Numbers, both in citations of Marguerite and in citations of Elizabeth’s prose translation, refer to the lineation of the Miroir. 10. For a detailed taxononomic analysis of Elizabeth’s various deviations from her source, see Salminen, commentary on Miroir, 264–84.

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tiones privatae Regiae E. R. (1563) and Christian Prayers and Meditations in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Latin (1569).11 One contemporary later discerned in these antinomies the principles that directed Elizabeth’s public comportment as queen: “I believe no prince living . . . was so tender of honor and so exactly stood for the preservation of sovereignty . . . and . . . stooped and descended lower in presenting her person to the public view . . . and in the ejaculations of her prayers upon the people.”12 As in subsequent translations, Elizabeth hews closely to her source text, partly by frequent use of cognates. Since this is her first translation, possibly supervised by Bellemain, a native speaker of French, it is not surprising that she produces some unidiomatic Gallicisms, including use of the definite article with abstract nouns and masculine and female pronouns keyed to the gender of their noun antecedents in French. While Elizabeth may add brief phrases for emphasis or clarification, her condensations, omissions, and paraphrastic deviations are more frequent and significant. Her translation retains yet discernibly moderates Marguerite’s passionate expression of religious feelings. Elizabeth eliminates some imagery of spiritual fire: “brusler” (burn 1072) becomes “stir,” “Charité ardente” (flaming charity 1283) becomes “charity.”13 She similarly eliminates or tones down erotic imagery, whether derived from secular love poetry or from the Song of Solomon: she excises the “doulx dard” (sweet dart 810) with which God’s amorous glance penetrates Marguerite’s heart, and she has God desire her “company” rather than her “beaulté” (718). Elizabeth condenses Marguerite’s various devices for rhetorical heightening: doublets, repetition of key terms, intensifying adjectives, and terms in climactic series. The “ferme et asseur” (firm and assured 199) soul is simply “assured”; “l’abisme et profondeur” (the bottomless gulf and depth 1296) of hell becomes its “deepness.” She reduces to a single “too much” a

11. For the original texts of these prayers, see ACFLO, 109–22, 129–49; for modern English versions, see CW, 134–63. 12. Sir Ralph Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia, or Observations on Queen Elizabeth, Her Times and Favorites, ed. John S. Cerovski (Washington, DC: Folger Shakespeare Library, 1985), 44. 13. Anne Lake Prescott, “The Pearl of the Valois and Elizabeth I: Marguerite de Navarre’s Miroir and Tudor England,” in Silent But for the Word: Tudor Women as Patrons, Translators, and Writers of Religious Works, ed. Margaret P. Hannay (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1985), 69–70.

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thrice iterated exclamation regarding God’s love, “c’est trop” (this is too much 557). “Amour importable” (unbearable love 345) becomes “love,” while “cruaulté si amaire” (cruelty so bitter 465) becomes “such cruelty.” A description of how God’s sweetness acts “consummer / Fondre, brusler, du tout aneantir / L’ame” (to consume, / Melt, burn, annihilate / The soul 954–56) is reduced to the claim that the soul is “consumed.” Elizabeth perceptibly recoils from Marguerite’s most extreme and vivid expressions of self-disgust—vital resources for expressing the soul’s abnegation as it contemplates the vast divide between its sinful depravity and God’s absolute perfection. While rendering literally one self-denigration as “ver de terre, moins que riens” (1373) as “worm of the earth, less than nothing,” she excises the elaboration: “Chienne morte, pourriture de fiens” (A dead bitch, a putrefaction of manure, 1374). A half-line in the same vein, “moy terre, cendre et fange” (me, earth, ash, and muck 370), is baldly cut. At the other end of the affective spectrum, Elizabeth repeatedly mutes allusions to the rapturous joining with God that humans may experience as a gift of grace. While Marguerite asserts that divine love “faict l’homme DIEV estre” (makes man become God, “Au Lecteur,” 21), Elizabeth claims only that men become “like unto God.” Our notes to lines 306, 311, 834, and 1086 record other examples. Notably, the sixty-year-old Elizabeth will also tone down Boethius’s suggestions that men can ascend through rarefied contemplation to unite with God. The demurring of the eleven-year-old princess regarding human prospects for apotheosis may reveal an already well internalized sense of the creature-Creator distinction drawn throughout Scripture, especially forcefully in St. Paul’s epistles. Besides frequently condensing her source, Elizabeth omits more than twenty-five lines. Some contain rhetorical elaborations that Elizabeth probably excised deliberately; others she probably missed through eye skips. Anne Lake Prescott delicately proposes that certain deviations from Marguerite’s text involving “father” references and other familial relations signal latent ambivalence and anger concerning Henry VIII’s treatment of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother. While the omission of lines comparing God to a kind father could easily be eye skips (see our notes to lines 350 and 582), Prescott’s argument seems most plausible when Elizabeth substitutes a “mother” for a “bon pere” (633).14 14. See Prescott, “Pearl of the Valois,” 69–71.

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Neither a conversion experience nor a longing for death to bring mystical union with Christ figures in Elizabeth’s subsequent expressions of her spirituality. Yet the Glass afforded continuing direction as she came to understand and represent her life-role as sovereign of England. Marc Shell has argued that her exploration of the figurative merger of familial relations in the Miroir—in the words of her dedicatory letter, the speaker as “mother, daughter, sister, and wife” of God— prepared for her figural self-representation as both mother and spouse of her nation.15 In later prayers Elizabeth affirmed that Scripture had prefigured her role as God’s handmaid, thus tracing her political and religious supremacy to a bestowal of divine favor upon her.16 Such entire yielding of glory to God was a spiritual posture that she may have first adopted in translating Marguerite’s Miroir.

* Scholars have disagreed over which edition of the Miroir served as Elizabeth’s source. In her critical edition of the Miroir, which includes an original-spelling text of Elizabeth’s Glass, Renja Salminen eliminated both the first and second Alençon editions as possible sources. Arguing that the edition published in Paris by Antoine Augereau in December 1533 was Elizabeth’s source, Salminen emphasized the sharp break between the contents and arrangement of this edition and those of its predecessors. Salminen notes in particular the inclusion in this edition, for the first time, of Marguerite’s preface to the reader, which Elizabeth translates.17 However, two subsequent editions of the Miroir derive closely from Augereau’s of December 1533. One of these carries no indication of place or date but is thought to have appeared shortly after Augereau’s—perhaps in early 1534. Evidence against this edition as Elizabeth’s source lies in its unique errors in marginal references, none of which she reproduces.18 The other was published in Geneva by 15. Shell, Elizabeth’s Glass, 8–73, esp. 66. 16. See, e.g., CW, 136–40, 146, 154–55. 17. Salminen, commentary on Miroir, 253–54; 162-4. This is Le Miroir de treschrestienne Princesse Margverite de France (Paris, 1533). The copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale Française, Paris, is shelfmarked Rés. Ye 1631–32. 18. The errors in marginal references in this edition, likewise entitled Le Miroir de treschrestienne Princesse Margverite de France, include “1 Pierre” (2 missing; line 229); “Luc 13”

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Jean Girard in 1539.19 While Prescott suggests that Elizabeth worked from the Geneva edition,20 the textual evidence decisively confirms Augereau’s edition of December 1533 as Elizabeth’s source. Five variant readings paired with Elizabeth’s respective translations suggest her use of Augereau’s December 1533 Paris edition (Aug) rather than Girard’s 1539 Geneva edition (Gir): line 96: De me faire (Aug); De m’auoir faict (Gir); To make me (Eliz) line 130: ces biens (Aug); ses biens (Gir); these goodness (Eliz) line 791: M’auoit (Aug); M’auoir (Gir); had . . . me (Eliz) line 889: quant a moy (Aug); quant en moy (Gir); As for me (Eliz) line 1382: o bienheureux Pol (Aug); o bienheureux sainct Pol (Gir); O happy Paul (Eliz)21 One minor variant reading that might support Elizabeth’s use of Girard’s edition is easily explainable as an instance of her periphrastic license: line 19: En ma (Aug); Et en ma (Gir); And in my (Eliz) Marginal Biblical references more decisively favor Augereau’s December 1533 edition. Elizabeth’s marginal references reproduce his at three points where Girard has a different reference or none at all: line 99: Jehan 7 (Aug); Jehan 3 (Gir); ihon 7 (Eliz) line 339: Cant. 2 (Aug); Cant. 3 (Gir); cantic. 2 (Eliz) line 392: Jehan 6 (Aug); no ref. (Gir); iohn. 6 (Eliz)

(710); “Cantic. 45” (952); “Roma. 18” (1141). The copy in the Bibliothèque Mazarine, Paris, is shelfmarked Rés. 21660; the British Library’s copy of this text is shelfmarked C.97.aa.5 and dated 1535 in its catalog. 19. Le Miroir de treschrestienne Princesse Margverite de France (Geneva, 1539); the copy in the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Paris, is shelfmarked Rés. 8˚ BL 8757. 20. Prescott, “Pearl of the Valois,” 66. For descriptions of these editions and their locations, see Salminen, introduction to Miroir, 10–16. Another Miroir edition from these intermediate years was published by Le Prince at Lyon in 1538, but it is firmly disqualified as Elizabeth’s source text by its positioning of Marguerite’s verse epistle “Au Lecteur” at the very end of the volume rather than just before the Miroir, as well as by several variant readings that have no counterparts in Elizabeth’s translation. 21. The Miroir edition that lacks indications of its place and date exactly follows the Aug reading in line 1382. The introduction of the variant in Gir supports the inference that it is later than the one without place or date.

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At one juncture a marginal reference in Augereau is unreadable where its counterpart in Girard is legible. Evidently working from Augereau, Elizabeth makes a wrong guess: line 738: Cantic. [broken font] (Aug); Cantic. 6 (Gir); cantic. 3 (Eliz) Like Girard, she omits a reference to “Threnes. 1” (889) found in Augereau.22 But since she does not include several marginal references that appear in both Augereau and Girard, a single omission of this kind does not outweigh the other strong evidence that her source was Augureau’s edition of December 1533. As already noted, the sixteenth-century circulation of Elizabeth’s translation proceeded by way of the printed versions of John Bale and James Cancellar and the respective reissues of both: A Godly Meditation of the Christian Soul (Bale’s retitling of his version) and A Godly Meditation of the Inward Love of the Soul (Cancellar’s retitling, retained by Bentley in his reprint of Cancellar’s version).23 The editorial interventions by which this text was filtered to its first readers as a precocious accomplishment of the “virtuous” Elizabeth “in her tender age” (Bale’s words) cast light on the distinctiveness of her original and on the agendas of her later editors.24 In preparing his Godly Meditation of the Christian Soul, Bale had access to some manuscript version of Elizabeth’s translation other than the one she presented to Queen Katherine, for he notes that he is reproducing “four clauses of the sacred Scripture” added by Elizabeth “unto 22. All Miroir editions prior to Girard’s have this reference to “Threnes. 1.” i.e., Lamentations 1. 23. James Cancellar (birth and death dates uncertain) was a typical survivor of Tudor times in his shifts of allegiance. As one of the men of Queen Mary’s chapel, he authored three works including The Path of Obedience (London, 1556?), an exhortation to respect the regal authority of Mary and Philip. By 1564, Cancellar was in the employ of Robert Dudley, newly created Earl of Leicester, and favorite of Elizabeth. Cancellar’s An Alphabet of Prayers (London, 1564) includes a set whose initial letters spell Dudley’s name. These alphabetic prayers for Dudley anticipate those for Elizabeth that Cancellar published in his Godly Meditation four years later. 24. Bale’s edition is A Godly Medytacyon of the christen sowle (Wesel [Marburg], 1548), reprinted in London in 1590. Cancellar’s first edition, known in a unique BL copy that lacks a title page for the volume, gives as the work’s title A Godly Meditation of the inwarde loue of the Soule . . . First printed in the yeare 1548, entered to Henry Denham in 1567–68, issued or reissued by Denham around 1580 and by Thomas Bentley in Lamp 2 of The Monument of Matrones (London, 1582), where the title reads “A godlie meditation of the inward loue of the Christian soule towards Christ our Lord.”

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the beginning and the ending of her book” (sig. 38v). One such set contains renderings of Psalm 13:1 (Vulgate numbering) in Latin, French, and Italian—the languages into which Elizabeth would translate Parr’s Prayers or Meditations in 1545. Oddly for this context, the other set of verses balances condemnation and praise of women as wives, culled from chapters 7, 15, and 25 of Ecclesiasticus.25 Queen Katherine’s copy does not contain either set of these verses. Bale’s copy included Elizabeth’s letter “To the reader,” which he prints, but presumably lacked her prefatory letter to Queen Katherine, which he does not print. Cancellar demonstrably used Bale’s printed text to prepare his Godly Meditation of the Inward Love of the Soul (c. 1568). Besides his own version of Elizabeth’s translation of Marguerite, his text prints the two sets of Scripture verses attributed to Elizabeth but not her letter “To the reader.” Bentley reproduces Cancellar’s version almost verbatim, occasionally inserting a word or two. Bale’s and Cancellar’s editorial interventions are extensive. Maureen Quilligan has focused on how the different editions and reissues of Bale and Cancellar promoted distinctive visions of Elizabeth’s relation to church and nation through their front matter and their additions to the text.26 We focus on Bale’s and Cancellar’s modifications of Elizabeth’s wording in the Glass. Eighteen changes made by Bale restore lines or phrases of Marguerite that Elizabeth omitted, or in other ways bring the English closer to the French text. Yet he fails to correct several obvious errors. More crucially, the great majority of Bale’s additions, omissions, and modifications locate his version at a greater remove from Marguerite’s French than Elizabeth’s translation does. Largely treating the text as a freestanding work by Elizabeth, both he and Cancellar lavish their main editorial efforts on refinements and improvements, according to their best lights. Bale substitutes his own series of marginal Scriptural references for the series that Elizabeth carefully transposed from Marguerite’s original; his references tally with Elizabeth’s only one time in ten. The pattern of textual evidence indicates that Cancellar worked from Bale’s text without access to Elizabeth’s translation or Margue-

25. Bale also concludes with a psalm translation that some scholars have attributed to Elizabeth but that almost certainly is by Bale himself: see David Scott Kastan, “An Early Engish Metrical Psalm: Elizabeth’s or John Bale’s?” Notes and Queries 21 (1974): 404–5. 26. Quilligan, Incest and Agency, 51–75.

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rite’s original. His wholesale replication of Bale’s marginal references provides the strongest evidence that Bale’s text is his source. In the body of the work as well, he frequently reproduces Bale’s reworkings of Elizabeth. However, as our notes record, there is considerable evidence of Cancellar’s free handling of Bale as a source, including intermittent garbling of Bale’s sense. At three junctures, his revisions of Bale’s text fortuitously produce phrasing that is closer to Elizabeth’s than it is to Bale’s.27 In their recastings of Elizabeth’s prose, Bale and Cancellar differ in specifics but display a similarity in kind. At the most minute level of tinkering, they freely implement their stylistic preferences, which generally involve making grammatical structure more salient and regular. They rework Elizabeth’s Gallicisms, regularizing definite and indefinite articles and pronoun references according to English usage. They also insert and clarify such function words where these are obscure or lacking; they heighten parallelism by repeating prepositions before nouns in a series and auxiliaries before main verbs in a series; they change looser to tighter conjunctions at sentence openings—for example, “Now” to “For” or “And” to “When.” Representative examples of such revisions are given in our notes to the original-spelling version of her translation. In what follows here, we exceptionally retain original spelling to quote from Elizabeth and compare with Bale’s and Cancellar’s editorial interventions. Bale and Cancellar repeatedly reorder and expand component phrases in Elizabeth’s terse, elliptical sentences, evening their rhythms and heightening their explicitness. A typical instance is her rendering of Marguerite’s deploring in lines 7–9 of “my synnes, wich be of so great a number, that the infinite doth make the shadow so darke, that i can not accompte them, or els scantly se them.” This Bale recasts as “my synnes wich are so many in number, that the infinite swarme of them so shaddoweth my darkened sences, that I can not accompte 27. Rendering Marguerite’s line 420, Elizabeth reads “conceyued, and brought the furth,” which Bale shortens to “brought forth”; Cancellar revises Bale to read “conceived, and brought forth.” At line 915, Elizabeth reads “the death, life,” to which Bale adds “and this lyfe, deathe”; Cancellar revises Bale to read “death life.” At line 978, Elizabeth reads “defence of the folishenes of my longe youthe,” which Bale rewords as “defence of my longe youth from wanton folyshenes”; Cancellar revises Bale to read “defence of my folishnesse in my longe youth.” Uniquely, in line 304, where Elizabeth and Bale read “did conform,” Cancellar’s “did confirm” is fortuitously closer to Marguerite’s “est . . . confermée.”

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them, neyther yet wel se them.” Continuing this early passage of lament for sin, Elizabeth writes: “I fele well that the root of it is in me: and outwardly i se none other effecte, but all is eyther braunche, leaffe, or else frutte that she bringeth furth all aboute me.” Cancellar rewrites as follows: “I feele perfectlye that the roote of sinne is so graffed in me, that in myself I finde none other effect, but all is eyther branche, leafe, or fruite that it bringeth furth in me.” Such reworkings demonstrate the high premium placed by Bale and Cancellar on their intuitions of logic and clarity—especially at those junctures where they wrench Elizabeth’s wording away from a subtlety or paradox in Marguerite and make it into something more ordinary and prosaic. An example appears slightly later in the same early passage on sin. Rendering Marguerite’s lines 18–23, Elizabeth writes: “If i thinke to loke for better, a braunche cometh and doth close myne eyes; and in my mouth doth fall when i wolde speake the frutte wich is so bytter to swalowe down. . . . A great multitude of leaffes doth entre in myne eares and my nose is all stoped with flowers.” Cancellar recasts the source metaphor of sin as a macabre, suffocating jungle into something much more like an orchard in full seasonal bloom: “If I looke for better, a branche therof shadoweth and closeth mine eyes, and in my mouth doth fall when I woulde speak, the bitter fruite of cursed sinne. . . . The noyse of hir leaves stoppeth mine eares and fylleth my nostrils with the smell of hir flowers.” Bale’s and Cancellar’s impetus to normalize Elizabeth’s phrasing results in many losses of Marguerite’s original imagery, phrasing, and even general sense that had been preserved in Elizabeth’s generally literal and cognate-heavy translation.28 Two areas of the work’s content were particularly affected by the most substantive and sweeping measures to regularize Elizabeth’s translation of the Miroir and thereby validate its religious authority and utility for a sixteenth-century English readership. Bale and Cancellar go even further than Elizabeth does in muting Marguerite’s expression of passionate religious feelings running a gamut from self-abnegation to ecstatic love. They increase the expository quotient while reducing exclamation, enigma, and ellipsis. Thus they increase the sense of a speaker who remains self-possessed and self-aware even in the grip of 28. For the most striking examples, see our notes regarding Marguerite’s lines 64, 83, 87, 96, 102, 110, 122–23, 150, 182, 358, 902, 1268, in the original-spelling version of Elizabeth’s translation of Marguerite.

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powerful emotion. A passage from Elizabeth and its reworking by Bale, lightly retouched by Cancellar, will illustrate. Elizabeth (rendering 549–62): But what didest thou, seynge my repentaunce, For thou didest helpe that my penaunce was soone ended. By true loue, thou didest pray for me, and than did i returne. O what brother, who, in stedde to punishe hys folishe syster, wolde cleaue vnto her. . . . Alas my brother this is to moche, thou shuldest not do suche a good turne vnto suche a poore woman as i am. I haue done yll, and thou geuest me good for it. I am thine, and thou didest say that thou art mijn. Thyne i am, and so will i be for euer. Bale, with Cancellar’s variants in boldface: But what didest thou, my sweete loue and brother, seynge my repentaunce: thou prouydedyst that my penaunce was soone at an ende, and with true loue, didest make [madest] meanes for me, whereupon I did returne [to thee]. O what brother wolde, instead to punish hys folishe syster, so naturally cleaue vnto her? . . . Alas my brother how excedynge is thys thy loue? Moch more is it, than brotherhede is bounde to geue to so poore and wretchyd a woman as I am. I haue done thee euil, and thou geuest me good for it. I am thine, and thou sayest thou art mine. But so I am, and will I be so for euer. [Even so I am, and euer will.]

The other large area in which Bale and Cancellar intervene most substantively in Elizabeth’s text, again by way of locally heightened explicitness, is the whole range of theology, doctrine, and piety. They work closely to ensure that the language of all formulations is demonstrably orthodox, judged by the currently authorized teachings of the Church of England and its interpretation of Scripture. The great majority of these interventions have to do with fundamentals of sin and salvation, laying emphasis on God’s grace as an unconditionally free gift and on human incapacity to earn or merit this grace in any way. But there are also careful retouchings of passages on the special status of the Virgin Mary as the mother of Christ and of St. Paul when he saw heaven in a visionary rapture. Near the end of the text, the expressions of longings for death in order to be united with God and to be fulfilled in love and beatitude receive some of Bale’s and Cancellar’s closest editorial attentions. Elizabeth registered no known objections to her text’s extensive reworking at Bale’s and Cancellar’s hands. Moreover, Bale’s long passages of direct address to her, Cancellar’s woodcut of her royal coat of arms and his profusion of mottos and prayers keyed to the successive let-

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ters of elizabeth regina, and, not least, the Godly Meditation’s multiple sixteenth-century reprintings provide more confirmation of the work’s favorable reception by the queen as well as its other readers. She was evidently far less concerned with securing an exact transcription and printing of her precocious translation of Marguerite’s Miroir than with enhancing her authority as a godly queen and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Bale’s and Cancellar’s editorial interventions functioned effectively to promote the mature Elizabeth’s own objectives.

Princess Elizabeth’s translation of Marguerite de Navarre’s Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse, 1544 (original-spelling version)1 TO OVR MOSTE NOBLE AND vertuous quene KATHERIN, Eliza beth her humble daughter wisheth perpetuall felicitie and euerlastyng ioye. NOT ONELY knowing the affectuous wille, and feruent zeale, the wich your highnes hath towardes all godly lerning, as also my duetie towardes you (most gracious and souerayne princes:) but knowing also that pusilanimite and ydlenes, are most repugnante vnto a reasonable creature: and that (as the philosopher sayeth) euen as an instrument of yron, or of other metayle, waxeth soone rusty, onles it be continualy occupied, Euen so shall the witte of a man, or woman, waxe dull, and vnapte to do, or vnderstand any thing perfittely, onles it be alwayes occupied vpon some maner of study Wiche thinges consydered, hath moued so small a portion, as god hath lente me, to proue, what i

1. Source: University of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Cherry 36, fols. 2 r–63 r, with ruled lines for the text and wide margins, in Elizabeth’s girlish italic hand. Although her hand is highly legible, some difficulties are caused by discoloration and shrinkage of the vellum in a number of places, together with Elizabeth’s scrapings and overwriting of corrections. Two photographic reproductions of MS Cherry 36 have been published: Ames’s The Mirror of the Sinful Soul and Shell, Elizabeth’s Glass; Percy’s plates are more legible than Shell’s. For a description and illustration of the binding that Elizabeth embroidered for this gift volume, see Margaret H. Swain, “A New Year’s Gift from the Princess Elizabeth,” The Connoisseur 183 (1973): 258–59, and Nely Keinanen, “Elizabeth Tudor: The Embroi-

Princess Elizabeth’s translation of Marguerite de Navarre’s Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse, 1544 (modern-spelling version) To our most noble and virtuous Queen Katherine, Elizabeth, her humble daughter, wisheth perpetual felicity and everlasting joy. Not only knowing the affectuous1 will and fervent zeal the which your highness hath towards all godly learning, as also my duty towards you, most gracious and sovereign princess; but knowing also that pusillanimity and idleness are most repugnant unto a reasonable creature and that, as the philosopher2 saith, even as an instrument of iron or of other metal waxeth soon rusty unless it be continually occupied, even so shall the wit of a man or woman wax dull and unapt to do or understand anything perfectly unless it be always occupied upon some manner of study. Which things considered hath moved so small a portion as God hath lent me to

dered Cover of The Glass of the Sinful Soul,” in Reading Early Modern Women: An Anthology, ed. Helen Ostrovich and Elizabeth Sauer, with Melissa Smith (New York: Routledge, 2004), 472–73. 1. affectuous earnest, ardent. 2. the philosopher A standard form of reference to Aristotle, but Elizabeth’s allusion is closest to Ovid’s Tristia 5.12.21–22: “My wit, injured by long rusting, is dull, much inferior to what it was before.” The passage is quoted in the chapter “Ingenium” (Wit) in Domenico Nani Mirabelli’s commonplace book Polyanthea (Solingen, 1539), p. 151v, a major source of Elizabeth’s Sententiae (1563).

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could do And therfore haue i (as for a seye2 or beginninge (folowing the right notable saying of the prouerbe aforesayd) translated this lytell boke out of frenche ryme, in to englyshe prose ioyning the sentences together as well as the capacitie of my symple witte, and small lerning coulde extende themselues. The wich booke is intytled, or named the miroir or glasse, of the synnefull soule where in sh is conteyned, how she (beholding and contempling what she is) doth perceyue how, of herselfe, and of her owne strenght, she can do nothing that good is, or preuayleth for her saluacion: onles it be through the grace of god: whose mother, daughter, syster, and wife, by the scriptures she proueth herselfe to be: Trusting also that through his incomprehensible loue, grace, and mercy she (beynge called frome synne to repentaunce) doth faithfully hope to be saued. And althoughe i knowe that as for my parte, wich i haue wrought in it: the (as well spirituall, as manuall) there is nothinge done as it shulde be, nor els worthy to come in youre graces handes, but rather all vnperfytte and vncorecte: yet, do i truste also that oubeit it is like a worke wich is but newe begonne, and shapen: that the fyle of youre excellent witte, and godly lerninge, in the reding of it (if so it vouchsaf e youre highnes to do) shall rubbe out, polishe; and mende (or els cause to mende) the wordes (or rather the order of my writting), the wich i knowe in many places to be rude, and nothinge done as it shuld be. But i hope, that after to haue ben in youre graces handes: there shall be nothinge in it worthy of reprehension and that in the meane whyle no other, (but your highnes onely) shal rede it, or se it, lesse my fauttes be knowen of many Than shall they be better excused (as my confidence is in youre graces accoustumed beneuolence) than if i shuld bestowe a whole yere in writtinge, or inuentinge wayes for to excuse them. Prayeng god almighty, the maker, and creatoure of all thinges to garaunte vnto youre highness thesam newe yeres daye, a lucky and a prosperous yere, with prosperous yssue, and continuance of many yeres in good helhte: and contynuall ioy, and all to his honnoure, praise, and glory. Frome asherige, the laste daye of the yeare of our lord god, 1544.

2. a seye assay. 3. portion . . . prove portion . . . me An allusion to the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30). prove try, put to the test. 4. assay attempt, trial.

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prove 3 what I could do. And therefore have I (as for assay 4 or beginning, following the right notable saying of the proverb aforesaid) translated this little book out of French rhyme into English prose, joining the sentences together as well as the capacity of my simple wit and small learning could extend themselves. The which book is entitled or named The Mirror or Glass of the Sinful Soul, wherein is contained how she (beholding and contempling5 what she is) doth perceive how of herself and of her own strength she can do nothing that good is or prevaileth for her salvation, unless it be through the grace of God, whose mother, daughter, sister, and wife by the Scriptures she proveth herself to be. Trusting also that through His incomprehensible love, grace, and mercy she, being called from sin to repentance, doth faithfully hope to be saved. And although I know that, as for my part which I have wrought in it, as well spiritual as manual, there is nothing done as it should be, nor else worthy to come in your grace’s hands, but rather all unperfect and uncorrect; yet do I trust also that, howbeit it is like a work which is but new begun and shapen, that the file of your excellent wit and godly learning in the reading of it, if so it vouchsafe your highness6 to do, shall rub out, polish, and mend (or else cause to mend) the words or, rather, the order of my writing, the which I know in many places to be rude and nothing done as it should be. But I hope that after to have been in your grace’s hands, there shall be nothing in it worthy of reprehension, and that in the meanwhile no other, but your highness only, shall read it or see it, les[t]7 my faults be known of many. Then shall they be better excused, as my confidence is in your grace’s accustomed benevolence, than if I should bestow a whole year in writing or inventing ways for to excuse them. Praying God almighty, the Maker and Creator of all things, to grant unto your highness the same New Year’s Day a lucky and a prosperous year, with prosperous issue, and continuance of many years in good health and continual joy, and all to His honor, praise, and glory. From Ashridge8 the last day of the year of our Lord God, 1544.

5. contempling contemplating. 6. if so . . . highness if your highness so vouchsafe (grant). 7. les[t] Elizabeth wrote “lesse,” a penslip. 8. Ashridge One of the crown manors, located in Buckinghamshire.

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To the reader.3 IF thou doest rede thys whole w4 worke:5 beholde rather the matter, and excuse the speche, consydering it is the worke of a woman: wiche hath in her neyther science, or knowledge, but a desire that eche one might se, what the gifte of god6 doth when it pleaseth hym to iustifie, the harte of a man. For what thinge is a man, (as for hys owne strenght) before that he hath receyued the gifte of fayth: wherby onely hath the knowledge of the goodnes, wisedom and power of god, and as soone as he7 knoweth the truthe, than is his hart full of loue, and charitie so that by the feruentenes therof, he doth exclude all vayne feare, and stedfastely doth hope vpon8 god vnfaynedly. Euen so the gifte the wich our creatour giueth at the beginninge, doth neuer reste, tyll he hath made hym godly, wich putteth hys trust in god O the hapy gifte wich causeth a man to be like vnto god, and to possesse hys so desired dwellinge.9 Alas no man coulde neuer vnderstande it, onles by this gifte god hathe gyuen hym it, and he hath greate cause to doute of it, onles god hath made hym fele it in to hys harte. Therfore10 reader, 3. To . . . reader Among sixteenth-century printed versions of Elizabeth’s text, only Bale’s contains this letter of Marguerite to the reader, reworked minutely at a number of points. Our notes record the most substantive alterations, among which are insertions of four marginal Scripture references: Matthew 8, Hebrews 11, 1 John 4, and John 6. 4. w The canceled w is the last letter in a line, where there is too little space to write the whole word, “world,” without running over into the cleanly ruled margin. Most of the single letters and incomplete words that Elizabeth strikes through occur in this position. 5. worke Bale adds “dere frynde in the lorde.” Except where noted otherwise, Bale’s additions. excisions, and alterations depart further from the phrasing and sense of Marguerite’s French. 6. God Bale adds “the creatour,” rendering Marguerite’s “DIEV le Createur” (7). 7. he Bale adds “through that faythe.” 8. stedfastely . . . vpon Bale rewords, “fyrmely trusteth in.” 9. be like . . . dwellinge Bale rewords, “possesse a grace so desyred.” 10. Therfore Bale inserts “gentyll.” 9. To the reader This text appears for the first time, in this position, in Antoine Augereau’s December 1533 edition of the Miroir, with the title “Marguerite de France, Soeur Vnicque du Roy, par la grace de Diev Royne de Navarre, au Lecteur.” Its corresponding placement in Elizabeth’s translation indicates that her source text was this edition or a direct textual descendant of it. 10. the speech . . . science the speech “la Rhyme, et le langaige” (the verse and the language 3). science knowledge.

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To the reader.9 If thou dost read this whole work, behold rather the matter and excuse the speech, considering it is the work of a woman which hath in her neither science10 or knowledge, but a desire that each one might see what the gift of God doth when it pleaseth Him to justify the heart of a man. For what thing is a man, as for his own strength, before that he hath received the gift of faith whereby, only, hath the knowledge of the goodness, wisdom, and power of God.11 And as soon as he knoweth the truth, then is his heart full of love and charity, so that by the ferventness thereof he doth exclude all vain fear, and steadfastly doth hope upon God unfainedly. Even so the gift the which our Creator giveth at the beginning doth never rest, till he hath made him godly,12 which putteth his trust in God. O the happy gift which causeth a man to be like unto God and to possess his so desired dwelling.13 Alas, no man could never understand it unless by this gift God hath given him it, and he hath great cause to doubt of it unless God hath made him feel it, in to his heart.14 Therefore, reader, 11. what . . . God what . . . man “Quel est le cueur d’ung homme” (what is the heart of a man 9). justify . . . faith Justifying faith (or justification by faith) was the unique means by which condemned, sinful humankind could be redeemed by the death of Christ, through God’s grace. Prominent in Paul’s epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, this doctrine held a central place in the Reformation theology of Luther and Calvin. Among the English, it strongly influenced William Tyndale and Thomas Cranmer as well as Katherine Parr in her Lamentation of a Sinner. only, hath only hath he. of God Elizabeth’s addition. 12. he . . . godly he An ambiguous pronoun in both French and English, referring to “don” (gift 17), a masculine noun, or to God. made . . . godly “ait deifié” (has deified 19). Elizabeth’s “godly” can mean ‘divine’ but is most naturally construed as ‘pious.’ Here, as much later in translating Boethius, she tones down assertions that human beings can experience union with God. Compare her use of “godly” in lines 311, 834. 13. like . . . dwelling like . . . God “qui faict l’homme DIEV estre” (which makes man become God 21). “Like” continues the toning-down of deification; compare the addition of “likeness” (1086). Marguerite’s text has a marginal reference to Psalm 81 keyed in at this point; Elizabeth untypically omits it. Lefèvre d’Etaples’s French translation of the Bible (1530) is the source of Marguerite’s Biblical references; its numbering of chapters and verses follows the Vulgate. In authorized English editions beginning with the Great Bible (1538–39), which adopt Hebrew numbering, this reference would be to Psalm 82:6. dwelling “estre” (being 22). 14. it . . . heart it such understanding. in . . . his heart Elizabeth conflates English and French usage: “in his heart” with “au cueur” (26).

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with a godly mynde i beche beseche the to take it pacientely to peruse this worke, wich is but lytell,11 and taste nothinge but the frutte of it: praieng to god full of all goodnes, that in your harte he will plante the liuely fayth. THE glasse of the synnefull soule.12 psal. 51

psal. 51.

Make me a cleane harte: O god WHERE is the hell full of trauayle payne, mischiefe, and turmente,13 where is the pytte of cursydnes, out of the w wich doth springe all despaire. Is there any hell so profunde, that is sufficiente to punishe the tenth parte of my synnes, wich be of so great a number, that the infinite doth make the shadow so darke,14 that i can not accompte them, or els scantly se them. For i am to farre entred emongest them and that worse is, i haue not power, to obtayne the true knowledge of one.15 I fele well that the roote of it is in me: and outwardly i se16 none other effecte, but all is eyther braunche, leaffe, or else frutte that she bringeth furth all aboute me: If i thinke to loke for better, a braunche cometh and doth close myne eyes: and in my mouth doth fall when i wolde speake the frutte wich is so bytter to swalowe down.17 If my spirite be styrred for to karken18: than a great multitude of leaffes doth entre in myne eares and my nose is all stoped with flowres. Now beholde how in payne, cryenge, and wepinge my poore soule, a slaue, and prisonnere doth lye, withoute clartie, or light hauinge both her

11. lytell Bale rewords, “small in quantyte.” 12. THE . . . soule Bale, followed by Cancellar and Bentley, deletes this title and the following epigraph from Psalm 51. Bentley inserts a chapter division typical of his editorial practice: “The first Chapter, Of the soules slauerie by sinne: and redemption by Christ his passion.” His text contrasts starkly with Bale’s and Cancellar’s in its omission of marginal Biblical references. 13. turmente Bale inserts a marginal reference to Job 7. 14. doth . . . darke Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “swarme of them so shaddoweth my darkened sences.” 15. one Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Romans 7. 16. I fele . . . i se Cancellar, incorporating local changes by Bale, rewords, “I perfitely feele also, that the roote of sinne is so graffed in me, that in my self I finde.” 17. frutte . . . down Cancellar rewords, “bitter fruite of cursed sinne.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Psalm 94. 18. karken Penslip for “hearken”; “ouyr” (21).

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with a godly mind I beseech thee to take it patiently to peruse this work, which is but little, and taste nothing but the fruit of it:15 praying to God, full of all16 goodness, that in your heart He will plant the lively faith. The Glass of the Sinful Soul Make me a clean heart, O God. Where is the hell full of travail, pain, mischief,18 and torment? Where is the pit of cursedness, out of the which19 doth spring all despair? Is there any hell so profound that is sufficient to punish the tenth part of my sins? which be of so great a number that the infinite doth make the shadow so dark that I cannot account them, or else scantly see them. For I am too far entered amongst them; and, that worse is, I have not power to obtain the true knowledge of one. I feel well that the root of it is in me, and outwardly I see none other effect, but all is either branch, leaf, or else fruit that she21 bringeth forth all about me. If I think to look for better, a branch cometh and doth close mine eyes, and in my mouth doth fall when I would speak the fruit which is so bitter to swallow down. If my spirit be stirred for to hearken, then a great multitude of leaves doth enter in mine ears and my nose is all stopped with flowers. Now behold how in pain, crying and weeping, my poor soul, a slave and prisoner, doth lie, without clarity or light, having both her feet bound by her concupiscence and also

15. godly . . . it godly mind “bonne conscience” (good conscience 27). taste . . . it Elizabeth adds the metaphor to “n’en prenéz seulement / que le bien” (you take only the good from it 30). 16. all “neïfue” (true 31). 17. Psal. 51 Elizabeth’s reference gives the English numbering; the reference in Marguerite (Aug) is to Psalm 50. 18. full . . . mischief full Elizabeth omits the pleonasm that sets up the rhyme in Marguerite’s line, “remply entierement” (entirely full 1). mischief misfortune. 19. pit . . . which pit well, grave; “puitz” (well 3). which Elizabeth omits the next phrase, “sans fin” (without end 4). 20. To facilitate comparison of Elizabeth’s translation with her source, square brackets in the margin enclose the corresponding line numbers of Marguerite’s poem. 21. she “elle” (16), referring to “racine” (root 13), a feminine noun in French. 22. Psal. 51. Marguerite (Aug) does not have this reiterated marginal reference.

Psal. 5117

[10]20

[20]

Psal. 51.22

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Iob. 10. and 30. gene. 8. rom. 5. and 7. 1 corin, 15. psal. 31. rom. 7. rom. 7.

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fete bound by19 her concupiscence, and also both her armes through yuell vse. yet the power to remedy it, doth not lye in me, and power haue i none, to cry helpe. Now as ferfourth as i can se, i ought to haue no hope of succoure, but through the grace of god, wiche i can not deserue the wiche maye rayse eueryone from death.20 By hys brightenes he geueth light to my darkenes, and his power, examininge my fautte, doth breake all the vayle of ignorauncy, and geueth me cleare vnderstanding, not onely that thys cometh of me, but also21 what thinge abydeth in me, where i am and wherfore i do laboure, who he is whom i haue offended, to whom also i did obey so seldom. Therfore it is conuenient that my pryde be supressed,22 and humbly i do confesse that, as for me, i am much lesse than nothinge: before my byrthe, meer: and after, a dongehyll. A body redy and prompt to do all yuell, not willinge other study: also subiette to c care sorowe, and payne: a shorte life, and the ende vncertayne:23 the wich, vnder synne by adam is solde and by the lawe iudged to be hange. For i had neuer the power to obserue onely one of the comaundementes of god. I do fele the strenght of synne to be in me: therfore is my sinne nowhitt the lesse to be hydden, and the more it is dissembled outwardly harte: so muche the more he encreasyth withine the harte. Thys that god will i can not wille: and what he will not, i often times desire to haue. Wich thinges doth constrayne me by importable sorowe, to wishe for the ende of thys myserable life, throug desyred death, bycause of my wery and ragyd24 life. Who shall be he than that shall delyuer, and

19. by Bale rewords, “through”; Cancellar rewords Bale, “with the chaine of.” 20. Now as . . . death Cancellar rewords, “And as I can perceiue, there is no helpe of hope for me, but by the special grace of God, which of my selfe I cannot deserue, but by Christ his only sonne,” substituting marginal references to Romans 5 and John 1. Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a further reference to John 12. 21. not onely . . . but also Cancellar deletes these conjunctions. 22. supressed Cancellar adds “with weeping hart, and sorowfull sighes.” 23. vncertayne Bale, followed by Cancellar, substitutes a single marginal reference to Job 14, which could have been taken from either the 1539 Geneva edition of the Miroir or the one without place or date. The reference does not occur in Augereau’s December 1533 edition. 24. ragyd ragged; “dessiree” (torn 64; modern “déchirée”). Changing the sense, Bale, followed by Cancellar, emends to “ragynge” (raging). 23. evil use evil custom; “accoustumance” (habit 28). 24. succor “fin” (end 32).

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both her arms through evil use.23 Yet the power to remedy it doth not lie in me, and power have I none to cry, Help! Now as far forth as I can see, I ought to have no hope of succor24 but through the grace of God, which I cannot deserve, the which may raise everyone from death. By His brightness He giveth light to my darkness, and His power,25 examining my fault, doth break all the veil of ignorancy and giveth me clear understanding: not only that this cometh of me, but also what thing abideth in me;26 where I am and wherefore I do labor; who He is whom I have offended, to whom also I did obey so seldom.27 Therefore it is convenient28 that my pride be suppressed, and humbly I do confess that, as for me, I am much less than nothing: before my birth, mire; and after, a dunghill. A body ready and prompt to do all evil, not willing other study; also subject to care, sorrow, and pain; a short life,29 and the end uncertain, the which under sin by Adam is sold and, by the law, judged to be hanged. For I had never the power30 to observe only one of the commandments of God. I do feel the strength of sin to be in me. Therefore is my sin no whit the less to be hidden, and the more it is dissembled outwardly, so much the more he increaseth31 within the heart. This that God will, I cannot will; and what He will not, I oftentimes desire to have. Which things doth constrain me by importable sorrow, to wish for the end of this miserable life through desired death, because of my weary and ragged32 life. Who shall be he, then, that shall deliver, and recover such good 25. brightness . . . power brightness Marguerite has a marginal reference to John 1 at this point. power “vertu” (36), with meanings of ‘power,’ ‘strength,’ and ‘virtue.’ 26. not only. . . me “Que c’est de moy, et qui en moy demeure” (That this is mine, and what dwells in me 39). 27. did . . . seldom “si peu de seruir i’ay pensé” (so little I did think to obey 42). 28. it . . . convenient it is fitting; “il fault” (it is necessary 43). 29. care . . . life care . . . pain Elizabeth omits the first of four parallel nouns, “mal” (ill, illness 49). life Marguerite has a marginal reference to Job 14 at this point. 30. For . . . power Condenses “Il ne m’aduint en ma vie vraiment” (Truly it [the power] never came to me in my life 54). 31. dissembled . . . increaseth dissembled “se cele et dissimule” (hides itself and dissembles 57). he A reference to “peché” (sin 55), a masculine noun. increaseth “s’assemble et accumule” (gathers itself and accumulates 58). 32. importable . . . ragged importable unbearable; “importable” (61). miserable . . . death “fascheux corps de mort miserable” (wretched body of miserable death 62). weary . . . ragged “rompue et dessiree” (broken and torn 64).

[30]

[40]

Job 10 and 30. Gen. 8.

[50] Rom. 5. and 7. 1 Cor. 15. Psal. 31. Rom. 7. Rom. 7.

[60]

50

rom. 5.

hiere. 10. hiere. 17. rom. 8.

ihon. 7.

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recouuer suche good for me. Alas, it can not be a mortall man. For his power and strenght is not such.25 but it shall be the onely good grace of almighty god, wich is neuer slake to preuente vs26 with hys mercy. Alas, what a mayster withoute to haue deserued any goodnes of hym but27 rather serued hym sloughtfully and withoute ceasse offended hym, euery daye, yet is he not slake in helping me He doth se the yuell that i haue done, what, and how muche it is, and how, of my selfe, i can do nothinge that good is, but with harte, and body so enclined to the contrary, that i fele no strenght in me, onles it be for to do yuell He doth not tary tyll i humbly do praye hym, or that (seyng my hell and damnacion) i do cry vpon hym: for with hys spirite, he doth make a wailinge28 withyne my hart, greater than i, or any man, can declare, wich asketh the gifte,29 wherof the vertue is vnknowen to my lytell power. And this, the same vnknowen sighe,30 doth bringe me a newe desyre, shewinge the good that i haue loste by my synne, wiche is giuen me againe, through his grace, and bontie, wich hath ouercomed all synne. O my god, what grace, and goodnes is this, wich doth put out somany synnes. Nowe maye we se that thou art full of all goodloue,31 to make me such an honeste turne.32 Alas my god, i did not seke the, but i fled, a and raune awaye frome the, and here beneth thou camest to me, wich am nothinge but an worme of the earth, all naked what do i saye, worme i do hym 25. such Cancellar adds “as can deliuer mee. Who then?” 26. preuente vs come before us; Cancellar emends to “helpe the penitent.” He follows Bale in changing the marginal reference to Romans 7. 27. mayster . . . but Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “O what a master is that”; Cancellar continues the rewording: “which, without deseruing, will shew his mercye on sinners?” 28. a wailinge Marguerite’s “vng gemissement” (83). In English, this echo of Romans 8:23 is usually translated as “groaning.” Changing the sense, Cancellar reads “his spirite whoorling” (whirling). Here and four lines below, this is also Bentley’s reading. 29. asketh . . . gifte Cancellar reads, “asketh for mee a gift.” 30. vnknowen sighe Marguerite’s “cest ignoré souspir” (87) is another allusion to the foregoing “wailinge.” Changing the sense, Bale substitutes “syghte” for “sighe”; Cancellar alters still further, to “gift, or whoorling in my hart.” Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Psalm 37. 31. goodloue Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “godly loue.” 32. such . . . turne “vng si honneste tour” (96). Changing the sense, Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “of a synner, thy seruaunt and chylde.” 33. strength “sçavoir” (knowledge 68).

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51

for me? Alas, it cannot be a mortal man, for his power and strength33 is not such. But it shall be the only good grace of almighty God, which is never slack to prevent us34 with His mercy. Alas, what a master: without to have deserved any goodness of Him but, rather, served Him slothfully35 and without cease offended Him every day, yet He is not slack in helping me. He doth see the evil that I have done, what and how much it is, and how of myself I can do nothing that good is, but with heart and body so inclined to the contrary that I feel no strength in me, unless it be for to do evil. He doth not tarry till I humbly do pray Him, or that, seeing my hell and damnation,36 I do cry upon Him; for with His spirit, He doth make a wailing within my heart, greater than I or any man can declare, which asketh the gift whereof the virtue37 is unknown to my little power. And this, the same unknown sigh, doth bring me a new desire, showing the good that I have lost by my sin, which is given me again through His grace and bounty, which hath overcome38 all sin. O my God, what grace and goodness is this, which doth put out so many sins? Now may we see39 that Thou art full of all good love, to make me such an honest turn. Alas, my God, I did not seek Thee but I fled and ran away from Thee41 and, here beneath, Thou camest to me, which am nothing but an worm42 of the earth, all naked. What do I say, “worm”? I do 34. slack . . . us slack Elizabeth does not translate “Par IESVS CHRIST, duquel il se revcorde” (Through Jesus Christ, by whom He [God] remembers 71). to prevent us to anticipate us (our needs); “Nous prevenir” (72). 35. slothfully “mal” (badly 74). 36. and damnation Elizabeth’s addition. 37. greater . . . virtue greater . . . declare “grand inenarrablement” (untellably great 84). virtue “sçavoir” (knowledge 85). 38. this . . . overcome this, the same this, the aforementioned; “ceste” (this 87). “The same” (usually without “this”) is Elizabeth’s most frequent rendering of the deictic “ce” in its various declensions, even when, as here, the noun to which it refers has not yet been mentioned. bounty goodness; “bonté” (91). overcome “vaincu et domté” (vanquished and overcome 92). 39. Now . . . see Elizabeth’s addition. 40. John 7. Marguerite’s text refers to John 3 at this point. Either reference comports with “à moy estes venu” (Thou camest to me 99). 41. ran . . . Thee Condenses “vous fuyoys en courant le grand pas” (I fled Thee, running quickly 98). 42. am . . . worm Psalm 22:6: “But I am a worm, and no man.”

[70] Rom. 5.

Jer. 10. Jer. 17.

[80] Rom. 8.

[90]

John 7.40

[100]

52

psal. 118. rom. 6.8. and psal. 43. rom. 6.

marke. 16.

apoca. 3.

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wronge i beynge so naught and forswarne33 full of pride, deceyte, malice, and treason. The promes wiche my frendes made when i was baptized, beyng such allwayes through thy passion to fele the mortifieng of my fleshe. To be allwayes with the in the crosse: where thou hast nayled34 (as i do beleue) and yelded death deed, and also all synne, wiche wich I haue often times taken down againe, and vntied.35 I haue broken denied and falsified my promesse, and (through pryde) i dyd suchewise lifte vp my wille, that (with sloughte) my duetie twardes36 the was forgotten And the thinge wich much more is: as well the welhte37 of the promes that i had of the, on the day of my baptisme, as also thy loue and promesse i haue forgotten all a like.38 What shall i say more: albeit that often tymes thou witstoudest mijn vnhapynes, geuinge39 so many warninges, by faythe, and sacramentes: admonishinge me by preaching, and also conforting me by the receyuing of thy worthy body and holy bloude, also promisinge, to put me in the rowe of them that are in parfaitte40 innocency, but i haue all these goodnes put in41 forgetfulnes. Often tymes haue i broken with the conuenante:42 For my poore soule was to moche fede 33. worme . . . forswarne Changing the sense, Bale rewords, “worme? I do hym wronge, that am so naughtye and swarme so”; Cancellar rewords: “A worme? Naye woorse than a woorme.” forswarne “pariure” (forsworn 102). 34. thou . . . nayled “vous auéz cloué” (110). Changing the sense, Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “thu wert fast nayled.” Both substitute a single marginal reference to Colossians 3. 35. taken . . . vntied Bale adds “and set at large.” Cancellar imposes sequential logic on the series of verbs: “vntied, taken downe, and set at large.” 36. twardes Elizabeth’s initial spelling; when she later made corrections, she keyed an o into several occurrences of “towards” but missed this instance and one other. 37. welhte wealth (in the early modern sense of ‘well-being’); “le bien” (the good 118). Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “profyte or value.” 38. loue . . . like Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “sauynge loue and promyses folowynge, I haue all alike neglected.” 39. witstoudest . . . geuinge “mon malheur vous vinsiéz au deuant, / En me donnant” (Thou opposedst my unhappiness / By giving me 122–23). Changing the sense, Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “perceyuynge me wretched and vnhappye, hast geuen me.” 40. parfaitte perfect; “parfaicte” (129). Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to John 6; Cancellar adds another to Matthew 26. 41. but . . . in Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “Yet have I all these hygh benefyghtes throwne into.” 42. conuenante covenant. 43. naught . . . pride naught wicked; “infame” (wicked, disgraceful 102). pride Elizabeth does not translate “par mondaine raison” (because of worldly reasoning 103).

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53

him wrong, being so naught and forsworn, full of pride,43 deceit, malice, and treason. The promise which my friends made when I was baptized, being such, always through Thy passion to feel the mortifying of my flesh, to be always with Thee in44 the cross: where Thou hast nailed, as I do believe, and yielded death dead, and also all sin, which I have oftentimes taken down again and untied: I have broken, denied, and falsified my promise, and through pride I did suchwise lift up my will that, with sloth, my duty45 towards Thee was forgotten. And the thing which much more is: as well the wealth of the promise that I had of Thee on the day of my baptism, as also Thy love and promise,46 I have forgotten all alike. What shall I say more?47 Albeit that oftentimes Thou withstoodest mine unhappiness, giving so many warnings by faith and sacraments,48 admonishing me by preaching, and also comforting me by the receiving of Thy worthy body and holy blood, also promising to put me in the row of them that are in perfect innocency, but I have all these goodness49 put in forgetfulness. Oftentimes have I broken with the covenant;50 for my poor soul was too much fed with ill bread and

44. promise . . . in promise . . . baptized The public affirmation made by the child’s godparent(s) during the baptismal service, in the child’s name, to forsake the world, the flesh, and the devil and to profess the tenets of the Apostles’ Creed. being such “que depuis i’ay refaicte” ([the promise] that I have remade since 106). of . . . flesh “en moy” (in me 108). in i.e., upon; unidiomatic rendering of “en” (109). 45. pride . . . duty pride Elizabeth omits “plain d’indiscretion” (full of indiscretion 115). duty “debuoir et obligation” (duty and obligation 116). 46. and promise Elizabeth’s addition. 47. What . . . more? The ejaculatory style in Marguerite and Elizabeth imitates Paul at frequent junctures in his epistles—see Romans 4:1, 6:1, 7:7, 8:31, 9:14; 1 Corinthians 10:19, 11:22. 48. faith . . . sacraments Elizabeth omits the first noun in this series, “Par parolle” (By word 124). 49. all . . . goodness “tous ces biens” (130). Elizabeth awkwardly mixes English and French idiom. 50. the covenant Elizabeth, possibly at the prompting of Bellemain, a correspondent of Calvin’s, imparts a formal theological sense to Marguerite’s colloquial phrasing, “Ma promesse souuent vous ay rompue” (My promise to Thee I have often broken 131). “Covenant” may refer to the Old Testament promise that God made to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that they would be His chosen people (Genesis 6:18; Exodus 34:10; Leviticus 26:42, etc.) or to the New Testament promise of salvation offered to all people through Christ’s atonement for sin (Hebrews 8:8-10, 10:16, 29).

Psal. 118. Rom. 6.8. and Psal. 43.

[110] Rom. 6.

Mark 16.

[120]

Rev. 3.

[130]

54

actes. 4.

1. ihon. 4. dani. 1. rom. 5.

ephe. 2. 1 timo. 1.

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of with yll bread and damnable doctrine,43 i despysinge succoure and phisicke44 suche as wolde haue helped me: and if i had ben willinge to loke for it i knowe no man whom i had required:45 For there is neyther man sainte, or els aungell, for whom the harte of a sinner46 will chaunge. Alas good iesus: thou seynge my blyndnes and that at my nede i could haue no succoure of men: than didest thou opene the waye of my saluacion. O what goodnes and swittenes47 Is there any father to the daugther, or els brother to the syster, wiche wolde euer do as he hath done. For he came in to hell for to succoure my soule, where against his wille she was willinge to perishe48 by cause she did not loue the. Alas thow hast loued her.49 O charitie, feruente, and inflamed:50 thou art not slake to loue: thou, wiche louest euery body,51 yea, and also thye enmyes: not only forgiuinge them their offences, but also to giue thyselfe (for their saluacion, libertie and deliuraunce) to the deathe, crosse, trauayle, payne, and souffring. Whan i do consydere what is the occasion of thy loue twardes me;52 i can se nothinge els but loue, wich inciteth53 the to geue me this that i can not deserue. Than (my god) as ferfourth as i can se, i ought to geue no thankes for my saluacion but onely vnto the,54 to whom i owe the prayse for it, as to hym wich is my sauioure and creatour.55 43. yll . . . doctrine Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “euyll breade, or dampnable doctryne of hypocrytes.” Both insert a marginal reference to Jeremiah 7. 44. phisicke Cancellar rewords, “goastly Phisick in Gods worde.” 45. i knowe . . . required “Nul ne congnois, qu’eusse peu requerir” (Nor knew I any, whom I could have asked [to help] 136). Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “yet knewe I at that tyme no teachers conuenyent.” 46. sinner Bale adds, “without thy sprete”; Cancellar rewords: “neyther man, saint, nor angel, that can without thy spirite, chaunge the hart of a sinner.” 47. O . . . swittenes Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, rewords: “O how great is the goodnesse, and how inestymable the swetnesse which thu hast shewed therin?” Both insert a marginal reference to Psalm 118. swittenes sweetness. One of the earliest documented instances of Elizabeth’s use of i to render the “ee” sound in English. This is the most distinctive and puzzling of her idiosyncratic spelling practices, with many other instances in this treatise and throughout her subsequent writings. See ACFLO, xxiv–xxv. 48. willinge . . . perishe Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “intendynge to haue peryshed.” 49. Alas . . . her Marguerite’s “las vous l’auéz aymée” (149). Bale, followed by Cancellar, expands: “Alas swete lorde, thu hast loued her, yea, to the very outshedynge of thy most precyouse bloude.” Both insert a marginal reference to 1 John 3. 50. inflamed Marguerite’s “enflamée” (150). Changing the sense, Bale, followed by Cancellar, substitutes “incomparable.” 51. euery body Marguerite’s “tous” (152). Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “euery synner.”

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55

damnable doctrine, I despising succor and physic such as would have helped me, and if I had been willing to look for it, I know no man whom I had required.51 For there is neither man, saint, or else angel, for whom the heart of a sinner will change. Alas, good Jesus, Thou seeing my blindness, and that at my need I could have no succor of men,52 then didst Thou open the way of my salvation. O what goodness and sweetness!53 Is there any father to the daughter, or else brother to the sister, which would ever do as He hath done?54 For He came into hell for to succor my soul, where against His will she was willing to perish because she did not love Thee.56 Alas, Thou hast loved her! O charity, fervent and inflamed, Thou art not slack57 to love: Thou which lovest everybody, yea, and also Thy enemies, not only forgiving them their offenses but also to give Thyself, for their salvation, liberty, and deliverance, to the death, cross, travail, pain, and suffering. When I do consider what is the occasion of Thy love towards me, I can see nothing else but love, which inciteth Thee to give me this, that I cannot deserve. Then, my God, as far forth as I can see, I ought to give no thanks for my salvation, but only unto Thee, to whom I owe the praise for it, as to Him which is my Saviour and Creator. 52. twardes me Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to John 5. twardes towards. 53. loue . . . inciteth Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “loue wonderfull, whych moueth.” 54. (my god) . . . the Cancellar omits the address to God and inserts “my Lorde Jesu” after “the.” 55. creatour Bentley inserts a chapter division: “The second Chapter, Of the soules affinitie with Christ.” 51. had required had asked or requested [to help]; “qu’eusse peu requerir” (whom I could have asked [to help] 136). Elizabeth does not convey Marguerite’s counterfactual sense. 52. of men “d’aulcune creature” (of any creature 141). 53. and sweetness “mais quelle grand’doulceur” (but what great sweetness 143). 54. Done Elizabeth does not translate “Tant fust il doulx, piteux et debonnaire” (So sweet, merciful, and gentle He was 146). 55. Dan 1. Marguerite (Aug) lacks this marginal reference. 56. she . . . Thee she “elle” (148), referring to “ame” (soul 147), a feminine noun. because . . . Thee “Sans vous aymer” (Without loving Thee 149). In Marguerite this phrase goes with the following clause concerning God’s love for the speaker. Elizabeth reproduces Marguerite’s shift to second-person address, a stylistic signal of heightened intensity and intimacy. 57. slack “froid ne remis” (cold nor lazy 151).

[140] Acts 4.

1 John 4.

[150] Dan. 1.55 Rom. 5.

Eph. 2.

[160] 1 Tim. 1.

56

ephe. 2.

luke. 15.

philip. 4. 2. cor. 3. and rom. 16. ephe. 2 rom. 5.

philip. 2.

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Alas what thinge is, this, thou hast done so muche for me, and yet art thou not contente to haue forgiuen me, my synnes, but also gyuen vnto me the rightgracious gyfte of grace. For it shuld suffise me (i cominge out of suche a daunger) to be ordred56 like a straunger: but thou doest handle my soule (if so i durst say) as a mother, daugther syster, and wife. I lord, i wich am not worthy, for to aske bread, to come neare, the dore of the right highe place, where thy dwellinge is.57 O what grace is this, that so sodenly thou vouchesafest to drawe my soule in suche hignes, that she feleth herselfe the rular58 of my body. She poore, ignoraunte, and layme, doth fynde herselfe with the riche, wise, and strong by cause thou hast written in her harte the rolle,59 of thy spirite, and holy word geuenge her true fayth to receyue it: wiche thinge made her to conceyue thy sonne: beleuinge him to be god, man, sauyoure, and also the true remitter of all sinnes. Therfore doest thou vouchesafe to assure her that she is mother of thy sonne of whom thou art the onely father. And furthermore (o my father) here is a greate loue; For thou art not slake of well doynge sythe that thy sonne full of diuinite, hath taken the body of a man, and did ioyne himself with oure ashes, wiche thing a man can not vnderstand, onles he hath a true fayth.60 It hath pleased the to put hym so neere vs, that he did ioyne hymselfe vnto oure fleshe, than we (seynge hym to be called man) doo61 call hym syster, and brother. Nowe, the soule (wich may say of herselfe that she is the syster of god) ought to be assured in her harte. After this doest thou declare with great loue, howe her creacion is onely the good wille, wich it pleasyth the to haue alwayes 56. ordred treated, dealt with, rendering “traicter” (170). Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “vsed.” 57. I lord . . . is Cancellar fills out the opening of this sentence, “Notwithstanding, my Lorde,” and follows Bale’s revision of the rest: “I am the trespaser, whyche am not worthye to come nere the dore of thy ryght hygh place, to aske breade, where thy dwellynge is.” 58. rular ruler; an early example of one of Elizabeth’s lifelong idiosyncrasies in spelling. 59. rolle “rolle” (181). Bale, followed by Cancellar, emends to “roote” (also Bentley’s reading)—thus effacing the metaphor of 2 Corinthians 3:3: Christ’s writing, through the Spirit, on the fleshly tables of the heart. Bale and Cancellar also omit Elizabeth’s marginal reference. 60. here is . . . fayth Cancellar reworks: “here is a greate love of thy well doing, that thy holy sonne hath taken on him the body of a man, and hath mingled himself with our ashes, which thing we may not vnderstand, without a moste true fayth.” 61. doo Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “are bolde to.” 58. ordered treated, dealt with.

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57

Alas, what thing is this? Thou hast done so much for me, and yet art Thou not content to have forgiven me my sins, but also given unto me the right gracious gift of grace. For it should suffice me, I coming out of such a danger, to be ordered58 like a stranger, but Thou dost handle my soul (if so I durst say) as a mother, daughter, sister, and wife: I, Lord, I which am not worthy for to ask bread, to come near the door of the right high place, where Thy dwelling is. O what grace is this, that so suddenly Thou vouchsafest to draw my soul in such highness59 that she feeleth herself the ruler of my body. She, poor, ignorant, and lame, doth find herself with Thee rich, wise, and strong, because Thou hast written in her heart the roll60 of Thy Spirit and Holy Word, giving her true faith to receive it: 61 which thing made her to conceive Thy Son, believing Him to be God, man, Saviour, and also the true remitter of all sins. Therefore dost Thou vouchsafe to assure her that she is mother of Thy Son,62 of whom Thou art the only Father. And furthermore, O my Father, here is a great love:63 for Thou art not slack of well doing, since that Thy Son, full of divinity, hath taken the body of a man, and did join himself with our ashes: which thing a man cannot understand, unless he hath a true faith. It hath pleased Thee to put Him so near us that He did join Himself unto our flesh; then we, seeing Him to be called man, do call Him sister and brother. Now, the soul, which may say of herself that she is the sister of God, ought to be assured64 in her heart. After this dost Thou declare with great love how her creation is only the goodwill which it pleaseth Thee to have always towards her, giving 59. highness “haultesse” (177); in both languages, an honorific mode of addressing a personage of great status. 60. lame . . . roll lame weak; “impotente” (179). roll “rolle” (181); in both languages, a formal written record, rolled up for preservation and storage. 61. it Marguerite (Aug) has a reference to Ephesians 2 at this point. 62. conceive . . . Son The play of thought and words in the formulation, ‘to conceive truly of the incarnation’—i.e., of Christ’s voluntary assumption of human nature in order to save sinful humankind—licenses the imputation of motherhood to the soul (a feminine noun) that comes to apprehend this central Christian mystery by faith and then brings it forth—i.e., professes Christ as Saviour. Through her receiving, conceiving, and uttering of true belief, the soul can be figured as “mother of Thy Son.” 63. And . . . love Elizabeth heightens the tonality of Marguerite’s line and personalizes God as Father: “Et qui plus est, mon DIEV, voici grand cas” (And what is more, my God, here is a great instance 189). 64. the soul . . . assured the soul “Qui” (whoever 200). assured “ferme et asseur” (firm and assured 199).

Ephe. 2.

[170] Luke 15.

Philip. 4.

[180] 2 Cor. 2. and Rom. 16. Ephe. 2 Rom. 5.

[190] Philip. 2.

[200]

Eph. 1.

58 ephe. 1.

osea. 2.

1. peter, 2.

math. 6.

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towardes her: geuyng assuraunce that before her first daye62 (prouiding for her) thou hast had thy loue in her, and how (through loue) thou hast begotten her, as (alone) thou canest do very well And also how thou didest put her withine this body: not for slepe,63 with sloughte; but that both of them shuld haue no other exercice, but onely to thinke howe to do you some seruice vnto the: than the truth maketh her to fele, that there is true paternitie64 in the. O what honnoure, what good and glory hath the soule, wich doth always remember, that she is thy daughter: and, in calling the, father, she doth thy commaundementes. What is there more, is that all, no: it pleaseth the to gyue her an other name, to call her thy wife, and she to call the, husbande, declaringe how thou hast frely declared the mariage of her. By the baptisme thou haddest made hast made a promesse to giue her thy goodes, and riches. Thou doest take her synnes, For she hath nothinge els, the wiche adam her father did giue her.65 All her treasures are nothinge els but synnes, wiche thou hast taken vpon the, and payed all her whole debte. With thy goodes, and great laundes, thou hast made her so riche, and with so greate a ioynter; that she (knowinge herselfe to be thy auowed wife) doth beleue to be quitte of all that she oweith, estiming very lytell, this that she doth se here beneth. She forsaketh her olde father, and all the goodes that he geueth for her husbandes sake. Surely (o my god) my soule is well hurte, to be fede of suche good: as for to leaue the pleasure of this worlde for thesame wich is euerlasting,66 where peace is without warre. I meruaille how she (for ioye doth not lese her witte, contenaunce, and speche.67 Father, father: alas, what ought i to thinke: shall my spirite be so bolde to take vpon hym to call the, father, ye, and also, our father, For so hast thou said in the pater noster. But to 62. daye Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “or tyme of beynge.” 63. hast had . . . slepe Cancellar reworks: “thorowe loue hast made hir, as thou of power alone canst well doe it, and also didst put hir within this bodie, not for to slacke.” Both Bale and he insert a marginal reference to Genesis 1. 64. true paternitie Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Genesis 2. 65. the wiche . . . her Bale rewords: “by herytage of her first father Adam”; Cancellar further rewords: “by heritage but sinne of hir first father Adam.” 66. my soule . . . euerlasting Bale rewords: “my sowle is sore hurte, to be fedde with suche good, and agayne releued, in leauynge the pleasure of thys worlde for that whych is eternall.” Cancellar follows Bale except in the opening clause, which he renders as “it hurteth my soule.” Both insert a marginal reference to 2 John 5.

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assurance that before her first day, providing for her, Thou hast had Thy love in her; and how through love Thou hast begotten her, as alone Thou canst do very well. And also how Thou didst put her within this body, not for sleep with sloth, but that both of them65 should have no other exercise, but only to think how to do some service unto Thee; then the truth maketh her to feel that there is true paternity in Thee. O what honor, what good and glory hath the soul which doth always remember that she is Thy daughter and, in calling Thee Father, she doeth Thy commandments. What is there more? Is that all? No: it pleaseth Thee to give her another name, to call her Thy wife, and she to call Thee husband, declaring how Thou hast freely declared the marriage of her. By the baptism Thou hast made a promise to give her Thy goods and riches. Thou dost take her sins; for she hath nothing else, the which Adam, her father, did give her. All her treasures are nothing else but sins, which Thou hast taken upon Thee, and paid her whole debt. With Thy goods and great lands, Thou hast made her so rich,66 and with so great a jointure, that she, knowing herself to be Thy avowed wife, doth believe to be quit of all that she oweth, esteeming very little, this that she doth see here beneath. She forsaketh67 her old father, and all the goods that he giveth, for her husband’s sake. Surely, O my God, my soul is well hurt68 to be fed of such good as for to leave the pleasure of this world for the same which is everlasting, where peace is without war. I marvel how she, for joy, doth not lose her wit, countenance, and speech. Father, Father, alas, what ought I to think? Shall my spirit be so bold to take upon him69 to call Thee father? Yea; and also “Our Father,” for so hast Thou said in the paternoster.70 But to call Thee a 67. I meruaille . . . speche Bale lightly reworks, replacing “for ioye” with “thys remembrynge.” Cancellar deletes this entire sentence. ioye Elizabeth omits the close parenthesis. 65. sleep . . . them sleep . . . sloth Condenses “Non pour dormir, ne pour estre remise” (Not in order to sleep, or in order to be lazy 210). both . . . them soul and body. 66. rich “enrichie et douée” (enriched and endowed 233). 67. forsaketh Elizabeth does not translate “de bon cueur” (willingly 238). 68. well hurt A literal translation of “bien gasté” (239). While both “well” and “bien” are primarily intensifiers, the juxtaposition of these adverbs with the past participle also expresses the spiritual paradox of being “well damaged” or “well devastated.” 69. him A reference to “esprit” (spirit 248), a masculine noun. 70. paternoster The opening words, in Latin, of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, “Our Father, which art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–4).

[210]

[220] Hosea 2.

[230] 1 Pet. 2.

[240]

[250] Matt. 6.

60

prouer. 23.

math. 12.

luke. 1.

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call the, a daughter, hast thou so sayd, i beseche the tell it me, alas, ye, For (with great swittenes) thou saydest, daugther, lende me thy harte:68 O my god, in stedde of lending, he69 is redy to giue hymselfe wholly vnto the. Receyue hym, than, and do not permitte, that any body put hym farre frome the: so that foreuer (with faythfull stedfastenes) he may loue the, with a daugtherly loue. Nowe my lorde, if thou be my father, may i thinke me to be youre that i am thy mother, For i can not perceyue howe I shuld conceyue the, wich hast created me. But thou didest satisfie my doutte, when in preaching (stretching furth thy handes,) thou didest say: Those that shall do the wille of my father; they are my brethern,70 and mother. I beleue than: that (heeringe, or reding the wordes, that thou didest saye, and hast sayd by thy holy prophettes the same also, wich (through thy good71 preachers) thou do dayly declare vnto men: beleuing, and desiringe stedfastely to fulfille it) that through loue i haue begotten the.72 Therfore withoute any feare will i take vpon me the name of a mother, Mother of god: o switte virgin mary, I beseche the, be not sory that i take vp suche a titell: I do neyther steale, or pretend any thinge vpon thy priuilege. For thou (onely hast aboue all women receaued73 so great honnoure; that no man can not in hymselfe comprehende, howe he hath ben willinge to take in the, our fleshe. For thou art mother, and perfytt virgin, before, after, and in hys byrth. Thou didest beare and nourished hym in thy holy wombe.74 Thou didest folowe hym at hys preaching, and also

68. harte Cancellar adds, “and againe thou saidest: Daughter, thy faith hath saued thee,” inserting marginal references to Matthew 9 and Luke 8. 69. O . . . he Changing the sense, Cancellar reads: “O my soule, in stead of lending, my lorde.” 70. brethern Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “also my syster,” rendering “et ma soeur” (268). 71. wordes . . . good wordes Elizabeth omits the close parenthesis. prophettes Bentley inserts “and Apostles.” good “bons” (272). Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “true” and inserts a marginal reference to Luke 11. 72. and . . . the and . . . it) Elizabeth omits the open parenthesis in this phrase. through . . . the “par amour ie vous ay engendré” (275). Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “I conceyue the and beare the by loue.” 73. Mother . . . receaued Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords at key points: “What, Mother of god? . . . be not angry . . . neyther steale nor vsurpe. . . aboue all women receyuedst of hym.” Bentley’s one change reads, “Mother of Christ?” Elizabeth omits the close parenthesis around “onely.”

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daughter, hast Thou so said? I beseech Thee, tell it me. Alas, yea: for with great sweetness Thou saidest, Daughter, lend me thy heart. O my God, instead of lending, he is ready to give himself71 wholly unto Thee. Receive him, then, and do not permit that anybody put him far from Thee, so that forever, with faithful steadfastness, he may love Thee with a daughterly love. Now, my Lord, if Thou be my Father, may I think that I am Thy mother? For I cannot perceive how72 I should conceive Thee, which hast created me. But Thou didst satisfy my doubt, when in preaching, stretching forth Thy hands, Thou didst say: Those that shall do the will of my Father, they are my brethren and mother.73 I believe, then, hearing or reading the words that Thou didst say and hast said by Thy holy prophets,74 the same also which, through Thy good preachers, Thou do daily declare unto men, believing and desiring steadfastly to fulfill it, that through love I have begotten Thee. Therefore, without any fear will I take upon me the name of a mother: mother of God. O sweet Virgin Mary, I beseech thee, be not sorry that I take up such a title; I do neither steal or pretend75 anything upon thy privilege. For thou only hast above all women received so great honor that no man cannot in himself comprehend how He hath been willing to take in thee, our flesh. For thou art mother and perfect virgin before, after, and in His birth. Thou didst bear and nourished76 him in thy holy womb. Thou didst follow Him at His preaching, and also

74. Thou . . . wombe Bale, followed by Cancellar, imposes sequential logic on the sentence: “In thy blessyd wombe thou didyst beare hym and norysh hym.” 71. God . . . himself God “Pere” (Father 255). he . . . himself References to “cueur” (heart 254), a masculine noun. 72. For . . . how Elizabeth’s addition to Marguerite’s subsequent expression of dubiety. Me She does not translate “C’est bien vng cas, dont ne sçay la defaicte” (It is indeed a matter about which I do not know how to get clear 264). 73. brethren . . . mother Elizabeth omits “et ma soeur” (and my sister 268). 74. holy prophets “sainctz et Prophetes” (saints and prophets 271). Elizabeth either reformulated Marguerite’s doublet or overlooked “et.” 75. sorry . . . pretend sorry distressed. neither . . . pretend Elizabeth leaves untranslated the middle term in a set of three phrases, “ne fais . . . ny sacrilege” (nor do I any sacrilege 279). pretend claim; “pretendz” (280). 76. nourished Elizabeth omits Marguerite’s other verbs, “seruy, allaicté, conforté” (served, suckled, and strengthened 288).

Prov. 23.

[260]

Matt. 12.

[270]

[280] Luke 1.

[290]

62 luke. 1. rom. 5. ihon. 1. luke. 1.

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when he was troubled. Now to speke shorte:75 thou hast with god found the grace, that oure enmy (through malice and deceyte) had caused adam, and hys posterite to lese. Through eue, and hym, we had loste it and, by thy sonne, hath ben yelded vnto vs againe. Therfore hast thou ben ryghtely named, full of grace; For thou lakest, neyther, grace, or vertue,76 syth that he (wich is the beste emonge them that be good, also the spring of all goodnes, grace and power, wich hath created in the so pure innocency, 77 that thou art the example of all virtues) hath buylded in the his dwellinge, and temple. He (through loue) did conforme himselfe with the, and thou78 art transformed with hym. Therfore, if any man shuld thinke to geue the greater prayse than god hymselfe hath done, it were a blasphemy.79 For there is no suche prayse as the same is wich cometh frome god. Also hast thou had so stedfaste, and constante a fayth, that by grace she had the power to make the godly. 80 Therfore i wil not take vpon me to gyue the greater prayse, than the honnoure wich the souerayne lord hath gyuen vnto the. For thou art his corporall mother, and also (through fayth) his spirituall mother. Than, i (folowinge thy faith with humilitie) am thys spirituall mother. Alas my god: of the fraternite that thou hast towards me through thy humblenes, in callinge me, syster, didest thou euer saye any thinge of it: alas, ye,81 For thou hast broken the kinrede of myne olde father, callinge me, daugther of adoption. 75. at . . . shorte Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “in hys trybulacyons and also in hys teachynges. Now breuely to conclude.” Bale supplies cognates for Marguerite’s “en tribulations” and “Brief ” (290–91), but his “teachynges” is further from “predications” (289), rendered as “preaching” by Elizabeth. 76. full . . . vertue Omitting the “For” clause, Cancellar reworks: “full of grace, as one, to whome the lorde hath shewed aboundant fauour.” 77. innocency Bentley inserts “endued thee with such grace, and exalted thee to such dignitie.” 78. did . . . thou did conforme “est . . . confermée” (305). Cancellar reads “did confirme,” which is fortuitously closer to the French. thou Cancellar adds “through grace.” 79. if . . . blasphemy “De vous cuyder myeulx louer, c’est blaspheme” (To think to praise Thee better is blasphemy 307). Cancellar reworks: “no man can giue thee greater prayse, than God himself hath giuen thee.” 80. by . . . godly Cancellar reworks: “thou, by the holye Ghoste, wast filled with all godlynesse.” 81. didest . . . ye Bale rewords: “is great. Dedyst thu euer saye in it any thynge afore?” Cancellar reworks Bale, retaining “is great” but omitting the following sentence. Both insert a marginal reference to Romans 8.

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when He was troubled. Now to speak short: thou hast with God found the grace that our enemy, through malice and deceit, had caused Adam and his posterity to lose. Through Eve and him we had lost it and, by thy Son, hath been yielded unto us again. Therefore hast thou been rightly named full of grace, for thou lackest neither grace or virtue, since that He, which is the best among them that be good, also the spring of all goodness, grace, and power, which hath created in thee so pure innocency that thou art the example of all virtues,77 hath builded in thee His dwelling and temple. He, through love, did conform Himself with thee, and thou art transformed with Him.78 Therefore, if any man should think to give thee greater praise than God Himself hath done, it were a blasphemy. For there is no such praise as the same is, which cometh from God. Also hast thou had so steadfast and constant a faith that, by grace, she79 had the power to make thee godly.80 Therefore I will not take upon me to give thee greater praise than the honor which the sovereign Lord hath given unto thee. For thou art His corporal mother and also, through faith, His spiritual mother. Then I, following thy faith with humility, am His spiritual mother. Alas, my God,81 of the fraternity that Thou hast towards me through Thy humbleness in calling me sister, didst Thou ever say anything of it? Alas, yea; for Thou hast broken the kindred of mine old father, calling me daughter of adoption.82 Well, then, since that we 77. grace or virtue . . . virtues grace or virtue Elizabeth omits “et de dons” (and gifts 299). the best . . . good She expatiates on “le bon des bons,” a Hebraism formed on analogy with “Holy of Holies,” “King of Kings.” grace Elizabeth’s addition. example . . . virtues “à tous . . . exemple” (example to all 303). 78. did . . . Him did . . . thee “en vous il est . . . confermée” (He is confirmed in you 305). Elizabeth evidently read “conformée.” and . . . Him “Et vous en luy ravie et transformée” (And you are ravished and transformed in Him 306). Elizabeth’s “transformed with” again weakens the claim of uniting with God. 79. she A reference to “foy” (faith 309), a feminine noun. 80. make . . . godly “De vous faire du tout deifier” (to make you completely become God 311). 81. Alas . . . God “Mais mon Saulueur” (Yet my Saviour 319). 82. mine . . . adoption The allusion here, unsignaled by either writer, is to Paul’s extended figuration of salvation as the dissolving of kinship in sin and death—the curse laid upon father Adam—and the adopting of those who put their faith in the redemptive power of Jesus’s death as children or sons of God (Romans 5:8–14, 8:1–2, 15–17; Galatians 4:5). mine . . . father “pere mauldict” (accursed father 322). “Old” associates fallen Adam with Paul’s “old man” of sin (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22–24; Colossians 3:9-11).

Luke 1. Rom. 5. John 1.

[300] Luke 1.

[310]

[320]

64

cantic. 4.

cantic. 2.

psal. 26. and 30.

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Well, than, syth that wehaue but one father, i will not feare to call the, my brother. For so hast thou sayd by salomon in his ballet, sayenge, my syster, thou hast wonded my harte with the switte loke of one of thy eyes, and with one of thy heeres. Alas good brother, I wishe for nothinge els, but that in wonding the, i might fynde my self wonded with thy loue.82 And likewise thou doest call me, wife, shewinge that thou louest me, and call me (by true loue) ialeus:83 my doue, ryse vp my spowse.84 Therfore shall i say, with louing faith, thou art mijn, and i am thyne. Thou doest call me, loue, and faire spowse; if so it be, suche hast thou made me. Alas; doth it please the to geue me suche names: they are hable to breake a mans harte, and to kindle hym by suche loue, when he thinketh vpon the honnoure wich is greater than he hath deserued.85 Mother, mother: but what childe is it; it is of suche a sonne that my harte doth breake for loue.86 My god my sonne; O iesus what speche i speking is this: mother, and daugther: O happy kinrede. O what swittenes doth procede of thesame paternite. But what daugtherly loue, and reuerent feare ought i to haue towards hym. My father: ye and my creatoure, my protectoure and my conseruatoure: to be thy syster:87 alas here is a greate loue:88 Nowe doest thou breake my hart in the middes:89 make rowme for thesame so switte a brother; so that no 82. loue Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds: “To that wolde I geue ouer my selfe.” 83. shewinge . . . ialeus Bale rewords, “in that place, shewynge largely that thu louyst me, saynge by these wordes amorously.” Cancellar reworks Elizabeth and Bale by condensing to a single phrase, “speaking to me these amorous woordes.” 84. my doue . . . my spowse Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “Aryse my dere doue, and come hytherwarde my dylectable spouse.” 85. kindle . . . deserued Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “cause it to burne through loue vnspeakeable, whan he thynketh vpon the honoure that thu dost vnto hym, whych is moche.” 86. Mother . . . loue Bale rewords: “A mother, a mother: Alas but of what childe is it? Truly it is,” and inserts a marginal reference to Luke 8. Cancellar follows Bale up to “Truly it is,” omitting that together with Elizabeth’s entire sentence: “it is . . . for loue.” 87. My father . . . syster Bale omits the opening terms of address; Cancellar inserts “sauiour” and recasts the sentence structure, linking these terms to the preceding sentence, and changes the meaning of the final phrase, reading “to bee my brother?” 88. loue Bentley inserts “I will therefore saie with Salomon.” 89. Nowe . . . middes Changing the sense of Elizabeth’s literal rendering of Marguerite (358), retained in Bale, Cancellar reworks: “Now can my hart no longer refraine, but breake in sunder.” He follows Bale in inserting a marginal reference to Canticles 8. 83. said . . . ballad said Elizabeth does not translate “en lieu bien authentique” (in a very authoritative place 327). ballad “vostre doulx Canticque” (thy sweet Canticle 328).

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have but one father, I will not fear to call Thee my brother. For so hast Thou said by Solomon in his ballad,83 saying, My sister, thou hast wounded my heart with the sweet look of one of thy eyes, and with one of thy hairs. Alas, good brother, I wish for nothing else but that, in wounding Thee, I might find myself wounded with Thy love.84 And likewise Thou dost call me wife, showing that Thou lovest me, and call me by true love jealous:85 My dove, rise up, my spouse. Therefore shall I say with loving faith, Thou art mine, and I am Thine. Thou dost call me love and fair spouse; if so it be, such hast Thou made me. Alas, doth it please Thee to give me such names? They are able to break a man’s heart and to kindle him by such love,86 when he thinketh upon the honor, which is greater than he hath deserved. Mother, mother: but what child is it? It is of such a son that my heart doth break for love. My God, my son, O Jesus, what speaking is this? Mother and daughter:87 O happy kindred! O what sweetness doth proceed of the same paternity!88 But what daughterly love and reverent fear ought I to have towards him? My Father, yea, and my Creator, my Protector and my Conservator,89 to be Thy sister: alas, here is a great love. Now dost Thou break my heart in the midst. Make room for the same so sweet a brother,90 so that no other name be written in thee, but only Elizabeth’s word choice activates the native English associations of this lyric form, whose subject was often love. The choice may have been keyed by the reference to the Song of Solomon, or Song of Songs (Vulgate “Canticum Canticorum”). 84. love Elizabeth omits “bien m’y veulx consentir” (I well wish to consent to it 334). 85. by . . . jealous ardent or jealous out of true love; “par vraye amour ialouse” (337). Both “jealous” and “ialouse” in the sixteenth century had the sense of ‘ardent’ as well as their modern sense. Marguerite may have intended a phrasal balance of adjectives on either side of their single noun—a Latinate and poetic construction that would require reordering for clarity in English: ‘out of true, ardent / jealous love.’ 86. love “amour importable” (unbearable love 345). 87. Mother . . . daughter “Pere, fille” (Father, daughter 350). Elizabeth’s noted failure to render Marguerite’s phrasing accurately (Prescott, “Pearl of the Valois,” 69), substituting “Mother” for “Father,” could have resulted from eyeskip and conflation across two intervening lines with parallel openings: line 347 begins “Mere, mere”; line 350 begins “Pere, fille.” Elizabeth translates “paternité” accurately in line 352. 88. sweetness . . . paternity sweetness Elizabeth does not translate “que de suauité” (what mildness 351). paternity “doulce paternité” (sweet fatherhood 352). 89. Conservator “conseruateur” (Preserver 356). 90. brother Elizabeth does not translate the following line addressed to Marguerite’s heart: “Et que luy seul soit enfermé en vous” (And let Him alone be enclosed in thee 360).

Song of Sol. 4.

[330]

Song of Sol. 2.

[340]

[350]

Psal. 26. and 30.

[359]

66

iames. 3.

iohn. 6. luke. 15.

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other name be written in the: but onely my brother, iesus, the sonne of god:90 For vnto no other man wil i geue place, for all the grudginge,91 and beyttinge that they can do vnto me. Kepe my harte than, my brother, and lett not thy enmy entre in it.92 O my father, brother, childe, and spowse: with handes ioyned, humbly vpon my knees, I yelde the thankes, and praise, that it pleaseth the to turne thy face towards me, conuerting my hart, and coueringe me with such grace, that thou doest se no more my yuels, and synnes so well has thou hidden them, that it semeth thou hast put them in forgetfulnes,93 yea, and also they seme to be forgotten of me, wich haue committed them, For, faith and loue, causeth me to forgett them, putting wholly my truste in the onely. Than, my father, in whom lyeth vnfayned loue: wherof can i haue feare in my harte: I confesse that i haue done all the yuell that one man can do, and that, of my selfe, i am naught,94 also that i haue offended the, as the prodigal childe did, folowing the folishe tradde of the fleshe, where i haue spent all my substancy, and also all the abundance of goodes: wich i had receiued of the. For, pouertie had95 wethered me, euen as hey, and yelded my spirite deed for hunger, sekyng96 to eate the reliefz of swinne: but i founde very lytell sauoure in such meates Than i (seyng my liuynge to be so miserable) did returne vnto the, O father. Alas i haue sinned in heauen, and before the: I am not97 worthy (i tell it afore euery man) to

90. god Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Acts 4. 91. grudginge Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “scourgynge,” as does Bentley. Neither Elizabeth nor her revisers retain Marguerite’s military imagery: “batterie, ou mine” (battery or mine 364). 92. in it Bentley inserts a chapter division, “The third Chapter, Of the soules infidelitie or apostasie from god.” 93. forgetfulnes Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Ezekiel 33. 94. naught Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Psalm 31. 95. goodes . . . had Cancellar reworks: “goods, which thou here hast giuen me to vse to thy glorie. And for the misspending of them, pouertie hath taken me and hath.” Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Luke 15. 96. sekyng Bentley reads “compelling me.” 97. not Cancellar rewords, “therefore no more.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Ezekiel 18. 91. grudging . . . beating Elizabeth eliminates Marguerite’s military imagery: “batterie, ou mine” (battery or mine 364). Marguerite imagines herself as a city or fortress besieged by God: “batterie” refers to the artillery bombardment of an enemy’s wall, and “mine” to a tunnel dug under the enemy’s fortifications to undermine them.

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my brother, Jesus, the Son of God. For unto no other man will I give place, for all the grudging and beating91 that they can do unto me. Keep my heart, then, my brother, and let not Thy enemy enter in it. O my Father, brother, child and spouse, with hands joined, humbly upon my knees, I yield Thee thanks and praise that it pleaseth Thee to turn Thy face towards me,92 converting my heart and covering me with such grace that Thou dost see no more my evils and sins. So well hast Thou hidden them that it seemeth Thou hast put them in forgetfulness; yea, and also they seem to be forgotten of me, which have committed them. For faith and love causeth me to forget them, putting wholly my trust in Thee only. Then, my Father, in whom lieth unfained love, whereof can I have fear in my heart? I confess that I have done all the evil that one man can do, and that of myself I am nought. Also, that I have offended Thee, as the prodigal child did, following the foolish trade of the flesh,93 where I have spent all my substancy and also all the abundance of goods which I had received of Thee. For poverty had weathered me, even as hay, and yielded my spirit dead for hunger, seeking to eat the reliefs94 of swine; but I found very little savor in such meats. Then I, seeing my living to be so miserable, did return unto Thee, O Father.96 Alas, I have sinned in heaven and before Thee; I am not worthy (I tell it afore every man)

92. thanks . . . me thanks . . . praise Compresses “Graces . . . mercy, gloire, et louenge” (graces, thanks, glory, and praise 369). turn . . . towards me Elizabeth reverses the roles: “moy . . . A vous tourner” (turn me towards Thee 370–71). me Elizabeth does not translate the emphatic self-denigration in the following half-line, “moy terre, cendre et fange” (me, earth, ash, and muck 370). 93. offended . . . flesh offended sinned against; “ay . . . Abandonné” (abandoned 383–84). prodigal child See Luke 15:11–32 for this parable. foolish . . . flesh “la folle ligue” (the mad crowd 384). trade way or manner of life. 94. reliefs scraps; “le relief ” (389). 95. John 6 Salminen (commentary on Miroir, 36) notes that this marginal reference appears only in the December 1533 Augereau edition and the 1547 Lyon edition, while all editions have the immediately following reference to Luke 15, the parable of the prodigal son. The added reference opens up an otherwise latent spiritual dimension in the imagery of eating. John 6 traces a progression from physical to spiritual nourishment—first, Jesus’s miracle of the loaves and fishes (verses 1–27), then His self-characterization as “the bread which came down from heaven,” “the bread of life,” and the means of eternal life through partaking of His body and blood (verses 32–58). 96. O Father Elizabeth omits “par vous” (through Thee 392).

[370]

[380] James 3.

[390] John 6.95 Luke 15.

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3. king. 3.

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call myselfe be called thy childe, but (o bountiefull father) do no worse, vnto me, but as to one of thy householde seruauntes Alas98 what loue, and zeale is thys: For thou woldest not tary my comming, and prayer, but (stretching furth thy hande) receuedyst me, when i did thinke that thou woldest not se me: and in stedde to haue punishemente, thou doest99 assure me of my saluacion. Where is he, than, that shall punishe me when my father shall denye hym my synne. There is no iudge that can condemne any man, onlesse god himselfe wolde damne hym. I feare not to haue lake of goodes, syth i haue god for my father. My enmy shall do me no harme, For my father shall vndowe hys power.100 If i owe any thing, he shal paye it for me. If i haue deserued death he (as a kinge) shall geue me grace, and pardon, and delyuer me frome prison, and hanging. But here is the worse: what mother haue i ben: For after that i101 had receued the name of a true mother, than haue i ben to rude vnto the. For after that i had conceyued, and102 brought the furth, i lefte reason, and beyng subiette vnto my owne will, not taking hide103 vnto the, i fell a slepe, and gaue place to my great enmy: the wich in the night of ignoraunce (i being a slepe) did steale the frome me, craftily, and in the place she did put her childe wich was dead. So did i lese the by my owne faute, wich thinge is a harde remorse for me.104 Now haue i loste the by mine owne fautte, by cause i toke no hyde to kepe the. My enmy, my sensualite105 (i beyng in my beastely slepe) did steale the frome me, 98. Alas Bentley inserts “deere father.” 99. se me . . . doest Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, reworks: “looke on me, and so receyuing me, in stead to haue punished, thou didst.” 100. vndowe . . . power Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “take all hys strength awaye.” Both insert a marginal reference to Isaiah 27. 101. i Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “by fayth,” rendering “par Foy” (416). 102. than haue . . . and Bale rewords, “I became very rude vnto the, bycause that after I had,” and inserts a marginal reference to Romans 7. With Elizabeth, Cancellar reads “conceived, and”—fortuitously, the only convergent reading in his version. 103. hide heed; another of Elizabeth’s idiosyncratic uses of i to render English ee. 104. by my . . . me Bale, followed by Cancellar, deletes this first occurrence of “by my owne faute,” which does not appear in Marguerite (426) and probably resulted from an eyeskip to the next line on Elizabeth’s part. Bale adds “and sorowe” after “remorse,” which Cancellar rewords as “a sorowfull remorse.” Both insert a marginal reference to 3 Kings [1 Chronicles] 3, although Cancellar’s reference contains a misprint. 105. sensualite Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “my neyghbour,” rendering Marguerite’s “ma voisine” (429), which Elizabeth does not translate. 97. one . . . servants “vng mercenaire” (a hireling, wage-earner 396).

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to be called Thy child, but, O bountiful Father, do no worse unto me, but as to one of Thy household servants.97 Alas, what love and zeal98 is this! For Thou wouldest not tarry my coming and99 prayer, but, stretching forth Thy hand, receivedst me when I did think that Thou wouldst not see me and, instead to have punishment, Thou dost assure me of my salvation. Where is he, then, that shall punish me when my Father shall deny him my sin? There is no judge that can condemn any man, unless God Himself would damn him.100 I fear not to have lack of goods, since I have God for my Father. My enemy shall do me no harm, for my Father shall undo his power. If I owe anything, He shall pay it for me. If I have deserved death, He, as a king, shall give me grace and pardon, and deliver me from prison and hanging. But here is the worse: what mother have I been? For after that I had received101 the name of a true mother, then have I been too rude102 unto Thee. For after that I had conceived and brought Thee forth, I left reason and, being subject unto my own will, not taking heed unto Thee, I fell asleep and gave place to my great enemy: the which in the night of ignorance, I being asleep, did steal Thee from me craftily, and in the place she did put her child,104 which was dead. So did I lose Thee by my own fault, which thing is a hard remorse for me. Now have I lost Thee by mine own fault105 because I took no heed to keep Thee. My enemy,106 my sensuality, I being in my beastly sleep, did 98. love . . . zeal Elizabeth’s addition. 99. my . . . and Elizabeth’s addition. 100. unless . . . him “puis que DIEV ne le veult point damner” (since God does not wish to condemn him 408). Atypically, Elizabeth’s formulation is more severe than that of her source. 101. received Elizabeth omits “par Foy et seureté” (by faith and assurance 416). 102. rude “rude et amaire” (rough and bitter 418). 103. 3 Kings 3 The Vulgate and vernacular editions deriving from it numbered a sequence of Old Testament historical books 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kings. These books are 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings in English Bibles. The reference is to the story of King Solomon’s wise adjudication of the rival claims of two mothers, both of whom claimed the same living child and ascribed the same dead child to the other woman (1 Kings 3:16–28 in English numbering). 104. her child the child of the “great enemy” (“grande ennemie” 422), Marguerite’s image for her “sensualité” (429), a feminine noun. 105. by my . . . mine own fault Only the second instance of this phrase occurs in Marguerite (437); the first instance is probably the result of Elizabeth’s eyeskip to the next line, since the phrase occurs after “Perdu vous ay,” the phrase that opens two successive lines (426–27). 106. My enemy “Ma voisine” (My neighbor 429).

[400]

[410]

[420] 3 Kings 3.103

[430]

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and gaue me an other childe hauinge no life in hym, wich is called synne, whom i will not haue For i do vtterly forsake hym She affyrmyd that he was mijn owne, but i knewe hym to be hers. For as soone as i came to the light of the grace wich thou haddest geuen me, than i knewe my glory to be chaunged when i sawe the deed child not to be mijn: For thesame wich was a liue (whom she had taken awaye) was mynowne. Betwene iesus, and synne, is the chaunge so apparent,106 But here is a straunge thing: This olde woman causeth me to kepe hym wich is dead, whom she sayeth to be mijn, and so she will mayntene. O salomon true iudge; thou hast herd this lamentable proces, and ordeyned (contenting the parties) that my child shuld be diuided in two partes The false woman agreeth it shuld be so: but i (remembring hym to be my owne sonne) was rather contente to lese hym, than to se his body parted in two peces (For, true, and parfaitte loue is neuer contente with one halfe of this that she loueth) but i wolde rather wyppe for my whole loste, than to recouer but one halfe.107 My mind shuld not be satisfied, if i had recouered one halfe withoute life. Alas108 geue her rather the childe wiche is a liue: better it is for me to dye, than to se iesuschrist109 dyuided. But (o my lorde) thou didest loke better to it, than i, For, thou (seynge the payne that i did suffer, and howe i did rather forsake my ryght than to se such cruelnes) saydest, this is the true mother, and caused them to gyue me, my childe againe.110 O switte iesus, haue i founde the: after to haue proued me: if i did love the, i, who111 had loste the, yet didest thou retourne vnto me. Alas doest thou vouchafe112 to come againe to her wiche, beynge let with synne, coulde not kepe the. O my switte childe,

106. mynowne . . . apparent Cancellar rephrases, “my childe, so apparant was the chaunge betweene Jesus and sinne,” and repeats his misprinted reference to 3 Kings 3. 107. loue . . . halfe loue Cancellar adds “without lyfe.” but . . . halfe Cancellar omits this clause. 108. Alas Cancellar inserts “noble Salomon.” 109. iesuschrist Cancellar reads “my sonne.” 110. againe Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds, “for whom my harte was so sorowfull,” rendering “Pour qui voyiéz mon cueur tant travailler” (468), not translated by Elizabeth. 111. O switte . . . who Cancellar deletes the first clause, “O . . . founde the,” and reworks the remainder of the sentence: “thus hast thou prooued me, how much I loued thee, yea, and when by sinne I.” 112. vouchafe vouchsafe. 107. from me Elizabeth does not translate “par son enuye” (because of envy 431). 108. I . . . have I do not wish to have; “ie ne veulx point” (433).

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steal Thee from me,107 and gave me another child having no life in him, which is called sin, whom I will not have;108 for I do utterly forsake him.109 She affirmed that he was mine own, but I knew him to be hers. For as soon as I came to the light of the grace which Thou hadst given me, then I knew my glory to be changed when I saw the dead child not to be mine. For the same which was alive, whom she had taken away, was mine own. Between Jesus and sin is the change so apparent. But here is a strange thing: this old woman causeth me to keep him which is dead, whom she saith to be mine, and so she will maintain. O Solomon, true judge, thou hast heard this lamentable process, and ordained, contenting the parties,110 that my child should be divided in two parts. The false woman agreeth it should be so, but I, remembering Him to be my own son, was rather content to lose Him than to see His body parted in two pieces. For true and perfect love111 is never content with one half of this that she loveth. But I would rather weep for my whole, lost, than to recover but one half. My mind should not be satisfied if I had recovered one half without life. Alas, give her rather the child which is alive; better it is for me to die than to see Jesus Christ divided. But, O my Lord, Thou didst look better to it than I. For Thou, seeing the pain that I did suffer, and how I did rather forsake my right than to see such cruelness, saidst, This is the true mother, and caused them to give me my child again.112 O sweet Jesus, have I found Thee, after to have proved113 me if I did love Thee, I who had lost Thee, yet didst Thou return unto me? Alas, dost Thou vouchsafe to come again to her which, being let114 with sin, could not keep Thee? O my sweet child, my Son, my nourriture, 115 of

109. him Elizabeth does not translate “voyla le poinct” (there is the point 434). 110. contenting . . . parties “contentant les parties.” Solomon’s tactic was more complex: his proposal aimed to test what each of the two women would find acceptable. 111. true . . . love Elizabeth omits the last adjective in a series, “ardente” (453). 112. such . . . again such cruelness “cruaulté si amaire” (cruelty so bitter 465). again Elizabeth does not translate the next line of emotional elaboration from the speaker to the reader, on the now averted prospect of losing her child: “Pour qui voyiéz mon cueur tant trauailler” (For whom you saw my heart laboring so much 468). 113. proved made trial of; “esprouué” (tested 470). Elizabeth does not translate “par ennuy” (by grief 470). 114. let hindered. 115. nourriture nourishment; “nourriture” (475). The term in both languages may have a Eucharistic undertone.

[440]

[450]

[460]

3 Kings 3.

[470]

72

psal. 23.

nume. 12.

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my sonne, my nourriture, of whom i am right humble creature, do not permytte that euer I do leaue the; For i repent myselfe of the tyme passed. Nowe come, my sensualitie, with synnes of all qualities,113 For thou hast not the power to make me receyue the childe wich is dead. Thesame that i haue is stronge inough for to defende me, and he shall not permitte that thou do take hym awaye frome me. He is alredy as strong as any man is:114 therfore may i slepe, and take reste neere of hym. For he shal kepe me better, than i could kepe hym. Than (as i thinke) I may take reste.115 O what a switte reste it is, of the mother, and the the sonne togyther. My switte, child: O my god; honnoure, and praise be vnto the, onely, so that euery body maye perceyue, howe it hath pleased the, me lesse than nothing to call a mother: the more that the thing is straunge and harde to be done, the more ought thy goodnes haue praise for it. And also, i finde myself more bounde vnto the, than euer i did, for this that it pleaseth the to haue reteyned me for thy syster.116 I am syster vnto the, but so naughty a syster, that better it is for me to hyd suche a name: For i (forgettinge the honnoure, and adoption of so noble kinrede:117 also thy so switte a brotherly behauoure towardes me) did ryse against the. and (not remembring my fauttes, but goynge farre118 from the) did agree with my brother aaron, willinge to giue iudgemente against thy workes, and also grudging againste the, priuely, wiche thinge causeth me to haue a great remorse in my

113. synnes . . . qualities Cancellar reads “thy rablement of sinnes.” 114. the childe . . . man is Cancellar rewords: “thy dead childe. For my sonne is strong, and will defende me, he shall not permit, that thou take him any more awaye from me. His strength is greater, than any others.” 115. better . . . reste Cancellar rewords and condenses: “from thine assaults.” He follows Bale in inserting a marginal reference to Isaiah 32. 116. And . . . syster Cancellar reorders the sentence, “And further, thou hast retained me for thy sister, wherefore I acknowledge my selfe more bounde, than to any other creature,” inserting a marginal reference to Psalm 12. 117. better . . . kinrede Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, rewords: “better it were for me that I were wythout the name, for I forgate [forgot] the honoure of adopcyon in so noble a kyndred.” 118. so . . . farre so Bale inserts “good and.” ryse Bale inserts “with pryde,” rendering “en orgueil” (504). farre Bale inserts “a straye.” 116. passed Elizabeth does not translate “et confesse” (and confess it 478). 117. sins. . . qualities “pechéz de toute qualité” (sins of every kind 480). 118. The same the aforementioned (Jesus); “Celluy” (483).

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whom I am right humble creature, do not permit that ever I do leave Thee, for I repent myself of the time passed.116 Now come, my sensuality, with sins of all other qualities,117 for thou hast not the power to make me receive the child which is dead. The same118 that I have is strong enough for to defend me, and He shall not permit that thou do take Him away from me. He is already as strong as any man is; therefore may I sleep and take rest near of119 Him. For120 He shall keep me better than I could keep Him. Then, as I think, I may take rest. O what a sweet rest it is, of the mother and the son together. My sweet child, O my God: honor and praise be unto Thee only, so that everybody may perceive how it hath pleased Thee, me less than nothing,121 to call a mother. The more that the thing is strange and hard to be done,122 the more ought Thy goodness have praise for it. And also I find myself more bound unto Thee than ever I did, for this: that it pleaseth Thee to have retained me for Thy sister. I am sister unto Thee, but so naughty a sister, that better it is for me to hide such a name. For I, forgetting the honor and adoption of so noble kindred, also Thy so sweet a brotherly behavior towards me, did rise against Thee, and not remembering my faults but going far from Thee, did agree with my brother Aaron, willing to give judgment against Thy works, and also grudging against Thee privily, which thing causeth me to have a great remorse in my conscience.124 O 119. as strong . . . of as strong as “grand, et plus fort que” (big, and stronger than 485). near of Unidiomatic rendering of “Aupres de” (487). 120. For Elizabeth does not translate the following “tout bien regardé” (everything rightly considered 487). 121. me . . . nothing Elizabeth does not translate “toute nichilité” (total nothingness 494). 122. and . . . done Elizabeth’s addition. 123. Numbers 12 Miriam and Aaron condemn their brother Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman and challenge his special favor with God. God, in anger, strikes Miriam with leprosy, instantly causing Aaron to repent. Miriam must endure seven days of banishment and shame, before God, at Moses’s entreaty, restores her to health and to her place among the Israelites. 124. rise . . . conscience rise . . . Thee Elizabeth omits “en orgueil” (in pride 504). agree . . . Aaron Elizabeth omits “en trahison” (in betrayal 507). to give . . . works Elizabeth provides a loose but contextually appropriate rendering of “donner à vos oeuures raison” (to provide a reason for Thy works 508). Marguerite’s sense seems to be that the speaker, like Miriam and Aaron, sought to “explain” God’s works by finding them wicked (514). in . . . conscience Elizabeth’s addition.

[480] Psal. 23.

[490]

[500]

Num. 12.123

[510]

74

exo. 32.

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conscience. O bountiefull god, brother, and true moses, wich doth all thinges with godnes,119 and iustice, i haue estimed thy dedes to be wicked, beynge so bolde, and sayenge120 rashely, why hast thou married a straunge woman: Thou gyuest vs a lawe, and punishement if we do not fulfille it: and thyselfe wolde not be bounde to it, forbiding vs the thinge wich thyselfe didyst. For thou doest forbide vs to kille no man: and thou doest kille, and speared121 none of thre thousande that thou caused122 to be slayne. Also god gaue vs commaundemente by the, that we shuld not marry the daugther of a straunger: but thou tokest thy wife emonge them. Alas my brother, i tolde the a great, many of such wordes, wiche i knowe well to be folishe, wherof i do repente: For the liuely voyce of god123 toke me vp afore i went oute of the place. What didest thou of my synne? alas my brother thou woldest not haue me to be punished, but rather woldest for my helthe, and saluacion, in askinge for thys great benefite, that it shuld please god to mitigate hys iudgemente: The wiche thinge thou couldest not obtayne; For i became a lazare, so that whan any body shulde loke vpon vpon me, might saye that i had not ben wise. And so was i put (like a lazare) frome the tentes, and habitacion of the people: For a soule can not haue greater punishemente, than to be banished frome the company of them that are good, and holy bycause that a syke body maye marre them wich be in helthe.124 But what didest thou,125 For seynge my repentaunce, For thou didest helpe that my penaunce was soone ended By true loue, thou didest pray for me, and than did i 119. godnes goodness; “bonté” (513). 120. dedes . . . sayenge Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “workes to be euen synne, beynge so bolde to speake euyn.” Both insert a marginal reference to Numbers 12. 121. speared spared. 122. caused Cancellar reads “commaundest.” 123. god Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “rebukyngly.” 124. And so . . . helthe Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, reorders and recasts two sentences: “And for my vncleannesse, and leprosie, I was put out from the tentes and tabernacles, from among the people, bicause the sick should not infecte such, as were whole. O what soule can haue a greater punishmente, than to be banished out of the company of them which are holye in God?” The concluding phrase in Bale reads “holy and good.” Bentley follows Cancellar. 125. thou Cancellar adds “my sweete loue and brother.” 125. bountiful . . . Moses bountiful Elizabeth’s addition. Moses Elizabeth does not translate “Tresdebonnaire, et tresdoulx sans faintise” (Most noble and most gentle without feigning 512).

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bountiful God, brother, and true Moses,125 which doth all things with goodness and justice, I have esteemed Thy deeds to be wicked, being so bold and saying rashly, Why hast thou married a strange woman? Thou givest us a law, and punishment if we do not fulfill it; and thyself would not be bound to it, forbidding us the thing which thyself didest.126 For thou dost forbid us to kill no man; and thou dost kill, and spared none of three thousand that thou caused to be slain.127 Also God gave us commandment by thee, that we should not marry the daughter of a stranger, but thou tookst thy wife among them.128 Alas, my brother, I told Thee a great many of such words, which I know well to be foolish,129 whereof I do repent. For the lively voice of God took me up afore I went out of the place. What didst Thou, of my sin? Alas, my brother, Thou wouldest not have me to be punished, but rather wouldest for my health and salvation, in asking for this great benefit, that it should please God to mitigate His judgment. The which thing Thou couldest not obtain, for I became a lazar,130 so that when anybody should look upon me, might say that I had not been wise. And so I was put, like a lazar, from the tents and habitation of the people. For a soul cannot have greater punishment than to be banished from the company of them that are good and holy131 because that a sick body may mar them which be in health. But what didst Thou, seeing my repentance? For Thou didst help, that my penance was soon ended. By true love,132 Thou didst pray for me, and then did I return. O what brother, 126. didest Elizabeth omits “sans conscience” (without remorse 520). 127. three . . . slain In Exodus 33:26–28, Moses, returning from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, finds the Israelites worshiping a golden calf. He orders three thousand of the idolators to be slain. 128. them Elizabeth omits the following “sans danger” (without hesitation 526). 129. know . . . foolish know well Elizabeth omits the preceding “congnois, et” (knew, and 528). foolish Elizabeth does not translate the next line and a half: “Auec Aaron (qui est mon propre sens) / Ie vous ay dit” (With Aaron, who is my own intent, / I said this to you 529–30). She thus suppresses local allegorical elaboration and sustains the main allegorical narrative, in which the speaker is identified with Miriam. 130. lazar leper. The sores of the Biblical beggar Lazarus, whom the angels carried to his heavenly rest in Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:20–26), were interpreted as signs of leprosy. 131. good . . . holy Marguerite has two preceding adjectives: “fideles, vertueux” (faithful, virtuous 547). 132. love Elizabeth omits the immediately following characterization of this love: “en vous non seiournée” (not tarrying in Thee 551).

[520] Exo. 32.

[530] Num. 12.

[540]

[550]

76

psal. 26.

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returne.126 O what brother, who, in stedde to punishe hys folishe syster, wolde cleaue vnto her. For iniury grudge and greate offence,127 thou gauest her grace, and love in recompense. Alas my brother this is to moche, thou shuldest not do suche a good turne vnto suche a poore woman128 as i am. I haue done yll, and thou geuest me good for it. I am thine, and thou didest say that thou art mijn. Thyne i am, and so will i be for euer. I feare no more the great folishenes of aaron. For no man shall lose me from the. Nowe than that we are brother, and syster togyther, i care but lytell for all other men. Thy laundes are my owne inheritaunce, lett vs than kepe (if it pleaseth the) but one husholde. Syth it pleaseth the to humble thyselfe so moche,129 as to ioyne thy harte with mijn, in makinge thyselfe a lyuely man, i do right humbly thanke the and, as for to do it, as i ought, it lieth not in my power. Take my meaning than, and excuse myne ignoraunce, syth that i am of so great a kinrede as to be thy syster: O my god, i haue good cause to praise, to loue,130 and to serue the vnfaynedly: and not to desire, or feare any thing, but the, onely Kepe me wel, than,131 For i aske no other brother, or frende.132 If any mother hath taken any care for her sonne; If any brother hath hyd the fautte of hys syster:133 I neuer sawe it (or elles it was kepte wonders134 secrette) that any husbande wolde forgiue his wife, after that she had offended hym and did returne vnto hym. There be inoughe of them, wiche for to auenge their wronge, did cause the iudges to condemne hym them to dye Other, seynge their wiues synne, did not soudaynely

126. For thou . . . returne Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, rewords: “Thou prouidedst, that my penance was soone at an ende, and with true loue, madest meanes for me, wherupon I returned to thee.” Both insert a marginal reference to 1 John 2. 127. offence Cancellar adds, “by hir committing.” Bentley reads “by hir committed.” 128. this is . . . woman Bale, followed by Cancellar, reworks, “how excedynge is thys thy loue? Moch more is it, than brotherhede is bounde to geue to so poore and wretchyd a woman,” and adds a marginal reference to Psalm 50. 129. moche Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Philippians 2. 130. praise . . . loue Bale exchanges the order of these two verbes. 131. than Cancellar adds “I humblye praye thee.” 132. frende Cancellar adds “to helpe me.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Esther 14. Bale, followed by Cancellar, further adds, “If anye father haue had anye pytie vpon hys chylde,” rendering “Si pere a eu de son enfant mercy” (581). 133. syster Bentley adds “it is thou.” He breaks this sentence off at this point and inserts a chapter division: “The fourth Chapter, Of the entire affection and loue of God towards the sinfull soule of man.”

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who, instead to punish His foolish sister, would cleave unto her! For injury, grudge, and great offense, Thou gavest her grace and love in recompense.133 Alas, my brother, this is too much;134 Thou shouldst not do such a good turn unto such a poor woman as I am. I have done ill, and Thou givest me good for it. I am Thine, and Thou didst say that Thou art mine. Thine I am, and so will I be135 forever. I fear no more the great foolishness of Aaron. For no man shall loose me from Thee. Now, then, that we are brother and sister together, I care but little for all other men. Thy lands are my own inheritance; let us then keep, if it pleaseth Thee, but one household. Since it pleaseth Thee to humble Thyself so much as to join Thy heart with mine, in making Thyself a lively136 man, I do right humbly thank Thee and, as for to do it as I ought, it lieth not in my power. Take my meaning,137 then, and excuse mine ignorance, since that I am of so great a kindred as to be thy sister. O my God, I have good cause to praise, to love, and to serve Thee unfeignedly, and not to desire or fear anything, but Thee only. Keep me well, then.138 For I ask no other brother or friend. If any mother hath taken any care for her son, if any brother hath hid the fault of his sister,139 I never saw it, or else it was kept wondrous secret, that any husband would forgive his wife after that she had offended and did return unto him.140 There be enough of them which, for to avenge their wrong, did cause the judges to

134. wonders wondrous. Cancellar reads “woonderous.” 133. offense . . . recompense Elizabeth sustains the end rhymes of lines 555–56. 134. too much Marguerite has three successive occurrences of “c’est trop” (this is too much 557). 135. am. . . . be am Elizabeth omits “et vostre doublement” (and yours doubly 561). will I be wish I to be; “veulx estre” (562). 136. lively living; “neïfuement” (really, truly 571). 137. my meaning my intention; “mon cueur” (my heart 574). 138. then Elizabeth omits the immediately following clause, which fills out the line: “à vous me recommande” (to Thee I commend myself 579). 139. If . . . sister Marguerite has three parallel clauses: “Si pere a eu de son enfant mercy, / Si mere a eu pour son filz de soulcy, / Si frere à soeur a couuert le peché” (If a father has had mercy on his child, / If a mother has had care for her son, / If a brother has hidden the sin of his sister 581–82). Elizabeth omits the first of these, again in a context of identical phrase structure in successive lines. 140. after . . . him “pour à luy retourner” (in order to make her return to him 585).

[560]

Psal. 26.

[570]

[580]

78

osea. 2.

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speare theyr owne handes to kille 135 them. Other also (seynnge their fauttes to appeare) did sent136 them home agayne to their owne frendes. Other (seynge their yll dedes,137 did shutte them in a prison. Nowe, to speke shorte, loke vpon all theyr complexions, For the ende of their pretence, is no thinge els, but punishemente. And the lesse harme that euer i coulde perceyue, in punishinge them; thys it is, that they wolde neuer se them agayne. Thuldest rather. Thou shuldest rather make the skye to to turne, than to make the agreement betwne the husbande, and hys wife, whan he knoweth truly the fautte that she hath done, or els hath sene, and founde her in doynge amisse.138 Wherfore (o my god) i can finde no man to be compared vnto the: For thou arte the parfaitte example of loue; and now (more than euer i did)139 i do confesse, that i haue broken myne othe, and promesse. Alas thou haddest chosen me for thy wife, and didest sett me vp in great dignitie, and honnoure, (For what greater honnour may one haue than to be in the place of thy wife, wich swittely taketh reste nere to the) of all thy goodes, quene, maistres, and lady. and also in suretie, both of body and soule. i so vile a creature, beynge ennoblished by the. Nowe (to tell the truth) i had more, and better than any man, can desyre

135. condemne . . . kille condemne . . . dye Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “put them to deathe.” soudaynely Bale, followed by Cancellar, moves this adverb to a later position: “sodenlye to kylle.” Both insert a marginal reference: “Nero.” 136. did sent i.e., did send. Elizabeth occasionally produces such double-past constructions in her early translations. 137. dedes Elizabeth omits the close parenthesis. 138. Thou shuldest . . . amisse Bale radically condenses: “Thu shuldest rather make the skye to turne, than so to forsake thy wyfe for her mysdoynge.” Cancellar deletes this shortened sentence of Bale’s and substitutes “But I doe wishe, that all of this minde shuld rather help to turne them, than to forsake them.” betwne between. 139. now . . . did) After “now,” Bale inserts “my god,” rendering “mon DIEV” (607). Cancellar omits the parenthetical phrase and substitutes “therefore, with lowly hart.” Both insert a marginal reference to John 15. 141. them . . . them The first “them” are wronged husbands; the second “them” are offending wives. Marguerite’s corresponding pronoun references are equally cryptic. 142. to appear “trop aparentz” (too evident 591). 143. did . . . friends did sen[d] Elizabeth wrote “did sent,” an evident penslip. friends (in context) relatives. 144. prison “tour” (tower 594).

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condemn them141 to die. Other, seeing their wives’ sin, did not suddenly spare their own hands to kill them. Other also, seeing their faults to appear,142 did sen[d] them home again to their own friends.143 Other, seeing their ill deeds, did shut them in a prison.144 Now, to speak short, look upon all their complexions; for the end of their pretense is nothing else but punishment.145 And the less harm that ever I could perceive in punishing them: this it is, that they would never see them146 again. Thou shouldst rather make the sky to turn than to make the agreement between the husband and his wife, when he knoweth truly the fault that she hath done, or else hath seen and found her in doing amiss. Wherefore, O my God, I can find no man to be compared unto Thee,147 for Thou art the perfect example of love. And now, more than ever I did, I do confess that I have broken mine oath and promise. Alas, Thou hadst chosen me for Thy wife, and didst set me up in great dignity and honor.148 For what greater honor may one have, than149 to be in the place of Thy wife, which sweetly taketh rest near to Thee? Of all Thy goods, queen, mistress, and lady, and also in surety both of body and soul: I, so vile a creature, being ennoblished by Thee.150 Now, to tell the truth,151 I had more and better than any man can

145. complexions . . . punishment complexions temperaments, characters; “complexions” (595). of . . . pretense of their aim, purpose; Elizabeth’s addition. punishment “grandz punitions” (great punishments 596). 146. the less . . . them the less harm “le moins mal” (the least harm 597). they, them Husbands and errant wives respectively. 147. no man . . . Thee “nulle comparaison” (no comparison 603). Elizabeth omits the next line and a half: “en nul tems ne saison: / Mais par amour, qui est en vous si ample” (in any time or season: / But in terms of love, which is so full in Thee 604–5). 148. didst . . . honor didst . . . up “maviéz . . . restituée” (Thou hast restored me 609–10). great . . . honor “l’estat d’honneur” (the honorable state 610). Marguerite refers to the married state, declared “honorable” in Lefèvre d’Etaples’s translation of Hebrews 13:4; the Vulgate reading is “honorabile”; the Great Bible reads “to be had in honoure.” 149. For . . than “Mais quel honneur?” (But what honor? 611). 150. surety . . . Thee surety “sureté d’honneur” (assurance of honor 614). creature Elizabeth does not translate “ce que fault que n’oublie” (which I must not forget 615). being . . . Thee She condenses Marguerite’s polyptoton: “Par vous tresnoble noblement anoblie” (By Thee most noble, nobly ennobled 616). ennoblished ennobled. 151. to . . . truth Elizabeth’s addition.

[590]

[600]

Hosea 2.

[610]

80 psal. 94.

exech. 36.

deuto. 32.

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Therfore, my harte hath cause to syghe alwayes, and with habundaunce of teares myne eyes to come out of my head.140 My mouthe cannot make to many exclamacions, For, there is neyther olde, or newe writtinges, that can shew so pitiefull a thinge, as thesame is, wiche i will tell, nowe. Shall, or deare141 i tell it, maye i pronounce it withoute shame: alas, ye; For my confusion is for to shewe the great loue of my husbande: therfore i care not if for his worship, i do declare my shame. O my sauioure wiche dyed, and was crucified on the crosse, for my synnes: thys dede is not such as142 to leaue hys sonne, and, as a childe, to offende hys mother: or elles (as a syster) to grudge, and chyde agaynst hys brother. Alas thys is worse: For, the offense is the greater, where more loue, and knowledge is.143 And the more we receyue of god familiarite, and benefites: the offense is the greater to deceyue hym. I, wich was called spowse,144 and loued of the, as thyne owne soule. Shall I tell the truth; ye, I haue left forgotten and raunne145 awaye from the. I did leaue the, for to go at my pleasure, I haue forsaken the for to choyce an worse. I did leaue the (o spring of all goodnes, and faythfull promesse,146 I did leaue the, but whether went i; in a place where nothinge is but cursydnes. I haue lefte, my trusty frende, and louer worthy to be loued aboue all other. I haue lefte the, through myne owne yll will. I haue lefte the, full of beautie, goodnes, wisedome, and power: And (for the better to wi

140. of all . . . head Cancellar reworks extensively, beginning “and not onely in suretie of soule and bodie, but also of all thy goodes queene, mistresse, and ladie.” He follows Bale in reading “Oh what great fauor is it, that I, so vile a creature, am so ennoblished,” then adds “by thee, to so honorable an husband.” Cancellar again follows Bale in reading “Nowe to speake it briefly”; Bale’s “briefly” renders Marguerite’s “Brief ” (617). Cancellar then continues: “I haue more by the possessing of thee than any man mortall can desire. Yet when I remember my unworthye deseruing, my hart doth sob, and sigh, mine eies let fall abundaunce of teares.” 141. deare dare. 142. as Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “a father,” an implicit reference in Marguerite (632). 143. Alas . . . is Cancellar rewords: “But alas my faulte is such, and far more greater.” 144. And . . . spowse Bale, mainly followed by Cancellar, reworks extensively: “For the more famylyaryte we haue with God and the more benefytes we receyue, the greatter is our offence whan we with hym dissemble. Specyally that I shuld so do, whych am called hys spouse.” Cancellar regularizes all reference by using only first-person and second-person singular pronouns. Both insert a marginal reference to Isaiah 5. 145. left . . . raunne Cancellar, incorporating rephrasing by Bale, reads “I haue lefte the, forgotten thee, and am runne.” raunne run. 146. promesse Elizabeth omits a close parenthesis.

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desire. Therefore my heart hath cause to sigh always,152 and with abundance of tears mine eyes to come out of my head. My mouth cannot make too many exclamations. For there is neither old or new writings that can show so pitiful a thing as the same is, which I will tell now. Shall or dare I tell it? May I pronounce it without shame? Alas, yea. For my confusion is for to show the great love of my husband; therefore I care not if, for His worship,153 I do declare my shame. O my Saviour, which died and was crucified on the cross for my sins: this deed is not such as to leave his son, and as a child to offend his mother, or else as a sister to grudge and chide against his brother.154 Alas, this is worse; for the offense is the greater where more love and knowledge is. And the more we receive of God familiarity and benefits, the offense is the greater to deceive155 Him. I, which was called spouse, and loved of Thee as Thine own soul: shall I tell the truth? Yea. I have left, forgotten, and run away from Thee. I did leave Thee for to go at my pleasure; I have forsaken Thee for to choice an156 worse. I did leave Thee, O spring of all goodness and faithful promise;157 I did leave Thee, but whither went I? In a place where nothing is but cursedness. I have left my trusty friend and lover worthy to be loved above all other.158 I have left Thee, through my own ill will. I have left Thee, full of beauty, goodness, wisdom, and power.159 And, for the better to outdraw myself from Thy

152. always “iusqu’à partir du corps” (until my leaving of my body 619). 153. worship honor; “honneur” (630). 154. his mother . . . brother his mother “son bon pere” (his kind father 633). grudge against complain about. his brother Elizabeth’s addition, producing grammatical nonagreement of “sister” and “his.” 155. deceive disappoint, prove false to, cheat; “faillir” (disappoint 638). 156. choice an choose a. 157. I did . . . promise Condenses lines 645–47: “Laissé vous ay source de tout mon bien, / Laissé vous ay: en rompant le lien / De vraye amour, et loyaulté promise” (I did leave Thee, spring of all my goodness; / I did leave Thee, breaking the bond / Of true love, and promised faithfulness). 158. I have . . . other Loosely paraphrases lines 650–51 and omits line 652: “Laissé vous ay l’amy sans fiction, / L’amy de tous digne destre estimé, / L’amy aymant premier que d’estre aymé” (I have left Thee, the friend without falsehood, / The friend worthy to be esteemed by all, / The friend who loved before being loved). 159. I . . . power Condenses lines 653–56: “Laissé vous ay o source de bonté, / Par ma seule mauluaise volonté. / Laissé vous ay, le beau, le bon, le saige, / Le fort de bras, et le doulx de couraige” (I have left Thee, O spring of goodness, / By my evil will alone. / I have left Thee, the beautiful, the good, the wise, / The strong of arm and the sweet of heart).

[620] Psal. 94.

Ezek. 36.

[630]

[640]

[650] Deut. 32.

82

gala. 4.

prouer. 1.

ioel. 2.

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outdrawe myselfe frome thy loue) i haue taken thyne enmy, wich is the dyuell, the world and the fleshe: for whose to ouercome thou hast foghte147 so sore on the crosse for to put me in libertie, whom they had a longe tyme kepte prisonnere slaue, and so bounde, that no man coulde cause me to humble myselfe. And, as for the loue, and charitie, that i shuld haue towardes the: they did quenshe it; so that the name of iesus my husbande (wich before i had fo founde so switte) was to me, tedious, and i did hate it, so that oftentimes i did geaste at it. And if any man (we hearinge a sermon) shuld saye vnto me, the preacher sayeth well i wil answere, it is true: but my w wordes doth flee did flee awaye, as a fether doth. and i went neuer to the church but for maner sake, all my dedes were but ypocrisy: For my mynde was in other places.148 I was enoyed when i herde speake of the: For my mynde was in other places i was more willinge to go at my pleasure. Nowe to speke shorte, all this that thou didest forbide me, i did it and all that thou commaundedest me to do: i did eschue it, and all thys (O my god) by cause i did not loue the.149 yet for all thys that i did hate, forsake, raune a waye and betrayed the, bycause i shulde geue thy place to an other: hast thou suffered that I shuld mod be moked, or elles beaten, or killed: Hath thou sett me put me in darke prison, or banished syttyng nought by me. Hast thou taken awaye agayne thy gyftes, and iouyelles, for to punishe me of my vnfaythful turne sinnes. Haue i loste my iointer wich thou hadyst promised me bycause i did offende against the. Am i accused by the afore the iudge, as a naughty woman shuld be. yet, hast thou forbiden me, that i shuld neuer presente myselfe before the (euen as reason was)150

147. I haue lefte the, full . . . foghte Bale, followed by Cancellar, reworks extensively: “I haue put the asyde, o welsprynge of all helthesomnesse, by myne owne wretched wyll. Yea, I haue forsaken the, . . . and sought to withdrawe me from thy loue. I haue accepted thy great enemyes, that is the deuyll, the world and the fleshe: against whom for my sake thu faughtest.” Bale’s “weslprynge . . . helthsomeness” renders “source de bonté” (653). Bale and Cancellar insert a marginal reference to Hebrews 12. 148. geaste . . . places geaste jest. Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, reworks: “iest at it, and when I haue hearde the Gospell preached or taught, the woord, which I have heard, hath not taried with me, but as a fether doth in the winde. I went neuer yet to heare thy word preached, but for maner only, which was a work of hypocrisie.” Bentley reads “for a fashion onlie.” 149. loue thee Bale inserts a marginal reference to Jeremiah 2. 150. forbiden . . . was) Bale rewords: “forbyd me thy presence (as I deserued).” 160. the devil “L’ennemy” (659). In sixteenth-century French, a frequent term for the devil.

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love, I have taken Thine enemy, which is the devil,160 the world, and the flesh: for who[m] to overcome Thou hast fought so sore on the cross, for to put me in liberty, whom they had a long time kept prisoner, slave, and so bound that no man could cause me to humble myself.161 And, as for the love and charity that I should have towards Thee, they did quench it,162 so that the name of Jesus my husband, which before I had found so sweet, was to me tedious; and I did hate it, so that oftentimes I did jest at it. And if any man (we hearing a sermon) should say unto me, The preacher saith well, I will answer, It is true. But my words did flee away as a feather doth, and I went never to the church but for manner’ sake.163 All my deeds were but hypocrisy. For my mind was in other places. I was annoyed when I heard speak of Thee. For I was more willing to go at my pleasure. Now, to speak short, all this that Thou didst forbid me, I did it; and all that Thou commandedst me to do, I did eschew it;164 and all this, O my God, because I did not love Thee. Yet, for all this, that I did hate, forsake, run away, and betrayed Thee because I should give Thy place to another: hast Thou suffered that I should be mocked, or else beaten or killed?165 Hath Thou put me in dark prison, or banished, setting nought by me?166 Hast Thou taken away again Thy gifts and jewels, for to punish me of my unfaithful sins? Have I lost my jointure which Thou hadst promised me, because I did offend against Thee? Am I accused by Thee afore the judge, as a naughty167 woman should be? Yet hast Thou forbidden me, that I should never present myself before Thee (even as reason was) and 161. who[m] . . . myself who[m] Elizabeth wrote “whose,” a penslip. that . . . myself Elizabeth mistranslates “Que ne pouoys plus estre humilié” (That I could not be humbled more 664). “No man” is perhaps a penslip for “no more.” She does not translate lines 665–66: “Et de tous trois ie me suis accointée; / Et de tous cas auec eulx appoinctée” (And with all three [world, flesh, devil] I became familiar; / And in all things I agreed with them). 162. love . . . it Loosely renders lines 667–68, “Et propre amour, qui trop est faulse et faincte / A Charité de vous en moy estaincte” (And my love, which is too false and dissembling / Has extinguished Thy charity in me). 163. for . . . sake for custom’s sake. Elizabeth does not translate “Tous mes beaulx faictz n’estoient qu’hypocrisie” (All my good deeds were only hypocrisy 677). 164. it Elizabeth does not translate “et le trouuoie amair” (and found it bitter 683). 165. mocked . . . killed Elizabeth omits the second of four verb phrases, “huée, / Monstrée au doigt, ou battue, ou tuée” (mocked / Pointed at, or beaten, or killed 689–90). 166. setting . . . me regarding me as nothing; “sans auoir de moy cure” (without concern for me 692). 167. naughty wicked; “meschante et abusée” (wicked and seduced 698).

[660] Gal. 4.

[670] Prov. 1.

[680]

Joel 2.

[690]

[700]

84

luke. 15. and 18.

psal. 44.

math. 11.

deuto. 32. esay. 5. cantic. 3.

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and also that i shuld neuer come to thy house. O true parfaitte husbande and frende, the moste louinge emonge all good louers. Alas thou hast done otherwise:151 For thou soughtest for me diligentely when i was goynge in the most depe place of hell, where all the great yueles are done. I that was so farre frome the, both hart and mynde oute of the true way, than didest thou call vpon me, sayenge. My daughter: harke, and se and bowe thy hearinge towardes me. Forget, also, thesame maner of people, with whom152 thou didest raune awaye frome me, and also the house of thyne olde father where thou hast dwelled so longe: than the kinge full of godlines shal desyre thy company. But, when thou sawest that thys switte, and graciouse speking, did me no good: than thou begannest to cry. Come vnto me all ye wich are werey with laboure I am i that shall receyue, and seak you with my bread. Alas i wolde not harke vnto all these wordes: For i douted whether it were thou, or els a symple writtinge,153 that so sayd. For i was so folishe that without loue i did rede your thy worde. I sawe, and vnderstoude well154 that the comparaysons of the vineyarde, which brou brought furth thornes, and poisons in stedde of good frutte; thou saydest all this of me, wich had so done. Consideringe also that when thou didest call the wife, sayenge, come againe, sulamite; all this thou didest speke bycause i shuld my synne leaue and of all 151. otherwise Cancellar adds “by mee.” 152. thesame . . . whom Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “that straunge nacyon to whom,” and adds a marginal reference to Psalm 4. 153. thou sawest . . . writtinge Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, reworks, conforming the quotation more closely to the text of Matthew 11:28 in the Great Bible version: “thou lord sawest, that thy swete, and gracious calling, did not profite mee: then beganst thou to cry to me with a lowde voyce, saying. Come vnto me all you which are werily laden with labour. For I am he that shall plenteously refreshe you, and feede you with the bread of lyfe. Alas, sweete Lorde, unto all these sweete wordes woulde I not hearken, but rather doubted, whether it were thou, that so spake vnto me, or els a fabulous writing.” 154. sawe . . . well “Ie veois bien” (731). Changing the sense, Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads,“considered not.” Both insert a marginal reference to Isaiah 5. 168. alas Elizabeth’s addition. 169. I Elizabeth omits “Comme brebiz errante” (like a sheep gone astray 707), an allusion to the parable in Matthew 18:12–13 and Luke 15:4–7. 170. bow . . . Me Elizabeth will use a closely similar Psalm verse with a different focus— the soul addressing God rather than God the soul—to open her “Song on the Armada Victory” of December 1588 (CW, 410). 171. thine . . . company thine . . . father “ton premier Pere” (your first father 715), a reference to Adam, identified with the “first father” of Isaiah 43:17. Elizabeth’s substitution of “old” for “first” draws on an association of the “first father” with Paul’s “old man”

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also that I should never come to Thy house? O true, perfect husband and friend, the most loving among all good lovers: alas,168 Thou hast done otherwise. For Thou soughtst for me diligently when I169 was going in the most deep place of hell, where all the evils are done. I that was so far from Thee, both heart and mind out of the true way, then didst Thou call upon me, saying: My daughter, hark, and see, and bow thy hearing towards Me.170 Forget also the same manner of people, with whom thou didst run away from Me, and also the house of thine old father where thou hast dwelled so long, then the King full of godliness shall desire thy company.171 But when Thou sawest that this sweet and gracious speaking did me no good, then Thou beganst to cry: Come unto Me, all ye which are weary with labor; I am I, that shall receive and seek172 you with My bread. Alas, I would not hark unto all these words, for I doubted whether it were Thou or else a simple writing that so said.173 For I was so foolish that, without love, I did read Thy Word. I saw and understood well that the comparisons of the vineyard, which brought forth thorns and poisons instead of good fruit, Thou saidst all this of me,174 which had so done. Considering also that when Thou didst call the wife,176 saying, Come again, Shulamite, all this Thou didst speak because I should my sin leave.177 And, of all these of sin; see line 322n. She makes the inverse substitution when she translates “myne olde man” as “mon premier pére” in Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations, versicle 86. goodness “toute loyaulté” (all loyalty 717). thy company “ta beaulté” (Thy beauty 718). Elizabeth eliminates Marguerite’s chivalric rhetoric of service and erotic love. 172. labor . . . seek labor Elizabeth omits “et chargéz de douleur” (and burdend by sorrow 722). I am I “Ie suis celluy” (I am He, I am the one 723). Elizabeth’s wording echoes predications of God in Exodus 3:14, Isaiah 43:11, Jeremiah 7:11; she is closest to the last, which the Vulgate renders “ego ego sum ego” (I, I am I). seek “refectionneray” (nourish 724). 173. or. . . said Elizabeth condenses “ou si par aduenture / Ce n’estoit riens, qu’une simple escripture” (or if perchance / It [the Bible] was nothing, except an ignorant piece of writing 727–28). 174. the comparisons . . . me Marguerite’s corresponding construction is impersonal: “les comparaisons / . . . / Estoient pour moy” (the comparisons. . . were for me 731–34). 175. Song of Sol. 3. Marguerite’s marginal reference (Aug) correctly cites the sixth chapter. The Shulamite woman is invoked in Song of Solomon 6:13. 176. call . . . wife Elizabeth condenses “vocations / De l’espouse, et appellations” (callings / Of the wife, and namings of her 735–36). 177. because . . . leave because to the end that; “afin, que” (738). I . . . leave Condenses and loosely renders “de tout le limite / De mon peché ie voulsisse saillir, / Ou en pitié me voyiéz defaillir” (from the bounds / Of my sin I would wish to issue forth, / Where, in pity, Thou sawest me languish 738–40).

Luke 15. and 18.

[710] Psal. 44.

[720] Matt. 11.

[730] Deut. 32. Isa. 5. Song of Sol. 3.175

[740]

86

hiere. 3.

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these wordes, i did as though i had vnderstand neuer a worde. But when i did rede ieremy the prophet, i confesse that i had in the reading of it, feare in my harte, and shame in my face. I will tell it, ye, and with the teares in myne eyes, and all for thy honnoure, and to supresse my pride. Thou hast sayd this by thy holy prophet. If a woman hath offended her husbande, and lefte hym for to go with a other man: they neuer sawe that the husbande wolde take her againe.155 Is she not estimed to be polluted, and of no value. The lawe doth consente to put her in the handes of the iustice, or els dryue her a waye, and neuer se her, or take her againe. But thou, wich hast made separacion of my beade:156 and did put thy false louers in my place and commyted fornicacion with them: yet, for all thys, thou mayest come vnto me againe. For i will not be angry againste the. Leifte vp thyne eyes, and loke vp:157 than shalt thou se in what place thy synne had leade the, and how thou lyest down in the earth. O poore soule: loke where thy synne hath put the: euen vpon the hyghe wayes, where thou didest wayte, and taryed for to begyle them that came by. Euen as a thief doth wich is hydden in wildernes. Therfore (hauinge fullfilled thy pleasure158) thou hast infected (with fornicacion) all the earth wiche was aboute the. Thyne eye thy forehed, and thy face, had loste all their good159 maner. For they were suche, as those of an harlotte, and yet thou haddest no shame of thy synne. And the surplus that ieremy sayeth. Wich thinges constrayneth me: to know my wretched life and to wishe (with sorowfull syghes) the daye, the houre, the moneth, the yere and the tyme, that i did leaue the.160

155. lefte . . . againe Bale, followed by Cancellar, reworks: “is so left of hym for goynge astraye wyth other, namely, if he therupon refuseth her for euer.” 156. separacion . . . beade Bale reads “the separacyon from my bedde”; Cancellar reads “a separation betweene thy bed and mine.” beade bed. 157. vp Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “aboute the on euery syde.” 158. hauinge . . . pleasure Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “thou in fulfyllyng thy wicked pleasure,” and inserts a marginal reference to Jeremiah 2. The addition of “wicked” to “pleasure” yields a sense closer to Marguerite’s “malice” (773). 159. good Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “honest.” 160. wishe . . . the wishe “regretter” (regret 784). Elizabeth’s mistranslation oddly expresses a desire for the time she abandoned God rather than Marguerite’s regret at having abandoned God. Bale handles the discrepancy by making the speaker desire to leave life rather than God. i . . . the “vous laissay” (I did leave Thee 786). Bale reads “I dyd leave it”; Cancellar recasts as “my life might haue an ende.”

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words, I did as though I had understand never a word.178 But when I did read Jeremy the prophet, I confess that I had, in the reading of it, fear in my heart and shame in my face. I will tell it, yea, and with the tears in mine eyes, and all for Thy honor, and to suppress my pride. Thou hast said this by Thy holy prophet: If a woman hath offended her husband, and left him for to go with a other man, they never saw that the husband would take her again.179 Is she not esteemed to be polluted,180 and of no value? The law doth consent to put her in the hands of the justice, or181 else drive her away, and never see her or take her again. But thou, which hast made separation of my bed, and did put thy false lovers in my place and committed fornication with them, yet for all this, thou mayst come unto me again. For I will not be angry against thee. Lift up thine eyes and look up, then shalt thou see in what place thy sin had led thee,182 and how thou liest down in the earth. O poor soul, look where thy sin hath put thee: even upon the highways where thou didst wait, and tarried for to beguile them that came by, even as a thief doth, which is hidden in wilderness.183 Therefore, having fulfilled thy pleasure,184 thou hast infected with fornication all the earth which was about thee. Thine eye, thy forehead, and thy face had lost all their good manner. For they were such as those of an harlot; and yet thou hadst no shame of thy sin. And the surplus that Jeremy saith: which things constraineth me to know my wretched life and to wish, with sorrowful sighs, the day, the hour, the month, the year, and the time that I did leave Thee, yielding 178. And . . . word “De tout cela semblant ne faisois mie” (I did not take any notice of all that 741). Elizabeth evidently construed the idiom “faire semblant de” (take notice of) in its sense of ‘to pretend, to act as if ’ and added an explanatory gloss. 179. a other . . . again a other another. they “on” (one). again Elizabeth does not translate the elaboration, “Ny plus la veoir, ny à elle parler” (Nor ever see her again, nor speak to her 752). 180. polluted Elizabeth omits the following adjective “Tresmeschante” (most wicked 754). 181. The law . . . or “La loy consent à Iustice la rendre, et” (The law agrees to render justice to her, and 755–56). 182. thee Elizabeth does not translate “A ceste heure” (At this hour 765). 183. came . . . wilderness came by Elizabeth does not translate the subsequent address to the soul: “A aultre fin certes tu ne tendois” (To no other end, certainly, wast thou tending 770). wilderness “solitude” (771). She does not translate “A les tromper tu mettois ton estude” (You took care to trick them [the passers-by] 772). 184. pleasure “malice” (malice 773).

Jer. 3.

[750]

[760]

[769]

[780]

88

prouer. 15.

luke. 15.

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yeldinge myselfe condemned, and worthy to be for euer in the euerlastinge fyre. Thesame feare (wiche doth not procede of me, but cometh of the, and excedeth all pleasure) had almoste put me in despayre as often as i did remember my synne:161 if it hath not ben, that thou neuer leftest me. For as soone as thou knewest my wille bowen for to obey the: than (puttinge in me a liuely fayth) thou didest vse of thy clemency, and goodness.162 so that after i knew the, to be lord, maister, and kinge (of whom i ought to haue feare) than found i my feare to be quenshed163 beleuinge that thou were so gracious good, switte, and pitiefull husbande, that i (wich shuld rather hyd me, than to shewe myselfe) was not a feared to go and seke for the: and in sekinge i founde the. But, what didest thou, than, hast thou refused me: Alas (my god) no, but rather excused me. Hast thou turned thy face from me, no, For, thy switte loke hath penetred164 my harte, wonding him to the death, geuinge me remorse of my synnes. Thou hast not put me backe with thy hande: but with both thyn armes, and, with a switte and manly harte, thou didest mete with me by the waye: and not reprochinge my fauttes, embrassedest me. I could not se, beholding thy contenance, that euer thou didest perceyue myne offence. For, thou hast done as moche for me, as though i had ben good, and honeste,165 and didest hyd my fautte from euery body in geuinge me againe the parte of thy bedde, and also shewinge that the multitude of my synnes are so hydden, and ouercome by thy great victory, that thou wilt neuer 161. Thesame . . . synne Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, reworks: “The same fear, whych doth not of me but of the procede, and exceadeth many of thy other gyftes, put me rather in hope than in despayre, as often as I dyd remember my synne.” 162. of . . . goodnes Bale, followed by Cancellar, changes to “great clemency,” rendering “grand’ clemence” (796), and inserts a marginal reference to Hebrews 11. 163. my . . . quenshed Bale, followed by Cancellar, changes to “my feare not quenshed but mixed with loue,” more closely rendering “Par vraye amour . . . ma paour estaincte” (My fear quenched by true love 800). 164. penetred A rare sixteenth-century variant of “penetrated.” Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Song of Solomon 14. 165. ben . . . honeste Cancellar rewords, “neuer broken promise with thee.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Romans 8. 185. surplus . . . condemned surplus remainder; “surplus” (781). constraineth . . . know “contraignoit mon cueur sans contredit / De congnoistre mon estat malheureux” (constrained my heart, without contradiction / To know my unhappy state 782). to wish “regretter” (to regret 784). The mistranslation inverts the sense of the passage. con-

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myself condemned,185 and worthy to be forever in the everlasting fire. The same fear, which doth not proceed of me, but cometh of Thee, and exceedeth all pleasure, had almost put me in despair, as often as I did remember my sin, if it had not been that Thou never leftest me. For as soon as Thou knewest my will bowen for to obey Thee, then, putting in me a lively faith, Thou didst use of Thy clemency and goodness.186 So that after I knew Thee to be Lord, Master, and King, of whom I ought to have fear, then found187 I my fear to be quenched. Believing that Thou were so gracious, good, sweet, and pitiful188 husband, that I, which should rather hide me than to show myself, was not afeared to go and seek for Thee: and in seeking, I found Thee.189 But what didst Thou, then? Hast Thou refused me? Alas, my God, no, but rather excused me.190 Hast Thou turned Thy face from me? No; for Thy sweet look hath penetrated my heart, wounding him191 to the death, giving me remorse of my sins. Thou hast not put me back with Thy hand, but with both Thine arms; and, with a sweet and manly192 heart, Thou didst meet with me by the way, and not reproaching my faults, embracedst me. I could not see, beholding Thy countenance, that ever Thou didst perceive mine offense. For Thou hast done as much for me as though I had been good and honest, and didst hide my fault from everybody in giving me again part of Thy bed, and also showing that the multitude of my sins are so hidden, and overcome by Thy great victory, that Thou wilt never remember them: so Thou seest nothing in me but the grace, gifts, and virtues demned Elizabeth does not translate “Par moy mesme iugeant mon cueur infame” (Myself judging my heart to be wicked 787). 186. bowen . . . goodness bowen bowed. clemency “grand’ clemence” (great clemency 796). and goodness Elizabeth’s addition. 187. ought . . . found Elizabeth omits the qualifying phrases that follow these verbs: ought “par raison” (by reason 799). found “Par vraye amour” (By true love 800). 188. pitiful Elizabeth omits the fifth attribute in a series—“misericordieux” (merciful 802). 189. I . . . Thee “A vous me suis . . . retirée” (I came near unto Thee 805). Elizabeth omits the qualification “Mais par auant i’estois de vous tirée” (But, before this, I was drawn by Thee 806). 190. refused me . . . excused me Elizabeth sustains the end rhymes of lines 807–8. 191. penetrated . . . him penetrated At the corresponding point, Marguerite has a periphrasis: “a esté vng doulx dard” (has been a sweet dart 810). him “cueur” (heart 811). 192. manly human; “humaine” (814).

[790] Prov. 15.

[800]

[810] Luke 15.

[820]

[830]

90

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remember them; so thou seist nothing in me but, the grace, gyftes, and vertues, wich it pleaseth thy goodnes to gyue me. O charitie: I se well that thy goodnes doth consume my leudnes, and maketh me a godly and beautiefull creature. Thys that was mijn thou hast destroyed it and made me so parfaitte a creature that thou hast done me as muche good, as any husband can do vnto hys wife,166 geueinge me a faythfull hope in thy promesses. Nowe i haue (through thy good grace) recouered the place of thy husbande wife. O hapy, and desyred place, gracious bedde, trone righthonorable, seate of peace, rest of all warre, hygh steppe of honnoure separate from the earth: doest thou receiu167 thys vnworthy creature, gyuinge her the sceptre, and crowne of thyne empire, and glorious realme Who did euer heare speke of such a thinge; as to rayse vp one so high, wich of herselfe was nothing, and maketh of a great value, thys that of it selfe was naught168 Alas what thing is thys. For, i casting myne eyes an high,169 i se in the goodnes so vnknowen, grace, and loue so incomprehensible: that my syght is lefte inuisible Than am i constrained to loke down: and loking down, i do se170 what i am, and what i was willinge to be Alas i do se in it the leudnes, darkenes, and extreme depenes of my yuelles. Also my death, wiche by humblenes closeth myne eye. The admirable goodnes of the; and the vnspekeable yuell wich is in me.171 Thy hignesse, and right pure maieste. my ryht172 fragile, and mortall 166. Thys . . . wife Bale, followed by Cancellar, recasts: “The euyll that was myne thu has destroyed, and . . . all the good whych a husbande can do vnto hys wyfe, thu hast done it to me.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Isaiah 43. 167. receiu Verb omitted and added later in righthand margin, with insufficient space to write the final -e. 168. naught Bentley inserts a chapter division: “The fift Chapter, Of the vnion of death and life in the faithfull soule by Christ.” 169. an high on high. 170. syght . . . se Cancellar reworks: “sight is woonderfull in beholding thee. But I looking downewarde, might see.” He follows Bale in inserting a marginal reference to John 3. 171. me Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to Wisdom of Solomon 14. 172. ryht right. 193. so Thou . . . me Elizabeth paraphrases lines 827–30: “Et que la grace en moy auéz enclose, / Qui vous garde de n’y veoir aultre chose, / Si non les dons donnéz de vostre dextre, / Et les vertuz, qu’il vous a pleu y mettre” (And grace hast Thou enclosed in me / That keepeth Thee from seeing anything else / Except the gifts given by Thy right hand, / And the virtues that it hath pleased Thee to place there).

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which it pleaseth Thy goodness to give me.193 O charity: I see well that Thy goodness doth consume my lewdness, and maketh me a godly and beautiful creature.194 This, that was mine, Thou hast destroyed it, and made me so perfect a creature, that Thou hast done me as much good as any husband can do unto his wife, giving me a faithful hope195 in Thy promises. Now I have, through Thy good grace, recovered the place of Thy wife. O happy and desired place, gracious bed, throne right honorable, seat of peace, rest of all war, high step 196 of honor separate from the earth: dost Thou receive this unworthy creature, giving her the scepter and crown of Thine empire and glorious realm? Who did ever hear speak of such a thing, as to raise one up so high, which of herself was nothing; and maketh of a great value, this that of itself was nought? Alas, what thing is this? For I, casting mine eyes on high, I see in Thee goodness so unknown, grace and love so incomprehensible, that my sight is left invisible.197 Then am I constrained to look down, and looking down, I do see what I am, and what I was willing to be. Alas, I do see in it the lewdness, darkness, and extreme deepness of my evils; also my death,198 which by humbleness closeth mine eye. The admirable goodness of Thee; and the unspeakable evil which is is in me.199 Thy highness and right pure majesty;200 my right fragile and mortal nature. Thy gifts, goods, and beatitude; my malice and great

194. O charity . . . creature Elizabeth condenses lines 831–34, eliminating metaphors and muting the emphasis on being filled with divinity: “O Charité, bien voy que vostre ardeur / Icy defaict, et brusle ma laideur: / Et me refaict creature nouuelle, / Pleine de DIEV, qui me faict estre belle” (O Charity, I see well that your heat / Here defaces and burns my ugliness: / And remakes me as a new creature, / Full of God, Who makes me beautiful). lewdness wickedness; “laideur” (ugliness, vileness). 195. it . . . hope it Elizabeth does not translate “Sans y laisser renommée ne bruit” (Without leaving fame or rumor there 836). faithful hope “Foy” (faith 840). 196. high step “Haultdais” (dais raised high 846). 197. my . . . invisible my sight “la veuë” (the sight [of God] 856). invisible Elizabeth omits “Et par force faict mon regard cesser” (And of necessity makes my sight to cease 857). 198. death Elizabeth omits “mon rien, et ma nichilité” (my nothingness, and my nullity 863). 199. the unspeakable . . . me “Le mal de moy, trop inconsiderable” (The evil of me, who am too unworthy of consideration 866). 200. majesty “essence” (867).

[840]

[850]

[860]

[870]

92

hebr. 3.

philip. 1.

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nature. Thy gyftes, gooddes, and beatitude. my malice, and great vnkidnes173 Howe good thou art vnto me; and howe vnkind i am vnto the. Thys that thou wilt: and this that i purshue.174 Wich thinges considered, causeth me to meruayle, how it pleaseth the, to ioyne thyselfe vnto me, seynge that there is no comparayson betwene vs both: For thou arte my god, and i am of thy worke. Thou arte my creatore, and i am thy creature. Nowe, to speke shorte, I can not define what it is of the. For i knowe175 myselfe to be the lest thinge that can be compared vnto the. O loue; thou madest thys agrement, when thou didest ioyne life, and death togyther: but the vnion hath viuified death. Life dyenge, and life without ende, hath made oure death a life. death hath geuen vnto life, quycke death.176 Through such death (I being deed) receyued life, and by death, i am rauished with hym, wich is aliue. I liue in the, and, as for me, i am deed. For, death177 is nothinge els to me, but the cominge oute of a prison Death is life vnto me. For through d death i am aliue. This mortall life yeldeth me full of care, and sorowe: and death yeldeth me contente. O what a goodly thinge it is, to dye, wich causeth my soule to liue: in delyuringe her, trough thys mortall death, exempt from miserable death, and equall vnto god, with so mighty a loue,178 that (onles she doth dye) she languisheth alwayes Is not, than, the soule blameless wich wolde fayne dye, for to haue such life: ye surely. For she ought to call the death her welbeloued frende. O switte death, pleasaunte sorowe, mighty keye, delyuringe from sorowe, all those, wich

173. vnkidnes unkindness. 174. purshue pursue. 175. shorte . . . knowe Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “brevely, though I can not defyne what it is to be of the, yet know I.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Isaiah 64. 176. quycke death Bale rewords, “a quyckenesse”; Cancellar rewords, “a quickning that.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Colossians 2. 177. I liue . . . death Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, rewords: “I liue in him, otherwise of my selfe, I am dead. And as concerning the bodily death, it.” 178. trough . . . loue Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, rewords and condenses: “from this mortall death, she is deliuered from the death miserable, and matched with hir most mightie louer.” Both insert a marginal reference to Revelation 14. trough through. 201. good, unkind Elizabeth’s glossing additions. 202. marvel . . . pleaseth Elizabeth omits a phrase after each verb: marvel “sans fin” (without end 873); pleaseth “si fort” (so strongly 874).

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unkindness. How good Thou art unto me; and how unkind201 I am unto Thee. This that Thou wilt; and this that I pursue. Which things considered, causeth me to marvel how it pleaseth202 Thee to join Thyself unto me, seeing that there is no comparison between us both. For Thou art my God, and I am of Thy work; Thou art my Creator, and I am Thy creature. Now, to speak short, I cannot define what it is of Thee. For I know myself to be the least thing that can be compared unto Thee.203 O love, Thou madest this agreement when Thou didst join life and death together, but the union hath vivified death. Life dying,204 and life without end, hath made our death a life. Death hath given unto life, quick205 death. Through such death, I, being dead, received life; and by death I am ravished with Him, which is alive.206 I live in Thee; and, as for me, I am dead. For death is nothing else to me but the coming out of a prison. Death is life unto me,207 for through death I am alive. This mortal life yieldeth me full of care and208 sorrow, and death yieldeth me content. O what a goodly thing it is, to die, which causeth my soul to live, in delivering her, through this mortal death, exempt from miserable death; and equal unto God, with so mighty a love, that, unless she doth die, she languisheth always. 209 Is not, then, the soul blameless, which would fain die for to have such life? Yea, surely; for210 she ought to call the death her well beloved friend. O sweet death, pleasant sorrow, mighty key delivering from sorrow all those which, trusting in Thee and in Thy passion, were mortified

203. For . . . Thee Loosely renders “C’est ce que moins à vous se poeut vnir” (It is what least could unite itself with Thee 880). 204. dying Elizabeth omits “damour verifiée” (verified by love 884). 205. quick living; “neïfue” (true, real 886). 206. death . . . alive “Et au viuant par la mort suis rauie” (And to Him who lives I am ravished by death 888). 207. Death . . . me Marguerite says the converse, “Vie m’est mort” (Life is death to me 891). 208. care and Elizabeth’s addition. 209. exempt . . . always exempt . . . death Expands “de mort” (from death 894). equal unto “Vnie à” (895) can mean ‘equal to’ but in this context suggests ‘united to.’ languisheth always “meurt languissante” (dies languishing 896). 210. Is . . . for Condenses “A elle tort l’ame, qui mort vouldroit / Pour vng tel bien? nenny, elle a bon droict: / Car pour auoir vie tant estimée” (Is the soul wrong, that would like to die / For such a good? No, she is right: / For to have so prized life 897–99).

Heb. 3.

[880]

[890]

Philip. 1.

[900]

94

philip hebre. 2.

rom. 11.

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trustinge in the, and in thy passion were mortified, bycause they did truste179 in the, and in thy death. For, with an180 switte slepe, thou didest putt them frome the death, wich caused them to lamente. O how hapy is thesame deedly slepe vnto hym, the wiche when he waketh, doth finde (through thy death) the euerlasting life. For, the death is no other thing to a christen man, but a libertie frome hys mortall baunde.181 And the death wich is fearefull to the wiked is pleasante, and agreeable to them that be good. Than is death (through thy death182 destroyed. Therfore, my god, if I were rightely thaught,183 i shuld call the death, life,184 ende of laboure, and begyning of euerlasting ioye. For i knowe that the longe life doth lett me frome thy syght O death, come, and breake thesam obstacle of life. or els loue, do nowe a miracle. Syth that i can not yet se my spowse: transforme me with hym, both body, and soule:185 and than shall i the better tary for the cominge of death. lett me dye, that i maye liue with hym: for there is none, that can helpe me, onles it be thou onely. O my sauioure, through fayth, i am plaunted, and ioyned with the.186 O what vnion is thys, syth (through fayth) i am sure of the; and nowe i may

179. keye . . . truste keye “clef ” (902). Changing the sense, Cancellar reads “king,” followed by Bentley. from sorowe . . . truste Changing “sorowe” (Marguerite’s “malheur” 902) to “wyckednesse,” Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “from all wyckednesse those whych trusted in the (o lorde) and in thy death were mortyfyed”; Cancellar rewords the next phrase, “by the hope they haue in thy passion.” Both insert a marginal reference to Romans 8. 180. an a. 181. libertie . . . baunde libertie Bale adds “or delyueraunce” and inserts a marginal reference to Romans 7. baunde “lien” (910). In English, “band” or “bond.” 182. agreeable . . . death Cancellar, incorporating rephrasing by Bale, rewords, “acceptable to them, that are good, because that death thorow death is.” death Elizabeth omits the close parenthesis. 183. thaught taught. 184. life Bale inserts “and thys lyfe deathe,” rendering “et la vie mort” (915); Cancellar deletes Bale’s phrase and also deletes “the” before “death.” Both insert a marginal reference to Psalm 33. This instance of nearly restoring Elizabeth’s phrasing appears a fortuitous byproduct of Cancellar’s tinkering with the phrasing in Bale’s edition. 185. O death . . . soule Cancellar rewords and condenses: “O death, come, and doe thine office on me, that I may see my spouse, or else sweete love, transforme me in thee.” Both he and Bale insert a marginal reference to Psalm 33. 186. the Bale, followed by Cancellar, inserts a marginal reference to John 15. 211. trusting . . . death trusting . . . passion, did trust . . . death Probably unintentionally, Elizabeth gives two renderings of line 904, the second more literal than the first: “Pour s’estre en vous et vostre mort fiéz” (Because they have trusted in Thee and Thy death). mortified made dead to sin and temptation; “mortifiéz.”

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because they did trust in Thee and in Thy death.211 For, with a sweet sleep, Thou didst put them from the death which caused them to lament. O how happy is the same deadly sleep unto him, the which when he waketh doth find, through Thy death,212 the everlasting life. For the death is no other thing to a Christian man, but a liberty from his mortal bond. And the death which is fearful to the wicked is pleasant and agreeable to them that be good. Then is death, through Thy death, destroyed. Therefore, my God, if I were rightly taught, I should call the death, life, end of labor, and beginning of everlasting joy.213 For I know that the long life doth let me from214 Thy sight. O death, come and break the same obstacle of life;215 or else, love, do now a miracle. Since that I cannot yet see my spouse, transform me with Him,216 both body and soul, and then shall I the better tarry for217 the coming of death. Let me die that I may live with Him,218 for there is none that can help me unless it be Thou only. O my Saviour, through faith I am planted and joined with Thee.219 O what union is this,220 since through faith I am sure of Thee; and now I may call Thee son, father, spouse, and brother. Father, brother, son, husband: O

212. through . . . death Elizabeth moves this phrase into a preceding clause; Marguerite reads: “A qui treuue la vie à son reueil. / Par vostre mort la mort n’est au Chrestien” (To him who finds life upon awakening. / By Thy death, death is no other thing to a Christian man 908–9). 213. death . . . joy death, life Elizabeth omits the converse in line 915: “et la vie mort” (and life death). beginning . . . joy “entrée de seur port” (entrance to a sure port 916). 214. the long . . . from the long life “de vie la grand’ fruition” (the great fruition of life 917). The tonality of these meditations on death reflects the treatment of original sin in Pauline theology, especially Romans 5. Let . . . from obstruct. 215. the same . . . life “cest obstacle” (this obstacle 919). 216. transform . . . Him “par vostre grand pouoir / Transforméz moy en luy toute viuante” (By Thy great power / Transform me, fully living, into Him 922–23). Here and in the following lines Elizabeth’s use of “with” for “en” (in) mitigates the evocations of unity with the divine. 217. tarry for Elizabeth omits “en repos” (in rest 924). She also omits the marginal reference to Jonah 4 in Marguerite (Aug). The reference applies allusively, by analogy. The prophet Jonah is angry when the city of Nineveh heeds his calls to repent and is spared God’s wrath. When he wishes for death, God reproaches his anger and severity (Jonah 3–4). 218. die . . . Him “Faictes moy donc en luy viuant’ mourir” (Make me, therefore, living in Him, die 925). 219. and . . . Thee “Et par amour en vous ioncte et entée” (And by love joined and grafted into Thee 928). 220. this Elizabeth does not translate “quelle bienheureté” (what happiness 929).

[910] Heb. 2.

[920]

Rom. 11.

[930] John 1.

96 ihon. 1.

hiere. 3. cantic. 4, 5.

philip. 3.

psal. 106.

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call the: sonne, father, spowse, and brother. Father, brother, sonne, husband O what giftes thou doest gyue, by the goodnes of those names.187 O my father: what paternite. O my brother: what fraternite. O my childe: what dilection.188 O my husbande: O what conionction. Father full of humilitie. Brother hauinge taken our similitude. Sonne engendred through faith, and charitie. husbande louing in all extremite. But whom doest thou loue Alas it is she, the wich thou hast withdrawen frome the snare wherein, through malice, she was bounden, and gaue her the place name, and office, of a daughter syster, mother, and wife. O my sauioure: thesam swittenes is of great sauoure, right pleasaunte, and of a switte tast, if any may speke vnto the, or els heare the. And callinge the (withoute any feare) father childe, and spowse: hearing the, i do heare myselfe to be called, mother, syster, daughter, and spo spowse. Alas, nowe maye the soule (wich doth finde suche swittenes) to be consumed by loue.189 Is there any loue that may be compared vnto this, but it hath some yuell condicion. Is there any pleasure to be estimed. Is there any honnoure, but it is accounted for shame. Is there any profitte to be compared vnto this. Nowe to speke shorte, is there any thinge, that more I co could loue, alas no: For he that loueth god, doth repute all these thinges worse190 than a donge hyll. Plesure profitte, and honnoure of this worlde, are but trifles vnto hym wich hath founde the loue of god. For suche loue is so profitable, honorable, and abundante: that, she onely, contenteth the harte and yeldeth hym so contente (as i deare saye) that he neuer desyreth, or wolde haue other thinge. For whosoeuer hath god (as we ou ought to

187. sonne . . . names sonne . . . brother Bale, followed by Cancellar, omits this series of nouns, translated closely from Marguerite (932), and completes the sentence with the next series, “Father . . . husband.” O what giftes . . . names Cancellar omits this sentence. 188. dilection Cancellar and Bale insert a marginal reference to Revelation 12. 189. swittenes) . . . loue Bale and Cancellar extensively rework this passage. Bale, followed by Cancellar, leads with “a great sauoure of swetnesse, ryght pleasaunte, and dylectable, when a man, after the hearynge of thy worde, shall call the without feare hys father, brother, childe, and spowse.” Cancellar, picking up at this point, finishes by deleting the extended sequence “hearing . . . loue” and replacing it with “such a soule doubtlesse maye continuallye burne in loue.” 190. Is there any honnoure . . . worse Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, reworks phrasal structure: “Is there any honour, but maye be accompted shame, to thys compared? Yea, is there any profyte equall to thys? Moreouer to conclude it breuely, is there any thynge

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what gifts Thou dost give by the goodness of those names. O my Father, what paternity. O my brother, what fraternity. O my child, what dilection. O my husband, O what conjunction. Father, full of humility. Brother, having taken our similitude. Son, engendered through faith and charity. Husband, loving in all extremity.221 But whom dost Thou love? Alas, it is she, the which Thou hast withdrawn from the snare wherein, through malice, she was bounden, and gave her the place, name, and office of a daughter, sister, mother and wife. O my Saviour, the same sweetness is of great savor, right pleasant, and of a sweet taste: if any may speak unto Thee or else hear Thee. And calling Thee, without any fear, father, child, and spouse; hearing Thee, I do hear myself to be called mother, sister, daughter, and spouse. Alas, now may the soul which doth find such sweetness to be consumed by love.222 Is there any love that may be compared unto this, but it hath some evil condition? Is there any pleasure to be esteemed? Is there any honor, but it is accounted for shame?223 Is there any profit to be compared unto this?224 Now, to speak short, is there anything that more I could love? Alas, no; for he that loveth God doth repute all these things worse than a dunghill. Pleasure, profit, and honor of this world are but trifles unto him which hath found the love of God. For such love is so profitable, honorable, and abundant225 that she, only, contenteth the heart and yieldeth him so content (as I dare say) that he never desireth or would have other thing. For whosoever hath God as we ought to have Him, he that asketh any other thing is a

that I more earnestly could loue? Alas no. For he that vnfaynedly loueth god, reputeth all these thynges worldly, of lesse value.” Both insert a marginal reference to John 14. 221. paternity . . . fraternity, dilection . . . conjunction, charity . . . extremity Elizabeth sustains the rhymes of lines 935–38, 941–42 with cognates of the French nouns. humility “mansuetude” (gentleness, mercy 939). Cotgrave’s French-English dictionary (1611) gives “humilitie” as one sense of “mansuetude.” 222. to be . . . love to . . . consumed i.e., be consumed. Elizabeth’s verb condenses and tones down a series of parallel verbs: “consummer / Fondre, brusler, du tout aneantir / L’ame” (To consume, / Melt, burn, reduce to nothing at all / The soul 955–57). by love Elizabeth’s addition. 223. but . . . shame? “que lon n’estime à honte?” (that one does not esteem for shame? 960). 224. to . . . this “que lon deust estimer?” (that one should esteem? 961). 225. so . . . abundant so profitable “si plaisant proufit” (so pleasant profit 967). and abundant Elizabeth’s addition.

[940]

[950] Jer. 3. Song of Sol. 4, 5.

[960]

Philip. 3.

Psal. 106.

[970]

98

cantic. 3. psal. 84. cantic. 3, 8.

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haue hym) he that asketh any other thinge, is a superfluous man. Nowe, thanked be god, throug191 faith, haue i recoured, and gotten thesam loue: w therfore i ought to be satisfied, and contente. Nowe i haue the, my father, for the defence of the folishenes of my longe youth192 Nowe haue i the, my brother, for to succoure my sorowes, wherin i find no ende. Now i haue the, my sone, for the onely stey of my feble age. Now haue i the, true, and faythfull husband, for the satisfieng of my whole harte, and mynd. Nowe syth that i haue the, i do forsake all them that be in the world. Syth that i hold the: thou shalt escape me no more. Syth that i se the:193 i will loke vpon nothing that shuld kepe me frome the beholding of thy diuinite. Syth that i do heare the: i will heare nothinge that letteth me from the enioyenge of thy voice.194 Syth that it pleaseth the to put me so neere the: i will rather dye than to touche an other man. Syth195 that i serue the: i will serue no other maister. Syth that thou hast ioyned thy harte with myne: if he doth departe frome it: lett hym be punished for euer. For the departinge frome thy loue, is worse, than any damnacion is. I do not feare the payne of ten thousande helles, as moch as i do to lese the, one daye of the weke.196

191. abundante . . . throug Bale and Cancellar rework phrasal structure in detail. Cancellar reads “aboundant in grace.” Bale reads “that (I dare saye) she onely suffyseth the harte of a godly man . . . For . . . accounteth all other thynges superfluouse or vayne. Now thanked be the lorde.” Cancellar substitutes “godly soule” for Bale’s “godly man” and regenders the pronouns of the passage: “hir so contente,” “she neuer desireth.” Cancellar also expands Bale’s “the lorde” to “my lorde and my father.” Both insert a marginal reference to 2 Corinthians 3. throug The last word of a line, with final -h omitted to preserve the cleanly ruled margin. 192. defence . . . youth “defense / Des follies de ma trop longue enfance” (defense of the follies of my too long childhood 975–76). While Elizabeth plausibly interprets Marguerite to be saying that God now forgives her youthtful follies, Bale’s “defence of my longe youth from wanton folyshenes” construes Marguerite as suggesting that God prevented the soul’s youthful folly. Recognizing the improbability of Bale’s construal, Cancellar reads “defence of my foolishnesse in my longe youth,” thus fortuitously introducing a sense closer to Elizabeth’s. Bentley, for his part, reads “defensce of my wanton foolishness, and my long youth.” Bale and Cancellar insert a marginal reference to Philippians 2. 193. Syth that I hold . . . the Cancellar substitutes, “Seing now that I haue possessed the.” 194. voice Bale, followed by Cancellar, translates two lines of Marguerite that Elizabeth omits: “Syth / Seing that I maye frely talke with the, I wyll common with non other,” rendering “Puis que propos à vous ie puis tenir, / Aultre que vous ne veulx entretenir” (Since I am able to converse with Thee / I wish to speak to no other than Thee 989–90). Both insert a marginal reference to John 10. 195. an . . . Syth Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “any other, seyinge.”

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superfluous226 man. Now, thanked be God, through faith have I recovered and gotten the same love; therefore I ought to be227 satisfied and content. Now I have Thee, my Father, for the defense of the foolishness of my long228 youth. Now have I Thee, my brother, for to succor my sorrows, wherein I find no end.229 Now I have Thee, my son, for the only stay of my feeble age.230 Now have I Thee, true and faithful husband, for the satisfying of my whole heart and mind.231 Now, since that I have Thee, I do forsake all them that be in the world.232 Since that I hold Thee, Thou shalt escape me no more. 233 Since that I see Thee, I will look upon nothing that should keep me from the beholding of Thy divinity.235 Since that I do hear Thee, I will hear nothing that letteth me from the enjoying of Thy voice.236 Since that it pleaseth Thee to put me so near Thee, I will rather die than to touch another man. Since that I serve Thee, I will serve no other master.237 Since that Thou hast joined Thy heart with mine, if he doth depart from it, let him238 be punished forever. For the departing from Thy love is worse than any damnation is. I do not fear the pain of ten thousand hells as much as I do to lose Thee, one day of the week.

196. do to . . . weke Eliminating Marguerite’s image of a single day within the week (1000), Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “do feare the ones losynge of the.” 226. as . . . superfluous as . . . Him “ainsi qu’il le commande” (as He commands 971). superfluous immoderate. 227. Now . . . be Now . . . love Expands and alters the phrasing of line 973: “Or ie vous ay par vne Foy latente” (Now I have Thee through a hidden faith). I . . . be “ie suis” (I am 974). 228. long “trop longue” (too long 976). 229. wherein . . . end “que ie ne treuue courtz” (which I do not find short 978). 230. only . . . age Condenses “de ma vieillesse / Le seul baston, support de ma foiblesse” (of my old age / The only staff, the support for my feebleness 979–80). 231. and mind Elizabeth’s addition. 232. all . . . world Expands “le surplus” (the rest 983). 233. Thou . . . more “ie ne vous lais’ray plus” (I shall leave Thee no more 984). 234. Psal. 84. Psalm 85:8 in English Bibles. 235. Thy divinity An elaboration of “vous” (Thee 986). 236. voice Elizabeth omits lines 989–90: “Puis que propos à vous ie puis tenir, / Aultre que vous ne veulx entretenir” (Since I am able to converse with Thee / I wish to speak to no other than Thee). 237. master Elizabeth omits line 994: “Puis qu’à vous suis, à aultre ne veulx estre” (Since I am Thine, I do not wish to be another’s). 238. Thy . . . him Thy . . mine Elizabeth inverts the subject and object, “mon cueur au vostre” (my heart to Thine 995). he . . . him “il,” referring to “mon cueur” (my heart).

[980]

Song of Sol. 3. Psal. 84.234 Song of Sol. 3, 8. [991]

[1000]

100

psal. 7.

2. timoth. 1.

ecclesiastic.4203

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Alas, my god, my father, and creatour: do not suffer that the dyuell (inuentour of al synne) hath suche power that he maketh me to lese thy presence. For who-soeuer hath ones fell the loste197 of thy loue: he shall say that i wolde rather be bounde for euer in hell, than to fele that he shall do, by the loste of thy loue one moment of tyme198 O my sauioure, do not permitte that euer i do departe frome the. But (if it pleaseth the) put me in suche a place that my soule, through wantonnes, or synne be neuer lowsed frome thy loue.199 For, in this worlde, i can not haue perfettely, this my desire. wich thinges considered, maketh me feruently, and with all my harte, to desire the departinge frome this miserable body,200 not fearing the death, nor any of her instrumentes. For what feare ought i to haue of my god, wich (through loue) hath endeuoured hymselfe, and suffred death wherin he was not bounde: but bycause he shuld vndowe201 the power that this mortall death had. Now is iesus deed, in whom we are all deed: and through hys death, he causeth euery man to liue agayne.202 I meane those, wich, through fayth, are partakers of hys passion. For, euen as the death, before the greate mystery of the crosse, was hard vnto euery body, and there was no man but was feared withall: considering the copulation, of the body, and soule their order, loue, and agremente, where the extreme sorowe, was in the departinge one

197. loste An early modern variant of “loss.” 198. fele . . . tyme Cancellar condenses: “feele the paine thereof one moment of time.” loste loss. 199. lowsed . . . loue lowsed loosed. loue Bentley inserts a chapter division: “The sixt Chapter, Of the longing of the soule, by death to feede with Christ.” 200. wich . . . body Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, rewords, “which thing maketh me feruentlye to desire”; Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “thys bodye of synne.” Both insert a marginal reference to Romans 7. 201. hath endeuoured . . . vndowe Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “offered hymselfe, and suffred death not of dett or dewtye, but bycause he wolde for my onely sake vndo.” Both insert a marginal reference to Hebrews 9. vndowe undo. Bentley reads “vnder.” 202. he causeth . . . agayne Cancellar substitutes “we all shall liue.” 203. ecclesiastic. 4. This is all that can be read of Elizabeth’s marginal reference, which runs into the worn right page edge. 239. Alas Opposite the beginning of this line, Marguerite (Aug) has a unique marginal heading, “ORAISON A DIEV” (Prayer to God), which Elizabeth does not reproduce. 240. Psal. 7 Marguerite (Aug) has a marginal reference to Psalm 37; Elizabeth’s is inaccurate. 241. fel[t] Elizabeth wrote “fell,” a penslip.

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Alas,239 my God, my Father and Creator, do not suffer that the devil, inventor of all sin, hath such power that he make me to lose Thy presence. For whosoever hath once fel[t]241 the loss of Thy love, he shall say that “I would rather be bound forever in hell” than to feel that he shall do, by the loss of Thy love, one moment of time. O my Saviour, do not permit that ever I do depart from Thee.242 But, if it pleaseth Thee, put me in such a place that my soul, through wantonness243 or sin, be never loosed from Thy love. For in this world I cannot have perfectly this my desire.244 Which things considered, maketh me fervently and, with all my heart to desire the departing from this miserable body, not fearing the death nor any of her instruments.245 For what fear ought I to have of my God, which through love hath endeavored Himself,246 and suffered death, wherein He was not bound, but because He should undo the power that this mortal death had? Now is Jesus dead, in whom we are all dead, and through His death He causeth every man to live again: I mean those which, through faith, are partakers of His passion.247 For even as the death, before the great mystery of the cross, was hard unto everybody, and there was no man but was feared withal: considering the copulation of the body and soul,249 their order, love, and agreement, where the extreme sorrow was in the departing one from another. But

242. do not . . . Thee Expands and alters line 1011: “plus ne le permettéz” (no longer permit it—i.e., evil—to distance me from Thee). 243. wantonness “follie” (folly 1013). 244. this . . . desire “ce bien” (this good 1016). 245. the death . . . instruments Summarizes line 1018: “Sans craindre mort, pic, paelle, ny massu” (Without fearing death, pike, cauldron, or cudgel). her death’s, referring to “mort” (death), a feminine noun. 246. endeavored Himself exerted Himself; perhaps also, made it His duty—an etymological sense of “(se mettre) en devoir.” Marguerite reads “a passé son debuoir” (accepted His duty 1020). 247. Now . . . passion See Romans 6:8, 9, 11: “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; . . . likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 248. Ecclus. 4[1]. Elizabeth’s marginal reference, which runs into the right page edge, is probably to Ecclesiasticus 41, the reference in Marguerite’s text. 249. man . . . soul man “cueur” (heart 1029). considering . . . soul Elizabeth does not translate the preceding line, “En regardant sa face et sa rigueur” (In looking upon his [death’s] face and rigor 1030). The line is also lacking in the 1539 Geneva edition of the Miroir. copulation union.

Psal. 7.240

[1010]

[1020] 2 Tim. 1.

Ecclus. 4[1].248

[1031]

102 esay.53

1. ihon. 4.

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frome an other But syth it hath pleased to the switt lambe, to offer himselfe vpon the crosse, hys greate loue hath kindled a fyre withine our harte, so vehemente: that euery christenman ought to estime the passage of death, but a pleye, or passetyme: and so to prouoke one an other to dye.204 For, euen as feare of death did retarde vs; euen so; loue ought to gyue vs a desyre to dye. For, if true loue be vnfaynedly withine the harte of a man; he can not fele no other thinge; bycause that loue is so greate of itselfe, that she kepeth all the rowme, and putteth oute all other desyres: not suffring any thinge in hym, but god onely. For whersoeuer true, and perfytte loue is,205 we do neyther remember feare, or els sorowe. If oure pryde, (for to get honnoure) maketh vs to seke for death, withso many meanes. If (for to haue a folishe plesure) a man putteth hymselfe in ieopardy of his life. If a man (for to get riches) doth put hys life in daunger, for the value of a shelinge. If the wille to robe, or to kille, to beate, or to begyle causeth oftentimes the mynde of a man to turne; so that he knoweth doth not se the daunger of death when he will do any yll, or els auenge hymselfe of any man.206 If the strenght of sykenes, or the desease of an melencoly, causeth a man to wishe for deathe and often tymes (as doth) drowen hange, or kille hymselfe For, suche yuell, and desire, is so great, that he causeth a man to choyce death, for libertie. If so it be, than, that these greate paynes, full of yuell, and imperfection causeth them not to feare the hasard of death, and it semeth vnto them that it cometh to late207 Alas what ought true, and laudable loue, do. What ought the loue of the 204. christenman . . . dye Bale rewords, “true beleuer estimeth . . . and so prouoketh other constauntly in hys truth to dye,“ inserting a marginal reference to Wisdom of Solomon 3. 205. whersoeuer . . . is Elizabeth originally enclosed the clause in parentheses, then removed the parentheses, but their traces remain legible. 206. If the wille . . . man Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, reworks: “Yf the first conceyuynge of robery or murther, crueltie or deceyte, doth so blynde a man that he doubteth nothynge the daunger of deathe, neyther yet mysfortune, when he seketh to auenge hymselfe or doth any other euyll.” Cancellar rewords the opening phrase, “the chiefe conceiuing,” which Bentley mistakenly renders as “the theefe, conceiuing.” Bale and Cancellar insert a marginal reference to Deuteronomy 16. robe rob. 207. and . . . late Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords, “but rather to thynke that deathe tarryeth to longe.” Both insert a marginal reference to Ecclesiasticus 1. 250. offer . . . cross Elizabeth does not translate “souffrir” (to suffer 1035) or “pour nous” (for us 1036). 251. play . . . pastime “ieu” (game 1038). 252. all . . . desires Expands “tout” (all 1046).

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since it hath pleased to the sweet Lamb to offer Himself upon the cross,250 His great love hath kindled a fire within our heart, so vehement that every Christian man ought to esteem the passage of death but a play or pastime,251 and so to provoke one another to die. For even as fear of death did retard us: even so, love ought to give us a desire to die. For if true love be unfeignedly within the heart of a man, he cannot feel no other thing, because that love is so great of itself, that she keepeth all the room and putteth out all other desires:252 not suffering anything in him, but God only. For wheresoever true and perfect love is, we do neither remember fear or else sorrow.253 If our pride, for to get honor, maketh us to seek for death with so many means; if, for to have a foolish pleasure, a man putteth himself in jeopardy of his life;254 if a man, for to get riches, doth put his life in danger for the value of a shilling;255 if the will to rob or to kill, to beat or to beguile, causeth oftentimes the mind of a man to turn so that he doth not see the danger of death when he will do any ill, or else avenge himself of any man; if the strength of sickness or the disease of an256 melancholy causeth a man to wish for death, and oftentimes, as doth, drown, hang, or kill himself: for such evil and desire is so great, that he causeth a man to choice257 death, for liberty. If so it be, then, that these great pains, full of evil and imperfection, causeth them not to fear the hazard of death, and it seemeth unto them that it cometh too late: alas, what ought true and laudable love do?258 What ought the love of the Creator do? Should she not stir259 so the heart of a man

253. fear . . . sorrow Marguerite begins and ends with synonyms for ‘fear’: “paour doulour ne crainte” (fear, sorrow, nor fear 1048). 254. a foolish . . . life a . . . pleasure “vng plaisir, qui tant couste” (a pleasure, that costs so much 1051). a man . . . life Loosely renders “Lon oublie de la mort crainte et doubte” (One forgets fear and dread of death 1052). 255. for . . . shilling for . . . riches “pour auoir des richesses son saout” (in order to have his fill of riches 1053). a shilling “ung sould” (a sou 1054). 256. disease . . . an disease discomfort, disquiet; “douleur” (suffering, grief). an A penslip for “a.” 257. he . . . choice he evil or desire; Marguerite’s “il” refers to one or the other of the masculine nouns, “mal” or “desir” (1064). choice choose. 258. pains . . . do pains “passions” (1065). it seemeth Elizabeth does not translate “maintesfois” (time and time again 1068). do She does not translate the following elaboration on true love for Christ, “Bien obligée, et plusque raisonnable” (Much obligated, and more than reasonable 1070). 259. stir “brusler” (burn 1072).

Isa. 53

[1040] 1 John 4.

[1050]

[1060]

[1071]

104

psal. 115. philip. 1.

psal. 119. cantic. 5.

1. corinth.212

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creatore208 do: shulde she not styrre so the harte of a man that he (beyng transported with such affection) shuld fele no other thinge in hym; Alas, ye. For, death is a pleasaunte thinge to the soule wich is in loue with god. and estimeth the passage easy, through the wich she cometh out of a prison. For the harde way (through the wiche she cometh for to embrasse her husband) can not wery her. O my sauiour, how good thesame death is, through the wich we shall haue the ende of all sorowe, by whom also, we shall enioye of thy syght,209 and be transformed vnto the likenes of thy maieste O death (through thy dede) I truste to haue so moche honnoure, that wpon210 my knees (in crienge, and wepinge) i do desire the: come quickely, and make an ende of my peine and sorowe. O happy daughters, right holy soules, ioyned in to the citie of iherusalem: opene your eyes, and (with pitie) loke vpon my desolacion. I beseche ye, that in211 my name) ye will say tell vnto my god my frende, and kinge, howe, at euery houre of the day, i do languishe for hys loue. O switte death, through suche loue come to me, and with loue, bringe me vnto my god.213 O death: where is thy stinge, and dart: alas they are vanished frome myne eyes, for rigoure is changed in to swittenes. l syth that my frende did suffer death vpon the crosse for my sake: hys death doth so encourage my harte, that thou art vnders gentyll to me, if i might folowe hym. O de

208. creatore “Createur” (1071). Bale expands to “eternall creatour”; Cancellar (or his printer, Henry Denham) mistakes this as “eternall creature,” followed by Bentley. 209. enioye . . . syght “iouiray de vostre vision” (1084). Bale, followed by Cancellar, expands to “enioye thy syghte without impedyment.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to 2 Corinthians 3. 210. wpon upon. 211. in Elizabeth omits the open parenthesis before this word. 212. 1 corinth. What can be read of Elizabeth’s marginal reference runs into the worn right edge of the page. 213. hys loue . . . god Cancellar rewords, “his presence. O sweete death, come vnto me, and louingly bring me vnto my lorde God.” 260. Psalm 115. “I love the Lord. . . . Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:1, 15). 261. O my Saviour “O mon vray DIEV” (O my true God 1081). 262. through . . . majesty through . . . which, by whom Elizabeth disregards Marguerite’s pair of line-initial parallelisms (1082–83), “Par qui i’auray” (By which I shall have) and omits the second of the two verb phrases, “i’auray de vous fruition” (I shall have fruition of Thee). sorrow “querele” (complaint, lamentation 1082). whom which. Thy sight Elizabeth omits line 1085, on the effects of beholding God, “Par qui seray à vous si conformée” (By which I shall be so conformed unto Thee). be transformed . . . maj-

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that he, being transported with such affection, should feel no other thing in him? Alas, yea. For death is a pleasant thing to the soul which is in love with God and esteemeth the passage easy, through the which she cometh out of a prison. For the hard way, through the which she cometh for to embrace her husband, cannot weary her. O my Saviour,261 how good the same death is: through the which we shall have the end of all sorrow, by whom also we shall enjoy of Thy sight and be transformed unto the likeness of Thy majesty.262 O death, through thy deed, I trust to have so much honor that, upon my knees, in crying and weeping, I do desire thee; come quickly and make an end of my pain and sorrow.264 O happy daughters, right holy souls, joined in to the city of Jerusalem: open your eyes and with pity look upon my desolation. I beseech ye that, in my name, ye will tell unto God, my friend and King, how at every hour of the day I do languish for His love. O sweet death, through such love come to me and, with love, bring me unto my God. O death, where is thy sting and dart?266 Alas, they are vanished from mine eyes, for rigor is changed into sweetness. Since that my friend did suffer death upon the cross for my sake, His death doth so encourage my heart, that thou art wondrous267 gentle to me, if I might follow Him. O death, I beseech thee, come to put the friend with His love.268

esty Elizabeth’s expansion of “seray divine transformée” (I will be turned divine 1086) tones down Marguerite’s claim with the addition of “likeness.” 263. Psal. 119. This reference corresponds to the numbering in authorized English Bibles. Verses 143 and 169 read: “Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me. . . . let my cry come near before thee, O Lord.” 264. crying . . . sorrow crying . . . weeping “en cry, souspir, et pleur” (crying, sighing and weeping 1088). pain and sorrow “mon gemissement” (my groaning 1090). 265. 1 Cor. Elizabeth’s marginal reference, which runs into the worn right edge of the page, may have been to 1 Corinthians 13, to which the Augereau edition of the Miroir inaccurately refers, or to 1 Corinthians 15 (“O death, where is thy sting?”), the correct reference. 266. dart Elizabeth omits “vostre rudesse dure” (thy hard roughness 1102). 267. doth . . . wondrous doth . . . heart “si fort à mourir mon cueur poulse” (pushes my heart so strongly to die 1107). wondrous “bien” (very 1108). 268. come . . . love come Elizabeth omits “quoy que lon die” (whatever one says 1109). the friend . . . love “avec l’amy l’amye” (the [female] friend with her [male] friend, i.e., Christ 1110). Elizabeth’s loose rendering can be construed in different ways. She may be imagining the human “friend” joining Christ’s love, that is, joining Christ as lover. Alternatively, Elizabeth may have reversed Marguerite’s formulation by imagining the “friend” Christ joining “His love,” i.e., His beloved, the human speaker.

Psal. 115.260 Philip. 1.

[1080]

Psal. 119.263

[1090] Song of Sol. 5.

[1100] 1 Cor.265

[1110]

106

luke. 12. and math. 10.

psal. 7. iob. 15. miche. 7. esay. 64. psal. 129. and 37.

math. 19. rom. 5. and 8. psal. 89. and timoth. 2.

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death I beche the beseche the come to put the frende with hys loue.214 Nowe, syth that death is so pleasaunte a life215 that she pleasyth me more than feareth fea me: than i ought to feare nothing but the true iudgemente of god All my synnes, with hys iuste balaunce shall be weyd, and shewen openly. Thys that i haue done,216 also my tho thought, and worde, shall be better knowen, than if it were written in a rolle And we may not thinke that charitie, wolde offende iustice, and truth. For, whosoeuer doth liue vnfaythfully, shall be punished in the euerlasting peine. God is iuste; and hys iudgemente is righteous. All that he doth is iuste in all thinges Alas what am i, considering my217 righteousnes: I wretched and poore creature. For i knowe, that all the workes of iuste men are so full of vices, that before god, they are more fylthy, than durth,218 or any other fylthines. What shall it be, than, of the synnes wich i do comitte, wherof i do fele the burden importable: I can saye nothinge els, but that i haue wone damnacion. Is thys the ende: shall despayre be the conforte of my great ignoraunce: Alas, my god, no: For the inuisible faith, causeth me to beleue, that all thinges wich are vnpossible to men, are possible vnto the.219 So that thou do conuerte my worke (wich is nothinge) in some good worke220 Than, O lorde, who shall condemne me: syth that he (wich is geuen me for a iudge) is my husband, my father, and my refuge. Alas what father, who doth neuer condemne hys childe: but 214. syth that . . . loue Cancellar condenses: “seing that, for my sake, my friend did suffer vpon the crosse, whose death doth so encourage me, that, death, I wish to folow him.” Bale, by contrast, retains virtually all of Elizabeth’s wording including “vnders,” which he spells “wonders” (wondrous). Bentley inserts a chapter heading: “The seuenth Chapter, Of the trust the soule hath in the merits of hir Redeemer, against the dread of hell and desperation.” unders wondrous; Elizabeth’s idiosyncratic spelling. 215. a life Cancellar rewords, “to me.” 216. shewen . . . done Cancellar rewords, “all that I have done, openlye shall be shewed.” 217. my Marguerite’s “sa” (his). Cancellar adds “owne.” 218. durth dirt. 219. the Bale and Cancellar insert marginal references to Hebrews 11 and Luke 18. 220. worke Where Elizabeth precisely renders “oeuure” (1140), Bale, followed by Cancellar, expands to “worke of thyne in me, whych is specyally faythe.” 269. true . . . God Condenses “iugement / (Qui vient apres) de DIEV, qui point ne ment” (judgment of God, which comes afterward, which does not lie 1113–14). 270. roll The term had a special connotation in England, referring to certain judicial functions of the crown (Court of the Rolls). The association may be active here with regard to God’s passing of judgment.

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Now, since that death is so pleasant a life that she pleaseth me more than feareth me, then I ought to fear nothing but the true judgment of God.269 All my sins with His just balance shall be weighed and shown openly. This that I have done, also my thought and word, shall be better known than if it were written in a roll.270 And we may not think that charity would offend justice and truth. For whosoever doth live unfaithfully shall be punished in the everlasting pain. God is just, and His judgment is righteous. All that He doth is just in all things. Alas, what am I, considering my272 righteousness: I, wretched and poor creature? For I know that all the works of just men are so full of vices that, before God, they are more filthy than dirt or any other filthiness.273 What shall it be, then, of the sins which I do commit, whereof I do feel the burden importable?275 I can say nothing else, but that I have won276 damnation. Is this the end? Shall despair be the comfort of my great ignorance? Alas, my God, no: for the invisible faith causeth me to believe that all things which are unpossible to men are possible277 unto Thee. So that Thou do convert my work (which is nothing) in some good work, then, O Lord, who shall condemn me,278 since that He which is given me for a Judge is my husband, my Father, and my refuge? Alas, what Father? who doth never condemn His child, but 271. Luke . . . 10. Luke 12. Verse 40: “Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” Matthew 10. Verse 26: “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.” 272. my “sa” (His 1125), evidently misread as “ma.” 273. filthy . . . filthiness Elizabeth condenses and tones down an escalating series, “ordes, salles, viles / Plus infames, qu’immundices des villes” (filthy, dirty, vile / More disgraceful than the refuse of cities 1129–30). 274. Psal. 129. Psalm 130:3: “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Psal. 37. Psalm 38:4: “Mine iniquities are gone over my head; as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.” 275. importable unbearable; “importable.” 276. won gotten, obtained. 277. possible “tresfacile” (very easy 1139). 278. me Elizabeth does not translate “Et quel Iuge iamais me damnera” (And what judge will ever damn me? 1142). 279. and . . . 2. Elizabeth entered this incomplete marginal reference to 1 Timothy 2 too early. Its correct location, shown by Marguerite’s text, is several lines further down, where Elizabeth repeats it.

Luke 12. and Matt. 10.271

[1120] Psal. 7. Job 15. Micah 7.

[1130] Isa. 64. Psal. 129. and 37.274

Matt. 19. Rom. 5. & 8.

[1140] Psal. 89. and Tim. 2.279

108

1. ihon. 2. and 1. timo. 2.

esay. 53. hebr. 7. rom. 8. ezech. 18. math. 4.

peter. 2.226

psal. 84.

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doth always excuse and defende hym. Than i se to haue no other accuser, but iesuschrist wich is my redeemer, whose death hath restored vs, oure inheritaunce for he made hymselfe oure man a lawe,221 shewynge hys so worthy merites afore god, wherewith my g great dette is so surmounted, that in iudgemente she is accompted for nothinge.222 O redeemer, here is a gret loue: For we fynde but fewe such men of lawes. O switte iesus it is vnto the, that i am a detter: For thou doest pray and speke for me And moreouer, when thou doest se that i am poore, thou doest paye my dette, with the abundance of thy goodes. O incomprehensible see223 of all goodnes. O my father: doest thou vouchafe to be my iudge, not willinge the death of the synner. O iesuschriste: true fisher224 and sauioure of the soule: frend, abo aboue all frendes. For, thou being my man a lawe, excused, and did speke for me, where thou couldest iustely accuse me. I feare nomore to be vndone by any man,225 For the lawe is satisfied for all. My switte spowse hath made the payment so abundante, that the lawe can aske nothing to me, but she maye haue it of hym: For (as i beleue) he hath taken all my synnes to hym and gaue me hys goodes and riches.227 O my sauioure (presenting thy vertues) thou doest contente the v ches lawe: when she will reproche me my synnes; thou doest shewe her howe willingly in thyne own fleshe thou hast taken the charge of them through the coniunction of oure marriage. Also howe vpon the crosse, through thy passion, thou hast satisfied for it. Moreouer thy charitie hast hath gyuen me this that thou hast deserued. Therfore (syth that thy merite is myne owne) the lawe 221. man a lawe man of law. 222. surmounted . . . nothinge Bale and Cancellar reword, “habundantly recompenced, . . . it is nothinge.” 223. see sea. 224. true fisher Cancellar (or his printer, Henry Denham) mistakenly reads “crucifier.” Bentley sustains this reading. 225. to be . . . any man Cancellar rewords, “therefore the crueltye of mine enimie.” 226. peter.2. Marguerite (Aug) has the correct, fuller marginal reference to 1 Peter 2. 227. gaue . . . riches Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “hath geuen me, in place of them, hys owne goodes in habundance.” Both insert a marginal reference to Isaiah 53. 280. man-of-law . . . she man-of-law lawyer. she “el’” (i.e., “elle” 1154), referring to “debte” (1153), a feminine noun. 281. Thou. . . goods “De vostre bien ma grand’ debte poyéz” (From Thy goods Thou dost pay my great debt 1160). 282. O . . . goodness Condenses “O de bonté mair, abisme, et deluge” (O sea, abysm, and flood of goodness 1161).

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doth always excuse and defend him. Then I see to have no other accuser, but Jesus Christ, which is my Redeemer, whose death hath restored us our inheritance. For He made Himself our man-of-law, showing His so worthy merits afore God, wherewith my great debt is so surmounted that, in judgment, she280 is accounted for nothing. O Redeemer, here is a great love, for we find but few such men-of-laws. O sweet Jesus, it is unto Thee that I am a debtor, for Thou dost pray and speak for me. And, moreover, when Thou dost see that I am poor, Thou dost pay my debt with the abundance of Thy goods.281 O incomprehensible sea of all goodness.282 O my Father, dost Thou vouchsafe to be my Judge, not willing the death of the sinner? O Jesus Christ, true fisher and Saviour of the soul, friend above all friends. For Thou, being my man-of-law, excused and did speak for me where Thou couldest justly accuse me. I fear no more to be undone by any man, for the law283 is satisfied for all. My sweet spouse hath made the payment so abundant284 that the law can ask nothing to me, but she may have it of Him: for, as I believe, He hath taken all my sins to Him and gave me His goods and riches.286 O my Saviour: presenting Thy virtues, Thou dost content the law. When she will reproach me my sins, Thou dost show her how willingly in Thine own flesh Thou hast taken the charge of them through the conjunction of our marriage. Also, how upon the cross, through Thy passion, Thou hast satisfied for it.287 Moreover, Thy charity hath given me this that Thou hast deserved. Therefore, since that Thy merit is mine own, the law asketh nothing of me.289 283. the law Here and in the four subsequent occurrences in this paragraph, “the law” renders “Iustice” (justice). The rationale behind Elizabeth’s lexical substitution is Paul’s conception of “the law”: God gave the law of Moses in order to bring all humans to the awareness that they could never fulfill it because of their sins. See Romans 3:20. 284. so abundant “Si suffisant, et tant abondamment” (So sufficient, and so very abundant 1172). 285. Peter 2. Marguerite has the correct, fuller marginal reference to 1 Peter 2. 286. and riches Elizabeth’s addition. 287. for it “en” (of it, of them 1184), here referring to sins. 288. Psal. 84. In authorized English Bibles, Psalm 85:2: “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin.” 289. nothing . . . me nothing “plus ne” (no more 1188). me Elizabeth’s translation omits Marguerite’s miniature allegory in lines 1189–90: “Mais sa soeur Paix (comme toute appaisée / Vous regardant) est doulcement baisée” (But her [Justice’s] sister, Peace, altogether pacified, / Looking upon Thee, is gently kissed). The source is Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

[1150] 1 John 2. & 1 Tim. 2. Isa. 53. Heb. 7. Rom. 8.

[1160] Ezek. 18. Matt. 4.

[1170] Peter 2.285

[1180]

Psal. 84.288

110

sapient. 1.231 math. 25.

luk. 11.

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asketh228 nothing of me. Than will i feare no more the iudgemente but with desyre, rather, than par force, i do tary for the tyme that i shall se my iudge, and heare of h hym, a iuste iudgemente. yet, i knowe that thy iudgemente is so iuste, that there is no faute in it: and that myne vnfaithfulnes is worthy to suffer the cruelnes of hell. For if i do only consydere my deseruing, i can se no thinge in it, that can kepe me from the fyre of hell. True it is, that the turmente of hell was neuer prepared but for the dyuell, and not for a reasonable man.229 Neuertheles, if any man hath put hys mynde to be lyke vnto the dyuell: than he ought, (as the dyuell shall) to be payed with such a rewarde. But if a man, through contemplacion, doth holde of the aungell, vertue, goodnes, and perfection, so that he doth optayne230 heauen, wiche is a place of like deseruinge: than shall the viciouse be punished, with hym to whom he did ioyne hymselfe. And syth he folowed satan, he muste kepe suche place, as is prepared for hym.232 Nowe. I considering the diuersitie of both the sortes, it conforteth my spirite but lytell. For i can not denye, but i am more like vnto the dyuell, than to the aungell. Wherfore i feare, and tremble: For the liuinge of the aungell is so godly, that i am233 nothing like vnto hym (this i do confesse), But as for the other, i am so like vnto hym, of malice in custome,234 that of hys payne, and turmente, i ought to be partaker of it. For, the cruell synne wich hath bound me in hell, is so great; and synne is stronge wich letteth nothinge come from hym, and feareth not that any man cometh to assayle hym. He wich is

228. satisfied . . . asketh Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “made satisfacyon for it. Moreouer, thy only charyte hath gyuen me thys, that thu hast for me deserued. Therfore seynge thy merite to be myne, the law can aske.” Both insert a marginal reference to 1 John 4. 229. and . . . man Cancellar rewords, “and his children.” 230. contemplacion . . . optayne Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “contemplacyon of the sowle, doth holde of the, hys Angell of counsel, vertue and perfectyon, he is sure to optayne.” Both Bale and Cancellar insert a marginal reference to Luke 13. 231. Sapient. 1 A hole at the right edge of the page has obliterated the last number in the reference to Sapientia Solomonis, or Wisdom of Solomon, 18, which is found in all relevant editions of Marguerite. 232. hym Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “and his angels.” 233. For . . . am Cancellar reworks: “For as the angell is pure and perfite, so am I vnpure and vnperfite, and am.” 234. vnto . . . custome Bale, followed by Cancellar, reworks: “in my doynges, and so accustomed in hys wayes.” Both insert a marginal reference to Hebrews 2.

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111

Then will I fear no more the judgment but, with desire rather than par290 force, I do tarry for the time that I shall see my Judge, and hear of Him a just judgment. Yet I know that Thy judgment is so just that there is no fault in it, and that mine unfaithfulness is worthy to suffer the cruelness of hell. For if I do only consider my deserving, I can see nothing in it that can keep me from the fire of hell. True it is, that the torment of hell was never prepared but for the devil, and not for a reasonable man. Nevertheless if any man hath put his mind to be like unto the devil, then he ought, as the devil shall, to be paid with such a reward. But if a man, through contemplation, doth hold of the angel virtue, goodness, and perfection291 so that he doth obtain heaven, which is a place of like deserving, then shall the vicious be punished with him to whom he did join himself. And since he followed293 Satan, he must keep such place as is prepared for him. Now I, considering the diversity of both the sorts, it comforteth my spirit but little. For I cannot deny, but I am more like unto the devil than to the angel: wherefore I fear and tremble. For the living of the angel is so godly that I am nothing like him (this I do confess); but, as for the other, I am so like unto him, of malice in custom, that of his pain and torment, I ought to be partaker of it.294 For the cruel sin, which hath bound me in hell, is so great.295 And sin is strong, which letteth nothing come from him, and feareth not that any man cometh to assail him.296 He which is strong knoweth not, how his

290. par by; Elizabeth transcribes the French word (1192). 291. virtue . . . perfection Elizabeth omits “love” (Amour), the first of four nouns in a series (1208). 292. Sol. 1[8]. See n231 to our original-spelling text. 293. followed adhered to; pursued (as an object of desire). Marguerite reads “du tout s’est comparé” (sought in every way to equal 1213). 294. godly . . . it godly “celeste” (heavenly 1219). malice . . . custom habitual malice. Elizabeth condenses “Tant de malice et tant d’accoustumance” (So much malice and so much [evil] habit 1222). it She omits the closing phrase, “par vray iugement” (by true judgment 1224). 295. so great “Grand et trop grand” (great and too great 1225). 296. sin . . . him sin “Enfer” (Hell 1227). Elizabeth’s eye evidently skipped from the beginning of line 1227, “Enfer est fort” (Hell is strong), to the parallel beginning of line 1231, “Peché est fort” (Sin is strong). him . . . him Both “Enfer” and “pêché” (‘Hell’ and ‘sin’) are masculine. Elizabeth does not translate the first part of the next line, “Le Fort est fort” (The strong is strong 1229).

[1191]

[1200]

[1210] Wisd. of Sol. 1[8].292 Matt. 25.

[1220]

112

philip. 2. ephesi. 4.

1. corinth. 15.

rom. 5.

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stronge,235 knoweth not how his strenght goeth a waye when a stronger man than he cometh Synne is stronge, wich bringeth vs in to hell,236 and i coulde neuer se that any man, by merite, and payne, coulde vainquishe helle, saue onely he, wich hath made such assaute through charitie (he being humbled to the crosse) that he hath bounde, and ouercome237 his enmy, broken hell and his power, so that he hath no further strenght to kepe any soule prisonnere, the wich hath put her truste in god. Than, beleuinge and trustinge in the power that god hath, i do not sett by hell and sinne not a strawe. For, wherof can synne ennoye me,238 onles it be for to shewe, how my god is mercyfull, stronge mighty, and239 vanquisher of all the yuell wiche is withine my hart. If my synne forgiuen, is the glory of my240 sauioure, i ought likewise beleue that also my glory is increased therewith, knowledginge that i am planted, and ioyned241 with hym. Hys honnoure, onely, doth honore all hys: And his riches doth replenishe euery one of 242 goodes. Than is hell, and synne ouercomed243 by hym. O glouton hell: where is thy defence: Thou villayne synne: where is thy power O death, where is thy stinge, and victory, wich are so muche spoken of. In stedde of death, thou geuest vs life, and so doest thou contrary vnto thy wille. And also, thou sinne, wich wolde drawe euery body vnto damnacion: thou doest serue vs of a ladder, for to reshe244 vnto the goodly citie of iherusalem. For, thou woldest by thy cursest nature, that our maker shulde lese hys creature. But through loue, and grace, thou doest

235. synne . . . stronge Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, reworks: “hys force so stronge that it leteth nothinge to come from it, neyther feareth it the contrary assaulte of any man. But he whych is in thys kynde stronge.” 236. Synne . . . hell Cancellar deletes this sentence. 237. hath . . . ouercome Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “ded the greate assaulte through hys vnspeakable chariyte, whan he humbled hymselfe to the crosse, wherby he hath ouercomen.” 238. not a . . . me Cancellar deletes “not a strawe.” Incorporating rephrasings by Bale, he further reads “For sinne can haue no holde of me.” 239. and Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “a puissant.” 240. my Expanding Elizabeth’s literal translation of Marguerite (1248), Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “most louynge.” 241. ioyned Bale reads “engrafted”; Cancellar reads “grafted.” 242. of Bale, followed by Cancellar, adds “hys with hys.” Both insert a marginal reference to Revelation 5. 243. ouercomed overcome.

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strength goeth away when a stronger man than he cometh. Sin is strong, which bringeth us into hell. And I could never see that any man, by merit and pain, could vanquish hell, save only He, which hath made such assault through charity: He being humbled to the cross, that He hath bound and overcome His enemy, broken hell and his power, so that he hath no further strength to keep any soul prisoner,297 the which hath put her trust in God. Then believing and trusting in the power that God hath, I do not set by hell and sin, not a straw.298 For whereof can sin annoy me, unless it be for to show how my God is merciful, strong, mighty, and vanquisher of all the evil which is within my heart? If my sin forgiven is the glory of my Saviour, I ought likewise believe that also my glory is increased therewith, knowledging that I am planted299 and joined with Him. His honor, only, doth honor all His, and His riches doth replenish everyone of goods. Then is hell and sin overcome by Him.300 O glutton hell, where is thy defense? Thou villain sin, where is thy power? O death, where is thy sting, and victory, which are so much spoken of?301 Instead of death, thou givest us life, and so dost thou contrary unto thy will. And also, thou sin, which would draw everybody unto damnation: thou dost serve us of a ladder302 for to reach unto the goodly city of Jerusalem. For thou wouldest, by thy cursest nature, that our Maker should lose His creature. But, through love and grace, thou dost cause her to come again and submit herself

244. reshe reach. 297. assault . . . prisoner assault “effort” (effort 1234). “Effort de gens de guerre” is defined in Cotgrave’s French-English dictionary (1611) as ‘assault.’ any . . . prisoner Elizabeth condenses “captive et en tutelle / La paoure ame” (captive and in tutelage / The poor soul 1239–40). 298. do . . . straw do . . . by have no regard for. a straw “ung festu” (a straw 1242), used in both languages to connote little value. 299. knowledging . . . planted knowledging acknowledging. planted “inserée” (implanted 1250). See Romans 6:5: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” 300. Then . . . Him Condenses “Enfer est donc par luy du tout destruict, / Peché vaincu, qui tant a eu de bruyt” (Therefore hell is completely destroyed by Him, / Sin vanquished, which has caused so much uproar 1253–54). 301. which . . . of “dont tant est de memoire” (of which the memory is so great 1258). 302. everybody . . . ladder everybody Elizabeth omits “sans remission” (without remission 1262). ladder She omits the conjoined noun, “esperon” (spur 1263).

[1230] Luke 11.

Philip. 2. Eph. 4.

[1240]

[1250]

1 Cor. 15.

[1260]

Rom. 5.

114

ephe. 2.

philip. 4. rom. 8.

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cause245 her to come againe, and submitte herselfe vnto god, more than euer she did. His greate goodnes doth make the to lese the payne, wich thou doest take all the whole weke. Therfore hell hath not had all the number, wich he did pretende to haue: bycause that the shadowe, and strenght, of his passion,246 is such a protection to the soule, that she ought to doute, neyther deathe synne, or hell. Is there any thing, than that can hurte me, if god be willinge through fayth, to drawe me vnto hym: I meane, fayth suche as we must haue for to obtayne the right highe gifte frome aboue and also suche faith, wich, through charitie, doth ioyne the humble seruante, vnto hys maker. I beynge ioyned vnto hym ought to haue no feare of trauayle, payne, or els sorowe. For whosoeuer willingly doth suffer any maner of death, or sorowe (as christ did) he doth fele in suche turmente greate consolacion for hys soule. Knowinge that, as for myselfe, i am weake: and with god, i am right stronge. By his conforte i may do all thinges: For hys loue is so stedfaste, and euerlasting doth suffer that she varieth for nothing of thys world.247 Who can, than, outedrawe me frome hys grace: Surely the greate heyght of heauen, nor the depenes of hell, nor the breade of all the earth, neyther death, or synne (wiche doth warre euery daye, againste me) can not separate me one daye frome the great loue, and charitie, that my father, through iesuschriste, hath vnto me. For hys loue is such, that he loueth me 245. thou . . . cause “faictes” (1268). Elizabeth follows Marguerite in describing sin as paradoxically causing, thorough grace, human beings’ reunion with God. Changing the grammatical subject and sense, Bale, followed by Cancellar, substitutes “the sorye remembraunce of thy vncomelynesse doth.” 246. vnto god . . . passion Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, reworks: “vnto God, whose inestimable goodness causeth thee to lose thy whole labor, which thou takest in hand. For the number that thou pretendest to haue, thou shalt not haue, bicause the comfortable shadow of Christ his passion.” 247. varieth . . . world Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “varyeth not for anye worldly thynge.” 303. love . . . unto love . . . grace “sa grace” (His grace 1267). come again Elizabeth does not translste “Plus que iamais . . . humblement” (More than ever . . . humbly 1269). submit . . . unto “seruir et aymer” (serve and love 1270). 304. pain effort; “peine” (effort 1271). 305. he . . . hell he A reference to “Enfer” (hell 1273), a masculine noun. to have Elizabeth omits the next phrase, a direct address to sin: “par vous” (through thee 1274). to doubt to dread, rendering the doublet “paour . . . doubte” (fear . . . dread 1277). hell Condenses “D’Enfer vne goutte” (One drop of hell 1278).

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unto303 God, more than ever she did. His great goodness doth make thee to lose pain304 which thou dost take all the whole week. Therefore, hell hath not had all the number which he did pretend to have, because that the shadow and strength of His passion is such a protection to the soul, that she ought to doubt neither death, sin, or hell.305 Is there anything, then, that can hurt me, if God be willing, through faith, to draw me unto Him? I mean, faith such as we must have for to obtain the right high gift from above.306 And also such faith which, through charity,307 doth join the humble servant unto his Maker. I, being joined unto Him, ought to have no fear of travail, pain, or else sorrow.308 For whosoever willingly doth suffer any manner of death or sorrow, as Christ did, he doth feel in such torment great consolation for his soul.309 Knowing that, as for myself, I am weak;310 and with God, I am right strong. By His comfort311 I may do all things; for His love is so steadfast and everlasting, that she varieth for nothing of this world. Who can, then, outdraw me from His grace?312 Surely the great height of heaven, nor the deepness of hell, nor the bread[th]313 of all the earth, neither death or sin (which doth war every day against me) cannot separate me one day from the great love and charity that my Father, through Jesus Christ, hath unto me. For His love is such, that He loveth me, which doth not love Him;

306. for . . . above “Digne d’avoir le nom du don d’enhault” (Worthy of being called the gift from on high 1282). 307. charity “Charité ardente” (flaming charity 1283). 308. fear . . . sorrow Elizabeth reorders and condenses a series of six parallel nouns: “peur, / Peine, trauail, ennui, mal ne douleur” (fear / Pain, travail, care, evil, or sorrow 1285–86). 309. For . . . soul Elizabeth expands “Car auec luy croix, mort, et passion / Ne poeut estre que consolation” (For, with Him, cross, death, and passion / Cannot be other than consolation 1287–88). 310. Knowing . . . weak Knowing . . . myself Elizabeth’s addition. weak “Trop foible” (Too weak 1289). 311. comfort strengthening; support. Marguerite has the cognate “conforte” (strengthens 1290). 312. grace Elizabeth omits the following phrase, “qui m’en separera?” (who will separate me from it? 1294). 313. deepness . . . bread[th] deepness “l’abisme et profondeur” (the bottomless gulf and depth 1296). bread[th] Elizabeth wrote “breade,” an evident penslip.

[1270]

[1280] Eph. 2.

[1290] Philip. 4. Rom. 8.

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116

psal. 144.

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wiche doth not loue hym: and if i loue hym, than shall i fele hys loue to increase,248 bycause that my loue is not worthy to loue hym: but i desyre hys loue to be myne, the wiche i fele such, as thoughe it were myne owne. Hys desire is to loue me: and through hys loue, he causeth my hart to be inflammed with loue:249 and throug250 suche loue, he fyndeth hymselfe so wel beloued: that hys owne dede yeldeth hym contente, and not myne owne loue, or strenght. Contentinge hymselfe, hys loue doth increase more in me than i can desyre of hym.251 O true louer, springe of all charitie, and the only purse of the heauenly treasure: Ought i to thinke, deare i to saye what thinge thou art: may i writteth252 Can any mortall man conprehende253 thy goodnes and loue: and if thou doest printe it withine any mannes harte, can he expresse it. No surely: For the capacitie of no254 man can not comprehende the vnmesurable goodnes wich are in the For naturall reason doth shewe vs, how there is no comparayson betwene an eternall, and a mortall thinge: but when, throughe loue the mortall is ioyned with the eternall, the mortall thinge is so full of the eternall, that she can not fynde the ende of it. For she hath more go good withine her, than she can holde: therfore doth a man (wich hath this loue) thinke that all the worlde is within hyn255 Euen as we se that the

248. For . . . increase Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “Hys goodnesse is suche that he loueth me, whych haue not at all tymes loued him. And if I now loue hym, than shall I feale hys loue to increase in me. But.” Both insert a marginal reference to John 4. 249. through . . . loue Cancellar rewords: “his loue inflameth my hart with a heauenly looue.” He and Bale insert a marginal reference to John 13. 250. throug again positioned at line end, again written without its terminal -h, in order to avoid running into the margin. 251. hym Bentley inserts a chapter division: “The eight Chapter, Of the incomprehensible loue of Christ to the sinfull soule: and benefits that come of a true faith.” 252. writteth write it—also the reading in Bale and Cancellar, who add “or.” Bentley reads “write, or.” 253. conprehende comprehend. 254. no Bale and Cancellar omit this negative particle. Both insert a marginal reference to Romans 12. 255. so full . . . hyn Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, reworks: “so fulfylled with the eternall, that it can not fynde the ende therof. For it hath in it more good therby, than it can contayne or holde. Therfore doth a man thynke, whych hath the loue of God, that he hath all goodes in the worlde therwith.” Bale inserts a marginal reference to Ephesians 2. hyn Penslip for “hym” (him). 314. He loveth . . . increase He loveth. . . love Him “sans l’aymer il m’ayme” (without my loving Him, He loveth me 1303). Marguerite has a marginal reference to Romans 5,

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and, if I love Him, then shall I feel His love to increase314 because that my love is not worthy to love Him. But I desire His love to be mine,315 the which I feel such as though it were mine own. His desire is to love me and, through His love, He causeth my heart to be inflamed with love; and through such love, He findeth Himself so well beloved that His own deed yieldeth Him content, and not mine own love or strength.316 Contenting Himself, His love doth increase more in me than I can desire of Him.317 O true lover, spring of all charity, and the only purse of the heavenly treasure: ought I to think, dare I to say, what Thou art? May I write it? Can any mortal man comprehend Thy goodness and love? And if Thou dost print it within any man’s heart, can he express it? No, surely. For the capacity of no man cannot comprehend the unmeasurable goodness318 which are in Thee. For natural reason319 doth show us, how there is no comparison between an eternal and a mortal thing. But when, through love, the mortal is joined with the eternal, the mortal thing is so full of the eternal that she320 cannot find the end of it; for she hath more good within her than she can hold. Therefore doth a man, which hath this love,321 think that all the world is within him. Even as we see that the sun with one only sparkle

which Elizabeth lacks. then . . . increase “Par son amour sentz l’aymer doublement” (Through His love I feel that I love Him twice as much 1304). Marguerite has a marginal reference to 1 Corinthians 14, which Elizabeth lacks. 315. my love . . . mine Across two sentences, Elizabeth offers a construal of the cryptic paradox in lines 1305–6: “Mon amour n’est pour l’aymer, mais la sienne / En moy l’ayme” (My love is not for to love Him, but His love / In me loves Him). 316. His . . . strength His . . . me Line 1307 continues the paradox: “Il s’ayme donc en moy” (He thus loves Himself in me). and not. . . strength Elizabeth’s expansion of “(non moy)” (not I 1310). 317. Contenting . . . Him A loose translation of “Se contentant tousiours il multiplie / Trop plus d’amour, qu’amour ne luy supplie” (Always content, He multiplies / Much more love, than love supplies to Him 1311–12). 318. comprehend . . . goodness comprehend “tenir” (to grasp 1322). Both the now obsolete physical sense of “comprehend” as ‘grasp’ and its modern abstract sense of ‘understand’ are in play. unmeasurable goodness “grande immensité” (great immensity 1322). 319. natural reason reason without divine revelation; “vive raison” (good sense 1323). 320. the mortal . . . she the mortal, the eternal Elizabeth’s substitutions for the implied subject “chose finie” (finite thing 1325), and the pronoun “luy” (Him 1326). the mortal . . . eternal “Si remply est son riens d’ung peu de tout” (Her nothing is so full of a little of everything 1327). she “the mortal thing”; “la chose finie,” a feminine noun. 321. which . . . love Elizabeth’s addition.

[1310]

[1320]

Psal. 144.

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ecclesiastic. 24.

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sunne with one onely sperkell256 of hys light doth blynde the eye of a man and yet doth she hydde her great light; but aske to the eye what he hath sene: the eye will say that he hath sene the whole clartie of the sunne: but that is a lye. For he (being blinded with a lytill sperkell) coulde not se the whole clartie of the sunne,257 and neuertheles he is so contente, that it semeth vnto hym, if he had so much light in hym, as the same sperkell was, that he shuld not be able258 to suffer it. Euen so the soule wich (through fayth) doth fele one sperkell of the loue of god: than doth she fynde thys fyre so great, and meruaylous so switte, and good, that it is vmpossible259 vnto her to declare what thinge thesame loue is. For alytell that she hath felthe, doth yelde her mynde satisfied and desyringe more of thys wherof she hath ynough So doth she liue desyringe, and languishinge, and seghynge260 The harte doth fele well that he hath receyued to muche of it: but he hath conceyued suche desire, in thys to muche, that w he allwaies desyreth to receyue the thinge wiche, he can not haue, neyther is he worthy to receue. He knoweth the good that he hath alredy to be vnspekeable, and yet wolde he haue more of thys wherof he can not skille.261 He can neyther fele, or thinke the good wich is in hym. Than, it lyeth not in my power to tell what thinge the loue of god is, syth that i haue no knowledge of the feruentenes therof. He that thinketh to haue all this loue withine his harte, can not truely declare, what thinge it is Hapy is

256. sperkell sparkle. 257. but aske . . . sunne Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, rewords: “if then you should aske the eie what it hath seene, he would saye, that it hath beholden the whole brightnesse of the sunne, although he being dimmed with a little sparkle thereof, coulde not see the brightnesse of the same.” clartie clarity. 258. if . . . able Bale, followed by Cancellar, reworks: “as though he had so moche lyght as the sunne contayneth, yet if he had more than the seyde sparcle, he were not able.” Both insert a marginal reference to Ecclesiasticus 6. Bentley changes “sparkle” to “sparke.” 259. vmpossible impossible. 260. For . . . seghynge Cancellar, incorporating rephrasings by Bale, reworks: “For the little thereof that shee hath felt . . . and yet desiring more, wherof she hath yenough, thus doth she liue, languishinge and syghinge in her selfe.” felthe felt. 261. He . . . . skille Cancellar works to mute the paradoxicality of this sentence by reading “He knoweth not the good.” Bale and he insert a marginal reference to Philippians 1. 322. she A reference to “le Soleil” (the sun 1331), a masculine noun. Perhaps Elizabeth was responding to the feminine noun “estincelle” (sparkle 1331) later in the line. 323. clarity brightness; “clairté” (1336).

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of his light doth blind the eye of a man, and yet doth she322 hide her great light. But ask to the eye what he hath seen: the eye will say that he hath seen the whole clarity323 of the sun, but that is a lie. For he, being blinded with a little sparkle, could not see the whole clarity of the sun; and nevertheless he is so content that, it seemeth unto him, if he had so much light in him as the same sparkle was, that he should not be able to suffer it.324 Even so the soul which, through faith, doth feel one sparkle of the love of God, then doth she find this fire so great and marvelous, so sweet and good, that it is umpossible325 unto her to declare, what thing the same love is. For, a little that she hath felt, doth yield her mind satisfied; and, desiring more of this whereof she hath enough, so doth she live desiring, languishing, and sighing.326 The heart doth feel well that he hath received too much of it, but he hath conceived such desire (in this, too much) that he always desireth to receive the thing which he cannot have, neither is he worthy to receive. He knoweth the good that he hath already to be unspeakable, and yet would he have more of this, whereof he cannot skill.327 He can neither feel or think the good which is in him.328 Then, it lieth not in my power to tell what thing the love of God is, since that I have no knowledge of the ferventness329 thereof. He that thinketh to have all this love within his heart cannot truly declare, what thing it is. Happy is he which hath such abundance, that he may

324. not . . . it Condenses “N’estre puissant pour pouoir endurer / Ceste clairté, qu’il ne poeut mesurer” (Not to be powerful enough to be able to endure / This brightness, which he is unable to measure 1339–40). 325. through . . . umpossible through faith “par façon subtile” (in a subtle manner 1341). marvelous “terrible” (fearful 1343). umpossible impossible. 326. doth yield . . . sighing Elizabeth offers a construal of the paradoxical lines 1346–48: “rend tout son appetit / Si satisfaict, et non moins desirant, / Qu’il est remply; et vit en souspirant” (renders her whole appetite / So satisfied, and not less desiring / Than it is filled: and she lives in sighing). 327. more . . . skill more . . . this “le plus” (the most 1354). he . . . skill he cannot have knowledge of; “ne congnoist rien” (knows nothing 1354). 328. He . . . him Condenses “Sentir ne poeut quel est son bien vraiment, / Et si ne poeut penser son sentement” (He cannot feel what is truly his good, / And yet cannot think what he feels 1355–56). 329. my . . . ferventness my . . . I These are third-person locutions in Marguerite (1357–58), referring back to “coeur” (heart 1349). tell . . . is Expands “Le dire” (The telling 1357). ferventness burning heat, ardor; “feu” (fire 1358).

[1340]

Ecclus. 24.

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actes. 9. and 2. corin. 12.

rom. 11.

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he wich hath suche abundance, that he maye saye: My god i haue inoughe of it. He wiche hath this loue withine hym, dar not of it for feare that in spekinge he shuld let it go, (onles it be for the saluacion of hys neighboure, to edifie hym262 The imposibilite of the declaracion of this loue, than, shall make me to holde my p peace: For there is no sainte so parfaitte if he will speke of the loue of the highe god, of hys goodnes, suittenes, grace and of all the thinges wich perteyneth vnto hym, he shall loking a lowe,263 stoppe hys mouth. I, than, worme of the earth, lesse than nothinge: i ought to cease, and not to speake of the highnes of thys loue. But to muche vnkindnes shuld be in me,264 if i had written nothing hauinge thys done for to satisfie to a better witte than myne is.265 For he that wolde hydde the goodnes of so good a maister, shulde comitte a synne worthy to be punished with the euerlastinge payne. Therfore come: o hapy paule, wich hast tasted so muche of the same switte honny, beynge blinded for the space of thre dayes, and rauished vnto the third heauen. Now i beseche the, satisfie myne ignoraunce, and fautte,266 and tell me what thou hast sene with such an vision. Harke what he sayeth. O vnspekeable hignes of the greate treasure, and riches of the springe of all wisedome, science, and pacience: thy iudgementes are incomprehensibles, and thy wayes are

262. dar not . . . hym dar not dare not speak; the omitted word would have begun a new line of the text. Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, reworks: “dare not moche boaste therof, least in moche speakynge he lose it, vnlesse it be to edifye hys neyghbour vnto salvacyon.” The phrasing is further from Marguerite (1363-66) than is Elizabeth’s original except for the concluding “vnto salvacyon,” rendering “à sa saluation” (1366). Both men insert a marginal reference to James 3. edifie hym Elizabeth omits the close parenthesis. 263. he . . . a lowe Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “but lokyng alowe shall fynde hymselfe vnworthye, and so.” a lowe alow. 264. But . . . me “mais trop d’ingratitude / Seroit en moy” (1376–77). Bale, followed by Cancellar, expands: “Yet were it to muche vnkyndenesse to be noted in me.” 265. hauinge . . . is hauinge . . . witte “Satisfaisant à trop meilleur Esprit” (1378). Bale, followed by Cancellar, rewords: “havynge that done vnto me, whych wolde satisfye a moche better wytte.” The reworking of Elizabeth’s participial clause, an explanatory expansion of Marguerite, draws the sense further from the French, but “moche better” is a more precise rendering of “trop meilleur” (1378). Both Bale and Cancellar insert a marginal reference to Matthew 26. than . . . is Elizabeth’s explanatory addition, omitted by Bale and Cancellar. 266. and fautte “et faulte” (1385). Cancellar omits this phrase. 330. [speak] “parler” (1363); Elizabeth’s accidental omission.

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say: My God, I have enough of it. He which hath this love within him dare not [speak]330 of it for fear that, in speaking, he should let it go: unless it be for the salvation of of his neighbor, to edify him. The impossibility of the declaration of this love,331 then, shall make me to hold my peace. For there is no saint so perfect,332 if he will speak of the love of the high God, of His goodness, sweetness, grace, and of all the things which pertaineth unto Him: he shall, looking alow,333 stop his mouth. I, then, worm of the earth, less than nothing:334 I ought to cease, and not to speak of the highness335 of this love. But too much unkindness should be in me if I had written nothing, having this done for to satisfy to a better wit336 than mine is. For he that would hide the goodness of so good a master, should commit a sin worthy to be punished with the everlasting pain.337 Therefore, come, O happy Paul, which hast tasted so much of the same sweet honey, being blinded for the space of three days, and ravished unto the third heaven. Now, I beseech thee,338 satisfy mine ignorance and fault, and tell me what thou hast seen with such an vision. Hark what he saith: O unspeakable highness of the great treasure and riches, of the spring of all wisdom, science 339 and patience: Thy judgments are incomprehensibles, and Thy ways are

331. of the declaration . . . love Elizabeth’s explanatory addition. 332. perfect Elizabeth omits “ou austere” (or austere 1368). 333. grace . . . alow grace . . . Him Elizabeth condenses and partly reorders lines 1370–71: “de ce qu’il vault / De ses graces, de ce qu’à luy seul touche” (of what His worth is, / Of His graces, of what concerns Him alone). alow downward (antonym: “aloft”). 334. worm . . . nothing Elizabeth excises the second half of a rhetorical series: “Chienne morte, pourriture de fiens” (A dead bitch, a putrefaction of manure 1374). The launching point of the series is David’s self-disparagement in Psalm 22:6, “I am a worm, and no man.” 335. highness “altitude” (height 1375). 336. having . . . wit having . . . done having done this writing. a . . . wit “trop meilleur esprit” (a much better wit 1378). Marguerite’s authorial self-excusings adapt nicely to Elizabeth’s translating of the poem as a gift for Queen Katherine Parr. 337. sin . . . pain pain punishment. Elizabeth tones down lines 1380–81, “C’est vng crime, qui asséz ne poeut estre / A droict puny sans l’eternel lîcol” (This is a crime which could not be sufficiently / Rightly punished, without the eternal halter). 338. Now . . . thee Elizabeth’s addition. 339. riches . . . science riches “Divine richesse” (divine richness 1388). science “science du DIEV” (knowledge of God 1390).

[1370]

[1380] Acts 9 and 2 Cor. 12.

Rom. 11.

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1. Cor. 2.

i. ihon. 4.

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vnsercheables vnto all our wittes.267 O good sainte paule: thy wordes causeth vs to meruayle, that, thou hauinge knowledge of such268 secretes, wolde speake no further of it. But yet, tell vs what th thinge we truste to haue one daye through suche loue. Harke, and pounder the wordes wich he sayeth.269 There was neuer no man that did se, nor eares coulde comprehende, thys that god hath prepared for hys good frendes.270 Wolde he speake any further No: yet all thys that he sayeth, is for no thinge els, but to prouoke vs, to loue, and to estime thys that he can neither declare, or name,271 and to drawe our hartes, loue, and hope to desyre thys wich, no man also can neyther fe fele, or thinke what it is, and yet causeth many men to dye for hys loue.272 O the right great gifte of fayth, whens so muche good cometh, that he causeth one to possede the thinge wich he can not comprehende: Fayth ioyned with truth273 bringeth forth hope, wherby parfaitte charitie is engendred: and charitie is god, as thou knowest. Therfore, if we haue charitie, we haue god also. Than is god in vs, and all we are in hym, and he in all men.274 If we haue hym throughe fayth, than

267. O . . . wittes Bale, followed by Cancellar, reworks this quotation of Romans 11:33 into closer conformity with the phrasing of the Great Bible: “O the vnspekeable hyghnes of the abundaunt ryches or treasure both of the wysdome and knowledge of God. How incomprehensyble are hys iudgementes, and how vnsercheable hys wayes vnto our weake wyttes.” 268. such “tel” (1396). Bale, followed by Cancellar, reads “so heavenly.” 269. suche loue . . . sayeth Cancellar rewords: “suche loue, as grace hath wrought in me: and I will giue eare vnto thy wordes.” pounder ponder. 270. There . . . frendes Bale, followed by Cancellar, reworks the quotation of Isaiah 64:4 in 1 Corinthians 2:9, to bring the wording closer to that of the Great Bible: “Neyther hath the eye seane, nor yet the eare hearde, neyther yet hath it euer entred into the harte of anye man, what god hath prepared for them that loue hym.” Bale also inserts a marginal reference to Isaiah 64, after the reference to 1 Corinthians 2. 271. Wolde . . . name Bale fills out Elizabeth’s wording, substituting “non other purpose” for “no thinge els,” adding “truly” after “no,” and “He wylleth vs also therein” before “to estime.” Cancellar reworks the passage: “O blessed Paule, all thys yet that thou hast sayde, is . . . to prouoke me earnestly to loue: willing me by thy words, to think that thou canst none otherwise declare of it.” 272. to drawe . . . loue Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, reworks: “to geue forth our harts to pacyence, and hope of that thynge whych neuer man yet coulde se, neyther yet dyscerne, what though many through loue for it hath dyed.” Both insert a marginal reference to Romans 8. 273. truth Elizabeth’s insertion as a correction in the right margin. 274. Than . . . men Bale, followed by Cancellar, expands: “Then is god in vs, and we are in hym. And all thys cometh through the benefyte of faythe. For he dwelleth in all men whych haue true faythe.”

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unsearchables340 unto all our wits. O good Saint Paul, thy words causeth us to marvel that thou, having knowledge of such secrets, would speak no further of it. But, yet, tell us what thing we trust to have one day through such love. Hark, and ponder341 the words which he saith: There was never no man that did see, nor ears could comprehend,342 this that God hath prepared for His good friends. Would he speak any further? No. Yet all this that he saith, is for nothing else but to provoke us to love and to esteem this, that he can neither declare or name; and to draw our hearts, love, and hope to desire this, which no man also can neither feel or think what it is, and yet causeth many men to die for His love.343 O the right great gift of faith, whence so much good cometh, that he causeth one to possede the thing which he cannot comprehend.344 Faith joined with truth bringeth forth hope,345 whereby perfect charity is engendered; and charity is God, as thou knowest.347 Therefore if we have charity, we have God also. Then is God in us, and all we are in Him, and He in all men.348 If we have Him through faith, then have we a greater treasure than

340. incomprehensibles . . . unsearchables Elizabeth retains the plural endings of the adjectives “incomprehensibles” and “inuestigables” (1391, 1393), but she may have intended English abstract nouns like Marguerite’s “possibles” in the next line (1392). Thy ways Elizabeth does not translate “selon tous noz possibles” (according to all our capabilities 1392). 341. and ponder Elizabeth’s addition. 342. no man . . . comprehend no man Condenses “nul oeil d’homme mortel” (no eye of mortal man). comprehend Elizabeth omits “Ne dans le cueur, tant soit il bon, descendre” (Nor would it descend into the heart, as good as the heart might be 1402). 343. desire . . . love Condenses and partly recasts lines 1410–12: “A desyrer, ce qui ne se poeut veoir. / Que dy’ie veoir? mais penser, ny sentir: / Qui rend content de mourir vng martyr” (To desire that which cannot be seen. / What do I say, see? Rather, neither think nor feel: / Which makes a martyr content to die). 344. he causeth . . . comprehend he A reference to “don” (gift 1413), a masculine noun. possede possess; “posseder” (1414). comprehend “tient” (grasp 1414); see n318 to line 1322. 345. Faith . . . hope “Foy donne espoir par seure Verité” (Faith gives hope by means of certain truth 1415). truth Elizabeth’s insertion in the right margin. 346. 1 John 4. Verse 16: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 347. charity . . . knowest charity . . . engendered An allusion to 1 Corinthians 13. thou knowest “sçavons” (we know 1417). 348. Then . . . men Condenses “Il est en nous, et trestous en luy sommes. / Tous sont en luy, et luy en tous les hommes” (He is in us, and all of us entirely are in Him. / All are in Him, and He in all men 1419–20).

[1400] 1 Cor. 2.

[1410]

1 John 4.346

[1420]

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haue we a greater treasure, than any man can tell. Now to conclude: Syth that so greate an apostell as saynte paule is, willeth to speke no further of god and of hys loue: Accordinge to the exemple of hys rightwise teachinges, i will holde my peace. But folowing hys worde,275 howbeit that i knowledge myselfe to be but meere,276 and duste: yet may i not fayle to giue graces, and thankes, vnto god, of all the goodes,277 and benefyttes vndeserued, wich pleaseth hym to geue me. Vnto the kinge of heauen, immortall, inuisible, our mighty god onely, and incomprehensible,278 be all honnoure, prayse, glory, and loue, for euer. 275. Accordinge . . . worde Elizabeth’s sentence units closely reproduce Marguerite’s. Bale, largely followed by Cancellar, rewords: “Accordynge to hys ryghtouse exemple and doctryne, I wyll holde my peace and be stylle, folowyng neuerthelesse hys teachynges.” rightwise righteous. 276. meere mire; “fange” (mire, mud 1427). Bale and Cancellar read “earth.” 277. god . . . goodes Bale, followed by Cancellar, expands to “my eterrnall lyuynge God, for suche great graces.” 278. Vnto . . . incomprehensible Bale, followed by Cancellar, recasts this quotation of 1 Timothy 1:17 to conform more closely with the text of the Great Bible: “vnto that euerlastynge kynge of heauen immortall, inuysyble, incomprehensyble, myghty and wyse, only be all honoure, prayse, glorye, magnyfycence, and loue, for euer and euer. Amen.”

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any man can tell.349 Now, to conclude: since that so great an apostle as Saint Paul is, willeth to speak no further of God and of His love,350 according to the example of his righteous teachings, I will hold my peace. But, following his word, howbeit that I knowledge myself to be but mire and muck, yet may I not fail to give graces and thanks unto God, of all the goods and benefits undeserved, which pleaseth Him to give me.351 Unto the King of heaven, immortal, invisible, our mighty God, only and incomprehensible, be all honor, praise, glory and love, forever.352

349. then . . . tell “tel est l’auoir, / Que le dire n’est en nostre pouoir” (such is the possession, / That to tell it is not within our power 1421–22). 350. of God . . . love Elizabeth’s addition. 351. me Elizabeth omits the personalizing addition, “moy sa MARGVERITE” (1430), thus allowing the translator to be taken for the speaker, instead of the author. 352. forever A pithy rendering of the poem’s final line, which echoes the Biblical and liturgical phrase “saecula saeculorum”: “Par les siecles des siecles sans seiour” (Forever and ever without end 1434).

[1430] 1 Tim. 1.

FIGURE 2 Elizabeth’s title page of her French translation of Queen Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations (1545). Photograph © British Library Board. All rights reserved. MS Royal 7.D.X, fol. 39r.

Elizabeth set herself a tall order in 1545. She decided to produce two gift books for New Year’s in 1546, composed of her own translations in her own handwriting—one for her father, King Henry VIII, and one for her stepmother, Queen Katherine Parr. As her source text for Henry’s gift she chose the second edition of Queen Katherine’s Prayers or Meditations . . . collected out of holy works, published in the same year, undoubtedly with the king’s permission.1 The choice was superbly appropriate, as was the decision to translate Prayers or Meditations into Latin and French, Henry’s two principal foreign languages, and into Italian, one of Queen Katherine’s languages.2 Although Elizabeth displays no 1. Thomas Berthelet, the king’s printer, published two nearly identical editions of Prayers or Meditations with colophons bearing the same date of June 2, 1545: the first (STC 4818), and the second (STC 4818.5). The two editions differ throughout in accidentals: foliation and textual layout, spelling and punctuation. The major substantive difference between the first edition and the second edition is their respective wording of the title, which in the first edition reads Prayers stirryng the mynd vnto heauenlye medytacions collected oute of holy workes by the mooste vertuous and gracious princesse Katherine quene of Englande, Fraunce, and Irelande, and in the second PRAYERS OR MEditacions, wherin the mynde is styred paciently to suffre all afflictions here, to sette at nought the vayne prosperitie of this worlde, and alway to longe for the euerlastyng felicitie: collected out of certain holy workes by the moste vertuous and gracious princes Catharine, Quene of Englande, France, and Irelande. Elizabeth’s source was the second edition, as demonstrated by her close rendering of its title at the beginning of each of her translations of the text into Latin, French, and Italian. 2. Elizabeth’s earliest extant letter, dated July 31, 1544, was written in Italian to Queen Katherine (CW, 5–6). This would appear to be stronger evidence than the mere fact of

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knowledge of Parr’s own source, the Prayers or Meditations was “collected out of ” one, not several, “holy works”: the third book of Thomas à Kempis’s De imitatione Christi in the English translation published by Richard Whitford, a Brigettine monk of Syon Abbey, under the title The Following of Christ (London, c. 1531).3 In her Prayers or Meditations, a sixty-page distillation of 177 pages in her source, Parr recasts the masterpiece of late medieval Catholic spirituality in northern Europe as an identifiably Reformed book of private devotion for the literate laity of the late Henrician Church of England. This transformative intertextual appropriation constitutes a genuine claim to the authorship with which the title page credits her. Dismantling the monastic framework of the original Imitatio and its terms of reference, Parr does away with dialogue between a gender-marked pair of intimates who are identified as “Jesu,” “lorde,” “syr,” or “sire,” on the one hand, and invariably as “my sone,” on the other. Eliminating this dialogue also dispenses with a dynamic in which the monk of Thomas’s text is brought, by instruction and exhortation, through stages of moral and spiritual proficiency to mystical rapture in a relation of ever-closer male bonding. Parr replaces dialogue with monologue—the “I,” “me,” and “my” of a soul whose psychology is delineated only in terms of the faculties of heart, mind, and will. From the densely scriptural weave of the original Imitatio, in which the Psalms loom large, she consistently selects lyric and affective verses couched in the first person, or restyles them in this form. As a result, her abridgment of Whitford’s English version centers on a generic, degendered human speaker who yields self to God in total dependency and in utterances drawn from God’s own Word. Parr’s speaker reflects emphases in early Tudor Protestantism, especially the assumption of the spiritual equality of all persons before God and the attendant conviction that the Word of God has selfevident meaning for all. Disengaging from explicitly masculine norms to present a fresh universalizing of the Christian gospel is the chief design and effect of Parr’s Prayers or Meditations. Parr’s owning an Italian edition of Petrarch, which has grounded the claim of her knowledge of Italian made by several scholars, e.g., Susan E. James, Kateryn Parr: The Making of a Queen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1999), 34. 3. The identification of Parr’s source is due to C. Fenno Hoffman Jr., “Catherine Parr as a Woman of Letters,” Huntington Library Quarterly 23 (1959): 354. On Parr’s handling of her source, see Janel Mueller, “Devotion as Difference: Intertextuality in Queen Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations,” Huntington Library Quarterly 53 (1990): 175–78.

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Even if she had wished to do so, linguistic constraints would not have permitted Elizabeth to replicate the degendering dynamic of Parr’s English text in her trilingual translation. Gender declensions in Latin, French, and Italian required a choice to be made between masculine or feminine at many junctures that could remain unspecific in English. Choosing what was conventionally considered the grammatically “unmarked” and more inclusive gender, Elizabeth treats the first-person speaker as masculine. Only a few references to the speaker’s soul—the grammatically feminine Latin and Italian “anima” and French “âme”— qualify this speaker’s consistent masculinity. In opting for the masculine gender, Elizabeth not only distances her generic Christian speaker from herself but also heightens the appropriateness of the work as a gift for her father, who could implicitly be invited to identify with a speaker, now marked as male, who addresses a monologue to God in the first 183 versicles, the brief prose units of which the work is mainly composed. Parr concludes the first and second editions of her Prayers or Meditations with two longer prayers of her own composition—the first for the spiritual and physical well-being of Henry VIII, the second for English soldiers to say before a battle, which is the only prayer in the text that is marked for male utterance. Elizabeth ends each of her translations with these two prayers. They provide a final focus well suited to her paternal recipient, first by praying for Henry VIII in his kingly office and then by asking God to crown with success the military exploits that were the proving ground of Henry’s manly virtue during his expedition against the French in the summer and fall of 1544. Separately translating Parr’s Prayers or Meditations into French, Latin, and Italian, Elizabeth explores and reexplores the original three times over, highlighting, expanding, compressing, or omitting different elements in her source. For the most part her Latin translation adheres closely to the structure and sense of Parr’s versicles. Elizabeth conforms to classical Latin syntax and to classical or Vulgate diction, only occasionally using post-Vulgate locutions. Outright echoes of the Vulgate are frequent. Her spelling displays postclassical features that persisted in sixteenth-century humanist Latin: for example, e in place of ae or oe, which yields “sepe” for “saepe.” Even by the variable standards of much scribal and printed Latin of the time, Elizabeth’s use of diacritical marks is erratic: for example, “sepe,” “sepè,” and “sepé” are interchangeable forms. At certain points she adds rhetorical heightening: Parr’s “deceive me” becomes “excecare animum meum” (blind my

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soul); “favorable” becomes “amantissimum, et benignissimum” (most loving and benign). Yet as in her other early translations, Elizabeth’s condensations decisively outnumber any such expansions. In producing this Latin text she trims pleonastic doublets, lists, and intensifying adjectives and adverbs; she also excises ejaculatory addresses to God and descriptive elaborations, especially at the ends of versicles. In its overall approach, Elizabeth’s Italian version resembles her Latin version. Unfortunately it is not known who gave Elizabeth her impressive yet peculiar grounding in the Italian language before Battista Castiglione became her tutor. Even by the labile standards of the day, her spelling of Italian (like her spelling of English) is idiosyncratic and inconsistent, especially with regard to the doubling of consonants. So too is her use of Italian accent marks, which often obscure rather than clarify her sense. Yet Elizabeth’s grammar and diction are comparatively assured. Italian humanists advocated the use of Latinate forms for classical elegance and solemnity, and her employment of such forms—e.g., “et” for “e” / “ed,” “havere” for “avere,” “amor” for “amore,” “gratia” for “grazia,” “motioni” for “mozioni,” and “patientia” for “pazienza”—attests her humanist aspiration to an elevated style as well as her reliance on her training in Latin. Although her Italian version has Latinate features, it stands in a wholly independent relation to her Latin translation of Parr’s text. One point of unusual freedom in both translations demonstrates how far Elizabeth’s Latin and Italian can diverge. The title of Prayers or Meditations describes Parr as “most vertuous and graciouse.” In translating this title into Latin, Elizabeth renders the phrase as “nobilissimam et pientissimam” (most noble / illustrious and most pious). Besides its modern senses, “vertuous” was a standard appellation of courtesy for ladies of eminence; thus “nobilissimum” focuses the status implications of “most vertuous.” While “graciouse” has a range of early modern senses from ‘godly, pious’ to ‘kindly, benevolent, courteous,’ “pientissimam” emphasizes the religious connotations that befit the author of a book of prayers. In translating the English title into Italian, by contrast, Elizabeth renders the phrase as “valorossima [i.e., valorosissima] et humanissima” (most valorous and most humane). Rather unexpectedly, the first adjective activates another obsolete sense of “vertuous”— that is, ‘full of courage, valorous’—thus crediting Parr with an attribute typically ascribed to men. Elizabeth’s second adjective, “humanissima,” is a Latinism that brings the classical and secular associations of En-

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glish “graciouse” to the fore. “Humanissimus” is one of Cicero’s terms of praise, used to connote the virtues that define a civilized person, such as ‘most humane, kind, considerate’ or ‘most refined, cultured.’ 4 Elizabeth’s Italian rendering of this title phrase thus salutes Parr as a paradigm of androgynous virtue who combines cultivated refinement with a valor not inferior to that of the battlefield combatants for whom she prays. With this small but telling touch, Elizabeth recalls, in her fashion, the degendering implications of Parr’s text. The differently inflected renderings of the phrase characterizing Parr in the English title seem further to imply that any one translation of Prayers or Meditations affords only partial access to the spirituality of the work, and that a reading of all three translations will provide the fullest impression of its exemplary author’s achievements. Penslips and other errors in the Italian and French translations betray signs of haste, suggesting that the precocious, enterprising princess felt the pressures of time in preparing her personalized New Year’s gift. Despite what appear to be several inadvertent deviations from Parr’s sense, Elizabeth’s French translation is also the most confidently free and idiomatic. Perhaps this is to be explained by her close engagement with Marguerite de Navarre’s Miroir in 1544 and by her simultaneous engagement in 1545 with her English translation of John Calvin’s French text as a gift for Queen Katherine. Although her French, like her Italian, is characterized by idiosyncratic and inconsistent spellings and diacritical marks, Elizabeth’s own voice becomes pronounced in the French, as she inserts doublets and images of her own. In versicle 54, where Parr’s speaker prays to God for an “open . . . herte” to “beholde” His commandments, Elizabeth expands the implicit image, asking God to open “loeil de mon cuer” (the eye of my heart). Elizabeth’s figure echoes Paul’s ὀϕθαλμοὺϚ τῆϚ καρδίας / “oculos cordis” (Vulgate; eyes of the heart) in Ephesians 1:18, imaging the Christian heart rendered capable of beholding divine truth through God’s grace. In versicle 68, the devil’s “manyfolde craftes,” rendered respectively as “variis astutijs” and “infinite fraude” in the Latin and Italian, becomes the devil’s “cauteleuses et fraudes vulpines” (guileful and foxlike deceits).

4. See, for example, Cicero’s In Verrem 2.4.98; Epistulae ad Atticum 7.7.7; De finibus 2.28.93.

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In versicle 86 of the French version, Elizabeth similarly translates freely, rooting her vocabulary in biblical typology. Parr bewails “myne olde man,” that is, her “carnal affections,” alluding to the “old man” of the sinful self described in Romans 6:6. Elizabeth translates the phrase literally in Latin and Italian as “vetus meus homo” (recalling the Vulgate’s “vetus homo”) and “il mio vecchio huomo,” but in French she renders the phrase as “mon premier pére” (with an idiosyncratic acute accent). As in her phrase “mine old father” used in translating line 324 of Marguerite’s Miroir, Elizabeth identifies Paul’s “old man” of sinful desires with Adam, the “one man” who brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12), and whom Christians identified with the sinning “pater . . . primus” of the Vulgate or “first father” of the Great Bible, evoked in Isaiah 43:27. By undertaking a triple demonstration of her linguistic capacities for her imperious earthly father, the twelve-year-old princess Elizabeth made a bid for the attention of her nearest relations, the king and queen, on something like equal, adult terms. Yet this bid for recognition seems even more to be animated by the conviction, shared with and probably influenced by Queen Katherine, that all Christian souls are of equal importance before God. This is the primary implication of the affective, steeped-in-Scripture devotionalism of the Imitation of Christ as filtered through Parr’s English adaptation and sustained in Elizabeth’s trilingual translation. Professing both lowly reverence and heavenward aspiration, Elizabeth pursued her project of diffusing the spiritual energies of Prayers or Meditations into three additional languages, thus offering her counterpart to Parr’s precedent in universalizing the Christian message. The effects, it may seem, are less evocative of New Year’s Day than of Pentecost, and an apostolic speaking in tongues.

Princess Elizabeth’s Latin, French, and Italian translations of Queen Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations, December 30, 15451 Editors’ translation of Elizabeth’s dedicatory letter in Latin to Henry VIII 2

To the most illustrious and most mighty King, Henry the Eighth, King of England, France, and Scotland, Defender of the Faith, and second to Christ, Supreme Head of the English and Irish Church, Elizabeth, His Majesty’s most humble daughter, wishes all happiness, and begs his blessing on her knees.3 As an immortal soul is superior to a mortal body, so whoever is wise judges the soul’s deeds4 to be esteemed of more value and worthy of

1. Source: British Library, MS. Royal 7.D.X, fols. 1r–117v; in Elizabeth’s girlish italic, on parchment, pages measuring 4 by 6 inches, with ruled margins and lines for inscribing the text. As indicated by her Latin, French, and Italian titles, which translate the English title of the second edition of June 2, 1545, Elizabeth’s source was PRAYERS OR MEditacions, wherin the mynde is styred paciently to suffre all afflictions here, to sette at nought the vayne prosperitie of this worlde, and alway to longe for the euerlastyng felicitie: collected out of certain holy woorkes by the moste vertuous and gracious princes Catharine, Quene of Englande, France, and Irelande (London, 1545; STC 4818.5). For an annotated text, see Queen Katherine Parr: Complete Works and Correspondence, ed. Janel Mueller (in preparation). 2. Editors’ . . . Henry VIII This text incorporates revisions to letter 3 in CW, 9–10. 3. blessing . . . knees In sixteenth-century England children knelt to receive their parents’ blessing; see Lawrence Stone, The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500–1800 (New York: Harper and Row, 1979), 122. 4. deeds “res gestas.” In imitation of classical usage (e.g., Sallust’s De bello Catilinae 3.2), by the sixteenth century “res gestae” had become the standard term for the deeds and

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greater praise than any action of the body. And thus, as your majesty is of such excellence that none or few are to be compared with you in royal and ample marks of honor, and I am bound unto you as lord by the law of the kingdom, and as lord by the law of nature, and as my father by divine law, so that, as greatest lord and as matchless and most benevolent father, both by all laws and by various services and in manifold ways, I am bound unto you. Gladly I sought, which it was my duty to do, by what means I might offer to your greatness the most outstanding tribute that both my capacity and my diligence could discover. In the which I only fear lest slight and unfinished studies and childish immaturity of mind diminish the praise and the commendation of that topic which fully developed talents examine in detail in most divine subject matter. For nothing ought to be more acceptable to a king, whom philosophers regard as a god on earth,5 than this labor of the soul, which raises us up to heaven, and on earth makes us heavenly and divine in the flesh: and while we may be enveloped by continual and infinite miseries, even then it renders us blessed and happy. Which work, since it is pious, and by the pious exertion and great diligence of a most illustrious queen has been assembled in English, and on that account may be more desired by all, and held in greater value by your majesty: it was thought by me a most suitable thing that this work, which is most worthy because it was indeed an assemblage by a queen as subject matter for her king, be translated into other languages by me, your daughter, who by this means would be indebted to you not only as an imitator of your virtues but also as an inheritor of them. In the work, whatever is not mine is worthy of the greatest praise, as the whole book is both pious in its subject matter, and ingeniously assembled, and arranged in the most appropriate order. Yet what is mine, if there is any mistake in it, nevertheless merits indulgence on account of ignorance, youth, short time of study, and intent: and if it is mediocre, even if it is worthy of no praise at all, nevertheless if it is well received, it will incite me eagerly so that, as much as I grow in years, so much achievements that were the subject matter of history-writing, a genre of major importance in the Renaissance. Elizabeth implies that the soul, too, has its memorable achievements. 5. god . . . earth Ranking intellectuals across the English religious spectrum had argued for Henry’s godlike sovereignty, to which subjects owed an unconditional obedience— among them, William Tyndale in The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528) and Stephen Gardiner in De Vera Obedientia (1535).

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will I grow in knowledge and the fear of God, and so it will be that I will worship Him more religiously and honor your majesty more dutifully. As I do not doubt, indeed, that your fatherly goodness and royal prudence will esteem this inward labor of my soul not less than any other mark of honor, and will judge that this divine work, which is to be esteemed of more value because it has been assembled by the most serene queen, your spouse, ought to be held in slightly greater regard because it has been translated by your daughter. May He who is King of Kings, in whose hand are the hearts of kings, so govern your soul and protect your life, that in true piety and religion we may long live under your majesty’s dominion. Elizabeth’s Latin title page and dedicatory letter in Latin to Henry VIII

PRECATIONES, SEV meditationes quibus mens commouetur ad omnes perturbationes huius vitae patienter ferendas, ad vanam prosperitatem huius mundi contemnendam, et ad eternam foelicitatem adsidué expetendam. Ex quibusdam pijs scriptoribus per Nobilissimam et Pientissimam6 Dominam Catharinam Angliae, Franciae, Hiberniaeque Reginam collectae: et per Dominam Elizabetam ex anglico conuersae. / ILLVSTRISSIMO, AC potentissimo Regi, Henrico octa uo, Angliae Franciae Hiberniaeque regi, fidei defensori, et secundum 6. Nobilissimam et Pientissimam most noble / illustrious and most pious. Queen Katherine (hereafter, KP—as she styled her signature with her initials while queen) reads “most vertuous and gracious.” “Vertuous” has its modern sense and an obsolete implication of rank as a courtesy appellation for ladies of eminence. “Nobilissimam” highlights the latter implication. “Gracious” has a range of early modern senses, from ‘godly, pious’ to ‘kindly, benevolent, courteous.’ “Pientissimam” foregrounds the religious connotation. Elizabeth’s three translations capture different resonances of these adjectives.

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christum, ecclesiae anglicanae et hi bernicae supremo capiti. Elizabeta Maiestatis Suis humillima filia, omnem foelicitatem precatur, et benedic tionem suam suplex petit. Quemadmodum immortalis animus, immortali corpore praestat, ita sapiens quisque iudicat animi res gestas pluris aestimandas, et maiori laude dignas esse, vlla corporis actione. Cum itaque maiestas tua7 tantae excellentiae sit, vt nulli, aut pauci tecum sint comparandi, in regijs, et amplis ornamentis. et ego obstricta sum tibi, lege regni vt domino, lege naturae vt domino, et patri meo lege diuina, vt amplissimo domino, et singulari, ac benignissimo patri, et omnibus legibus et officijs, varijs ac pluribus modis obstricta sim maiestati tuae: libenter querebam (id quod officium meum fuit) quo pacto amplitudini tuae prestantissimum munus offerrem, quod tum facultas, tum industria mea inuenire possent. In quo solum vereor, ne tenera, et inchoata studia, et puerilis ingenij immaturitas,8 minuant illius rei laudem, et commendationem, quam perfecta ingenia. in argumento diuinissimo pertractarunt. Nam nihil acceptius esse debet regi, quem philosophi deum in terris esse sentiunt, qûum illud opus animi, quod nos in coelum tollit, et in terra coelestes, atque in carne diuinos facit: et quum perpetuis ac infinitis miserijs implicati simus, tunc etiam beatos nos, et foelices reddit. Quod quum tam pium sit, et pio studio atque magna industria Reginae illustrissimae fuerit anglicè collectum,9 et propterea ab omnibus magis expetendum, et a maiestate tua in maiori precio habendum sit: accommodatissimum mihi visum est, vt hoc, quod argu7. maiestas tua Having begun her letter with a formal salutation in the third person singular (“His Majesty’s most humble daughter”), Elizabeth shifts to direct address in the second person singular. Since she combines this shift with ongoing use of honorific references to “tua maiestas” (your majesty), her style remains ceremonious throughout. 8. immaturitas Elizabeth first wrote “maturitas” and later squeezed in a barred i, an abbreviation for “im-,” at the beginning of the word. 9. Quod . . . collectum Elizabeth’s knowledge of Queen Katherine’s source is evidently restricted to the generalities of the work’s title. She seems unaware that, except for the longer concluding prayers, Prayers or Meditations consists of reworded and rearranged excerpts from book 3 of Thomas à Kempis’s De imitatione Christi in Richard Whitford’s English translation.

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mento suo rege, collectione vero regina dignissimum est, a me filia tua in alias linguas conuerteretur: quae non modo virtutum tuarum imitatrix, sed illarum etiam haeres esse debeam. In quo quicquid meum non est, amplissima laude dignum est, quemadmodum totus liber est tum argumento pius, tum ingeniose collectus, et aptissimo ordine dispositus. Quicquid vero meum est, si in eo aliquis error insit, tamenpropter10 ignorationem, aetatem, breue tempus studij, et voluntatem, veniam meretur: et si mediocre sit, etiam si nullam laudem mereatur, tamen si bene accipiatur, me vehementer excitabit vt quantum annis cresco, tantum etiam scientia, et dei timore11 crescam, itaque fiet vt illum religiosius colam, et maiestatem tuam officiosius obseruem. Quamobrem non dubito, quin paterna tua bonitas, et regia prudentia, hunc internum animi mei laborem non minoris aestimabit, quam aliud vllum ornamentum, et sentiet diuinum hoc opus, quod est pluris aestimandum, quia à serenissima regina coniuge tua, colligebatur, paulo in maiori precio habendum esse, quia abs filia tua conuertebatur. Ille rex regum, in cuius manu corda regum sunt, ita gubernet animum tuum, et vitam tueatur, vt in vera pietate, ac religione diu sub maiestatis tuae imperio diu viuamus Harfordiae 30 die decembris 1545

Elizabeth’s Latin translation of Prayers or Meditations Epigraph written to face the opening page of this section

Itaque si surrexistis vnà cum Christo, superna quaerite: vbi Christus ad dexteram dei sedet: Superna curate, non terrestria. Colloss. 312 113 BENIGNISSIME domine iesu, largire mihi gratiam tuam, vt et semper operetur in me perseueret mecum vsque in finem.

10. tamenpropter tamen propter. Elizabeth first wrote “tam propter” and later squeezed a barred ē into the space between the two words. 11. dei timore The Hebraism “fear of God” often appears in the Old Testament, where it connotes reverential awe. Elizabeth appears to regard Henry VIII quite similarly. 12. Itaque . . . 3 This epigraph slightly modifies the Vulgate wording of Colossians 3:1–2. 13. 1 The numbering of versicles is not found in KP’s text; it is due to Elizabeth. Her interest in this particular convention—presumably applied here to faciliate comparison among her three versions—is precocious. Although early sixteenth-century French edi-

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mento suo rege, collectione vero regina dignissimum est, a me filia tua in alias linguas conuerteretur: quae non modo virtutum tuarum imitatrix, sed illarum etiam haeres esse debeam. In quo quicquid meum non est, amplissima laude dignum est, quemadmodum totus liber est tum argumento pius, tum ingeniose collectus, et aptissimo ordine dispositus. Quicquid vero meum est, si in eo aliquis error insit, tamenpropter10 ignorationem, aetatem, breue tempus studij, et voluntatem, veniam meretur: et si mediocre sit, etiam si nullam laudem mereatur, tamen si bene accipiatur, me vehementer excitabit vt quantum annis cresco, tantum etiam scientia, et dei timore11 crescam, itaque fiet vt illum religiosius colam, et maiestatem tuam officiosius obseruem. Quamobrem non dubito, quin paterna tua bonitas, et regia prudentia, hunc internum animi mei laborem non minoris aestimabit, quam aliud vllum ornamentum, et sentiet diuinum hoc opus, quod est pluris aestimandum, quia à serenissima regina coniuge tua, colligebatur, paulo in maiori precio habendum esse, quia abs filia tua conuertebatur. Ille rex regum, in cuius manu corda regum sunt, ita gubernet animum tuum, et vitam tueatur, vt in vera pietate, ac religione diu sub maiestatis tuae imperio diu viuamus Harfordiae 30 die decembris 1545

Elizabeth’s Latin translation of Prayers or Meditations Epigraph written to face the opening page of this section

Itaque si surrexistis vnà cum Christo, superna quaerite: vbi Christus ad dexteram dei sedet: Superna curate, non terrestria. Colloss. 312 113 BENIGNISSIME domine iesu, largire mihi gratiam tuam, vt et semper operetur in me perseueret mecum vsque in finem.

10. tamenpropter tamen propter. Elizabeth first wrote “tam propter” and later squeezed a barred ē into the space between the two words. 11. dei timore The Hebraism “fear of God” often appears in the Old Testament, where it connotes reverential awe. Elizabeth appears to regard Henry VIII quite similarly. 12. Itaque . . . 3 This epigraph slightly modifies the Vulgate wording of Colossians 3:1–2. 13. 1 The numbering of versicles is not found in KP’s text; it is due to Elizabeth. Her interest in this particular convention—presumably applied here to faciliate comparison among her three versions—is precocious. Although early sixteenth-century French edi-

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2 Concede mihi vt semper cupiam, et velim id quod est gratissimum, et acceptissimum tibi. 3 Tua voluntas sit mea voluntas, et mea voluntas sit semper sequi voluntatem tuam. 4 Sit semper in me voluntas eadem, et idem desiderium tecum: nec habeam vllum desiderium, velle, aut nolle, sed quemadmodum tibi placuerit. 5 Domine tu nosti quid est vtilissimum, et maxime consentaneum mihi. 6 Fac mecum quodcumque volueris quomodo tibi placuerit, et sicuti honori tuo maximé congruum erit 7 Da igitur quicquid volueris, quantum volueris, et quando tibi visum fuerit.14 8 Pone me ubi volueris, et libere mecum agas in omnibus iuxta voluntatem tuam. 9 Ego sum creatura tua et in manibus tuis: duc, et reduc15 me quocumque volueris. 10 Ecce ego sum seruus tuus16 paratus ad faciendum omnia quae precipis Nam cupio viuere, non mihi ipsi, sed tibi 11 Domine iesu, rogo te largire mihi gratiam, vt nunquam figam cor meum super res huius mundi. sed vt omnes mundam, et carnales appetitus possint mori, et interire17 in me 12 Largire mihi super omnia vt possim quiescere in te, et plené requiescere, et placare cor meum in te 13 Nam tu, domine, es vera pax cordis, et perfecta quies animae et sine te omnia sunt molesta18 14 Domine iesu mi, oro te sis mecum omni loco, et omni tempore et

tions of the Psalms and the complete Bible do number individual versicles, the Geneva Bible (1560) was the first in English to utilize such numbering. 14. quando . . . fuerit when it shall seem proper to Thee; “whan thou wilte” (KP). Elizabeth varies the final verb; KP repeats “wilte” three times. Here and in the French and Italian translations, versicles 6 and 7 reverse the order in KP’s English original. 15. reduc lead back; “turne” (KP). 16. ego . . . tuus Elizabeth consistently genders the speaker of this text masculine; see our introduction, p. 131. 17. mori . . . interire die and perish; “utterly dye and be mortified” (KP). 18. vera . . . molesta vera pax true peace. “veraie true peace” (KP); “veraie” means both ‘truly, really’ and ‘very.’ molesta troublesome, grievous; “greuous and unquiete” (KP).

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sit mihi precipuum solatium libenter propter amorem tuum carere omni mundano solatio. 15 Et si tu subtraxeris consolationem tuam de me vllo tempore, custodi me de desperatione: et fac me pacienter expectare voluntatem tuam19 16 Domine iesu, iudicia tua recta sunt, et prouidentia tua melior20 est mihi, quam omnia quae possum excogitare, aut inuenire. 17 Ideo fac mecum in omnibus quomodo tibi visum fuerit.21 non potest enim non esse bene quicquid tu facis. 18 Si velis me esse in luce, sis benedictus: si velis me esse in tenebris, esto etiam benedictus 19 Si digneris solari me, sis maxime benedictus: si velis me viuere in tribulatione, et sine solatio, sis pariter benedictus.22 20 Domine da mihi gratiam libenter pati quaecumque velis cadere in me, et patienter accipere abs manu tua, prospera, et aduersa: amara, et dulcia: gaudium, et dolorem; et pro omnibus quae accederint mihi ex animo tibi gratias agere. 21 Custodi me domine a peccato, et tunc necque mortem, necque infernum timebo. 22 O quantas gratias debeo ego agere tibi, qui passus es diram mortem in cruce, vt liberes me a peccatis meis et impetres mihi vitam aeternam. 23 Tu dedisti nobis perfectissimum exemplum patientiae, implendo et obediendo voluntati patris tui usque ad mortem 24 Fac me miserum peccatorem obedienter gerere me secundum voluntatem tuam in omnibus: et patienter ferre onus huius corupibilis23 vitae. 25 Nam et si haec vita molesta sit, et instar grauis sarcinae, animae meae: tamen gratia tua, et tuo exemplo, iam facta est multo facilior, et delectabilior,24 quam erat ante incarnationem, et passionem tuam.

19. custodi me . . . tuam custodi me Elizabeth omits the following phrase, “O lorde.” voluntatem tuam Thy will; “thy will and ordinaunce” (KP). 20. melior better; “muche better” (KP). 21. quomodo . . . fuerit as it shall seem proper to Thee; “as it shall please the” (KP). KP consistently spells “thee” as “the.” 22. benedictus blessed; “euer blessed” (KP). 23. corupibilis A penslip for “corruptibilis.” 24. delectabilior more delightful; “more easye and comfortable” (KP). “Comfortable” has its early modern sense of ‘affording spiritual delight; delightful.’

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26 Tua santa vita est nostra via ad te; et sequendo te, ambulamus ad te qui es caput et saluator noster: et tamen nisi praeiuisses, et ostendisses viam ad vitam aeternam. quis conaretur imitari25 te? cum simus adhuc tam tardi, et segnes, habentes lucem sanctissimi tui exempli, et sanctae doctrinae ad ducendum, et dirigendum nos. 27 Domine iesu, fac id posse fieri a me, gratia, quod a me, natura, fieri non potest. 28 Tu nosti bene quod ego possum parum sustinere, et quod statim sum prosternatus, et paruis rebus aduersis sum deiectus: quapropter te rogo domine, corrobora me tuo spiritu, vt libenter possim ferre, tua gratia, omne genus aduersitatis, et afflictionis 29 Domine, confitebor tibi omnem iniustitiam meam: et confitebor tibi omnem inconstantiam cordis mei. 30 Sepe-numero26 paululum quiddam me perturbat vehementer, et facit me tardum, atque segnem, in seruiendo tibi 31 Et aliquando statuo fortiter stare, sed quando paululum tribulationis accidit, est mihi magna angustia, ac dolor; et ex parua re, oritur magna tentatio27 mihi. 32 Imo quando cogito meipsum tutum, et fortem esse, et vt videtur habeo superiores partes28: subito sentio meipsum procliuem ad cadendum, paruo flatu tentationis. 33 Vide igitur domine imbecillitatem meam: et considera fragilitatem meam.29 34 Miserere mei, et libera me ab omni peccato, et iniquitate; ne sim irretitus 35 Saepe dolet mihi vehementer, et pene confundit me, quod adeo inconstans, adeo imbecillis, adeo fragilis sim in resistendo malis 25. santa . . . imitari santa Should read “sancta.” imitari to imitate; “to folowe” (KP). “Follow” has both its modern sense and its older sense of ‘imitate.’ 26. Sepe-numero saepenumero. Elizabeth wrote this adverb as one word and later squeezed in a dash to separate its two elements. 27. tentatio attack, trial. Elizabeth’s consistent rendering of KP’s cognate “temptacion,” which throughout connotes ‘a severe or painful trial or experience; an affliction.’ 28. habeo . . . partes I hold the upper parts, I hold the higher ground (a military metaphor). Elizabeth seeks a metaphorical equivalent for “I haue the vpper hande” (KP). In French she eschews metaphor with “i’ay l’aduantage” (I have the advantage); in Italian she replicates her Latin expression: “hauer la superiore parte” (to hold the upper part, to hold the higher ground). 29. meam Elizabeth does not translate the closing phrase, “best knowen to the.”

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motibus: qui, etsi non semper me trahant ad consentiendum, tamen impetus eorum mihi molestus30 est. 36 Et me taedet viuere in tali pugna, et si videam talem non esse mihi inutilem: nam per illam nosco melius meipsum, et meas infirmitates, et quod solum ad te31 querendum sit mihi auxilium 37 O domine deus israel, amator omnium fidelium animarum digneris intueri laborem et dolorem pauperis tuae creaturae32 38 Succurre mihi, gratia tua, in omnibus, et corrobora, diuina potentia, vt neque crudelis meus inimicus diabolus, nec mea caro misera, quae nondum subijcitur spiritui, vincat, aut dominetur mihi 39 O qualis vita ista vocari potest, ubi nulla tribulatio, et tentatio33 deest? vbi locus omnis plenus est laqueis capitalium hostium. 40 Nam vna tribulatione, aut tentatione praeterita, altera é vestigio34 succedit; et primo conflictu adhuc durante noua pugna subito oritur. 41 Quamobrem domine iesu quaeso largire mihi gratiam, vt in te potius quam in caeteris rebus omnibus acquiescam, et vt in te memet tranquillem magis quam35 in omnibus creaturis, magis quam in gloria, aut honore, in dignitate, aut potentia, in scientia, aut prudentia,36 in sanitate, aut pulchritudine, diuitijs, aut thesauro, in 30. sim . . . molestus sim Should be indicative “sum.” trahant Should be indicative “trahunt.” molestus grievous; “veraie greuous” (KP). 31. ad te to Thee; “at thy handes” (KP). 32. pauperis . . . creaturae “thy poore creature” (KP). Here, as in versicles 120, 150, and 177, “pauper” renders KP’s “poore.” KP uses “poore” primarily in the sense of ‘humble, lowly, insignificant’ (“humilis” in classical Latin) and secondarily in the sense of ‘wretched’ (“miser” in classical Latin). While the primary sense of “pauper” in classical Latin is ‘indigent,’ the Vulgate and the Latin church fathers used “pauper” in a sense akin to KP’s “poore,” as in “pauperes spiritu” (the poor in spirit) in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3, Vulgate rendering). 33. tentatio attack, trial; “miserie” (KP). 34. é vestigio immediately; “by and by” (KP), in the sense of ‘immediately.’ 35. magis quam KP reads “above all” and inserts the same phrase before each of the following pairs of nouns. Elizabeth’s omission of eight occurrences of “magis quam” markedly alters sentence rhythm. 36. scientia . . . prudentia knowledge . . . prudence; “cunnyng and policie” (KP). “Cunning” can connote ‘knowledge, wisdom, cleverness,’ while “policie” can connote ‘(political) prudence.’ Elizabeth’s two Latin terms do not capture the potential negative connotations of ‘craftiness’ in both of Parr’s terms; by contrast, her renderings of “policie” by “engin” and “astutia” respectively in the French and Italian versions do capture the negative possibilities.

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gaudio, et voluptate, fama vel laude: magis etiam quam in laetitia et consolatione, quam preterquam in te cor hominis percipere, aut sentire potest. 42 Nam tu domine sapienssimus es, altissimus, potentissimus sufficientissimus, et plenissimus omnis bonitatis, dulcissimus, et consolationis plenissimus, pulcherrimus, amantissimus, nobilissimus, gloriosissimus, in quo omnis bonitas consistit37 43 Quicquid igitur praeter te habeo, nihil mihi est: cor autem meum non potest quiescere, nec plene pacificari, nisi solum in te. 44 O domine iesu amantissime sponse: quis dabit mihi alas perfecti amoris, vt auolem abs huius mundi miserijs, et quiescam in te? 45 O quando ascendam ad te, et videbo, et sentiam quâm dulcis es tu. 46 Quando meipsum totum colligam in te tam vt perfecte, vt propter amorem tuum, meipsum non sentiam, sed te solum, plusquam meipsum, et plusquam res mundanas, vt digneris visitare me, quemadmodum visitas tuos fidelissimos amatores. 47 Iam lugeo, et queror saepe de miserijs huius vitae, et cum dolore magnaque tristitia illas sustineo. 48 Nam multa accidunt mihi quotidie quae saepe me vexant, tristem afficiunt, et obscurant intelligentiam meam. 49 Retardant me vehementer, et abalienant animum meum abs te, et sic impediunt me, multis modis, vt te non possim libere, et penitus cupere, nec habere dulcissimam consolationen38 tuam quae semper adest adest sanctis tuis beatis. 50 Domine iesu rogo te vt suspiria et interiora cordis mei desideria, possint mouere, et inclinare te ad ad audiendum me 51 O iesu rex aeternae gloriae, gaudium et consolatio omnis christiani populi qui errant quemadmodum peregrini in deserto huius mundi; cor meum clamat ad te, tacitis desiderijs silentium meum loquitur ad te, et dicit: quamdiu tardat dominus deus meus venire ad me? 52 Veni, o domine, et visita me; nam sine te nullum verum gaudium habeo: sine te anima mea tristis, et moesta est 53 Ego in carcere sum, et ligatus compedibus doloris. donec digneris, o domine, gratiosa tua presentia, visitare me, et reducere me in

37. sapienssimus . . . consistit sapienssimus A penslip for “sapientissimus.” Elizabeth does not translate the first adjective in this series, “beste.” consistit Elizabeth does not translate the final phrase, “moste perfectly.” 38. consolationen A penslip for “consolationem.”

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libertatem, et gaudium spiritus, et monstrare mihi vultum tuum amantissimum, et benignissimum.39 54 Aperi cor meum domine vt videam leges tuas: et doce me ambulare in praeceptis tuis 55 Fac me scire, et sequi voluntatem tuam, recordarique semper multorum beneficiorum tuorum: vt possim debitas tibi gratias agere 56 Sed agnosco, et vere confiteor me non esse habilem ad agendum tibi gratias condignas40 pro minimo beneficio quod dedisti mihi 57 O domine, omnia dona, et virtutes, quae quisquam habet in corpore, aut anima, naturalia, aut supernaturalia, sunt dona tua, et veniunt abs te, et non ex nobis, et declarant nobis magnas diuitias misericordiae tuae41 58 Et quamquam alij alijs habeant plura dona: tamen omnia procedunt abs te, et sine te, ne minima quidem possunt haberi 59 Pro magno beneficio reputo, ô domine non habere multa mundana dona, quibus laus, et commendatio hominum me possint fallere, et excecare animum meum42 60 Tu scis,43 domine, neminem debere expauescere, aut minus contentum esse, se esse humili conditione in hoc mundo, et carere delitijs huius vitae sed potius iccirco gaudere, et letari debet: 61 Quoniam tu elegisti pauperes et humiles, et tales quales contemnuntur in mundo, vt essent serui, et familiares tui amici. 62 Testes sunt beati apostoli, quos fecisti primos pastores, et spirituales gubernatores gregis tui; qui abierunt a consilio iudaeorum gaudentes se aestimari dignos qui paterentur contumeliam propter nomen tuum. 63 Eadem modo, ô domine, largire mihi, vt ego seruus tuus tam bene contentus sim, reputari tanquam minimus, quemadmodum alij volunt reputari maximi: et vt mihi tam bene placeat in infimo loco esse, quam in supremo: et tantum gaudeam nullius existimationis esse in mundo propter amorem tuum; quantum alij gaudent esse clari, et nobiles. 39. amantissimum . . . benignissimum most loving and most benign; “fauourable” (KP). 40. condignas befitting, rendering cognate “condigne” (KP). “Condign” has its Latinate senses of ‘befitting, worthily deserved, adequate.’ 41. tuae Elizabeth does not translate KP’s concluding phrase, “and goodnesse vnto us.” 42. excecare . . . meum blind my soul; “deceyue me” (KP). 43. Tu scis Thou knowest; “I knowe” (KP).

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64 Opus est perfecti hominis, ô domine, nunquam abalienare animum suum abs te, et inter multas mundanas curas esse sine cura: non quemadmodum otiosus, aut dissolutus, sed, vi44 liberi animi, semper intentus rebus celestibus, et non per prauam affectionem, creaturae vlle adhaerens. 65 Idcirco domine iesu mi: rogo te custodi me a varijs curis huius mumdi:45 vt non perturber corporis necessitatibus, ne capiar voluptatibus huius mundi nec carnis. 66 Custodi me ab omnibus quae impediunt salutem animae meae, ne illis deijciar46 67 O domine qui es dulcedo ineffabilis verte in me omnes mundanas et carnales delitias in amaritudinem, quae me possent abducere abs amore rerum aeternalium, ad amorem breuis, et vilis voluptatis. 68 Ne sinas carnem, et sanguinem me vincere, neque mundum decipere me, vana sua gloria, nec daemonem supplantare47 varijs suis astutijs: sed da mihi robur spirituale in illis resistendo, patientiam in ferendo, et constantiam in perseuerando vsque in finem. 69 Da mihi pro omnibus delectationibus mundanis dulcissimam consolationem sancti spiritus tui, et pro omni mundano amore, indue animam meam ferventi amore tui. 70 Fac me interius in animo fortem, et eijce48 ex eo omnem inutilem curam huius mundi, ne ducar inconstanti rerum terrenarum cupiditate; sed sentiam omnia in hoc mundo, quemadmodum sunt, transitoria et cito labentia, et memet etiam cum illis appropinquantem ad meum finem 71 Nihil enim sub sole potest durare: sed vanitas omnia sunt, et afflictio spiritus 72 Igitur da mihi domine prudentiam49 celestem, vt discam querere, et inuenire te, et amare te super omnia.

44. vi by the ability or capacity; “by the prerogatiue” (KP). 45. varijs . . . mumdi varijs various; “superfluouse” (KP). mumdi A penslip for “mundi.” 46. deijciar i.e., deiciar. 47. me . . . supplantare throw me down; “supplant me” (KP). “Supplant” has its Latinate sense of ‘trip up, cause to fall.’ 48. eijce i.e., eice. 49. prudentiam prudence, practical wisdom. Here and in versicles 91 and 183 Elizabeth translates KP’s “wisedome” as “prudentia,” a key term in classicizing ethical philosophy that emphasizes the moral aspect of wisdom.

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73 Da mihi gratiam abducere me ab illis qui me adulantur, et patienter illos ferre qui me adu-vexant50 74 Quando tentatio, et tribulatio veniunt, digneris succurrere mihi domine, vt omnia vertentur mihi in spirituale solatium et semper feram patienter, ac dicam: benedictum sit nomen tuum. 75 Domine tribulatio nunc est prope, ego non sum bene, sed vehementer vexor hac presenti afflictione: O pater gloriosissime qi quid faciam? angustia et tribulatio sunt ex omni parte: adiuua nunc quaeso in hac hora, tu laudaberis, et praedicaberis quum fiam perfectè humilis coram te, et omnino per te liberabor. 76 Placeat igitur tibi liberare me: nam quid ego miser peccator possum facere? aut quo refugiam, preterquam ad te? 77 Da mihi patientiam nunc, et in omnibus tribulationibus meis: adiuua me domine deus, et non timebo, nec metuam quicquid periculi mihi acciderit. 78 Et nunc quid dicam, nisi vt voluntas tua fiat in me: meritus sum tribulari, atque vexari, et propterea oportet me pati quamdiu tibi placet. 79 Sed vtinam51 possem libenter pati donec rabidae tempestates pertranseant et quies cordis reuertatur. 80 Potens manus tua domine satis fortis est ad delendum hanc tribulationem a me, et ad leniendum crudeles illius impetus, ne illis vincar quemadmodum antehac saepe fecisti: vt quando penitus per te liberatus sum, possim cum gaudio dicere; dextera altissimi fecit hanc mutationem. 81 Largire mihi domine tuam singularem gratiam: vt possim eo venire, vbi nulla creatura me impediet neque prohibebit a perfecta expectatione52 tui: quamdiu enim res aliqua vana retardat me. aut mihi imperat, non possum liberé ascendere ad te.

50. adu-vexant “greue unjustly” (KP). Elizabeth straddles “adu-” and “vexant” across a line boundary. “Vexant” (molest) renders “greue.” “Adu-” may be an inadvertent repetition of the first letters of the preceding verb “adulantur” or an abbreviation for “adusque” (thoroughly), substituting for “unjustly.” 51. vtinam would that. Here and elsewhere this is Elizabeth’s rendering of “woulde to God.” 52. expectatione Used by Elizabeth in the late antique and medieval sense of ‘beholding, contemplation’ (classical Latin “spectatione”) rather than the classical sense of ‘awaiting, longing.’ KP reads “beholding.” Compare the use of “expectabo” for classical Latin “spectabo” in versicle 118.

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82 O domine sine te nihil potest diu delectare, aut placere: nam si aliquid fuerit gratum. aut suaue, oportet id esse per auxilium tuae gratiae, conditum sale53 sapientiae tuae 83 O aeterna lux multum excellens omnia emitte radios lucis tuae de supernis, et purifica, atque illumina interiores partes cordis mei. 84 Viuifica animam meam et omnes partes eius, vt possit adhaerere firmiter et iungi tibi, in exultante letitia raptus spiritualis. 85 O quando veniet illa foelix hora vt me visitaueris, et letifices beata tua presentia? quando eris mihi omnia in omnibus?54 certe donec tempus illud veniat, non potest esse perfectum gaudium in me. 86 Sed, heu, vetus meus homo id est carnales meae affectiones, viuunt adhuc in me: nec crucifiguntur, neque perfecte mortuae sunt. 87 Nam adhuc caro certat contra spiritum, et mouet maximum internum bellum aduersum me, et non sinit regnum animae meae vivere in pace. 88 Sed tu bone domine qui habes dominationem super omnia, et potentiam maris ad sedandum tempestates, et fluctus illius: surge, et adiuua me, et destrue potentiam inimicorum meorum, qui semper bellum faciunt contra me: ostende magnitudinem bonitatis tuae, et potentia manus tuae55 glorifecetur in me: nam nulla fiducia aut refugium est mihi, nisi solum in te, mi domine, mi deus, tibi sit perpetuus honor, et gloria. 89 Largire mihi domine vt meipsum dem56 tibi, et in omnibus memet relinquam, et crucem meam patienter feram, ac sequar te. [9]057 O domine quid est homo, vt digneris recordari illius, et visitare eum [9]1 Tu semper es vnus, semper bonus, semper iustus, et sanctus, faciens disponens omnia, iuste, et beate secundum prudentiam tuam 92 Sed ego sum miser, et semper promptus, et pronus ex meipso ad faciendum malum, et nunquam maneo in eodem statu, sed saepe muto ac vario mentem58 53. sale with the “salt,” flavor, or character; “with the spice” (KP). 54. omnia . . . omnibus “all in all” (KP). Elizabeth echoes the Vulgate rendering of Paul’s claim in 1 Corinthians 2:28 that God will at last be “all in all,” KP’s source for the phrase. 55. manus tuae of Thy hand; “of thy right hande” (KP). 56. dem I might give; “I maie wholly resigne” (KP). 57. [9]0, [9]1 Numerals 90 and 91 were first written as 80 and 81; later the 8’s were scraped off but no 9’s inserted. 58. mentem (my) mind. Elizabeth’s addition. KP concludes “[I] do vary and chaunge.”

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93 Melius tamen mecum erit quando tibi placebit: nam tu, ô domine solus es ille qui me potes adiuuare, et tu me potes sic confirmare,59 et stabilire, vt cor meum non mutetur abs te, sed figatur, et tandem requiescat in te. 94 Ego nihil sum ex meipso praeterquam vanitas coram te, inconstans, et debilis creatura: in qua re igitur possum ego merito gloriari? aut quare cuperem60 magnificari? 95 Quisquis sibi ipsi placet, sine te, displicet tibi: et ille qui delectatur laudibus hominum, perdit veram laudem coram te. 96 Vera laus, est laudari abs te: et verum gaudium est gaudere in te. 97 Nomen tuum igitur laudetur ô domine, et non meum: opera tua magnificentur, et non mea, et bonitas tua semper laudetur et benedicatur 98 Tu gloria mea es, et gaudium cordis mei: gloriabor, et gaudebo in te, et non in meipso, nec in vllo mundano honore aut dignitate, quae comparata aeternae gloriae nihil sunt quâm vmbra et mera61 vanitas. 99 O domine, hic viuimus in magnis tenebris, et cito decipimur vanitate huius mundi, et vexamur facile62 parua tribulatione, tamen si meipsum potuissem cernere, plane viderem quicquid tribulationis passus sum, id merito mihi accidisse, quia saepe peccaui, et grauiter offendi te 100 Mihi igitur interitus, et indignatio63 debentur: sed tibi, laus, honor, et gloria 101 Domine mitte mihi auxilium in tribulationibus meis: nam presidium hominum parum valet. 102 Quam saepe frustrabar vbi cogitabam inuenire amicitiam; et quam saepe inueniebam, vbi minus cogitabam. 103 Vanum igitur est sperare in homine: nam vera spes, et salus hominis, solum in te est. 59. confirmare to strengthen. KP’s cognate “confirme” has the same sense. 60. cuperem should I wish. KP reads “should I loke” in the sense of ‘should I expect.’ 61. mera pure. KP reads “veraie” (i.e., true). Elizabeth either intended to write “vera” (as in versicle 13) or translated “veraie” as “mera” to avoid KP’s semiparadox of “veraie vanitee.” In the French she loosely renders “veraie” as “tresgrande,” and in the Italian omits the adjective. 62. facile “so[o]ne” (KP), suggesting that Elizabeth’s intended sense is ‘promptly,’ not ‘easily.’ 63. interitus . . . indignatio destruction . . . disdain. A close translation of “confucion and dispite” (KP). “Confusion” has its former sense of ‘destruction,’ “despite” the sense of ‘contempt, disdain.’

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104 Beatus igitur es in omnibus quae accidunt nobis: nam nos sumus debiles, et instabiles, cito decepti, et cito mutamur abs vna re in aliam 105 O domine deus aequissime iudex, fortis, et patiens, qui scis fragilitatem, et malitiam hominis esto tota fortitudo, et consolatio mea in omnibus necessitatibus meis: nam conscientia mea, domine, non sufficit. 106 Appello igitur ad misericordiam tuam: quum nemo possit iustificari nec videri iustus in conspectu tuo, si illum examines secundum iustitiam tuam. 107 O beata mansio celestis tuae ciuitatis: ô clarissima dies aeternitatis, quam nox nunquam potest obscurare 108 Haec est dies semper clara, et iucunda, semper certa, et nunquam mutans statum suum. 109 Vtinam haec dies breui appareat et luceat super nos et finiantur mundanae cogitationes.64 110 Haec dies clare lucet sanctis tuis aeterno cum splendore: sed nobis peregrinis in terra lucet obscure et quemadmodum per speculum.65 111 Ciues celestes norunt quam iocunda haec dies sit: sed nos exules66 filij euae, ploramus, et lugemus acerbum taedium nostrae diei, idest huius presentis vitae, breuis malae plenae doloris, et angustiae: 112 vbi homo saepè peccatis inquinatur,67 afflictionibus irretitur, tribulationibus, perturbatur, curis implicatur, vanitate molestatur, erroribus obcecatur, laboribus opprimitur, tentationibus vexatur, vincitur, vanis delicijs et voluptatibus huius mundi et penuria atque inopia torquetur. 10368 O quando erit finis huius miseriae? 114 Quando liberabor penitus é seruitute peccati?

64. cogitations thoughts. Here, as in versicle 120, Elizabeth’s translation of “fantasies” captures one possible sense (acts of mental apprehension) but not the primary one (delusive imaginings). 65. sanctis . . . speculum sanctis tuis Elizabeth does not translate the next phrase, “in heauen.” speculum She does not translate the pleonastic final phrase, “or glasse.” 66. iocunda . . . exules iocunda delightful; late Latin form of “iucunda.” exules exiles. KP’s “outlawes” has both its modern sense and the older sense of ‘exiles, fugitives.’ Compare Elizabeth’s rendering of “outlawe” as “exul” in versicle 120. 67. inquinatur Elizabeth does not translate the following phrase, “with synne.” 68. 103 Elizabeth misnumbered versicle 113.

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115 Quando ero memor solum tui, domine, et plené gaudebo, et exultabo in te. 116 Quando penitus liberabor, et ero in perfecta libertate, sine molestia corporis, et animi 117 Quando habebo pacem sine tribulatione, pacem intus et foras, et ex omni parte constans ero, et firmus 118 O domine iesu quando stabo et expectabo69 te? et habebo plenum aspectum, et contemplationem gloriae tuae 119 Quando eris mihi omnia in omnibus? et quando ero tecum in regno tuo quod initio parasti pro electo tuo populo. 120 Ego hic relinquor pauper, et velut exul in patria inimicorum meorum: vbi bella sunt quotidie et magna infortunia. 121 Consolare, exilium meum, mitiga dolorem meum: nam omne desiderium meum est tecum esse. 122 Quicquid hic mundus dat mihi, est mihi insuaue onus. 123 Cupio intus habere fruitionem tui; sed non possum attingere ad illud 124 Cupio adhaerere firmiter rebus celestibus: sed mundanae affectiones retrahunt me. 125 Vellem subijcere omnes malas affectiones sed repugnant quotidie, et surgunt contra me, nec subijcientur70 spiritui meo. 126 Ita ego miser peccator pugno in meipso, et sum molestus mihi ipsi. dum spiritus meus cupiat esse superne, et contra caro mea retrahit71 127 O quid patior intus? adnitor res coelestes meditari: et é vestigio ingens numerus mundanarum cogitationum ruit in animam meam 128 Igitur domine ne longe absis, ne decedas a me in ira tua: 129 mitte mihi lucem gratiae tuae: destrue in me omnia desideria carnis 1[3]072 Mitte ardentes flammas amoris tui, vt vrant, et consumant nebulosas cogitationes animi mei. 131 Collige, o domine, sensus meos, et vires animae meae simul in

69. expectabo “shall I . . . beholde” (KP). Elizabeth’s use of “expectabo” for “spectabo” (I will behold) follows post-Vulgate, late antique and medieval usage. 70. subijcere, subijcientur i.e., subjicere / subicere, subjicientur / subicientur. 71. retrahit draws back; “draweth . . . downewarde” (KP). 72. 1[3]0 Elizabeth misnumbered this versicle “120.”

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te; et fac me vituperare73 omnia mundana, atque per gratiam tuam fortiter resistere, et vincere omnes motus et occasiones peccati. 132 Adiuua me tu aeterna veritas, ne vlla mundi fallacia, aut vanitas me possit decipere 133 Veni, adsis etiam tu aeterna dulcedo, et fugiat omnis amaritudo peccati a me 134 Condona mihi, et da mihi veniam quoties in precatione mea, memoria74 mea non penitus fixa est in te. 135 Nam saepè75 non sum illic ubi sto aut sedeo; sed potius illic quo cogitationes meae ducunt me 136 Nam illic sum vbi cogitatio mea mea est: et vbi76 cogitatio mea est, illic ferè est quod amo. 137 Et illud saepè venit mihi in mentem quod consuetudine melius mihi placet, et maximè me delectat de illo cogitare. 138 Secundum illud quod dicis in euangelio: Vbi thesaurus hominis est, illic et cor illius.77 139 Igitur si amem coelum loquor de eo libenter, et de talibus rebus quae sunt dei, et de illo quod pertinet ad honorem illius, et gloriam sancti sui nominis. 140 Et si mundum amem, cupio loqui de mundanis rebus, et gaudeo in mundanis felicitatibus, atque cito doleo, ac lamentor, propter aduersitates mundanas. 141 Et si carnem amem, saepe exquiro78 quod placeat carni. 142 Si animamn79 meam amem, plurimum me delectat loqui, et audire de rebus quae sunt saluti animae meae. 143 Et quicquid amo, de illis libenter audio, et loquor, et semper habeo imaginem illorum in animo. 144 Beatus ille est qui propter amorem tuum, domine, non curat 73. vituperare find fault with; “dispise” (KP). 74. memoria “mynde” (KP). 75. saepè Elizabeth makes this accent and the next three (in versicles 136–37) perpendicular to the line of writing. 76. vbi Elizabeth does not translate the following phrase, “as customablye.” 77. Vbi . . . illius A close translation of “Where as a mannes treasure is, there is his herte,” itself a paraphrase of Matthew 6:21: “ubi enim est thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cor tuum” (For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also—Vulgate rendering). 78. exquiro I seek for; “I imagine” (KP). “Imagine” may have both its modern sense and its older sense of ‘consider, ponder’ and ‘plot, plan.’ Elizabeth’s translation focuses on the sense of plotting (to obtain). 79. animamn A penslip for “animam.”

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delitias huius mundi; et re vera discit seipsum vincere, et feruore spiritus carnem suam crucifigit, ita vt pura, et munda conscientia possit offerre80 tibi suas precationes, et acceptus sit in consortium beatorum angelorum, omnibus rebus mundanis exclusis é corde illius. 145 Domine, et sancte pater: esto benedictus nunc, et semper: nam quemadmodum vis, factum est, et quod ipse facis semper est optimum. 146 Fac me humilem, et indignum seruum tuum solum in te gaudere, et non in meipso, nec in vlla re praeterquam in te. 147 Nam tu domine gaudium meum es, spes mea, corona, et omnis honor meus. 148 Quid habet seruus tuus quod non habet abs te? et illud sine merito suo 149 Omnia tua sunt: tu illa creasti, et fecisti. 150 Ego pauper sum, et in tribulatione ac pena semper fui a iuuentute mea: et anima mea in magno dolore fuit, et multis perturbationibus quae veniunt ex mundo, et carne 151 Quamobrem, domine, cupio habere abs te gaudium internae pacis. 152 Rogo te vt veniam ad illam requietem quae paratur pro electis filijs tuis qui pascuntur, et nutriuntur lumine celestium solatiorum: nam sine auxilio tuo non possum venire ad te 153 Domine da mihi pacem: da mihi gaudium internum, et tunc anima mea plena erit melodia celesti, et deuota erit, et feruens in laude tui. 154 Sed si tu subtrahas teipsum a me, quemadmodum aliquando fecisti, tunc seruus tus non potest viam currere preceptorum tuorum.81 155 Nam non est mecum quemadmodum fuit quando lucerna diuinae tuae presentiae lucebat supra caput meum, et protegebar sub vmbra alarum tuarum ab omnibus periculis, ac discriminibus 156 O misericors domine iesu semper laudande, tempus venit quo probare velis82 seruum tuum et nunc aequum est vt patiar aliquid pro te. 80. offerre A penslip for “offere.” 81. tus . . . tuorum tus A penslip for “tuus.” tuorum Elizabeth does not translate KP’s final phrase, “as I dyd before.” 82. probare velis Thou wishest to prove / test; “thou wilte proue” (KP). Here, as in her French and Italian renderings, Elizabeth construes KP’s future tense as equivalent to ‘you wish to prove’ by taking “will” in the sense of ‘wish to.’

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157 Iam venit hora quam nouisti in principio vt seruus tuus penitus83 contemneretur, et intrinsecus tibi anniteretur. 158 et despiceretur in conspectu mundi, et afflictione frangeretur vt postea tecum possit surgere in noua luce atque clarificetur84 in regno coelesti. 159 O sancte pater, tu constituisti vt ita esset, et factum est sicuti iubebas. 160 Haec est gratia tua erga amicum tuum, pati illum vexari in hoc mundo propter amorem tuum quotiescumque,85 et quocumque modo velis illi accidere; nam sine voluntate, aut permissione tua, quid factum est in terra? 161 Bonum est mihi, domine, quod humiliasti me, vt eo modo possim discere iudicia tua recta cognoscere, et amouere a me omne genus arrogantiae, et fastus86 cordis mei. 162 Valde vtile mihi est quod confusio occultauit faciem meam, vt eo pacto discam quaerere abs te potius opem, et auxilium, quam in homine. 163 Ego propter hoc didici timere secreta, et formidabilia tua iudicia qui affligis iustum cum peccatore, sed non sine aequitate, et iustitia. 164 Domine gratias ago tibi quod non pepercisti peccatis meis, sed puniuisti me flagris amoris tui et misisti mihi afflictionem, et angustiam intus, et foras 165 Nulla creatura sub caelo potest me consolari: sed tu domine deus coelestis medicus animae hominis, qui percutis et sanas, qui ducis hominem propé ad mortem, et restitituis eum ad vitam, vt hinc discat imbecillitatem suam agnoscere, et magis confidere in te.87 166 Disciplina tua imposita est mihi: et virga tua correctionis erudiuit me, et illi me totum submitto.88 83. penitus inwardly; “outwardly” (KP). 84. clarificetur be made glorious. Elizabeth renders a doublet, “bee clarified and made glorious,” with one cognate verb. KP’s “clarified” has its Latinate sense of ‘made glorious’; both Elizabeth and KP echo Vulgate uses of “clarificare.” 85. gratia . . . quotiescumque gratia tua Elizabeth does not translate the following vocative, “O lord.” quotiescumque She does not translate the next phrase, “and of what persone so euer it bee.” 86. fastus arrogance; “statelinesse” (KP), in its former sense of ‘arrogance.’ 87. medicus . . . te medicus physician. KP’s “leache” is an early modern synonym, often applied to God or Christ. restitituis A penslip for “restituis.” in te Elizabeth does not translate the concluding vocative, “lorde.” 88. submitto Elizabeth omits the next phrase, “vnder that rod.”

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167 Percute dorsum meum, et ossa mea sicuti tibi placeat; et fac me inclinare peruersam voluntatem meam, ad voluntatem tuam. 168 Fac me mitem, et humilem discipulum quemadmodum fecisti mecum, olim; vt ambulem secundum voluntatem tuam 169 Tibi committo meipsum vt corrigas me: nam melius est corrigi a te, hic, quam in tempore futuro. 170 Tu scis omnia, et nihil occultatum est abs te quod est in conscientia hominis. 171 Tu scis omnia fore antequam accidant; et non necesse est vt aliquis te doceat aut te moneat de aliquo quod factum est super terram 172 Tu scis quod est vtile mihi, et quantae tribulationes adiuuant ad purgandum eruginem peccati in me. 173 Fac mecum secundum voluntatem tuam: sum miser peccator, nulli tam bene notus, quam tibi. 174 Largire mihi, domine, illud scire, quod est cognitu necessarium, illud amare quod est amandum, illud cupere quod tibi placet, illud estimare quod est preciosum in conspectu tuo: et illud recusare quod est vile coram te. 175 Ne sinas me iudicare misteria tua secundum externos meos sensus, neque sententiam ferre iuxta auditum ignorantium: sed vero iudicio decernam res spirituales, et super omnia queram semper voluntatem tuam.89 176 O domine iesu, tu es omnes di diuitiae meae: et omnia que habeo, habeo abs te. 177 Sed quis sum ego, domine, qui audeam loqui ad te? ego sum pauper creatura tua, et vermis abiectissimus. 178 Ecce domine ego nihil habeo, et ex meipso nihil valeo: tu es solus deus, iustus, et sanctus, tu disponis omnia, tu das omnia, et tu imples omnia bonitate. 179 Ego peccator sum sterilis, et inanis diuinae virtutis. 180 Recordare misericordiarum tuarum, et imple cor meum plenitudine gratiae tuae: nam nolis tua opera facta esse in me, inaniter. 181 Quomodo possum ferre miseriam huius vitae; nisi gratia, et misericordia consolentur me. 182 Ne auertas faciem tuam a me ne differas visitationem mei, nec 89. queram . . . tuam may I always seek (out) Thy will; “alwaie to serche and folowe thy wyll and pleasure” (KP).

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subtrhas90 consolationes tuas, ne forte anima mea fiat velut terra sicca sinè aqua gratiae. 183 Doce me domine implere voluntatem tuam humiliter viuere et dignè coram te: nam tu prudentia, et peritia91 mea: tu es ille qui me nouit qualis sim, quique me sciebas antequam mundus factus fuerit et antequam natus fuerim92 et aeditus in hanc vitam: Tibi, o domine, honor, et gloria, et laus sit in omne aeui aeternitatem. Amen. Oratio pro Rege. O domine iesu christe, qui es altissimus, potentissimus, rex regum, dominus dominorum, solus gubernator principum, verus filius dei: ad cuius dexteram sedens, intueris, a throno tuo, omnes habitatores terrae: humillimis cordibus rogamus te, vt digneris intueri amabili aspectu serenissimum93 regem nostrum Henricum octauum, et ita illum implere gratia spiritus tui, vt semper inclinet sese ad voluntatem tuam, et ambulet in vijs tuis. Custodi illum procul ab ignorantia: et, dono tuo, prudentia, atque cognitio, semper abundent in corde suo in regio corde illius. Sic instrue eum (o domine iesu) regnantem super nos in terra, vt humana sua maiestas, semper obediat diuinae tuae maiestati, in timore, et formidine. Indue illum, copiose, donis coelestibus. Largire illi diu viuere in sanitate et prosperitate. Accumula gloriam super illum, et honorem. Letifica illum gaudio vultus tui. Sic corrobora illum vt possit vincere, et superare omnes inimicos suos, et timeant ac formident illum, omnes hostes regni sui. Amen. Oratio dicenda hominibus quum intrant in bellum. O Rex omnipotens, et domine excercituum,94 qui per angelos tuos ad illud deputatos, ministras tum bellum, tum pacem, et dedisti paruulo 90. subtrhas A penslip for “subtrahas.” 91. prudentia . . . peritia prudentia “all my wysedome” (KP). peritia practical knowledge; “counnyng” (KP). Elizabeth translates “cunning,” with its senses of ‘knowledge, wisdom, cleverness,’ as “prudentia” in versicle 41. 92. factus . . . fuerim [it] was made . . . I was born. The perfect indicatives “factus est . . . natus sum” would be the expected forms with “antequam” in this sentence. 93. serenissimum most serene; “moste gracious soueraigne lorde” (KP). 94. excercituum A penslip for “exercituum.”

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dauidi inermi, inexperto in rebus bellicis impetum, et robur ad agrediendum, et occidendum inanem goliam:95 quum causa nostra iusta iusta fit, et cogamur intrare in bellum;96 humillime rogamus te (o domine deus exercituum) sic conuerte corda inimicorum nostrorum ad desiderium pacis, vt nullus sanguis christianus effundatur; aut largire, domine vt parua effusione sanguinis, et exiguo damno innocentum possimus, victoriam obtinere ad gloriam tuam: et vt bello cito finito, possimus omnes vno corde, et animo, copulati con cordia et vnitate laudemus te, qui viuis et regnas ad omnem aeui aeternitatem. Amen.

Elizabeth’s French translation of Prayers or Meditations ORAISONS, OV MEditations, par lesquelles l’entendement de l’homme est incité de souffrir affliction, et ne se chaloir des vaines prospéritéz de ce monde, mais de tousiours aspirer à eternelle félicicité.97 Extraites d’aucunes saintes éscriptures;98 par la trésvertueuse, et trésbénigne99 princesse Catherine, Royne d’angle-

95. impetum . . . goliam impetum force; “courage” (KP). occidendum Elizabeth does not translate the next phrase, “with his slyng.” inanem empty, worthless. Although she may have intended the epithet, Elizabeth probably meant to write “immanem” (huge, enormous), rendering “great huge.” She translates KP’s epithets more faithfully in French and Italian as “grant monstre” and “gran monstro.” goliam i.e. “Goliam,” accusative of the patristic and medieval form “Golias” (Goliath), in the Vulgate the undeclined name “Goliath.” 96. bellum war; “warre and batayle” (KP). 97. félicicité A penslip for “felicité.” Elizabeth conforms to sixteenth-century French practice in sometimes omitting the definite article before abstract nouns. 98. saintes éscriptures Normally a reference to the ‘holy writings’ of Scripture. KP reads “holy woorkes.” 99. trésbénigne most gentle / gracious; “gracious” (KP).

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dauidi inermi, inexperto in rebus bellicis impetum, et robur ad agrediendum, et occidendum inanem goliam:95 quum causa nostra iusta iusta fit, et cogamur intrare in bellum;96 humillime rogamus te (o domine deus exercituum) sic conuerte corda inimicorum nostrorum ad desiderium pacis, vt nullus sanguis christianus effundatur; aut largire, domine vt parua effusione sanguinis, et exiguo damno innocentum possimus, victoriam obtinere ad gloriam tuam: et vt bello cito finito, possimus omnes vno corde, et animo, copulati con cordia et vnitate laudemus te, qui viuis et regnas ad omnem aeui aeternitatem. Amen.

Elizabeth’s French translation of Prayers or Meditations ORAISONS, OV MEditations, par lesquelles l’entendement de l’homme est incité de souffrir affliction, et ne se chaloir des vaines prospéritéz de ce monde, mais de tousiours aspirer à eternelle félicicité.97 Extraites d’aucunes saintes éscriptures;98 par la trésvertueuse, et trésbénigne99 princesse Catherine, Royne d’angle-

95. impetum . . . goliam impetum force; “courage” (KP). occidendum Elizabeth does not translate the next phrase, “with his slyng.” inanem empty, worthless. Although she may have intended the epithet, Elizabeth probably meant to write “immanem” (huge, enormous), rendering “great huge.” She translates KP’s epithets more faithfully in French and Italian as “grant monstre” and “gran monstro.” goliam i.e. “Goliam,” accusative of the patristic and medieval form “Golias” (Goliath), in the Vulgate the undeclined name “Goliath.” 96. bellum war; “warre and batayle” (KP). 97. félicicité A penslip for “felicité.” Elizabeth conforms to sixteenth-century French practice in sometimes omitting the definite article before abstract nouns. 98. saintes éscriptures Normally a reference to the ‘holy writings’ of Scripture. KP reads “holy woorkes.” 99. trésbénigne most gentle / gracious; “gracious” (KP).

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terre, France, et Irelande. Translatées d’anglois en françoys par maddame Elizabeth. Epigraph written to face the opening page of this section

Doncq si vous estes resuscitez auec christ, cerchez les choses qui sont d’enhault, la ou christ se sied 100 a la dextre de dieu. Pensez aux choses qui sont d’enhault, et nompas101 a celles qui sont sur la terre. 1 TRESBENING SEIgneur iesus: octroye moy ta grace, affin que tousiours elle puisse ouurer,102 et perseuerer en moy iusques a la fin. 2 Octroy moy que ie puisse tousiours desirer et vouloir ce qui t’est plus plaisant et acceptable 3 Ton vouloir soit mon vouloir, et ma voulunte103 soit de tousiours suiure la tienne. 4 Qu’il y ayt tousiours en moy vn mesme desir et vouloir auec toy: et que ie n’ayë desir de vou- vouloir104 ou non vouloir sinon ce que tu veulx 5 Seigneur tu congnois quelle chose m’est plus duisante, et profitable105 6 Pourtant donne moy ce que voudras autant que voudras et quant106 tu voudras 7 Faitz de moy ce que voudras comme il te plaira et ainsy que ce soit le plus à ton honneur, et gloire107 8 Metz moy ou tu voudras et selon ton vouloir faictz de moy en toutes choses ce que bon te semble 100. cerchez . . . sied cerchez Early modern spelling of “cherchez”; “seke” (KP). Elizabeth’s more frequent spelling is “sercher.” se sied Third-person singular, present indicative of “seoir” (modern “s’asseoir”); “sitteth” (KP). 101. nompas Modern “non pas.” 102. ouurer oeuvrer; “worke” (KP). 103. voulunte volonté (will). 104. vou- vouloir Elizabeth failed to delete “vou-” at a line end, where there was no space to write the rest of the word. 105. congnois . . . profitable congnois Thou knowest. Elizabeth conforms to Renaissance usage in employing the verb “congnoistre” (modern “connaître”) in a wide range of senses, including where modern French would use “savoir” or “comprendre.” duisante . . . profitable “moste profitable and moste expedient” (KP). duisante appropriate, proper. 106. Pourtant . . . quant Pourtant Therefore, That is why. Elizabeth often uses “pourtant” to render KP’s “therfore” and “wherefore.” quant Modern “quand” (when). 107. et gloire Elizabeth’s addition.

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9 Ie suis ta créature en tes mains meine108 moy et conduis la ou tu voudras 10 Voycy109 ie suis ton seruiteur prest en toutes choses que tu me commandes: car ie ne desire de viure en moymesme mais en toy seullement 11 Seigneur dieu ie te pry’ donne moy grace que iamais ie ne m mette mon cuer et afféction110 aux choses de ce monde: mais que toutes mondaines et charnelles affections puissent totalement mourir, et estre mortifiées en moy 12 Octroye moy sur toutes choses que ie puisse reposer et pleinement pacifier mon cuer en toy 13 Car toy seigneur es la vrayë pacification du cuer, et le parfaict repos de l’ame et sans toy toy toutes choses sont griefves111 et sans repos 14 Mon seigneur dieu ie te suply que soyes par tout, et en tous temps auec moy: et que ce me soit vn singulier plaisir d’auoir faute de tout mondain soulas112 pour lamour de toy 15 Et sy aucunefois tu retires ta consolation d’auec moy: o seigneur ie te pry me garder de désépoir et me faitz paciemment suffrir ton vouloir, et ordonnance. 16 O seigneur dieu113 tes iugemens sont iustes, et ta providence m m’est beaucoup meilleure que tout ce que ie pourroys imaginer ou inuenter 17 Pourtant faitz de moy en toutes choses ainsy qu’il te plaira: car tout ce que tu fais ne poeut estre autrement que bien. 18 Sy tu veulx que ie soye en lumiére, ie t’en mercië

108. meine second-person singular imperative of “meiner,” equivalent to modern “emmener”; “leade” (KP). 109. Voycy Look here; “Look” (KP). 110. cuer . . . affection cuer coeur (heart). et affection Elizabeth’s addition. 111. la . . . griefves la . . . pacification true pacification; “veraie true peace” (KP). toy toy Inadvertent repetition across a line break. griefves painful, sorrowful; “greuous” (KP). 112. vn . . . soulas a special pleasure to lack all worldly pleasure / solace, rendering “special solace . . . to lacke all worldly solace.” As revealed by Elizabeth’s two nouns, “plaisir” and “soulas” (the latter meaning both ‘pleasure’ and ‘solace’ in sixteenth-century French), KP plays with the early modern double sense of “solace” as both ‘pleasure’ and ‘comfort, consolation.’ 113. dieu “Jesu” (KP). Other instances of this rendering occur in versicles 27, 41, 44, 50, 65, 156, 176.

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treshumblement:114 sy tu veulx que ie soye en tenebres, soys en pareillement loué115 19 Sy tu daignes me conforter, ie t’en mercië grandement:116 et sy tu veulx que ie viue en tribulation et sans consolation: soys en semblablement loué.117 20 Seigneur dieu donne moy grace de ioyeusement souffrir quelque chose que tu voudras qui m’aduienne et de paciemment receuoir de ta main, bien et mal, doux et amer, ioye et douleur; et pour quelque chose qui m’aduienne te mercier du bon du cuer118 21 O seigneur garde moy de peche; car s’ainsy est, adonc ne craindray-je mort ny damnation. 22 O quel mercis te doibs-je rendre qui as souffert si griefue mort en la croix affin de me deliurer de mes pechéz, et que m’obtinsses119 vië eternelle. 23 Tu nous donnas tresparfaite exemple de pacience en accomplissant et obeissant au vouloir de ton pere iusques a la mort 24 O moy miserable pecheur, fais que ie m’accoustume120 en toutes choses selon ton vouloir: et que paciemment ie porte le faix de ceste vië coruptible. 25 Car iaçoit-ce que121 cest vië soit fascheuse, et soit a mon ame vn tres pesant fardeau: ce nonobstant par ta grace, et par lexemple de toy, il est maintenant beaucoup plus aysé, et confortable, qu’il n’estoit deuant ton incarnation et passion. 26 Ta sainte vië est nostre droit122 chemin pour aller vers toy: et par te suiure, nous cheminons vers toy, qui es nostre chef et sauueur: et sy tu ne fusses allé deuant, et ne nous eusses monstré le chemin d’eternelle vië: qui est celuy qui eust tasché de te suiure voyans que encor nous 114. ie . . . treshumblement I thank Thee most humbly; “be thou blessed” (KP). 115. soys . . . loué be Thou in the same manner praised; “be thou like-wyse euer blessed” (KP). 116. ie . . . grandement I greatly thank Thee; “be thou highly blessed” (KP). 117. soys . . . loué be Thou also praised; “be thou likewyse euer blessed” (KP). 118. du bon . . . cuer Modern “du bon coeur”; “heartily” (KP). 119. que m’obtinisses so that Thou couldst obtain for me. KP preserves parallel phrasing, “to obteyn . . . for me.” 120. fais . . . m’accoustume make me get used to; “Make me . . . obediently to use my selfe” (KP). 121. iaçoit-ce que ja soit ce que, jaçoit que, “although.” 122. droit straight. Elizabeth’s addition.

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sommes paresseux, et durs d’esprit,123 ayans toutesfois la lumiere de ta benoiste exemple et saincte doctrine pour nous mener, et conduire [2]7124 O seigneur dieu, faitz ce par ta grace possible, qui m’est par nature impossible [2]8 Tu congnois bien que peu ie puis souffrir, et que par peu d’aduersité ie suis incontinent abatu, et renuersé: pourtant, o seigneur ie te suply que par ton sainct ésprit me vueilles corroborer, affin que voluntairement ie puisse souffrir pour l’amour de toy, toute maniére d’affliction et tribulation 29 O seigneur ie m’accuse enuers toy de toute mon injustice: et te confesse toute l’instabilité de mon cuer 30 Souuentesfois bien peu de chose me trouble fort, et me cause estre dur d’esprit, et paresseux a te seruir 31 Et aucunesfois ie propose a mon pouoir d’y résister mais quant vn peu de tribulacion m’aduient ce m’est tresgrand’ et griefue angoisse; et de bien peu de chose sesleue tresgrande tentacion.125 32 Car quant ie pense126 estre asseuré et fort, et que ainsy qu’il me semble i’ay l’aduantage: soudainement par vn petit tourbillon du vent de tentacion, ie me sens prest de tumber 33 Pourtant o seigneur regarde mon impotence, et considere ma fragilité laquelle tu congnois le mieulx 34 Ayes mercy de moy, et me delyure de tout peché et iniquité acellefin que ie ne soye accablé d’iceux127 35 Il m’est souuentesfois fort grief, et cela quasi me consond, de ce que ie suis sy instable, sy feible et fragile, pour resister aux motions iniques: lesquelles, combien qu’elles ne me causent de128 consentir, ce nonobstant me sont leurs assaulx tresgriefz. 36 Et iaçoit ce quil me fasche de viure en telle bataille, toutefois 123. durs d’esprit hard of spirit, dull of mind, rendering “dull,” as in versicle 30. 124. [2]7 Elizabeth misnumbered versicles 27 and 28 as “17” and “18” but resumed correct sequencing with 29. 125. propose . . . tentacion propose . . . pouoir propose according to my ability; “purpose” (KP). resister resist; “stande strongly” (KP) has the sense of ‘forcefully confront.’ sesleue s’esleue. tentacion trial; “temptacion” (KP), with the same sense. 126. pense “thynke my selfe” (KP). 127. acellefin . . . d’iceux acellefin à celle fin. accablé d’iceux oppressed by them; “intangled therewith” (KP). 128. consond . . . de consond A penslip for “confond.” Elizabeth neglected to bar a long s. combien que although. ne . . . de do not make me; “drawe me not alway to” (KP).

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i’aperçoy qu’elle ne m’est pas dommageable: car par ce ie congnois mes infirmitéz et m moymesme de mieulx, sachant qu’à toy129 seullement ie doibs requerir aïde. 37 O seigneur dieu d’israel, amateur de tous vrais fidéles, ie te ie te pry de daigner regarder la peine et douleur de moy ta poure créature. 38 Et que ta grace m’asiste en toutes choses, et tellement me corrobore par force céleste, que mon cruel ennemy, le diable, ny aussi mon miserable corps, lequel n’est encor du tout subiect a l’ésprit n’ayent victoire, ou seigneurië par dessus moy 39 O quel nom pourroys ie donner a ceste vie mortelle, la ou tribulacion et misere ne cessent d’y continuer, et la ou tout est plein de retz et filéz130 de mortelz ennemys. 40 Car incontinent qu’vne tribulation ou tentation est passée, vn autre tout subit suruient: et n’estant encor le premier conflict passé,131 vne bataille soudainement s’esleue 41 Pourtant seigneur dieu ie te pry donne moy la grace que ie puisse consister et me pacifier en toy sur toute gloire, honneur, dignité, et pouoir, sur tout art science, et engin, sur toute santé, beauté, honneur, richesse, et tresor, sur toute ioyë et soulas, sur toute renommée et louenge sur toute melodië132 et consolation que le cuer de l’homme pourroit prendre et sentir sans toy. 42 Car toy seigneur dieu es treshault, tressage,133 trespuissant,

129. Et . . . toy Et . . . fasche And although it wearies / annoys me. “And it is tedious to me” (KP). dommageable hurtful, rendering “vnprofytable” (KP). à toy “at thy handes” (KP). 130. quel . . . filéz quel . . . mortelle what name may I give this mortal life? “what a life mai this be called” (KP). retz . . . filéz nets and snares; Elizabeth’s doublet for “snares” (KP). 131. tout . . . passé tout subit Modern “tout subitement, tout aussitôt” (right away); “by and by” (KP), in the sense of ‘immediately.’ In versicle 127, Elizabeth’s “tout subit” renders “streight” in the sense of ‘immediately.’ n’estant encore . . . passé not yet being passed; “yet durynge” (KP). 132. grace . . . melodië grace . . . en toy Elizabeth condenses “grace to rest in the aboue all thynges, and to quiete me in the aboue all creatures.” consister rest unmoving; “rest” (KP). sur toute . . . melodië Elizabeth’s list omits three of the occurrences of “above all,” which KP repeats seven times; it also inadvertently repeats “honneur,” which appears as the second item in KP’s list. soulas “pleasure” (KP). melodië melody. Elizabeth’s odd translation of KP’s “myrthe” was probably suggested by the medieval and Renaissance association of melodiousness with mirth registered in the proverbial expression “mirth and melody.” 133. es . . . tressage As in her Latin version, Elizabeth does not translate the first adjective in KP’s series, “beste.” She also exchanges the order of KP’s “moste wise, moste high.”

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tressuffisant, et tresplein de toutes bontez. tresdoulx, tresconfortable, tresbéau, tresamiable, tresnoble, tresglorieux et en qui toutes bontéz tresparfaitement consistent 43 Et pourtant quelque chose que i’ayë sans toy, ce ne m’est rien: car car mon cuer ne se poeut plainement134 pacifier, sinon en toy seulement. 44 O seigneur dieu éspoux tresamiable qui sera ce qui me donera aelles135 de tresparfaite amour affin que ie puisse voller enhault, hors de ces mondaines miseres, et me reposer en toy 45 O quant sera ce que ie monteray enuers toy, affin de veoir136 et sentir la douceur qui est en toy 46 Quant sera ce que sy tresparfaitement ie m’assembleray auec toyque par la feruente amour que i’auray en toy ie ne me puisse sentir moymesme, mais toy seullement mieulx que moy137 et par dessus toutes choses mondaines affin que daignes me visiter ainsy que tu visites tes plus loyaulx amans 47 Maintenant, et souuent ie me deulx,138 et complains a cause des miseres de ce monde, et les seuffre en grant douleur et angoisse. 48 Car plusieurs cas iournellement m’aduiennent lesquelz souuentefois me troublent, m’apesantissent et obfusquent l’entendement 49 Ilz me reculent grandement, et ostent mon affection d’auec toy, et en plusieurs maniéres m’enconbrent tellement que ie ne puis du tout te desirer, ny auoir tes douces consolations, lesquelles auec tes benoistz sainctz continuellement consistent.139 50 Ie te suply (o seigneur dieu140 que les souspirs et interieurs desirs de mon cuer te puissent ésmouuoir et incliner a m’ouyr 51 O iésus roy d’eternelle gloire ioye ioy et confort de tous chrestiens qui sont errans au desert de ce monde mon cuer crië a toy par desir 134. plainement pleinement; “fully” (KP). 135. aelles Modern “ailles” (wings). 136. veoir Modern “voir”; “see” (KP). 137. mieulx . . . moy better than I; “aboue my selfe” (KP). 138. me deulx first person singular of “se douloir”; “I . . . mourne” (KP). 139. ostent . . . consistent ostent . . . toi take my sentiment / thought from Thee; “put my mynde from the” (KP). d’avec Here, as often, an equivalent of “de” (from). m’enconbrent A penslip for “m’encombrent”; “encombre me” (KP). ie . . . tout I cannot wholly; “I can not freely, and clerely” (KP). “Clearly” has its former sense of ‘completely, unreservedly.’ continuellement consistent always reside; “be alwaie present” (KP). 140. dieu Elizabeth omits the close parenthesis.

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continuel, et ma silence parle a toy, et dit: o que mon seigneur dieu demeure a141 venir vers moy 52 Seigneur vien, et me visites, car sans toy ie n’ay nulle ioye:142 sans toy mon ame est dolente, et faschée 53 Ie suis en prison lië, et enferré en fers de douleur, iusques a ce que toy, o seigneur par ta gracieuse présence me daignes visiter, et me réduire en liberté et ioye de l’esprit et me monstrer ta fauorable contenance. 54 Seigneur ouure loeil de mon cuer143 affin que ie puisse contempler ta loy, et m’enseigne comme ie doy cheminer en la voye de tes commandemens 55 Faitz que ie congnoisse et suiue ton vouloir, et que i’aye tousiours en souuenance la pluralité de tes benefices affin que ie puisse rendre graces144 deuës pour iceulx 56 Mais ie congnois, et confesse pour vray que ie ne suis suffisant de te rendre mercis condignes pour le moindre bénéfice que tu m’as donné 57 O seigneur dieu, quelque don ou vertu145 que l’homme ayt en son corps ou ame, naturel ou super naturel, c’est ton don et procéde de toy, et non de nousmesmes; et demonstre la grand richesse de ta bonté, et mercy146 enuers nous. 58 Et combien qu’aucuns ayent plus de dons que les autres, cenonobstant147 tous procédent de toy: et sans toy on ne pourroit auoir le moindre

141. errans . . . a errans wandering; “wandrynge as pylgrims” (KP). desir continuel KP reads “stil desires,” meaning ‘silent desires,’ as indicated by “silence” in the next clause. Here and in the Italian version, Elizabeth translates as if “still” here had its early modern sense of ‘continual, constant,’ but “tacitis” in her Latin version gives the appropriate sense. ma silence “Silence” was sometimes feminine in Renaissance French. demeure a delay; “taryeth” (KP). 142. vien . . . ioye vien Modern “viens” (imperative); “Come” (KP). me visites A penslip for “me visite,” equivalent to modern imperative “visite-moi.” nulle ioye no joy; “no true ioye” (KP). 143. loeil . . . cuer Modern French “l’oeil de mon coeur” (eye of my heart). Elizabeth’s figurative expansion of “my herte” (KP) echoes Ephesians 1:18. 144. rendre graces Elizabeth does not translate “to the[e].” 145. quelque . . . vertu whatever gift or virtue; “al giftes and vertues” (KP). 146. mercy pity; “mercy” (KP). 147. cenonobstant ce nonobstant (despite this fact); “yet” (KP).

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59 O seigneur i’éstime ce a grand benéfice, de n’auoir plusieurs biens de ce monde, par lesquelz la louenge148 des hommes puisse aueugler mon ame, et la deceuoir 60 Seigneur ie congnois que nul homme ne doibt estre esbahy ou mescontent de ce qu’il est en bas éstat en ce monde, et de ce qu’il a faute des plaisirs d’iceluy mais plustost estre ioyeux, et s’en resiouyr 61 A cause que tu as choisy tes seruiteurs, et familiers, ceux qui sont poures et humbles, et telz qui sont despriséz du monde 62 Tes benoistz apostres en sont tesmoings, lesquelz tu feiz principaux pasteurs et spirituelz gouuerneurs de ton troupeau, lesquelz aussy se departirent du conseil des iuifz, s’esiouissans de ce qu’ilz estoient dignes d’estre redarguéz pour l’amour de ton nom149 63 Ainsy o segneur150 octroys moy que ie (ton seruiteur) puisse estre aussy content d’estre éstimé le moindre, comme autres sont d’estre éstiméz les plus grans, et que ie soye aussy content d’estre du moindre estat qu’au plus hault et aussy ioyeux de n’estre en nulle reputacion de ce monde comme les autres sont d’estre nobles, et renomméz 64 Seigneur dieu il affiert a vn homme de iamais ne sequestrer, ou aliéner151 son entendement d’auec toy, et entre plusieurs solicitudes mondaines, d’estre sans soucy: et nompas ainsy qu’une personne oysiue, ou dissoluë, mais par la prerogatiue d’un franc courage,152 tousiours contempler les choses céléstes, sans se adhérer par afféction desordonnée, a quelque creature que ce soit. 65 Pourtant ie te suply (o seigneur dieu) garde moy des superflues solicitudes de ce monde que ie ne soye esmeu par necessitez corporelles ne que ie ne soye surpris par les voluptéz, et plaisirs du monde, et de la chair 66 Préserue moy ame de toutes choses qui engardent mon ame de santé: affin que ie ne soye renuersé en icelles

148. louenge praise; “laude and prayse” (KP). 149. pour . . . nom for the love of Thy name. Expands “for thy name,” rendered more literally in the Latin and Italian versions. 150. segneur seigneur; “lorde” (KP). 151. affiert . . . aliéner affiert . . . home it befits a man, rendering KP’s “it is the worke of a perfeite man,” i.e., ‘it is a perfect man’s task.’ Elizabeth does not translate “perfect,” as she does in her Latin and Italian versions. affiert a befits. sequester . . . aliéner “sequester” (KP). 152. franc courage free heart / thought / sentiments; “free mynde” (KP).

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67 O seigneur dieu toy qui es douceur indicible, faitz que tous plaisirs charnelz153 me semblent amers, lesquelz me pourroient retirer de l’amour des choses éternelles, a aymer villains plaisirs et volupté trésbriefue 68 Ne vueilles permettre, o seigneur, que chair, ou sang me puissent surmonter ne que le monde par vaine gloire me deçoiue, ne que l’ennemy par ses cauteleuses et fraudes vulpines154 me puisse supplanter: mais donne moy force spirituelle en les résistant, pacience en les souffrant, et constance en perséuérant iusques à la fin. 69 Donne moy en lieu de toutes consolations155 mondaines, la trésdouce consolation de ton saint ésprit, et en lieu de toute amour charnelle, douë mon ame de feruente amour enuers toy. 70 Donne a mon ame la force intérieure, et en deiéttes toutes dommageables cures, et sollicitudes156 qui sont en ce monde, affin que affin que ie ne soye conduit par instables desirs de choses mondaines: mais que ie puisse reputer toutes choses de ce monde, ainsy qu’elles sont, transitoires, et tost esuanouyes, et moymesme aussi auec elles tirant vers ma fin. 71 Car quelque chose qui soit souz le soleil ne peut longuement durer: mais tout est vanité et affliction d’ésprit. 72 Pourtant, o seigneur, donne moy sapience céléste affin que ie puisse apprendre a te sercher, et trouuer, et sur toutes choses t’aymer. 73 Donne moy grace que ie puisse me retirer de ceulx qui me flattent: et que paciemment ie seuffre ceulx qui iniustement me griesuent157 74 O seigneur daignes moy secourir quant aucune tentation ou tribulation m’aduiendra: affin qu’elle se puisse tourner en consolation spirituelle, et que paciemment ie seuffre et tousiours dië,158 ton nom soit beneist

153. charnelz carnal; “worldly and fleshly” (KP). 154. l’ennemy . . . vulpines the devil by means of his tricky and foxlike deceits; “the fend, with his manyfolde craftes” (KP). l’ennemy A common sixteenth-century French term for the devil. cauteleuses . . . vulpines “fraudes cauteleuses et vulpines” would be the more usual word order. 155. consolations “delectacions” (KP). 156. en deiéttes . . . solicitudes cast away from it [my soul] all harmful cares and solicitudes; “caste out thereof al vnprofitable cares” (KP). deiéttes Early modern imperative form of “dejeter.” 157. griesuent do harm or wrong to (early modern sense of verb “gr[i]ever”); cognate with “greue” (KP), which has the same senses in early modern English. 158. tentation . . . dië tentation trial, cognate with “temptacion” (KP). elle A reference to “tentation ou tribulation” (trial or tribulation); “all” (KP). dië Former first-person subjunctive of “dire,” modern “dise”; “saye” (KP).

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75 O seigneur dieu tribulation s’approche maintenant, ie suis en malaise et grandement véxé par ceste presente affliction. O tresglorieux pére que ferayie, car tribulation et angoisse me costoyent tousiours; pourtant ie te pry maintenant m’ayder et mais que ie soye parfaitement humilië´ et du tout deliuré par toy, donc, o seigneur, las159 ie te glorifieray. 76 Pourtant ie te pry’ qu’il te plaise me pardonner:160 car, o moy miserable pecheur, que doibs-ie faire, et ou pourrois-ie sercher secours, sinon a toy. 77 Donne moy maintenant, et a tousiours pacience en toutes mes tribulations: o seigneur ayde moy, et adonc ne craindray-ie quelque tribulation qui m’aduienne 78 Que diray-ie maintenant, sinon que ton vouloir soit faict en moy; i’ay deseruy que ie soye trouble et tourmenté: pourtant fault il que ie seuffre aussy long temps qu’il te plaira. 79 Mais pleust a dieu que ie peusse ioyeusement souffrir, iusques a ce que toutes furieuses tempestes fussent passees; et que repos de l’entendement161 me fust reuenu. 80 O seigneur ta main puissante est asséz forte pour m’oster de ceste tribulation et adoucir les cruelz assaulx d’icelle, ainsi que tu as faict plusieurs fois par cy deuant, affin que ne soye par iceulx surmonté et que apres ce que ie feray du tout deliuré,162 ie puisse ioyeusement dire: la main droite d’iceluy qui est le plus hault, a faict ce change 81 Seigneur dieu ottroy moy ta singuliere grace, affin que ie puisse venir la ou personne ne me puisse empescher ne m’engarder de la contemplation de ta face:163 Car aussy long temps qu’aucune chose

159. ferayie . . . las ferayie ferai-je. mais que provided that; “whan” (KP). las Probably a misspelling of “là” in the sense of ‘at that moment, in that circumstance.’ 160. pardoner “deliuer” (KP). 161. pleust . . . l’entendement pleust . . . dieu would to God. peusse I might be able (imperfect subjunctive); modern “pusse.” l’entendement understanding; “herte” (KP). 162. m’oster . . . deliuré m’oster . . . tribulation to remove me from this tribulation, “to take this trouble from me” (KP). ainsi . . . deliuré Elizabeth reorders the clausal sequence: “that I be not ouercome with theim, as thou hast oftentymes dooen, before this tyme, that whan I am cleerely deliuered by the.” par cy devant before today; “before this tyme” (KP). 163. empescher . . . face keep me or hinder me from the contemplation of Thy face; “let me, ne kepe me frome the perfeit beholding of the” (KP). engarder hinder, prevent, synonymous with KP’s “let” in its early modern sense of ‘hinder, prevent.’

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transitoire m’en engarde, ou maistrise, ie ne puis franchement aller vers toy. 82 O seigneur sans toy rien ne me poeut longuement delecter ou complaire car sy aucune chose me plaist ou m’est fauourable,164 il fault que ce soit par l’aide de ta grace, assaisonnée de l’espice de ta sapience 83 O lumiére eternelle surpassant toutes choses enuoye d’enhault icy bas les raidz de ta lumiére purifie et illumine l’intérieure partie de mon cuer 84 Excite mon ame et tout le pouoir d’icelle, affin qu’elle se puisse adhérer, et ioindre a toy, estant rauië en ioyé spirituelle. 85 O quant viendra l’heure que tu me visiteras, et me resiouiras par ta sainte présence? quant seras tu auec moy pour tousiours, et a iamais?165 car véritablement nulle parfaite ioyë ne poeut estre en moy, iusques a ce qu’ainsy soit. 86 Mais hélas mon premier pére166 c’est adire mes afféctions charnelles ne sont encor crucifiees ne ne167 parfaitement mortifiees 87 Car encor éstriue le corps encontre168 l’ésprit et ésmeut grand’ bataille intérieurement a l’encontre de moy, et ne seuffre que le royaume de mon ame viue en paix. 88 Mais toy, o seigneur, qui as la seigneurië sur toutes choses, et pouoir en la mair de mitiger la rage et motion169 d’icelle: leue toy et m’ayde, et déstruis le pouoir de mes ennemis lesquelz tousiours bataillent encontre moy. demonstre la grandeur de ta bonté, et que le pouoir de ta main droite soit glorifië´ en moy: car ie n’ay autre aide ne refuge, sinon qu’en toy seullement, mon dieu, mon seigneur, a qui on doibt honneur, et gloire éternelle 89 O seigneur ottroy moy que ie me puisse du tout résigner, et submettre a toy: et que paciemment ie porte ma croix, et te suiue 164. fauourable propitious. KP’s “sauory” has the early modern sense of ‘(spiritually) delightful.’ 165. auec . . . iamais with me always and forever. KP’s “to me al in all,” translated more literally in the Latin and Italian versions, echoes Paul’s claim that God will at last be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28). 166. mon . . . pére “my first father.” KP reads “myne olde man,” echoing the distinctive vocabulary of Romans 6:6, as the immediately following phrase, “that is my carnal affections,” makes clear. Elizabeth identifies Paul’s “old man” of sinful desires with her “first father” Adam, who brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12). 167. ne ne An inadvertent repetition across a line break. 168. éstriue . . . encontre éstriue struggle, attempt. encontre Modern “contre” (against). 169. rage et motion “rages and surges” (KP).

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90 O seigneur, quelle chose est ce que de l’homme? que tu daignes te challoir de luy et le visiter. 91 Tu es tousiours tout vn: tousiours bon, tousiours saint, et iuste; saintement, et iustement disposant toutes choses selon ta sapience. 92 Mais ie suis misérable, et de moy mesme tousiours prest a mal faire, sans iamais demourer en vn mesme estat: car souuentesfoys ie varie et change. 93 Ce neantmoins il me sera mieux quant il te plaira: car toy, o seigneur, es iceluy seul qui me poeuz aÿder, et tellement me confermer, et établir, que mon cuer ne se retirera de moy,170 mais sera seurement fixé, et finablement se reposera, et pacifiera en toy. 94 Ie ne suis rien qui soit deuant tes yeulx,171 sinon vne créature inconstante et feible; et pourtant, de quoy est ce que ie me pourroye a droit glorifier? or pourquoy est ce que ie penserois estre magnifié? 95 Quiconques se pense complaire sans toy, iceluy te desplaist; et celuy qui se délecte èn la louenge des hommes, iceluy défaict172 la vrayë louenge deuant tes ÿeux. 96 La vrayë louenge est d’estre éstimé de toy: et la vraië liesse173 est de se resiouir en toy: pourtant o seigneur ton nom soit loué, et nompas le mien. 97 Tes oeuures, non les miennes, soient magnifiees: et ta bonté soit tousiours louee, et santifiee. 98 Tu es ma gloire, et la ioye de mon cuer; en toy ie me glorifieray et resiouïray, et nompas en moymesme: ny en aucuns honneurs, ou dignitéz mondaines, lesquélz, qui les voudroit équiparer a ta gloire éternelle174 ce ne seroit qu’un vmbre, et vanité tresgrande.175 99 O seigneur, nous viuons icy en grand’ obscurité et tenebres, et sommes tost deceuz par les vanitéz de ce monde, et subitement greuéz par vn peu de tribulation: mais si ie me pouoie parfaitement 170. poeuz . . . moy poeuz Standardly, “peuz”; modern “peux.” moy A penslip for “toy.” Elizabeth translates correctly in the Latin and Italian versions. 171. Ie . . . yeulx I am nothing before Thine eyes; “I am nothyng elles of my selfe but vanitie before the” (KP). 172. défaict defeats, destroys. KP’s “loseth” has both its modern sense and its earlier one of ‘ruin, destroy.’ Elizabeth’s Latin and Italian renderings, “perdit” and “perda,” have similar semantic ranges. 173. liesse (now archaic) joy. 174. lesquélz . . . éternelle which, whoever would compare them to Thy eternal glory; “whiche to thy eternall glory compared” (KP). équiparer compare. 175. tresgrande “veraie” (KP), in both senses of ‘very’ and ‘true.’

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congnoistre, ie verroye plainement que quelque tribulation que i’ayë soufferte, elle m’est aduenuë pour iuste cause, pourtant que176 souuentes-foys i’ay péché, et tresgriefuement offensé. 100 Et pourtant confusion, et honte me sont de droit deuës: mais le tout soit a ton honneur, gloire et louenge. 101 O seigneur enuoye moy aÿde en mes tribulations: car l’aide hommes177 ne vault gueres. 102 O, quantesfois ay-ie este deçeu, là ou ie pensoye trouuer amitié! et quantes foys l’ay-ie trouuee la ou ie la pensoye moindre! 103 Pourtant est ce chose vaine chose de se fier en l’homme: car la vraye et santé de santé de l’homme, est en toy seullement 104 Et pourtant louë soys tu178 pour quelque chose qu’il nous aduienne: car nous sommes feibles et inconstans, tost deceuz et changez d’une chose, en autre 105 O seigneur dieu, iuge tresiuste fort, et pacient lequel congnois la fragilité179 de l’homme: soyes ma consolation et force totale en toutes mes necessitéz: car ma conscience (o seigneur) ne suffit pas. 106 Et pourtant i’en appelle a ta mercy, voyant que nul ne poeut estre iustifié ne estre veu iuste deuant tes yeulx, sy tu l’éxamines selon ta iustice. 107 O la benoiste demeure de ta cité céléstielle, o trescler iour perpétuel lequel la nuict ne poeut iamais obscurçir 108 Voycy le iour tousiours clair, et ioyeulx, tousiours seur et sans iamais en riens changer 109 Pleust a dieu que ce iour de bref 180 s’apparust, et qu’il luisist sur nous, et que ces fantasies mondaines fussent finies. 110 Car ce iour d’eternelle clarté reluit clairement a tes saintz qui sont aux cieulx: mais a nous autres qui sommes pélerins en ce monde, il nous esclaire obscurement, et ainsy que sy c’estoit par vn miroir, ou verriére 111 Les citoyens célestes sçavent combien ce iour est plein de liesse, 176. parfaitement . . . que parfaitment congnoistre see perfectly clearly; “beholde . . . wel” (KP). This is one early modern sense of “congnoistre.” pourtant que Modern “parce que”; “because” (KP). 177. l’aide hommes l’aide des hommes; “mannes helpe” (KP). 178. tu Elizabeth does not translate the vocative, “lorde.” 179. fragilité Elizabeth does not translate “and malice.” 180. de bref soon; “shortely” (KP).

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mais nous autres éxiléz,181 et enfans d’éue, plorons, et lamentons l’amertume et fascherië182 de nostre temps, c’est a dire de ceste presente vie briefue, et pleine de douleur et angoisse. 112 La ou l’homme est souuentesfois souillé par péché, embrouillé par affliction, en esmoy183 par tribulation, enueloppé en soucy, empesché par vanitéz, aueuglé par erreur, treschargé de labeur, vexé par tentation, surmonté des vaines voluptéz, et plaisirs de ce monde, et griefuement tourmenté par disette, et nécessité continuelle 113 O quant viendra la fin de tous ces miséres. 114 Quant seray-ie du tout deliuré de la seruitude de péché 115 O seigneur quant sera ce que ie penseray en toy seullement, et que du tout184 auray liesse, et me résiouiray en toy 116 Quant sera ce que ie seray franc sans empeschement, et en parfaicte liberté, sans grief de corps et d’ame. 117 Quant auray-ie paix sans tribulation, paix par dedans, et dehors, et d’un chacun costé 118 O seigneur dieu quant sera ce que ie te verray: affin que ie puisse iouyr de la contemplation de ta gloire.185 119 Quant seras tu en moy du tout en tout: et quant seray-ie auec toy en ton royaume, lequel tu as ordonné pour tes ésleuz, des le commencement 120 Ie suis icy delaissé poure, et ainsy qu’un homme banny au pais de mes ennemys, la ou iournellement ya186 batailles, et grandes infortunes 121 Mityge187 mon éxil, et soulage ma douleur; car c’est tout mon desir que d’estre auec toy. 122 Quelque plaisir qui me soit icy presenté en ce monde, me semble vn désplaisant fardeau. 123 Ie desire d’auoir intérieure iouissance de toy, mais ie n’y puis aduenir

181. éxiléz exiles. See n66 above. 182. amertume et fascherië bitterness and weariness; “bitter tediousenesse” (KP). 183. en esmoy in sorrow or disquiet; “inquieted” (KP). 184. du tout wholly; “fully” (KP). 185. quant . . . gloire quant . . . verray when shall I see Thee; “whan shall I stande and beholde the” (KP). affin . . . gloire so that I may delight in the contemplation of Thy glory; “and haue full sight and contemplacion of thy glorie” (KP). 186. homme . . . ya homme banny banished man; “outlawe” (KP). ya y a; “be” (KP). 187. Mityge Soften, ease (imperative); “Comforte” (KP).

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124 Ie desire de fermement m’adhérer aux choses céléstes, mais les affections mondaines me retirent icy bas 125 Ie voudroye bien subiuguer mes affections mais elles se rebellent et mutinent iournellement a l’encontre de moy, et ne veulent s’asubiétir a mon ésprit 126 Et par ainsy, moy misérable pécheur éstriue en moymesme, et me tourmente, ce pendant que l’ésprit desire d’estre enhault: mais au contraire, ma chair tend a me retirer icy bas. 127 O que ie seuffre interieurement, car quant i’entreprens aux choses céléstes, tout subit vne grande multitude de pensées mondaines se fourrent en mon ame. 128 Et pourtant, o seigneur, ne t’absente pas trop long temps; et ne depars pas de moy en ta fureur. 129 Enuoye moy la lumiére de ta grace et déstruis tous les desirs charnélz qui sont en moy. 130 Enuoye moy l’ardante flamme de ton amour, affin de brusler, et consumer les nébuleuses afféctions188 de mon entendement. 131 O seigneur plaise toy recueillir en toy les éspritz et pouoir de mon ame; et faitz que desprise189 toutes choses mondaines: et que par ta grace vaillamment ie resiste et surmonte toutes motions et occasions de peché 132 O toy qui es vérité éternelle, ie te pry de m’ayder affin que doresnauant nulle fraude ny vanité n’ayt pouoir de me deceuoir. 133 O toy qui es douceur céléste, ie ie190 te pry venir a moy, et faictz que toute amertume de péche s’enfuyë loing de moy. 134 Ie te pry me pardonner toutes et quantesfois que ie fais oraison n’ayant du tout en toy l’ésprit ententif 191 135 Car souuentesfois ie ne suis pas la ou ie suis debout ou assis, mais plustost la ou mes pensees m’emportent. 136 Car la ie suis, ou mon penser est: et la ou ordinairement est ma pensee, la est ce que i’ayme. 137 Et le plus souuent il me souuient de ce qui par coustume me plaist le mieulx: et en cela prens ie le plus de plaisir d’y penser. 188. afféctions passions, desires; “fantasies” (KP). 189. que desprise that I despise. As she sometimes does in English and as is common in early sixteenth-century French, Elizabeth omits the subject pronoun, “ie.” 190. ie ie An inadvertent repetition across a line break. 191. toutes . . . ententif toutes et quantesfois every time that; “as ofte as” (KP). du tout . . . ententif wholly . . . attentive; “surely fixed” (KP).

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138 Car ainsy que tu dis en l’éuangile:192 la ou le tresor de l’homme est, la est son cuer 139 Et pourtant si i’ayme paradis et et193 les choses qui sont de dieu, et qui affierent a son honneur, et a la gloire de son saint nom, i’en parleray ioyeusement. 140 Si i’ayme le monde, i’aymeray a deuiser des choses mondaines, et me resiouiray incontinent des prosperitéz de ce monde, et seray tost contristé des aduersitéz194 141 Si i’ayme mon corps,195 i’ymagine et considere souuent quelle chose luy doibt plaire. 14[2]196 Si i’ayme mon ame adonc prens-ie plaisir de parler et ouyr choses qui sont necessaires pour sa santé. 143 Et si i’ayme aucune chose, i’en parle, et en oy vouluntiers parler, et en ay tousiours l’ymage et effigië197 en mon entendement. 144 O seigneur bien heureux est celuy lequel pour l’amour de toy ne tient compte des plaisirs de ce monde et qui aussy aprent à dompter soymesme, et par l’ardeur de l’esprit crucifië son corps, tellement que d’une conscience pure, et nette il te puisse faire oraison, et estre accepté en la compaignee de tes benoistz sainctz, ayant obmis de son entendement toutes choses terrestes 145 O seigneur dieu, pere sainct, beneict198 soys tu maintenant, et a tousiours: car tout est ainsy que tu veulx, et tout ce que tu fais est tousiours pour le mieulx. 146 Permetz, o seigneur,199 que ie (ton humble et indigne seruiteur) me puisse resiouyr en toy seullement, et nompas en moy mesme, ny en aucune autre chose qu’en toy seullement. 147 Car toy, o seigneur, es ma ioië, mon éspérance, ma couronne et tout mon honneur.

192. l’euangile Matthew 6:21. See n77. 193. et et An inadvertent repetition across a line break. 194. prosperitéz . . . aduersitéz prosperitéz “felicitee” (KP). seray . . . aduersitéz I will soon soon be saddened by adversities. “I . . . sorowe, and lament soone for worldly aduersitee” (KP). 195. mon corps my body; “the flesshe” (KP). 196. 14[2] Elizabeth misnumbered this versicle “143.” 197. l’ymage et effigië “the ymages” (KP). 198. beneict A penslip for “benedict” (sixteenth-century form of “béni” [blessed]); “blessed” (KP). 199. o seigneur Elizabeth’s addition.

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148 Quelle chose est ce que ton seruiteur a qu’il n’ayt de toy, et sans l’auoir deseruy. 149 Toutes choses sont tiennes, tu les as faictes, et créêes.200 150 Ie suis poure, et ay este tousiours troublé et en peine des mon enfance; et mon ame a eu grant ennuy par diuerses passions lesquelles procedent du monde, et de la chair. 151 Pourtant seigneur ie te prie que ie puisse obtenir de toy, la ioye de paix intérieure. 152 Ie te requier que ie puisse paruenir a repos qui est ordonné pour tes ésleuz lesquelz sont repeuz,201 et nourriz de la lumiére de céléste consolation: car sans ton ayde ie ne puis paruenir a toy. 153 Seigneur donne moy paix, donne moy ioye intérieure, et lors sera mon ame pleine de mélodie céléste, deuote, et feruente pour te priser et louer.202 154 Mais si tu te retires de moy ainsi qu’aucunefois as fait:203 adonc ne pourra ton seruiteur suiure la v voye de tes commandemens ainsi que i’ay fait par auant 155 Car il ne m’est pas ainsy qu’il m m’estoit quant la lanterne de ta spirituelle presence luisoit sur mon chef et estant dessoubz l’umbre de tes aelles estois gardé204 de tous perilz et dangers 156 O seigneur dieu miséricordieux digne d’estre tousiours loué: le temps est venu que tu veulx esprouuer ton seruiteur, et c’est raison que maintenant ie seuffre pour l’amour de toy.205 157 Or est venue l’heure que tu as congneu des le commencement que ton seruiteur seroit extérieurement mesprisé pour vn temps et que intérieurement seriez son appuy206 158 Et aussy qu’il seroit desprisé, et affligé deuant le monde affin que 200. créêes i.e., créées; “create” (past participle; KP). 201. repeuz repus (fed); “fedde” (KP). 202. te . . . louer to esteem and praise Thee; “in thy laudes and praisynges” (KP). Elizabeth probably misconstrued “priser” (esteem) as equivalent to its English cognate “praise.” 203. as fait (Thou) hast done. Elizabeth omits the subject pronoun. 204. estois gardé “I was defended” (KP). Elizabeth omits the subject pronoun. 205. veulx . . . toy veulx esprouuer “wilt prove” (future tense) (KP). See n82. pour . . . toy for the love of Thee; “somwhat for the” (KP), where “somewhat” has its archaic sense of ‘something.’ 206. seriez . . . appuy Thou wilt be his support. KP has an infinitive construction, “to leane to the.”

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apres il se puisse releuer auec toy en nouuelle lumiére et estre clarifié et glorifié207 au royaume de paradis. 159 O pere sainct tu as ordonné que ainsy fust; et est ainsy que tu as commandé 160 O seigneur telle est ta grace enuers ton amy, que tu seuffres qu’il ayt tribulation en ce monde pour l’amour de toy toutes et quantesfois qu’il te plaist et de quelque personne que ce soit, et en208 telle maniére que tu veulx qu’il luy aduienne: car quelle chose est ce qui pourroit estre faicte sur la terre sans ton vouloir?209 161 O seigneur il m’en prent bien210 que tu m’as humilié: affin que par cela ie puisse congnoistre tes iustes iugemens, et oster de moy toute maniére de présumption, et grauité de courage.211 162 Il m’est tresprofitable que confusion a couuert ma face affin que par cela ie puisse plustost sercher aÿde et secours en toy qu’en nul autre. 163 J’ay par cela apprins a craindre tes secretz, et terribles jugemens, lesquelz flagélent le iuste, et le pécheur, et non sans équité et iustice 164 O seigneur ie te rends graces de ce que tu n’as éspargné mes péchéz mais m’as batu d’éscourgees de ton amour, et m’as enuoyé au dedans et au dehors punition d’angoisse.212 165 Il n’y a créature soubz le ciel qui me puisse conforter, sinon toy, o seigneur dieu, céléste surgien de l’ame humaine, lequel poeuz naurer, et guarir lequel aussy ameine l’homme pres de mourir, et puis le résuscite; affin que par cela il puisse apprendre a congnoistre la sienne feiblesse et imbécillité et de mieulx se fier en toy213 166 Ta discipline est mise sur moy et ta verge de corréction m’a bien apprins: et pourtant me soubzmetz-ie soubz ceste saincte verge.

207. clarifié . . . glorifié “clarified and made glorious” (KP). The cognates “clarifié” and “clarified” both have the sense of ‘glorified.’ 208. en Elizabeth added this word to the last line on the page, in the right margin. 209. ton vouloir Thy will; “thy wyll or sufferaunce” (KP). 210. il . . . bien An idiomatic sixteenth-century rendering of “It is good to me” (KP). 211. grauité . . . courage pride of heart; “statelinesse of herte” (KP). See n86. 212. punition d’angoisse punishment of anguish; “affliction and anguyshes” (KP). 213. surgien . . . en toy surgien Elizabeth employs an English variant of French “chirurgien” / “cirurgien,” also spelled “sirurgien” or “serurgien” (surgeon, healer, physician). KP’s “leache” is a synonym, sometimes applied to God or Christ. poeuz naurer Thou canst strike, wound; “strikest” (KP). en toy Elizabeth omits the final vocative, “(lorde).”

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167 Frappe mon doz, et mes os ainsy qu’il te plaira; et faitz que mon iniuste vouloir se ployë214 selon ta voulunté 168 Faitz que ie soye simple215 et humble disciple, ainsy que aucunesfois m’as fait; affin que ie puisse cheminer selon ta voulunté. 169 Ie me submetz du tout216 en toy pour estre corrigé: car il vault mieulx estre par toy chastië´en ce monde, qu’il ne faict au temps aduenir 170 Tu congnois toutes choses, et rien de ce qui est en la conscience de l’homme n’est caché de toy 171 Tu sçais toutes choses deuant qu’elles aduiennent: et n’est besoing que quelqu’un t’aduertisse217 d’aucune chose qui soit faicte en ce monde. 172 Tu congnois ce qui m’est profitable, et combien de tribulation me poeut aÿder pour purger la rouilleure218 du péché qui est en moy 173 Faitz de moy selon ton plaisir. ie suis vn misérable pécheur et congneu de personne sy bien que de toy. 174 Ottroye moy (o seigneur) que ie sache ce qui m’est licite de sçauoir, d’aymer ce qu’on doibt aymer, desirer ce qui te plaist, éstimer ce qui t’est précieux a veoir,219 et de refuser ce qui est villain, et infame deuant tes yeulx220 175 Ne seuffre pas que ie juge tes misteres selon mon sens extérieur ne que donne sentence apres auoir ouy 221 l’ignorant, mais que ie puisse par vray iugement discerner choses spirituelles, et sur tout, de tousiours sercher et suiure ton vouloir et plaisir. 176 O seigneur dieu tu es ma richesse, et tout ce que i’ay ie l’ay de toy

214. faitz . . . ployë make my unjust will bend; “make me to bowe my croked will” (KP). 215. simple humble; “meeke” (KP). 216. du tout wholly. Elizabeth’s addition. 217. t’aduertisse warn Thee; “teache the, or warne the” (KP). 218. rouilleure Modern “rouille” (rust). 219. éstimer . . . veoir “that to regarde, that is precious in thy syght” (KP). 220. villain . . . yeulx villain . . . infame vile and disgraceful; “vile” (KP). tes yeulx “the[e]” (KP). 221. apres . . . ouy after having heard. Elizabeth’s rendering of “after the heryng of the ignoraunt” (KP) takes “after” in its temporal sense rather than its contextually more appropriate sense of ‘in accordance with.’

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177 Mais o seigneur, qui suis ie, qui ause parler a toy: Ie suis ta poure creature, et un ver de terre expulsé et banny.222 178 Voicy o seigneur ie n’ay rien et n’ay à moymesme rien vaillant; tu es cestuy dieu seul, sainct et iuste, tu ordonnes toutes choses, tu donnes toutes choses, et par ta bonte tu accomplis toutes choses. 179 Ie suis vn pecheur stérile, et exempt de diuine vertu. 180 Qu’il te souuienne de ta misericorde, et remplis mon cuer de l’abundance de ta grace: car tu ne veulx pas que tes oeuures en moy soient faictes en vain. 181 Comment pourroi-ie porter la misére de ce monde si ce n’est que ta grace et mercy ne m’en garde et me conforte. 182 Ne destourne ta face de moy, ne differes me visiter, et ne retire ta consolation de moy: affin qu’il n’aduienne que sans éau de grace, mon ame ne soit ainsy que terre seche. 183 O seigneur, enseigne moy a accomplir ta voulunté et a viure simplement, et dignemement deuant toy: car tu es mon engin et sapience,223 tu es celuy qui me congnois deuant que le monde fust faict,224 et deuant que ie fusse nay, ne mis en ceste vië mortelle. A toy, o seigneur, soit honneur, gloire, et louenge pour tous iamais Finis225 Oraison pour le roy O seigneur iesuchrist, treshault trespuissant, roy des roys seigneur des seigneurs seul gouuerneur des princes vray filz de dieu lequel seant a sa main dextre voys de ton trosne tous les habitans de la terre: nous de x226 treshumble cuer te desirons, que daignes, d’un regard fauorable, sur 222. ause . . . banny ause Modern “ose”; “dare” (KP). expulsé . . . banny expelled and banished; “most ab[i]ecte” (KP). “Abject” has both its modern sense of ‘downcast’ and its Renaissance sense of ‘cast off, rejected’; Elizabeth’s doublet renders the latter sense. Her Latin and Italian versions use cognates of “abject.” 223. dignemement . . . sapience dignemement A penslip for “dignement”; “worthily” (KP). engin . . . sapience intelligence and wisdom; “wysedome and counnyng” (KP). 224. qui . . . faict Thou art He who knows me before the world was made; “thou art he, that knowest me as I am, that knewest me before the worlde was made” (KP). Elizabeth’s elisions produce an awkward tense shift. 225. Finis Elizabeth omits “Amen. Laudes deum in aeternum. Amen.” 226. x This and the following small x inserted above the line, which together mark off the phrase specifying Henry VIII, appear to be in Elizabeth’s hand and ink. The purpose

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nostre tresgracieux souuerain sire, le roy henry huitiesme, iecter ton oeil,227 et tellement le remplir de la grace de ton sainct ésprit, que tousiours il puisse cheminer en tes voyes, et soit enclin a ton vouloir: garde qu’il soit loing d’ignorance, mais fais, par le don du sainct ésprit que prudence, et sçauoir abundent tousiours en son cuer royal. Instruis le, o seigneur dieu,228 de tellement régner sur nous en terre que sa maiésté humaine soit tousiours en toute peur et crainte, obédiente a ta diuine maiésté. Douë le abundamment de dons céléstes: donne luy luy229 santé et longue vië prospére, assemble sur luy, gloire, et honneur: résiouys le de ton maintien, et contenance:230 donne luy force, et puissance telle, qu’il puisse vaincre et surmonter tous ses ennemys et les nostres, et e estre redoubté et craint de tous les ennemis de son royaume.231 Oraison propre pour ceulx qui entrent en bataille O tréspuissant roy, et seigneur des armees, lequel par tes anges a ce deputéz nous ministres paix et guerre, et qui donnas a dauid force, et courage estant de petite statuë desarmé et inéxpert en faitz de guerre auec vne fonde seullement, d’assaillir, et surmonter le grant monstre goliath: nous, ayant maintenant iuste querelle et estans forcéz d’entrer en bataille,232 te desirons treshumblement, o seigneur dieu des armees, de tellement conuertir le cuer de noz ennemys au desir de paix, que nul sang chrestien ne soit éspandu: ou sinon, o seigneur, octroye nous qu’auec peu d’éffusion de sang, et auec peu de perte, et dommage des innocens nous puissions, a ton honneur, obtenir victoire: et que apres of the marks is unclear. Perhaps, in the course of translating, she thought of expanding this intercessory phrase so that the queen would be included in this prayer. 227. iecter . . . oeil to cast your eye; “to behold” (KP). 228. o . . . dieu “O LORDE Iesu” (KP). 229. luy luy A repetition across a line break. 230. résiouys . . . contenance gladden him with Thy (favorable) visage and countenance; “Glad him with the joye of thy countenance” (KP). “Countenance” primarily means ‘face’ and recalls how the righteous are filled with the joy of God’s “countenance” (in sixteenth-century English Bibles) or “vultus” (in the Vulgate) in Psalm 17:11 (16:11 Vulgate)] and 21:7 (20:7 Vulgate). “Countenance” also has the sense of ‘show of good will or favor.’ Elizabeth’s doublet “maintien, et contenance” has a similar range. 231. donne . . . royaume donne . . . puissance give him force and strength; “strengthe him” (KP). royaume Elizabeth omits the final “Amen.” 232. fonde . . . bataille fonde Modern “fronde” (sling). grant . . . goliath great, monstrous Goliath; “gret huge Goliath” (KP). “Monstre” can apply to a prodigious, terrifying, abnormal man or thing. bataille “warre and battaile” (KP).

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les guerres, tost finies, nous puissions tous d’un mesme cuer et courage nous allier en concorde et vnite, priser, et louer toy qui vis et regnes au monde sans fin233 Finis.

Elizabeth’s Italian translation of Prayers or Meditations ORATIONI, O VERO MEditationi dalle quali la mente é incitata a patientemente patire ogni afflittione, et234 sprezzare la vana prosperita di questo mondo, et sempre desiderare l’eterna beatitudine: raccolte da alcune sante opere, per la valorossima, et humanissima princessa,235 Catherina reina d’inghilterra, francia et hibernia. Tradotte per la signora Elizabetta dalla lingua inglese in vulgare italiano. Epigraph written to face the opening page of this section

Coloss. 3. Se adunque risuscitasti con christo cercate le cose superne, doue e christo sedendo alla destra di dio, cercate le cose superne,236 et non le terrestre 233. courage . . . fin courage “mynde” (KP). priser, et louer to esteem and praise; “laude and prayse” (KP); see n202. fin Elizabeth omits the final “Amen.” 234. et and. One of the many Latinisms that Elizabeth, following the practice of Italian humanists, regularly employs in writing Italian. 235. valorossima . . . princessa valorossima A penslip for “valorosissima” (most courageous, most outstanding). Elizabeth construes “most vertuous” in its now obsolete sense of ‘most full of manly courage, most valorous.’ humanissima most humane, most kind, most learned. Elizabeth’s Latin translation emphasizes the religious resonances of “graciouse” with “pientissimam”; here she stresses the term’s classical humanist resonances by employing Cicero’s superlative, “humanissimus.” princessa An error for “principessa.” 236. cercate . . . superne seek things on high. Elizabeth condenses KP’s quotation of Paul: “Set youre affection on thynges that are aboue” (Colossians 3:2).

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les guerres, tost finies, nous puissions tous d’un mesme cuer et courage nous allier en concorde et vnite, priser, et louer toy qui vis et regnes au monde sans fin233 Finis.

Elizabeth’s Italian translation of Prayers or Meditations ORATIONI, O VERO MEditationi dalle quali la mente é incitata a patientemente patire ogni afflittione, et234 sprezzare la vana prosperita di questo mondo, et sempre desiderare l’eterna beatitudine: raccolte da alcune sante opere, per la valorossima, et humanissima princessa,235 Catherina reina d’inghilterra, francia et hibernia. Tradotte per la signora Elizabetta dalla lingua inglese in vulgare italiano. Epigraph written to face the opening page of this section

Coloss. 3. Se adunque risuscitasti con christo cercate le cose superne, doue e christo sedendo alla destra di dio, cercate le cose superne,236 et non le terrestre 233. courage . . . fin courage “mynde” (KP). priser, et louer to esteem and praise; “laude and prayse” (KP); see n202. fin Elizabeth omits the final “Amen.” 234. et and. One of the many Latinisms that Elizabeth, following the practice of Italian humanists, regularly employs in writing Italian. 235. valorossima . . . princessa valorossima A penslip for “valorosissima” (most courageous, most outstanding). Elizabeth construes “most vertuous” in its now obsolete sense of ‘most full of manly courage, most valorous.’ humanissima most humane, most kind, most learned. Elizabeth’s Latin translation emphasizes the religious resonances of “graciouse” with “pientissimam”; here she stresses the term’s classical humanist resonances by employing Cicero’s superlative, “humanissimus.” princessa An error for “principessa.” 236. cercate . . . superne seek things on high. Elizabeth condenses KP’s quotation of Paul: “Set youre affection on thynges that are aboue” (Colossians 3:2).

FIGURE 3 Elizabeth’s title page of her Italian translation of Queen Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations (1545). Photograph © British Library Board. All rights reserved. MS Royal 7.D.X, fol 79r.

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1 BENIGNISSIMO signor giesu dammi la gratia tua, accio che operi, et perseueri sempre meco infino al fine. 2 Concedimi che io desideri sempre, et vogli237 quello che é giocondissimo, et á te accetabilissimo 3 La voluntá tua sia la mia: et la voluntá mia sia di seguire sempre la voluntà tua 4 Sia sempre in me vna voluntà et vno desiderio teco: et che io non habbia desiderio alcuno di volere ó non volere se non come piacerà á te. 5 Signore tu sai che cosa mi é piu vtile et conueniente. 6 Dammi adunque ogni cosa che vuoi et quanto tu vuoi et quando ti piace. 7 Fa meco cio che tu voi238 come ti piacerà, et come sarà piu conueniente all’honor tuo 8 Puommi239 doue tu vuoi, et liberamente fa meco in ogni cosa secondo la voluntà tua, quello ch che ti par buono. 9 Io sono la creatura tua, et nelle mani tue conducimi, et girami douunque tu vorrai. 10 Ecco io sono il seruo tuo parato ad adempire ogni cosa che tu comanderai: per che io non desidero di viuere à me stesso, ma à te 11 Signore iddio io ti priego dammi la gratia tua accio che io non puonga il cuor mio alle cose di questo mondo ma che tutte le mondane, et carnali affettioni perfettamente moiano,240 et si mortifichino in me. 12 Signore concedimi che sopra ogni cosa io mi riposi et perfettamente pacifici il cuor mio in te. 13 Per che tu signore sei la vera tranquilità del cuore, et la perfetta quiete dell’anima, et senza te tutte le cose sono inquiete et graui241 14 Signore iddio mio io ti priego che tu sia meco in ogni luogho, et

237. vogli Modern “voglia”; “I maie . . . wille” (KP). 238. voi Variant of modern “vuoi”; “thou wilte” (KP). 239. Puommi Ponmi; “Put me” (KP). Following a common practice in sixteenth-century Italian, Elizabeth frequently employs diphthongs where modern Italian has a single vowel: here, “puon” rather than “pon,” “puonga” rather than “ponga” in versicle 11, “duolore” rather than “dolore” in versicle 20, to cite a few examples. 240. moiano Modern “muoiano”; “maie . . . dye” (KP). 241. gravi heavy; “greuous” (KP), in the sense of ‘heavy.’

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in ogni tempo, et fa che à me sia in singular diletto mancare d’ogni piacer mondano per amor242 tuo. 15 Et se alcuna volta ritiri la tua consolatione da me; io ti priego, ò signore, che tu mi guardi dalla desperatione, et fa che patientemente io toleri la voluntà et ordinatione tua. 16 O signore giesu i giudicij tuoi sono retti, et la prouidentia tua mi é molto megliore che tutto quello che imaginar ó pensar posso. 17 Per laqual cosa fa meco in ogni cosa come ti piacerà, per243 tutto quello tu fai non é che ben fatto 18 Se tu vuoi che io sia in luce, sia tu benedetto, se tu vuoi che io sia in tenebre, sia similmente benedetto. 19 Se tu ti degnarai di confortar mi sia tu grandemente benedetto: se tu vuoi che io viua in tribulatione244 sia tu similmente sempre benedetto 20 Signore dammi gratia di lietamente tolerare qualunque cosa che tu vorrai che m’interuenga, et patientemente, riceuere dalla mano tua, buono et malo, dolce, et amaro, letitia et duolore, et per qualunque cosa che m’accadera245 ringratiarti di buon cuore. 21 Custodici me signore dal peccato et alhora io non timero246 l’inferno, ne la morte. 22 Quante gratie ti debbo ó signore, á te che hai sofferto l’aspra morte sopra la croce, per liberarmi da i peccati miei, et per ottennire247 la vita eterna per me. 23 Tu ci donasti vn perfettissimo esempio di patientia adempiendo et obediendo alla voluntà del padre infin’ alla morte 24 O signore concedi che io misero peccatore mi vsi in ogni cosa

242. singular . . . amor Latinate forms of “singolare,” “amore,” common in sixteenth-century Italian. 243. laqual . . . per laqual la qual (the which). Following a common practice in sixteenth-century Italian orthography, Elizabeth often elides articles and pronouns. See versicles 35, 96, 103, 151, 157. per should read “perche” (i.e., “perché”); KP has a conjunctive “for” at this point. Elizabeth’s use of prepositional “per” for conjunctive “perché” stems from the two kinds of “for” in English; see versicle 76. 244. in tribulatione “in trouble, and withoute comforte” (KP). 245. accadera Modern “accadrà”; “shall befal” (KP). 246. alhora . . . timero alhora Modern “allora” (then, in that case). timero Latinate form of modern “temerò”; “I shall . . . dread” (KP). 247. ottennire Should read “ottenere”; “to obteyn” (KP).

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secondo la voluntà tua: et che patientemente io porti la salma di questa corruptibile vita248 25 Per che quantumque249 questa vita mi sia molesta, et sia all’anima mia vn grave peso, nondimeno per la gratia tua, et per l’esempio tuo ella é hora molto piu ageuole, et confortabile, che non era inanzi l’incarnatione, et passione tua. 26 La tua santa vita é la nostra via per andare à te; et seguitando te noi caminiamo à te quale sei il capo, et saluatore nostro; et se non fosti ito inanzi et non ci hauesti monstrato il camino della vita eterna, chi é colui che sforzato si fosse à seguirti? vedendo che noi siamo abbagliati, et pigri250 hauendo la luce del tuo benedetto esemplo et dottrina santa per condurrci, et guidarci. 27 O signor giesu fa quello per tua gratia possibile che à me é impossibile per natura. 28 Tu ben sai che io posso sofferire poco, et che per picciola aduersità io sono incontanente gittato à basso et sbattuto. però signore io ti priego confirma mi col spirito tuo santo accio che voluntariamènte io sostenga ogni sorte de tribulatione et afflitioni per amor tuo 29 O signore io ti farò note251 le preuaricationi mie, et io ti confessero tutta l’inconstantia del cuor mio 30 Spesse volte252 vna picciolissima cosa mi conturba grandemente, et fammi ottuso et pigro à seruirti. 31 Et alcuna volta io delibero di star constante: ma quando vn poco di tribulatione m’auuienne, egli é á me grande angoscia et duolore, et vna picciolissima cosa m’incitta vna tentatione grauissima253 32 Et quando io penso de esser securo et forte, et come mi pare di hauer la superiore parte: incontanente per vn picciolo soffio di vento mi sento pronto al cadere.

248. la salma . . . vita “the bourden of this corruptible lyfe” (KP). “La salma” can mean not only ‘the burden’ but also ‘the carcass,’ adding a pointed image to the description of earthly life. 249. quantumque A Latinism for “quantunque”; “though” (KP). 250. abbagliati . . . pigri dazzled and dull; “so slowe and dull” (KP). 251. farò note I will make known; “will knowlage” (KP), i.e., will acknowledge. 252. volte Elizabeth writes final e over i. 253. vna . . . grauissima “of a right litle thyng riseth a greuous temptacion to me” (KP). vna . . . cosa Elizabeth makes “a . . . thyng” the subject of the clause. m’incitta She omits a preposition: “m’incita à” (incites me to).

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33 Risguarda adunque, o signore l’infirmitá mia, et considera la fragilitá mia, laquale tu meglio conosci. 34 Habbia misericordia di me, et liberami da ogni iniquità et peccato accio che io non sia intricato in essi 35 Spesse fiate mi duole grandemente, et cio quasi mi confunde per cio che io sono cosi debile, et fragile à resistere à gli iniqui mouiuenti, liquali benche non mi recchino254 al consentire nondimeno gli impeti loro mi sono grauissimi 36 Et quantumque mi duolga di viuere in cotal guerra, nondimeno io m’auuedo che ella non mi é inutile, per che da quella io io conosco meglio me stesso et le infirmità mie sappendo che à te solo io debbo chieggere aiutto.255 37 O signor iddio d’israel amante de tutte l’anime fideli degnati ti priego di risguardare alla pena, et duolore di me pouera creatura tua. 38 Asistimi la gratia in ogni cosa, fortificami talmente con fortezza celeste, ché il mio crudel inimico ne il256 mio misero corpo, il quale non é anchor subdito allo spirito, non habbiano vittoria ó dominatione sopra me. 39 O che cosa si puo chiamar questa vita oue tribulatione et miseria continoamente257 sono; et oue ogni luogho è pieno di lacci de mortali inimici. 40 Per che subito che vna tribulatione, ò tentatione è passata; subito ne soprauiene vn’altra: et non essendo anchora il primo conflitto passato, vna nuoua guerra subitamente si lieua.258 41 Per laqual cosa signor iddio io ti priego dammi la gratia tua, accio che io mi riposi et pacifici in te sopra ogni cosa, sopra ogni creatura, sopra ogni gloria et honore, sopra ogni dignità et potestà, sopra ogni scientia et astutia, sopra ogni salute, et bellezza, sopra ogni ricchezza et thesoro, sopra ogni gaudio et piacere, sopra ogni fama et laude, 254. mouiuenti . . . recchino mouiuenti A penslip for “mouimenti”; “mocions” (KP). recchino A now obsolete intensive form of “chinino” (subjunctive ‘they bend’); “drawe” (KP). 255. io . . . aiutto io io An inadvertent repetition across a line break. chieggere Modern “chiedere”; “seeke” (KP). aiutto i.e., aiuto; “helpe” (KP). 256. ne il Following a common practice in sixteenth-century Italian, Elizabeth often leaves an article + preposition with contiguous vowels unelided. Other instances occur in versicles 49, 54, 55, 110, 111, 144, 154, 164 and in the concluding “Oratione per il re.” 257. continoamente Modern “continuamente.” 258. tentatione . . . lieua tentatione trial; “temptacion” (KP), with the same sense. si lieua Modern “si leva”; “ariseth” (KP).

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sopra ogni allegrezza et consolatione che il cuor humano potrebbe prendere, ó sentire oltre á te 42 Per che tu, signore iddio, sei bonissimo, sapientissimo, altissimo, potentissimo, sufficientissimo, et colmo d’ogni bontá; suauissimo, et confortabilissimo, belissimo,259 amabilissimo nobilissimo, gloriosissimo; et in cui ogni bontà perfettissimamente consiste. 43 Et però ogni cosa che io ho oltre á te non m’é niente: per che il cuor mio non puo perfettamente riposarsi, ne pacificarsi, che in te solo. 4[4]260 O signor iddio amabilissimo sposo, chi me darà le alie de perfett’ amore, accio che io volar possi fuora di queste miserie mondane et riposarmi in te? 4[5] Oh quando ascendero à te? et vedrò, et sentirò quanto sei suaue? 46 Quando mi ragunero si perfettamente in te, che per amor tuo io non mi senta, ma te solo sopra me, et sopra tutte le cose mondane? accio che tu ti degni di visitarmi in cotal modo che tu visiti i piu fideli amanti. 47 Hora, et souente me duoglio et lamento delle misere di questa vita; et le sostengo con gran duoglia, et molestia. 48 Per che molte cose tuttodi m’interuengono, le quali spesse uolte mi tribulano mi molestano et offuscano l’intelletto mio 49 Quelle mi ritardano grandemente, et mi tolgano la mente da te, et in diuersi modi m’ingombrano in tal modo che io non posso liberamente et del tutto desiderarti, ne hauere261 le dolci consolationi tue, le quali á i beati santi tuoi sono sempre presenti 50 Io ti priego, signor iddio, che i sospiri et gli intrinsechi desiderij del cuor262 mio ti commouino et inclinino á essaudirmi. 51 O giesu re dell’eterna gloria, letitia et conforto de tutti christiani i quali come pelegrini sono erranti nella solitudine di questo mondo: il cuor mio ti chiama con continui263 desiderij, et il silentio mio parla á

259. belissimo i.e., bellissimo. 260. 4[4] After numbering two successive versicles “43,” Elizabeth noticed her error and adjusted for it by skipping from 44 to 46. 261. tolgano . . . hauere tolgano Should read as an indicative “tolgono” rather than a subjunctive; “they . . . put” (KP). hauere Latinate form for modern “avere” (have); compare “habbia” in versicle 57. 262. cuor Modern “cuore” (heart). 263. christiani . . . continui christiani Elizabeth wrote a final e, then dotted it like an i by way of correction. continui Elizabeth construed “stil” (KP) as if it meant ‘continual, constant’ rather than ‘silent’; see n141.

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te, et dice: o signore iddio mio infino á quanto tarderai di venire a me? 52 Vieni, o signore, et visita me: per che senza te, l’anima mia é trista, et dolente. 53 Io sono in prigione et ligato con i ceppi di duolore infino á tanto che tu, o signore, con la tua gratiosa presentia ti degnarai di visitarmi, et ridurmi in libertá et gaudio di spirito, et monstrarmi la tua begnissima faccia. 54 Apri, o signore, il cuore mio accio che risguardi le leggi tue et insegnami à caminare ne i precetti tuoi 55 Fa che io conosca et segua la voluntá tua; et che io mi ricordi sempre de i grandi beneficij tuoi, accio che ti rendi le gratie debite per quegli. 56 Ma in veritá io conosco, et confesso che io non sono sufficiente á renderti pari264 gratie per il minimo beneficio che tu m’hai donato. 57 O signore, ogni dono, ó virtu che habbia l’huomo, nel corpo ó nell’anima, naturale ó sopranaturale, egli é dono tuo, et procede da te, et non da noi istessi: et essi ne manifestano la grande richezza della misericordia et bontà tua, 58 Et auuenga che alcuni habbiano piu doni che gli altri; nientedimeno tutti essi procedano da te, et senza te non si puo hauere il minore. 59 O signore io reputo per grande beneficio, il non hauere molti doni mondani, per i quali la laude, et preggio degli huomini eccecar265 puotesse l’anima mia, et ingannarmi. 60 Signore io conosco che niuno douria essere turbato ne scontento che egli sia in infimo stato, in questo mondo, et che gli mancano i piaceri di questa vita, ma piu tosto266 di cio essere lieto et giocondo. 61 Per che si come tuoi serui et familiari amici elegesti quegli ch’erano poueri, et humili, et tali quali erano dispreggiati dal mondo. 62 I tuoi apostoli benedetti ne sono testimonij, i quali facesti pastori principali et gouernatori spirituali del gregge tuo: i quali si partirno267 dal conseglio de iudei rallegrandosi che essi erano reputati degni á sofferire ignominia per il nome tuo.

264. pari adequate; “condigne” (KP), with Latinate senses of ‘befitting, adequate.’ 265. eccecar A variant spelling of “accecare” (to blind), as in versicle 112. 266. piu tosto “più tosto” or “piutosto,” modern “piuttosto”; “rather” (KP). 267. partirno Modern “partirono”; “departed” (KP).

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63 Cosi o signore concedi che io seruo tuo sia si ben contento di esser estimato per minimo, come altri sono di esser maggiori; et che io sia cosi ben appagato di essere nel piu infimo luogo, come nel piu eminente, et cosi lieto di non essere d’estimatione alcuna nel mondo, per amor tuo, come altri di essere nobili, et famosi. 64 Signore egli appartiene ad vn huomo perfetto268 á non sequestrar mai la mente sua da te; et fra molte solecitudini mondane, essere senza cura et non come vn huomo ocioso ó dissoluto, ma per la prerogatiua di vn libero animo contemplare le cose celesti; et per disordinato appetito non accostarsi á creatura alcuna 65 Io ti priego adunque, signor iddio, guarda-mi dalle superflue solecitudini di questo mondo, accio che io non sia molestato da corporali necessità, et che io non sia preso dalle volutta et piaceri269 del mondo, ne dalla carne. 66 Custodicimi da tutte le cose che impedir puonno la salute dell’ anima mia: accio che io non sia souuerso con quelle. 67 O signore iddio qual sei dolcezza ineffabile fa che tutti mondani et carnali piaceri, i quali potriano270 ritirarmi dall’amore de cose celesti, all’ amore de brieui, et vili piaceri, mi si conuertino in amaritudine. 68 O signore non permette271 che la carne, ó il sangue mi vincano: ne che il mondo con la sua gloria vana, ne il demonio con le sue infinite fraudi m’inganni;272 ma dammi fortezza spirituale per resistere á quegli, patientia per sopportargli, et constantia accio che io perseueri infino al fine 69 Dammi in luogho di tutte mondani dilettationi, la suauissima consolatione dello spirito santo tuo; et in luogho d’ogni amor carnale, dotta273 l’anima mia del tuo feruente amore. 70 Fortifica l’anima mia et scaccia da quello tutte le inutili solecitudini di questo mondo; accio che io non sia condotto dagli 268. egli . . . perfetto it befits a perfect man, rendering “it is the worke of a perfeite man” (KP). See n151. 269. guarda-mi . . . piaceri guarda-mi Elizabeth bridged with a hyphen her mistaken spacing. Uncaught instances include “aiutta mi” in versicle 77 and “prohibir mi” in versicle 81. volutta . . . piaceri voluptuousness and pleasures; “voluptuous pleasures” (KP). 270. potriano Modern “possano.” 271. non permette Should read “non permettere” (imperative) or “non permetta” (subjunctive); “Let not” (KP). 272. m’inganni trick me; “supplant me” (KP), which has the Latinate sense of ‘trip me up, cause me to fall.’ 273. dotta i.e., dota; “indue” (KP).

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instabili desiderij di cose terrene, ma che io reputi tutte le cose di questo mondo, come elle sono, transitorie, et tosto disparute, et me stesso parimente con esso loro tirando verso il mio fine. 71 Per che ogni cosa che é sotto il sole, non puo longamente durare; ma tutto é vanita et afflittione dello spirito 72 Adunque o signore dammi sapientia celeste, accio che io impari á cercar, et trouare te; et sopra ogni cosa ad amarti. 73 Dammi gratia di retirarmi274 da quegli che mi lusinghano, et sopportare patientemente quegli i quali ingiustamente mi molestano 74 O signore quando qualque tribulatione, ò tentatione m’auienne, degnati di soccorermi: accio che ella sì275 conuerti in consolatione spirituale, et che patientemente io la toleri et dica sempre, sia benedetto il nome tuo. 75 O signor iddio tribulatione é prossima, et hora io non sono ben disposto, et da questa presente tribulatione, io sono grandemente afflitto: o gloriossisimo padre che faro io? per che tribulatione et angustia sono per tutto, aiuttami hora adunque io ti priego et quando io sarò perfettamente auanti á te humiliato, et da te del tutto liberato, lauderó et magnificheró te. 76 Io ti priego adunque che ti piaccia di liberarmi per che faro io misero peccatore? o doue cercherò io aiutto senon276 da te? 77 Dammi in questo tempo in tutte le tribulationi mie patientia: aiutta mi, o signore, accio che io non tema qualunque cosa che m’interuegnerà. 78 Et che diro io hora? senon che sia fatta la voluntà tua in me: io meritai di essere tribulato, et afflitto, et egli é conueniente che io patisca, infino á tanto che ti piacerá. 79 Ma iddio volesse che io puotessi lietamente sofferire infino á tanto ogni rabiosa tempesta fosse passata; et che la tranquilità dell’animo mio fosse ritornata. 80 O signore la tua potente mano è assai forte á cauarmi di questa tribulatione, et á pacificare gli accerbi impeti di essa cosi come spesse

274. retirarmi Modern “ritirarmi.” 275. qualque . . . sì qualque Modern “qualche.” tentatione trial; “temptacion” (KP). sì si (reflexive pronoun). The mistaken accent was added with a heavy penstroke. Elizabeth correctly writes the reflexive pronoun elsewhere; see versicle 67. 276. per . . . senon per che Should read “perche [i.e., perché] che” (because what?); “for what” (KP). senon Modern “sennò” (if not), rendering KP’s “but” in the sense of ‘if not.’

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fiate hai fatto per adietro277 accio che sia278 superato da quelle ma che doppoi che io sarò totalmente liberato da te, io dica con gaudio; la destra dell’ altissimo ha fatto questa mutatione. 81 Signore iddio dammi la tua singulare gratia accio io peruenga la doue creatura alcuna mi potra impedire, ne prohibir mi di risguardati,279 per che mentre che alcuna cosa transitoria mi ritarda, o vero mi domina, io non posso liberamente ascendere à te. 82 O signore, senza te cosa alcuna non puo longamente dilettare, ò piacere: per che se cosa alcuna mi piace, et mi e saporeuole bisogna che sia per l’aiutto della gratia tua, et condita con le spetiarie280 della sapentia tua. 83 O eterna luce, la quale di lontano tutte le cose auanzi, mandaci d’alto qua giuso i raggi dello splendore tuo purifica et illumina le interiori parti del cuor mio 84 Viuifica l’anima mia, et tutte le potentie di quella: accio che io m’accosti,281 et vnisci á te in esultante letitia de spirituali raptioni 85 Oh quando vegnerá quella felice hora che mi visiterai con la beneditta282 presentia tua? quando sarai meco tutto in tutto? veramente non puo perfetto gaudio essere in me, infino á tanto che cosi sia. 86 Ma ahi lasso, me che il mio vecchio huomo cio é le mie carnali affettioni viuono continuamente283 in me, et non sono anchora crucifisse ne perfettamente mortificate. 87 Per che la carne contende anchora contra lo spirito, et incitta interioramente vna guerra grande contro à me, et non lascia il regno dell’anima mia viuere in pace. 88 Ma tu signore che hai la dominatione sopra tutte le cose, et hai la potestà del mare di acquetare le rabie, et motioni di quello: rizzati, et aiuttami distruggi la possansa degli inimici miei i quali sempre fanno

277. per adietro in times past; “before this tyme” (KP). 278. sia “be not” (KP). An omitted negative: Elizabeth should have written “non sia.” 279. mi . . . risguardati mi potra Another omitted negative: Elizabeth should have written “non mi potrà” (will not be able to). risguardati A penslip for “risguardarti” (to regard intently); “the perfeit beholding of the” (KP). 280. spetiarie Modern “speziarie” (spices). 281. m’accosti adhere; “cleaue fast” (KP). 282. beneditta Modern “benedetta” (blessed). 283. continuamente Elizabeth renders “still” as if it here meant ‘continuously, constantly’ rather than ‘now as formerly’ (Italian “ancora”).

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guerra contro di me, monstraci la grandezza della bontà tua, et che la potentia della destra tua sia glorificata in me per che io ho no284 altra speranza ne reffugio che in te solo, signore mio, iddio mio á te sia honore, et gloria sempiterna 89 O signore concedimi che io mi possa dare tutto á te, et in ogni cosa abandonar me stesso, et patientemente portare la croce mia, et seguire te 90 O signore che cosa é l’huomo che tu ti degni di ricordarti di quello, et visitarlo. 91 O signore tu sempre sei vno, sempre buono, sempre giusto et santo, giustamente, et santamente disponendo tutte le cose secondo la prudentia tua. 92 Ma io sono misero, et da me stesso sempre inclinato et pronto á fare male, et mai non sto in vn stato, ma souente me muto, et cangio. 93 Nondimeno meglio mi sarà quando ti piacerà per che tu o signore sei quello solo che puoi aiuttarmi, et talmente confirmarmi, et stabilirmi, che il cuor mio non si discosterà da te ma sarà sicuramente fisso et finalmente si riposerà et pacificherá in te 94 Io non sono altra cosa auanti á te che vanitá, et vna instabile et debile creatura; di che adunque mi posso giustamente gloriare? oh per che penserei d’essere magnificato? 95 Chiunque si pensa compiacere á se senza te, colui ti dispiace; et colui che si diletta nella laude degli huomini, perda la vera laude auanti á te. 96 La vera laude é di essere laudato da te; et la vera letitia é di rallegrarsi in te: per laqual cosa o signore sia laudato il nome tuo, et non il mio 97 L’opere tue siano magnificate, et non le mie, et la bontà tua sia sempre laudata, et benedetta. 98 Tu sei la gloria mia, et il gaudio mio, glorierommi, et rallegrerommi in te, et non in me stesso, ne in honore alcuno ó dignitá mondana: le quai cose alla eternale gloria comparate, non sono altro che ombra, et vanità285 99 O signore noi qui viuiamo in grande oscuritá, et siamo tosto ingannati dalle vanità di questo mondo, et presto conturbati per vn poco di tribulatione, ma se io mi puotessi perfettamente vedere, io chiaramente conoscerei che qualumque tribulatione che io ho 284. io ho no i.e., io non ho. I have no; “there is to me none” (KP). Elizabeth reproduces English rather than Italian word order and usage. 285. vanità Elizabeth does not translate the preceding “veraie” (true).

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sofferto, mi é auuenuta per giusta cagione, per cio che ho peccato souente, et ti ho grandemente offeso 100 Confusione adunque et indignatione mi si debbono, ma à te laude, honore, et gloria. 101 Signore mandami aiutorio nelle tribulatione mie per che lo aiutto dell’huomo é di poco valore 102 O quante fiate sono io stato ingannato la doue io pensauo hauer trouato amicitia? et quante volte l’ho trouata, oue meno pensaua! 103 Per laqual cosa egli é cosa vana á confidarsi nell’huomo: perche la vera fiducia, et salute dell’huomo, é in te solo 104 Adunque per qualunque cosa che m’accaderà sia tu benedetto: per che noi siamo debili et instabili, tosto ingannati, et mutati da vna cosa in vn’altra. 105 O signore iddio giustissimo iu giudice, patiente, et forte, il quale la fragilità et malitia dell’huomo conosci: sia tu la fortezza, et consolatione mia in tutte le mie ncessità:286 per che la mia conscientia, o signore, non mi basta 106 Per laqual cosa alla misercordia tua m’appello, vedendo che nissuno puo essere giustificato, ne apparere giusto nel conspetto tuo, se tu essamini quello secondo la giustitia tua 107 O benedetta habitatione della celeste cita tua: o giorno chiarissimo et eterno, il quale la notte non puo mai oscurare. 108 Questo é il di287 sempre sereno, et giocondo; sempre certo, et che giamai non muta il stato suo. 109 Volesse iddio che questo di s’apparessese 288 brieuemente, et che lucesse sopra noi, et che queste fantasie mondane fussino terminate 110 Questo é il di, il quale con pertuo splendore, á i santi tuoi, che ne cieli sono, chiaramente luce, ma á noi pelegrini in terra luce oscuramente, et come per vn specchio.289 111 I citadini celesti sanno quanto é giocondo questo di ma noi essuli,290 et figliuoli di eua, piangiamo, et gemiamo l’amaro tedio de i 286. ncessità A penslip for “necessità.” 287. di dì; “daie” (KP), also the rendering in versicles 109–11, 120 (“tuttodi” for “tutto dì”), and 156. 288. s’apparessese Should read “s’apparesse”; modern “apparisse” (would appear). 289. pertuo . . . specchio pertuo A penslip for “perpetuo”; “euerlastyng” (KP). The mistake occurs across a line break where Elizabeth wrote “per-” on one line and “-tuo” on the next line. specchio mirror; “mirrour or glasse” (KP). 290. essuli exiles; here and in versicle 120, Elizabeth’s rendering of “outlawes.” See n66.

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di nostri, cio é di questa vita presente, maluaggia et brieue, di duolore, et angustia piena. 112 Oue l’huomo souente é contaminato pel peccato, ingombrato dalle afflittioni, dalle tribulationi conturbato, nelle solecitudini inuolto, molestato dalle vanitá, eccecato dagli errori oppresso dalle fatiche, afflitto so dalle tentatione, da diletti vani, et piaceri mondani superato, et dalla inopia, et penuria grauemente tormentato. 113 Oh quandoverrá291 il fine di tutte queste miserie? 114 Oh quando sarò io totalmente dalla seruitu del peccato liberato 115 O signore quando mi ricorderò solamente di te? et goderò et essulterò in te solo. 116 Oh quando sarò io libero, et senza impedimento et in perfetta libertà senza molestia del corpo, et dell’ anima. 117 Quando haurò io pace senza tribulatione, pace dentro et fuori et in ogni parte fermo, et sicuro. 118 O signor giesu quando starò io et risguarderò te? et haurò pieno aspetto, et contemplatione della gloria tua? 119 Oh quando sarai in me tutto in tutto? et quando sarò io teco nel regno tuo il quale per gli eletti tuoi ordinasti dal principio. 120 Io son lasciato qui pouero, et come essule nella terra degli inimici miei: oue tuttodi sono guerre, et grandi infortunij. 121 Consolami nel mio essilio, et mitiga il mio duolore: per che tutto il desiderio mio é di esser teco. 122 Qualunque piacere che il mondo mi propone é á me vno insopportabile peso. 123 Io bramo di hauere interiore fruitione di te: ma non ci posso peruenire. 124 Io grandemente desidero di vnirmi alle cose celesti: ma le mondane affettioni tirano la mente mia all’ingu292 125 Io pur vorrei soggiogare tutte le maluaggie affettioni, ma elle repugnano, et si rebellano sempre contro di me, et non vogliano essere subdite allo spirito mio 126 Et in tal modo io misera creatura in me medesimo combatto, et

291. quandoverrá Elizabeth first wrote “quand verrá,” as shown by her word-initial v, and later inserted the -o of “quando,” which filled the space between the two words. 292. ingu A penslip for “ingiù”; “downeward” (KP). Elizabeth retraced her wordfinal u and dotted its first downstroke like an i without adding the third stroke needed to make a new u.

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son molesto á me stesso, mentre che lo spirito mio desidera di essere la su, et pel contrario la carne mi tria293 á basso. 127 Oh che cosa interioramente patisco: io mi sforzo á pensare alle cose celesti; et incontanente vna gran moltitudine di piaceri mondani si gittano nell’ anima mia. 128 Adunque, o signore, non sia absente longamente da me: et non ti partire da me nell’ ira tua. 129 Mandami la luce della gratia tua; et destruggi tutti i carnali desiderij che sono in me 130 Mandami l’ardenti fiamme dell’ amore tuo; accio che abbrusci, et consumi le caliginose affettioni della mente mia. 131 Raguna, o signore, i sensi miei in te; et le potentie dell’ anima mia, et fa che io vituperi tutte le cose mondane, et che per la gratia tua fortemente resisti, et superi tutte le motioni, et occagioni del peccato. 132 O verità eterna aiuttami ti priego: accio che da qui inanzi niuna fraude ò vanita mondana habbia possanza d’ingannarmi 133 O dolcezza celeste vieni similmente á me; et fa che l’amaritudine del peccato sene fuga discosto da me 134 Perdonami, o signore, et remettimi294 quante volte nella prece mia, la mente mia non é totalmente fissa in te. 135 Per che spesseuolte295 io non sono la doue io sto ó seggio: ma piu tosto la doue i pensieri miei mi reccano 136 Per che io sono la doue é il pensier mio: et la doue é il pensier mio, quiui é quello che io amo. 137 Per che della cosa che per vsanza meglio mi piace, piu spesso me ne ricordo; et à quella pensare piu diletto ne prendo. 138 Et come tu dici nello euangelio: doue é il thesoro dell’ huomo, quiui é il cuore suo. 139 Per laqual cosa, se io amo il cielo, et le cose che sono di iddio, et che apartengono all’ honor suo, et alla gloria del suo santo nome: io ne parlerò lietamente. 140 Et se io amo il mondo, mi dilettero di parlare delle cose mondane, et subito mi rallegreró della prosperitá, et felicitá mondana, et tosto mi lamenteró delle mondane aduersitá.

293. tria A penslip for “tira”; “draweth” (KP). 294. remettimi Modern “rimettimi”; “forgeue me” (KP). 295. spesseuolte Modern “spesse volte”; “many tymes” (KP).

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141 Et se io amo la carne mia; io considereró souente che cosa le piace. 142 Se io amo l’ anima mia, io mi diletto grandemente a parlare et vdire cose che alla salute di quella sono necessarie. 143 Et qualunque cosa che io amo, di quella oddo, et ne parlo:296 et ne ho sempre la imagine nell’animo mio 144 Colui é veramente beato il quale per amor tuo, o signore, non si cura de piaceri di questo mondo et impara á vincere se stesso, et con l’ardore et feruore dello spirito crucifige il corpo suo, accio che con pura, et limpida conscientia offerire ti possa le precisue,297 et tutte le cose terrene secluse dal cuore suo, sia accetto nella compagnia de i santi angeli tuoi. 145 Signore, et padre santo, sia tu benedetto hora, et inperpetuo.298 Per che come tu voi, cosi é fatto: et tutto quello che tu fai, é sempre ottimo. 14[6]299 Fa me misero, et indegno seruo tuo sempre in te godere, et rallegrarmi; et non in me stesso ne in alcuna altra cosa, oltra á te. 147 Per che tu signore sei il gaudio mio, la speranza mia, la corona mia, et ogni honore mio. 148 Che cosa ha il seruo tuo che non l’habbi da te; et quella senza merito suo 149 Tutte le cose sono tue: tu le facesti, et creasti. 150 Io sono pouero, et dalla infantia mia son sempre stato in tribulatione, et pena. Et l’anima mia é stata in gran duolore per le molte passioni che procedano dal mondo, et dalla carne. 151 Per laqual cosa, signore, io desidero d’ impetrare300 da te, il gaudio della pace interiore. 152 Io domando a te, o signore, che tu mi faccia á quella quiete peruenire, la quale é ordinata per gli eletti tuoi, i quali sono nutriti, et pasciuti dalla luce, et consolatione celeste: per che senza l’aiuttorio tuo, non posso venire á te. 153 Signore dammi pace, dammi interiore gaudio; et donque l’anima 296. parlo Elizabeth does not translate “gladly,” which follows at this point. 297. precisue preci sue. 298. inperpetuo A penslip for “in perpetuo.” 299. 14[6] Elizabeth misnumbered versicle 146 as 149 but did not disrupt the larger numerical sequence. 300. impetrare obtain (by entreaty); “haue” (KP).

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mia sará colma di celeste harmonia, et sará deuota et feruente nelle tue laudi, et benedittioni 154 Ma se tu ti ritiri da me come alcune volte facesti: alhora il seruo tuo non potrá seguire la via de i precetti tuoi, come fece301 inanzi. 155 Per che egli non mi é come era quando la lucerna della beata presentia tua riluceua sopra il capo mio, et era diffeso da ogni pericolo sotto l’ombra delle alie tue 156 O misericordioso signoregiesu degno d’essere sempre laudato, venuto é il di che tu vuoi prouare302 il seruo tuo; et egli é giusto che io patisca alcuna cosa per te. 157 Hor é venuta l’hora laquale tu sapesti dal principio, che il seruo tuo esterioramente sarebbe sprezzato, et interioramente saresti il sostegno suo.303 158 Et che sarebbe ancho dispreggiato auanti il mondo, et rotto dalle afflittioni accio che dopoi resuscitar possa teco in luce nuoua, et essere clarificato et glorificato nel regno de cieli 159 O padre santo, tu ordinasti che cosi fosse, et cosi é fatto come comendasti. 160 O signore tal é la gratia tua verso il seruo304 tuo, che tu sostieni che egli habbia tribulatione, et sia afflitto in questo mondo per l’amor tuo, tante, et quante volte che egli ti piace, et da qualumque persona che si voglia, et qualumque modo che tu vuoi che egli gli auuenga: perche che cosa é quella che é fatta sopra la terra senza la volunta tua?305 161 O signore, bene é á me per che io fui humiliato accio che io

301. fece Elizabeth retains “il seruo tuo” (Thy servant) as the subject of this third-person verb; KP reads “I dyd.” 302. signoregiesu . . . prouare signoregiesu An elision of “signore Giesu,” rendered correctly in versicles 16 and 176. il dì (the day); “the tyme” (KP). tu . . . prouare Elizabeth renders “Thou wilte proue,” a future tense in KP, as if it meant ‘Thou wishest to prove.’ 303. sprezzato Elizabeth omits the next phrase, “for a tyme.” saresti . . . suo Thou wouldst be his support. KP reads “thy seruaunt . . . shulde . . . leane to the.” 304. seruo servant; “friende” (KP). While the Latin and French versions translate “friende” as “amicum” and “amy,” here Elizabeth does not register KP’s shift from the “servant” references in previous versicles, which gestures toward Jesus’s declaration that the faithful are his “friends” and not his “servants” (John 15:14). The compatibility of the two categories is, however, suggested in versicle 61, where KP describes good Christians as God’s “seruantes and familiar frendes” (“serui et familiari amici” in Elizabeth’s Italian). 305. la . . . tua Thy will, rendering “thy wyll or sufferance” (KP).

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impari á conoscere i giusti giudicij tuoi; et á scacciare da me ogni sorte di presumtioni et grauità di animo che 162 Egli e á me vtilissimo confusione ha coperto la faccia mia: accio che io cerchi piu tosto aiutto, et soccorso da te, che dall’ huomo. 163 Per quello imparai á temere i secreti et terribili giudicij tuoi, i quali flagellano il giusto, et il peccatore, ma non senza giustitia, et equitá. 164 Gratie ti rendo, o signore per che non perdonasti á i peccati miei, ma castigati306 me co i flagelli d’amore, et mi mandasti angustie, et afflittioni fuori, et dentro. 165 Egli non é sotto il cielo creatura alcuna che consolare mi possa se non tu, signore iddio celeste medico dell’ anima humana, il quale percoti, et sani, et che conduci l’huomo infin alla morte, et dopoi gli ritorni la vita: accio che per quella impari á conoscere l’infirmità, et imbecilità sua, et piu perfettamente si confidi in te.307 166 La disciplina tua é posta sopra me, et la verga di correttione m’ ha insegnato peró io mi sotto porró á quella santa verga.308 167 Percoti le spalle mie, et gli ossi miei quanto egli ti piacerá; et fa che la mia dura309 voluntá si pieghi secondo la voluntá tua. 168 Fammi vn humile et mitte discipulo, cosi come alcuna volta mi facesti, accio che io camini secondo la voluntá tua. 169 Io mi sottopono310 á te per essere corretto; per che egli é meglio di essere castigato da te quiui che nel tempo d’ auuenire. 170 Tu conosci ogni cosa: et non é alcuna cosa nella conscientia dell’ huomo che ti sia nascosta. 171 Tu conosci tutte le cose d’ auuenire, auanti che loro aduenghano; et non é necessario che alcuno t’ insegni, ó auuertisci311 di cosa alcuna che si faci in questo mondo

306. castigati A penslip for “castigasti.” 307. medico . . . te medico “leache” (KP), a synonym for ‘physician’ often applied to God or Christ. te Elizabeth does not translate the last word of this versicle, “(lorde).” 308. insegnato . . . verga insegnato Elizabeth wrote an i over an original wordinitial e. peró . . . verga so I will submit myself to that blessed rod; “vnder that rod I holly submitte me” (KP). 309. dura hard; “croked” (KP). 310. sottopono submit; “committe” (KP). 311. auuertisci Should read “auuertisca” (subjunctive) rather than indicative; “warne” (KP).

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172 Tu conosci quello che mi é vtile et quante tribulationi aiuttarmi ponno312 á purgare la rugine del pecatto che é in me. 173 Fa meco secondo il piacer tuo io son’ vn misero peccatore, da niuno cosi bene conosciuto, come da te. 174 O signore fammi conoscere quello che m’ e necessario di sapere, et amar quello che amar si debbe, et desiderar quello che á te piace, et estimare quello che nell conspetto tuo é precioso, et rifiutar quello che é vile avanti à te. 175 Non sostenere che io giudichi i misterij tuoi secondo i mei sensi esteriori, ne giudicar doppo l’ hauere vdito l’ ignorante: ma con vero giudicio discernere cose spirituali, et sopra ogni cosa cercare, et seguire313 sempre la volunta tua. 176 O signore giesu tu sei ogni mia richezza, et tutto quello che io ho io l’ ho da te. 177 Ma che cosa son io signore che io ardisca parlare à te? io sono la pouera creatura tua, et vno vermine abiettissimo. 178 Ecco signore io non ho niente, et da me stesso non ho alcuna cosa di valore: tu sei iddio solamente giusto, et santo; tu ordini ogni cosa, tu doni ogni cosa, et per la bontá tua adempi ogni cosa. 179 Io sono vn peccatore infertile, et vacuo di virtu diuina. 180 Sia ricordeuole della misericordia tua, et empi il cuor mio dell’ abundantia della gratia tua: per che tu non vuoi che le opera tue siano fatte inderno314 in me: 181 Come potrò io tolerare le miserie di questa vita? eccetto che la gratia, et misericordia tua mi confortino? 182 Non ascondere la faccia tua tua da me, non prolongare á visitarmi, et non ritirare da me la consolatione tua: accio che non aduieni che senza aqua di gratia, non diuenga come secca terra. 183 O signore insegnami ad adempire la voluntà tua, et à vivere humilmente, et degnamente auanti à te; per che tu sei tutta la 312. ponno Modern “possono” (they can). 313. Non sostenere . . . seguire Elizabeth awkwardly switches from a subjunctive “che io giudichi” governed by the imperative main verb “non sostenere” to a series of infinitives (“giudicar,” “discernere,” “cercare,” “seguire”). mei miei; a Latinism common in sixteenth-century Italian. doppo . . . vdito after having heard. As in her French version, Elizabeth translates KP’s “after the hearyng of the ignorante” as if “after” had its temporal sense rather than its contextually more appropriate sense of ‘in accordance with.’ 314. inderno Modern “indarno” (in vain).

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sapientia mia, et ingegno: tu sei quello che conosci quale io sono, tu mi conoscesti dinanzi che il mondo fosse fatto, et inanzi che io nato fosse et posto in questa vita mortale. A te, o signore, sia honore, gloria et laude nel secolo de secoli.315 Amen Finis Laudato sia iddio in eterno Oratione per il re O altissimo, et potentissimo signor giesu christo, re de Re, signore de signori, solo dominatore de principi, vero figliuolo di iddio alla cui destra sedendo, dal throno tuo vedi tutti gli habitatori della terra, con humilissimo cuore noi ti priegamo che col tuo benignisgnissimo316 aspetto risguardare ti degni il nostro humanissimo, et nobilissimo317 Re, Henrico ottauo, et riempirlo talmente della gratia dello spirito santo tuo, che camini sempre nella via tua, et s’ inclini alla voluntà tua: guardalo che sia discosto dall’ ignorantia, et che per il dono tuo prudentia, et intelligentia nel regale cuor suo abondino: Instruilo, o signor giesu, accio che regni talmente sopra noi in terra, che sua humanissima318 maestà con ogni timore, et paura sia sempre obediente alla diuina maesta tua: dottalo abondantemente de i doni tuoi: concedigli di longamente viuere in salute, et prosperità, gloria et honore raguna sopra quello: rallegrilo con la letitia del volto tuo: fortificalo talmente, che egli possa vincere et superare tutti i suoi, et nostri inimici, et che sia temuto da tutti gli aduersarij del regno suo. Amen. Oratione á dire per quegli che intrano in battaglia O Re omnipotente, et signore degli eserciti: il quale per gli angeli tuoi, á cio deputati, ministri la guerra, et la pace, et che à dauid, essendo anchora giouenetto animo, et fortezza, donasti, senza arme, et inesperto nell’ arte militare con vna scaglia solamente assalire, et 315. secolo . . . secoli “secolo de’ secoli,” rendering Vulgate “saecula saeculorum” and equivalent to “for euer and euer” (KP). 316. benignisgnissimo A penslip for “benignissimo,” involving repetition of syllables across a page break. 317. humanissimo . . . nobilissimo “moste gracious soueraigne lorde” (KP). 318. humanissima “humain” (KP).

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gittar à terra quello gran monstro gholiath: hora hauendo noi giusta causa, et essendo sforzati á intrare in gu guerra: noi, o signore, degli eserciti humilmente ti priegamo ch che tu ti degni di talmente conuertire i cuori degli inimici nostri al desiderio di pace, che alcuno sangue christiano non sia sparso. ó vero, o signore, che con poca effusione di sangue, et con poco danno, et perdita degli inocenti, noi possiamo all’ honor tuo ottenire vittoria. et che essendo le guerre tosto finite, noi tutti di vna medesima et voluntá319 in concordia, et vnitá possiamo insieme ingenochiarsi320 à laudare, et benedire te il quale viui, et regni nel secolo senza fine. Amen. Finis. 319. vna . . . voluntá one will, rendering “one hert, and mynde” (KP). Elizabeth’s deleted “et” suggests that she first envisaged a doublet but then changed her mind. 320. ingenochiarsi Modern “inginocchiarsi” (to kneel). Elizabeth’s addition.

How the twelve-year-old Elizabeth gained access to a copy of the first French version of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (Geneva, 1541) is unknown.1 The character of this epochal work, however, indicates why it might have interested the circle of adults entrusted with the formative stages of Elizabeth’s and Edward’s education. As signaled by the keyword of its Latin title, “institutio” (education, formation), the Institutes of the Christian Religion purports to expound essential doctrine, the knowledge necessary for salvation, according to the Reformed faith. Calvin would enlarge, rearrange, deepen, and polemically sharpen the content of the Institutes through multiple editions from the first, in Latin (1536), onward until his death in 1564. Yet his insistence remained constant that the Scriptures are the supreme means by which God makes His will known to humankind. This is the subject of the first chapter, translated by Elizabeth. In his first major revision of the Latin version (1539) and the first of the corresponding French translations from the Latin (1541), Calvin increased the number of chapters from six to seventeen, laying foundations for subsequent exposition in two new opening chapters—one

1. The identification of Calvin’s French translation as Elizabeth’s source (which she cites only as “my author” in her dedicatory letter) is due to Elspeth Yeo, Department of Manuscripts, National Library of Scotland, and Margaret H. Swain. See Swain, “A New Year’s Gift from the Princess Elizabeth,” The Connoisseur 183 (1973): 262n3. We discuss Elizabeth’s source further in the final paragraph of this introduction.

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on “the Knowledge of God,” another on “the Knowledge of Man, and of Free Will.” These paired subjects, so central to Augustine’s theology and comparably forefronted in Aquinas’s Summa theologica,2 evince the heightened ambition and greater profundity with which Calvin had begun to endow his original project of a catechism, with accompanying exposition, for the instruction of the laity, not excluding children of an appropriate age who were ready to learn. In July 1544, Henry VIII gave orders for his son Edward’s formal education by appointing as his tutors Richard Cox and John Cheke, two graduates of St. John’s College, Cambridge—an early seedbed of Reformed ideas and initiatives. After September 1544, the St. John’s connection would strengthen. On Roger Ascham’s recommendation to Cheke, his own former tutor at St. John’s, Princess Elizabeth acquired a Latin tutor of her own. William Grindal, another of Ascham’s former tutors, instructed her in Latin until his death in January 1548, at which point Ascham succeeded as her tutor in Latin and Greek. Thus, from 1544 onward, Elizabeth’s education assumed an evangelical, Reformed cast. As we note in our general introduction, the French Huguenot Jean Bellemain probably began to serve as Elizabeth’s French tutor around the same date. He is likely to have encouraged her New Year’s gift projects consisting of translations of evangelical works aligned with Reformed sentiments. As noted in our introduction to Elizabeth’s translation of Marguerite de Navarre’s Miroir, he quite possibly suggested that project. It is even likelier that Bellemain, who corresponded cordially with Calvin, encouraged Elizabeth to translate the first chapter of the 1541 Institutes for Queen Katherine. Her prefatory letter in French dedicates her Calvin translation to Queen Katherine, exalting her as a model for the Christian life to which Elizabeth herself aspires. With its lofty reflections and copious vocabulary, its expansive yet well-controlled phrases and sentences, and its expressive modulations of tone, the letter is a commendable example of fluency in mid-sixteenth-century literary French that re2. Augustine’s principal effort at satisfying his declared aim of knowing nothing but God and the soul is On the Trinity (De Trinitate): books 5–7 focus on knowledge of God and books 9–14 on knowledge of human psychology and its faculties. Thomas Aquinas devotes questions 1–25 of the first part of his Summa theologica to the nature of God, including question 12, on how God is known by us; questions 75–78 of the first part treat the nature of man, especially how the soul knows (questions 84–88).

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sembles Calvin’s own French style.3 It does not seem likely that such mastery was within the unaided reach of even an unusually precocious twelve-year-old. Bellemain had literary talents as well as Reformed sympathies.4 He probably offered Elizabeth compositional assistance together with his encouragement.5 The letter supports Calvin’s assertion of the primacy of Scripture by engaging a larger context of classical and humanist discourse on representational arts and the power of writing. Calvin celebrates Scripture as the text in which God chose, in Elizabeth’s phrasing, “to write His truth for an everlasting remembrance” and ensure that “heavenly doctrine . . . should not be forgotten, or should vanish away by error, or should be corrupted through the audacity of men.” Her letter similarly praises writing as the supreme instrument of human thought before proceeding, like Calvin, to celebrate Scripture as the medium in which God “can be seen, heard, and known for who He is, inasmuch as it is permitted and necessary for our salvation.” She then praises Calvin’s own “little book,” which, like Scripture, portrays God as he “wishes to be known, seen, and heard.” The letter ends with a self-deprecatory allusion to her own translation as a testimony, however flawed, of her own good intentions. Elizabeth introduces her praise of Scripture and Calvin’s Scripturalist writing by way of an account of the origin of the arts. Humans

3. See ACFLO, 9–12. 4. Around 1548 Bellemain recast Queen Katherine Parr’s Lamentation of a Sinner (published November 1547) into rhymed French decasyllabic couplets. The earlier state of this French verse translation is Hatfield House, Cecil Papers, vol. 314; the later state is British Library, MS Royal 16.E.28. Bellemain subsequently translated the second Edwardine Book of Common Prayer (1552) into French as a gift for the boy-king; its preface is dated April 18, 1553; the text is BL, Royal MS 20.A.14. The italic hand of both texts could be either Bellemain’s or Elizabeth’s, as may be seen in ACFLO, fig. 2 facing p. xvii, which reproduces the first page of the BL manuscript. Bellemain also translated Basil the Great’s epistle on the solitary life from Greek into French as a gift for Elizabeth; the text is BL, MS Royal 16.E.1, fols. 1–18v. Probably his last work for her was the first-person lyric in rhymed French decasyllabic couplets that praises God for preserving Elizabeth and raising her to the throne, which was printed among her multilingual prayers in 1569 (ACFLO, 137–38; CW, 151–52). 5. One orthographic feature of Elizabeth’s prefatory letter to her Calvin translation further suggests Bellemain’s close supervisory role: while she writes the preposition à with a grave accent several times in her earlier French translation of Parr’s prayers, she, like Bellemain in all his writings that we have seen, uses no grave accents in this prefatory letter or in her other subsequent French compositions.

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demonstrate their superiority to the animals by inventing and refining representational arts—drawing, carving, painting, sculpting, and writing—that memorialize notable events and actions. Writing is the most perfect and potent of these. Elizabeth draws on classical and humanist descriptions of how human beings endowed with reason invent the arts that distinguish them from animals, including Plato’s Protagoras (320D–322D), Quintilian’s Institutio oratorica (The Orator’s Education, 2.16.12–19), and the several humanist discussions indebted to Quintilian. Yet while Plato, Quintilian, and later humanists treat oratory as the highest achievement of human reason,6 she celebrates written language as the most “spirituelle”—both “intellectual” and “spiritual”—medium in its capacity to convey the “image of the mind” as well as the image of the invisible God. Elizabeth thus adapts a major classical theme and gives it special resonance for sixteenth-century Scripturalists. Praising the “light of letters” (“litterarum lumen”) that preserves virtuous human examples from oblivion, Cicero contrasts the written “copy of our counsels and our virtues” and of our “minds” (“consiliorum . . . ac virtutum nostrarum effigiem . . . [ac] animorum”) with “statues and images” (“statuas et imagines”) that offer “representations” (“simulacra”) of mere “bodies” (“corporum”) (Pro Archia 6.14; 12.30). Erasmus adapts this twofold contrast between minds and bodies, letters and the visual arts, in Paraclesis (1516), his preface to his Latin translation of the New Testament. There he sets what his English translator calls the Scriptural image of Christ’s “most holy mind” over against visual representations of the “figure of his body.”7 Elizabeth in turn nuances the Ciceronian-Erasmian contrast to represent writing—both the Bible and writing such as Calvin’s, grounded in the Bible— as the truest mode of representing God.8 Such exalting of the Word at the expense of the image aligns Elizabeth with a major aspect of Reforma6. On the influence of Quintilian’s account of the triumph of reason in oratory, see the notices of Poggio Bracciolini, Politian, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, Lorenzo Valla, Henri Estienne, and Guillaume Budé, and the fuller discussion of Erasmus, in Jacques Chomarat, Grammaire et rhétorique chez Erasme (Paris: Societé d’Edition “Les Belles Lettres,” 1981), 1:62–68. 7. An exhortacyon to the dylygent study of scripture: made by Erasmus of Roterodamus, trans. William Roye, 2nd ed. (1529; London, 1534), sigs. di v–dii r. This work was reprinted in 1548. 8. In a 1549 letter to Edward, Elizabeth utilizes the classical body-mind opposition in its original secular formulation to contrast a “picture” of her mere “body” with her desire to reveal her “inward mind” in “words” (CW, 35).

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tion ideology, but at a point well before the outbreaks of iconoclasm that characterized her brother Edward’s reign.9 This dedicatory letter contains one unspecific reference to “my author.” In late 1545 there was no alternative to concealing Calvin’s identity, as Elizabeth and her close advisers would have recognized. On July 1, 1542, the Parlement of Paris designated the 1541 French version of the Institutes and its 1539 Latin counterpart as prohibited books containing damnable “Lutheran” doctrines; it ordered both texts to be confiscated and burned. In England an overt association with Luther, Calvin, or any other Reformer would have been equally dangerous. Since at least 1543 the conservative Catholic faction at court, led by Bishop Stephen Gardiner, had exerted a dominant influence on Henry VIII. In the summer of 1546, only six months after Elizabeth presented her Calvin translation to Queen Katherine, Gardiner’s faction would nearly succeed in alienating the king’s affections from the queen by insinuating that she had heretical connections with Bible-discussing evangelicals and held beliefs that undermined royal authority.10 Amid the shifting religious currents in England in the 1540s, the safest single course for Reformed spirituality was to affirm and revere the Bible as the preeminent means provided by God for human access to knowledge, faith, and salvation in Him. Scripturalism thus conceived is Calvin’s culminating emphasis in the chapter that Elizabeth translated, and it remains his enduring influence on her religious writing. A paramount respect for the Bible emerges in the one extant religious poem she wrote before she became queen. It proliferates in the Biblical allusions and quotations that mark her Latin prayers of 1563 and her multilingual prayers of 1569.11 Elizabeth’s poem, probably composed between 1553 and 1558, during the reign of her Catholic sister Mary, avoids specifying the precise sacramental nature of the Lord’s Supper during a time in which Reformers were being burned for denying the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation. Her tactic of avoidance consists in pointing to the New Testament account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper as 9. John R. Phillips, The Reformation of Images: Destruction of Art in England, 1535–1660 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973); Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, c. 1400–c. 1580 (London: Yale University Press, 1992), 476–503. 10. John Foxe’s “The Story of Queen Katherine Parr,” first printed in the 1570 edition of Acts and Monuments as an episode from the year 1546, narrates Katherine’s quick-witted deference when Henry confronted her, which saved her life and restored her to his favor. 11. See, respectively, CW, 135–43; 143–63.

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the source for understanding the sacrament—a gesture that became a staple of theological method in Calvin and other Reformers: Hoc est corpus meum ’Twas Christ the Word that spake it, The same took bread and brake it, And as the Word did make it, So I believe and take it.12 Narrating the pageantry that accompanied the public procession on the day before her coronation, January 14, 1559, Richard Mulcaster describes Elizabeth’s actions when the City of London presented her with an English Bible: “She thanked the City therefor, promised the reading thereof most diligently, and . . . commanded that it should be brought. . . . How reverently did she with both her hands take it, kiss it, and lay it upon her breast, to the great comfort of the lookers-on!”13 Years later, in her speech at the closing of Parliament, March 29, 1585, Elizabeth reflected on her early formation and recalled emphases in the Calvin text which she had translated: God’s Book hath not been my seldomest lectures. In which we find that which by reason (for my part) we ought to believe: that seeing so great wickedness and griefs in this world in which we live . . . , we must suppose that God would never have made us, but for a better place and for more comfort than we find here. . . . I see many overbold with God almighty, making too many subtle scannings of His blessed will, as lawyers do with human testaments. The presumption is so great as I may not suffer it.14

An “institutio” soundly and seriously inculcated would sustain its effects lifelong. So Elizabeth’s tutors believed and practiced; so she herself would confirm. Her dedicatory letter to Queen Katherine says that she has translated “word for word” (“mot, pour mot”), and she does follow the vocabulary, phrasing, and order of her French original closely. For the most part Elizabeth’s version yields clear, vigorous English prose. She reproduces 12. CW, 47. 13. [Richard Mulcaster], The Passage of Our Most Dread Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth through the City of London (1559), alluding to Matthew 6:33, cited in CW, 55. 14. CW, 182–83. Elizabeth’s “lectures” has its Latinate sense of “readings” or “reading matter.”

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Calvin’s powerful alternations between long and short clauses, highstyle copiousness and sharp antithesis, as in this representative extract: “But if we once lift up our mind unto the Lord, and know what is the perfection of His justice, wisdom, and power—by whose measure we must be ordered and ruled—the thing which did please us before, under the color of justice, shall appear to be defiled with a right great iniquity. This, the which marvelously did deceive us under the shadow of wisdom, shall show itself to be an extreme folly; this, that did appear virtue, shall declare itself to be miserable weakness.” Although she sometimes expands upon Calvin for emphasis or clarity, more often she condenses his orotund phrasing and trims his emphatic doublets, as our notes register. Errors are infrequent, such as her confusion of “verisimilitudes” (probabilities) with “similitudes,” whence Elizabeth’s “comparisons.” As in her translation of Marguerite, Elizabeth relies heavily on cognates and sometimes departs from English idiom with regard to definite articles and the gender of pronouns. Occasionally she produces unidiomatic results by rendering French idioms and verb forms word for word, as in “it must that” for “il fault que”; “this is to know” for “c’est à scavoir”; “after to have created” for “apres avoir créé.” She sometimes also transcribes rather than translates French words, including ten instances of “et” for “and.” Given her age, it is not surprising that her English vocabulary is less rich and supple than Calvin’s French is. She uses “mind,” for example, to render not only “esprit” (mind, spirit), “entendement” (understanding), and “memoire” (memory) but also, more dubiously, “voulunté” (will), “coeur” (heart), “entrailles” (bowels), and even “courage” (zeal, ardor). Yet she proves attentive to the range of meanings of the verb “moderer” (which can mean ‘to govern’ and ‘to moderate’ in various senses), translating it first as “governeth,” then as “moderate,” and then as “moderate and rule.” At points what appears to be deliberate latitude of expression may reveal Elizabeth’s doctrinal and ecclesiological views in early stages of development. Calvin describes how God’s written Word made the church “encores plus segregée” (even more set apart); she claims that God’s written Word worked to “set up a church more at large”—that is, more generally, or over a larger area. As Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the later Elizabeth would defend its comprehensiveness against separatist tendencies. Here she counters Calvin’s implied exclusivity of the church with an emphasis on God’s beneficent

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diffusion of His Word. Elsewhere she appears uneasy about Calvin’s doctrine of a limited elect. Where he states that God chooses those “ausquelz il luy plaist se donner à congnoistre en salut” (to whom it pleases Him to give Himself to be known in salvation), she affirms that God ensures that “those men”—the antecedent is “all men without any exception”—“may obtain the true knowledge of Him so perfectly that it prevaileth for their salvation.” As the 1585 speech quoted above testifies, Elizabeth’s Reformed faith was grounded in God’s saving grace as revealed openly and accessibly for all in Scripture, not in “subtle scannings” or speculations regarding what, to humans, would always be the mysteries of God’s “blessed will.”15

* While Margaret H. Swain and Elspeth Yeo have identified chapter 1 of Calvin’s Institution de la Religion Chrestienne as Elizabeth’s source, they do not address the question whether Elizabeth translated from the first Geneva edition of 1541 or a subsequent one. It is clear, however, that it is this first, 1541 edition that Elizabeth used for her December 1545 translation. Here we list nine major variants between the two texts in which Elizabeth’s version is markedly closer to the reading of the 1541 edition:16 (chapter title) “De la Congnoissance de Dieu” (1541); “De la Congnoissance de Dieu, laquelle est le premier fondement de la Religion et dont il la faut prendre” (1545); “How We Ought to Know God” (Eliz) l’ordre requiert (1541); l’ordre d’enseigner requiert (1545); doth the order require (Eliz) ha en honor au pris de soy (1541); pour eslever par dessus soy (1545); doth honor, to the pr[ice] of himself (Eliz)

15. On Elizabeth’s profound distaste as queen for polemic regarding Calvinist predestination, which she regarded as a contentious and nonessential issue without clear Scriptural basis, see Susan Doran, “Elizabeth I’s Religion: The Evidence of Her Letters,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 51 (2000): 706–7. 16. The variants discussed here may be found in the notes to Jean Calvin, Institution de la religion chrestienne, ed. Jean-Daniel Benoit, 5 vols. (Paris: J. Vrin, 1957–63), 1:50, 54, 60, 69, 75, 77, 78, 85, 114.

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en icelles il y a un tesmoignage (1541); il y a un tesmoignage (1545); in them, there is . . . a witness (Eliz) a esté manifesté (1541); a esté manifesté aux hommes (1545); hath been manifested (Eliz) en toutes manières (1541); en plusieurs manières (1545); in all things (Eliz) les foibles contre les fortz. (1541); les foibles contre les fortz ont victoire. (1545); the feeble against the strong. (Eliz) [Both the 1541 French and Elizabeth’s translation lack a predicate that would make this passage fully intelligible.] de sa verité (1541); de sa rigueur (1545); by His truth (Eliz) les creatures invisibles (1541); les creatures muettes (1545); the invisible creatures (Eliz) By contrast, there is only one minor variant in which Elizabeth is coincidentally closer to the 1545 edition. Both Elizabeth and the 1545 edition provide a conjunction in one passage where the 1541 version lacks one: estre perpétuellement constant, ne varier nulle part (1541); estre perpétellement constant, et ne varier nulle part (1545); to be always constant, and to vary in nothing (Eliz) Since it is easy to imagine Calvin in his second edition and the young Elizabeth in her translation independently adding a conjunction for grammatical parallelism, this single example does not weaken the strong cumulative evidence for the 1541 edition of Calvin’s Institution as the source for Elizabeth’s youthful exercise in religious translation.

Princess Elizabeth’s translation of chapter 1 of John Calvin’s Institution de la Religion Chrestienne (Geneva, 1541), December 30, 15451 (original-spelling version) Elizabeth’s dedicatory letter in French to Queen Katherine Parr

A treshaulte, tresillustre, et magnanime princesse Catherine, royne d’angleterre, france, et irlande. Elizabeth sa treshumble fille, rend salut, et deue obeisance. IADIS de toute ancienneté (tresnoble, treséxcellente, et souueraine princesse) la coustume a tousiours obtenu, que pour garder la mémoire des choses notables qui e2 estoient faittes au temps passé, et pareillement pour en eslargir la renommee, plusieurs hommes ingénieux (affin aussy qu’ilz applicassent leurs sens, et industrie, et qu’on vist qu’ilz excédassent en toute maniére d’artifice ingénieux le reste de tous autres animaux) se sont en plusieurs lieux, et en diuerses maniéres amuséz a rédiger, et réduire en mémoire les choses faictes en leur temps, lesquelles leur sembloient plus dignes de commémoration

1. Source: Edinburgh, National Archives of Scotland, MS RH 13 / 78, fols. 1r–89v (foliation in a modern hand). The entire text is in Elizabeth’s inscriptional italic hand, on parchment, bound in pale blue-green fabric covers and richly embroidered, in red and silver threads, with the same pansies, edging, and intertwined initials used by Elizabeth for the companion volume given to her father on the same occasion (see Swain, “New Year’s Gift

Princess Elizabeth’s translation of chapter 1 of John Calvin’s Institution de la Religion Chrestienne (Geneva, 1541), December 30, 1545 (modern-spelling version) Editors’ translation of Elizabeth’s dedicatory letter in French1

To the most high, most illustrious and magnanimous Princess Katherine, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Elizabeth, her most humble daughter, gives greeting and due obedience. Of old, from great antiquity—most noble, most excellent and sovereign princess—the custom has always prevailed that, to preserve the memory of notable things that were done in times past, and likewise to increase their renown, many ingenious men, both to apply their understanding and industry and to have it seen that in every manner of their ingenious art they excelled the rest of all other animals, have in many places and in divers ways amused themselves by composing or putting into memoirs the things done in their time that seemed to them worthiest of commemoration or remembrance.

from the Princess Elizabeth,” 262–64). Figure 1 on p. xiv of this volume is a photographic image of Elizabeth’s front cover. 2. e The canceled e is the last letter in a line, where there is too little space to write the whole word, “estoient,” without running over into the cleanly ruled margin. Most of the single letters and incomplete words that Elizabeth strikes through occur in this position. 1. Editors’ . . . French This text incorporates revisions to letter 4 in CW, 10–13.

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ou souuenance: Et pour ce faire (a cause que la propriété, et nécessaire vsance des lettres, et la maniére d’escrire n’estoit encor inuentee,) ilz auoient accoustumé de rédiger, et produire leurs actes plus mémorables auec certains caractéres, figures, ymages, ou éffigies, d’hommes, bestes oyséaux poissons, arbres, ou herbes, grossement, et lourdement entailléz: car il ne leur challoit comme ce fust qu’ilz besongnassent, pourueu que la mémoire de leur intention fust éslargie, éspandue, et obseruee par tout le monde. Puis nous voyons maintenant comme depuis la création du monde tout ainsi que les iours, et moys, se sont augmentéz, et multipliéz semblablement, ainsi peu a peu, l’ésprit de l’homme, par succession de temps, est plus ingenieux, et inuentif plus aorné, et poly, qu’il n’estoit au parauant. Et pourtant ont inuenté les vns de esleuer en bosse, fondre, ou grauer, en or, argent, cuyure ou autres metaulx: les autres en pierre, marbre, boys, cire paste endurcie ou autres matiéres, les statues de noz predecesseurs, leur grandeur, hauteur, grosseur, proportion, corpulence, et corsage: leur phizionomie, taint, couleur, et regard: leur maintien, port, contenance: leurs faitz, et géstes: en quoy faisant les paintres excellens ne méritent moindre louange. Mais tous ensemble ne peurent oncq, et ne peuent encor, répresenter, ou declarer par leurs ouurages, l’ésprit, ou engin, le parler, ou entendement d’aucun personage. Et pourtant par sur tous les susditz artz et sciences, l’inuention des lettres me semble la plus spirituelle, excellente, et ingénieuse: car par l’ordre d’icelles, non seulement les susdictes qualitéz corporelles peuent estre déclarees; mais qui plus est l’ymage de l’esprit et engin, et entendement auec le parler, et intention de lhomme, peut estre parfaitement congneu: voire, graué, et protraict si pres du naif, et naturel, qu’il semble proprement que les parolles, que pieça furent dittes, et pronuncees, ayent encor la mesme viguer quelles auoient alors. Ainsy que nous voyons que dieu par sa parolle, et éscriture peut estre veu, ouy, et congneu quel il est (entant qu’il est licite, et nécessaire pour nostre saluation) lequel autrement ne peut estre congneu, ny veu, a cause que de soymesme il est inuisible, et inpalpable, quant a nous, et ne se peut veoir, ny toucher. Et pourtant n’ya il paintre, graueur, ou ymagier, ou autre, tant ingenieux, et subtil soit il qui puisse au vray monstrer, ou produire aucun ymage ou semblance de son essentielle diuinité, nomplus, et 2. intellectual . . . spiritual Elizabeth writes “spirituelle” here, which has a range of senses, including ‘intellectual,’ ‘spiritual,’ and ‘intelligent.’ The “intellectual” capacity of

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And to do this (because the aptness and requisite usage of letters and the way of writing were not yet invented), they were accustomed to set down and bring forth their most memorable deeds with certain characters, figures, images, or effigies of men, beasts, birds, fish, trees, or plants, carved out crudely and grossly because they did not care how it was that they labored, provided that the memory of their intention was magnified, diffused, and noted by everyone. Now, afterwards, we see how since the creation of the world, just as the days and months increase and multiply, so, similarly, little by little, by succession of time the mind of man is more ingenious and inventive, more adorned and polished, than it formerly was. And therefore some have invented sculpting in the round, casting or engraving in gold, silver, copper, or other metals; others in stone, marble, wood, wax, clay, or other materials, statues of our predecessors—their size, height, breadth, proportions, bodily form and stature, their physiognomy, complexion, color, and look, their bearing, gait, countenance, their deeds and acts—in the doing of which, excellent painters do not deserve less praise. But all of these together never could and cannot yet represent or reveal by their works the mind or wit, the speech or understanding of any person. And yet, above all the aforesaid arts and sciences, the invention of letters seems to me the most intellectual and spiritual,2 excellent, and ingenious. For through their ordering not only can the aforesaid bodily features be declared, but also (which is more) the image of the mind, wit, and understanding, together with the speech and intention of the man, can be perfectly known—indeed, traced and portrayed so close to artless and natural that it actually seems that his words that were spoken and pronounced long ago still have the same vigor they had before. Thus also we see that God by His Word and Scripture can be seen, heard, and known for who He is, inasmuch as it is permitted and necessary for our salvation—He who otherwise cannot be known or seen, because in Himself He is invisible and impalpable and, for our part, He is impossible to see or touch. And yet there is no painter, engraver, sculptor, or other, however ingenious and subtle he may be, who could truly show or produce any image or likeness of His essential divinity, no more nor less than he could the mind of any writing to represent “l’esprit” or mind and its “spiritual” ability to represent “l’Esprit” or Spirit of God seem especially pertinent here.

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moins q qu’il pourroit faire de l’ésprit d’aucune autre créature. Doncq est l’art de paindre grauer, ou tailler, l’ymage, et effigie des choses corporelles, visibles, et palpables; et au contraire, léscriture, est l’ymage, et éffigie des choses spirituelles, inuisibles, et inpalpables. Et pourtant, ie, d’un instinct naturel, suiuant’ noz susdictz prédécesseurs me suis ingéree, et entremise de traduire en nostre langue maternelle vn petit liure, duquel, ainsi que saint paul dit, l’argument ou subiect, surpasse la capacité de toute creature: et toutesfois est de viguer si tresgrande qu’il n’y a créature viuante, telle qu’elle soit, qui n’en ait le sentiment en soy: lequel certes requerroit plus grand’ éloquence, ou aornement de parolles et sentences, que ie ne luy sçaurois applicquer. Mais veu que de la source dont est sorty ce liure, la maiésté de la matiére surpasse toute éloquence humaine, estant priuilégee, et ayant telle force en soy, qu’une seule sentence a pouoir de rauir, inspirer, et donner congnoissance aux plus idiotz, et ignorans qui soient viuans, en quelle sorte dieu veult estre congneu, veu, et ouy: pourtant ie pense que de soymesme est suffisante, et n’a que faire d’aucun adueu, support, ou ayde humaine. Quoy considéré (suiuant principallement l’intention de mon autheur,) me suis enhardie, et aduenturee de le translater mot, pour mot, et nompas que ce soit vn oeuure parfaict: mais me confiant que vostre h hautesse aura plus d’ésgard au zéle, et desir que i’ay de vous complaire, que n’auréz a la capacité de mon simple pouoir, et sçauoir: et que de vostre grace le voudréz estimer de prouenir d’une pareille intention comme des desusditz, auquelz il ne challoit comme ce fust qu’ilz besongnassent, pourueu que leur intention fust congneuë. Parquoy i’éspere qu’en cas pareil vostre hautesse m’excusera, et que de vostre gracieux accoustumé bon acueil le receuréz en tesmoignage que pour chose qui soit en ce monde, ne voudroye tumber en aucuns arréraiges de mon deuoir enuers vostre grace: mais plustost, a mon pouoir, comme la moindre, tenir la lumiére, et ésclairer, pour, et affin d’estre 3. the Scripture Elizabeth’s “l’éscriture” could mean ‘Scripture’ or ‘writing’ in general, but her claim that “l’éscriture” renders things “inuisibles, et impalpables” recalls her earlier assertion that the Bible depicts the “inuisible, et impalpable” God, suggesting that her primary referent is the Bible. 4. a little . . . creature a . . . book Not, in fact, an independently bound or circulating work, but the first chapter of the first French translation of the Institutes, made by Calvin himself. subject The knowledge of God. Saint . . . creature “O the depth of the riches

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other creature. Thus the art of painting, engraving, or sculpting is the image and effigy of bodily, visible, and palpable things; and by contrast, the Scripture3 is the image and effigy of spiritual, invisible, and impalpable things. And therefore, by a natural instinct, following our aforesaid predecessors, I have set about and undertaken to translate into our mother tongue a little book whose theme or subject, as Saint Paul said, surpasses the capacity of every creature4 and yet is of such great vigor that there is no living creature of whatever sort that has not had within itself the feeling of it—which surely would require greater eloquence or adornment of words and sentences than I would know how to apply to it. But seeing the source from which this book5 came forth, the majesty of the matter surpasses all human eloquence, being privileged and having such force within it that a single sentence has power to ravish, inspire, and give knowledge to the most stupid and ignorant beings alive, in what way God wishes to be known, seen, and heard: therefore I think it is sufficient in itself and has no need for any human approval, support, or help. Which when I considered, following principally the intention of my author, I was emboldened, and ventured to translate it word for word, and not that it might be a perfect work, but assuring myself that your Highness will pay more regard to the zeal and the desire I have of pleasing you than you will to the capacity of my simple ability and knowledge. And may you of your grace vouchsafe to judge it to proceed from a similar intention as those mentioned above, who did not care how it was that they labored, provided that their intention was understood. Therefore I hope that in a similar case your Highness will excuse me, and with your gracious, accustomed welcome will receive it as testimony that not for anything in this world would I want to fall into any arrears in my duty towards your grace, but rather, to the best of my ability, as she who is least, hold the

both of the wisdom and knowledge of God: how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33). 5. the source . . . book Elizabeth’s vague reference to the “source” of the book she has translated creates an ambiguity that classes Calvin’s treatise together with the Holy Scriptures for their “power to ravish, inspire, and give knowledge . . . in what way God wishes to be known, seen, and heard.” Calvin’s chapter praises the Scriptures in very similar terms.

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aiuttrice3 au feruent zéle, et parfaite amour qu’auéz enuers iceluy dieu qui tout créa. Lequel tresafectueusement ie suply’ de vous vouloir si tresparfaitement accroistre en la congnoissance de soy, que l’organe de vostre royale voix puisse estre le vray instrument de sa parolle, affin de seruir de miroir, et lumiere á tous vraiz chrestiens, et chrestiennes. Du chasteau de harford ce pén’ultime iour de l’an, 1545. Elizabeth’s translation

HOW WE OVGHT TO knowe god4 ALL the summe of our wisedom the wich deserueth to be called, true and certayne wisedom, is almost comprehended in two partes, the one is to knowe god, and the second to knowe oureselues: wherof the fyrst ought to shewe, not onely that he is god alone, the wiche we all must worshippe, and honore; but also that he is the springe of all truth, wisedom, goodnes iustice, iugement, mercy, power, and holynes bycause we maye of hym lerne, to tary and to aske for all thinges Further, to knowe them with praise, and thankes gyuing, to procede of hym. The seconde, in shewynge vs our beastelines, misery, vanitie, and vilany, doth bring vs to deiection, deffiance, and hatred of oureselues: and after doth sturre in vs a desyre to serche god, forasmuch that in hym doth rest all our welth, wherof we do finde our

3. aiuttrice Italian for (female) ‘helper’—an example of polyglot influence upon Elizabeth’s French. 4. Source: Chapter 1, “De la congnoissance de Dieu,” of Institvtion de la Religion Chrestienne: en laquelle est comprinse vne somme de pieté, & quasi tout ce qui est necessaire a congnoistre en la doctrine de salut. Composée en latin par Iean Calvin,& translatée en francois, par luymesme. Avec la preface addressé au Treschrestien Roy de France, Françoys premier de ce nom: par laquelle ce present liure luy est offert pour confession de Foy (Geneva: Jean Girard? 1541). 6. as . . . illumine as . . . least Elizabeth’s modesty topos echoes Paul: “For I am the least [Vulgate ‘minimus’] of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9), and Jesus’s commendation of “the least [Vulgate ‘minimis’] of my brethren” (Matthew 25:40). hold . . . illumine Elizabeth’s self-image evokes the wise virgins of Matthew 25:1–13, who, by keeping their lamps burning brightly, attend the bridegroom’s coming. 7. lamp . . . women Elizabeth’s image of Queen Katherine as a lamp to other Christians personalizes Calvin’s image of the “lamps of the church”—individual Christians exemplary for their holiness.

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aiuttrice3 au feruent zéle, et parfaite amour qu’auéz enuers iceluy dieu qui tout créa. Lequel tresafectueusement ie suply’ de vous vouloir si tresparfaitement accroistre en la congnoissance de soy, que l’organe de vostre royale voix puisse estre le vray instrument de sa parolle, affin de seruir de miroir, et lumiere á tous vraiz chrestiens, et chrestiennes. Du chasteau de harford ce pén’ultime iour de l’an, 1545. Elizabeth’s translation

HOW WE OVGHT TO knowe god4 ALL the summe of our wisedom the wich deserueth to be called, true and certayne wisedom, is almost comprehended in two partes, the one is to knowe god, and the second to knowe oureselues: wherof the fyrst ought to shewe, not onely that he is god alone, the wiche we all must worshippe, and honore; but also that he is the springe of all truth, wisedom, goodnes iustice, iugement, mercy, power, and holynes bycause we maye of hym lerne, to tary and to aske for all thinges Further, to knowe them with praise, and thankes gyuing, to procede of hym. The seconde, in shewynge vs our beastelines, misery, vanitie, and vilany, doth bring vs to deiection, deffiance, and hatred of oureselues: and after doth sturre in vs a desyre to serche god, forasmuch that in hym doth rest all our welth, wherof we do finde our

3. aiuttrice Italian for (female) ‘helper’—an example of polyglot influence upon Elizabeth’s French. 4. Source: Chapter 1, “De la congnoissance de Dieu,” of Institvtion de la Religion Chrestienne: en laquelle est comprinse vne somme de pieté, & quasi tout ce qui est necessaire a congnoistre en la doctrine de salut. Composée en latin par Iean Calvin,& translatée en francois, par luymesme. Avec la preface addressé au Treschrestien Roy de France, Françoys premier de ce nom: par laquelle ce present liure luy est offert pour confession de Foy (Geneva: Jean Girard? 1541). 6. as . . . illumine as . . . least Elizabeth’s modesty topos echoes Paul: “For I am the least [Vulgate ‘minimus’] of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9), and Jesus’s commendation of “the least [Vulgate ‘minimis’] of my brethren” (Matthew 25:40). hold . . . illumine Elizabeth’s self-image evokes the wise virgins of Matthew 25:1–13, who, by keeping their lamps burning brightly, attend the bridegroom’s coming. 7. lamp . . . women Elizabeth’s image of Queen Katherine as a lamp to other Christians personalizes Calvin’s image of the “lamps of the church”—individual Christians exemplary for their holiness.

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lamp and illumine,6 so that, and to the end that, I may assist the fervent zeal and perfect love that you bear towards the selfsame God who created all things. Whom I most ardently entreat to vouchsafe that you may grow so very perfectly in the knowledge of Him that the organ of your royal voice may be the true instrument of His Word, so as to serve as a mirror and lamp to all true Christian men and women.7 From Hertford Castle this penultimate day of the year 1545. Elizabeth’s translation

How We Ought to Know God All the sum of our wisdom, the which deserveth to be called true and certain wisdom, is almost comprehended in two parts: the one is to know God, and the second9 to know ourselves. Whereof the first ought to show not only that He is God alone,10 the which we all must worship and honor, but also that He is the spring of all truth, wisdom, goodness, justice, judgment, mercy, power and holiness, because we may of Him learn to tarry11 and to ask for all things. Further, to know them, with praise and thanksgiving, to proceed of Him. The second, in showing us our beastliness,12 misery, vanity, and villainy, doth bring us to dejection, defiance, and hatred of ourselves; and after doth stir in us a desire to search God, forasmuch that in Him doth rest all our wealth,13 whereof we do find ourselves void and naked. Now it is not facile14 to discern which of both doth precede

8. [1] To facilitate comparison of Elizabeth’s translation with Calvin’s French, we have inserted in the margins, in square brackets, the page numbers of the original as reproduced in the authoritative modern reprint, Jean Calvin, Institution de la religion chrestienne: Texte de la première edition française (1541), ed. Abel Lefranc, Jacques Pannier, and Henri Châtelain, fascicule 1 (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1911; rpt. Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, and Paris: Honoré Champion, 1978). 9. the one, the second Elizabeth’s additions. 10. God alone “un seul Dieu” (only one God). 11. spring . . . tarry spring source; “fonteine” (fountain, spring). Elizabeth uses “spring” in this sense three times in this translation. because in order that, so that; “à fin que.” She uses “because” in this now obsolete sense as well as “so that” to render “à fin que.” tarry wait in expectation of; “attendre,” which in this context means ‘hope for.’ 12. beastliness “imbecilité” (weakness, feebleness). 13. stir . . . wealth stir “enflambe” (inflame). search look for, seek diligently. wealth well-being. This is Elizabeth’s consistent rendering of Calvin’s “bien” in the sense of ‘wellbeing.’ 14. facile easy; “facile.”

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selues voyde, and naked. Now is it not facile to discerne wich of both doth precede, and bringeth furth the other. For syth that we do fynde in a man a worlde of misery, we can not perceue otherwise but that we be moued, and styrred trough5 the knowledge of our wredchednes; for immediately to lifte vp our eyes vnto god, and to come, at the lesse, vnto some knowledge of hym. So through the felyng of our wretchednes, simplicitie, rudenes vanitie, and also peruersite, and corruption, we aknowledge that the true highnes wisedom, verite, and iustice, doth consiste in god. Finaly, we be moued by our myseries to consyder the goodnes of the lord, and we can not affectuously drawe towardes hym, onlesse we ha haue fyrst begon to care not for oureselues. For, who is he amonge men, wich willingly wolde not haue rest within hym selfe: who is he, but hath no rest all the tyme that not knowing hymselfe, is content of his own facultie, and doth not se his misery Therfore euery one 6 of vs is not only styrred through the knowledge of hymselfe, to seke god, but is almost leade by the hand to loke for to fynde hym. On the other parte, it is playne that a man doth neuer come to the true knowledge of hymselfe, onlesse fyrst he hath contempled the face of the lord, and after to haue considered it, lette hym come down, and loke vpon hymselfe. For arrogancy is rootyd in all vs, that alway we do thinke ourselues, iuste, true, wyse, and holy, onles it be, that through open reproue, we be conuinced of vniustice, lies foly, and vnclennes. Nowe we be not conuinced, in it, if we do loke only vnto vs, and not likewise to the lord, wich is the only waye, to whom it must that this iugement be agreyng. Forasmuch as all we are naturally inclined vnto ypocrisy, a vayne outward apparence7 of iustice of iustice, doth wholy contente vs, in stede of the truth. And bycause that there is nothing aboute vs, 5. trough through. Here, as in three later instances in this translation, Elizabeth omits a medial h. 6. one This insertion looks to be in Queen Katherine Parr’s hand because “on-” is written cursively. Letter-forms in Elizabeth’s girlish italic are consistently unconnected. 7. apparence appearance; Elizabeth transcribes French “apparence.” 15. otherwise . . . less otherwise A loose rendering of “droictement” (rightly). for . . . up “pour incontinent eslever” (immediately to lift up). Elizabeth’s word-for-word rendering of Calvin’s French yields unidiomatic English. at . . . less “pour le moins” (at least). Elizabeth either mistakenly wrote “less” for “least” or misconstrued “le moins” as “the less.” 16. wretchedness . . . highness wretchedness, simplicity Both nouns render “petitesse” (littleness). highness “grandeur” (true greatness). Elizabeth translates “grandeur”

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and bringeth forth the other. For since that we do find in a man a world of misery, we cannot perceive otherwise, but that we be moved and stirred, through the knowledge of our wretchedness, for immediately to lift up our eyes unto God and to come, at the less,15 unto some knowledge of Him. So, through the feeling of our wretchedness, simplicity, rudeness, vanity, and also perversity and corruption, we acknowledge that the true highness,16 wisdom, verity, and justice doth consist in God. Finally we be moved by our miseries to consider the goodness of the Lord, and we cannot affectuously draw towards Him unless we have first begun to care not for ourselves.17 For who is he among men, which willingly would not have rest within himself? who is he but hath no rest all the time that, not knowing himself, is content of his own faculty,18 and doth not see his misery? Therefore every of us is not only stirred through the knowledge of himself to seek God, but is almost led by the hand to look for to find Him. On the other part, it is plain that a man doth never come to the true knowledge of himself unless first he hath contempled the face of the Lord; and after to have considered it, let him come down and look upon himself.19 For arrogancy is rooted in all us, that alway we do think ourselves just, true, wise, and holy, unless it be that, through open reproof, we be convinced of unjustice, lies, folly, and uncleanness. Now we be not convinced in it, if we do look only unto us, and not likewise to the Lord, which is the only way, to whom it must that20 this judgment be agreeing. Forasmuch as all we are naturally inclined unto hypocrisy, a vain, outward appearance of justice doth wholly content us, instead of the truth. And because that there is nothing about us, but is much defiled, the thing which is but little is accepted of us for a very pure thing, as long as “highness” throughout this text, applying to God’s sovereignty a term often used of earthly monarchs. 17. affectuously . . . ourselves affectuously earnestly, ardently; “affectueusement.” to . . . ourselves “nous desplaire du tout en nousmesmes” (to be displeased with everything in ourselves). 18. faculty ability; “facultez” (abilities). 19. contempled . . . himself contempled contemplated; “contemplé.” let . . . himself Calvin has a present indicative, “descende à se regarder” (comes down to look at himself). 20. which . . . that which who. it . . . that “il fault que” (it is necessary that). Five times in this translation, Elizabeth employs the unidiomatic “it must that” in the sense of ‘it must be that,’ ‘it is necessary that.’

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but is muche defyled, the thing wich is but lytell, is accepted of vs for a very pure thing, as longe as we do kepe oure wittes within the lymittes of our fleshe wich is all poluted. Euen as the eye, the wich seyth nothing but all thinges, as they were of a darke couloure, iudgeth the thing wich is whytteyshe, that is to say, halfe graye, to be the whyteste thing of the world, yt maye be better comprehended how we are abused in estymyng the power of the soule, by a simlytude of our bodely syght. For if we do beholde at nowne day down to the earth, or els if we do loke on the thinges that be aboute vs, it semyth to vs that oure syght is stedfast, and bryght, but when we begynne to lyfte vp oure eyes ryght to the sunne, the strenght wich did shewe it selfe in the earth, is confused, and dased through suche a great lyght, so that we are constrayne to confesse, that the good syght, that we haue for to beholde earthely thinges, is right feible, and weke, for to loke on the sunne. euenso it doth chaunce consydering our spirituall faculties. For aslong as our contemplation can comprehende but wordly 8 thinges, beyng ryght wel contente with our owne iustice, wisedom, and strenght; and it lacketh but lytell but we do estime ourselues to be almost halfe goddes: but if we ones lyfte vp our mynde vnto the lord, and knowe what is the perfection of his iustice, wisedom, and power (by whose measure we must be ordred, and ruled) the thing wich did please vs before, vnder the couloure of iustice, shal appere to be defyled, with a right great iniquite; this the wiche meruaylously did deceyue vs, vnder the shadowe of wisedom, shall shew it selfe to be an extreme folly: this that did appere vertue, shall declare it selfe to be myserable weakenes, and it laketh but lytell, but the thinge wich did seme it selfe to be right parfayte in vs, we shuld thinke it to be like vnto the perfaitenes wich is in god. And thence cometh the horroure and astowning,9 wherof the scripture often tymes maketh mencion, that the faythfull hathe ben striken, as often as they did fele the presence of god. Therfore

8. wordly Here and in one later instance Elizabeth miswrites “worldly.” 9. astowning astounding—an early modern variant form. 21. little . . . flesh little i.e., little defiled; “un peu moins souillé” (a little less soiled). flesh “humanité” (humanity, human nature). 22. whitish . . . say whitish “d’une blancheur obscure” (of a dim whiteness). that . . . say “ou bien encores” (or else). 23. noonday “en plein jour” (in broad daylight).

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as we do keep our wits within the limits of our flesh,21 which is all polluted. Even as the eye, the which seeth nothing but all things as they were of a dark color, judgeth the thing which is whitish— that is to say,22 half-gray—to be the whitest thing of the world, it may be better comprehended how we are abused in esteeming the power of the soul by a similitude of our bodily sight. For if we do behold at noonday23 down to the earth, or else if we do look on the things that be about us, it seemeth to us that our sight is steadfast and bright. But when we begin to lift up our eyes right to the sun, the strength which did show itself in the earth is confused and dazed through such a great light, so that we are constrained to confess that the good sight that we have for to behold earthly things is right feeble and weak, for to look on the sun. Even so it doth chance, considering our spiritual faculties. For as long as our contemplation can comprehend but worldly things, being right well content with our own justice, wisdom, and strength,24 and it lacketh but little, but we do esteem ourselves to be almost half-gods. But if we once lift up our mind unto the Lord, and know what is the perfection of His justice, wisdom, and power25—by whose measure we must be ordered and ruled—the thing which did please us before, under the color of justice, shall appear to be defiled with a right great iniquity. This, the which marvelously did deceive us under the shadow of wisdom, shall show itself to be an extreme folly; this, that did appear virtue, shall declare itself to be miserable weakness; and it lacketh but little, but the thing which did seem itself to be right perfect in us, we should think it to be like unto the perfectness26 which is in God. And thence cometh the horror and astounding whereof the Scripture oftentimes maketh mention: that the faithful hath been stricken as often as they did feel the presence of God. Therefore when we do see that those, which in the absence of the Lord stood steadfast and

24. can . . . strength can . . . things “ne passe point la terre” (does not go beyond the earth). strength Elizabeth does not translate Calvin’s immediately following clause: “nous nous flatons et aplaudissons” (we flatter and applaud ourselves). 25. power “vertu”—a word ambiguous between the meanings of ‘virtue’ and ‘power, strength,’ as shown by its occurrence in the next sentence, where Elizabeth translates it as “virtue” although Calvin contrasts it with “foiblesse” or ‘weakness.’ 26. declare . . . perfectness declare reveal. it . . . but “tant s’en fault que” (so must it be that). be . . . unto “responde à” (corresponds proportionately to, is equal to). perfectness Elizabeth’s frequent translation of “pureté.”

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iosu. 13. 6. Ezec. 1.

Gen. 18.

1 king. 19. Esay. 6. Esay. 24.

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whan we do se that those wich in the absence of the lord stowde stedfast, and sure are so feared euen by and by that he sheweth his glory vnto them, as thoughe they shulde, through the horroure of death, be swalowed, and almost brought to nothing: by this, we may perceyue that the man is neuer touched far inough, through the knowledge of his infirmite, onles it be after that he did compare hymselfe vnto the maieste of god And of these fearefulnes we haue many exemples, as well in the boke of of 10 iudges, as also in the prophetes, that this sentence was commen amonge the people of god: We shall dye, syth the lord did appeare to vs. Therfore also the story of iob, for to ouercome men throug11 the knowledge of their owne folly, weakenes, and polution, doth alwayes bringe furth the principal argument of the description of the wisedom, power and perfaytenes of god, and this not without a cause: For we do se howe abraham, the more that he knewe himselfe neere to contemple the glory of the lord, the more doth he aknowledge hymselfe to be but earth, and dust: we doo rede also how eliah could not abyde hys presence hauinge hys face vncouered, so feared was he to loke vpon hym. What ought then a man do, the wich is nothing els, but wormes meat, syth that it must that the cherubins doth couer theyr face for feare and reuerence. And this it is that the prophet esaye sayeth that the sunne shal be a shamed, and the mone shall be confused, when the lord of the oostes shal regne this is to saye, when he shall haue lyfted, and setted furth hys clartie, that all other thinges wich be shynning shall be darkened be it. Neuerthelesse whosoeuer it be that the knowledge of god and of vs be together mutually ioyned yet doth the order require, that we do put the knowledge of god before, and then after to come down, and loke wpon12 the other. We do put you oute of doute, but that there is in the witte of a man some naturall inclination of godly felynge, bycause

10. of of Elizabeth’s inadvertent repetition. 11. throug through. Twice in this translation Elizabeth omits the final h of this word. 12. wpon upon—an earlier English variant form. 27. so . . . by so feared so frightened; “ainsi esbranlez et espouvantez” (thus shaken and terrified). by . . . by immediately. Elizabeth often uses this phrase to render “incontinent” (immediately). 28. the man “l’homme” (man). Elizabeth unidiomatically translates the French definite article with a noun at several points. 29. Judges . . . prophets Judges 13:22; Isaiah 6:5.

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sure, are so feared even by and by27 that He showeth His glory unto them, as though they should through the horror of death be swallowed and almost brought to nothing: by this we may perceive that the man28 is never touched far enough, through the knowledge of his infirmity, unless it be after that he did compare himself unto the majesty of God. And of these fearfulness we have many examples, as well in the book of Judges as also in the prophets,29 that this sentence was common among the people of God: We shall die, since the Lord did appear to us. Therefore also the story of Job, for to overcome30 men through the knowledge of their own folly, weakness, and pollution, doth always bring forth the principal argument of the description of the wisdom, power, and perfectness of God, and this not without a cause. For we do see how Abraham, the more that he [dr]ew himself near31 to contemple the glory of the Lord, the more doth he acknowledge himself to be but earth and dust. We do read also32 how Elijah could not abide His presence, having his face uncovered, so feared was he to look upon Him. What ought then a man do, the which is nothing else but worms’ meat, since that it must that the cherubins33 doth cover their face for fear and reverence? And this it is that the prophet Isaiah saith, That the sun shall be ashamed and the moon shall be confused when the Lord of Hosts shall reign: this is to say, when He shall have lifted and set forth His clarity, that all other things which be shining34 shall be darkened by it. Nevertheless, [how]soever35 it be that the knowledge of God and of us be together mutually joined, yet doth the order require that we do put the knowledge of God before, and then, after, to come down and look upon the other. We do put you out of doubt but that there is, in the wit of a man, some natural inclination of godly feeling, because no man should 30. story . . . overcome story . . . Job Job 9; 12–13; 26. overcome “abatre” (beat down). 31. [dr]ew . . . near “est approché de.” [dr]ew Elizabeth wrote “knewe,” an evident penslip. 32. We . . . also Elizabeth’s addition. 33. worms’. . . cherubins worms’ meat “pourriture et vermine” (rottenness and vermin). cherubins cherubim, the six-winged angels of Scripture, who attend upon God’s presence. 34. other . . . shining “tout ce qui est autrement le plus reluysant” (all that which is otherwise the most shining). 35. [how]soever “comment que ce soit.” Elizabeth mistakenly wrote “whosoeuer.”

Josh. 13.6. Ezek. 1.

Gen. 18.

1 Kings 19. Isa. 6. Isa. 24.

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no man shuld haue refuge, to pretende ignoraunce The lord hath inspired vnto all men, some knowledge of hys maieste; so that all men knowing that there is a god, wich is their maker, may be condemned through theyr owne witnes: bycause they haue not honoured hym, and that they haue not applye13 their life, to do his will. Surely if we do serche in any parte of the worlde suche ignoraunce amonge men, that god be not truly knowen: it is true that the exemple shuld be found in no place sooner then among the most rude people, and those wich be the furthest frome ciuilitie, and humanite. Nowe euen as the hethen doth themselues confesse, there is no nacyon so barbarous, no people so straunge, but hath that thinge printed in to hys mynde, that there is a god. And those wiche in other places, their lyuing doth seme to differre but lytell from brute beastes: yet neuerthelesse they do alwayes kepe amonge them, some seede of religion, so is thesame vniuersall knowledge rooted, and sixed14 in all mennes myndes Therfore, syth that frome the beginning of the worlde, there hath ben no region towne, nor house, that could be without relygion, by this we haue as a priuy confession, and inward knowledge, that there is a felyng of the godhed graued in to the hartes of al men. Likewyse, ydolatry, is an open argument of this feling of the godhed. For we knowe howe moche the man doth humble hymselfe against his will and doth honoure, to the prayse of hymselfe, all other creatures. Syth then that he loueth better to worshippe a pece of wodde or a stone, then to be aknowen15 that there is no god, it appeareth clearly how vehement is thesame impression that we haue of the knowledge of the maieste of god, the wiche can not be put out of a mannes mynde, so that yt is more easy to ouercome his naturall affection, the wich is broken, when

13. haue . . . applye have . . . applied. Elizabeth similarly omits the past participle ending in “hath please” below on p. 262. 14. sixed fixed; Elizabeth neglected to bar the middle of a long s letter form. 15. wodde . . . aknowen wodde wood. to . . . aknowen to be acknown, i.e., to avow, confess. 36. you . . . pretend you Elizabeth’s addition. pretend profess or claim (about oneself). This is Elizabeth’s usual rendering of cognate “pretendre” (profess, claim). 37. knowing “ayans entendu” (having understood). 38. not . . . true not truly “ne . . . point . . . du tout” (not at all). is true “il est vray semblable” (it seems true, it is probable), confused with “il est vray.”

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have refuge to pretend36 ignorance. The Lord hath inspired unto all men some knowledge of His majesty so that all men, knowing37 that there is a God which is their Maker, may be condemned through their own witness because they have not honored Him and that they have not applied their life to do His will. Surely, if we do search in any part of the world such ignorance among men, that God be not truly known, it is true38 that the example should be found in no place sooner than among the most rude people, and those which be the furthest from civility and humanity. Now, even as the heathen doth themselves confess, there is no nation so barbarous, no people so strange, but hath that thing printed into his mind:39 that there is a God. And those which, in other places, their living doth seem to differ but little from brute beasts, yet nevertheless they do always keep among them some seed of religion: so is the same universal knowledge rooted and fixed in all men’s minds.40 Therefore, since that from the beginning of the world there hath been no region, town, nor house that could be without religion, by this we have, as a privy confession and inward knowledge,41 that there is a feeling of the Godhead graved into the hearts of all men. Likewise,42 idolatry is an open argument of this feeling of the Godhead. For we know how much the man doth humble himself against his will, and doth honor, to the pr[ice]43 of himself, all other creatures. Since, then, that he loveth better to worship a piece of wood or a stone than to be acknown that there is no God,44 it appeareth clearly how vehement is the same impression that we have of the knowledge of the majesty of God: the which cannot be put out of a man’s mind, so that it is more easy to overcome his natural affection. The which is broken, when the 39. strange . . . mind strange “sauvaige” (savage, wild). his mind Elizabeth’s singular construction derives from Calvin’s references to the collective singular nouns “nation” and “people.” 40. rooted . . . minds “a pris racine en tous espris, et est fichée en tous coeurs” (has taken root in all minds, and is fixed in all hearts). 41. privy . . . knowledge privy private; “tacite” (silent). Elizabeth’s rendering activates the senses of the Latin root “tacitus,” ‘silent, inward, hidden.’ and . . . knowledge Elizabeth’s addition. 42. Likewise “Mesmes” (Even). 43. to . . . pr[ice] at the value; “au pris.” pr[ice] Elizabeth ambiguously wrote “prayse.” 44. to be . . . God “estre en reputation de n’avoir point de Dieu” (to have the reputation of having no God).

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the man, frome his hye minde, and presumption, doth wilingly stowpe vnder the wille of the vilest creatures of the earth, to th’entent that he may do reuerence vnto god.16 Therfore it is a false opinion to say as some doth, that religion was fyrst inuented, in the olde tyme through the crafte, and policy of fewe men: bycause that by this meane, they might kepe the symple people in feare. howbeit that those wich did p prouoke other to honore god had no knowledge of the godhed. Well i do confesse that some men wittie, and crafty amonge the hethen, did inuente many thinges in the religion, for to gyue feare vnto the symple people, and to engender scrupules, for to make hym more obedient, and the better at theyr commaundement: but they neuer had gotten them at that poynt, onles fyrst the wittes of men had ben sure of that stedfast persuasion, that there was a god, of wose17 spring did procede all inclination to beleue this that was spoken of hym. Lykewise we may not thinke that those, wiche vnder the shadowe of relygion dyd abuse the symple people, shuld be ygnoraunt of that knowledge, but that there was a god For althoughe that there hath ben some, and nowe there be many wich doth denye all godhed, neuertheles agaynste theyr will yt must that they continually doth fele the thinge, wich they do desyre to be ignoraunt of it. We do reade in no place that euer any man dyd more sequestrate hymselfe in despising god frowardly, and outrageously, then caïus caligula emperoure of rome: neuertheles no man did neuer tremble more myserably at euery tyme that the wrath of god dyd appeare. so he againste hys will did feare god, whom he was wholy mynded, and did force hymselfe to despyse. Ye shall commenly se, that so it shall happen vnto all them that be like hym, For the more that a man ys a froward despyser of god, he is soon astonyd hearing a leaffe fall frome a tree, Whence cometh this, but that the maieste of god doth auenge it selfe of them, treatening their

16. god Here and elsewhere in Elizabeth’s autograph text, when a preceding line is unfilled and a new line begun, this is because there is insufficient room to write the next word of the text in the unfilled line. Put another way, her writing out of her translation of Calvin conveys no sense of the paragraph as a unit. 17. wose An earlier English (fifteenth-century) spelling of “whose.” 45. The which . . . of The which . . . broken “Comme certes elle est rompue” (As, certainly, it [natural affection] is broken). the will of Elizabeth’s addition. 46. craft . . . knowledge craft . . . policy “l’astuce et finesse” (intelligence and subtlety). in fear “en modestie” (in moderation). howbeit that although. knowledge “imagination.”

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man from his high mind and presumption doth willingly stoop under the will of 45 the vilest creatures of the earth to the intent that he may do reverence unto God. Therefore it is a false opinion to say, as some doth, that religion was first invented in the old time through the craft and policy of few men because that, by this mean, they might keep the simple people in fear, howbeit that those which did provoke other to honor God had no knowledge46 of the Godhead. Well I do confess that some men, witty and crafty47 among the heathen, did invent many things in the religion, for to give fear unto the simple people and to engender scruples, for to make him more obedient and the better at their commandment. But they never had gotten them at that point, unless first the wits of men had been sure of that steadfast persuasion, that there was a God: of whose spring did proceed all inclination to believe this that was spoken of Him. Likewise, we may not think that those which under the shadow of religion did abuse the simple people should be ignorant of that knowledge,48 but that there was a God. For although that there hath been some, and now there be many, which doth deny all Godhead, nevertheless against their will it must that they continually doth feel the thing which they do desire, to be ignorant of it. We do read in no place that ever any man did more sequestrate himself in despising God frowardly and outrageously than Caius Caligula,49 emperor of Rome. Nevertheless, no man did never tremble more miserably at every time that the wrath of God did appear; so he against his will did fear God, whom he was wholly minded, and did force himself,50 to despise. Ye shall commonly see that so it shall happen unto all them that be like him. For the more that a man is a froward despiser of God, he is soon astonished, hearing a leaf fall from a tree. Whence cometh this, but that the majesty of God doth avenge itself of them, threatening their

47. witty . . . crafty “fins et cauteleux” (subtle and deceptive). 48. ignorant . . . knowledge ignorant “vuides et desnuez”—rendered as “void and naked” in the fourth sentence of Elizabeth’s translation. knowledge “pensée” (thought). 49. Caius Caligula Roman emperior in 69–68 B.C.E. See Suetonius, “Life of Gaius Caligula,” Lives of the Caesars 4.51, which describes how Caligula despised the gods but was terrified of thunder from the sky. 50. did . . . himself strove; “s’esforçoit de” (tried to). Elizabeth frequently uses “force” with the reflexive pronoun in its early modern sense of ‘strive, try’ to render its French cognate “s’efforcer de” (try to) and the synonymous “tacher de” (try to).

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consciences when they do thinke to auoyde it. They seke well all corners that are possible to be founde, for to hydde themselues frome the presence of god, and forceth themselues to put out of their minde the remembraunce of it. But against their will they are kept in boundage. And howbeit that it semeth some tymes that yt vanysheth for a lytell tyme, neuertheles it allwayes cometh againe, and doth oppresse them more then it did before. So if they haue any asswaging of theyr consciences, it differeth but lytell of dronken, or madde men; the wiche also in theyr slepe, doth neuer rest quietly; bycause that they be alwayes wnquieted,18 through visions and fearefull dreames. Therfore the moste wicked men are an example vnto vs, that the knowledge of god hath an vniuersall power in to the hartes of all men. We haue alredy moued, or partly spoken, how the knowledge of god ought to haue in vs the efficacy to plante in our hartes some seede of religion. Fyrst to instructe vs, vnto a feare and reuerence towardes god, and and after to teache vs that it is in hym that we muste seke all welth, and to whom we must geue the thankes therfore. For how can any thought coming frome god entre in to thy minde but thou receuest it by and by syth that thou arte hys makinge, that through the right of creation thou art a subiect, and vnder his dominion, that thy lyuing ought to be geuen to hys seruice, that all this that thou purposest in thy mynde spekest, et doste, it ought to be referred vnto hym. If so it be, then it foloweth that thy lyfe is corupted, onles it be ordred vnder the obedience of hys will. On the other parte thou canste not clearly comprehende who he is, but thou must fyrst knowe that he is the springe of all welthe, by the wich consideration, it shuld come out a desire to be ioyned with hym, and a trust in his goodnes, were not that that the mynde of man through his owne vickednes19 is witdrawen frome the right inquisition therof. But in the one, and in

18. wnquieted unquieted. Later in the translation Elizabeth uses a w for v in “wnderstande.” 19. vickednes wickedness. Five sentences later, Elizabeth again uses an initial v for w in “vrapped.” 51. think . . . it “s’esforcent de la fouyr” (make every effort to flee it). 52. corners . . . bondage corners secluded places; “cachets” (secret places). against . . . bondage “bongré malgré, ilz sont tenuz enserrez” (willingly or unwillingly, they are kept closed up). 53. assuaging . . . unquieted assuaging “relache de l’angoisse” (relieving of the bitterness). little . . . men “ne differe gueres du dormir des yvrougnes ou freneticques”

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consciences when they do think to avoid it?51 They seek well all corners that are possible to be found, for to hide themselves from the presence of God, and forceth themselves to put out of their mind the remembrance of it; but, against their will, they are kept in bondage.52 And howbeit that it seemeth sometimes that it vanisheth for a little time, nevertheless it always cometh again and doth oppress them more than it did before. So if they have any assuaging of their consciences, it differeth but little of drunken or mad men: the which also, in their sleep, doth never rest quietly because that they be always unquieted53 through visions and fearful dreams. Therefore the most wicked men are an example unto us, that the knowledge of God hath an universal power into the hearts of all men. We have already moved, or partly spoken,54 how the knowledge of God ought to have in us the efficacy to plant in our hearts some seed of religion. First, to instruct us unto a fear and reverence towards God, and, after, to teach us that it is in Him that we must seek all wealth, and to whom we must give the thanks therefor. For how can any thought coming from God enter into thy mind, but thou receivest55 it by and by? Since that thou art His making; that through the right of creation thou art a subject and under His dominion; that thy living ought to be given to His service; that all this that thou purposest in thy mind, speakest, et56 doest: it ought to be referred unto Him. If so it be, then it followeth that thy life is corrupted unless it be ordered under the obedience of His will.57 On the other part, thou canst not clearly comprehend who He is, but thou must first know that He is the spring58 of all wealth. By the which consideration, it should come out:59 a desire to be joined with Him and a trust in His goodness, were not that the mind of man through his own wickedness is withdrawn from the right inquisition thereof. But in (hardly differs from the sleep of drunkards or madmen). of French “de”—here, meaning ‘from.’ unquieted disquieted; “inquietez.” 54. moved . . . spoken Elizabeth’s doublet renders “touché” (touched on). moved said. 55. thou receivest you hear with acceptance; “tu repute” (you consider). 56. et French “and,” copied rather than translated by Elizabeth. Two more instances appear in the near vicinity, and seven further instances occur later in the text. 57. corrupted . . . will corrupted “mauvaisement corrumpue” (badly corrupted). will “saincte volonté” (holy will). 58. spring “fonteine et source” (fountain and source). 59. it . . . out “se produiroit” (should be produced).

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the other place doth appeare meruaylous vanite, et foolishenes of vs all. For insteade that in our lyuing ought to be kept a perpetuall obedyence towardes hym, almost in all oure workes, he resystinge we will please hym only with some small satisfaction, where we shuld please hym in holynes, and innocency of oure hert. we do inuente i knowe not what tryfles, et cerimonies, wich are nothing worth, thynking to contente hym. Furthermore, in steade that our trust ought to be wholy fixed in him we do trust in our selues, and in other creatures. Finally we are vrapped in so many errroures,20 naughty opinions, that thesame sperkell of truth the wich gaue vs lyght, and did leade vs for to contemple the maieste of god, is so couered and quenshed that it bringeth vs not vnto right knowledge; only the fyrst seede is lefte wich can not be througly plucked out, this is to saye, to haue the knowledge that there is a godhed; and yet that sede is so corupted, that it neuer bringeth but euyl fruttes. And in this place we do principally synne in two maners: the first is that poore men for to seke the truth of god, doth not ouerpasse theyr nature as it was conuenient, but doth measure his highnes according to the rudenes of their wittes, and they do not comprehende hym such as he doth declare hymselfe vnto vs, but doo ymagyn hym to be such as they haue inuentyd in their owne breanes. in this doinge they do open a hyrle poole the wich being open, they can not eschue, but where- soeuer they go, they do alwayes fall in to damnation. For whatsoeuer that they do afterward, forcing themselues for to serue god, they can not please hym bycause that they do not honoure hym, but in steade of hym, the thinge wich they haue ymagined in their owne mynde And so the vayne coueringe that many are accoustumed to pretende for to excuse their superstition, is ouerthrowne. For they do thinke that all affection of religion, what soeuer it be, (yee21 though it were without order) is sufficient. But they do not consyder that the true relygion ought to be agreyng vnto the pleasure of god. as to his perpetuall order, and wille. Further more, that god is alwayes lefte to

20. errroures r’s tripled in hyphenating at line end. 21. yee yea. 60. He . . . please He i.e., Him. “He” is sometimes “erroneously” used for objective “him” in sixteenth-century English (OED). will please consent to please; “voulons appaiser” (we are willing to please).

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the one and in the other place doth appear marvelous vanity et foolishness of us all. For, instead that in our living ought to be kept a perpetual obedience towards Him, almost in all our works, He resisting, we will please60 Him only with some small satisfaction. Where we should please Him in holiness and innocency of our heart, we do invent I know not what trifles et ceremonies, which are nothing worth, thinking to content Him. Furthermore, instead that our trust ought to be wholly fixed in Him, we do trust in ourselves and in other creatures. Finally, we are wrapped in so many errors, naughty opinions, that the same sparkle of truth, the which gave us light and did lead us for to contemple the majesty of God, is so covered and quenched that it bringeth us not unto right knowledge. Only the first seed is left, which cannot be thoroughly plucked out: this is to say, to have the knowledge that there is a Godhead, and yet that seed is so corrupted that it never bringeth but evil fruits. And in this place we do principally sin in two manners. The first is that poor men, for to seek the truth of God, doth not overpass their nature, as it was convenient;61 but doth measure His highness according to the rudeness of their wits, and they do not comprehend Him such as He doth declare Himself unto us, but do imagine Him to be such as they have invented in their own brains. In this doing, they do open a whirlpool: the which, being open, they cannot eschew, but wheresoever they go, they do always fall into damnation. For whatsoever that they do afterward, forcing themselves for to serve God, they cannot please Him62 because they do not honor Him but, instead of Him, the thing which they have imagined in their own mind. And so the vain covering that many are accustomed to pretend, for to excuse their superstition, is overthrown. For they do think that all affection of religion, whatsoever it be—yea, though it were without order—is sufficient. But they do not consider that the true religion ought to be agreeing unto the pleasure of God, as to His perpetual order and will.63 Furthermore, that God is always left

61. convenient fitting, appropriate; “convenable.” 62. please Him Calvin employs an economic metaphor: “luy . . . mettre en compte” (cannot count as a credit with Him). 63. and will Elizabeth’s addition.

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Gala. 4.

Ephe. 2.

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the lykenes of hymselfe, and is not a phantosme, wich shuld chaunge hymselfe after euery mans wille. And in dede22 we may se, through how many vaynes23 illusions the superstition doth moke with god, when it doth thinke to please hym. For they do take almost only the thinges the wich he hymselfe doth testify that he careth not for them: and they do neglecte those that he hath ordeyned, and declared to be acceptable vnto hym, or els they do reiect them openly. Therfore all those wich doth setteth24 vp relygions, or cerymonies inuented of their owne myndes for to honore god, do worship but their owne dreames. For they durste not so moke with god, onles fyrst they had made hym after theyr owne myndes. Wherfore the apostle doth teache vs, that such an opinion that we haue of god wich is vncertaine and withoute order, is ygnorance of god. In the tyme (sayd he) that ye did not knowe god, ye did serue vnto those wich naturally be no goddes. And in an other place he sayeth, that the ephesiens haue ben wythout a god in the tyme that they were from the ryght knowledge of hym. And there is no great difference whyther we do ymagine one god, or many, syth that they do forsake and gyue ouer the true god, the wich beyng left, it remayneth nothing but execrable idolatry. Therfore we ought to conclude with lactantius, that there is no lawfull relygion onles it be agreyng with the truth The seconde faute that men doth commytte, is, that they be brought par force, and agaynst their wille to haue knowledge of god, et are not moued through a feare wich shuld procede frome the reuerence that we owe vnto hys maieste, but only for feare of his iugement, whom they feare bycause they can not eschue it; and therfore they do abhorre it. For this that a hethen poete sayeth is touching the vngodly: this is to knowe that feare did fyrst moue vs to do honoure, and worsippe god

22. dede Elizabeth corrected her initial spelling, “dedd,” by overwriting an e inside the lobe of the second d. 23. vaynes Elizabeth reproduces the French plural form of the adjective here and in three later instances. 24. doth setteth doth set. Four times in this translation, the young Elizabeth combines the auxiliary “doth” with a third-person singular present indicative rather than with the expected past participle of the verb; she also has a double past construction, “did sent.” We regularize these idiosyncrasies in our modern-spelling text. 64. left . . . of “demeure . . . semblable à” (remains like unto). 65. else “mesmes” (even).

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to the likeness of 64 Himself, and is not a phantom which should change Himself after every man’s will. And indeed we may see, through how many vain illusions the superstition doth mock with God when it doth think to please Him. For they do take almost only the things, the which He Himself doth testify that He careth not for them; and they do neglect those that He hath ordained and declared to be acceptable unto Him, or else65 they do reject them openly. Therefore all those which doth set up religions or ceremonies,66 invented of their own minds for to honor God, do worship but their own dreams. For they durst not so mock with God unless first they had made Him after their own minds. Wherefore the apostle doth teach us that such an opinion that we have of God, which is uncertain and without order, is ignorance of God. In the time, said he, that ye did not know God, ye did serve unto those which naturally be no gods. And in another place he saith that the Ephesians have been without a God in the time that they were from67 the right knowledge of Him. And there is no great difference whether we do imagine one god or many, since that they do forsake and give over the true God: the which, being left, it68 remaineth nothing but execrable idolatry. Therefore we ought to conclude with Lactantius69 that there is no lawful religion, unless it be agreeing with the truth. The second fault that men doth commit is that they be brought par70 force and against their will to have knowledge of God et are not moved through a fear which should proceed from the reverence that we owe to His majesty, but only for fear of His judgment, whom they fear because they cannot eschew71 it, and therefore they do abhor it. For this that a heathen poet saith is touching the ungodly: This is to know, that fear did first move us to honor and worship God in this

66. or ceremonies Elizabeth’s addition. 67. were from were out of, were apart from; “estoient estrangez de” (were distant from). 68. it there (early modern usage). 69. Lactantius In his Divinae institutiones (Divine Institutes) 4.3, the Latin church father Lactantius (c. 240–320 C.E.) declares that religion cannot be separated from the truth concerning the one God. 70. par by; Elizabeth transcribes the French word. 71. knowledge . . . eschew knowledge “consideration.” whom which. Elizabeth often uses “whom” in its now obsolete sense of ‘which.’ eschew escape; “fouir” (flee).

Gal. 4.

Eph. 2.

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in this worlde Surely al those wich haue theyr hartes farre frome the iustice of god wolde wylingly wishe that his throne, whome they knowe to be sette vp for to punishe all transgressoures againste it, shulde be ouerthrowen; through the wiche desyre they do stryue against god, who can not be without hys iugement: but knowinge that they can not eschue hys power they do feare it. Therfore bycause they shuld not seame to be wholy despysers of hys maieste, they do acquite themselues with one maner of cerimony god knoweth wich. Neuerthelesse in the meane whyle they be defyled with al maner of vice, and do heape synne vpon synne, tyll the tyme that they haue througly broken the lawes of the lord; and ouerthrowen his iustice. And they be not so refourmed through that feyned feare; but they do alwaies abyde in their synne, flatteringe themselues, and louing better to gyue the brydell vnto the concupiscence of their fleshe, then to refrayne it after the wille of the holy ghoost. Nowe bycause this is but a vayne shadowe of relygion; yee skant worthy to be called a shadowe, we must briefly declare wich is the special thing wherby we may atteyne to knowe god, who doth inspyre the hertes of the faythfull: and also the affection of holynes that foloweth therof. Fyrst a faithfull hert doth not inuente rashely i knowe not what maner of god, but he doth seke for the only, et true god, and doth not inuent him after hys owne mynde, but is contente as he doth declare hymselfe vnto vs: takinge alwayes dylygent hyde, that through hys froward presumption he doo nothing agaynst hys will. And hauing hym so knowen, bycause that he doth vnderstandeth that through hys prouidence he gouuerneth all thinges: he trusteth to haue hym for hys tutour, and protectour: and doth commyt himselfe in to hys kepyng, 72. heathen . . . world This . . . know Elizabeth employs this word-for-word rendering of Calvin’s “c’est à scavoir” (that is to say) six times. Her phrasing is an unusual variant on the equivalent period idiom, “that is to wit,” later reduced to “to wit.” In five passages Elizabeth also renders Calvin’s expression more idiomatically as “this / that is to say.” fear . . . world Capaneus, a mighty warrior renowned for his arrogant impiety, exclaims in the Roman poet Statius’s epic Thebaid, “[P]rimus in orbe deos fecit timor” (3.661). Ben Jonson translates the proverbial phrase “ ’Twas only fear first in the world made gods,” in Sejanus (1603) 2.162. 73. transgressors “transgressions.” 74. be . . . power be “consister” (remain firm, subsist). knowing . . . power Elizabeth condenses “en congnoissant sa puissance estre sur eulx inevitable, d’autant qu’ilz ne la peuvent ny chasser, ny eviter” (knowing His power over them to be inevitable, insomuch as they can neither drive it away nor avoid it).

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world.72 Surely all those which have their hearts far from the justice of God would willingly wish that His throne, whom they know to be set up for to punish all transgressors73 against it, should be overthrown. Through the which desire they do strive against God, who cannot be without His judgment, but knowing that they cannot eschew His power,74 they do fear it. Therefore, because they should not seem to be wholly despisers of His majesty, they do acquit themselves with one manner of ceremony, God knoweth which.75 Nevertheless, in the meanwhile they be defiled with all manner of vice and do heap sin upon sin, till the time that they have thoroughly broken the laws76 of the Lord and overthrown His justice. And they be not so reformed through that feigned fear, but they do always abide in their sin: flattering themselves and loving better to give the bridle unto the concupiscence of their flesh than to refrain it after the will of the Holy Ghost. Now, because this is but a vain shadow of religion—yea, scant worthy to be called a shadow—we must briefly declare which is the special thing whereby we may attain to know God,77 who doth inspire the hearts of the faithful, and also the affection of holiness that followeth thereof. First, a faithful heart doth not invent rashly I know not what manner of God, but he doth seek for the only et true God and doth not invent Him after his own mind,78 but is content as He doth declare Himself unto us: taking always diligent heed that, through his froward presumption, he do nothing against His will. And, having Him so known because that he doth understand that, through His providence, He governeth79 all things, he trusteth to have Him for his tutor and protector, and doth commit himself into His keeping.

75. God . . . which “telle quelle” (whatsoever it be). 76. they be . . . laws they . . . defiled Elizabeth condenses “ilz ne laissent pas de se contaminer” (they do not desist from defiling themselves). thoroughly Elizabeth wrote “througly” instead of “throughly,” an early modern variant of “thoroughly.” laws “saincte loy” (holy law). 77. the special . . . God “la congnoissance speciale de Dieu” (the particular knowledge of God). 78. doth . . . mind “ne luy attribue point tout ce que bon luy semble” (does not attribute to Him what to him seems good). 79. governeth “modere.” “Moderer” in sixteenth-century French has a semantic range similar to its Latin cognate “moderari” (to govern, guide, moderate). Elizabeth later translates “modere” as “moderate” and as “moderate and rule.”

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bycause that he knoweth hym to be the authoure of all welth, if he hath any nede, he immediatly doth withdrawe hymselfe for succour vnto hym: et hauinge called vpon his name he trusteth to haue helpe of hym. For as much that he is persuaded of his goodnes, and benignite, he doth surely rest in hys clemency, et doth not doute, but he shall alwayes haue a remedy prepared in callynge vpon his mercy. bycause that he knoweth hym to be hys lord, and father, he doth repute hym worthy, to whose commaundement he shuld obey, whose maieste he doth honore, of whom he forceth hymselfe to set furth the glory, and to folowe his will. And for this that he seyeth him to be iuste iudge, the wich shall ones cause a rude vengeance to fall vpon all transgressoures: he doth alwayes thinke that hys throne is before hys eyes, to th’entent that he may withdrawe hym selfe frome all thinges wiche doth prouoke hys wrath. yet for all this he is not so astoned in thinking on his iugement, that he wil kepe himself frome it: yee though he shuld haue a waye to eschue it: but contrarywise he doth knowe hym as well to be correctoure of the wicked, as a rewardour of the good syth he knoweth that it doth aperteyneth no lesse to hys glory to punyshe the wicked and vniuste, then to gyue the rewarde of euerlasting lyfe, vnto the faythfull. Moreouer he doth not absteyne from synne for feare of hys vengeance: but bycause he doth loue, and honore hym lyke his father, and doth feare hym as hys lord: yee, though ther were no hell, yet doth he feare to offende hym. Nowe beholde what pure, and true relygion is, this is to saye, faith ioyned with the vnfayned feare of god, so that vnder the name of feare be comprehended as moche loue of his iustice the wich he hath ordeyned by his lawes, as also the reuerence wich is wyllingly, and of a whole mynd borne vnto his maieste. Nowe then if all we be borne vpon that condition, that we ought to knowe god, and the knowledge of him is vayne, and vnfruttefull, onles it come to the poynt aforesayd, it is playne that all those wiche doth not with all their mynde, et power shutte at that marke, doth declyne, and erre frome the order of theyr creation. The wiche thing was not vnknowen vnto philosophers: For plato did neuer meane no other thing, when many tymes he hath

80. once at some future time, one day, i.e., at the Last Judgment. Calvin reads “une fois” (on one occasion). 81. that . . . it “qu’il s’en veuille substraire” (that he wishes to draw himself from under it).

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Because that he knoweth Him to be the author of all wealth, if he hath any need, he immediately doth withdraw himself for succor unto Him, et having called upon His name, he trusteth to have help of Him. Forasmuch that he is persuaded of His goodness and benignity, he doth surely rest in His clemency, et doth not doubt but he shall always have a remedy prepared, in calling upon His mercy. Because that he knoweth Him to be his Lord and Father, he doth repute Him worthy, to whose commandment he should obey, whose majesty he doth honor, of whom he forceth himself to set forth the glory, and to follow His will. And for this, that he seeth Him to be just Judge, the which shall once80 cause a rude vengeance to fall upon all transgressors, he doth always think that His throne is before his eyes, to the intent that he may withdraw himself from all things which doth provoke His wrath. Yet, for all this, he is not so astounded in thinking on His judgment that he will keep himself from it 81— yea, though he should have a way to eschew it. But contrariwise, he doth know Him as well to be82 a corrector of the wicked as a rewarder of the good, since he knoweth that it doth appertain no less to His glory to punish the wicked and unjust than to give the reward of everlasting life unto the faithful. Moreover, he doth not abstain from sin for fear of His vengeance, but because he doth love and honor Him like his Father and doth fear Him as his Lord: yea, though there were no hell, yet doth he fear to offend Him. Now behold what pure and true religion is: this is to say, faith joined with unfeigned fear of God, so that under the name of fear be comprehended as much love of His justice, the which He hath ordained by His laws, as also the reverence which is willingly and of a whole mind83 borne unto His majesty. Now, then, if all we be born upon that condition, that we ought to know God, and the knowledge of Him is vain and unfruitful unless it come to the point aforesaid: it is plain that all those, which doth not with all their mind et power shoot at that mark, doth decline and err from the order of their creation. The which thing was not unknown unto philosophers. For Plato did never mean no other thing when many times he hath taught that the sovereign

82. he . . . be “ne le recoyt pas moins voluntiers” (he does not less willingly accept Him as). 83. mind “courage” (zeal, ardor, goodwill).

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taught that the souuerayne welth of the soule, is the lykenes of god, when beyng come to the true contemplation of hym she is wholy transformed in hym. Therfore grylus also doth ryght wysely argue in plutarche, when he holdeth that if relygion were taken awaye frome the lyuing of men, they shuld not only in nothing differre frome brute beastes, but many wayes they shuld be more miserable this is to say, forasmuch that beyng subiette vnto so many wickednes they do leade a laborious life and without rest. For there is nothing, but only the knowledge of god, that yeldeth them superioures amonge beastes: by the wich knowledge they may hoope for the euerlasting lyfe. Nowe syth god willeth that the princypal entente of happy lyuynge shuld consiste in the knowledge of his name, bycause it shuld not seme to some men that he wold shutte any frome the waye to felycitie, he doth manyfeste hymself openly vnto all men. For howbeit that naturally he be incomprehensible, and hydden from the knowledge of men, yet hath he graued in euery one of his workes certayne tokens of his maieste, through the wich he gyueth vs knowledge of hymselfe, according our small capacite. I do say tokens so open, and euidente, that the most blynde, and rude, ought to pretende no ygnorance. Therfore howbeit that his essency be hydden frome vs, neuertheles his vertues25 the wich contynually do appere before our eyes, doth shewe hym to be such as it is expedient for vs to knowe hym for our saluation Fyrst whersoeuer we turne oure oure eyes there is no place in the world so lytell in the wich doth not shyne some sperkell of his glory. We can not thoroughly with a loke, contemple thesame fayre worke of the vniuersall world, hys lenght and bredth but we be, as who shuld saye

25. his virtues This phrase is added directly after “neuertheles” and extends across the right margin of the page. 84. in Him Elizabeth does not reproduce Calvin’s marginal reference at this point: “In Phaedone et Theaeteto.” Calvin refers to Phaedo 108C and Theatetus 176C. This is a rare instance where Elizabeth, in translating, refrains from toning down a reference in her source to the union of human beings with the Divine Being. She may not have been moved to do so here because Calvin proceeds to associate Plato’s claim with the Christian promise of everlasting life. She may also have registered Calvin’s echo of Romans 12:2, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that . . . perfect will of God.” 85. Gryllus . . . miserable In a dialogue popularly named “Gryllus,” the Greek moralist and historian Plutarch (ca. 50–120 C.E.) depicts the self-proclaimed sophist Gryllus (“Grunter”), who has been transformed into a pig by the sorceress Circe. Arguing that

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wealth of the soul is the likeness of God when, being come to the true contemplation of Him, she is wholly transformed in Him.84 Therefore Gryllus also doth right wisely argue in Plutarch when he holdeth that, if religion were taken away from the living of men, they should not only in nothing differ from brute beasts but many ways they should be more miserable:85 this is to say, forasmuch that being subject unto so many wickedness, they do lead a laborious life and without rest. For there is nothing, but only the knowledge of God, that yieldeth86 them superior among beasts: by the which knowledge they may hope for the everlasting life.87 Now since God willeth that the principal intent of happy living should consist in the knowledge of His name, because it should not seem to some men88 that He would shut any from the way to felicity, He doth manifest himself openly unto all men. For, howbeit that naturally He be incomprehensible and hidden from the knowledge of men, yet hath He graved in every one of His works certain tokens of His majesty, through the which He giveth us knowledge of Himself according89 our small capacity. I do say tokens so open and evident that the most blind and rude ought to pretend no ignorance.90 Therefore, howbeit that His essency be hidden from us, nevertheless His virtues, the which continually do appear before our eyes, doth show Him to be such as it is expedient for us to know Him for our salvation. First, wheresoever we turn our eyes, there is no place in the world so little, in the which doth not shine some sparkle of His glory. We cannot thoroughly, with a look, contemple the same fair work of the universal world, his length and breadth, but we be (as who should

beasts’ lives are superior to humans,’ Gryllus spurns Odysseus’s offer to be changed back into a man (Moralia 987B–988E). Calvin’s allusion is misleading, since Gryllus does not concede that beasts are inferior to humans in lacking religion. Instead, the dialogue ends with Odysseus challenging Gryllus’s argument by noting that beasts, unlike humans, have no knowledge of the divine. they should not . . . differ from “ilz n’auroient nulle excellence par dessus” (they would have no excellence above). more “beaucoup plus” (much more). 86. yieldeth makes, renders. 87. hope . . . life “aspirer à l’immmortalité” (aspire to immortality). 88. to . . . men Elizabeth’s addition. 89. knowledge . . . according knowledge “intelligence” (understanding). according according to. 90. ought . . . ignorance Calvin’s locution is passive: “toute excuse d’ignorance est ostée” (all excuse of ignorance is taken away).

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dased through infinitte abundance of light. Therfore the apostell in the hebrues doth ryghtely call the worlde a glasse to se thinges inuisibles: For this that the making of this worlde doth serue vs in stede of a glasse, to contemple god therby, who otherwyse is inuisible: through the wich reason, also the prophet doth attributt vnto the heuennly creatures a speche knowen of all men, syth that in them there is so euydent a wittenes of the godhed, that likewyse to the most rude, and barbarous people it can not be vnknowen. The wich thing saynte paule declaring it more openly, doth saye, that this that we had nede to knowe of god, hath ben manyfested, syth that the thinges inuysybles wich be in hym, yee as farre as his euerlasting power and godhed doth appere when they be consydered by the creation of the world. There be infynitt argumentes as well in the heuen as in the earth wich doth gyue wittenes of his wysedom: not only those wich are diffycile to comprehende, and to the meanyng wherof we can not attayne onles it be by the meane of astrology, and phisike, but they be open to the syght of the most ygnoraunte: so that we can not open our eyes, but we are constrayned to by wittenesses therof. True it is that those wich be taught in lyberall sciences or those wich haue had a tast in it, they haue a specyall helpe for to enter more profundely to contemple the secrettes of the diuyne wisedom. Neuertheles no man is so letted bycause he doth not vnderstande them, but he seyeth that there is great artifice in the workes of god wherby he is moued to meruayle at the worker therof. as for ensample, it must that a man hath a syngular good witte, and knowledge, for to seke the mouinge of the heauens, to compasse the circles,26 to measure the space of one frome an other, to note the propriete of euery-one. by the wich consyderation, euen as the prouidence of god, doth shew it selfe more clearly, it is also conuenient that the hert of a man do lyft itselfe hygher for to knowe hys glory neuertheles27 syth that those wich haue no other helpe, but with their eyes can not be ygnoraunte of the excellency of the 26. circles i written over e. 27. neuertheles “-theles” is written out into the right page margin. 91. thoroughly . . . dazed thoroughly “singulierement” (at one time). fair work “chef d’oeuvre” (masterpiece). as . . . say as one might say; “par maniere de dire” (in a manner of speaking). dazed now obsolete form of “dazzled”; “tout esblouy” (wholly dazzled). 92. wisdom “merveilleuse sapience” (marvelous wisdom). 93. difficile . . . thereof difficile difficult; “difficiles.” meaning knowledge, understanding, rendering “l’intelligence” (the understanding). astrology . . . physic Elizabeth

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say) dazed91 through infinite abundance of light. Therefore the apostle in the Hebrews doth rightly call the world a glass to see things invisible, for this: that the making of the world doth serve us instead of a glass to contemple God thereby, who otherwise is invisible. Through the which reason, also, the prophet doth attribute unto the heavenly creatures a speech known of all men, since that, in them, there is so evident a witness of the Godhead that likewise to the most rude and barbarous people it cannot be unknown. The which thing Saint Paul declaring it more openly doth say, that this that we had need to know of God hath been manifested, since that the things invisible which be in Him—yea, as far as His everlasting power and Godhead—doth appear when they be considered by the creation of the world. There be infinite arguments, as well in the heaven as in the earth, which doth give witness of His wisdom:92 not only those which are difficile to comprehend, and to the meaning whereof we cannot attain unless it be by the mean of astrology and physic, but they be open to the sight of the most ignorant; so that we cannot open our eyes but we are constrained to b[e] witnesses thereof.93 True it is that those which be taught in liberal sciences, or those which have had a taste in it, they have a special help for to enter more profoundly to contemple the secrets of the divine wisdom. Nevertheless, no man is so letted94 because he doth not understand them, but he seeth that there is great artifice in the works of God, whereby he is moved to marvel at the Worker thereof. As, for example, it must that a man hath a singular good wit and knowledge for to seek the moving of the heavens, to compass the circles, to measure the space of one from another, to note the propriety95 of every one: by the which consideration, even as the providence of God doth show itself more clearly, it is also convenient that the heart of a man do lift itself higher for to know His glory. Nevertheless, since that those which have no other help but with their eyes cannot be ignorant of the excellency of omits Calvin’s middle term, “Medecine” (medicine). ignorant “simples idiotz” (simple idiots). so that . . . thereof “tellement que les yeulx ne se peuvent ouvrir, qu’ilz ne soient contrainctz d’en estre tesmoings” (such that eyes cannot open without their being forced to be witnesses of it). b[e] Elizabeth miswrote “by.” 94. letted prevented; “empesché.” 95. singular . . . propriety singular . . . knowledge “art et industrie singuliere” (artfulness and singular industriousness). propriety character, quality, rendering cognate “proprieté.”

Heb. 11.

Psal. 19.

Rom. 1.

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godly wisedom, the wich gyueth it selfe to be knowen by the diuersite of the starres so infynitt, and in good order: it is certayne that there is no man to whom god doth not declare sufficientely hys wisedom. Lykewise to perceyue in a mannes body, such a coniunction, proportion, beautie, et behauoure, as galien28 declareth, it is of no small conning, and also a mannes body to the syght of all the world is made so ingeniously, that for thesame the worke man deserueth to be iudged admyrable Moreouer by howe many ensamples doth the power of god drawe vs to the consyderation of hymselfe. For it can not be otherwise, onles we be ignoraunte what power it is to sustayne the-same infynitt greatnes of the heauen29 and the earth by hys onely worde, and at his commaundement to make the heauens to turne, and tremble, to burne what pleseth hym with thounder, to inflamme the ayre with lighteninges to astowne the world by dyuerse maner of tempestes, and immediately when it pleaseth hym to yelde all thinges in peace againe, and also to sustayne the see, wiche doth hange in the ayre, that it may not hurtte the earth, how beit that through her heyght it threateneth to destroye it. and also how he doth sturre it horribly by great impetuosite of wyndes, and afterward doth asswage her waues, and yeldeth it calme. Lykewyse thesame power shuld bringe vs to the knowledge of his eternite, syth it must that he be eternall and he hymselfe is the begining, of whom all thinges doth take their beginning. Moreouer, if we d seseke30 the cause wherby he hath ben moued to create all thinges, as also to preserue them after their creation, we shall fynde that it was but his goodnes, the wich if it were alone it ought to suffise, yee and also compelle vs to loue hym, syth that there is no creature, (as the prophett teacheth,) but his mercy is spred vpon hym Lykewise the seconde maner of hys workes, wich are sene aboue the ordinary course of nature doth also appeare by manyfest tokens of his vertues. For as for the gouernement of mankinde, he doth so moderate his prouidence that howbeit he is

28. galien Galen. 29. heauen A partially scraped-away s is visible at the end of this word. 30. d seseke do seek. In this incomplete correction, the first “se-” has been partially scraped away. 96. godly “divine.” 97. Galen . . . cunning Galen The views of the Greek physician Galen (ca. 129–215 C.E.) shaped medieval and Renaissance medicine. In On the Uses of the Parts of the Human Body (De usu partium corporis humani) 17.1, Galen compares the sculptures of Poly-

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the godly96 wisdom, the which giveth itself to be known by the diversity of the stars so infinite and in good order, it is certain that there is no man to whom God doth not declare sufficiently His wisdom. Likewise, to perceive in a man’s body such a conjunction, proportion, beauty, et behavior, as Galen declareth, it is of no small cunning.97 And also a man’s body to the sight of all the world is made so ingeniously that, for the same, the Workman deserveth to be judged admirable. Moreover, by how many examples doth the power of God draw us to the consideration of Himself? For it cannot be otherwise, unless we be ignorant what power it is, to sustain the same infinite greatness of the heaven and the earth by His only word, and at His commandment to make the heavens to turn and tremble, to burn what pleaseth Him with thunder, to inflame the air with lightnings, to astound the world by divers manner of tempests; and, immediately, when it pleaseth Him, to yield all things in peace again, and also to sustain the sea, which doth hang in the air, that it may not hurt the earth, howbeit that through her height it threateneth to destroy it, and also how He doth stir it horribly by great impetuosity of winds, and afterward doth assuage her waves, and yieldeth it calm. Likewise, the same power should bring us to the knowledge of 98 His eternity, since it must that He be eternal and He Himself is the beginning, of whom all things doth take their beginning. Moreover, if we do seek the cause whereby He hath been moved to create all things, as also to preserve them after their creation, we shall find that it was but His goodness: the which, if it were alone, it ought to suffice—yea, and also to compel—us to love Him, since that there is no creature (as the prophet teacheth99) but His mercy is spread upon him. Likewise, the second manner of His works, which are seen above the ordinary course of nature, doth also appear by manifest tokens100 of His virtues. For, as for the government of mankind, He doth so

clitus to the living, moving ensemble of limbs and capacities possessed by the human body, pronouncing nature superior in its wondrous artistry. declareth “demonstre” (shows). cunning intelligence, cleverness; “subtilité” (subtlety). 98. the . . . of “reputer” (to consider, to take account of). 99. prophet teacheth David, in Psalm 145:9. 100. the second . . . tokens manner kind, sort; “espece” (kind, sort). Elizabeth’s “the second manner . . . doth appear” and “by manifest tokens” awkwardly interchange the prepositional construction and the main clause in Calvin: “en la seconde espece de ses oeuvres apparoissent signes” (in the second kind of His works, signs appear).

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generally in all thinges, towardes all men, bening,31 and lyberall: neuertheles he doth dayly shewe his iustice to good men in gouerning them, and to the wicked his iugement For the vengeance that he doth take vpon synners is not hydden nor vnknowen, no more then also he doth shewe hymselfe to be tutour, and protectour of innocentes, and causeth the lyfe of good men to prospere by his blessing helping them at theyr nede, asswaging theyr sorowes gyuing them succour in tyme of aduersite, procuring in all thinges, and in all places for theyr saluation And this that he suffereth the wicked, and yll doers to be vnpunyshed, and contrarywyse he doth suffer that the good, and innocent be greued through many aduersities, and also oppressed by the iniquite of the wicked: in this the perpetuall order of hys iustice, ought not to be darkened, or misiudged: but we ought rather thinke otherwise. this is to knowe, when he doth openly shewe his wrath vpon any sinner, we must knowe that all synne is detestable vnto hym; and he doth leaue many vnpunyshed, we ought to thinke that an other iugement shall come to whose the punyshement shall be dyfferred. Lykewise what occasion doth he gyue vs to consydere hys mercy, when he doth vse of hys clemency vpon the wretched synners, bringyng them in agayne through hys more then fatherly pitie, tyll the tyme that theyr obstinacy be ouercome through his benefyttes. Also hys power, and wisedom are no more hydden. Wherof the fyrst doth clearly shewe itself, when often tymes the crueltie of the wicked, the wich according to the iugement of men, doth seme to be inuincyble is in a moment of tyme broken and sett a naught, theyr arrogancy is ouercome, theyr prouision destroyed theyr army scatered, theyr strenght subdued theyr entrepryses ouerthrowen, and through theyr owne impetuosite confused. theyr audacite wiche did lyftte vp it selfe vnto the heuens, is beaten down to the botome of the earth. And contrarywise those that be despysed, are lifted vp frome the dust, the

31. bening benign; Elizabeth reproduces Calvin’s spelling. 101. show Himself Elizabeth does not translate the immediately following phrase, “sans doubte aucune” (without any doubt). 102. ill-doers Elizabeth does not translate the immediately following phrase, “pour quelque temps” (for some time). 103. also . . . misjudged also “mesme”—here, with the stronger force of ‘even.’ or misjudged Elizabeth’s addition. 104. and Elizabeth does not translate the following “d’autant que” (inasmuch as).

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moderate His providence that, howbeit He is generally in all things, towards all men, benign and liberal, nevertheless He doth daily show His justice to good men in governing them and, to the wicked, His judgment. For the vengeance that He doth take upon sinners is not hidden nor unknown, no more than also He doth show Himself 101 to be tutor and protector of innocents, and causeth the life of good men to prosper by His blessing: helping them at their need, assuaging their sorrows, giving them succor in time of adversity, procuring in all things and in all places for their salvation. And this, that He suffereth the wicked and ill-doers102 to be unpunished, and contrariwise, He doth suffer that the good and innocent be grieved through many adversities and also oppressed by the iniquity of the wicked: in this, the perpetual order of His justice ought not to be darkened or misjudged.103 But we ought rather think otherwise: this is to know, when He doth openly show His wrath upon any sinner, we must know that all sin is detestable unto Him; and104 He doth leave many unpunished, we ought to think that another judgment shall come to whose the punishment105 shall be deferred. Likewise, what occasion doth He give us to consider His mercy, when He doth use of 106 His clemency upon the wretched sinners, bringing them in again through His more than fatherly pity, till the time that their obstinacy be overcome through His benefits. Also, His power and wisdom are no more hidden. Whereof the first doth clearly show itself when oftentimes the cruelty of the wicked, the which according to the judgment of men doth seem to be invincible, is in a moment of time broken and set at naught: their arrogancy is overcome, their provision destroyed, their army scattered, their strength subdued,107 their enterprises overthrown and, through their own impetuosity, confused. Their audacity, which did lift up itself unto the heavens, is beaten down to the bottom of the earth.108 And contrariwise, those

105. whose . . . punishment them whose punishment. Elizabeth’s unidiomatic use of the definite article in rendering “la punition” strikes a particularly harsh note. 106. occasion . . . of occasion “matiere” (matter). use of Elizabeth condenses Calvin’s “ne laisse point de poursuyvre” (does not let up in pursuing with). 107. at . . . subdued at Elizabeth wrote “a”—an earlier English form of this preposition. scattered “cassées et mises en pieces” (broken and put in pieces). subdued “dissipées” (dissipated). 108. Their . . . earth Elizabeth inserts the implicit “is” and makes a separate sentence of the climactic member of Calvin’s series of clauses.

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poore are rysen frome the dongehyll, the oppressed, and afflycted outedrawen frome extreme anguish. those that were desperatte, put in good hoope, those that are fewe and vnarmed, against many wel armed, the feyble against the stronge. The second doth appeare, in this that it ordreth all thinges accordinglie; in this that it confundeth all wordly wysedom, in this that it supplanteth, and preuenteth the wyse in theyr craftines, and with syngular reason doth moderat and rule all the world. We do se that it is no nede to set furth the wittenes wich doth serue for to approue the maieste of god. For as lytell as we haue spoken therof it doth appere that they are so open, and they come so from euerywhere afore euery mans syght, that it is easy to marke them with the eye, and to touche them with the fynger. And we must also note that all we are inuited to haue knowledge of god, wich doth not consiste only in a vayne speculation, but wich is profitable, and fruttefull, if we can comprehende it. For god is manyfested by his workes wherof when we do fele the strenght in vs, and recyue the proffitt, it is necessary that we be touched more earnestly with such a knowledge, than if we shuld thinke god to be in the ayre, and not to fele hym withine vs by experience. We se, then, that this is the right waye for to seke god, and, and32 the best order that we can kepe in it, is, to contemple hym by hys workes, through the wich he doth yelde hymself to be oure neghboure, and famyliar frende, and also doth communicate with vs: and not to take vpon vs by a froward curiosite to seke for the highnes of his essency, the wiche we ought rather to worshippe it, then to be to curious in the serching of it. What thinge did the apostell seke when he sayd that we

32. and, and Repetition across a line break. 109. And contrariwise . . . strong And contrariwise “de rechef ” (again). those that are . . . strong The implied sense is that the unarmed few will be victorious against the unarmed many, as will the feeble against the strong. Elizabeth’s truncated expression replicates her source, the 1541 French version of the Institution, which inadvertently omits a predicate here; subsequent editions of the Institution conclude this sentence with “ont victoire” (are victorious). 110. it . . . accordingly it wisdom. accordingly suitable, properly. Calvin reads “elle dispense toutes choses selon son opportunité” (she [wisdom] disposes all things conformably to her appropriateness—i.e., appropriately). 111. supplanteth . . . rule supplanteth . . . preventeth “surprent.” Cotgrave’s FrenchEnglish dictionary (1611) gives, among other senses of “surprendre,” “supplant,” “prevent,” “circumvent.” supplanteth overturns, brings to naught. preventeth forestalls, outdoes. moderate . . . rule Both verbs convey aspects of “modere.”

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that be despised are lifted up from the dust; the poor are risen from the dunghill; the oppressed and afflicted outdrawn from extreme anguish; those that were desperate put in good hope; those that are few and unarmed against many well-armed, the feeble against the strong.109 The second doth appear in this, that it ordereth all things accordingly;110 in this, that it confoundeth all worldly wisdom; in this, that it supplanteth and preventeth the wise in their craftiness, and with singular reason doth moderate and rule111 all the world. We do see that it is no need to set forth the witness which doth serve for to approve112 the majesty of God. For, as little as we have spoken thereof, it doth appear that they are so open, and they come so from everywhere afore every man’s sight,113 that it is easy to mark them with the eye and to touch them with the finger. And we must also note that all we are invited to have knowledge of God, which doth not consist only in a vain speculation, but which is profitable and fruitful, if we can comprehend it.114 For God is manifested by His works: whereof, when we do feel the strength in us and receive the profit, it is necessary that we be touched more earnestly115 with such a knowledge than if we should think God to be in the air, and not to feel Him within us by experience. We see, then, that this is the right way for to seek God. And the best order that we can keep in it is to contemple Him by His works, through the which, He doth yield Himself to be our neighbor and familiar friend, and also doth communicate with us; and not to take upon us by a froward curiosity to seek for116 the highness of His essency: the which we ought rather to worship it than to be too curious in the searching of it. What thing did the apostle seek when

112. it . . . approve it . . . need there is no need. Elizabeth condenses “il n’est ja mestier de faire longue ne curieuse demonstration” (there is certainly no need to provide a long and intricate proof). witness . . . doth Calvin’s wording is plural, reflected in “they” and “them” in the following sentence. approve prove; “approuver.” Elizabeth does not translate the immediately preceding phrase, “esclarcir et” (illuminate and). 113. every . . . sight Elizabeth’s addition. 114. we . . . it Elizabeth omits “une fois” (once). 115. earnestly “au vif ” (to the quick). 116. familiar . . . seek for familiar friend A semipleonastic rendering of the cognate “familier” (dear friend, intimate). also . . . communicate “mesmes se communicque” (even communicates Himself). seek for “voulloir espelucher” (wish to examine minutely).

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may not seke farre for hym, syth that trough his vertue, he doth dwell withine euery one of vs. Therfore dauid, hauing sayd that his highnes was vnspekeable, after he hath remembred his workes, he doth promes to declare what he is. Wherfore lett vs take payne to haue the knowledge of god, the wich doth kepe our mynde in such admyration, that it toucheth it, and gyueth hym the true felyng therof. Now such knowledge shulde not only sturre vs to honore and serue god, but also prouoke vs to hoope for the lyfe wich is to come. For syth we do perceyue that the tokens the wich our lord gyueth vs, as well by hys clemency, as also by hys truth, are but partely knowen, we ought to thinke, that it is but a shewe of the thinges wich shall ones be opened, in the day the wiche is ordeyned for it. Moreouer syth we se that the iuste, and innocentes be greued with afflictions vexed with iniuryes, oppressed by calumnies, yll ordred by opprobres; Contrarywise we do se the wicked to florishe, to prospere, to be in reast, and honored without any sorowe: we ought also to thinke that there shalbe an other lyfe in the wich wickednes shall haue hys punyshement, and also, iustice, hys rewarde. And agayne, syth we se how the faythfull are often tymes chastened with the rodde of god, we ought to be sure, that the wicked shall not escape vnpunyshed. Therfore we must confesse that in eueryone of the workes of the lord, princypally in the whole multitude of them, his vertues be represented, or settfurth33 as in pycture, by the wich the vniversall world is inuited to haue the knowledge of god, and throug that knowledge to enioye souerayne felicite. Now howbeit that those vertues doth appeare openly, yet oftentymes we do not knowe theyr entent, what they meane, and how they ought to be vnderstande, tyll the tyme that we thinke vpon oureselues, and do consydere, in what maner god doth shewe in vs hys lyfe wisedom, and power, and vseth towardes vs, of hys iustice, goodnes and clemency. Neuerthelesse whatsoeuer light be gyuen vs for to contemple the

33. settfurth This elision recurs three times. 117. did . . . said the apostle . . . said Paul, in Acts 17:27. did . . . seek “regardoit” (looked to). 118. David . . . promise David In Psalm 145:3, 5. had remembered had recorded, made mention of; “vient à commemorer” (comes to record / mention). promise assert confidently; “proteste” (declare, assure, promise). 119. him i.e., the mind, referring to “esprit” (mind), a masculine noun in French.

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he said117 that we may not seek far for Him, since that through His virtue He doth dwell within every one of us. Therefore David, having said that His highness was unspeakable, after he had remembered His works, he doth promise118 to declare what He is. Wherefore let us take pain to have the knowledge of God: the which doth keep our mind in such admiration that it toucheth it and giveth him119 the true feeling thereof. Now such knowledge should not only stir us to honor and serve God, but also provoke us to hope for the life which is to come. For since we do perceive that the tokens, the which our Lord giveth us, as well by His clemency as also by His truth, are but partly known, we ought to think that it is but a show of the things which shall once120 be opened in the day, the which is ordained for it. Moreover, since we see that the just and innocents be grieved with afflictions, vexed with injuries, oppressed by calumnies, ill-ordered by opprobres;121 contrariwise, we do see the wicked to flourish, to prosper, to be in rest, and honored without any sorrow: we ought also to think that there shall be another life: in the which, wickedness shall have his punishment, and also, justice his reward. And again, since we see how the faithful are oftentimes chastened with the rod of God, we ought to be sure that the wicked shall not escape122 unpunished. Therefore we must confess that in every one of the works of the Lord, principally in the whole multitude of them, His virtues be represented or set forth as in picture, by the which the universal world is invited to have the knowledge of God, and through that knowledge, to enjoy sovereign felicity. Now, howbeit that those virtues doth appear openly, yet oftentimes we do not know their intent, what they mean and how they ought to be understand, till the time that we think upon123 ourselves, and do consider in what manner God doth show in us His life, wisdom, and power, and useth towards us, of His justice, goodness, and clemency. Nevertheless, whatsoever light be given us for to contemple the 120. once See n80 above. 121. ill-ordered . . . opprobres “mal traictez par contumelies et opprobres” (ill-treated with contemptuous speeches and reproaches). ill-ordered ill-treated. opprobres reproaches. 122. to be . . . escape to . . . sure “prendre ceste resolution” (to adopt this solution). shall . . . escape “beaucoup moins . . . eviteront” (will much less escape). 123. understand . . . upon understand understood. think upon “descendons en” (descend into).

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workes of god, wich do represente hym and hys euerlasting realme, our mynde is so carnall, that vnto his wittenes, wich be so playne, we do se no more then blyndmen. For, as for the makinge of the vnyuersall world, how many is there that doth lyfte vp their eyes to heuen, or els castinge them aboute for to beholde all regions of the world, do sett theyr mynde to remember the creatore: but rather leuing the workeman behynde they do contemple the creatures therof. And as for the thinges wich doth happen dayly byonde34 the course of nature, how many is there of them, wiche doth thinke rather, that fortune ruleth men, then the prouidence of god. And if at any tyme we are constrayned to remember god in this behalfe (the wiche thinge doth naturally chaunce vnto all men) euen by and by after we haue conceyued a felyng of an vncertayne godhed, we do fall againe in to the foolyshenes of our fleshe, and, through oure vanite, we do corupte the mere truth of god. True it is that in this we do dyffere, For euery one of vs doth inuente particuliarly some newe erroure: but in this poynte we are all alyke that vnto the leste35 we leaue the only true god, and do take oure owne ymaginations full of erroures. vnto the wich fa faute not only the symple people and those that haue a grosse witte are subiettes therto, but also the moste excellente, in wisedom and doctrine. How moche hath all the kinde of philosophers shewed theyr foolyshenes, and ignoraunce in this poynte: For albeit wee do forgyue to all other wich did abuse in it inordynately, and lykewise plato, wich is amonge them the most sobre, et raysonable, and drawinge nerest to relygion: yet is he farre frome the waye: For he seketh a corporall god, the wich thing is vnworthy and vnfett36 for the maieste of god. Now then, what may chaunce vnto other? syth that the chyeffe to whom belonged to gyue lyght vnto the symple people be so shamfully begyled? also when the order of humayne thinges doth shew so clearly hys prouidence, that it is impossible to denye it: neuer-thelesse

34. byonde beyond. This spelling occurs twice. 35. leste last; “dernier.” 36. vnfett unfit. 124. making . . . world “composition universelle du monde” (whole composition of the world). 125. do contemple Condenses “s’arestent à la contemplation de” (stop with the contemplation of). 126. daily . . . men daily “ordinairement” (ordinarily). Fortune . . . men “la fortune y dominer” (fortune rules there [in such events]). Elizabeth does not translate the imme-

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works of God, which do represent Him and His everlasting realm, our mind is so carnal that, unto His witness, which be so plain, we do see no more than blind men. For, as for the making of the universal world,124 how many is there that doth lift up their eyes to heaven, or else, casting them about for to behold all regions of the world, do set their mind to remember the Creator? But, rather, leaving the Workman behind, they do contemple125 the creatures thereof. And as for the things which doth happen daily beyond the course of nature, how many is there of them which doth think rather that Fortune ruleth men,126 than the providence of God? And if at any time we are constrained to remember God in this behalf—the which thing doth naturally chance unto all men—even by and by, after we have conceived a feeling of an uncertain Godhead, we do fall again into the foolishness of our flesh and, through our vanity, we do corrupt the mere127 truth of God. True it is, that in this we do differ, for every one of us doth invent particularly some new error. But in this point we are all alike: that, unto the last, we leave the only true God and do take our own imaginations, full of errors.128 Unto the which fault, not only the simple people and those that have a gross wit are subjects thereto, but also the most excellent in wisdom129 and doctrine. How much hath all the kind130 of philosophers showed their foolishness and ignorance in this point? For albeit we do forgive to all other which did abuse in it inordinately, and likewise Plato, which is among them the most sober et reasonable and drawing nearest to religion, yet is he far from the way.131 For he seeketh a corporal God, the which thing is unworthy and unfit for the majesty of God. Now, then, what may chance unto other, since that the chief, to whom belonged to give light unto the simple132 people, be so shamefully beguiled? Also, when the order of human things doth show so clearly His providence that it is impossible to deny it: nevertheless this doth

diately following phrase, “pour agiter et demener les hommes çà et là” (to stir and to shake men here and there). 127. mere pure; “pure.” 128. full . . . errors “mensongeres” (lying). 129. wisdom “prudence.” 130. kind “generation” (race). 131. far . . . way “tout es[t]ourdy” (completely thoughtless). 132. unto . . . simple “au reste du” (to the rest of the).

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this doth preuayle no more, then if we shuld estime all thinges to be turned, and rashely ouerthrowen by fortune Suche is our inclination vnto vanite, and erroure. I do allwayes speake of the most excellent, and not of the commen sorte, but of those only whose foolyshenes did presume byonde measure, to polutte, and defyle the truth of god. Then is it in vayne that so many lampes doth shyne in thys world for to geue light vnto the glory of the creator, sith that so they cast their beames and lyght, that they can not leade vs vnto the right waye. True it is that they do cast some sperkelles of light, but but they be quenshed afore they be sene. Therfore the apostell in the sameselfe place, where he calleth the world, an ymage of inuysible thinges, doth saye, afterward, that it is through fayth that we must wnderstande that by the the37 worde of god it hath ben made: signyfieng that the inuysible godhed is represented by the fygure of the world but, that oure eyes can not beholde it, onles it be that through fayth, they be inspyred by the inward reuelation of god Lykewise saynt paule, teaching that this wich we ought to know of god, is manyfested by the creation of the world: he doth not meane such an open thinge that it may be comprehended of mennes mynde, but rather maketh vs to know that it meaneth no other thinge but that men shuld haue no excuse. He also howbeit that in an other place he saith that we may not seke farre for god, For he is withine vs: neuertheles in an other place he doth shewe of what38 weyght thesame proximite, or coniunction is. Here-tofore, said he, god did permytte that men shuld folowe theyr owne waye, yet neuertheles was he not left without wittenes of his godhed, sending hys benefyttes frome heauen geuynge rayne and plantyfullnes of gooddes, fedyng men with meate, and ioye. Howbeit then that god laketh no wittenes for this, that by his liberalite, he doth gently call all men to the knowledge of hym: neuertheles they do not 37. the the Accidental repetition of “the.” 38. what Written over partially abraded “weyght.” 133. rashly “temerairement,” which can mean ‘rashly’ but here has its metaphysical sense of ‘at random’ or ‘by chance.’ In her later translation of Boethius, Elizabeth also renders Latin “temerarius” as “rash” rather than as the contextually appropriate “by chance.” 134. but . . . measure After emphasizing that his preceding criticism was directed against an erring elite, Calvin dismisses the “vulgaires” (common people) for their “folye . . . outre mesure” (foolishness . . . beyond measure). Elizabeth, however, construes Calvin as distinguishing between the “common sort” and “those only” who evince “foolishness . . . beyond measure.” 135. sith since.

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prevail no more than if we should esteem all things to be turned and rashly133 overthrown by fortune. Such is our inclination unto vanity and error. I do always speak of the most excellent, and not of the common sort, but of those only whose foolishness did presume beyond measure,134 to pollute and defile the truth of God. Then is it in vain that so many lamps doth shine in this world for to give light unto the glory of the Creator, sith135 that so they cast their beams and light that they cannot lead us unto the right way. True it is that they do cast some sparkles of light, but they be quenched afore they be seen.136 Therefore the apostle, in the sameself 137 place where he calleth the world an image of invisible things, doth say afterward that it is through faith that we must understand that, by the word of God, it hath been made: signifying that the invisible Godhead is represented by the figure of the world, but that our eyes cannot behold it unless it be that, through faith, they be inspired by the inward revelation of God. Likewise, Saint Paul, 138 teaching that this which we ought to know of God is manifested by the creation of the world: he doth not mean such an open thing that it may be comprehended of men’s mind, but rather maketh us to know that it meaneth no other thing but139 that men should have no excuse. He also, howbeit that in another place, he saith that we may not140 seek far for God, for He is within us; nevertheless, in another place, he doth show of what weight the same proximity or conjunction141 is. Heretofore, said he, God did permit that men should follow their own way. Yet nevertheless was He not left without witness of His Godhead,142 sending His benefits from heaven, giving rain and plentifulness of goods, feeding men with meat and joy. Howbeit, then, that God lacketh no witness for this—that by His liberality He doth gently call all men to the knowledge of Him—nevertheless they do 136. seen “venir à pleine lumiere” (come to full light). 137. the apostle . . . sameself Paul, in Hebrews 11:3. sameself selfsame. 138. Paul In Romans 1:20. 139. open . . . but open thing “manifestation.” mind “entendement” (understanding). meaneth . . . but “ne procede point plus avant que” (does not proceed further than). 140. He . . . not He . . . place Paul, in Acts 17:27. we . . . not Calvin reads “il ne . . . fault pas,” which normally means “one must not” but in this context probably means “one need not.” 141. or conjunction Elizabeth’s addition. 142. of . . . Godhead Elizabeth’s addition.

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leaue, but do folowe allwaye their owne wayes. this is to say, their damnable errour. Now although that we lacke naturally power for to reache vnto the pure, and perfaytte knowledge of god: neuertheles bycause that the faute of the ygnoraunce therof is in vs: all excuse shall not serue. For it is not lawfull for vs to pretende ygnoraunce, but we shalbe conuynced of neglygence and vnkynnes39 Surely it is but a ba slender excuse, and vnworthy to be admitted, if a man doth saye that his eares could not serue him to heare the truth, for the wich thinge to declare, the inuysible creatures haue the voyce ryght cleare, and lowde: if he do alledge that he hath had no eyes for to se this that the creatures wich haue no syght doth shewe. If he doth excuse hymselfe, that through the imbecillite of his witte, he could not knowe this that all creatures without any witte doth teache. Therfore all we are iustely put from all excuse, bycause we do wander, as those wich be out of the way, where all thinges doth shewe vs the right waye Neuertheles howbeit that it ought to be imputed vnto our synnes, bycause they do soone corupte the syde40 of the knowledge of god, wich was sowed in our mynde through the meruaylous worke of nature, so that it can not bringe furth good frutt Neuertheles this is true, that we are not suffycientely instructed by the symple wittenes that the creatures doth beare of the highnes of god: For immediately that we haue conceyued, through the contemplation of the world, a lytell taste of the godhed: leauing the true god, in steade of hym, we do sette vp our dreames, and ymaginations inuented of our owne breanes,41 gyueng them the prayse of iustice, wisedom, and power. Moreouer we do so darken hys dayly workes, or els bycause we do not care for them, we o ouerthrowe them so that the praise and thankes wich we owe vnto hym, is rauyshed and taken awaye from hym. Therfore euen as the lord doth settefurth vnto all men without any exception the bryghtenes of his maieste wich is sene in all creatures

39. vnkynnes unkindness—possibly a sound spelling. 40. syde seed—a variation in Elizabeth’s idiosyncrasy of spelling English ee with an i. 41. breanes brains. 143. alway still; Elizabeth’s addition. 144. naturally . . . serve naturally Calvin has the adjective “naturelle.” perfect “saine” (healthful). shall . . . serve “est ostée” (is taken away). 145. convinced . . . unkindness convinced convicted; “convaincuz” (convicted). unkindness ingratitude, unnatural conduct; “ingratitude.”

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not leave but do follow alway143 their own ways, this is to say, their damnable error. Now, although that we lack naturally power for to reach unto the pure and perfect knowledge of God, nevertheless because that the fault of the ignorance thereof is in us, all excuse shall not serve.144 For it is not lawful for us to pretend ignorance, but we shall be convinced of negligence and unkindness.145 Surely it is but a slender excuse,146 and unworthy to be admitted, if a man doth say that his ears could not serve him to hear the truth, for the which thing to declare, the invisible creatures have the voice right clear and loud. If he do allege that he hath had no eyes for to see this, that, the creatures which have no sight doth show. If he doth excuse himself that, through the imbecility of his wit, he could not know this, that, all creatures without any wit147 doth teach. Therefore all we are justly put from all excuse, because we do wander, as those which be out of the way, where all things doth show us the right way. Nevertheless, howbeit that it ought to be imputed unto our sins because they do soon corrupt the seed of the knowledge of God which was sowed in our mind through the marvelous work148 of nature, so that it cannot bring forth good fruit, nevertheless, this is true: that we are not sufficiently instructed by the simple149 witness that the creatures doth bear of the highness of God. For immediately that we have conceived, through the contemplation of the world, a little taste of the Godhead: leaving the true God, instead of Him, we do set up our dreams and imaginations, invented150 of our own brains, giving them the praise of justice, wisdom, and power. Moreover, we do so darken His daily works, or else because we do not care for them,151 we overthrow them, so that the praise and thanks which we owe unto Him is ravished and taken away from Him. Therefore, even as the Lord doth set forth unto all men without any exception the brightness of His majesty, which is seen in all

146. slender excuse “paovre deffence” (poor defense). 147. wit “intelligence.” 148. our sins . . . work our sins “vices des hommes” (vices of men). soon “incontinent” (immediately). mind “entendement” (understanding). marvelous work “artifice admirable” (admirable artifice). 149. simple Elizabeth does not translate Calvin’s addition, “et nud” (and bare). 150. invented Elizabeth’s addition. 151. because . . . them because we pay no respect to them; “par les mal reputer” (by judging them ill).

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because he shuld take a waye all excuses frome the wickednes of men, also he doth helpe with a certayne remedy to the imbecillitie of those mennes wittes, the wich he doth inspire inwardely, and it pleaseth him that they may obteyne the true knowledge of him so perfaytely that it preuaileth for their saluation Bycause that for their instruction he doth not vse of dome creatures, but he also doth open his holy mowthe, and doth not only shewe them that they must worshipp a god, but also he doth shewe them, that he is the god whom they muste honore: not only teaching them that they must knowe a god, but he did presente hymselfe, as he to whom they must truste And in dede, the lorde frome the begining, hath alwayes kept this order: that in the calling of his seruauntes, besyde all the foresayd teachinges, he doth alwayes vse of hys worde, the wich is a marke most famyliar, and certaine for to knowe him After this sorte did, adam, noe, and abraham, and oure olde fathers, beyng illuminatte by his worde, obtayne the knowledge of him. whether it be, that it hath ben gyuen vnto them, by reuelations, or visions, whether it be, that it hath ben fyrst shewed vnto theyr predecessoures, and after gyuen vnto them, as from one hande in to an other. For it was all one, so that they m myght be made partakers of the worde of god, and also that they shuld vnderstande that it came frome god of the wich thing the lord made them alwayes certayne; For he willed that it shuld be declared openly. Then did he shewe hymselfe to fewe men, geuyng them manifest tokens of his presence, and did delyuer vnto them the treasure of the doctrine of our saluation, bycause that they shuld be distrybutoures therof, vnto their posterite. Euen as we do se that abraham dyd communicatte vnto hys householde the conuenant42 of euerlasting lyfe, wich had ben gyuen vnto hym, and he toke payne that his posterite shuld obserue it. Therfore from that tyme the kinrede of abraham was separated frome other nacyons, by this difference that through a syngular grace of god, it hath ben receyued 42. conuenant covenant. 152. wickedness . . . certain wickedness “impieté” (impiety). certain assured; “plus certain” (more assured). 153. the which . . . salvation Elizabeth recasts Calvin’s characterization of God’s relation to His elect, “ausquelz il luy plaist se donner à congnoistre en salut” (to whom it pleases Him to give Himself to be known in salvation). Avoiding this implication that God’s election is limited, she claims that God ensures that “those men’s wits” (those of “all men without any exception”) can obtain saving knowledge. She also relocates the source of God’s

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creatures, because He should take away all excuses from the wickedness of men, also He doth help with a certain152 remedy to the imbecility of those men’s wits: the which He doth inspire inwardly, and it pleaseth Him that they may obtain the true knowledge of Him so perfectly that it prevaileth for their salvation.153 Because that, for their instruction, He doth not use of dumb creatures, but He also doth open His holy mouth, and doth not only show them that they must worship a God, but also He doth show them that He is the God whom they must honor, not only teaching them that they must know a God, but He did present Himself as He to whom they must trust.154 And, indeed, the Lord from the beginning hath always kept this order, that in the calling of His servants, beside all the foresaid teachings, He doth always use of His word: the which is a mark most familiar and certain, for to know Him. After this sort did Adam, Noah, Abraham, and our old fathers, being illuminate by His word, obtain the knowledge of Him: whether it be that it hath been given unto them by revelations155 or visions; whether it be that it hath been first showed unto their predecessors and after given unto them, as from one hand into another. For it was all one, so that they might be made partakers of the word of God, and also that they should understand that it came from God: of the which thing the Lord made them always certain, for He willed that it should be declared openly.156 Then did He show Himself to few men, giving them manifest tokens of His presence, and did deliver unto them the treasure of the doctrine of our salvation, because that they should be distributors thereof, unto their posterity. Even as we do see that Abraham did communicate unto his household the covenant of everlasting life which had been given unto him, and he took pain that his posterity should observe it. Therefore, from that time the kindred of Abraham was separated from other nations by this difference: that, through a singular grace of God, it hath been received in the same communion pleasure from His own action (the imparting of saving knowledge) to the prospective conditions of humans (their obtaining of saving knowledge). 154. worship . . . trust worship, honor Elizabeth varies Calvin’s repeated “adorer” (adore). did present “se presente” (present tense). to . . . trust “auquel ilz se doibvent arrester” (upon whom they must dwell). 155. our . . . revelations our old “les aultres” (the other). revelations “oracles.” 156. and . . . openly and . . . that “moyennant qu’” (provided that). that it . . . openly “donner lieu à la revelation d’icelle” (to make room for the revelation of this).

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in the same communion of the worde. Nowe when it did please the lord to sette vp a church more at large, he did publyshe the same selfe worde more openly, and willed that it shuld be written, as for an instrument, therfore, frome that tyme did begynne the reuelations of the worde of god, to be set furth in writting, the wich before had ben kepte amonge the faythfull people, gyueng it one to an other, in the wich thinge the lord did helpe their successoures by a syngular prouidence. For if we do consider how moche the minde of a man is redy to forgette god, how he is easy to be brought in to erroure, how he is redy to inuente at euery houre, newe, and contrefaytte religions: we shall lightely knowe how necessary it was, that the heuenly doctrine shuld be written bycause43 it shuld not be forgotten, or shuld vanyshe a way by erroure or shuld be corrupted through the audacite of men. Syth then that it is manyfest that god did helpe hymselfe of hys worde towardes them whom he did teache, bycause he sawe that hys fygure and ymage, the wich he hath printed in the making of the world, was not sufficient Then must we folowe thesame way if we will come to the right contemplation of the truth, we must say i come to the worde in the wich god is sene, and lyuely paynted by his workes, when they be estymed, not after the symplenes of our witte or iugement but according the order of the eternall truth. If we do go from this word, how fast soeuer we rone, we shall neuer come to the marke syth we rone out of the waye. For we ought to esteme that the lyght of god wich is called by the apostell inaccessible, is vnto vs as a laberynthe, or a mase, for to lose vs in it, onles that by the worde of god we be leade therin: so that it is better to halte or go sawghtely44 therin, then to runne fast out of thesame. Therfore dauid hauing rehersed how the glory of god is preached by the heauens, that the workes of his handes are seene by the fyrmament, that by the course so well ordred of the day and the nyght, hys maieste is manyfested. Then after doth he

43. bycause “-cause” extends into the right page margin. 44. sawghtely softly. On Elizabeth’s sound-based spelling, see E. J. Dobson, English Pronunciation, 1500–1700, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1968), 1:402, 2:946–47. 157. more . . . large in a more general way, over a larger area; “encores plus segregée” (even more set apart). Radically altering Calvin’s sense, Elizabeth shifts the focus from the separation of the faithful by means of the writing down of the Word to the widespread diffusion of the Word. 158. ready . . . or ready “volaige” (inconstant). lightly easily. or . . . or nor . . . nor.

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of the word. Now, when it did please the Lord to set up a church more at large,157 He did publish the sameself word more openly, and willed that it should be written, as for a instrument; therefore, from that time did begin the revelations of the Word of God, to be set forth in writing: the which before had been kept among the faithful people, giving it one to another, in the which thing the Lord did help their successors by a singular providence. For if we do consider how much the mind of a man is ready to forget God, how he is easy to be brought into error, how he is ready to invent at every hour new and counterfeit religions: we shall lightly know how necessary it was that the heavenly doctrine should be written, because it should not be forgotten, or should vanish away by error, or158 should be corrupted through the audacity of men. Since, then, it is manifest that God did help Himself of His Word towards them whom He did teach,159 because He saw that His figure and image, the which He hath printed in the making of the world, was not sufficient: then must we follow the same way if we will come to160 the right contemplation of the truth. We must, say I, come to the Word, in the which God is seen and lively painted by His works, when they be esteemed not after the simpleness of our wit or judgment, but according the order161 of the eternal truth. If we do go from this Word, how fast soever we run, we shall never come to the mark since we run out of the way. For we ought to esteem that the light of God, which is called by the apostle inaccessible, is unto us as a labyrinth or a maze, for to lose us in it, unless that by the Word of God we be led therein: so that it is better to halt or go softly162 therein, than to run fast out of the same. Therefore David, having rehearsed how the glory of God is preached by the heavens, that the works of His hands are seen163 by the firmament, that by the course, so well ordered, of the day and the night, His majesty is manifested: then, after, doth he remember His Word. The

159. of . . . teach of by; unidiomatic rendering of “de.” did teach Condenses “a voullu instruire avec fruict” (wished to instruct fruitfully). 160. we . . . come to we wish to come to; “aspirons de bon coeur” (we wholeheartedly yearn for). 161. simpleness . . . order simpleness “perversité” (perversity). order “reigle” (rule). 162. halt . . . go softly halt limp; “clocher.” go softly go slowly / carefully. Elizabeth’s addition, alleviating Calvin’s harsh dichotomy of the possible negative responses to God’s Word by sinful humankind. 163. seen “annoncées” (proclaimed).

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remember hys worde. The lawe of the lord, sayeth he, is without spotte, conuerting the soules of men. The wittenes of the lord are true, geuyng wisedom to the symple. The iustice of the lorde is rightuous reioysing the hartes of men. The commaundement is bryght, geuyng light to the eyes of men. By the wyche thinge he signyfieth that the doctrine of the creatures is vnyuersall vnto all men: and the instruction of the word, is the partycular scoole of the childerne of god. Now if all men had concluded that the word wich is set furth cometh frome god, there is no man of so desperatte frowardnes, onles it be, that he lacketh both naturall witte and reason, wich durst otherwise do, but beleue in it. But bycause we do not se dayly newe visyons or heare reuelations that shuld come frome heuen, but we haue the scripture onely, in the wich it hath please god to writte hys truth for an e euerlasting remembraunce we must breuely towche by what reason the scripture hath as much power towardes the faythfull, as though they shuld hear the voyce of god come out of hys mouth. the wich thing is worthy to be entreated more largely, and more dyligentely consydered. Neuertheles i pray the readers to forgyue me if i haue more respect to the thinges that must be comprehended in this booke, then to the greatnes that this argument requyreth. There be many of thesame pernicious, and erronious opinion, that the scripture is of no more importance but such as it is gyuen by the consent of the churche: as though the euerlasting, and inuiolable truth of god, shuld lye in the pleasure of men. For they do put furth this question, not without a great opprobry agaynst the holy ghoost. Who is he that shall certifye vs that the scripture came frome god, and who shall assure vs that it hath ben kepte whole tyll now. Who shall persuade vs that one of these bookes ought to be receyued, and the other reiected, onles it were that the church gyueth certayn rule of all these thinges. Therfore they conclude, that it lyeth in the determination of the church, to knowe what reuerence we owe vnto the scripture, and also what bookes shuld be alowed in it. So these blasphemours willing to sette vp an vnreasonable tyrany, vnder the

164. lacketh . . . reason “du tout despourveu et de sens naturel, et mesmes d’humanité” (completely lacking both in natural understanding and even in humanity). 165. we . . . revelations “il n’y a pas journellement nouveaulx oracles” (there are not new oracles daily).

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law of the Lord, sayeth he, is without spot, converting the souls of men; the witness of the Lord are true, giving wisdom to the simple; the justice of the Lord is righteous, rejoicing the hearts of men; the commandment is bright, giving light to the eyes of men. By the which thing he signifieth that the doctrine of the creatures is universal unto all men, and the instruction of the Word is the particular school of the children of God. Now, if all men had concluded that the Word which is set forth cometh from God, there is no man of so desperate frowardness, unless it be that he lacketh both natural wit and reason,164 which durst otherwise do, but believe in it. But because we do not see daily new visions or hear revelations165 that should come from heaven, but we have the Scripture only, in the which it hath pleased God to write His truth for an everlasting remembrance, we must briefly touch by what reason the Scripture hath as much power towards the faithful as though they should hear the voice of God come out of His mouth. The which thing is worthy to be intreated166 more largely, and more diligently considered. Nevertheless, I pray the readers to forgive me if I have more respect to the things that must be comprehended167 in this book than to the greatness that this argument requireth. There be many of the same pernicious and erroneous opinion, that the Scripture is of no more importance but such as it is given by the consent of the church, as though the everlasting and inviolable truth of God should lie in the pleasure of men. For they do put forth this question, not without a great opprobry168 against the Holy Ghost: who is he that shall certify us that the Scripture came from God, and who shall assure us that it hath been kept whole till now? Who shall persuade us that one of these books ought to be received, and the other rejected, unless it were that the church giveth certain rule of all these things? Therefore they conclude that it lieth in the determination of the church, to know what reverence we owe unto the Scripture, and also what books should be allowed in it. So these blasphemers, willing to set up an unreasonable tyranny under the

166. intreated treated. 167. things . . . comprehended “ce que peut souffrir la procedure” (what can undergo treatment). comprehended included. 168. opprobry reproach; “opprobre.”

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shadow of the church, they care not in what darkenes they doo wrappe themselues and other in, so that they may persuade the symple people in this pointe that all thinges are lawefull to the church. Now45 if so it were, what shuld become of the poore consciences of men wich doth seke certayne assurance of the euerlasting lyfe? when they shuld se all the promesses of the same, to consiste, and to stey vpon the only iugement of men; if they shuld so thinke how shuld they otherwise do? but tremble, and wander? on the other syde how shuld all the hethen moke, and geaste at our belefe, how suspitiously shuld it come in to the handes of all men, if we had such an opynyon that her fundation shuld be vpon the plesure, and mercy of men. But such lyars are easly confuted by one only worde of saynt paule, the wich sayeth, that the church is bylded vpon the fundation of the prophettes, and apostels. Then if the doctrine of the prophettes, and apostels, is the fondation of the church, men must be fyrst certayne therof, afore that the church shuld begynne to appere; and they can not so crafte with men, sayenge, that although the church hath her begyning frome thence, neuertheles that it is vncertayne, what bookes we ought to attributte vnto the prophettes, and apostels, onles fyrst it hath setted furth her iugement in it. For if the christian church hath frome the begyning ben bylded vpon the writtinges of the prophettes, and the preaching of the apostels, whersoeuer thesame doctrine is founde, we thinke that the approbacion therof was afore the church, syth that withoute thesame, the church had neuer ben. Then it is a dreame, or a lye, to saye, that the churche hath the power to iudge so of the scripture, that she gyueth her all the certaynete that it may haue. Therfore when she receyueth, and approueth it, she doth maketh no better then if before it had ben doutefull, and vncertayne: but bycause she knoweth it to be the truth of her lord, accordinge her duetie, without any delaye, she honoreth it. Touching this that they do aske how we shal knowe if the scripture be come frome god, onles we haue our recourse vnto the decrees of the church? it is as good an argument 45. Now The next twenty-two lines in this text, comprising 61v–62v in the original, have been heavily revised, with extensive abrasions of the parchment surface and overwriting. 169. shadow . . . darkness shadow “couverture” (cover). darkness “absurditez” (absurdities). 170. should they . . . but “cesseroient de” (should they cease to). 171. into . . . men “envers tout le monde” (towards everyone). 172. craft with “caviller” (cavil).

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shadow of the church, they care not in what darkness169 they do wrap themselves and other in, so that they may persuade the simple people in this point, that all things are lawful to the church. Now, if so it were, what should become of the poor consciences of men, which doth seek certain assurance of the everlasting life, when they should see all the promises of the same to consist and to stay upon the only judgment of men? If they should so think, how should they otherwise do, but170 tremble and wander? On the other side, how should all the heathen mock and jest at our belief; how suspiciously should it come into the hands of all men,171 if we had such an opinion, that her foundation should be upon the pleasure and mercy of men? But such liars are easily confuted by one only word of Saint Paul, the which sayeth, that the church is builded upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles. Then, if the doctrine of the prophets and apostles is the foundation of the church, men must be first certain thereof, afore that the church should begin to appear; and they cannot so craft with172 men, saying that although the church hath her beginning from thence, nevertheless that it is uncertain what books we ought to attribute unto the prophets and apostles, unless first it173 hath set forth her judgment in it. For if the Christian church hath from the beginning been builded upon the writings of the prophets and the preaching of the apostles, wheresoever the same doctrine is found, we think174 that the approbation thereof was afore the church, since that, without the same, the church had never been. Then it is a dream or a lie, to say that the church hath the power to judge so of the Scripture, that she giveth her175 all the certainty that it may have. Therefore, when she receiveth and approveth it, she doth make it no better than176 if, before, it had been doubtful and uncertain. But because she knoweth it to be the truth of her Lord, according her duty, without any delay, she honoreth it. Touching this that they do ask, how we shall know if the Scripture be come from God unless we have our recourse unto the decrees of the church: it is as good an 173. it the church. 174. we think Calvin’s formulation is impersonal: “il fault” (it is necessary). 175. or . . . her or “et” (and). giveth her Condenses “luy octroye selon son bon plaisir” (vouchsafeth to her according to her pleasure) her the Scripture—a feminine noun in French. 176. she . . . than she the church—a feminine noun in French. make . . . than “ne la rend point aut[h]enticque” (does not render it authoritative).

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as if any man shulde aske, howe we can discerne light, frome darkenes, the whytte frome blacke, and sower from swette. For the scripture doth shewe no lesse euydence of her truth, then the thinges whytte or blacke by their couloures. and the thinges sower or swett by their taste. Neuertheles if we will prouyde for the consciences of men, that they be not in perpetuall dowte, we must take the autorite of the scripture, hygher then the reasons, interpretations, or coniectures of men, this is to know to stey it vpon the inwarde wittenes of the holy ghoost. For howbeit that of her owne maieste it hath ynough wherewith to be worshipped, neuer theles it begyneth to towche vs truly when by the holy ghoost, it is printed in oure mynde. Beyng then illumined by the power of thesame we do not byleue our owne iugement, nor in thesame of other men, that the scripture cometh from god. but aboue all iugement of men, we do byleue without dowte, that it procedeth from goddes owne mouth46 by the mynystration of men, as well. as if with oure eyes we shuld contemple, or se the essency of god in it. We do not seke argumentes, or comparaysons wherin our iudgement shuld reast: but we do submitte oure iugement, and meanyng in it, as to a thinge wich is so hye, that it can not be iudged of of no man, and not as some doth vse lightely to receyue a thing afore they knowe it and after it is knowen, they care not for it: but bycause we are right certayne that the inuincyble truth is in it. Not also as the ignoraunte men doo vse to yelde the wittes y of men bounde vnto superstition, but bycause we do feele that therin an excellent vertue of the godhed doth shewe his power: through the wich we are prouoked, and styrred to obey willingly: yet neuerthelesse with greatter efficacy then the will or power of men can do it. Then is the persuasion of it such, that it requyreth no reasoning, neuerthelesse such knowledge wiche doth stande vpon a good reason,

46. mouth Written over partially abraded “mought.” 177. we . . . discern “apprendrons à discerner” (we will learn to discern). 178. not Elizabeth omits the immediately following word, “agitées” (shaken). 179. to . . . it stay support. Calvin’s formulation is personal and subjunctive: “nous la fondions” (we should base it). 180. printed . . . mind “séellée en noz coeurs” (sealed in our hearts). 181. comparisons . . . man comparisons “verisimilitudes” (probabilities), which Elizabeth evidently confuses with “similitudes.” thing . . . man “chose eslevée par d’essus la necessité d’estre jugée” (thing elevated above the necessity of being judged).

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argument as if any man should ask how we can discern177 light from darkness, the white from black, and sour from sweet. For the Scripture doth show no less evidence of her truth, than the things white or black by their colors, and the things sour or sweet by their taste. Nevertheless, if we will provide for the consciences of men, that they be not178 in perpetual doubt, we must take the authority of the Scripture higher than the reasons, interpretations, or conjectures of men: this is to know, to stay it179 upon the inward witness of the Holy Ghost. For, howbeit that of her own majesty it hath enough wherewith to be worshipped, nevertheless it beginneth to touch us truly when, by the Holy Ghost, it is printed in our mind.180 Being then illumined by the power of the same, we do not believe our own judgment, nor in the same of other men, that the Scripture cometh from God; but, above all judgment of men, we do believe without doubt that it proceedeth from God’s own mouth by the ministration of men, as well as if with our eyes we should contemple or see the essency of God in it. We do not seek arguments or comparisons wherein our judgment should rest, but we do submit our judgment and meaning in it as to a thing which is so high that it cannot be judged of, of no man;181 and not as some doth use, lightly to receive a thing afore they know it, and after it is known, they care not for it, but because we are right certain that the invincible truth is in it. Not also, as the ignorant men doth use to yield the wits of men bound unto superstition, but because we do feel that therein an excellent182 virtue of the Godhead doth show His power: through the which we are provoked and stirred to obey willingly, yet nevertheless with greater efficacy than the will or power183 of men can do it. Then is the persuasion of it such that it requireth no reasoning: nevertheless, such knowledge which doth stand upon a good reason, that is to say, forasmuch as our wit is more

182. the wits . . . excellent the wits . . . men “les esprits” (the minds / their minds) refers to the ignorant men, who are vulnerable to superstition. Elizabeth, however, took Calvin to be distinguishing two sets of men, the ignorant and those whom the ignorant lead into superstition. excellent “expresse” (explicit). 183. willingly . . . power willingly “sciemment et voluntairement” (knowingly and willingly), a phrase Calvin borrowed from Roman literature and law (“sciens et volens”). power “science” (knowledge).

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that is to say: forasmuch as oure witte is more certaine and sure, then eny other reason. Finally it is such a felynge, that it can not engender, but heuenly meditations or reuelations. I do say no other thing but that that euery faithfull doth experimente in his himselfe, so that the wordes are much more inferiore, then the argument, and are not sufficient for to declare it, vnles we haue the same certainte higher then eny iugement of men can comprehende. The autorite of the scripture shalbe in va vayne approued by reasons; in vayne it shalbe established by the consent of the church, or confyrmed by other argumentes. For if the fondation of this be not sure, it shalbe alwayes left in suspicion. Euen as contrarywise, after that it hath ben receyued as it ought to be, and exempted of all doute, the reasons wich before had no strenght for to fixe in our mynde the certainete therof, shalbe a good helpe for vs; For we can not declare what confyrmation thesame consyderation doth gyue it: when we do thinke dilygentely how god hath in thesame setfurth, and ordeyned the dispensation of hys wisedom; when we do aknowledge how the doctrine of it doth shew it selfe heueanly, hauing nothinge that is earthely: how euery parte can agree and also also all other thinges wich be sette for to gyue autorite, or approue any writtinges. Further more, oure hartes are yet more strenghtened when we do consyder that it is the maieste of the matter, more then the grace of the wordes, wich doth cause vs to meruayle at. And in dede this was not done without a great prouidence of god, that the hygh secrettes of the heuenly kingdome haue ben giuen vs vnder despysed wordes, wythout eny eloquency, For if they had ben deked with eloquence, wicked men might haue said that in thesame the power of it did consiste. Now syth that such rude, and symple writting doth moue vs to greatter reuerence, then all the faconde of the rethoriciens of the world; what can we thinke but that the scripture conteyneth in it selfe such vertue of veritie, that

184. our . . . reason our . . . sure “nostre esprit ha plus certain et asseuré repos” (our mind has a more certain and assured repose). any . . . reason “aucunes raisons” (any reasons). 185. meditations or Elizabeth’s addition. 186. experiment . . . declare experiment experience. so that “sinon que” (except that). the argument “la dignité de l’argument” (the dignity of the argument). declare explain, elucidate. 187. higher . . . comprehend higher Elizabeth omits the next phrase, “et plus ferme” (and firmer). can comprehend Elizabeth’s addition.

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certain and sure than any other reason.184 Finally, it is such a feeling that it cannot engender but heavenly meditations or185 revelations. I do say no other thing but that every faithful doth experiment in himself, so that the words are much more inferior than the argument, and are not sufficient for to declare186 it. Unless we have the same certainty, higher than any judgment of men can comprehend,187 the authority of the Scripture shall be in vain approved by reasons; in vain it shall be established by the consent of the church, or confirmed by other arguments. For if the foundation of this be not sure, it shall be always left in suspicion.188 Even as, contrariwise, after that it hath been received as it ought to be, and exempted of all doubt: the reasons, which before had no strength for to fix in189 our mind the certainty thereof, shall be a good help for us. For we cannot declare what confirmation the same consideration doth give it: when we do think diligently how God hath, in the same, set forth and ordained the dispensation of His wisdom; when we do acknowledge how the doctrine of it doth show itself heavenly, having nothing that is earthly; how every part can agree, and also all other things which be set190 for to give authority, or approve any writings. Furthermore, our hearts are yet more strengthened when we do consider that it is the majesty of the matter, more than the grace of the words, which doth cause us to marvel at. And indeed this was not done without a great providence of God, that the high secrets of the heavenly kingdom have been given us under despised words, without any eloquency; for if they had been decked with eloquence, wicked men might have said191 that, in the same, the power of it did consist. Now, since that such rude and simple writing doth move us to greater reverence than all the faconde192 of the rhetoricians of the world: what can we think but that the Scripture containeth in itself such virtue of verity, that it hath no need to be decked with eloquent words?

188. in suspicion suspected, doubted; “en suspendz” (in doubt, in uncertainty). 189. received . . . in received Elizabeth omits the immediately following phrase, “en obeisance” (in obedience). strength “grand’force” (great strength). fix in “ficher et planter” (to stick and plant). 190. be set be placed in the proper manner, be placed in a certain sequence in writing; “sont propres” (are proper). 191. said “calumnié” (claimed slanderously). 192. simple . . . faconde simple “quasi agreste” (almost rustic). faconde eloquence— a cognate in Calvin.

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it hath no nede to be deked with eloquent wordes. Therfore it is not without a cause that the apostell sayeth that the fayth of the corinthyans was not bylded vpon the wisedom of men, but vpon the power of god, bycause that hys preaching amonge them had not ben with persuading wordes, by any witte of man, but that it had ben approued by the holy ghoost, and his power: For the truth is exempted of all doutte, syth that of itselfe it is sufficient, and hath no nede of fauoure. Nowe how moche thesame power is fette the scripture, it appereth in this, that of all writtinges of men there is none so eloquent, or of so swette style soeuer it be, that hath such strenght to sturre oure wittes. Lette vs reade demostenes, tully, plato, or aristotle, or some other of theyr company, i do confesse that their writtinges shal moue and please men vnders47 much, yee, as farre as to rauishe their wittes; but if frome thence we come to the reading of the holy scripture whether we will or no, it shall sturre vs so lyuely, that it shall go through our hartes, and it shalbe so fixed withine vs, that all the power that the rhetoricians, or philosophers writtinges haue, in the sight of them, it shalbe but smooke in steade of fyre. Than it is easy to perceyue that the holy scriptures haue a godly proprete to inspire men, syth that they doo so ouerpasse all the conning and fayre style of all mens writtinges. On the other syde, we may not thinke it nothing, that in so many yeares sence they haue ben publyshed, there hath ben a perpetuall consent to obey them: and though the deuell doth force hymself many wayes to oppresse, and ouerthrowe them, yee also to put them wholy from mens mynde, neuertheles they be alwayes lefte as the palme is inuyncible, and victorious. For there haue byne but fewe philosophers, or rethoricians of excellent knowledge, but dyd applye theyr conning against it, but it did not preuayle. All

47. vnders wondrous—one of Elizabeth’s spelling idiosyncrasies. 193. approved . . . power “approuvée par demonstrances d’esprit, et de puissance” (proved by demonstrations of Spirit and of power). 194. hath . . . favor “sans autres aydes . . . pour se soubstenir” (without other helps . . . to sustain itself). favor aid. 195. fit befitting; “propre à,” which can mean ‘appropriate to’ but here means ‘peculiar / exclusive to.’ 196. move . . . please Elizabeth omits the first verb in this series, “attireront” (shall attract). 197. go . . . fire go through “perceront tellement” (so pierce). in . . . them in view of the Scriptures. Calvin reads “au pris de l’efficace d’icelles” (in comparison to the effica-

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Therefore, it is not without a cause that the apostle sayeth that the faith of the Corinthians was not builded upon the wisdom of men, but upon the power of God: because that his preaching among them had not been with persuading words, by any wit of man, but that it had been approved by the Holy Ghost and His power.193 For the truth is exempted of all doubt since that, of itself, is sufficient and hath no need of favor.194 Now, how much the same power is fit195 the Scripture, it appeareth in this, that of all writings of men there is none so eloquent, or of so sweet style soever it be, that hath such strength to stir our wits. Let us read Demosthenes, Tully, Plato or Aristotle, or some other of their company, I do confess that their writings shall move and please196 men wondrous much— yea, as far as to ravish their wits. But if from thence we come to the reading of the Holy Scripture, whether we will or no, it shall stir us so lively that it shall go through our hearts, and it shall be so fixed within us, that all the power that the rhetoricians’ or philosophers’ writings have, in the sight of them, it shall be but smoke instead of fire.197 Then it is easy to perceive that the Holy Scriptures have a godly property to inspire men, since that they do so overpass all the cunning and fair style of all men’s writings.198 On the other side,199 we may not think it nothing, that in so many years since they have been published, there hath been a perpetual consent to obey them. And though the devil doth force himself many ways to oppress and overthrow them—yea, also to put them wholly from men’s mind200— nevertheless, they be always left as the palm is, invincible and victorious. For there have been but few philosophers or rhetoricians of excellent knowledge, but did apply their cunning against it, but it did not prevail.201 All the power of the ciousness of those [Scriptures]). Elizabeth adopts his plural pronoun even though she earlier used the singular “Scripture.” instead . . . fire Elizabeth’s addition. 198. property . . . writings property quality; propriety. Calvin’s cognate, “proprieté,” has the same dual sense. all . . . writings “toutes les graces de l’industrie humaine” (all the graces of human industriousness). 199. side Elizabeth does not translate the immediately following clause: “le consentement de l’Eglise n’est pas sans importance” (the consent of the church is not without importance). Her eye probably skipped, for she continues her translation at the same point one line lower. 200. put . . . mind “les effacer du tout de la memoire des hommes” (to efface them altogether from the memory of men). 201. it . . . prevail “tous n’y ont rien profité” (all of them profited nothing from it).

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the power of the earth did ryse for to destroye the truth of the same, but their strenght did vanyshe a waye, as smoke doth How shuld they haue resisted beyng so assayled of all partes onles they had byne defended with an other maner of power then, of man? Therfore we o ought rather to conclude, that the holy scripture wich we haue, is of god, syth that agaynst all the wisedom, and power of men, it is come foreward by his vertue. Moreouer there hath byne neuer a towne, or nacion, but did intende to receyue it, For as farre as the earth conteyneth, it hath obteyned her autorite, by a commen consent of all people, wich els had nothinge commen amonge them. Now then such agrement of dyuerse people, and who in other thinges doth not agrey in order, and maner of liuing, ought to moue vs to beleue in it, for it is playne that the power of god did worke for to make them agrey in it: but yet, we ought more earnestely to consydere when we do thinke v vpon the honesty, and godlynes of those, wich doth gather themselues to-gether for to receyue the scripture; i do not speake generally, but i meane those the wich oure lorde dyd ordeyne in hys church as lampes bycause that their holynes and good lyuing they myght gyue lyght in it. Moreouer, with what certaynete ought we to receaue thesame doctrine the wich, as we se, it hath byne sealed and wittenessed by the bloude of so many holy men. For they did not steke to dye willingly, and also gladely, for her sake, after they had ones receyued it: and we, why shall we not receyue her with suche a certayne and inuysible persuasion, syth it hath byne gyuen vs with such a confyrmation. Then is this no small approbation of the scripture, that it hath byne sealed with the bloud of so many wittenesses pryncipally when we do knowe that they haue not suffered death for the wittenes of their faith, by fury, or frensy, as those wich be out, and farre frome any reason, and

202. assailed “durement assaillies” (heavily assailed). 203. power, virtue Both words translate Calvin’s repeated term “vertu.” See n25. 204. there . . . it “il n’y a pas eu une seule cité ou nation, qui ayt conspiré à la recevoir” (there has not been only a single city or nation that agreed to receive it). Calvin’s obscurely worded negative formulation, which he clarified in subsequent editions of the Institution, means that not only single cities or nations but also (as he goes on to say) all peoples of the world have accepted Scripture. Elizabeth’s positive formulation captures his gist. 205. as . . . her as . . . containeth Elizabeth condenses “tant que s’estend au long et au large toute la terre” (as far as the whole earth extends in length and breadth). her the Scripture’s—a feminine noun in French.

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earth did rise for to destroy the truth of the same, but their strength did vanish away, as smoke doth. How should they have resisted being so assailed,202 of all parts, unless they had been defended with another manner of power than of man? Therefore we ought rather to conclude that the Holy Scripture which we have is of God, since that, against all the wisdom and power of men, it is come forward by His virtue.203 Moreover, there hath been never a town or nation, but did intend to receive it.204 For, as far as the earth containeth, it hath obtained her205 authority by a common consent of all people, which else had nothing common among them. Now, then, such agreement of diverse people, and who in other things doth not agree in order and manner of living, ought to move us to believe in it, for it is plain that the power of God did work for to make them agree in it. But yet we ought more earnestly to consider,206 when we do think upon the honesty and godliness of those which doth gather themselves together for to receive the Scripture: I do not speak generally, but I mean those which our Lord did ordain in His church as lamps because that their holiness and good living207 might give light in it. Moreover, with what certainty ought we to receive the same doctrine: the which, as we see, it hath been sealed and witnessed by the blood of so many holy men? For they did not stick to die willingly, and also gladly,208 for her sake, after they had once received it. And we, why shall we not receive her with such a certain and invisible persuasion, since it hath been given us with such a confirmation?209 Then is this no small approbation of the Scripture, that it hath been sealed with the blood of so many witnesses: principally when we do know that they have not suffered death for the witness of their faith by fury or frenzy, as those which be out and far from any reason, and full of

206. we . . . consider Calvin’s construction is impersonal: “aura ceste consideration plus de poix” (this consideration will have more weight). 207. and . . . living Elizabeth’s addition. 208. did . . . gladly did . . . stick to were not reluctant to; “n’ont point fait de difficulté” (raised no objection). willingly “couraigeusement” (courageously). also gladly “mesmes joyeuesement” (even joyfully). 209. invisible . . . confirmation invisible Elizabeth misread “invincible” as “invisible.” a confirmation “une telle arre et confirmation” (with such an assurance and confirmation). Elizabeth may have regarded Calvin’s two terms as synonymous or not recognized the unusual term “arre”—more commonly, “arrhe.”

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full of erroures, but by a zeale towardes god as muche sobre, and temperatt as also stedfast, and constant Therby48 many other reasons wherby the maieste and worthynes of the scripture may not only make certayne the hartes of the faythfull, but also ynough for to myhtyly mainteyne it agaynst the malicious mynde of the calumniers, but yet not withstandyng of themselues are not sufficient for to gyue the certaynete therof, tyll the tyme that oure celestyall father, shewyng the godhed that is in it, doth exempte it frome all doute, gyueng sure reuerence vnto it. Therfore then shall the scripture fynally suffise for to obteyne the knowledge of god, such that it shall serue vs for oure saluatyon when the certainete therof shall stey vpon the inwarde persuasion of the holy ghoost The wittenes of men, wich serueth for to confyrme it, shall not then be in vayne, when they shall folowe thesame soueraine and pryncipall wittenes, as helpers fett for to ayde our imbecillite. Now those wich leuing the scripture, do ymagynne i knowe not what maner of waye for to come to god, they are no lesse abused with erroure, as also vexed with madnes. out of suche maner of people are rysen i know not what men, wich doo so stand in their own conceyttes, that they frowardly pretende the doctrine of the spirytte despysing (as for theyr parte) all reading of the scripture, and they do geaste at the symplenes of them wich doo yett folowe the dead texte, as they call it. But i wolde fayne know of them, who is thesame spirytt by whose inspiration they are so hye rauyshed, that they dare despyse all the doctrine of the scripture, as a vyle thing and chyldishe. For if they do answer that it is the spyritte of christ, theyr assurance is to folysh. For i do thinke that they shall confesse that the apostels, and the faithfull of the prymitiue church, haue byne inspyred by the spiritt of christ: Now is it so, that yett none of them did contemne the word of god, but rather eueryone hath byne moued to greater reuerence, as their writtinges wittenesseth. Moreouer i wold fayne they wold

48. Therby There be. 210. as . . . errors “comme font aucunefois les esprits d’erreurs transportez de raisons” (as sometimes minds full of errors do, led astray by their reasonings). 211. reasons . . . calumniers reasons Elizabeth does not translate the immediately following phrase, “et icelles bien apparantes” (and these, very apparent). make certain “estre acertenée à” (be made certain in). calumniers calumniators; “calumniateurs.” 212. to give . . . doubt to give “fonder droictement” (to base soundly). showing . . . it “faisant là reluire sa divinité” (there making His divinity shine). doubt Calvin adds “et question” (and question).

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errors,210 but by a zeal towards God, as much sober and temperate as also steadfast and constant. There be many other reasons whereby the majesty and worthiness of the Scripture may not only make certain the hearts of the faithful, but also enough for to mightily maintain it against the malicious mind of the calumniers:211 but yet, notwithstanding, of themselves are not sufficient for to give the certainty thereof, till the time that our celestial Father, showing the Godhead that is in it, doth exempt it from all doubt,212 giving sure reverence unto it. Therefore, then shall the Scripture finally suffice for to obtain the knowledge of God, such that it shall serve us for our salvation when the certainty thereof shall stay upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Ghost. The witness of men, which serveth for to confirm it, shall not then be in vain, when they shall follow the same sovereign and principal witness, as helpers213 fit for to aid our imbecility. Now those which, leaving the Scripture, do imagine I know not what manner of way for to come to God, they are no less abused with error as also vexed with madness.214 Out of such manner of people are risen I know not what men, which do so stand in their own conceits that they frowardly pretend the doctrine of the Spirit, despising (as for their part) all reading of the Scripture, and they do jest at the simpleness of them which do yet follow the dead text,215 as they call it. But I would fain know of them, who is the same spirit, by whose inspiration they are so high ravished that they dare despise all the doctrine of the Scripture as a vile thing and childish. For if they do answer that it is the Spirit of Christ, their assurance is too foolish. For I do think they shall confess216 that the apostles and the faithful of the primitive church have been inspired by the Spirit of Christ. Now is it so, that yet none of them did contemn the Word of God, but rather every one hath been moved to greater reverence, as their writings witnesseth.217 Moreover, I would fain they would answer me in this

213. helpers Calvin adds “et moyens secondz” (and second means). 214. madness “pure rage” (sheer madness). 215. men . . . text men “accariastres” (madmen). Elizabeth probably did not recognize this unusual word of uncertain etymology, aimed by Calvin against such “Spirituals” as Sebastian Castellio. See Rufus M. Jones, Spiritual Reformers in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1914; rpt. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1971), 88–92. do . . . they Elizabeth’s addition. dead text “lettre morte et murtrissante” (dead and deadening letter). 216. shall confess “concederont” (shall concede). 217. witnesseth Condenses “en rendent clers tesmoignages” (give clear testimony).

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answer me in this poynte, whether they haue receyued an other spyritte, then thesame whom the lorde did promyse to his discyples: howbeit that they be mad, neuertheles i do not thinke them so much out of the way, that they durst bost themselues of that. Now what did he say that hys spirytt shuld be, this is to know, that he shuld not speake of hymselfe, but shuld bringe in the apostels mynde, this that by his word he had taught them. It is not then the off yce of the holy ghost, such as god did promyse vs, to inuente a newe doctrine for to withdrawe vs frome the doctrine of the gospell, after we haue receyued it, but rather to confyrme in oure hartes, the doctrine wich is gyuen vs by the gospell. Then we do vnderstande lightely that we must dilygentely as well heare, as also reade the scripture if we will receyue frutte, or profytte by the spirytte of god. Contrarywise if eny spyritte, leauinge the wisedom conteyned in the worde of god, doth bring vs other doctrine, he ought to be suspected of vanitie, and lyes for els what shuld it be, syth that sathan doth transforme hymselfe in to angell of light what autorite shall the spiritte haue towardes vs, vnles it be discerned by a preuy, and certayne marke, and in dede he doth shew hymself clearly vnto vs by the voyce of the lord, were not that this wretched people doth willyngly desyre to erre in to their owne confusion, sekyng rather the meaning of themselues, then of hym. But they allege that it shuld be an vnconuenient thynge that the spiritte of god, who ought to haue all thinges vnder his dominion, shulde be subiecte vnto the scripture: yee as though it were shame for the holy ghost, to be in all th thinges lyke vnto hymselfe, to be alwayes constant, and to vary in nothinge. Surely if we shuld bynde hym to eny order, or vse, made by man, angell, or other, then they might say that he shuld lese some of hys honoure, and that he shuld be brought in boundage: but when he is compared wyth hymselfe, and in hymselfe considered: who can say that in so doyng we do hym wronge. But they

218. mad . . . way mad “enragez tout oultre” (maddened wholly beyond reason). so . . . way “transportez de telle phrenesie” (transported by such frenzy). 219. should be? Elizabeth does not translate the following phrase: “en le promettant” (in promising it). 220. promise us Elizabeth does not translate the following phrase, “songer nouvelles revelations et incongnües auparavant, ou” (to dream up new and previously unknown revelations, or). Her eye evidently skipped from the end of one line (“songer nouvelles”) to the similar ending of the following line (“forger nouvelle”), which she translates next. 221. confirm “séeller et confirmer” (seal and confirm).

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point, whether they have received another spirit than the same whom the Lord did promise to his disciples. Howbeit that they be mad, nevertheless I do not think them so much out of the way218 that they durst boast themselves of that. Now what did He say that His Spirit should be?219 This is to know that He should not speak of Himself, but should bring in the apostles’ mind this, that by His Word He had taught them. It is not, then, the office of the Holy Ghost, such as God did promise us,220 to invent a new doctrine for to withdraw us from the doctrine of the gospel, after we have received it, but rather to confirm221 in our hearts the doctrine which is given us by the gospel. Then we do understand lightly that we must diligently222 as well hear as also read the Scripture, if we will receive fruit or profit by the Spirit of God. Contrariwise, if any spirit, leaving the wisdom contained in the Word of God, doth bring us other doctrine, he ought223 to be suspected of vanity and lies. For else, what should it be, since that Satan doth transform himself into angel224 of light? What authority shall the Spirit have towards us, unless it be discerned by a privy and225 certain mark? And indeed, He doth show Himself clearly unto us by the voice of the Lord: were not that this wretched people doth willingly desire to err into their own confusion, seeking rather the meaning226 of themselves than of Him. But they allege that it should be an unconvenient thing227 that the Spirit of God, who ought to have all things under His dominion, should be subject unto the Scripture: yea, as though it were shame for the Holy Ghost to be in all things like unto Himself, to be always constant, and to vary in nothing. Surely, if we should bind Him to any order or use228 made by man, angel, or other, then they might say that He should lose some of His honor, and that He should be brought in bondage. But when He is compared with Himself, and in Himself considered: who can say that, in so doing, we do Him wrong? But they will peradventure say that,

222. diligently Elizabeth omits “travailler à” (work to), which follows at this point. 223. ought Elizabeth omits “à bon droict” (with good reason), which follows at this point. 224. into angel Elizabeth’s unidiomatic rendering of “en ange.” 225. privy and Elizabeth’s addition. 226. clearly . . . meaning clearly Calvin adds “assez” (enough). the meaning the knowledge, the understanding; “l’Esprit” (the Spirit). 227. unconvenient thing “grand’absurdité” (great absurdity). unconvenient absurd. 228. bind . . . use “le reduisoit à quelque reigle” (should reduce Him to some rule).

John 16.

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will parauenture say that in this doing he is examined. I do confesse it is so: but it is with such an examination, as he willeth that hys maieste shuld be stablyshed towarde vs. Then it ought to suffise: syth he doth shewe hymselfe vnto vs. But bycause that in steade of hym, the spirytt of sathan shuld haue no place, he willeth to be knowen of vs by his ymage, the wich he h hath printed in the scripture he is the authoure therof, he is no chaungeling nor vnlyke vnto hymselfe: therfore it must that he be alwayes such as he did declare hymselfe in it. This is no shame for hym, onles we shuld saye, that doing againste hys kynd, it shuld be for hys honoure.49 Touching this that they doo accuse vs that we reast to moche vpon the texte wich de doth kylle, in this they shewe how they shall not escape the iugement of god, bycause they haue contemned the scripture. For it appereth clearly that sainte paule in this place doth stryue against the seductoures, wiche do exalte the lawe only50 without christe, dryuing the people from the grace of the new testament, withine the wich the lord doth promyse that he shall fyxe his lawe in the mynde of the faithfull, and shall writte it in theyr hartes. Then is the lawe of god the dead texte, and doth kyll hys discyples, when it is separated frome the grace of christ, and doth only sounde in oure eares, and toucheth not oure hartes, onles by the spyritt of god it be lyuely printed in oure mynde, and if it doth communicat with iesus christ, then is it the worde of lyffe, conuerting the soules, gyuing wisedom to the symple. And in dede in thesame place, the apostell doth call hys preaching, the minister of the spirytt of god, this is to say, when the holy ghost is so ioyned with his truth that then fynally it declareth his power when the word is receyued with such reuerence as it ou ought to be. The wiche thing is not repugnant in nothing vnto this wich hath byne afore said, it is that the word hath but lytell certaynte onles it be approued by the holy ghost.

49. therfore . . . honoure These lines have been heavily revised, with extensive abrasions of the parchment surface and overwriting. 50. only This insertion above the line may be in Queen Katherine Parr’s hand because “on-” is written cursively. 229. examined tried, tested; “examiné” (put to the test). 230. instead . . . place “soubz son umbre l’esprit de Satan n’ait entrée” (under His shadow the spirit of Satan might not enter). 231. He . . . changeling “il ne peut pas estre variable” (He cannot be changeable). changeling fickle, inconstant person. 232. He Elizabeth omits “une fois” (once), which follows at this point.

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in this doing, He is examined.229 I do confess it is so. But it is with such an examination, as He willeth that His majesty should be stablished toward us. Then it ought to suffice, since He doth show Himself unto us. But because that, instead of Him, the spirit of Satan should have no place,230 He willeth to be known of us by His image, the which He hath printed in the Scripture. He is the author thereof; He is no changeling,231 nor unlike unto Himself. Therefore, it must that He be always such as He232 did declare Himself in it. This is no shame for Him, unless we should say that doing against His kind, it should be for his honor.233 Touching this that they do accuse us, that we rest too much upon the text which doth kill: in this they show how they shall not escape the judgment of God, because they have contemned the Scripture. For it appeareth clearly that Saint Paul in this place doth strive against the seductors,234 which do exalt the law only, without Christ: driving the people from the grace of the New Testament: within the which the Lord doth promise that He shall fix His law in the mind235 of the faithful, and shall write it in their hearts. Then is the law of God the dead text, and doth kill His disciples, when it is separated from the grace of Christ, and doth only sound in our ears, and toucheth not our hearts. Unless by the Spirit of God it be lively printed in our mind, and if it doth communicate with Jesus Christ:236 then is it the Word of life, converting the souls, giving wisdom to the simple. And indeed, in the same place, the apostle doth call his preaching the minister of the Spirit of God: this is to say, when the Holy Ghost is so joined with His truth237 that then, finally, it declareth His power when the Word is received with such reverence as it ought to be. The which thing is not repugnant, in nothing, unto this which hath been aforesaid: it is, that the Word hath but little certainty, unless it be approved by the Holy Ghost. For the Lord hath

233. doing . . . honor “ce luy feust honneur de degenerer de soymesme” (this did Him honor, to degenerate from Himself). 234. seductors seducers, deceivers; “seducteurs.” 235. shall . . . mind “engravera aux entrailles” (shall engrave in the bowels). 236. mind . . . Christ mind “voulunté” (will). communicate . . . Christ “nous communicque Jesus Christ” (communicates Jesus Christ to us). 237. joined . . . truth joined with Calvin adds “et lié à” (and bound to). His truth Elizabeth does not translate the following phrase, “laquelle il a exprimée aux escritures” (the which He has expressed in the Scriptures).

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For the lord hath put as in a mutuall bounde, the certainte of hys holy ghost and of his word together, to th’entent that oure mynde shuld receyue it with obedience seynge the lyght of the spiritte wich doth serue hym as a torche to gyue lyght for to contemple the face of god. bycause also that withoute feare, gyle, or erroure, we may receyue the spiritte of god; knowing hym by his image, this is to say, by his word. And surely it is so: For god did not communicat the scripture vnto men, bycause he wolde that euen by and by, it shuld be abolyshed by the cominge of his holy ghost, but rather he did sent hym, by whose whose vertu he had before gyuen hys word, to th’entent that his worke shuld be fynyshed by it, and also confyrmed with efficacy. After thys maner did christ open the mynde of hys two disciples, not for to make them wise with their owne wittes, putting the scripture a syde, but bycause they shuld vnderstande it. Lyke wise saynte paule exhorting the tessaloniens that they shuld not put the spirite a way, doth not bringe them in the ayre with vayne speculations frome the worde; but consequentely he sayeth, that they ought not to despyse the prophesyes, wherby he doth openly shew that whensoeuer the prophesyes are despised, then is the light of the holy goste quenshed. What shall these proude phantasticall fellowes say vnto this, wich doth estyme illumination to be of no value, but leauing and despysing the scripture, do rashely take all this that in dreaming and snorting, cometh in theyr braynes. Surely there ought to be an other maner of sobrenes amonge the childerne of god, the wich doo thinke themselues frome the light of the truth when they be withoute the spirite of god: for this cause they are not ignoraunte: but the worde is as an instrument by the wich the lorde lord doth gyue vnto the faithfull the inspiration of his holy goost. For they know no other spirite but thesame that the apostels had, and did speake through their mouthes, wherby they are prouoked to gyue audience vnto the worde. But syth we haue taughte that the knowledge of god wich otherwise is declared by the making of the worlde, and of all 238. doth . . . contemple “luy est comme clarté, pour luy faire là contempler” (to it [the understanding] is as a light, to make it contemplate there). him i.e., the mind, referring to “entendement,” a masculine noun. 239. the Scripture “une parole” (a word). 240. Him the Holy Spirit; “son Esprit” (His Spirit). 241. put . . . from put . . . away reject; “estaindre” (extinguish). from apart from; “hors” (outside).

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put, as in a mutual bond, the certainty of His Holy Ghost and of His Word together: to the intent that our mind should receive it with obedience, seeing the light of the Spirit, which doth serve him as a torch, to give light for to contemple238 the face of God, because also that, without fear, guile, or error, we may receive the Spirit of God, knowing Him by His image, this is to say, by His Word. And surely it is so. For God did not communicate the Scripture239 unto men because He would that, even by and by, it should be abolished by the coming of His Holy Ghost. But rather He did send Him,240 by whose virtue He had before given His Word, to the intent that His work should be finished by it, and also confirmed with efficacy. After this manner did Christ open the mind of His two disciples: not for to make them wise with their own wits, putting the Scripture aside, but because they should understand it. Likewise, Saint Paul, exhorting the Thessalonians that they should not put the Spirit away, doth not bring them in the air with vain speculations from241 the Word. But consequently he sayeth that they ought not to despise the prophecies: whereby he doth openly show that, whensoever the prophecies are despised, then is the light of the Holy Ghost quenched. What shall these proud, fantastical fellows say unto this? which doth esteem illumination to be of no value but, leaving and despising the Scripture, do rashly take all this that, in dreaming and snorting, cometh in their brains.242 Surely there ought to be another manner of soberness among the children of God, the which do think themselves from243 the light of the truth when they be without the Spirit of God: for this cause they are not ignorant, but244 the Word is as an instrument, by the which the Lord doth give unto the faithful the inspiration of His Holy Ghost. For they know no other Spirit, but the same that the apostles had, and did speak through their mouths, whereby they are provoked245 to give audience unto the Word. But since we have taught that the knowledge of God, which otherwise is declared by the making of the world and of all creatures,

242. dreaming . . . brains dreaming and Elizabeth’s addition. snorting snoring; “ronflant” (snoring). in . . . brains “à la phantasie” (to their fancy). 243. think . . . from “se voyent desnuez de” (find themselves deprived of). 244. but but that, that (early modern sense equivalent to Latin ‘quin’). 245. the same . . . provoked the same . . . had “qui a habité aux Apostres” (that dwelt with the apostles). provoked “tousjours reduictz et ramenez” (always reduced and led).

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creatures, neuertheles is more familiarly by his word: nowe we ought to consider if god doth represent himselfe such in his scripture, as we haue sene hym here to fore to be figured in his workes: wich thinge shuld be a longe matter to declare if eny man shulde intreate diligentely therof: but i shall be content to haue setted furth a bryffe rehersall of it, v wherby the consciences of men be admonished in this, that we we51 must fyrst, and principaly searche god in the scriptures, and lette them shutte at such a marke that they may come to hytt Then dothe the lord fyrst declare hymself to be the god, who after to haue created the heauen, and the earth, did spred his infinitt grace, and benefittes vpon mankinde: neuertheles he hath alwayes norished, and maintened the faithfull with hys particular grace, and hath also mutually byne knowen, and honored by them. Lyke wise he doth settfurth the stories of all the tyme that is passed (as who shuld say in picture) w what the constancy of his goodnes is towardes the faithfull, and with what prouidence he doth wayte vpon them: howe he is redy to do them good: what the power of his helpe is: how he doth feruently loue them: how great his pacience is in forbearing theyr fautes: what fatherly pitie he doth shew in punishyng them: how he doth kepe his promy-52 with them for euer. And contrarywise, how he doth shew, what the rigoure of his vengeance is, vpon the synners: how after to haue suffered his them a longe tyme, his inflammed wrath is fearefull: of what maner is the power of his hand for to confounde, and ouercome them. Thesame description doth vnders well agrey with thesame wich we haue said that appeareth by the making of the vniuersall world: neuertheles in certain places his proprete is expressed by the wich his face is shewed openly for to contemple it euidentely: For in the description that moseh53 maketh, 51. we we Repetition across a line end. 52. promy- promises; “promesses.” Elizabeth did not finish writing the word after hyphenating it at line end. 53. moseh Moses. 246. declared . . . intreat declared proved, demonstrated; “demonstrée.” familiarly Elizabeth does not translate the following participle, “declairée” (declared), probably because she uses its cognate “declared” for Calvin’s “demonstrée” in the preceding clause and regards “declared” as implicit here. should intreat “se vouloit arrester à la traicter” (should wish to fix upon treating). 247. of men “fideles” (faithful). 248. shoot . . . hit The metaphor is Elizabeth’s. Calvin reads “soient addressées à un certain but pour y parvenir” (are directed to a certain end in order to arrive there).

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nevertheless is more familiarly by His Word: now we ought to consider if God doth represent Himself such in His Scripture, as we have seen Him heretofore to be figured in His works, which thing should be a long matter to declare, if any man should intreat246 diligently thereof. But I shall be content to have set forth a brief rehearsal of it, whereby the consciences of men247 be admonished in this, that we must first and principally search God in the Scriptures, and let them shoot at such a mark that they may come to hit.248 Then doth the Lord first declare Himself to be the God who, after to have created249 the heaven and the earth, did spread His infinite grace and benefits upon mankind. Nevertheless He hath always250 nourished and maintained the faithful with His particular grace, and hath also mutually been known and honored by them. Likewise He doth set forth251 the stories of all the time that is passed, as who should say, in picture, what the constancy of His goodness is towards the faithful, and with what providence He doth wait upon252 them: how He is ready to do them good; what the power of His help is; how He doth fervently love them; how great His patience is in forbearing their faults; what fatherly pity He doth show in punishing them; how He doth keep His promises with them forever. And contrariwise, how He doth show what the rigor of His vengeance is upon the sinners; how, after to have suffered them a long time, His inflamed wrath is fearful; of what manner is the power of His hand for to confound and overcome253 them. The same description doth wondrous well254 agree with the same which we have said, that appeareth by the making of the universal world. Nevertheless, in certain places, His property is expressed: by the which His face is showed openly, for to contemple it evidently. For in the description that Moses maketh, it seemeth that

249. after . . . created A word-for-word rendering of “apres avoir créé.” 250. always Elizabeth does not translate the following phrase, “et perpetuellement” (and perpetually). 251. set forth Calvin adds “devant les yeulx” (before the eyes). 252. as . . . upon as . . . say as one might say; “comme par maniere de dire” (as in a manner of speaking). wait upon watch over. “Wait” in sixteenth-century usage is normally transitive when used in the sense of ‘watch over.’ Elizabeth follows Calvin’s construction, “veille sur.” 253. overcome “dissiper” (scatter). 254. well Elizabeth does not translate “convient et” (suit and), which follows at this point.

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Exo. 34.

Psal. 145.

Ierem. 9.

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it semeth that he wold breffely comprehende all this that is lawfull for men to know of him: saieng, after this maner. Lord, lord god mercyfull, and clement, pacient and right bountiefull and true wich kepeth mercy in store for thousande generations, who pu taketh away iniquite and synnes: towardes whom, the innocent, shall not be innocent who punysheth the iniquite of the fathers, vpon theyr childern, and childerns childern: wherby we ought to consyder that his eternite, an essency wich consisteth in hymselfe, is shewed by this name, wich is gyuen hym in the fyrst place, and rehersed two tymes in the hebrue tounge, w wich is as much to say, as, the same wich is alone. And after that his virtues are remembred vnto vs by the wich it is shewed vs, not what he is of hymself, but what he is toward vs: so that this knowledge doth rather consiste in lyuely experience, then in vayne speculation. Moreouer we do se that the vertues are here shewed vnto vs in nomber the wich we haue sayd, that do shyne in the heauen, and in the earth, this is to know: clemency, goodnes, mercy, iustice, iugement, and truth. For his power is comprehended vnder the hebrue word, wich is gyuen hym for his thyrd titell; and signifieth, contayning power in him selfe. The prophettes also do gyue hym such a tytell when they will playnely worshipp his name. Nowe bycause we nede not to gather many places out of the scripture, for this present tyme one psalme shall suffise vs; wherin all the summe of his propreties are so dilygentely rehersed, that there is nothing forgotten, and neuer theles there is nothing named but it may be seene in the creatures suchwise doth god gyue hymself to be knowen by experience, that he declareth himselfe by his word. In ieremy where he saieth that he will be knowen of vs, he doth not sett furth such a playne description, neuertheles it cometh all to one purpose. Who so euer doth glorify himselfe, said he, lette hym glorify hymselfe in this, that he knoweth me to be the god who giueth mercy, iustice, and iugement in the earth. Surely we ought principally to

255. an[d] . . . name an[d] Elizabeth wrote “an”; “et.” this name Yahweh, from the Hebrew primary root “hâyâh” (to exist), normally translated as “Lord” in English Bibles but sometimes transliterated as “Jehovah.” In Exodus 34:5–6 God announces Himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai as Yahweh with an emphatic repetition: “The Lord [Yahweh] descended in the cloude . . . and proclaimed the name of the Lord [Yahweh]. So the Lord [Yahweh] passed before his face, and cried, The Lord [Yahweh], the Lord [Yahweh]” (Geneva Bible).

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he would briefly comprehend all this that is lawful for men to know of Him, saying after this manner: Lord, Lord God, merciful and clement, patient, right bountiful and true, which keepeth mercy in store for thousand generations; who taketh away iniquity and sins; towards whom, the innocent shall not be innocent; who punisheth the iniquity of the fathers upon their children and children’s children. Whereby we ought to consider that His eternity, an[d] essency which consisteth in Himself, is showed by this name,255 which is given Him in the first place, and rehearsed two times in the Hebrew tongue: which is as much to say as, The Same, which is Alone.256 And, after that, His virtues are remembered unto us—by the which it is showed us, not what He is of Himself, but what He is towards us—so that this knowledge doth rather consist in lively experience than in vain speculation. Moreover, we do see that the virtues are here showed unto us in number, the which, we have said, that do shine in the heaven and in the earth: this is to know, clemency, goodness, mercy, justice, judgment, and truth. For His power is comprehended under the Hebrew word which is given Him for His third title,257 and signifieth, Containing power in Himself. The prophets also do give Him such a title when they will plainly worship His name.258 Now, because we need not259 to gather many places out of the Scripture, for this present time one Psalm shall suffice us, wherein all the sum of His properties are so diligently rehearsed, that there is nothing forgotten. And nevertheless, there is nothing named but it may be seen in the creatures: suchwise doth God give Himself to be known by experience, that He declareth Himself by His Word. In Jeremiah, where He sayeth that He will be known of us, He doth not set forth such a plain description; nevertheless, it cometh all to one purpose. Whosoever doth glorify himself, said He, let him glorify himself in this: that he knoweth Me to be the God who giveth mercy, justice, and judgment in the earth. Surely we ought principally to know these 256. the Same . . . Alone “celuy qui est seul” (The One who is Alone). The Same the aforementioned He (now obsolete sense of “same,” here applied to God). 257. His . . . title “El” (Exodus 34:6), after “Yahweh,” the name by which God announces Himself to Moses. “El” and its plural variant “Elohim,”used to describe God the Creator in Genesis 1:1, have traditionally been associated with God’s power. 258. worship . . . name “illustrer . . . son Sainct Nom” (honor His holy name). 259. because . . . not “A fin que nous ne soyons point contrainctz” (To the end that we be not constrained).

Exo. 34.

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Ier. 9.

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knowe these thre thinges: his mercy wherin con54 consisteth the saluation of vs all: his iugement, the wich he doth dayly execute vpon the wicked, and doth reserue it, yet more rigorous to theyr eternall confusion: his iustice, wherewith the fathfull are gently entreteaned. And after that we haue comprehended these thinges the prophett wittenesseth that we haue abundantely wherwith we may reioyce in god. Neuertheles in this doing, his power, truth, holynes and goodnes, ought not to be omitted: For how shuld consiste the knowledge of his iustice, iugement and mercy, as it requyreth, onles it shuld stey vpon his vnchaungeable truth? And howe shuld we byleue that he gouerneth the earth with iustice, and iugement, vnles we haue knowen his po power? Whence cometh his mercy, but from his goodnes. Fynally, if in all his wayes mercy, iugement, and iustice are comprehended, in those doth also shyne his holines. Nowe the knowledge of god, wich is represented vnto vs in the scripture doth pretende no other thinge, but as thesame doth wich is gyuen vs by the creatures: this is to knowe, to prouoke vs, fyrst, to feare god; and after, that we shuld trust in hym, to th’ entent we maye lerne to serue, and honor him through innocency of life and vnfayned obedience: and also to trust wholy in his goodnes. Now bycause god doth not giue hymself wholy to be contemplatted of vs, onles it be in the face of his christ, the wich can not be seene but with the eyes of faith: This that resteth to saye of the knowledge of god, may be better differred55 vntyll that tyme that we shall entreate how thesame word, faith, shuld, or ought to be vnderstanded. Finis 54. con Elizabeth neglected to strike through this syllable written at the end of a line. 55. differred deferred; “differer.” 260. entertained maintained, rendering “entretenuz” (looked after, maintained). 261. rejoice “nous glorifier” (glorify ourselves). 262. requireth is required, is necessary; “est requise.”

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three things: His mercy, wherein consisteth the salvation of us all; His judgment, the which He doth daily execute upon the wicked, and doth reserve it yet more rigorous, to their etermal confusion; His justice, wherewith the faithful are gently entertained.260 And, after that we have comprehended these things, the prophet witnesseth that we have abundantly wherewith we may rejoice261 in God. Nevertheless, in this doing, His power, truth, holiness, and goodness ought not to be omitted. For how should consist the knowledge of His justice, judgment, and mercy, as it requireth,262 unless it should stay upon His unchangeable truth? And how should we believe that He governeth the earth with justice and judgment, unless we have known His power?263 Whence cometh His mercy, but from His goodness? Finally, if in all His ways mercy, judgment, and justice are comprehended,264 in those doth also shine His holiness. Now the knowledge of God, which is represented unto us in the Scripture, doth pretend no other thing but as the same doth, which is given us by the creatures. This is to know, to provoke us, first, to fear God; and after, that we should trust in Him to the intent we may learn to serve and honor Him through innocency of life and unfeigned obedience; and also, to trust wholly in His goodness. Now because God doth not give Himself wholly265 to be contemplated of us, unless it be in the face of His Christ, the which cannot be seen but with the eyes of faith: this that resteth to say of the knowledge of God may be better deferred until that time that we shall intreat how the same word, faith, should or ought to be understanded. Finis 263. His power “sa vertu.” 264. if . . . comprehended Calvin reads “si toutes ses voyes sont misericorde, jugement, et justice (if all His ways are mercy, judgment, and justice). Elizabeth does not reproduce the Hebraic phrasing. 265. wholly “droictement et de pres” (soundly and closely).

Notable historical changes leave their mark upon Elizabeth’s Latin translation of an Italian sermon by Bernardino Ochino as a gift for her young brother Edward. To begin with, Elizabeth addresses him deferentially as her sovereign. After Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547, Edward Seymour, the boy-king’s elder uncle, consolidated power as duke of Somerset. By mid-March 1547 Seymour, the governor of the king’s person and the protector of the realm, held control of both the king and the Privy Council. In this consolidation of power, overt commitment to Reformation beliefs and objectives replaced the tactics of indirection practiced under Henry VIII by Queen Katherine and other sympathizers with the course of the Reformation who stood close to the throne. Elizabeth’s Ochino translation accordingly breaks with the circumspect handling of authorial identity in her earlier translations from Marguerite de Navarre and John Calvin, neither of whom is named. Now Elizabeth’s title page attributes her Italian original to Bernardino Ochino of Siena. Her dedicatory letter to Edward VI alludes to Ochino’s departure from his homeland “on account of religion and Christ,” his decision to “lead his life in foreign places and among unknown men.” These allusions point to dates between June 1542 and the spring of 1547—the latter, the very time when Edward Seymour was consolidating the protectorate. Born at Siena in 1487, Bernardino Ochino entered the Franciscan order of Observantine Friars at an early age but transferred to the newly founded and stricter order of Capuchins in 1534. He became Capuchin

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vicar-general in 1538. In Venice in 1539 he delivered sermons expressing unequivocal support for the doctrine of justification by faith. From this point onward, suspicion and accusation began to gather around him. In June 1542, Ochino was summoned to appear before the Inquisition in Rome. Instead he made his way across the Alps to Geneva, where Calvin gave him a cordial reception. Within the next two years Ochino published six volumes of Prediche (alternatively titled Sermones). Titles notwithstanding, these are less a collection of sermons in the then prevalent moralizing mode than rhetorically charged affirmations of basic beliefs grounded in Scripture, put forth to explain and defend his change of religion. One of these provided the source text for Elizabeth’s translation. In 1545 Ochino became the minister of the Italian Protestant congregation at Augsburg. Elizabeth’s reference to Ochino’s living in “foreign places” gestures at his first removal to Geneva, his second to Germany, and probably his most recent move, to England. When the imperial forces of Charles V occupied Augsburg during the Schmalkaldic War in January 1547, Ochino sought asylum in England. In 1547–48, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, a member of Somerset’s Privy Council and Elizabeth’s and Edward’s godfather, named Ochino a prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral; Ochino also began to receive a pension from Edward VI’s privy purse. He would remain in England until 1553, when Queen Mary’s accession drove him back to the Continent. As a gift for Edward, most likely for the New Year in 1548, Elizabeth translated one of Ochino’s Prediche, first published at Geneva in 1543 and republished, with minor variants, at Basel, probably shortly thereafter in the same year.1 Her choice of this text fits plausibly in the overall context of 1547–48. The recent honorific reception of Ochino in En-

1. The text of the sermon translated by Elizabeth is no. 12 of part 2 of Prediche di Bernardini Ochini da Siena: Nouellamente ristampate & con grande diligentia riuedute & corette, 5 parts (Basel, 1543?–62), sigs. ee4r–ff4r. A letter of Ochino’s justifying his conversion to Protestanism and dated from Geneva, April 7, 1543, is printed at the end of part 2. Herbert Mayow Adams dates the publication of part 2 to around 1543 in his Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe, 1501–1600, in Cambridge Libraries, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967), 1:17 (O32–33). We have consulted a microfilm of the British Library copy of parts 1–3 of this edition, shelfmarked 846.f.8–10, which has been identified as Edward VI’s copy. See John Gough Nichols, Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth (London, 1857), 1:cccxxx. Elizabeth may have borrowed Edward’s copy to make the translation she dedicated and gave to him.

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gland would generate interest in the message of a ranking Reformer.2 Ochino’s text in Latin translation would be an appropriate New Year’s gift for the ten-year-old Edward, who could advance his mastery of the language by studying its clear, succinct sentence structures in the close renderings by his older sister. Elizabeth’s decision to translate Ochino from Italian to Latin also seems a natural counterpart to a New Year’s gift she made two years earlier, when she presented Henry VIII with her parallel French, Latin, and Italian translations of Queen Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations. The tonality and method of Ochino’s sermon accord closely, moreover, with Parr’s work and with Marguerite’s Miroir, which Elizabeth had translated as a 1545 New Year’s gift for Parr.3 The three authors proceed by multiplying Biblical allusions and arousing emotions of shame, gratitude, and love through reverential attention to God’s Word, as Christ’s humanity and immediacy as Saviour and Son of God become ever more intense subjects of meditation. This process of meditation, in turn, is directed toward increasing responsiveness to redeeming grace in true believers. They are the “we” or the “you” who, in the terms of the distinction hortatively applied by Ochino, experience “living faith,” not just “dead” or “historical faith”—that is, they believe that they have been saved by Jesus, not 2. Ochino attracted considerable attention from English translators and publishers during Edward’s reign. John Ponet englished A Tragedy, or Dialogue of the Unjust Usurped Primacy of the Bishop of Rome, and of the Just Abolishing of the Same (London, 1547). Edward VI owned a copy of this translation, which reproduces Ochino’s dedicatory letter to Edward that prefaced the original work (Nichols, Literary Remains, 1:cccxxvii). Sermons of the Right Famous and Excellent Clerk Master Bernardine Ochine appeared from an unknown translator (Ipswich, 1548). Ochino’s mounting reputation is shown by the publication of two more of his sermon collections—Certain Sermons and Fourteen Sermons Concerning the Predestination and Election of God—by the royally authorized printers, John Day and William Seres, both also the work of an unknown translator and probably issued in 1551. The sermon that Elizabeth translated does not figure among these collections of Ochino in English. On Ochino’s career and influence in Tudor England, see Michael Wyatt, The Italian Encounter with Tudor England: A Cultural Politics of Translation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 90–96; and Vittorio Gabrielli, “Bernardino Ochino: ‘Sermo de Christo,’ un inedito di Elisabetta Tudor,” La Cultura 21 (1983): 151–74. 3. David Starkey notes that Protector Somerset banned the custom of New Year’s gifts, probably near the end of 1548, but that the custom quickly resumed, at least by 1551–52. Starkey loosely suggests a date of 1551–52 or 1552–53 for Elizabeth’s Ochino translation; see Elizabeth: Apprenticeship (London: Chatto and Windus, 2000), 85–86. We consider our earlier date more plausible because of the close relation of the Ochino to Elizabeth’s other translations of the 1540s and because the translation into relatively straightforward Latin seems a more tactful gift for Edward at ten rather than at fourteen or fifteen.

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merely that the name Jesus denotes a particular individual who lived at a given place and time. Elizabeth sent a Latin letter to Edward dated February 2, the year unspecified, thanking him for his recent hospitality and good company and apologizing for her delay in writing. She explains that she wanted to finish, but was having trouble finishing, “a certain small work that I desired to send to your Majesty” (opusculum quoddam quod . . . ad tuam Maiestatem mittere cupiebam).4 This “small work” was probably her Latin translation of Ochino, intended as Edward’s New Year’s gift in 1548 but presented to him late, not fully finished. Evidently proceeding in haste, Elizabeth enters none of Ochino’s marginal references to Scripture, copiously present in the published source from which she worked, although the pages are ruled to accommodate these; her dedicatory letter to Edward also ends three pages short of the amount of space she had allocated when binding the leaves. She did complete her at once ornamental and didactic project of inserting capital letters in red ink to set off certain paragraph openings in the text, but she did not manage to embroider book covers and a binding. The fact that Ochino’s sermon “Che cosa è Christo, & per che venne al mondo” (What Christ Is, and Why He Came into the World) was judged a text suitable for two royal children to exercise their Latin demonstrates the impact of religious changes after Henry VIII’s death. Throughout Henry’s reign the place and character of religious education within children’s education had been determined by the influential wisdom of Erasmus and his English continuators. All of these, down to Edward’s current tutors, Richard Cox and John Cheke, had adopted a catechistical approach emphasizing rote memorization of the fundamentals of Christian faith, combined with stringent selectivity in using portions of Scripture to help a child advance simultaneously in Latinity and piety. Erasmus includes safely formulaic contents—the Apostles’ Creed, the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins, and so on—in the compilation of sententious precepts in Latin meter, Institutum Hominis Christiani (Institution of a Christian Man), that he prepared for the boys of St. Paul’s School in 1514, after which it circulated widely as a companion to William Lily’s Latin grammar. In his Institutio Principis Christiani 4. This is letter 7 in CW, 16 (modern English translation), and in ACFLO, 15 (original Latin text), editorially assigned to 1548.

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(Institution of a Christian Prince) of 1516, Erasmus further specified that as soon as the basics of Latin have been taught, the young prince should be given the Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, and the Wisdom of Solomon in Latin, with assignments to note and state fitly in a few words whatever pertains to the functions of a good ruler; still later, this exercise could be extended to Christ’s teaching in the Gospels.5 Tutor Cox reported in December 1544 on the dutiful piety of the seven-year-old heir to the throne: “Every day in the mass time he readeth a portion of Solomon’s proverbs for the exercise of his reading, wherein he delighteth much, and learneth there how good it is to give ear unto discipline, to fear God, to keep God’s commandments, to beware of strange and wanton women, to be obedient to father and mother, to be thankful to them that telleth him of his faults, &c.”6 John Nichols, Edward’s biographer, cites a report from about 1548 that the prince used “an English book, as the Psalter, or Solomon’s Proverbs, or Ecclesiasticus” to “cause him ordinarily to turn every day a chapter into Latin.” As late as May 1552 tutor Cheke wrote a directive to the almost sixteen-year-old king: “For your divinity, I would wish you would diligently continue the reading of the New Testament, Sapientia, Ecclesiasticus, and the Proverbs.”7 In stark contrast to the foregoing strictures, Ochino’s sermon ranges without inhibition not only throughout Scripture but also into vexed contemporary issues of theology. It decries the Catholic cult of the saints as an impious set of substitutions for Christ as the object of true worship. Claiming the Bible as the sole source of knowledge of Christ, the sermon expounds various texts to endorse a distinctively Reformed conception of the nature and office of Christ’s divine Sonship, the relation of law and grace, and the faith in Christ upon which salvation depends. Ochino also probes the psychology of the reprobate who hate Christ and the reasons they misguidedly do so. Presumably Elizabeth and Edward, despite their tender age, were assumed to have, or were 5. Desiderius Erasmus, The Education of a Christian Prince, with an Introduction on Erasmus and on Ancient and Medieval Political Thought, trans. and ed. Lester K. Born (New York: Columbia University Press, 1934, rpt. 1968), 200. 6. Richard Cox to Richard Paget, letter of December 10, 1544, quoted by P. L. Carver, introduction to The Comedy of Acolastus, translated from the Latin of Fullonius by John Palsgrave, ed. Carver, Early English Text Society orig. ser. 202 (Oxford: Humphrey Milford for Oxford University Press, 1937), lvi. 7. Nichols, Literary Remains, 1:clx.

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expected to develop, precocious capacities in Reformed theology and spirituality as corroborations of their royal lineage and their godly destinies under Somerset as protector and Archbishop Cranmer as their godfather.8 As a linguistic exercise, Elizabeth’s translation can be considered as an exemplar of her Latin prose (the focus of our notes in the original Latin text) and as a rendering of Ochino’s Italian (the focus of our notes in our English translation of her Latin). Her translation demonstrates her humanist training by aiming for, and largely achieving, classical Latin syntax and classical and Vulgate Latin diction. Elizabeth’s orthography contains some “medievalisms” current in sixteenth-century Latin, like the frequent reduction of classical ae to e, as well as her own idiosyncratic duplication of consonants. She uses the possessive pronoun “suus” in medieval fashion where classical Latin would require “eius,” a practice additionally indicative of English usage. Some oddities in verb tenses and moods, and some mistaken noun forms, are girlish solecisms. Elizabeth generally renders Ochino’s Italian, which is both identifiably Sienese and Latinate, with a high degree of accuracy. She omits a few sentences, perhaps because she was hurrying, and she adds a few phrases for rhetorical emphasis. Heavily reliant on cognates, her translation felicitously tracks Ochino’s diction, itself indebted to classical and Vulgate Latin. Without slavishly replicating every tense shift, she is alert to Ochino’s shifts between past and historical present tenses that emphasize the present implications of Biblical events for the believer with “lively faith” (“viva fede” / “viva fide”), especially the everavailing redemptive efficacy of Christ’s death on the cross. Although it has not been determined that Battista Castiglione was teaching Elizabeth as early as 1547, the translation does credit to her and to her Italian tutor (or tutors). Her consistently literal renderings and frequent recourse to cognates make it virtually certain that Elizabeth worked from the second, 8. After returning to the Continent, Ochino published at Basel, with no date given, a Latin treatise entitled Labyrinthi, hoc est, de libero aut seruo arbitrio, de diuina Praenotione, Destinatione, & Libertate Disputatio (Labyrinths, That Is, A Disputation on the Free or Bound Will, Divine Foreknowledge, Predestination, and Liberty), which he dedicated to Elizabeth. He complimented her on her skill in discussing obscure points in the doctrine of predestination with him ten years before his composition of the work at hand (sig. A2).

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Basel edition of Ochino’s Italian sermons in translating this sermon.9 This edition differs from the first, Geneva edition in five substantive variants; in each instance her Latin is closer to the Basel edition, as recorded in the notes to our English translation. Elizabeth’s paragraphing and layout, moreover, closely follow the Basel edition: most strikingly in a series of antitheses between Moses and Christ which she, like the Basel edition, sets off as separate versicles rather than running them together in a continuous text as the Geneva edition does. 9. We have collated the text of the sermon in the second, Basel edition with that in the first, Geneva edition, Sermones Bernardini Ochini Senensis (Geneva, 1543), part 2, sermon 12, sigs. F5v–G7v, using the British Library copy shelfmarked 1359.a.4(2).

FIGURE 4 Paired antitheses of Moses and Christ in Elizabeth’s Latin translation of Bernardino Ochino’s tenth sermon “Of Christ.” Courtesy Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. MS Bodley 6, fol. 19v.

Princess Elizabeth’s Latin translation of Bernardino Ochino’s sermon “Che cosa è Christo, & per che venne al mondo,” December 30, [1547]1 BERNARDINI. OCHINI. SENESIS. DE. CHRISTO. SERMO EX. ITALICO. IN LATINVM. CONVERSVS. Elizabeth’s dedicatory letter to King Edward VI

AVGVSTISSIMO. ET. SERENISSIMO. REGI. EDVARDO. SEXTO. 1. Source: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS Bodl. 6, fols. 1–36 r; in Elizabeth’s girlish italic, on parchment, pages measuring 4 1 / 2 by 6 1 / 2 inches, with margins double ruled in red ink at top, bottom, and outer edges, single ruled along page gutters. The double rules create the appropriate visual effect of four corner crosses framing each verso-and-recto opening. The text has a later plush crimson velvet binding. Inside the front endpaper of the original gathering are two mottos in Elizabeth’s hand: “Dominus mihi adiutor” (God is my help—a phrase from the Psalms) and “Dieu et mon droit” (For

Editors’ modern English translation of Princess Elizabeth’s Latin translation of Bernardino Ochino’s sermon “Che cosa è Christo, & per che venne al mondo,” December 30, [1547] Bernardino Ochino of Siena. Of Christ: A Sermon Translated from Italian into Latin.

Elizabeth’s dedicatory letter to King Edward VI

To the most august and most serene King Edward the Sixth.

God and my right—a royal motto). Our proposed assignment of this translation to the Christmas–New Year’s season of 1547–48 is explained in the introduction to this text. Elizabeth’s source was the sermon entitled “Che cosa è Christo, & per che venne al mondo,” no. 12 of part 2 of Prediche di Bernardini Ochini, 5 parts (Basel, 1543?–62), sigs. ee4r–ff4r. Our transcription corrects several mistranscriptions and typographical errors in Gabrielli, “Bernardino Ochino: ‘Sermo de Christo,’ ” 165–74.

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SI aliquid hoc tempore haberem (Serenissime Rex) quod mihi ad dandum esset accommodatum, et Maiestati tuae congruens ad accipiendum, equidem de hac re vehementer laetarer. Tua Maiestas res magnas et excellentes meretur, et mea facultas exigua tantum suppeditare potest, sed quamvis facultate possim minima, tamen animo tibi maxima prestare cupio, et quum ab alijs opibus superer, a nemine amore et beneuolentia vincor. Ita iubet natura, authoritas tua commouet, et bonitas me hortatur, ut cum princeps meus sis te officio obseruem, et cum frater meus sis vnicus et amantissimus, intimo amore afficiam. Ecce autem pro huius noui anni felici auspicio, et obseruantie meae testimonio, offero Maiestati Tuae breuem istam Barnardini Ochini orationem, ab eo Italicè primum scriptam. et á me in latinum sermonem conuersam. Argumentum quum de Christo sit, bene conuenire tibi potest, qui quotidie Christum discis, et post eum in terris proximum locum et dignitatem habes. Tractatio ita pia est et docta, vt lectio non possit non esse utilis et fructuosa. Et si nihil aliud commendaret opus, authoritas scriptoris ornaret satis, qui propter religionem et Christum, patria expulsus cogitur in locis peregrinis, et inter ignotos homines vitam traducere. Si quicquam in eo mediocre sit, mea translatio est, quae profecto talis non est qualis esse debet, sed qualis a me effici posset. At istarum rerum omnium Maiestas tua inter legendum iudex sit, cui ego hunc meum laborem commendo, et vna meipsam etiam dedico. Deumque precor vt Maiestas tua multos nouos et felices annos videat, et lucris ac pietate perpetuo crescat. Enfeldiae. 30 Die Decembris. Maiestatis tuae humilissima soror et serua, Elizabetha

1. next . . . earth Elizabeth alludes to the ecclesiastical powers first ascribed to Henry VIII by Parliament in the Act of Supremacy (1534): “Be it enacted by authority of this present Parliament that the King our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England called Anglicana Ecclesia” (quoted in G. R. Elton, The Tudor Constitution [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960; 2nd ed. 1982], 364).

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If at this time I had something, most serene king, that were appropriate for me to give, and suitable for your majesty to accept, I for my part would vehemently rejoice at this situation. Your majesty deserves great and excellent things, and my meager ability can supply only so much. Yet although in ability I can offer only the least things, still in intent I desire to offer the greatest things to you. And although I am surpassed by others in resources, I am outdone by no one in love and goodwill. Thus nature commands; your authority inspires; and goodness exhorts me that, since you are my prince, I should honor you as my duty, and since you are my only and most beloved brother, I should treat you with deepest love. Behold, then, as a happy auspice of this New Year and as a token of my regard, I offer to your majesty this brief sermon of Bernardino Ochino, first written by him in Italian, and translated by me into Latin. Since the subject concerns Christ, it can well suit you who learn of Christ daily, and have the next place and dignity, after Him, on earth.1 The treatise is so pious and learned that the reading cannot not2 be profitable and fruitful. And if nothing else commended the work, the reputation of the writer would adorn it enough: who, expelled from his homeland on account of religion and Christ, is driven3 to lead his life in foreign places and among unknown men. If anything in it is undistinguished, it is my translation, which undoubtedly is not such as it ought to be, but such as was possible for me to accomplish. But let your majesty, in the midst of reading of all these things, be the judge, to whom I commend this my labor and at the same time also dedicate myself. I pray God that your majesty may see many New and Happy Years, and that you may grow continually in profit and piety. From Enfield, the 30th of December. Your majesty’s most humble sister and servant, Elizabeth

2. cannot not “non possit non esse.” Elizabeth employs one of Ochino’s stylistic devices, the double negative. 3. is driven “cogitur.” Elizabeth uses the historical present tense for dramatic emphasis, adopting another of Ochino’s frequent stylistic devices.

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QVID CHRISTVS SIT ET QUAM OBREM IN MUNDVM VE NERIT2 SI OVICVLA non cognosceret suum pastorem, Miles ducem, seruus dominum, Si quis non cognosceret suum amicum, sponsam, fratrem nec proprium parentem, immo nec seipsum ista crassa esset et pernitiosa ignorantia. At Christum non cognoscere tanto crassior et pernitiosior est ignorantia, quanto is nobis non modo bonus pastor, optimus dux, pientissimus dominus, uerus amicus, dulcis sponsus, amans frater et charus est pater, verum etiam nobis interior quam est anima nostra propria. Illum itaque nescire, qui cum sit lux mundi, vita [et sa]lus3 nostra, nobis ob oculos in cruce pependit, peior ignorantio4 est quam quae inueniri5 possit. Cum è regione non est, neque esse queat in mundo, res ex seipsa magis honesta, nobis magis ampla, felix, et gloriosa, neque Deo magis grata, qûam Christum cognoscere, ex qua cognitione, omnis nostra salus pendet. Is liber est, in quo absconditi sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae, et scientiae diuinae, speculum in quo cernitur omnis veritas, fons unde gustatur omnis dulcedo, arca in qua inueniuntur omnes thesauri, gemma in qua sunt omnes virtutes, et denique diuinum quoddam obiectum, nobis accommodatum et equalae6 quod implet, satiat, satisfacit, et beatum reddit vnumquemque qui oculis uerae fidei illum sui amoris gratia in

2. QVID . . . VE / NERIT Here and subsequently, boldface characters indicate Elizabeth’s use of red lettering in her manuscript. 3. [et sa]lus Square brackets indicate characters obliterated by a hole in the page. We restore by reference to Ochino’s reading, “& salute.” 4. ignorantio A penslip for “ignorantia,” spelled correctly twice in the preceding paragraph, or for its synonym “ignoratio.” 5. inueniri Elizabeth writes a final -i over -e. 6. equalae A misspelling of “equale” or “aequale.” 4. parent “parentem,” rendering “padre” (father). 5. crass and pernicious “crassa et pernitiosa,” rendering “molto oscura, & pernitiosa” (very obscure and pernicious).

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What Christ Is, and Why He Came into the World If a little sheep did not know its shepherd, a soldier his captain, a servant his lord; if someone did not recognize his friend, his wife, his brother, nor his own parent,4 indeed, not know himself, this would be a crass and pernicious5 ignorance. But not to know Christ is an ignorance so much more crass and pernicious6 inasmuch as He is to us not only a Good Shepherd, best captain, most pious Lord, true friend, sweet spouse, loving brother, and dear Father, but, indeed, nearer to us than our own soul. Not to know Him, therefore, who, as He is the Light of the world, our life and salvation, has hung8 on the cross for us, before our eyes, is a worse ignorance than any9 that could be found. As there is not, nor could there be, from any region in the world, a thing of itself more worthy; more magnificent,10 fortunate, and glorious for us; nor more pleasing to God, than to know Christ: on which knowledge, all of our salvation depends. He is a book in which are hidden all the treasures of wisdom, and divine knowledge; a mirror in which all truth is seen; a fountain whence all sweetness is tasted; a chest in which all treasures are found; a jewel in which all virtues are. And lastly, He is a certain divine object, adapted and equal11 to us, who fulfils, satiates, satisfies, and renders blessed whosoever looks with the eyes of true

6. so much . . . pernicious “crassior et pernitiosior.” Elizabeth reiterates where Ochino employs variation: “nociua, & tenebrosa” (harmful and shadowy). 7. [Gal. 2] Square brackets key in the Biblical references lining Ochino’s margins. Elizabeth most uncharacteristically omitted these, probably due to the haste in which she was working. 8. has hung Elizabeth’s perfect tense “pependit” obscures the historical present, “ci pende inanti agl’ochi, in su la croce” (there hangs before our eyes, upon the cross), used as a vivid incitement to devotion. 9. a worse . . . than any “la peggior’ ignorantia” (the worst ignorance). 10. magnificent “ampla,” rendering “ricca” (rich). 11. equal Elizabeth’s “equalae,” i.e., “aequale” or “equale,” renders with a cognate the Basel edition’s “equale.” The Geneva edition has “adequato” (adapted [to]).

[Gal. 2]7 [John 3]

[Col. 2]

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cruce mortuum intuetur. Itaque Paulus iudicauit sese nihil aliud sapere preter Christum crucifixum, ipsum predicauit, et ad illius cognitionem exhortatus est omnes, quoniam illum scire consummata iusticia est, atque in cognoscendo eo solum oportet nos gloriari. Atque huius rei gratia, in testamento veteri, Deus uarijs figuris Christum nobis depinxit, prophetae Christum monstrant, Moyses mittit ad Christum, et perinde lex cuius ille est finis. Angeli pastoribus Christum euangelisabant, stella conducit magos ad Christum, Simeon expectabat Christum, et quum eum vidisset, tanta affectus leticia7 est, ut mori non curaret. Ioannes Baptista monstrat Christum discipulis suis et ad eum solum illos mittitt.8 Helias et Moises in monte Thabor loquuntur de Christo. Pater de celo eum nobis declarauit, suum esse dilectum fillium,9 Apostoli predicant Christum, et is ipse omnes ad se vocat. CUM ITAQue cognitio Christi res ex sese tam diuina, Deo accepta et nobis utilis et necessaria: Videamus quid Christus sit, et quamobrem in mundum venit. Omittam ea omnia quae homines curiosi et superbi, sine spiritu et absque10 authoritate uerbi dei, dixerunt, scripserunt, et pro suo arbitrio finxerunt de Christo. et solum mihi propositum est, illud dicere quod de eo est manifestum et reuelatum in sacris scripturis. PRINCIPIO Iesus est uerus ille Messias et Christus quem Deus per Moisen et suos prophetas in veteri testamento promisit fore saluatorem mundi, et a populo expectatum, et desideratum. Et de secundum carnem, homo est ex semine Dauidis, conceptus ex substantia Mariae virginis, opere spiritus sancti, et in ipso sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae diuinae absconditi. Pater suus illi dedit

7. leticia A medieval form of “laetitia.” 8. mittit mittit. 9. fillium filium. 10. absque Elizabeth writes s over r. 12. of . . . faith “verae fidei,” for “della viva fede” (of living faith). 13. on . . . love “sui amoris gratia.” While using a classical Latin expression with “gratia” to render literally Ochino’s “per suo amore” (because of His love), Elizabeth may also be activating the Christian sense of “gratia” and suggesting ‘with the grace of His love.’ 14. depicted Without following his tense shifts exactly, Elizabeth alternates as Ochino does between present and past tenses in considering Christ as foretold and described in Scripture.

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faith12 upon Him, dead upon the cross, on account of His love.13 Thus Paul determined to know nothing other than Christ crucified; he preached Him, and exhorted all to the thought of Him, since to know Him is perfect justice, and only in knowing Him ought we to glory. And on account of this, in the Old Testament, God depicted14 Christ for us in various figures: the prophets show Christ; Moses sends us to Christ, as does the law, of which He is the fulfillment. The angels15 were telling the shepherds the good news; the star leads the Magi to Christ. Simeon looked forward to Christ, and when he had seen Him, he was affected with so much joy that he did not care about dying. John the Baptist shows Christ to his disciples, and has them go to Him alone. Elijah and Moses on Mount Tabor speak of Christ. To us, the Father, from heaven, declared16 Him to be His beloved Son. The apostles preach Christ, and He Himself calls all to Him. Since, therefore, the knowledge of Christ is so divine a thing of itself, acceptable to God, and profitable and necessary to us: let us see what Christ is, and why He came into the world. I will pass over all the things that curious and proud men, without the Spirit, and without the authority of the Word of God, have said, written, and according to their own will,17 have imagined about Christ. My sole design is to declare that which is clearly evident and revealed18 about Him in the Holy Scriptures. First, Jesus is that true Messiah and Christ whom God by Moses and His prophets in the Old Testament promised to be the Saviour of the world, and who was expected and desired by the people. And, according to the flesh, He is a man out of David’s seed, conceived from the substance of the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of divine

15. The angels “Angeli,” for “l’Angelo” (the angel). 16. declared “declarauit.” Ochino has a historical present, “mostra.” 17. said. . . will said, written Elizabeth does not translate the third in this series of verbs, “speculato” (have speculated). according . . . will “pro suo arbitrio,” rendering “alloro fantasia” (according to their own fantasy). 18. is . . . revealed Elizabeth’s “est manifestum et revelatum” renders with cognates the Basel edition’s “è manifesto . . . . & . . . è stato reuelato” (is evident . . . and . . . was revealed). The Geneva edition reads “consta, & . . . [è] stato revelato” (is apparent and . . . was revealed).

[1 Cor. 2] [1 Cor. 1] [Wis. 15] [Jer. 9] [Deu. 18] [Rom. 10] [Luke 2] [Mat. 2] [John 1] [Mat. 10] [Luk. 9] [Mat. 3, 11]

[John 1] [Acts 3] [Rom. 1] [Mat. 1] [Col. 2]

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omnia, et in illius manu singula collocauit, dans illi potestatem in celo et in terra, et in spiritum sine mensura. In ipso habitat in vobis omnis plenitudo gratiae, ueritatis, et omnium diuitiarum, uirtutum, et perfectionum, immo in eo habitat omnis plenitudo diuinitatis, quemadmodum Paulus scripsit. Itaque non solum est filius dei, dilectus, primogenitus, et vnigenitus, heres totius, et caput ecclesiae, constitutus ad dextram patris, verum etiam supra omnem principatum, potestatem, virtutem, Dominationem, et supra omnia in presenti seculo et futuro, et propterea superior est prophetis, Moise Angelis, et omnibus creaturis. immo ipse Deus est, et Deus in ipso mirificè declaratus est. Ita ut Christus nihil aliud sit, quam explicatio et manifestatio quaedam summa et excellens, quantum in nobis est tollerare,11 bonitatis dei, charitatis misericordiae, sapientiae, iusticiae, et omnium aliarum perfectionum suarum. Et propterea in sacris scripturis uocatur facies Dei, imago sua,12 splendor et radius immo lux mundi. Et talis ac tanta est perfectio Christi, ut nomen inueniri nequeat quo ea explicetur. Propterea Ioannes cum de eo loqui uellet, sine nomine apposito dixit IS QVI FVIT AB INITIO. VERUM ut cognitio Christi nobis utilis esse possit, necesse est ut eum consideremus ex suis effectis, et ex hijs13 beneficijs quae ab eo accepimus. Itaque ut istam tam vtilem, et ad salutem nostram tam necessariam cognitionem habeamus necesse est ut finem intueamur, ob quem in mundum venit, et ea etiam dona et beneficia consideremus, quae a deo illius gratia accepimus. Hoc modo illum cognoscere admodum difficile est. Quoniam propter nostra peccata sumus quasi viles, abiecti, timidi, afflicti, oppressi, immo etiam phrenetici, vt non possimus credere, nedum complecti tam altam et immensam charitatem Christi.

11. tollerare tolerare. 12. suarum . . . sua Here and elsewhere in this translation Elizabeth follows medieval practice in using a form of the possessive pronoun “suus” where classical Latin and the Vulgate use forms of “eius.” 13. hijs A medieval form of “his.” 19. all things “omnia,” rendering “el tutto” (the whole). 20. wonderfully Elizabeth’s “mirifice” loosely translates “in supremo modo” (in highest way).

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knowledge. To Him his Father has given all things,19 and in His hand has placed each thing, giving Him power in heaven and in earth, and Spirit without measure. In Him dwells all the fullness of grace, of truth, and of all the riches, virtues, and perfections; indeed, in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead—in what manner, Paul wrote: Not only is He the Son of God, beloved, firstborn, and only begotten, heir to all things, and head of the Church, seated at the right hand of the Father, truly, above every principality, power, virtue, and dominion, and above all things in present and future ages, and therefore He is superior to the prophets, to Moses, to the angels, and to all creatures. Rather, He Himself is God, and God in Him is wonderfully20 declared. As, therefore, Christ is nothing other than a certain highest and most excellent expression and manifestation—as much as is in us to bear21—of the goodness of God, of the love, mercy, wisdom and justice, and all of His other perfections, therefore in the Holy Scriptures He is called the face of God, His image, splendor, and radiance; indeed, the Light of the world. And such and so great is the perfection of Christ, that a name by which it22 may be expressed is nowhere to be found. Therefore John, when he wished to speak of Him, said without attaching a name, He is, who was from the beginning. So that the knowledge of Christ truly may be profitable to us, it is necessary that we examine Him in His effects, and in those benefits that we have received from Him. And so that we may have this knowledge that is so profitable and so necessary for our salvation, it is necessary that we see the purpose for which He came into the world, and that we in that way also examine the gifts and benefits that we have received from God, on account of Him. To know Him in this way is very difficult. Since on account of our sins we are, as it were, base, downcast, fearful, afflicted, oppressed, indeed, almost mad, so that we may not be able to believe, let alone23 comprehend such high and exceeding love of Christ.

21. as . . . bear Compresses “quanto a noi è possible di tollerare nello stato chel siamo” (as much as is possible for us to bear in the state that we are in). 22. it ea “it” (referring to Christ’s “perfectio”), rendering Ochino’s “tutte le sue perfectioni” (all His perfections). 23. not . . . let alone Elizabeth’s “non . . . nedum” intensifies Ochine’s “non . . . ne” (neither . . . nor).

[Mat. 11] [John 13] [Mat. 28] [Isa. 11] [John 3] [Col. 1] [John 1] [Col. 2] [Mat. 3] [Rom. 8] [John 1] [Jer. 1] [Eph. 1] [Philip. 2] [Jer. 2] [Col. 1] [Jer. 1] [1 John 1]

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IMMO vero homines carnales quum videant sese eum iniuria affecisse,14 arbitrantur eum succensere, implacabilem esse, crudelem etiam erga illos, quemadmodum ipsi essent erga suos aduersarios. ATQUE isto modo Christi charitatem sua mensura metientes, non talem esse apud se fingit, queunt intelligere quid Christus sit, Quisque qualis ipse est. Mariae in horto hortulanus videbatur. discipulis illis qui in Emaus profecti sunt, peregrinus. Apostoli quum essent in nauicula, tempestate maris exterriti, et uiderunt Christum super vndas ambulare, arbitrati sunt spectrum esse. Populus (quemadmodum apostoli Christo responderunt) putabant Ioannem esse Baptistam, Eliam quendam, Ieremiam, aut vnum ex reliquis prophetis. Et hoc modo hominem solum esse opinabantur. Sed regenerati et filij dei, cum Petro agnoscunt eum filium dei esse. Homines itaque qui spiritum Dei non habent, pro varietate qualitatum suarum, varijs modis de eo senserunt. Arbitrantur quidam illum esse veluti alterum Moisen, qui in mundum venit ut legem ferret, et quoniam lex facit ut homines carnales dedignentur, qui sese ligari sentiunt, ut solent ligari15 phrenetici et superbi, cupiunt liberari, et pro suo arbitrio uiuere, et quantò strictius se ligari sentiunt, tantò magis auersantur illum, qui eos16 ligauit et in contrarium nituntur, et sic eum nequeunt amore prosequi, qui illis legem tulit. Propterea qui Christum legis latorem existimant, non amant illum, quia non cognoscunt, immo odio prosequuntur, atque eo vehementius, qûod a christo quum illius legem Mosaica perfectiorem esse crederent,17 tamen arctius ligati sibi videntur.

14. affecisse Elizabeth writes e over i in midword. 15. ligari . . . ligari An inadvertent repetition of “ligari” after a page break. 16. eos Elizabeth writes e over i. 17. crederent Elizabeth uses the imperfect subjunctive where the present subjunctive “credant” is expected. 24. a ghost Elizabeth’s “spectrum” obscures the connection drawn by Ochino between “una fantasma” and the governing idea of being ruled by one’s own “fantasia.” 25. has brought Ochino has a present tense, “da.” 26. consider . . . hatred consider “existimant,” rendering Ochino’s colloquial “hanno . . . per” (consider as). pursue . . . hatred “odio prosequuntur,” rendering “lhanno in odio” (hold Him in hatred).

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In truth, indeed, carnal men, since they see that they themselves afflicted Him with injury, believe him to be angered, to be implacable, even cruel toward them, just as they themselves would be toward their enemies. But, measuring in this way the love of Christ by their own measure, they cannot understand what Christ is. Each person according to his own judgment imagines Him to be, such as each person himself is. To Mary in the garden He seemed a gardener, to His disciples who set out to Emmaus, a stranger. When the apostles were in the small boat, terrified by the storm on the sea, and they saw Christ walk upon the waves, they believed Him to be a ghost.24 The people (as the apostles answered Christ) thought John the Baptist to be an Elijah, a Jeremiah, or one of the rest of the prophets. And in this way they thought Him to be only a man. But the regenerate and the sons of God, with Peter, recognize Him to be the Son of God. And so the men who do not have the Spirit of God have thought about Him in various ways, according to the variety of their own qualities. They may believe Him to be someone like another Moses, who came into the world to bring the law. And since the law makes carnal men disdain it, who think themselves bound fast by it, as madmen and proud men are accustomed to do, they wish to be freed, and to live according to their own will. And as much as they think themselves too tightly bound, so much more they recoil from Him who has bound them, and strive for the opposite, and thus they are not able to follow Him with love, who has brought25 the law to them. Therefore, those who consider Christ a bearer of the law do not love Him, because they do not know Him. Rather, they pursue Him with hatred,26 and so much more vehemently in that, although they believe that His law is more perfect than that of Moses, nevertheless they seem to themselves to be more strictly bound by Christ.27

27. in . . . Christ Ochino reads “quanto che pensando che la sua legge sia piu perfetta di quella di Moise, gli pare da Christo essere stati legati piu stretti” (inasmuch as, since they think that His law is more perfect than that of Moses, it appears to them that they have been bound more tightly by Christ). Elizabeth’s “quum . . . tamen” (although . . . nevertheless) construes Ochino’s “quanto che” as ‘although,’ but context suggests its alternative sense of ‘inasmuch as, because.’

[John 20] [Luke 24] [Mark 6] [Mat. 16]

[Rom. 4]

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ISTI SIbi ipsis, imponunt. Quoniam Christus non venit, vt legem ferret, quum illa Mosaica esset admodum perfecta. Verum illud est, quod ipse explicat, venit in gratiam daret. Ita ut intra Moisen et Christum, haec sit differentia, quod Moises legem dat, et illud monstrat quod nobis faciendum est, verum nequaquam nobis auxilium dat gratiam, neque adiumentum ut impleamus. Et sic sub Moise et lege, restamus damnati, verum Christus gratiam nobis dat, ut illa obseruemus, quoniam quum ex amore pendebat vniversa lex, Christus in cruce declauit declarauit tam eximiam bonitatem dei. et gratiam porro et spiritum impertiuit, ad illam percipiendam, ut amoris vi, fractis humanarum affectionum cathenis quibus ligati eramus, traxerit nos, rapuerit, et ad diuinum amorem excitauerit. Ita ut non capillis Christus nos comprehenderit, sed corde, neque nos ligauit18 cathenis, sed uinculis et ligaminibus charitatis, et solum amoris ui, ad seipsum nos traxit. Cuius vi quòd interna sit, uoluntaria, et grata, homo ipse non repugnat, immo grato accipit animo, neque dedignatur aduersus illum, qui ligauit, immo ad diligendum eum tanto magis excitatur, quanto strictius sese ligari sentit. Itaque vbi Moises legem in tabulis scripserat et monstrauerat quid hominem facere oportuit, sine alio suppeditato adiumento, Christus impressit cordi suorum electorum amorem, ex quo vniuersa lex pendet, impressit illis legem et obseruantiam, non quod a nobis obseruatur perfecte, et eo quo debemus modo, sed imperfectè MAGNA est igitur differentia inter Moisen et Christum. venit, vt fidelis Dei seruus et Christus ut filius. MOISES Enim

18. ligauit The more correct form would be “ligaverit.” 28. bound Elizabeth does not translate the next phrase, “al mondo” (to the world). 29. with . . . spirit “grato . . . animo”—Elizabeth’s addition. 30. had written . . . had shown “scripserat . . . monstrauerat.” Elizabeth’s pluperfects replace Ochino’s past absolutes, “scrisse . . . mostrò.” 31. support supplied “suppeditato adiumento,” rendering “adiuto” (helped). 32. imperfectly Elizabeth does not translate two sentences that immediately follow in Ochino: “Però non ci giustifichiamo per l’osseruantia sua, [Rom. 3] ma Christo ci ha liberati, & redenti, non solo dalla seruitú della legge, [Gal. 4], in quanto che non operiamo piu da serui, per estrinseco imperio di legge, ma da figli, per interno impeto di spirito, & d’ amore. [Gal. 4] Imo ci ha liberati dalla sua maleditione, imperò che osseruandola lui perfettamente per noi, & comunicandoci il suo Spirito, la sua innocentia, & le sue virtù, non siamo dannati per l’inosseruantia della legge, & siamo salui per gratia” (However, we

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Those men deceive themselves, since Christ did not come that He might bring the law, since the Mosaic law was completely perfect. But the following is what He himself declares: He came that He might give grace. So, between Moses and Christ, this is the difference: that Moses gives the law, and shows what we must do, but in no way does he give us grace as a help nor as support that we may fulfill it. And thus we remain damned under Moses and the law. But Christ gives us grace that we may observe the law: since when the entire law depended upon love, Christ on the cross showed the goodness of God to be so extraordinary, and He further imparted grace and Spirit for grasping it, so that, by the force of love the chain of human affections by which we were bound28 having been broken, He has drawn us, seized us, and inspired us to divine love. So that Christ has seized us, not by the hair but by the heart, nor has he bound us in chains, but in cords and bands of charity and, by the force of love alone, has drawn us to Him. Whose force, because it is inward, voluntary, and pleasing, man himself does not resist, but, rather, receives with a grateful spirit.29 Nor does he scorn Him who has bound him: rather, he is greatly inspired to love Him much more, to the extent that he feels himself bound the more tightly. And so, where Moses had written the law on tablets and had shown30 what man ought to do, without other support supplied,31 Christ has imprinted, in the hearts of his elect, love, on which the entire law depends. In them He has imprinted the law and its observance, not that it would be perfectly observed by us, and that in that way we are obligated, but imperfectly.32 Great, therefore, is the difference between Moses and Christ.33 For Moses came as a faithful servant of God, and Christ as the Son.

are not justified by its observance, [Rom. 3.], but Christ has freed and redeemed us not only from the servitude of the law, [Gal. 4.], inasmuch as we act no more as servants by the outward command of the law, but as sons by the inward force of the Spirit and of love. Indeed, He has freed us from its curse, in that it has been perfectly observed for us by Him, and communicating His Spirit, His innocence, and His virtues, we are not damned by nonobservance of the law, and we are saved by grace). 33. Christ Elizabeth follows the Basel edition in listing the serial contrasts between Moses and Christ as separate versicles; the Geneva edition embeds the contrasts within a longer paragraph.

[Mat. 5]

[Mat. 22]

[Mat. 22] [Jer. 31]

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PER MOIsen dedit mundo legem, per Christum gratiam. MOISES multa precepta dedit, et Christus vnum solum de amore. MOISES fuit doctor litterae, Christus spiritus. MOISES scripsit in tabulis, et Christus in corde MOISES promisit, et Christus obseruauit. IVGUM Moisis graue fuit, asperum, et intollerabile, et illud Christi, suaue iucundum et leue. MOISES lege sua nos seruos fecit, et Christus filios. SI QVALIS sit igitur Christus a nobis cognitum19 esset, alio modo atque nunc est a nobis honore et amore affectus esset.20 SVNT alij quidam qui fingunt Christum ita uenisse in mundum, vt exactor quidam a patre missus, ut a nobis collegat censum, et tributum ex operibus nostris bonis, et ob istam causam non possunt perfectè amare illum. SED Christus non venit propter nostros thesauros, honores, dignitates, voluptates, aut propter mundanam felicitatem, sed propter nostram paupertatem, propter nostras persecutiones, iniquitates, labores, tormenta, cruciatus, miserias, et mortem. VENIT non propter nostra opera bona (quum sine illo21 istis omnino priuati essemus) sed ob nostra peccata, vt quum esset ipse innocentis simus, sibi illa attribueret. Venit non propter nostram satisfactionem, merita, aut bona opera, uerum ut pro nobis omnino satisfaceret, et omnia bona mereretur, et ut nos innouaret, regeneraret, et cooptaret in filios dei, et daret nobis spiritum sanctum. Ita ut amoris vi ad gloriam diuinam, opera sancta et filijs digna faceremus. Venit itaque Christus non propter nostra bona, (cum essemus omnino miserrimi) sed propter nostra peccata, ut sibi attribueret nostra mala, et illud omne pateretur, quod nos ipsi meriti essemus. Et uenit porrò vt seipsum nobis daret, cum omnibus suis thesauris, uirtutibus, et gratijs. Iam si talis esse cognosceretur, impelleret homines ut amarent illum et honore afficerent.

19. cognitum “cognitus” is the correct form. 20. affectus esset Elizabeth’s use of a pluperfect subjunctive where the imperfect is expected presumably results from the attraction of the preceding pluperfect “cognitu[s] esset” (if He had come to be known / if He were known). 21. illo Elizabeth writes o over e.

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He gave the law to the world by Moses, and grace by Christ.34 Moses gave many precepts, and Christ one alone—about love. Moses was a teacher of the letter; Christ, of the spirit. Moses wrote on tablets; Christ, in hearts. Moses promised, and Christ kept the promise. The yoke of Moses was heavy, harsh, and unbearable; and that of Christ, mild, pleasant,35 and light. Moses with his law made us servants, and Christ, sons. If Christ, therefore, were known by us such as He is, He would be treated by us with honor and love in another manner than He now is. There are some others who imagine that Christ came into the world as a kind of tax-gatherer, sent by the Father, to assess and collect payment from our good works, and for this reason they cannot perfectly love Him. But Christ did not come on account of our treasure, honors, dignities, pleasures, or on account of worldly happiness; but on account of our poverty, on account of our persecutions, iniquities, labors, torments, calamities, miseries, and death. He came not on account of our good works (since without Him, we would have been altogether lacking), but for our sins, so that although He Himself was most innocent, He attributed these sins to Himself. He came, not on account of our satisfaction, merits, or good works, but so that he might completely make satisfaction for us, and earn all good things, and that He might renew, regenerate, and elect us to be among the sons of God, and might give us the Holy Spirit,36 so that by the force of love we might do holy works worthy of sons,37 to the divine glory. So Christ came not on account of our good deeds (for we were altogether most wretched), but on account of our sins, that He might attribute our evils to Himself, and that He might suffer all that we ourselves were worthy to suffer. And He came, moreover, that He might give Himself to us, with all His treasures, virtues, and 34. Christ Elizabeth does not translate the immediately following antithesis: “Per Moise l’ombre, per Christo la luce & la verita. [Ioan. 1.]” (By Moses came shadows; by Christ, light and truth. John 1.). 35. pleasant “iucundum.” Elizabeth translates “piacevole,” one of three serial adjectives in the Basel edition; the Geneva edition has only the other two adjectives, as a pair. 36. Holy Spirit Elizabeth’s “spiritum sanctum” expands “spirito.” 37. worthy . . . sons Elizabeth’s “filiis digna” elaborates “filiali” (filial).

[Heb. 3] [John 13]

[Jer. 31] [2 Cor. 1] [Mat. 11] [Gal. 4]

[Isa. 53]

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REPERiuntur etiam quidam, qui Christum tanquam iudicem in mundum venisse cogitant, ut malos supplicijs et bonos premijs afficeret. Et quum considerant22 sese impios esse, et supplicio dignos, tanquam carnales ob peccata sua exterriti, non possunt non timere eum; fugere, et odio prosequi ET EGO vna cum Christo dico, deum non misisse filium suum, ut mundum iudicaret, uerum ut mundus per ipsum saluus esset. Ad extremum veniet iudicare, viuos et mortuos, sed in eo extremo die officium Christi est solum saluare. Propterea omnes nos omnes debemus cum fiducia ad illum accedere, tanquam ad eum qui sedet ad tribunal gratiae et non iusticiae. Quod si uera fide crederemus, non possumus23 non intimo amore eum prosequi. INTER eos alij sunt qui dicunt, si crederemus Christum fore talem erga nos, qualis fuit erga illam peccatricem, que illius pedes lachrimis lauabat. et si nostri misereretur, quemadmodum miserius24 est illius viduae, que ibat ad sepeliendum vnicum suum filium, et si nos exaudiret quemadmodum exaudiuit Cananeam, si nobis esset suauis, quemadmodum Samaritano25 et si amaret, quemadmodum amauit Ioannem, nos etiam eum amaremus et cum fiducia accederemus ad eum, ad poscendam gratiam. verum haud arbitramur eum talem esse erga nos. Respondeo hoc signum esse, quo videri potest, vos eum non cognoscere. Nam Christus idem est, qui semper fuit, ita suauis, ita dulcis. Et certo nobis credendum est, quum fide intueamur, nostra causa in cruce mortuum, eum nos summopere amare, et talem curam

22. quum considerant Ochino reads “per che si vedano” (because they find themselves to be). Because “cum” in a causal sense (since) takes the subjunctive in classical Latin while “cum” in a temporal sense (when) takes the indicative, one would expect the subjunctive “considerent” rather than the indicative “considerant” here. However, Elizabeth’s frequent practice of rendering Latin causal “cum” clauses with English “when”—which can be construed temporally or in the sense of ‘inasmuch as, since’—suggests that she did not clearly distinguish between the two senses. 23. possumus The imperfect subjunctive “possemus” would be more correct. 24. miserius Should read “miseritus.” 25. Samaritano Should read “Samaritana” (feminine); “la Samaritana.” The reference is to John 4:1–30.

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graces. Now, if He were known38 as such, He would impel men to love Him and treat Him with honor.39 Some, however, are to be found who think that Christ came into the world as a kind of judge, to punish the wicked and give rewards to the good. And since they consider themselves impious, and worthy of punishment, just like carnal people terrified because of their sins, they cannot not fear Him, flee Him, and attack Him with hatred.40 And I, together with Christ, say that God did not send His Son that He might judge the world, but rather that the world by Him might be saved. At the end, He will come to judge the living and the dead, but upon that last day41 the office of Christ is solely to save. On which account we all ought to draw near to Him with faith, as to one who sits in the judgment-seat of grace, and not of justice. If we believed with true faith, we could not not pursue Him with deepest love.42 Among these are others who say, if we believed Christ to be such towards us as He was towards that sinful woman who washed His feet with tears; and if He had compassion for us, as He much pitied that widow who went to bury her only son; and if He hearkened to us just as He hearkened to the Canaanite woman; if He were gentle to us just as He was to the Samaritan; and if He loved us just as he loved John, then we also would love Him and draw near to Him with faith, to beg for grace. But we do not judge Him to be such towards us. I answer that this is a sign by which it can be seen that you do not know Him. For Christ is the same as He always was, so gentle, so sweet. And certainly we must believe it, as we look upon Him with faith, dead on the cross for our sake,43 that He loves us most entirely, and takes such 38. known Elizabeth does not translate the following adverb, “viuamente” (in a living manner). 39. impel . . . honor Elizabeth’s “impelleret homines ut amarent illum et honore afficerent” intensifies “sarebbe forza che fusse amato & honorato” (it would be necessary that He was loved and honored). and . . . honor Elizabeth’s “et honore afficerent” renders with a cognate the Basel edition’s “& honorato,” which does not appear in the Geneva edition. 40. attack . . . hatred Elizabeth’s “odio prosequi” intensifies “odiar.” 41. upon . . . day “in eo extremo die.” Elizabeth misconstrues “ma infin’a quel giorno” (but until that day). 42. with true . . . love with . . . faith “uera fide,” rendering Ochino’s “con viua fede” (living faith). pursue . . . love Elizabeth’s “amore . . . prosequi” intensifies “amar” (love). 43. for . . . sake “nostra causa”; “per nostro amore” (for our love).

[John 3] [Mat. 25] [Heb. 4]

[Heb. 13]

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de nobis suscipere qualem vnquam de filio parentes susceperunt. Immo totus amor mundanorum hominum, nihil est prae amore eo quem erga animam nostram Christus gerit. MVLTI ergo quia Christum nesciunt, ad sanctos proficiscuntur, maiori cum fiducia quâm ad eum. Illos amant magis, magis honorant, et maiorem spem in eisdem collocant, Vide num sint impij, quum sanctos magis amare nos credunt, quam amat Christus? Immò fingunt sibi ipsis, Christum iratum26 esse, et matrem suam, eum i placare, et ei aux lio opus esse, quasi vero is aut nesciret, aut non posset, aut nollet nos adiuuare. Et ego cum Paulo affirmo, Christum vnicum esse mediatorem inter nos et patrem, neque illi opus esse auxillio, fauore aut precibus sanctorum, immo quicquid bonitatis sancti habent et in posterum habebunt, solum est per Christum, et omnes pariter sine Christo, ne minimam quidem gratiam obtinerent, immo subito perirent. Alij arbitrantur Christum nobis adiutorem fuisse solum, quum in terris vixit, nunc autem quum in celo sit, otium agit ut is qui munus suum et legationem confecit. Et ego dico quod in celo ocium non agit, immo iuxta Paulum assistit pro nobis coram patre, precatur pro nobis, et optimi aduocati officio fungitur, immo ascendit ad celum vt esset per gratiam magis propitius, et quemadmodum misit spiritum sanctum super Apostolos suos visibiliter in die penticostes,27 ita invisibiliter perpetuo mittit illum cum spiritum, supra suos electos, quibus manet in spiritu, et manebit semper ad consummationem seculi, quemadmodum ipse promisit. Operatur pro nobis magis mirifice, quam in carne fecit Etsi enim in carne semper operatus sit, et cum summa charitate sit passus, et spiritum sine mensura habuerit: tamen virtute sua magis sese declarauit in spiritu, post resurrectionem et ascentionem28 suam, quam fecit dum isthic in terra vixit. CHRIStus in spiritu, seipsum in carne vicit. Atque ut hoc verum

26. iratum Elizabeth writes r over an m. 27. penticostes The correct Vulgate form is “pentecostes.” 28. ascentionem A variant spelling of “ascensionem.” 44. such . . . parents such “talem”; “piu special” (more special). parents “parentes”; “padre, ò madre” (father, or mother). 45. honor . . . hope “honorant,” rendering “hanno . . . deuotione” (have devotion [to]). hope “spem,” Elizabeth’s substitute for “fede” (faith).

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care of us as parents44 have ever taken of a son. Indeed, all the love of worldly men is nothing in comparison with that love for our soul that Christ bears. Many, therefore, because they do not know Christ, proceed with greater faith to the saints than to Him. They love them more, honor them more, and place greater hope in them.45 Consider whether they are impious, when they believe that the saints love us more than Christ loves us! Indeed, they imagine these things to themselves: that Christ is angry, and that His mother placates Him, and that He has need of help from her, as if, truly, He either did not know how, or was not able, or was not willing to help us. And, with Paul, I affirm Christ to be the only Mediator between us and the Father, and that He has no need of favor or prayers of the saints. Rather, whatever the saints have of goodness, and will have in the future, is only through Christ. And all of them together, without Christ, would not have been able to obtain the least grace: indeed, they would have instantly perished. Others think that Christ was made our help only when He lived on earth; now, however, since He is in heaven, that He is at leisure, as one who has completed his service and embassy. And I say that He is not at leisure in heaven; rather, according to Paul, He places Himself as our advocate for us before the Father; He prays for us, and performs the service of the best Advocate; indeed, He ascended into heaven so that He might be more favorable through grace. And just as, on the day of Pentecost, He sent the Holy Spirit visibly upon His apostles, so He continually sends that Spirit invisibly upon his elect, with whom He remains in spirit, and will ever remain until the end of time, just as He Himself has promised. He works46 greater wonders for us to a higher degree than He did in the flesh. For although in the flesh He always worked and suffered with the greatest love, and had the Spirit without measure, nevertheless by His power He has revealed Himself to a higher degree in the Spirit, after His resurrection and ascension, than He did while He lived on earth. In the Spirit Christ was victorious over Himself in the flesh. And

46. He works Elizabeth’s sentence opening with “Operatur” exactly follows “Opera” (He works) in the Basel edition. In the Geneva edition this clause is conjoined to the preceding one as “& opera.”

[1 Tim. 2]

[Heb. 9] [Rom. 8] [1 John 3] [Acts 2]

[Mat. 24]

[John 3]

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esse intelligatur, Christus in carne predicauit quasi tres annos, et in spiritu in suis electis predicauit mille et quingentos annos, in carne predicauit per Iudeam, Galaleam,29 et Samariam, in spiritu per vniversum mundum, in carne conuertit, Vnum latronem, in spiritu in Petro vno die tria milia hominum, altero die quinque, in Paulo prouincias tantas, et in suis electis vniuersum quasi mundum. Ille ipse dicit, eo maiora opera suis operibus facturos qui in eo crediderent.30 CHRIStus in spiritu iustificat, et non in carne, in spiritu viuifiat, et in carne non prodest. In carne vitam sectatus est communem, sed in spiritu in multis suis electis, admirabilis fuit illius austeritas. Stetit in deserto quadraginta dies in carne, et in suis electis annos plurimos morti vicinus in sua agonia in horto sanguinem sudauit, et in spiritu in martiribus Letus ad mortem ibat, quemadmodum iuisset ad nuptias. Pedes apostolorum in carne lauit, in spiritu in suis sanctis etiam leprosos lauit. In carne solum sua propria persona est passus, et in spiritu semper in suis electis Itaque quamuis in carne exinanitus fuerit, et crucifixus, propter infirmitatem, tamen in spiritu nunc in virtute viuit grandis et potentissimus, et in suis electis vincendo labores, persequutiones, obprobria, aduersitates, mortem, mundum, luxuriam, prudentiam carnalem, spiritus infernales, peccata, triumphat semper et triumphabit usque in diem iudicij. Tunc cum omnes suos hostes penitus subijcerit,31 et suos electos omnes in quieta possessione regni sui collocauerit, illos patri suo offeret felicissimos et triumphantes. RARI sunt igitur qui vere cognoscunt. verum si illum cognoscere velis, necesse est ut scias, Christum illum esse, per quem Deus ab initio proposuit, saluos nos facere, per quem elegit, et statuit cooptare nos in filios, heredes facere, et benedicere in omni benedictione

29. Galaleam The correct Vulgate form is “Galilaeam.” 30. dicit . . . crediderent Elizabeth shifts from a historical present to an imperfect subjunctive. The more usual sequence of tenses would be either “dicit . . . credant” or “dixit . . . crederent.” Ochino reads “disse . . . crederebbeno” (He said . . . those who would believe). 31. subijcerit Should read “subjecerit” (classical “subiecerit”). 47. And . . . true “Atque ut hoc verum esse intelligatur.” Elizabeth intensifies “Et che sia el vero” (And that this is the truth).

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so that this may be understood to be true,47 Christ preached in the flesh about three years, and in the Spirit within His elect He has preached one thousand five hundred years. He preached in the flesh throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; in the Spirit, throughout the whole world. In the flesh He converted one thief; in the Spirit, in Peter, on one day, three thousand men; on another day, five; in Paul, so many provinces; and in His elect, as it were, the whole world. He Himself says that those who believed in Him would do greater works than His works. In the Spirit Christ justifies, and not in the flesh; in the Spirit He makes alive, and in the flesh He does no benefit. In the flesh, He followed the common way of life; but in the Spirit, in many of His elect, His austerity has been admirable. He remained in the desert forty days in the flesh, and within His elect very numerous years.48 Close to death, He sweated blood in His agony in the garden; and in the Spirit, within the martyrs. He went joyful to His death, as if He had gone to His marriage. In the flesh, He washed the feet of His apostles; in the Spirit, within His saints, He has washed even lepers. In the flesh, only His own person suffered, and in the Spirit always in His elect.49 So, although in the flesh, He was emptied, and crucified on account of infirmity, so nevertheless, now in the Spirit, in power, He lives, great and most mighty. And, within His elect, overcoming labors, persecutions, reproaches, adversities, death, the world, prodigality,50 carnal wisdom, infernal spirits, and sins, He always triumphs and will triumph until the day of judgment. Then, when He will have painfully subjected all His enemies, and will have placed all His elect in calm possession of His kingdom, He will present them, most happy and triumphant, to His Father. Rare are they, therefore, who truly know.51 Truly, if you wish to know Him, it is necessary that you know Christ to be He, by whom God, from the beginning, proposed to save us; by whom He chose and decreed that He would enlist us among His sons, make us heirs,

48. very . . . years “annos plurimos,” generalizing Ochino’s “le diecine degl’anni” (many tens of years). 49. in . . . elect “in suis electis”; “intutti li suoi eletti” (in all His elect). 50. prodigality “luxuriam”; “la sensualità” (sensuality). 51. know Elizabeth omits the direct object, “Christo,” which follows at this point.

[Acts 2] [John 14]

[John 6]

[Philip. 2] [2 Cor. 13]

[2 Cor. 2] [1 Cor. 15]

[Eph. 1]

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spirituali in rebus celestibus. Porro per Christum creauit mundum, et per eum eundem conseruat, per Christum creauit mundum a peccatis suis purgauit, et per eum Deo reconsiliati sumus. Christus ille est qui sustulit peccata mundi, per eum sumus viuificati, iustificati, redempti, saluati, in gratiam cum Deo redacti, pacificati, locupletati, per eum liberi sumus a lege, a maledictione, et damnatione, per eum illuminati sumus. Ille ignem misit in mundum, venit ut nos diuino amore inflammaret, vt virtutem, et fortitudinem subministraret, vt patrem declararet, ut pacificaret mentes et conscientias nostras, ut per eum securum accessum ad deum haberemus. Venit vt esset noster vnicus mediator, et aduocatus, vt esset nostra vnica propitiatio, et vt per eum opera nostra essent grata Deo. Venit vt triumpharet de omnibus inimicis Dei, et propter honorem patris. Venit vt regeneraret nos, vt santificaret,32 atque vt propter eum nostra abundaret consolatio, vt aperiret mentes, et vt esset vnicus magister noster. Venit ut nos sua membra efficeret, et gratie perticipes,33 vt resuscitaret nos, gratia impleret, ut amoris vi ad se nos traheret, et redderet perpetuò34 felices. Venit itaque non vt nobis daret essentiam naturalem, sed diuinam ad suam imaginem et similitudinem, ut in faciem nostram inspiraret, non spiraculum vitae sed spiritum sanctum vt liberaret non solum octo animas, verum omnes a diluvio, non aquae sed peccatorum. Venit ut purgaret, non solum Sodomam et Gomorram igne materiale,35 verum vniuersum mundum diuino igne. Venit vt liberaret non solum populum Hebraeum, verum omnes suos, non de AEgipto, sed a mundo, et ab inferno, non a Pharaonica, sed a diabolica seruitute, vt duceret eos non columna ignis, sed spiritu sancto, et ut submergeret non AEgiptios, sed nostra peccata, non in mari rubro, sed in proprio sanguine. Venit vt nos pasceret non Manna sed spiritu,

32. santificaret sanctificaret. 33. perticipes Should read “participes.” 34. perpetuò ò written over i. 35. materiale Elizabeth writes a final e over i. 52. to God The full sequence of marginal citations for this paragraph in Ochino further includes Genesis 8, Ephesians 1, and John 17.

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and bless us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly things. He, further, by Christ has created the world; and by Him likewise, preserves it; by Christ He has purged the world of its sins; and by Him we are reconciled to God. Christ is He who bore the sins of the world; by Him we are made alive, justified, redeemed, saved, brought back into grace with God; pacified, enriched; by Him we are freed from the law, from malediction and damnation. By Him we are illumined: He sent fire into the world; He came to inflame us with divine love, to furnish us with virtue and strength, and to manifest the Father; so as to put our minds and consciences at peace, so that by Him we might have secure access to God. He came to be our only Mediator and Advocate, to be our sole propitiation; and so that through Him our works would be pleasing to God.52 He came so that He might triumph over all the enemies of God, and on account of the Father’s honor. He came so as to regenerate and sanctify us; also so that, on account of Him, our consolation might abound; and so as to open minds, and so that He might be our only Master. He came so as to make us members of Him, and participants in grace, so that He might raise us again, fill us with grace, so that by the force of love He might draw us to Him, and might render us happy always. He came, therefore, not so that He might give us a natural being, but a divine one after His image and similitude; so that He might breathe into our face not the breath of life, but the Holy Spirit; so that He might free not only eight souls but, truly, all souls53 from the flood—not of waters, but of sins. He came that He might purge not only Sodom and Gomorrah with material fire, but the whole world with divine fire. He came so that He might free not only the Hebrew people, but all His people, not from Egypt, but from the world, and from hell—not from a Pharaonic but from a devilish servitude, so that He might lead them not by a pillar of fire, but with the Holy Spirit, so that He might drown not the Egyptians, but our sins, not in the Red Sea, but in His own blood. He came so that He might feed us not with manna but the

53. eight . . . souls 1 Peter 3:20–21 treats the eight members of Noah’s family, whose lives were preserved in the ark he built (Genesis 8:16), as Old Testament types of the elect in Christ.

[John 1] [Heb. 1] [Col. 1] [1 Cor. 15] [Gal. 3] [Eph. 1, 2] [1 Cor. 1] [Gal. 3, 2] [Rom. 8] [John 8] [Luke 12] [1 Thes. 1] [Rom. 5] [1 Tim. 1] [1 John 1, 4] [1 Pet. 2, 1] [2 Cor. 1] [1 John 1] [Mat. 23] [Eph. 2] [John 12] [Gen. 2] [John 20] [Gen. 19] [Exo. 14]

[Exo. 16]

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et vt dulces efficeret, non aquas materiales, sed nostras calamitates. Venit non vt promitteret sicut alij prophetae, verum ut illud omne prestaret quod iam antea promissum fuit. Venit ut sisteret non aquam fluminis Iordani sed nostras prauas concupiscentias et ut nobis victoriam daret, non solum aduersus homines, sed aduersus demones etiam et omnes inimicos dei, vt introduceret nos non in terram promissionis, sed in celum, vt fabricaret non terrenam quandam, sed celestem Hierusalem, et templum non materiale, sed spirituale, et diuinissimum, vt nos perpetuo felices et beatos efficeret. Verum cognosce non esse satis de predictis rebus mortuam quandam fidem habere. Sed vt Christum plenè cognoscamus, oportet fidem viuam habere, et spiritu bonitatem eius sentire in tantis gratijs et beneficijs quae per eum accepimus. Hebrei indicabant Magis locum vbi Christus nasceretur, et dixerunt porro illum heredem esse, et tamen eundem crucifixerunt, immo demones noticiam quandam illius habent, et confitentur illum, sed viua fide carent Et Ioannes Baptista valde sanctus, et pius fuit, neque illum cognouit nisi interueniente, spiritu sancto. NECESse est igitur si illum vere cognoscere et bonitatem sentire velimus, spiritum et lumen supernaturale habere, et cum illud habeamus, si Abraham et reliqui Patriarchae, Prophetae, et Sancti veteris testamenti, quum eum e longinquò intuebantur, magno gaudio et leticia affecti fuerint,36 cogita quid nos facturi sumus37 quum idem venit. Exultares cum Ioanne Baptista, exclamares cum Matre, et in laudem suam soluta esset tibi lingua cum Patre, cum Angelis cantares. GLORIA in excelsis. DEO. relinqueres cum Magis patriam et omnia, cum ipsis et cum pastoribus ad Christum proficiscens. Cum Symeone mori non curares, cum Anna illi perpetuo inseruires, relinquens cum Samaritana hydriam 36. affecti fuerint More correctly, either “affecti sunt” or (less commonly) “affecti fuerunt.” 37. sumus Should be “simus” (subjunctive after “cogita”). 54. calamities Elizabeth does not translate the immediately following sentence: “Venne non per scriuerci la legge in tauole, [Exo. 34] ma per imprimerci amore, lume, spirito, & gratia nel core” (He came not to write the law in tablets, [Exo. 34] but to imprint love, light, spirit, and grace in the heart). 55. was . . . born “nasceretur,” rendering “doueua nascere” (was fated to be born).

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Spirit, and so that He might make sweet not material waters, but our calamities.54 He came not that He might promise like other prophets, but rather that He might provide all that was already promised before. He came so that He might stem, not the water of the river Jordan, but our evil desires, and so that He might give us the victory, not only over men, but over devils, even, and all enemies of God; so that He might bring us not into the Promised Land, but into heaven; so that He might build not some earthly but the heavenly Jerusalem—and a Temple, not material, but spiritual and most divine, so that He might render us perpetually happy and blessed. Know, truly, that it is not enough to have, as it were, a dead faith in things preached. But so that we may know Christ fully, it is needful to have a lively faith, and by the Spirit feel His goodness in such graces and benefits that we have received through Him. The Hebrews made known to the Magi the place where Christ was to be born,55 and also declared Him to be the heir, and nevertheless they crucified Him; indeed, demons have some kind of notion of Him, and confess Him, but they lack56 lively faith. And John the Baptist was exceedingly holy and pious,57 but did not recognize Him except through the intervention of the Holy Spirit. It is necessary, therefore, if we wish to know Him truly and to feel His goodness, that we have the Spirit and supernatural light. And when we should have that, if Abraham and the rest of the patriarchs, prophets, and saints of the Old Testament, when they regarded Him from afar, were affected with great joy and happiness, think what we will do when He has come. You would exult with John the Baptist; cry out with His mother; and when your tongue were loosened in His praise, with the Father, with the angels, you would sing, Glory be to God in the highest; you would leave your native country and all things, to proceed with the Magi and with the shepherds toward Christ. With Simeon, you would not care about dying; with Anna, you would perpetually serve Him; you would leave with the

56. have . . . confess . . . lack Elizabeth substitutes three present-tense verbs, “habent,” “confitentur,” “carent,” for two past absolutes and one imperfect: “hebbeno . . . confessorno . . . erano.” 57. and pious “et pius”—Elizabeth’s addition.

[2 Cor. 1] [Josh. 3]

[Mat. 21] [Mark 1] [John 1]

[John 8] [Luke 1] [Luke 2] [Mat. 2] [Luke 2]

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voluptatum mundi, et cum Apostolis illecebrarum suarum retia. Restitueres cum Zacheo id quod tuum non est, et ex proprijs copiosè impertires pauperibus. Ex corde tuo gratias ageres, cum Leproso alienigena Christo per amore ad pedes illius cum peccatrice u lachrimas effunderes, et cum illa altera muliere in la dem suam per vicos exclamares, et denique foelix et beatus existeres. SED ITA duri sumus, obstinati, et frigidi, ut quamuis in nobis perpetuo scintillas quasdam et flammas amoris excitet, tamen haud sentimus, et adeo ceci sumus, ut non videamus illum cum ipse sit lux mundi. Precemur igitur vt nobis de vero suo lumine impertiat, vt per illum reddamus (quemadmodum oportet) patri suo, omnem honorem et gloriam AMEN.

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Samaritan woman the water-jug of the world’s pleasures; and with the apostles, the net of its enticements.58 With Zacchaeus, you would restore what is not yours, and would share with59 the poor from your own abundance. You would give thanks from your heart to Christ with the leprous man born in a foreign country; pouring out your tears, for love, at His feet, with the sinning woman; and, with that other woman,60 you would cry out in His praise through the streets; and finally you would be happy and blessed. But we are so hard, obstinate, and cold, that although He continually arouses some kind of sparks and flames of love in us, yet we feel nothing; and to the same degree we are blind, so that we do not see Him, although He Himself is the Light of the world. Let us, therefore, pray that He may make us sharers in His true light, so that by Him we may render to His Father (as is needful) all honor and glory. Amen. 58. water-jug . . . enticements Two capsule allegories—the first based on the Samaritan woman in John 4:28, who left her “water-jug” (Vulgate “hydria[m]”) at the well and followed Christ, the second based on Christ’s calling of Peter and Andrew from their fishing nets to discipleship with the promise that He would make them “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17). 59. Zacchaeus . . . with Zacchaeus See Luke 19:1–10. would . . . with “impetires.” Ochino reads “donaresti” (you would give to). 60. leprous man . . . sinning woman . . . other woman Allusion is, respectively, to Mark 1:40–45; Luke 7:37–38; Mark 5:25–28; Luke 8:43–47.

Elizabeth’s Sententiae are a collection of 259 “sentences” in the Renaissance sense of pithy sayings, especially pronouncements by persons of authority. Quoting or paraphrasing the Bible, classical authors, church fathers, medieval ecclesiastical writers, and Desiderius Erasmus, these sentences address the principles and responsibilities of monarchy under six headings: “On Rule,” “On Justice,” “On Mercy,” “On Counsel,” “On Peace,” and “On War.” The Sententiae resemble her translations in their active engagement with authoritative texts in languages other than English. Although (with one possible exception) Elizabeth cites the Bible and Greek pagan and patristic authors from preexisting Latin translations, she often adapts her Latin sources to express her own perspectives.1 Her free handling of these primary materials persists in her practice as a translator, where she may modify the sense of a source to align it with her own outlook. While the citations of Christian authors in the Sententiae recall her translations of the 1540s, the citations of classical authors, who assume prominence in her writing here for the first time, foreshadow the character of the texts she will translate from the 1560s onward. In 1616 James Mountague, Bishop of Winchester, reported seeing “A Century of Sentences” compiled and written out by 1. See sentence no. 147, n115 for a possible translation from Greek. See also no. 168, n136 regarding a translation, unique within the collection, of a vernacular (probably French or Italian) proverb.

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Princess Elizabeth, who had “dedicated them to her Father.”2 Although no collection of one hundred sentences made before Henry VIII’s death in 1547 is known at present, this may have been the germ of the larger collection published as an addition to Elizabeth’s Precationes Privatae (1563). If so, the project initially undertaken for Henry VIII took on more self-referential dimensions as Elizabeth enlarged it after her once distant prospects of ruling England had become a reality. The Sententiae declared to the educated elite, both in England and abroad, that Elizabeth, still relatively new to her throne, was a learned, God-fearing monarch, receptive to wise counsel and dedicated to her realm’s well-being. In a parliamentary speech of 1566, she claimed to have “studied nothing else but divinity” until she “came to the crown,” at which point she turned to “the study of that which was meet for government.”3 Although this division is excessively neat, her earliest publications broadly fit the pattern described. Her translation of Marguerite de Navarre’s Miroir was reworked and published by John Bale in 1548. There and in her Precationes privatae, Elizabeth’s persona is that of the devout Scripturalist. Her Sententiae appended to these Latin prayers display, by contrast, her wide-ranging study of governance. Yet piety and political wisdom never become mutually exclusive categories. Just as the Precationes present Elizabeth the queen as God’s “handmaid” invoking His help and guidance,4 so the Sententiae, all six of whose sections begin with Bible verses, indicate that knowledge and worship of God undergird this queen’s rule. Erasmus is the only sixteenth-century author quoted in the Sententiae, with two sentences explicitly ascribed to him (164, 194) and three others derived from his works (38, 39, 76). His emergence as the sole authority from present times signals both his special importance to the project and its probable inception in Elizabeth’s girlhood education. In his Institutio Principis Christiani (1516), Erasmus urged that a young prince learn wise sayings on government from the Bible and classical moralists.5 Elizabeth’s Sententiae display the fruits of such a Christian humanist education. The Sententiae also join with the Latin prayers 2. James Mountague, “Preface to the Reader” (unpaginated), in The Works of James I, King of Great Britain, ed. Mountague (London, 1616). 3. CW, 96. 4. CW, 142–43. 5. Desiderius Erasmus, Institutio Principis Christiani, ed. O. Herding, in Opera Omnia, pt. 4, vol. 1, ed. Herding and F. Schalk (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1974), 180.

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that precede them in this volume to display her mastery of the Latin learning that was mostly a male monopoly at the time. Her compilation distinguishes itself as a more elite production than the vernacular compilations by Thomas Elyot in The Banquet of Sapience (1534) and William Baldwin in A Treatise of Moral Philosophy (1547 and subsequent editions). Also inspired by Erasmus and employing sources similar to Elizabeth’s, these more compendious collections of moral and political sayings have sections resembling Elizabeth’s on counsel, kings, justice, mercy, and peace (Elyot) and on kings and rulers, counsel and counselors, and justice (Baldwin).6 Elizabeth’s particular selections reveal the tendencies and the tensions in her political views. “On Rule” begins with seven citations from Romans 13 on the obedience owed to divinely appointed rulers. While English Calvinists, particularly the exiles in Mary’s reign, had articulated rights and duties of resistance to ungodly rulers, Elizabeth unequivocally asserts the duty of obedience by returning to the Pauline chapter that the early Luther had made the touchstone for this primary political obligation.7 Evil rulers who disobey God will, however, be punished, as Scripture declares (11); and, as classical authors warn, cruel regimes do not last (105, 107). Elizabeth paraphrases Erasmus to the effect that rulers must put the common good above personal interest (39). Yet cunning has a place as well as virtue: she cites Aristotle for the calculating recommendation that rulers should distribute honors in person but mete out punishment through intermediaries (14). Some of the sentences voice Erasmian ideals that fit somewhat uneasily with Elizabeth’s emerging political practice. Invoking classical “parrhesia” (frank speech), Erasmus argues that rulers should permit free speaking by critics instead of punishing them.8 Sentence 22, from the Aristotelian philosopher Demetrius of Phalerum (fourth century B.C.E.), had been singled out for praise in Erasmus’s Institutio:9 “Rex libros de regno scriptos emat ac legat, nam de quibus amici reges 6. On Elyot’s and Baldwin’s vernacular sententiousness, see Janel Mueller, The Native Tongue and the World: Developments in English Prose Style, 1380–1580 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 278–303. 7. Quentin Skinner, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978), 2:189–239 (on resistance) and 2:15–19 (on Luther’s use of Romans 13). 8. Erasmus, Institutio, 202. 9. Ibid., 179.

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admonere non audent, ea in libris sunt descripta” (Let the king procure and read books and writings about his kingdom, for things about which their friends do not dare to admonish kings are written down in books). Yet, mindful of security threats at home and abroad, Elizabeth’s first Parliament (1559) declared the publishing of rumors, libels, or slanders against the queen a felony. That same year she issued an injunction against publishing “seditious books,” and censorship of publications judged inimical to the state or church continued throughout her reign.10 Sentence 33 quotes the assertion by the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus (first century C.E.) that flattery of rulers can ruin kingdoms, a claim lengthily expounded by Erasmus.11 The Sententiae make no mention, by contrast, of the vice of slander, traditionally cast as the opposite of flattery, and targeted by English laws. Elizabeth cites another authoritative source, the church father Ambrose (340?–97 C.E.), to the effect that rulers should not restrict liberty of speech (“libertatem dicendi”), nor should priests refrain from speaking truthfully (34). Yet she sought to restrain preachers and members of Parliament who criticized her policies.12 In 1576 and 1587 Peter Wentworth was imprisoned for adversarial speaking in the House of Commons and for claiming the liberty to do so. The implicit limitation of the call in sentence 23 for the ruler to allow “liberty of speech” to “prudent men” (“prudentibus”) accords better with Elizabeth’s reliance upon trusted advisers throughout her reign and the measure of receptivity she gave to deferentially couched criticism from within court circles.13 The sentences in the paired sections “On Justice” and “On Mercy” enjoin the upright ruler to balance the two virtues central to governance (84): to recognize that justice must be tempered (85) but that mercy without regard to justice is a vice (112, 117–18). Classical and Christian humanist celebrations of clemency remained central to Eliz10. Cyndia Susan Clegg, Press Censorship in Elizabethan England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 31–43 and passim. 11. See chap. 2 of Erasmus, Institutio, 175–82. 12. See her 1585 speech to the bishops and other clergy in CW, 177–81; and David Colclough, Freedom of Speech in Early Stuart England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 92–93. 13. Natalie Mears, Queenship and Political Discourse in the Elizabethan Realms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 125–26.

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abeth’s conception of governance throughout her reign.14 Her emphasis on choosing virtuous and capable “magistrates” (61, 63, 65, 76) echoes several of her Latin prayers and also sounds a theme in Erasmus’s Institutio (the source of sentence 76), further developed in Elyot’s Book of the Governor (1531), a humanist handbook for those who sought to become professional servants of the English crown.15 Elizabeth’s section “Of Counsel” addresses the wide range of meanings attached to “consilium” and its cognate “counsel”: political advice, deliberative process, good judgment in advising or deliberating, and policy arising from such judgment. Her sentences declare that rulers are to seek counsel from God, prudent men, and books. In another echo of Erasmus, she contrasts trustworthy counsel with flattery (164). “Of Counsel” is self-reflexive: the sentences themselves consist of counsel that the queen has gleaned from her reading, and now transmits to others.16 Elizabeth similarly uses sententiae in her speeches and letters to portray herself as a learned counselor and a prince receptive to counsel.17 Sentence 145 admonishes prospective counselors: “Principi consule non dulciora, sed optima” (Give the ruler not the sweeter counsel, but the best). The sentiment accords with her admonition to William Cecil when she named him to her Privy Council in 1558, to give the “counsel that you think best” without regard for her “private will.”18 As with the sentences on frank speech, however, those on counsel are not fully consistent. Renaissance authors used antithetical maxims to explore various aspects of an issue.19 Although Elizabeth’s juxtapositions of discrepant views from diverse authorities may partially be the result of collecting material over an extended period of time, such discrepancies also imply that conflicting advice is to be taken into account. Five sentences drawn from the Bible and classical and Chris14. Clemency is a major theme in Cicero’s oration Pro Marcello, which Elizabeth would translate ca. 1592. 15. Erasmus, Institutio, 204–6; Thomas Elyot, The Book Named the Governor, ed. Stanford E. Lehmberg (London: Dent, 1962). 16. Baldwin’s anthology treats “preceptes and counsayles” as one of the subgenres of sententious utterance; see his Treatise of Morall Phylosophie (London, 1547), book 2. 17. See Mary Thomas Crane, “ ‘Video et Taceo’: Elizabeth I and the Rhetoric of Counsel,” Studies in English Literature 14 (1988): 1–15. 18. CW, 51. 19. Joel Altman, The Tudor Play of Mind: Rhetorical Inquiry and the Development of Elizabethan Drama (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), 40–43, 242–46.

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tian authorities call for few counselors and warn against the opinions of the many (131, 156, 161, 163, 164), but one Bible verse calls for many counselors (137), and one medieval sentence calls for “common counsel” (“communi consilio”) on matters of general concern (166). Again, one sentence from the Greek orator Demosthenes (fourth century B.C.E.) cautions against novelty in counsel (150), but another declares that new situations demand “new counsel” (“novum consilium,” 168). In the last of the paired sections, “Of Peace” and “Of War,” the dynamic of opposites as counterweights to each other is clearly in play. Several sentences declare that peace comes from God (185, 186, 199) and that he who loves and fears God will seek peace (183, 197). Other sentences, however, warn that war in some circumstances is more godly than peace (195), that a false peace may hide war (190), and that a ruler must be ready to wage war to preserve peace (221, 241, 253). By omitting sententiae on the glories of war, a theme prominent in various classical texts and central to her nobility’s obsession with martial honor, Elizabeth appears to align herself with Christian humanist critics of war.20 Yet while Erasmus rejected the influential conception of just war propounded by the great church father Augustine (364–430 C.E.), she cites not only Augustine but also the Roman historian Titius Livius or Livy (59 B.C.E.–17 C.E. or 64 B.C.E.–12 C.E.) and various medieval writers in defense of just war (228, 242, 244–46). Erasmus dismisses the classical division of statecraft into the arts of war and peace, devoting one chapter to the “arts of peace” (“artes pacis”) that should make war unnecessary and a final chapter to avoiding rather than waging war.21 Elizabeth, by contrast, emphasizes more pragmatically that rulers should fight only when they have good hopes of winning (227, 232) and includes several sentences on military strategy (252–59). The Sententiae undertake to demonstrate, to Elizabeth’s subjects and to foreign powers, that she is a ruler schooled in the principles of war. Several sentences assert a ruler’s prerogative to declare and wage war (213, 243, 246), and sentence 25 declares that a ruler must be a military leader (“imperator”). As a member of what she calls the “unwar20. On humanist critiques of war, see Skinner, Foundations of Modern Political Thought, 2:244–48; on the military code of honor among the English nobility, see Roger B. Manning, Swordsmen: The Martial Ethos in the Three Kingdoms (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003); and Richard C. McCoy, The Rites of Knighthood: The Literature and Politics of Elizabethan Chivalry (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). 21. Erasmus, Institutio, 182–88, 213–19.

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like” (“imbellis”) sex in one of her Latin prayers,22 Elizabeth did not lead men in battle. She tacitly acknowledges gender distinctions in citing Plato on how boys, not girls, should be trained for war (240). Yet she implies her capacity to lead her nation in war by including sentences that stress the importance of counsel and prudence in war (147, 154) and that represent wisdom at home as crucial to success in foreign wars (220, 238). Elizabeth displays certain definite tendencies in selecting and handling her sources. While some quotations are exact, she freely paraphrases to make quotations briefer, of broader import, and germane to her political concerns. She eliminates words that connect a passage with its original context; she simplifies grammar; and she excises references that identify individuals (whether a speaker, an addressee, or someone described or praised) in preference for general statements about governance and rulers or exhortations to rule wisely and well. For example, she turns extracts from the panegyric of the emperor Trajan by the Roman statesman and author Pliny the Younger, first delivered in 100 C.E., into exhortations regarding the ideal ruler (217–18). By their placement within her collection, Elizabeth applies sayings from a context remote in place or time to her own very different one. Thus dicta of Pope Gregory the Great (ca. 540–604) and Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) on pastoral and monastic rule and harmony (44, 46), based in Catholic clerical regulations that the Reformation rejected, are cited as principles for the governance and peace of kingdoms. Among her sources, the Latin Vulgate has pride of place not only in beginning each section but also in the quantity of quotations from it (60). Thirty-seven sentences are drawn from the “wisdom” books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus, and Wisdom of Solomon), singled out by Erasmus as the most useful part of the Bible for the young prince and similarly prominent in Elyot’s and Baldwin’s vernacular collections.23 For non-Biblical sententiae, Elizabeth makes extensive use of existing compilations. Fifteen quotations derive from chapters on political themes in Johannes Stobaeus’s early fifth-century C.E. anthology of extracts from pagan Greek writers. Another seven come from sev22. CW, 142; ACFLO, 122. 23. Erasmus, Institutio, 180; see, further, our introduction to Elizabeth’s translation of Ochino’s sermon, p. 295 in this volume.

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eral collections of Greek apophthegmata, or sayings of famous men, by the moralist and historian Plutarch (ca. 46–127 C.E.), which Erasmus praised alongside Plutarch’s moral essays (quoted by Elizabeth four times) as the worthiest classical texts for young princes.24 Her phrasing closely follows that of Konrad Gesner’s edition of Stobaeus and of Plutarch in Latin translations by various hands including Erasmus in an anthology of Plutarch essays first published in 1532 and expanded in editions of 1544, 1554, and 1555. Despite her youthful study of Greek, Elizabeth, like most of her educated contemporaries who were not classical scholars, usually consulted Latin translations of Greek texts rather than the originals. With one possible exception (147), all of her citations from Greek sources probably derive from preexisting translations rather than being her own from the Greek. There is no evidence, moreover, that she consulted Greek originals for purposes of comparison: whenever her Latin version of a source diverges significantly from the original Greek, her wording is closer to the Latin. Our notes give a few examples. Elizabeth drew at least fifteen quotations of Greek and Latin, pagan and Christian authors, including all seven of her Aristotle citations, from the Polyanthea, an alphabetically arranged compilation by Domenico Nani Mirabelli, first published in 1503 and republished and expanded several times in the sixteenth century. With its Latin renderings of Greek authorities combined with its Latin authorities, the Polyanthea provided a convenient, widely used compendium of classical and Christian culture. Each of its major sections, like Elizabeth’s, begins with Biblical texts; some of these are the same as hers. Henry VIII had annotated the sections on marriage and law in the 1514 Polyanthea as he and his ministers searched for arguments for dissolving his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.25 For her part, his daughter focused on the chapters on counsel, justice, rash judgment, mercy, obedience, and war. The Polyanthea itself makes use of material from the Manipulus florum or Flores omnium pene doctorum of Thomas of Ireland (Thomas Hibernicus), a medieval collection of patristic, ecclesiastical, and pagan moral authorities on various alphabetically arranged topics. First appearing in 1306 as a reference work for preachers, the Flores was often 24. Erasmus, Institutio, 180. 25. See Ann Moss, Printed Commonplace-Books and the Structuring of Renaissance Thought (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), 95.

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reprinted in the sixteenth century.26 In addition to four sentences that could have been taken from either the Polyanthea or the Flores, Elizabeth has thirteen citations from the Flores that are absent from the Polyanthea or appear there worded differently, mainly in the chapters on counsel, mercy, peace, and war. When quoting from Plutarch and Stobaeus, Elizabeth sometimes cites the original author, sometimes the venerable ancient anthologist, and sometimes both. By contrast, when quoting from the Polyanthea and the Flores, she always cites the original author without ever acknowledging reliance on either collection, which she clearly regarded as convenient shortcuts to the appearance of erudition in the classics. Here Elizabeth followed a common, but also commonly decried, Renaissance practice. Paolo Cherchi has described the Polyanthea as one of the major “secret” manuals of the sixteenth century, pillaged by many but cited by none.27 Montaigne mocks men who “quote Plato and Homer without ever having set eyes on them” and thus “eke out their studies on the cheap,” but he admits that he often gathered his quotations “not from the original but from elsewhere.”28 Elizabeth’s subterfuge is understandable in light of Ascham’s admonition that a student not “dwell in epitomes and books of commonplaces” to the neglect of original sources.29 She did, in fact, consult Renaissance editions of many of her cited authors, although here too she took shortcuts. The marginal glosses that are a staple of Renaissance editions cater to period taste by frequently reducing long, circumstantial passages in a classical text to detachable maxims. Demosthenes, the Greek author whom Elizabeth cites most often from his collected works, recurrently emphasizes the need for prudent counsel and the dangers and necessities of war in his orations. Although she had studied Demosthenes in Greek under Ascham,30 she draws her ten sentences from the famed Latin translation by Ascham’s friend Hieronymus Wolf, often paraphrasing loosely, perhaps in part to cover her traces. Sentence 69, however, derives from 26. On the Manipulus, see ibid., 39–41. 27. Paolo Cherchi, Polimatia di riuso: Mezzo secolo di plagio (1539–1589) (Rome: Bulzoni Editore, 1998), 42–50. 28. Michel de Montaigne, Complete Essays, trans. M. A. Screech (London: Penguin, 1991), 1196–97. 29. Roger Ascham, The Schoolmaster (1570), ed. Lawrence V. Ryan (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia for Folger Shakespeare Library, 1967), 107. 30. Ibid., 87.

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Wolf ’s marginal gloss and yields a broader, more incisive claim than either Demosthenes or Wolf ’s faithful translation provided. Similarly, Elizabeth cites two Platonic maxims from the Latin translations in Marsilio Ficino’s edition (71, 141) but a third from one of Ficino’s marginal glosses (240). Among classical Latin writers, Elizabeth cites Cicero most frequently (seventeen sentences). In a 1550 letter Ascham claimed that he oversaw her reading of “almost the whole” (“integrum fere”) of Cicero,31 and her English translations of one letter and one oration have their due place in the present edition. Yet, with one possible exception (220), all of her sentences of Cicero derive from the Sententiae Insigniores (1555) of Petrus Lagnerius (Pierre Lagnier), a thematically arranged collection of Cicero’s most memorable utterances in conveniently sententious form. Thus, in sentence 41 Elizabeth follows Lagnerius in ascribing to a generalized “bono viro” (good man) the care for the commonwealth that Cicero claimed personally for himself. Obviously the Sententiae Insigniores helped her find appropriate passages quickly in Cicero’s voluminous corpus. Elizabeth chose and recast sentences from Cicero, the famed defender of the Roman republic, to advocate beneficent monarchy and harmonize with celebrations of virtuous imperial rule in other Roman authors such as the historian Sallust (ca. 86–35 B.C.E.) and pseudo-Sallust, Seneca, and Pliny the Younger. In some cases Lagnerius’s version had already expunged Cicero’s republicanism: for example, sentence 116 closely follows his version of a passage in De officiis declaring how mercy is befitting for a “great and glorious” (“magno . . . et praeclaro”) man. Lagnerius excises Cicero’s references to a “free people” (“liberis . . . populis”) with “equal rights before the law” (“iuris aequabilitate”). By placing this sentence immediately after three quotations from Seneca in praise of imperial mercy, Elizabeth associates Cicero’s “great and glorious” man with Seneca’s beneficent ruler. Moreover, she adjusts Lagnerius’s formulations to exalt virtuous monarchy. Cicero’s impassioned rhetorical question in Philippics 2 decries Mark Antony’s armed guard as a despotic affront to republican values: “Non igitur miliens perire melius est quam in sua civitate sine armatorum praesidio 31. Roger Ascham, Whole Works, 3 vols. in 4, ed. Rev. Dr. Giles (London, 1864–65), 1:191.

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non posse vivere?” (Is it not better to die a thousand deaths than to be unable to live in your community without an armed guard?). Lagnerius turns the question into an assertion. Elizabeth’s sentence 106 applies this assertion to a “princeps” (ruler): “Millie[ns] perire est melius, quam principem non posse in sua ciuitate sine armorum praesidio vivere” (It is better for a ruler to die a thousand deaths than for him not to be able to live in his community without an armed guard). The net result is that Cicero’s ideal of a republican living without fear among fellow citizens becomes that of a monarch living without fear among loving subjects. Elizabeth’s second most cited classical Latin author is Seneca (eleven citations), whom Erasmus paired with Plutarch as the best author for a young prince’s reading.32 The present edition includes her translations of a moral epistle and a chorus ascribed to Seneca. She probably derived her sentences from a complete edition of his works, possibly the 1555 Lyon edition used for the moral epistle she translated in 1567. Prominent among Elizabeth’s selections are Seneca’s celebrations of imperial mercy in De clementia, which she evidently read with particular attention. Her next two most cited classical Latin authors, Vegetius and Livy (each with nine quotations), attest Elizabeth’s thorough grounding in the “masculine” art of war. Humanists regarded the military handbook De re militari, written in a highly quotable, sententious style by Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (late fourth century C.E.), as the major authority on Roman military strategy and tactics; Elizabeth derives several sentences from a chapter consisting wholly of maxims. Both the Polyanthea and the Flores cite Vegetius extensively in their chapters on war, and two of Elizabeth’s sentences (253–54) appear in both collections, one of them in a version closer to Elizabeth’s than to Vegetius’s text. Probably their selections inspired her to immerse herself directly in the original source. According to Ascham, Elizabeth had read “a great part” (“magnam partem”) of Livy’s Ab urbe condita,33 a compendious narrative of Rome’s rise to greatness that contained numerous sententious reflections on counsel and war. Her citations of Livy reveal another of her reading habits: versions of all her Livy maxims appear as index entries in a Renaissance edition of his work. Renaissance in32. Erasmus, Institutio, 180. 33. Ascham, Whole Works, 1:191.

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dices—sometimes explicitly titled index sententiarum—often provided quotable condensations of longer passages, and early modern readers frequently treated indices, like marginal glosses, as sites where nuggets of wisdom could be quarried.34 Elizabeth must have consulted Livy’s text directly, since she gives book number references not provided in the index. Yet with one exception, her versions are closer to the index versions than to Livy’s original when the two significantly diverge. Elizabeth’s most frequently quoted Christian author is Augustine (eighteen sentences, one misattributed), whom Protestants widely acknowledged as the most authoritative church father. Several of her citations come from the Polyanthea and Flores, but for the most part she evidently used Erasmus’s edition of Augustine’s works, whose index is the source of one sentence (89). Within this vast corpus, his lengthy epistles on political issues and his magnum opus, The City of God, commanded Elizabeth’s attention. Sentence 37, however, conflates excerpts from two passages in the Polyanthea: “Regi veritatem iubenti resistens, Deo resistit” (He who resists a king ordering what is true, resists God). Four quotations from Augustine in the “Obedientia” chapter of the compendium argue that one must obey rulers appointed by God when they command justly, but one must obey God when rulers’ commands run counter to God’s law.35 The first quotation expands on the duty and limits of obedience asserted in Romans 13:2: “Qui resistit potestati, dei ordinationi resistit: Sed quid si illud iubeatur quod non debeas facere? . . . Maior potestas deus” (Whoever resists [earthly] power, resists the ordinance of God. But what if that is commanded which you should not do? . . . God is the greater power). The second quotation focuses, as Elizabeth does, on rulers’ “veritatem” (truth): “Imperatores si . . . contra veritatem leges darent . . . non tamen faciendum: quod illi iubent: quia deus prohibet . . . quando autem Imperatores veritatem tenent, pro ipsa contra errorem iubent, quod quisquis contempserit: ipse sibi iudicium acquirit” (If rulers . . . gave laws against truth . . . nevertheless one must not do what they command because God prohibits it . . . but when rulers possess the truth, when they command on its be-

34. On early modern readers’ use of indices, see Ann Blair, “Reading Strategies for Coping with Information Overload ca. 1550–1700,” Journal of the History of Ideas 64 (2003): 17–19. 35. Domenico Nani Mirabelli, ed., Polyanthea (Solingen, 1539), fol. 208v.

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half against error: whoever should despise their command calls judgment upon himself).36 In keeping with her practice in reshaping other sententiae, Elizabeth excises from both passages Augustine’s defense of disobedience when rulers deviate from God’s truth. Bernard of Clairvaux, her most cited medieval author, is represented by two sentences from the Flores, four from an index of sententiae in a Renaissance edition of his collected works, and one from his first epistle. It is accordingly difficult to say how much of Bernard’s work Elizabeth actually read.37 Her quotations from him and other medieval writers were perhaps intended to demonstrate that the “Supreme Governor” of the Church of England was the learned heir of a broad Christian tradition, to which John Jewel had given authoritative status in his magisterial Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae / Apology for the Church of England (Latin original and English trans., 1562), composed and published at the behest of Elizabeth and her principal minister, William Cecil.38 Well before Jewel wrote, however, Erasmus had applied an at once inclusive and selective approach to sources for Christian teaching, observing that exemplary passages could be culled even from questionable texts.39 The ubiquitous influence and the explicit presence of Erasmus in the Sententiae of 1563 probably provide further indications of Elizabeth’s own convictions at this date. Despite his adherence to the Catholic faith and his dispute with Luther, in the 1560s both Protestants and Catholics—the one side with qualified admiration, the other side with strong condemnation—looked on Erasmus as a proto- or quasi-Reformer.40 Erasmus had been a central influence among the

36. For modern texts of the two passages, from Sermones de Scripturis, no. 62, chap. 8, sec. 12, and Epistle 105, “To the Donatists,” respectively, see PL 38:420–21; 33:398. For help locating passages in the Patrologia Latina, we have used the online Chadwyck-Healey “Patrologia Latina Database.” 37. In marginalia in her English New Testament, ca. 1579–81, Elizabeth also quotes from the second chapter of a brief schoolboy handbook on morals, the De ordine vitae, attributed to Bernard in Renaissance collected editions; see below, p. 404. 38. John Jewel, An Apology of the Church of England, ed. J. E. Booty (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia for the Folger Shakespeare Library, 1963); on the motive and context of the work, see ix–xlvi. 39. Erasmus, Institutio, 180–81. 40. See Bruce Mansfield, Phoenix of His Age: Interpretations of Erasmus c. 1550–1750 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979), 27–39, 110–14; and C. R. Thompson, Erasmus and Tudor England (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing, 1971), 50–64.

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evangelical humanists patronized by Katherine Parr.41 Elizabeth’s reliance on his authority, coupled with her omission of any Protestant authors, suggests her abiding loyalty to the religious orientation that she received in her youth. It also suggests her belief that Erasmian humanism should continue to animate the Church of England and give it direction in the acrimonious doctrinal controversies of a later age. While only 76 of Elizabeth’s sententiae come from Christian authors as opposed to 123 from classical ones, the 60 Scriptural citations tip the balance in favor of Judeo-Christian authority. The envelope structure of her first five sections reinforces the primacy of the religious texts: each begins with Scripture, proceeds to a mix of secular and Christian writers, and concludes with Christian writers. The chapters of the Polyanthea begin with Scripture, proceed to patristic and medieval ecclesiastical writers, and then move on to classical authors; chapters close either with these classical writers or with a few Italian vernacular selections from Dante and / or Petrarch that return readers to Christian views. Elizabeth’s adaptation of the Polyanthea’s second schema to her all-Latin text forcefully gives Christian truth the first and last say, as it literally frames pagan wisdom. Yet her final section on war strikingly deviates from her envelope structure, citing Augustine on the morality of war (249–51) as its penultimate authority but concluding with seven maxims from Vegetius on military strategy. Perhaps, as in some of her translations, her energy lagged as she neared the conclusion and consequently neglected her plan; perhaps her eagerness to foreground her expertise in war prompted her to set aside her otherwise consistent arrangement. Although she may have been gathering these materials for more than fifteen years and had clearly thought through the general arrangement of her materials, numerous errors suggest that Elizabeth did not apply great care in preparing her sentences for the press or overseeing their publication. As our notes indicate, misprints and grammatical mistakes abound, sometimes wrenching the sense. Sources are often cited incorrectly. Errors of transcription and citation at the time of collection, reordering of the sequences of sentences at various stages (causing “ibidem” references to become confused), and the printer’s difficulty in construing Elizabeth’s manuscript all no doubt played a part. Perhaps the most revealing error may be one of omission, not 41. Thompson, Erasmus and Tudor England, 50–53.

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commission: the title Precationes privatae Regiae E. R. gives no indication that the Sententiae follow the Latin prayers as the very considerable midsection of the volume. Perhaps Elizabeth decided late in the publication process to append them to her prayers to complement her expression of piety—notably, her gratitude that her smallpox in October 1562 had not proved fatal—with a sententious display of her principles of governance. The Sententiae, a project probably first undertaken for her father, here bespeak Elizabeth’s new lease on life and her queenship.

Elizabeth’s Sententiae, 15631 De Regno On Rule [1] [2]

[3]

[4]

Quae sunt potestates a Deo ordinatae. Rom. 13[:1]2 The powers that be are ordained of God. Quisquis resistet3 potestati, Dei ordinationi resistit. ibidem. [13:2] Whoever resists power, resists the ordinance of God. Qui restiterint sibi ipsis iudicium accipient. [Paraphrases Romans 13:2] Those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves. Principes non sunt terrori, bene agentibus sed male. [Paraphrases Romans 13:3] Rulers are not a terror to those doing good but to those doing evil.

1. Source: Precationes priuatae Regiae E. R. (London, 1563), sigs. Fii r–Kvi r. This collection of 259 sentences in Latin is printed immediately following Elizabeth’s seven Latin prayers (Prayers 3–9 in ACFLO and CW). In places we have modernized the orthography, punctuation, and capitalization; we have also provided an English translation following each of the sentences. For convenient reference we have numbered the sentences in square brackets; they are unnumbered in the original text. 2. Rom. 13[:1] All Biblical citations have been checked against the Latin Vulgate, and paraphrases noted. Where unremarked, the wording is an exact or a close quotation. 3. resistet Should read “resistit” (present rather than future tense).

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[5]

Princeps Dei minister est in bonum ei, qui quod bonum est facit. [Paraphrases Romans 13:4, 3] For the ruler is the minister of God for the good of him who does what is good. [6] Princeps Dei minister est, ultor ad iram ei, qui quod malum est fecerit. [Paraphrases Romans 13:4] The ruler is the minister of God, revenger of wrath upon him who has done what is evil. [7] Princeps non frustra gladium gestat. [Paraphrases Romans 13:4] The ruler does not bear the sword in vain. [8] Ipse mutat tempora, et aetates, transfert regna atque constituit. Dani[el] 2[:21] He changes the times and seasons; He takes away kingdoms and sets them up. [9] Ab uno sensato inhabitatur4 patria, et a tribus impiis deseretur. Eccle[siasticus] 16[:5]. The country is inhabited by one who is wise, and by ungodly tribes will be forsaken. [10] Rex insipiens perdet populum suum, et civitates inhabitabuntur, per sensum prudentum. Eccle[siasticus]. 10[:3]. An unwise king will destroy his people, and cities shall be inhabited through the judgment of prudent rulers. [11] Ecce oculi domini super regnum peccans, et conteram illud a facie terrae. Amos 9[:8]. Behold the eyes of the Lord are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will crush it from the face of the earth. [12]5 Rex debet se habere ad subditos, sicut pastor ad oues. Eth. 8. A king should treat his subjects as a shepherd does his sheep. 4. inhabitatur Probably an error for “inhabitabitur,” the Vulgate reading, where two clauses have parallel future verbs: “will be inhabited . . . will be forsaken.” 5. [12] Nos. 12 to 15 quote with small variations the Latin paraphrases of Aristotle and reproduce the references given in Mirabelli’s Polyanthea (1539). Nos. 12, 14, and 15 appear together in the “Princeps” chapter, fol. 243v; no. 13 appears in the “Paupertas” chapter, fol. 219v. Several editions of this anthology appeared between the first edition of 1503 and the publication of Elizabeth’s Sententiae, and it is impossible to say with certainty which edition she used. Although we cite the 1539 Solingen edition, we have also consulted the editions of 1503, 1517, 1546, and 1552 (the latter two being paginary reprints of 1539); other editions appeared in 1507, 1512, and 1514. All of Elizabeth’s sententiae derived from the Polyanthea appear in all five editions consulted with the possible exception of two consecu-

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[13]

Nimis viles et egeni nesciunt principem agere. idem. Polit. 4. Those who are too lowly and needy do not know how to rule. [14] Oportet principem bonos honorare et ipsum eis honores distribuere, supplicia autem distribuere non per se, sed per alios. idem. Pol. 5. A ruler should honor good men and distribute honors to them himself, but he should not distribute punishments himself, but through others. [15] Princeps debet esse Dei cultor, quia minus timent homines iniustum pati a principe, si Dei cultorem eum putant. ibidem. A ruler should be a worshiper of God, because men less fear to suffer injustice from a ruler if they think him a worshiper of God. [16] Principes ministri sunt Dei ad curam et salutem hominum, ut bona quae Deus illis largitur, partim distribuant, partim servent. Pluta. De. doctr. princ.6 Rulers are the ministers of God for the care and salvation of men, so that of the goods that God bestows liberally upon them, part they should distribute, part keep safe. [17] Licet regi et affectu fieri philosophum, et fortuna manere principem. ibidem.7 A king may become a philosopher in temperament yet remain a ruler in status. tive Livy quotations (nos. 229-30), versions of which appear consecutively in the “Bellum” chapter only in the 1539 edition and its paginary reprints of 1546 and 1552. However, since Elizabeth’s two quotations provide evidence that she consulted her Livy edition directly, they suggest but do not prove that she used one of these later editions of the Polyanthea; see also notes 186–87 to nos. 229–30. 6. Principes . . . princ. A near exact quotation of Erasmus’s translation of Plutarch’s “De doctrina principum,” in Opuscula (Paris, 1544), 252A, cited hereafter as “Plutarch.” All the Plutarch sayings probably derive from this anthology translated by diverse hands or from the Basel editions of 1554 and 1555 edited by Iano Cornario, which follows the Paris edition in all relevant passages. While Elizabeth could also have found all her sentences in the main text of Plutarch, Opuscula (Venice, 1532), an earlier, less complete anthology on which the Paris and Basel editions are based, she seems to have consulted the large index of the Paris or Basel editions, which contains several of her sententiae not present in the Venice anthology index. 7. Licet . . . ibidem Elizabeth gives a more general cast to this saying from Erasmus’s translation of Plutarch’s “De doctrina principum” by eliminating the examples of the philosopher (Diogenes) and the ruler (Alexander): “Licebat igitur pilosophantem simul & affectu fieri Diogenem, & fortunam manere Alexandrum” (Plutarch, 252I).

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[18]

Imperium nemini convenit, qui, quibus imperat, melior non sit. Cyr apud Plut. in Apophtheg.8 Rule ill befits anyone who is not better than those he rules. [19] Ditare magis est regium quam ditessere. ibidem.9 To enrich others is more regal than to grow rich. [20] Regium est cum benefeceris, male audire. Alexan. apud Plutarch. ibidem.10 To be spoken of badly when you have performed a kindness is a king’s lot. [21]11 Efficiat princeps, ut subditi metuant non ipsum, sed pro ipso. Pittac. apud Tob.12 Let the ruler bring it about that subjects do not fear him, but fear for him. [22] Rex libros de regno scriptos emat ac legat, nam de quibus amici reges admonere non audent, ea in libris sunt descripta. Demet. ibidem.13 Let the king procure and read books and writings about his kingdom, for things about which their friends do not dare to admonish kings are written down in books.

8. Imperium . . . Apophtheg. A close quotation of Raffaele Regio’s translation of Cyrus the Great’s saying that opens Plutarch’s “Regum & imperatorum apophthegmata” (Plutarch, 80K). 9. Ditare . . . ibidem A close quotation of Regio’s translation of a saying of Ptolemy Soter, king of Egypt, in the “Apophthegmata” (Plutarch, 85E), which also appears in the Paris edition index. ditessere An error for “ditescere.” 10. Regium . . . ibidem An exact quotation of Regio’s translation of a saying of Alexander the Great in the “Apophthegmata” (Plutarch, 85D), which also appears in the Paris edition index. 11. [21] Nos. 21–26 derive from the chapters “De regno” (“On Rule”) and “De magistratu, et qualem oporteat esse principem” (“On the Magistrate, and What Kind of Person a Ruler Should Be”) in Stobaeus, Sententiae ex thesauris graecorum delectae, ed. and trans. Konrad Gesner (Zurich, 1543). This volume has many faulty page numbers. Unless otherwise noted, all references to Stobaeus are to Gesner’s translation, which appears on facing pages with the Greek original. 12. Efficiat . . . Tob. A paraphrase of a sentence ascribed to Pittacus of Mytilene in Stobaeus, fol. 329r. Elizabeth turns the description of the behavior that would make a ruler “celebris” (renowned) into a jussive subjunctive. Tob. A misprint for “Stob[aeus].” 13. Rex . . . ibidem A near exact quotation of a saying attributed to the Peripatetic philosopher Demetrius of Phalerum in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 328r. The saying also appears in Plutarch’s “Apophthegmata,” but Elizabeth is much closer to Gesner’s Latin than to Regio’s (Plutarch, 89B).

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[23] Viris prudentibus dicendi libertatem concedat princeps, ut de quibus dubitauerint cum princepe comunicent. Isocr. ibidem.14 Let the ruler allow liberty of speech to prudent men, so that they may communicate with the ruler concerning matters about which they harbor doubts. [24] Verum imperii nomen mihi gerere videtur ille princeps, qui auro in expugnabilis, ratione facilis captu sit. Themist.15 It seems to me that that that ruler carries the true authority of rule, who is proof against gold but easily captured by reason. [25] In Rege perfecto, ut bonus sit Imperator, Iudex, et Sacerdos tequiritur. Pytha.16 In the perfect king, a good military leader, judge, and priest must be found. [26] Principes non sunt, qui sceptra ferunt, sed qui regere sciunt. Xenoph. lib. 3. de fac et dict. Socra.17 Rulers are not those who wield scepters but those who know how to rule.

14. Viris . . . ibidem Adaptation of a saying of the Athenian orator Isocrates in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 328r. In the original, the ruler is told to seek counsel concerning matters of which he is uncertain: “Viris prudentibus loquendi libertatem concede, uti de quibus dubitaveris habeas qui tecum consultant” (Allow liberty of speech to prudent men, so that they may consult with you on matters concerning which you harbor doubts). Elizabeth’s version exhorts the ruler to allow prudent men to express their own uncertainties. The change could be intentional, but her plural “dubitaverint” might be an error for singular “dubitaverit,” which would yield the same sense as the original. princepe An error for “principe.” 15. Verum . . . Themist. Part of a saying of Themistius, an Aristotelian philosopher and rhetorician, in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 316r. The Greek employs wordplay lost in the Latin: the good ruler is “δυσάλωτος” (hard to capture) with gold but “εὐάλωτος” (easy to capture) by “λόγος” (reason). in expugnabilis, ratione Errors for “inexpugnabilis, rationi.” 16. In . . . Pytha. An exact quotation, except for a misprint, from “Diotogenes the Pythagorean” in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 330. tequiritur A printer’s error for “requiritur.” Pytha. Elizabeth’s citation confuses the Pythagorean Diotogenes, whose treatise on kingship is lengthily cited in Stobaeus, with Pythagoras himself. 17. Principes . . . Socra. A close quotation from the beginning and end of a sentence in a speech of Socrates in Xenophon’s Memorabilia (De factis & dictis Socratis) 3.9.10, excerpted in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 338r. The omitted material denies that those who gain a throne by fortune, force, or deception are true kings.

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[27] Officium est imperare non regnum. Senec. Epist. 91.18 It is a duty, not an exercise of royalty, to rule. [28] Natura commenta est regem, quod ex aliis animalibus licet cognossere: et ex apibus, quarum regi amptissimum cubile est, medioque et tutissimo loco. idem. De clementia.19 Nature herself has contrived the idea of a king, which we may know from other creatures, and especially bees, whose king has the largest cell, placed in the middle and safest spot. [29] Existimet rex non rempublicam suam esse, sed se reipublicae. ibidem.20 Let the king not consider the commonwealth to be his, but consider himself to belong to the commonwealth. [30] Haec conditio principum ut quicquid faciant precipere videant. Quintil. Del. 30.21 This is the lot of rulers, that whatever they do they seem to be advising [by example]. [31] Imperia male parta, male gesta, male retenta obruuntur. Liuius 9.22 Powers foully created, foully exercised, and foully retained come to ruin.

18. Officium . . . 91 An adaptation of Seneca Epistulae morales 91 (90 in modern editions), sec. 5: “officium erat imperare, non regnum.” Elizabeth turns Seneca’s description of a Golden Age past into a timeless ideal. 19. Natura . . . clementia A near exact quotation from Seneca De clementia 1.19.2. cognossere An error for “cognoscere.” amptissimum A misprint for “amplissimum.” 20. Existimet . . . ibidem An adaptation of Seneca De clementia 1.19.8 that turns a description of an ideal ruler into an admonition. 21. Haec . . . 30 An adaptation from pseudo-Quintilian Declamationes 3.15, substituting “principum” (rulers) for “superiorum” (superiors). videant An error for “videantur.” Del. 30 An error for “Decl[amatio] 3.” 22. Imperia . . . 9 A close quotation of an index entry in a 1522–32 Florentine Livy edition, substituting a final generalizing “obruuntur” (come to ruin) for the entry’s concluding reference to the downfall of the patrician and decimvir Appius Claudius: “obruerunt Appium” (they [unjust powers] ruined Appius); see Livy, Ex XIIII T. Livii Decadibus [Ab urbe condita], 4 vols. (Florence, 1522–32). The index entry rearranges a passage from Livy Ab urbe condita 9.34.3. We have consulted three other Renaissance editions of Livy (Basel, 1531; Paris, 1543; Venice, 1545); only the indices to the four volumes of the 1522–32 Florentine edition contain exact or close versions of all nine of Elizabeth’s Livy maxims. Since the index entries give page numbers but not Livy’s book numbers, Elizabeth evidently consulted Livy’s text for her book number references.

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[32] Indigna res est, honores dare, qui gerere non potest. Plini. in paueg.23 It is a shameful thing for one who cannot administer high offices to give them to others. [33] Regum opes sepius assentatio, quam hostis evertit. Curtius. lib. 8.24 Flattery more often than an enemy overturns the power of kings. [34] Nec imperatoris est, libertatem dicendi negare, nec sacerdotis, quod sentiat non dicere. Amb.25 It is not for a ruler to deny liberty of speech, nor for a priest not to say what he feels. [35] Principes huius seculi sunt Dei ministri. Ansel.26 Rulers of this world are the ministers of God. [36] Princeps sine literis, nauis est, sine regimine et volucris, sine pennis. Pet. Pau.27 A ruler without learning is a ship without a steering oar and a bird without wings. [37] Regi veritatem iubenti resistens, Deo resistit. Aug.28 He who resists a king ordering what is true resists God. 23. Indigna . . . paueg A close quotation of Pliny the Younger’s Panegyric on Trajan 77.7, changing the verbs from contrary-to-fact subjunctive to present indicative. paueg. i.e., “paneg.” (a turned letter is a common printer’s error). 24. Regum . . . 8 A close quotation of Quintus Curtius Rufus Historia Alexandri Magni 8.5.1. 25. Nec . . . Amb. A close quotation of Ambrose’s Epistle 29, to King Theodosius, in Ambrose, Opera Omnia, ed. Desiderius Erasmus, 5 vols. (Basel, 1538), 3:129B; for a slightly different version, see Epistle 40 in PL 16:1148C. 26. Principes . . . Ansel. An exact quotation of an index entry to Anselm, In omnes . . . Pavli . . . epistolas enarrationes (Cologne, 1545). The original passage, from a commentary on Romans 13, concerns a (singular) “princeps” (91D). The commentary is ascribed to Herveus of Bordeaux (ca. 1080–1148) rather than Anselm in PL 181:777A. 27. Princeps . . . Pau. A close quotation from the “Sapientia, vel scientia” chapter in Thomas of Ireland (Thomas Hibernicus), ed., Flores omnium pene doctorum (Paris, 1555), 958, substituting “regimine” (oar) for “remige” (oarsman). Pet. Pau. The Flores ascribes the passage to “Pet. Rau.” (Peter of Ravenna). “Pau.” may be a misprint, or Elizabeth may have confused Peter of Ravenna with another author in the Flores, “Pet. Pau.” (Petrus Paulinus). The quotation actually comes from a letter of Petrus Blesensis (Peter of Blois), Archbishop of Canterbury, to King Henry II in 1161 (Opera Petri Blesensis [Mainz, 1600], 117; PL 207:211B). 28. Regi . . . Aug. The “Obedientia” chapter in the Polyanthea has four quotations from Augustine arguing that one must obey rulers appointed by God when they command justly, but obey God when rulers command counter to God’s law (fol. 208v). See our introduction, pp. 342–43.

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[38] Rex qui nulli fidit, inutilis est: nec minus qui omnibus. apud Platenam.29 A king who trusts nobody is useless; no less so is one who trusts everybody. [39] Non est regio nomine dignus, qui suis commodis publica metitur. ibidem.30 He is not worthy of the name of king, who measures public affairs by his own interests. [40] Principes legem Dei operum suorum ducem habeant. Chrisost.31 Let rulers regard the law of God as the guide of their activities. [41] Bono viro non minori curae est, qualis respublica post mortem suam futura sit, quam qualis hodie sit. Cicero in Lelio.32 For the good man, the condition of the commonwealth after his death is no less a concern than its condition today.

29. [38] . . . Platenam Nos. 38 and 39 paraphrase Erasmus’s Institutio Principis Christiani (1523), chap. 1. While the two sentences are rightly assigned to the same source, the source is misidentified. Rex . . . omnibus The opening of the Institutio warns that a Christian ruler should be “nec ita concitatum . . . ne . . . admonentem aut counsulentem non ferat, nec rursus ita lentum, ut cuiuslibet arbitrio quovis duci sese patiatur” (neither so rash that he. . . may not endure any advisor or counsellor, nor on the other hand so pliant that he allows himself to be led by the will of anybody anywhere he might wish); see Erasmus’s Institutio, 136. Elizabeth’s contrast between “nulli” and “omnibus” conflates Erasmus with Seneca’s Epistulae morales 3.4: “Utrumque enim vitium est, et omnibus credere et nulli” (For each is a vice, to trust everybody or to trust nobody). apud Platenam Probably a misprint for “apud Platonem” (in Plato). Erasmus loosely recalls Plato’s notion that a ruler should be neither too rash nor too stolid (Republic 6.503b–504a), which may have initially motivated the incorrect attribution. 30. Non . . . ibidem A paraphrase of Erasmus’s “Etenim qui sibi gerit imperium et omnia suis metitur commodis, is, non refert quibus ornetur titulis, certe re tyrannus est, non princeps” (For he who rules to suit himself and measures all things by his own interests, he, no matter what his titles, is surely in reality a tyrant, not a legitimate ruler; Institutio, 152). 31. Principes . . . Chrisost. Possibly inspired by John Chrysostom’s Sermon 4 on Genesis, sec. 2, which in George of Trebizond’s Latin translation claims that “principum ipsorum principes sunt leges” (laws are the rulers of rulers); see John Chrysostom, Opera, 10 vols. in 5 (Basel, 1539), 4:593. 32. Bono . . . Lelio An adaptation of De amicitia (known in the Renaissance as “In Lelio”) 12.43, generalizing Cicero’s claim about his personal concern for the republic’s fate after his death into a claim about the “good man.” Elizabeth exactly quotes the version in Cicero, Sententiae Insigniores, Apophthegmata, Parabolae, ed. Petrus Lagnerius (Lyon, 1555), 49. She drew her Cicero sentences from this collection: all of them appear in this anthology, and except in one instance all her versions are closer to Lagnerius’s versions than to Cicero’s originals where the two diverge (see no. 220 and note).

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[42] Nulla reipublicae administratio proderit, nisi Deus verus colatur. Aug. Epist. 52.33 No governance will profit the commonwealth, unless the true God be worshiped. [43] Summus locus bene regitur, cum is qui praeest, vitiis potius, quam fratribus dominatur. Aug. Greg. 26 mor.34 The highest place is well ruled when he who leads masters his vices rather than his brothers. [44] Pondus regiminis adversa quaeque despiciat et prospera formidet. Grego.35 The weight of rule should despise all adversities and fear all favorable circumstances. [45] In regni regimine, iusticia et potestas eget aequitate. Greg.36 In the rule of a kingdom, justice and power require equity. [46] Praeesse et non prodesse, graue, nolle prodesse gravius. Beruli.37 To lead and not be of use is grievous, and not to wish to be of use even more so. 33. Nulla . . . 52 A distillation from Augustine’s Epistle 52, to Macedonius, vicar of Africa (155, sec. 10 in modern editions): “Si . . . administratio tua. . . hoc intentionis fine determinatur: ut homines secundum carnem nullas iniquas molestias patiantur: nec ad te existimas . . . quomodo deum verum . . . colant: nihil tibi prodest ad vitam vere beatam tantus labor . . . . verus veri dei cultus, ad omnia prodest” (If . . . your governance . . . is determined by this final goal, that men should suffer no unjust hardships according to the flesh; and if you do not consider how they worship the true God . . . your great labor profits you nothing toward the truly blessed life. . . . The true worship of the true God profits in all things); see Augustine, Opera Omnia, ed. Desiderius Erasmus, 10 vols. (Basel, 1528–29), 2:152B, 154B; and for a modern text, PL 33:670–71. 34. Summus . . . mor. An exact quotation of a saying of Gregory the Great cited in the “Princeps” chapter of Polyanthea, fol. 242v; the “Regimen, sive regere” chapter of Flores, 887l; and the index of Gregory, Omnia Opera (Paris, 1533). Aug. The citation of “Aug[ustinus]” is a slip involving the preceding entry. 26 mor. Elizabeth reproduces the Polyanthea reference to “Liber 26 moralium.” The index to Gregory’s Omnia Opera cites Moralia in Job 26.22, as well as two other places where he makes this claim (Omnia Opera, fols. 153A, 217E, 368E; compare PL 77:36C, 476A). 35. Pondus . . . Grego. An adaptation of an index entry in Gregory’s works as well as of the title of chap. 3 of his Regula pastoralis [Pastoralis cura]: “De pondere regiminis eo quod adversa quaeque despicienda sunt, et prospera formidanda” (Omnia Opera, fol. 214F; PL 77:16B). Elizabeth applies Gregory’s advice regarding pastoral leadership to a monarch. 36. In . . . Greg. A close quotation of the opening of Gregory’s letter to Queen Brunichild, Epistolae 7.121 (9.117 in modern numbering) in Omnia Opera, fol. 429H; PL 77:1048A. 37. Praeesse . . . Beruli An exact quotation of an entry in the “tabulus . . . praecipuarum sententiarum” (table of preeminent sententiae) in Bernard of Clairvaux, Opera (Lyon,

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De Iustitia On Justice [47] Rex iustus, erigit terram suam. Proverb. 29[:4]. The just king establishes his land. [48] Firmatur iustitia thronus regis. ibidem. 25[:5]. The throne of a king is established by justice. [49] Iustus quasi leo confidens, absque timore erit. 28 ibid. [Proverbs 28:1]. Justice, confident as a lion, will be without fear. [50] Iustitia eleuat gentem. ibidem. 14[:34]. Justice raises up the people. [51] Domus iusti plurima fortitudo. ibidem. 3.38 The house of the just has much strength. [52] Diligite iustitiam qui iudicatis terram. Sapi[entia] [Wisdom of Solomon] 1[:1]. Love justice, you who are judges of the earth. [53] Regnum a gente in gentem transfertur propter et iniurias,39 contumelias ac diuersos dolos. Eccl[esiasticus] 10[:8]. A kingdom is transferred from one people to another because of [injustices] and injuries, and wrongs, and diverse deceits. [54] Qui operatur iustitiam, ipse exaltabitur. ibidem 20[:30]. He who performs justice will be exalted. [55] Qui sequitur iustitiam, et facit40 misericordiam, inveniet vitam, iustitiam et gloriam. Proverb. 21[:21]. Who follows justice, and performs [acts of] mercy, will find life, justice, and glory. [56] Rex non declinet in partem dexteram vel sinistram ut longo tempore regnet ipse et filii eius. [Excerpts] Deut[eronomy] 17[:20]. Let the king not swerve to the right side or the left, so that he and his sons may reign a long time. 1544). The entry paraphrases Bernard’s admonition in Epistle 86 to one who was thinking of resigning his abbotship (Opera, fol. 209v; PL 182:210D). Beruli This incorrect reference probably stems from elaboration of an initial confusion of the abbreviation “Bern[ardus]” with “Beru”—a printer’s error for “Bern” found in nos. 163, 196, and 245. 38. ibidem. 3 The correct reference is Proverbs 15:6. 39. et iniurias Elizabeth or the printer has mistakenly truncated the Vulgate phrase “iniustias et iniurias” (injustices and injuries). 40. facit Elizabeth’s addition.

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[57] In vindicandis iniuriis lex est, ut haec tria princeps consideret, aut ut eum quem punit emendet, aut ut poena eius caeteros meliores reddat, aut ut sublatis malis, caeteri securiores vivant. Seneca De clementia.41 The law regarding punishment of injuries is that the ruler should consider these three things: either that he amends the one whom he punishes, or that he makes others better by the one man’s punishment, or that, by removing bad men, he makes other men live more safely. [58] Lachrimare plebi, regi honeste non licet. Ennius apud Hier.42 It is permitted to the common people, but not to a good king, to weep. [59] Imperator leges ferat, quas primus ipse custodiat. Amb.43 Let the ruler pass laws that he himself first would keep. [60] Iustitia regis, pax est populorum, tutanie patriae, immunitas plebis, nominentum regentis, cura languorum, gaudium hominum, temperies aëris, serenitas maris, terrae foecunditas, solatium pauperum, haereditas filiorum, et sibi metipsi spes futurae beatitudinis. Cip. De 22 Abus.44 The justice of a king is the peace of his people, the protection of his country, the liberty of the common people, the bulwark of the realm, the treatment of sickness, the joy of men, the temperateness of the local air, the tranquillity of the sea, the fecundity of the earth, the solace of the poor, the inheritance of sons, and, for the king himself, the hope of future bliss.

41. In . . . clementia A close quotation of Seneca De clementia 1.22.1. 42. Lachrimare . . . Hier. An exact quotation of the archaic Latin poet Ennius as cited in Jerome’s Epistle 3, to Heliodorus (60 in modern numbering), in Omnia Opera, ed. Desiderius Erasmus, 9 vols. in 4 (Basel, 1516), 1:18A; PL 22:598. 43. Imperator . . . Amb. A close quotation from Ambrose’s Epistle 32, to Emperor Valentinian (40 in modern numbering), in Opera Omnia, 3:146C; PL 16:1004C–1005A. 44. Iustitia . . . Abus. Except for several errors, an otherwise exact quotation of a passage in the “Iusticia” chapter in Polyanthea, fol. 169v, and in the “Iustitia, & Iustus” chapter in Flores, 562z. The source in pseudo-Cyprian’s De 12 abusionibus saeculi 9, to which both the Polyanthea and Flores refer, begins “Ecce quantum justitia regis saeculo valeat” (Behold how much the justice of a king may flourish in this age); see PL 4:878C. tutanie An error for “tutamen.” nominentum An error for “munimentum.” regentis An error for “gentis.” 22 An error for “12.”

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[62]

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Magistratus, iudexque, nec pro iustis orandus, nec pro iniustis exorandus. Cato apud Plutarch.45 The magistrate and judge should neither require pleading for just causes nor be prevailed upon for unjust ones. Oportet leges quidem acriter statui, mitius autem, quam ipsae iubent paenas sumere. apud Stob.46 Severe laws should be decreed, but one should exact punishments milder than they prescribe. Viros tales iis rebus praefice quas tu peragere non possis, ceu ipse prestiturus sis culpam eorum quae illi deliquerant. Isocra.47 Appoint such men, for matters that you cannot perform, as if you yourself will be responsible for the offenses that they commit. Administrans rempublicam respublicas priuatas aexistimet, privatas vero publicas. Isocr.48 Let him who manages the commonwealth regard public matters as his own, but his own affairs as public. Perinde periculum est, ut insanienti gladium, sic improbo viro magistratum committere. apud Stob.49 Just as it is a danger to entrust a sword to a madman, so is it to entrust an office of state to a bad man.

45. Magistratus . . . Plutarch A close quotation of Regio’s translation of Cato the Elder’s dictum (Plutarch, 93H); a condensed version appears in the index of the Paris edition. 46. Oportet . . . Stob. An exact quotation of a saying ascribed to the Attic orator Isaeus in Stobaeus’s “De regno” chapter, in Sententiae, fol. 328r. paenas i.e., “poenas.” 47. Viros . . . Isocra. A close quotation of a saying of Isocrates in Stobaeus’s “De regno” chapter, in Sententiae, fol. 328r. deliquerant This pluperfect is an error for Gesner’s “deliquerint” (future perfect). 48. Administrans . . . Isocr. The first half of the statement paraphrases Isocrates’s claim in To Nicocles 19 and 22, that the good ruler cares for his realm as if it were his private estate. Hieronymus Wolf ’s Latin translation has a marginal gloss “Rempublicam ut rem privatam curant” (They [good rulers] care for the commonwealth as if it were their private property); see Isocrates, Orationes et Epistolae, trans. Wolf (Paris, 1557), 34. The second half is an inference from Isocrates’s stress on ruling for the public good. aexistimet Elizabeth’s or the printer’s nonce form conflates “existimet” and “aestimet.” 49. Perinde . . . Stob. A close quotation of a saying of Iamblichus in the “De republica” chapter of Stobaeus, Sententiae, fols. 258v–259r. gladium sword; Gesner’s loose rendering of Greek “μάχαιρα[ν]” (a sacrificial knife).

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[66] Custodes legum diligenter praeuideant, primum ne fiant delicta, deinde facta pro ut ius postulat, puniantur. Plato de Leg. Diab. 6.50 Let the guardians of the laws diligently foresee, first that evil deeds not happen, then that such deeds be punished as the law demands. [67] Magistratus lex est loquens. Cicero 30 De legibus.51 The magistrate is a speaking law. [68] Qui reipublicae presunt legibus similes sint, quae ad puniendum non iracundia, sed aequitate feruntur. Cicero De offici.52 Let those who govern the commonwealth be like the laws, which are led to inflict punishment not with wrath but with equity. [69] In severitate iudicis sita est legum authoritas. Demost. Contu. Mid.53 In the severity of the judge lies the authority of the laws. [70] Iudicantes eadem mente preditos esse oportet, qua legislatores. Lysias.54 Judges should be endowed with the same frame of mind as the lawmakers. 50. Custodes . . . 6 A close quotation from Plato’s Laws 6.762d–e, excerpted in the “De legibus et consuetudinis” (“On Laws and Customs”) chapter in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 310r. Diab. A printer’s error for “Dial[ogus].” 51. Magistratus . . . legibus An exact quotation from Cicero, Sententiae, 46, which condenses De legibus 3.1.2: “vereque dici potest magistratum legem esse loquentem” (truly it may be be said that the magistrate is a speaking law). 30 An error for book “3.” 52. Qui . . . office A close citation of Cicero De officiis 1.25.89, quoted in Cicero, Sententiae, 48. legibus Elizabeth’s substitution for “legum.” feruntur Elizabeth’s substitution for “ducuntur.” 53. In . . . Mid. A quotation not of Demosthenes but of Hieronymus Wolf ’s marginal gloss in his Demosthenes edition near the end of “Adversus Midiam” (“Against Meidias”), which Elizabeth cites as “Contumelia Midiae” (“The Attack upon Meidias”): “Legum autoritas posita in severitate iudicum” (The authority of the laws resides in the severity of the judges); Demosthenes, Opera, trans. Wolf, 5 vols. (Basel, 1549?), 2:155. Elizabeth substitutes a synonymous verb, modifies word order, and changes plural “iudicum” to singular “iudicis.” The original Greek and its Latin translation have little resenblance to Wolf ’s generalizing gloss: Demosthenes directly addresses the Athenian jury, reminding them they are “strong” because of the laws and the laws “strong” because of them (sect. 224 in modern editions). 54. Iudicantes . . . Lysias A close quotation of a saying attributed to the Athenian orator Lysias in Stobaeus’s “De magistratu” chapter in Sententiae, fol. 315r.

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Nunquam decernas, audias nisi tu prius ambos. apud Plato. De Consul.55 You should never decide a case unless you first hear both sides. Sine iusticia impossibile est habitari civitatem. Aris. Polit. 3.56 Without justice it is impossible for a community to be inhabited. Politiae maximae dissolvuntur propter iusti transgressionem. idem. 5.57 Most polities are dissolved because of a transgression from justice. Iugum stateramque ne transcendas, id est, plurimum fac iusticiam, nec eam vllo modo transcendas. Pith. apud Plut. De educ. liber.58 You should not transgress the beam and balance; that is, do much justice, and do not transgress justice in any way. Iusticiae servans lucem, multos effugies hominum sermones. Eurip. in Suppl.59 Serving the light of justice, you will escape many speeches of men.

55. Nunquam . . . Consul. A close quotation of a passage from the pseudo-Platonic dialogue, “Demodocus” or “De Consule Dando” (“Of Giving Counsel”) in the sixteenthcentury translation of Sebastiano Corrado, with “audias” instead of “audis.” See the separately paginated appendix of six dialogues translated by Corrado in Plato, Opera Omnia, trans. Marsilio Ficino and Corrado, 5 vols. (Lyon, 1550), 5:27. The passage is translated into Latin quite differently in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 320r. Elizabeth again quotes the Ficino-Corrado edition of Plato in nos. 141 and 240. 56. Sine . . . 3 An exact quotation from the “Iusticia” section of Polyanthea, fol. 170r, citing book 1, not book 3, of the Politics. The reference is presumably to 1.1.12, 1253a27–29, where Aristotle claims that “justice” regulates the “political community.” Since the Polyanthea’s next citation is Politics 3, Elizabeth’s eye probably skipped. 57. Politiae . . . 5 An exact quotation from the “Iusticia” chapter in Polyanthea, fol. 170r, separated from no. 72 by two brief passages. The Latin dictum simplifies Aristotle’s claim, in Politics 5.6.3, 1307a7–9, that aristocratic and constitutional city-states are destroyed by “a deviation from justice in the constitution.” 58. Iugum . . . liber A close quotation of Guarino Veronese’s version of a Pythagorean maxim and accompanying explanation in “De liberis educandis” in Plutarch, 6I. Veronese’s “iugum stateramque,” adopted by Elizabeth, is a hendiadys for Plutarch’s “ζυγόν” (balance-beam, 12E). 59. Iusticiae . . . Suppl. A close quotation of lines 564–65 of Euripides’s Suppliant Maidens in Philipp Melanchthon’s Latin translation and edition (Euripides, Tragoediae [Basel, 1558], 430): “servans lumen iusticiae, / Effugies multos tales sermones.” Euripides writes

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[76] Magistratum delicta iudicanda gravius, quam plebeiorum.60 The misdeeds of magistrates must be judged more grave than those of the common people. [77] Aestima iudicia, ne nuneres. Sene. Epist. 29.61 Weigh judgments, do not number them. [78] Omnia sunt incerta, cum a iure decessim est. Cice. ad Papir.62 Everything is uncertain when there is a departure from law. [79] Nihil est iuri tam inimicum, quam vis. Cicer. Pro Caecinu.63 Nothing is so contrary to law as force. [80] Fundamentum est perpetuae commendationis et famae iusticia, sine qua nihil potest esse laudabile. idem.64 The foundation of enduring reputation and fame is justice, without which nothing can be worthy of praise. [81] In maxima fortuna, nimia licentia. in Hist. saxo.65 In the highest station, there is excessive [least?] freedom. of fleeing “ψόγους” (reproaches, evil words); in Melanchthon and Elizabeth the nature of the speech must be inferred. Euripides, whom Elizabeth quotes twice and to whom she erroneously credits an additional sententia (see nos. 234–35), was much admired for his sententiousness in antiquity and the Renaissance. He is the most cited poet in Stobaeus, who includes several of his pronouncements on justice (Sententiae, fols. 68v–71r). 60. Magistratum . . . plebeiorum Elizabeth distilled this sentence from Erasmus’s chapter on the duties of magistrates in his Institutio (204–6). Erasmus declares that states can be ruined by the “vitio magistratum” (fault of magistrates), distinguishes the magistrates upon whom the “felicitas” (success) of the state depends from the “plebi” (common people) who must only obey the law, and advises that “severissima animadversio” (the most severe punishment) should be applied to magistrates’ ill-doings. 61. Aestima . . . 29 This pronouncement urging the assessment of judgments rather than mere acceptance of majority opinion adapts Seneca’s Epistulae morales 29.12: “ut malis tibi placere quam populo, ut aestimes iudicia, ne non numeres” (that you prefer to please yourself rather than the people, and that you weigh rather than count men’s judgments). nuneres A printer’s error for “numeres.” 62. Omnia . . . Papir. A close quotation from Cicero’s letter to L. Papirius Paetus, in Epistulae ad familiares 9.16.3, cited in Cicero, Sententiae, 51–52. decessim An error for “discessum.” 63. Nihil . . . Caecinu A close quotation of Cicero, Sententiae, 53, taken from Pro Caecina 11.33. Lagnerius changes Cicero’s “nec iuri quicquam” to “nihil iuri.” Elizabeth’s version differs from Lagnerius’s only in adding “est.” Caecinu An error for “Caecina.” 64. Fundamentum . . . idem A close quotation from Cicero De officiis 2.20.71, as cited in Cicero, Sententiae, 98, which, like Elizabeth, omits “enim.” 65. In . . . saxo This puzzling sentence derives from Julius Caesar’s speech in Sallust’s De bello Catilinae, entitled in Renaissance editions Historia de Coniuratione Catilinae or De Coniuratione Catilinae, 51.13–14. Caesar advises the senate to judge without partiality, hatred, or anger since “in maxima fortuna minima licentia est” (in the highest station is

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[82] Iustum est homines propter iusticiam diligere, non autem propter homines iusticiam postponere. Greg. in Pogi.66 It is just to love men on account of justice, but not to neglect justice on account of men. [83] Facile deviat a iusticia, qui in causis non Deum, sed homines pertimessit. Chris.67 He easily strays from justice who in cases of law fears not God but men. [84] Iustitia sine misericordia non est iustitia, sed crudelitas: sicut et misericordia sine iustitia, non est misericordia sed fatuitas. idem.68 Justice without mercy is not justice but cruelty: just as mercy without justice is not mercy but foolishness. [85] Iustitia temperata sit. Amb.69 Justice must be tempered. least freedom [of action]). Elizabeth may have deliberately changed the sense by substituting “nimia” (excessive) for “minima” (least), but it seems more likely, given the frequency of error in this compilation, that “nimia” should read “minima.” in Hist. saxo The erroneous reference might have arisen as a misconstrual, at some stage, of “in Hist[oriam] Sa[llusti].” (How this erroneous reference also then got applied to no. 156 from Cicero is unclear.) Elizabeth quotes a contiguous passage from Caesar’s speech in no. 108 with the correct reference. 66. Iustum . . . Pogi. A loose quotation of “Diligendi sunt homines propter iustitiam, & iustitia propter homines non est postponenda” (Men should be loved on account of justice, and justice should not be neglected on account of men), an index entry in Gregory the Great’s Omnia Opera. The index entry adapts a passage from Gregory’s epistle to exconsul Leontius (Epistolae 8.51, in Omnia Opera, fol. 436L; 10.51 in PL 77:1108A) by turning Gregory’s first-person statement of preference into an impersonal claim about what is right. in Pogi. Probably an error for “in Regi[stro],” referring to Gregory’s Registrum epistolarum (Collected Letters). 67. Facile . . . Chris. An exact quotation, except for an error, of a saying by “Chrys.” in the “Timor” chapter of Flores, 1070. The author was Petrus Chrysologus, a fifth-century Archbishop of Ravenna (PL 52:551A). Elizabeth’s “idem” in no. 84 suggests that she confused him with the celebrated John Chrysostom. pertimessit Should read “pertimescit.” 68. Iustitia . . . idem A near exact quotation of a sentence of John Chrysostom as it appears in the “Misericordia” chapters in Polyanthea, fol. 194v, and Flores, 662y. The former reads “sic” where Elizabeth reads “sicut,” the latter has an “enim.” Polyanthea cites “Io[annis] Chrys[ostom],” Flores cites “Chrys,” whence Elizabeth’s “idem.” 69. Iustitia . . . Amb. This maxim paraphrases a saying ascribed to Augustine in the “Iusticia” chapter in Polyanthea, fol. 169r: “Nimia iusticia incurrit peccatum. Temperata iusticia facit perfectos” (Too much justice runs to sin. Tempered justice makes men perfect). Amb. An error for “Aug[ustinus].” The Polyanthea contains four citations from Ambrose on justice, but none is as close to Elizabeth’s maxim as the saying ascribed to

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[86] Iustitiae actio, libertas. Ansel.70 The performance of justice is liberty. [87] Summum in regibus bonum est, iustitiam colere. Greg. Epist. 119.71 The highest good in kings is to cultivate justice. [88] Iustitia sola respublica sustentatur. Aug. 2 De civitate Dei.72 By justice alone are commonwealths sustained. [89] Iudicium vendi non debet. Aug. Epist. 54.73 Justice should not be sold. [90] Sine iudicio nemo debet condemnari. Greg.74 Nobody should be condemned without a legal judgment. [91] Ignorantia iudicis, saepe fit calamitas innocentis. Aug. 9 De civita. Dei.75 The ignorance of the judge often is the ruin of the innocent.

Augustine that we cite. This saying is actually from a work of uncertain authorship once ascribed to Augustine (PL 35:2226). 70. Iustitiae . . . Ansel. A truncated version of an index entry from Anselm’s Enarrationes, “Iustitiae actio, libertas dicitur” (The performance of justice is called liberty). The original passage from a commentary on Romans reads “libertas [designat] vero actionem iustitiae” (liberty, on the other hand, denotes an act of justice), fol. 66D. This commentary is ascribed to Herveus of Bordeaux in PL 181:727A. 71. Summum . . . 119 An exact quotation of the index entry and the opening of Gregory’s epistle to kings Theodoric and Theodebert (Epistolae 7.120; 9.116 in modern numbering) in Omnia Opera, fol. 439H; PL 77:1047A. The passage also appears in the “Iusticia” chapter in Polyanthea, fol. 169v, but all editions consulted read “in rebus” instead of “in regibus” and cite “Gregorius in Registro” without an epistle number. 119 An error for “120”; the two epistles appear on the same page in Gregory’s Omnia Opera. 72. Iustitia . . . Dei A paraphrase of Augustine’s Ciceronian arguments in De civitate Dei 2.21: “sine summa iustitia rempublicam regi non posse . . . nec omnino nisi magna iustitia geri aut stare posse rempublicam” (without the utmost justice a commonwealth cannot be governed . . . a commonwealth cannot be administered or endure without a great deal of justice; Opera Omnia, 5:35A). 73. Iudicium . . . 54 An excerpt from the index entry “Iudicium iustum vendi non debet” in Augustine, Opera Omnia, vol. 10; the index entry paraphrases Epistle 54 (153.23 in modern numbering): “non ideo debet iudex vendere iustum iudicium” (the judge should not therefore sell just judgment; Opera Omnia, 2:161B; PL 33:663). The same epistle is quoted in no. 117. 74. Sine . . . Greg. A loose quotation of the index entry “Condemnari nullus debet sine iudicio” in Gregory, Omnia Opera, which changes a first-person statement in Gregory’s letter to Domitianus Metropolitanus (Epistolae 8.50; 10.50 in modern numbering) into an impersonal statement (Omnia Opera, fol. 436H; PL 77:1106B). 75. Ignorantia . . . Dei A close quotation of Augustine in De civitate Dei 19.6, which appears in the the “Iudex, sive Iudicium” chapter in Flores, 549c, and the “Iudicium Te-

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[92] Iudicis non est sine accusatore damnare. Amb.76 A judge should not condemn without a plaintiff. [93] Iudex peccatis veniam dare non potest, quia voluntate servit alienae, deus autem potest, quia est legis suae dispensator ac iudex. Lact. De ira Dei.77 A judge cannot pardon sins, because he serves another’s will, but God can do so, because He is the steward and judge of His own law. [94] Nemo bene iudicat quod ignorat. Greg. 27 Moral.78 Nobody judges well that of which he is ignorant. [95] Apud iustum iudicem sola conscientia propria timenda est. Au.79 Before a just judge only one’s own conscience is to be feared. [96] Iustitia radix est vita. Chris.80 Justice is the root of life. merarium” chapter in Polyanthea, fol. 166r. Elizabeth substitutes “saepe” for “plerumque” and “fit” for “est.” 9 An error for book “19,” to which the Flores and Polyanthea correctly refer. 76. Iudicis . . . Amb. A generalizing paraphrase of Ambrose in his Epistle 64 to Bishop Syagrio (5 in modern numbering), warning against judging “sine auctore criminationis, sine accusatore, sine professore delationis” (without the perpetrator of the crime, without plaintiff, and without prosecuting attorney; Opera, 3:201; PL 16:891C). 77. Iudex . . . Dei An exact quotation of Lactantius De ira Dei 1.19, except that “dispensator” (steward) is substituted for the more unusual “disceptator” (arbitrator) and “voluntate” for the grammatically correct “voluntati” (Lactantius, Divinarum institutionum libri septem et . . . De ira Dei [Venice, 1535], 182; PL 7:137A). 78. Nemo . . Moral. An exact quotation of an index entry in Gregory, Omnia Opera. The index omits “enim” from the original passage in Moralia in Job 27.1 (Omnia Opera, fol. 156I; PL 76:402B). Since the index does not provide the book number, Elizabeth’s “27” suggests that she consulted the main text as well as the index. 79. Apud . . . Au. An extrapolation from Augustine Contra Cresconium grammaticum Donatistam 3.80.92, in Opera Omnia, 7:196D; PL 43:545. Augustine claims that he cares for his conscience alone and hopes for God’s mercy: “ad Dei . . . conspectum sola conscientia, quam contra vestras criminationes, cum intrepidam geram, non me tamen sub oculis Omnipotentis justificare audeo, magisque ab illo affluentem misericordiae largitatem, quam judicii summum examen exspecto” (my conscience alone, in the sight of God, which although I bear fearless against your accusations, nevertheless I do not dare justify myself in the eyes of the Almighty, but rather hope from Him for the flowing bountifulness of His mercy, rather than for the last scrutiny of His judgment). 80. Iustitia . . . Chris. An extract of Chrysostom’s Homily 10 on the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 5:12), translated literally into Latin as “Pluris enim est iustitia, quam vita, quandoquidem ipsa radix est vitae” (Justice is of more value than life, since it is the root of life) in Opera, 4:102B.

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De Misericordia On Mercy [97] Misericordia et veritas custodiunt regem, et roboratur clementia thronus eius. Proverb. 20[:28]. Mercy and truth guard the king, and his throne is strengthened by mercy. [98] Clementia preparat vitam. Proverb. 12.81 Mercy leads to life. [99] Misericordia et veritas te non deserant circumda eas gutturi tuo, et describe in tabulis cordis tui, et inuenies gratiam et disciplinam,82 coram Deo et hominibus. Proverb. 3[:3, 4]. Let mercy and truth not desert thee: put them around thy neck, and write them upon the tablets of thy heart, and thou wilt find favor and understanding in the sight of God and men. [100] Preparabitur in misericordia solium. [Excerpts] Esa. [Isaiah] 16[:5]. The throne shall be prepared in mercy. [101] Unum est regi inexpugnabile munimentum, amor civium. Seneca De clementia.83 For a king, the one impregnable defense is the love of his citizens. [102] Non minus sunt turpia principi, multa supplicia, quam medico multa funera. ibidem.84 Numerous punishments are no less shameful to a ruler than numerous funerals are to a doctor. [103] Princeps, qui vult omnia scire, necesse est multa ignoscat. Quintil. lib. 8.85 The ruler who wishes to know everything must forgive much. 81. Proverb. 12 The correct reference is Proverbs 11:19. 82. disciplinam The Vulgate reads “bonam disciplinam,” translated as “good understanding” in sixteenth-century English Bibles. 83. Unum . . . clementia An exact quotation from Seneca De clementia 1.19.6, except for the addition of “regi,” implicit in Seneca. 84. Non . . . ibidem A close quotation from Seneca De clementia 1.24.1. 85. Princeps . . . 8 A close quotation from Quintilian Institutio oratoria 8.5.3. This sentence appears in his discussion of the rhetorical use of sententiae.

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[104] Nihil est tam regium tam liberale, tamque munificum, quam opem ferre supplicibus, excitare afflictos, dare salutem, liberare periculis homines. Cicero 4 de finibus.86 Nothing is so kingly, so befitting a free man, so generous, as to give aid to suppliants, to raise up those who have been cast down, to bestow security, to free men from dangers. [105] Nulla est imperii tanta vis, quae, premente metu, possit esse diuturna. Cicero. Ad Quintum fratrem.87 No power has such force that it can be lasting, if fear weighs it down. [106] Millies perire est melius, quam principem non posse in sua civitate sine armorum presidio vivere. idem. Phil. 2.88 It is better for a ruler die a thousand deaths than for him not to be able to live in his own community without an armed guard. [107] Imperia crudelia acerba magis quam diuturna. Sa[l]lust. De reb. ordin.89 Cruel governments are more bitter than lasting.

86. Nihil . . . finibus An exact quotation from Cicero, Sententiae, 100, based on De oratore 1.8.32, but with a rhetorical question turned into a statement. The phrase in the Sententiae, “liberare periculis homines,” additionally conflates and makes less republican Cicero’s concluding infinitive phrases, “liberare periculis, retinere homines in civitate” (to free from dangers, to maintain men in their rights as citizens). 4 de finibus An error for De oratore 1, the reference in Cicero, Sententiae. 87. Nulla . . . fratrem A close quotation from Cicero, Sententiae, 139, taken from De officiis 2.7.25, with the change of “Nec vero ulla” (Nor indeed any) to “Nulla.” Ad . . . fratrem This reference to Cicero’s letter collection, Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem, is an error for De officiis, the reference in Cicero, Sententiae. 88. Millies . . . 2 A close quotation from Cicero, Sententiae, 57, based on Philippics 2.112: “non igitur miliens perire est melius quam in sua civitate sine armatorum praesidio non posse vivere?” The Sententiae turns a rhetorical question into a statement, reads “armorum” for “armatorum,” and cites “2 Philip.” Elizabeth further modifies the word order and adds “principem” to adapt the passage to her views. Millies A misprint for “mil[l]iens.” 89. Imperia . . . ordin. An exact quotation from Epistle 1 to Caesar, 3.2, ascribed to Sallust in the Renaissance but now generally believed to be an Imperial Age rhetorical exercise. In the epistle Elizabeth’s excerpt is embedded in a first-person statement of belief, but her excerpted form appears in the index of Renaissance editions, e.g., Sallust, De Coniuratione Catilinae (Venice, 1546). De reb. ordin. An abbreviation of Epistle 1’s Renaissance title, Ad C. Caesarem de Republica Ordinanda (To Julius Caesar, on how the Commonwealth should be organized).

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[108] Iracundia apud alios, in principe, superbia est. idem. in coiurat. Catil.90 What is wrath in others, in a ruler, is pride. [109] Non oportet quemquam a sermone principis tristem discedere. Vespas. apud Tranquill.91 Nobody should leave the conversation of a ruler sad. [110] Regia (crede mihi) res est successere lapsis. Ovid. 2 De ponto.92 It is a royal deed, believe me, [to hasten to the relief of] the fallen. [111] Boni pastoris est tondere pecus, non deglubere. apud Tranquill.93 A good shepherd shears his flock; he does not skin them. [112] Difficile est simul et misereri et sapere. Plutarch. in Apophth.94 It is difficut to pity and be wise simultaneously. [113] Est clementia hominibus omnibus necessaria, maxime autem decora imperatoribus. Senec. De clementia.95 Mercy is necessary in all men, but especially honorable in rulers. [114] Salvum regem in aperto clementia prestat. ibidem.96 Mercy offers a king safety in an exposed place.

90. Iracundia . . . Catil. A distillation from a speech of Julius Caesar’s in Sallust De bello Catilinae (Historia de Coniuratione Catilinae) 51.14: “Quae apud alios iracundia dicitur, ea in imperio superbia atque crudelitas appellatur” (What in others is called wrath is in a ruler called pride and cruelty). Caesar warns against unconstitutional punishment of the Catiline conspirators. Elizabeth’s no. 81 is taken from the same speech. coiurat. An error for “coniurat[ione].” 91. Non . . . Tranquill. A close quotation from the life of Titus (Vespasianus), in (Gaius) Suetonius (Tranquillus) Lives of the Caesars 11.8.1. 92. Regia . . . ponto An exact quotation, except for an error, of Ovid Ex Ponto 2.9.11, which appears with Elizabeth’s reference in the “Misericordia” (Pity) chapter of Polyanthea, fol. 194v. successere An error for “succurrere.” 93. Boni . . . Tranquill. An exact quotation from the life of Tiberius in (Gaius) Suetonius (Tranquillus) Lives of the Caesars 3.32.2. 94. Difficile . . Apophth. An exact quotation of Regio’s Latin translation of a saying attributed to Agesilaus, king of Sparta, in “Regum & imperatorum apophthegmata” (Plutarch, 89K), which also appears, with the words rearranged, in the Paris edition’s index under “misereri.” 95. Est . . . clementia A close quotation from Seneca De clementia 1.5.2. necessaria Elizabeth’s substitution for “secundum naturam” (in accordance with nature). 96. Salvum . . . ibidem A close quotation from Seneca De clementia 1.19.6.

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[115] Ipsa regentis clementia verecundiam peccandi facit. ibidem.97 The mercy of a ruler itself causes shame of wrongdoing. [116] Nihil est laudabilius, nihil magno viro, et preclaro dignius placabilitate, et clementia, quae ita probanda est, ut adhibeatur reipublicae causa severitas, sine qua administrari recte civitas non potest. Cicero. 2. Offic.98 Nothing is more praiseworthy, nothing more worthy in a great and glorious man than placability and mercy, which is to be commended so long as severity be applied for the sake of the commonwealth, without which the government cannot be well administered. [117] Plurimum inter est, quo animo quisque parcat: sicut enim aliquando est misericordia puniens: ita et crudelitas parcens. Aug. Epist. 64.99 It matters greatly with what spirit one pardons: for just as sometimes punishing is mercy, so sometimes being merciful is cruelty. [118] Sub pretextu misericordiae, non iudicandum iniuste. Hier.100 Under the pretext of mercy, one must not judge unjustly. [119] Misericordiae virtus tanta est ut sine illa caeterae etsi sint, prodesse non possunt. Leo.101 Mercy is so great a virtue that without her, the other virtues cannot avail.

97. Ipsa . . . ibidem A close quotation from Seneca De clementia 1.22.3. 98. Nihil . . . Offic. A close quotation from Cicero, Sententiae, 101. The Sententiae splices together two passages from De officiis 1.25.88, by excising remarks on the need for affability among a “free people” (liberis . . . populis) with “equal rights before the law” (iuris aequabilitate), which perhaps seemed too redolent of Roman republicanism. 2. Offic. An error for De officiis 1, correctly cited in Cicero, Sententiae. 99. Plurimum . . . 64 A close quotation from Augustine, Epistle 54 (153.17 in modern numbering), in Opera Omnia, 2:155A; PL 33:660. The index entry for this passage reads “crudelitas parcens” (merciful cruelty). 64 An error for “54.” 100. Sub . . . Hier. A generalizing paraphrase from Jerome’s Epistle 9 (Epistle 79 in modern numbering), to Salvina, in Omnia Opera, 33B; PL 22:724. Elizabeth conflates parts of two sentences: “ne sub praetextu misericordiae, quod iniustum est, iudicemus. Unusquisque enim non hominum, sed rerum pondere iudicandus est” (lest under the pretext of mercy, we should make a judgment that is unjust. Each person must be judged on the weight of the facts, not by the influence of men). 101. Misericordiae . . . Leo An exact quotation from Leo the Great as cited in the “Misericordia” chapter in Flores, 663ac. PL 54:165A provides a slightly different reading.

FIGURE 5 Page opening showing the end of the “De misericordia” section and the beginning of the “De consilio” section of Elizabeth’s Sententiae in Precationes priuatae Regiae E. R. (London, 1563), sigs. Hiii v–Hiiii r. Photograph © British Library Board. All rights reserved.

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[120] Lex Dei, misericordia est. Grego.102 The law of God is mercy. [121] Misericors, pretiosa res. Chrisost.103 Mercy is a precious thing.

De Consilio 104 Of Counsel [122] Audi verba mea atque consilia, et erit Dominus tecum. Exod. 18[:19]. Hear my words and counsels, and the Lord will be with thee. [123] Pete a Deo ut vias tuas dirigat et omnia consilia tua in Christo permaneant.105 [Excerpts and recasts] Tob[ias] 4[:20]. Seek of God that He may direct thy ways, and that all thy counsels may abide in Christ. [124] Consilium custodiet te. Prouerb. 2[:11]. Counsel shall guard thee. [125] Custodi legem meam106 atque consilium meum, et erit vita animae tuae. [Excerpts Proverbs 3:21, 22] Keep My law and My counsel, and there shall be life to thy soul.

102. Lex . . . Grego. An exact quotation of the index entry in Gregory, Omnia Opera, itself an exact quotation from Expositio Psalmi Sexti Poenitentialis (Omnia Opera, 362B; PL 79:635D). 103. Misericors . . . Chrisost. An adaptation from Chrysostom’s Homily 54 on Matthew 15, which in George of Trebizond’s Latin rendering reads “preciosum quid est, vir misericors” (what a precious thing is a compassionate man; Opera, 2:451C). 104. De Consilio “Consilium,” which we have translated throughout as “counsel,” has a wide semantic range similar to that of “counsel” in early modern English. Elizabeth’s primary sense is political advice, with related senses including the deliberative process, the judgment used in advising or deliberating, and the policy or plan that issues from such advice and deliberation. Her sentences can suggest slightly different senses of “consilium” from those of her sources, even when she quotes them exactly, because of her general focus on political advice. 105. Pete . . . permaneant Elizabeth adds “Christo” to Old Testament advice to seek counsel from God. 106. meam “my”; Elizabeth’s addition.

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[126] Ego sapientia habito in consilio, et eruditis intersum cogitationibus. Proverb. 8[:12]. I, Wisdom, dwell in counsel, and I am present among learned thoughts. [127] Meum est consilium et aequitas. ibidem [Proverbs 8:14]. Counsel and equity are mine. [128] Qui agunt omnia cum consilio, reguntur sapientia. Proverb. 13[:10]. Those who do all things with counsel are ruled by wisdom. [129] Consilium semper a sapiente perquire. Tob. 4[:19]. Always seek counsel of the wise. [130] Qui sapiens est, audit consilia. Proverb. 12[:15]. He who is wise listens to counsels. [131] Multi pacifici sint tibi, et consiliarius sit tibi unus de mille. Eccl. 8.107 Let many be at peace with thee, but let there be one in a thousand as thy counselor. [132] Consilium sapientis, sicut fons vitae permanet. Eccl[esiasticus] 21[:16]. The counsel of the wise man, like a fountain of life, abides. [133] Cor boni consilii statue tecum. Eccl[esiasticus] 37[:17]. Establish within thyself a heart of good counsel. [134] Sine consilio nihil facias, et post factum non paenitebis. Eccl[esiasticus] 32[:24]. May thou do nothing without counsel, and thou wilt not repent what thou hast done. [135] Ante omnem actum precedat consilium stabile. Eccl[esiasticus] 37[:20]. Let steady counsel precede all action. [136] Salus, ubi multa consilia. Prouerb. 11[:14]. There is safety where there is much counsel. [137] Dissipantur cogitationes, ubi non est consilium, ubi vero sunt plures consiliarii, confirmantur. Prouerb. 15[:22]. Designs are shattered where there is no counsel, but where there are many counsellors, they are established.

107. Eccl. 8 The correct reference is Ecclesiasticus 6:6.

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[138] Aurum et argentum est constitutio pedum, et super utrumque consilium beneplacitum. [Paraphrases] Eccl[esiasticus] 40[:25]. Gold and silver support the feet, but above both is wellpleasing counsel. [139] Melior est sapientia quam arma bellica. Eccl[esiastes] 9[:16]. Better is wisdom than weapons of war. [140] Non minus est imperatoris, superare consilio quam gladio. Caesar De bell. civil.108 A general should prevail by counsel no less than by the sword. [141] Consilium res sacra est. Plato De sapi.109 Counsel is a sacred thing. [142] Consilium vincit manus. apud Stob.110 Counsel overcomes force. [143] Consulta oportet operari velociter: consulere autem tarde. Aristo. Eth. 6.111 One should perform quickly what has been decided [counseled], but take counsel slowly. [144] Oportunitas non observata, cum omnibus in rebus affert malum, tum vero in admonendo detrahit utilitatem. Plut. De amicit.112 Unheeded opportunity is harmful in all affairs, but most especially in advising takes away the usefulness.

108. Non . . . civil. A close quotation from Caesar De bello civile 1.72.2–3, turning a causal clause into an independent sentence. 109. Consilium . . . sapi. An exact quotation from Ficino’s translation of Theages (De Sapientia) 122b, in Plato, Opera, 3:8. 110. Consilium . . . Stob. An exact quotation of an index entry in Gesner’s edition of Stobaeus, referring to passages from Sophocles, Agathon, and Euripides in the chapter “De imperatoribus, et pertinentibus ad bellum consilia” (“Counsels on Generals and Concerning War”), Sententiae, fol. 350r. 111. Consulta . . . 6 A close quotation from a passage in the “Consilium” chapter of Polyanthea, fol. 53r, which cites Aristotle Ethics 6. The reference is to Nicomachean Ethics 6.9.1, 1442b4–5. Consulta Elizabeth’s variant of “consiliata” in Polyanthea; both terms mean both what was advised and what was decided, i.e., what was advisedly decided. Aristotle’s Greek has no necessary implication of seeking counsel from others. 112. Oportunitas . . . amicit A condensation of a passage in Erasmus’s translation of Plutarch’s “De discrimine adulatoris & amici” in Plutarch, 38D; another condensation appears in the index of the Paris edition under “opportunitas.” admonendo advising. Erasmus’s term loosely translates Plutarch’s “παρρησία” (frankness of speech; 68C). De amicit. Elizabeth confuses the title of this essay with that of a nearby one, translated in the Paris edition as “De amicitia in multos diffusos” (52D–54H).

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[145] Principi consule non dulciora, sed optima. Solon apud Laert. 1.113 Give the ruler not the sweeter, but the best, counsel. [146] Sana consultatio ex eruditione, rerumque peritia, et experimento contingit. Bias.114 Good counsel comes from learning, practical knowledge of things, and experience. [147] Victoria tota posita est in bona consultatione. Eurip. in Phen.115 The entire victory depends upon good counsel. [148] Sapiens sapientum est consilium.116 The wisdom of the wise is counsel. [149] Prava consilia statim reprehendi maxime expedit. Demost.117 It profits greatly for bad cousels to be censured immediately.

113. Principi . . . 1 Elizabeth adapts as advice to a ruler a general maxim concerning frank advice attributed to Solon, not in Diogenes Laertius’s biography of Solon (Lives of the Philosophers 1.2) but in Stobaeus’s chapter on frankness of speech (“De fiducia dicendi”): “Optima quaeque, non iucundissima, consulito,” fol. 121r; the index entry reads “Consulito optima non iucunda.” 114. Sana . . . Bias This sentence is a close quotation of Ambrogio Traversari’s Latin translation of Diogenes Laertius’s life of Plato (Lives of the Philosophers 3.99), turning an indirect discourse ascribed to Plato into direct statement and shortening “multarum . . . rerum” (of many things) to “rerum” (of things); see Diogenes Laertius, De vita et moribus philosophorum (Leiden, 1546), 154. Bias Elizabeth confuses Plato with Bias, one of the seven sages of antiquity, whose life and sayings also appear in Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers 1.5). 115. Victoria . . . Phen. A translation of Euripides, Phoenissae, line 721, “τὸ νικᾶν ἐστι πᾶν εὐβουλία” (all victory is [in] good counsel). Elizabeth’s version differs considerably from Melanchthon’s translation of Euripides, the source of no. 75. While she might have translated directly from the Greek, her verb and prepositional phrase might be derived from Caspar Stiblin’s translation in the Greek-Latin edition, on facing pages, of Euripides, Poetica Tragicorum Princeps (Basel, 1562), 104: “omnis victoria sita est in bono consilio.” 116. Sapiens . . . consilium This unattributed sentence appears in the “Consilium” subsection of “Graecorum Quorundam Poetarum Sententiae Singulis Versibus Latinis Redditae” (“Sententiae of Certain Greek Poets Translated into Single Lines of Latin”) in Sententiae Veterum Poetarum, ed. George Major (Paris, 1551), 204. 117. Prava . . . Demost. A loose paraphrase of Demosthenes’s first claim in Exordium 7 (6.2 in modern editions) in Wolf ’s Latin translation: “Sed quia illa [consilia] vobis non expediunt, ideo reprehendo” (But since those [counsels] do not help you, I censure them; Opera, 1:97). expedit Elizabeth echoes Wolf ’s verb “expedire” to make a different point.

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[150] Caute admonendi, quae lege aliqua sunt interdicta, aut populo ignota. idem.118 Beware of one who advises things that are forbidden by any law, or are unfamiliar to the people. [151] In deliberationibus reipublicae, a iis affectibus repudiatis bonum publicum duntaxat est spectandum. idem.119 In the commonwealth’s deliberations, only the public good must be looked to by those who have cast off violent passions. [152] Prudentes ex omnium consiliis vtile facile diligunt. idem.120 Prudent men easily love [pick out] useful counsel from among the counsels of all. [153] Dura conditio est eorum, qui in dandis consiliis, et in gerendis rebus solent versari, cum eorum fides ex eventu soleat aestimari. Demost.121 Harsh is the condition for those who are accustomed to spend their time in giving counsel and in conducting public affairs, when it is common practice to judge their credibility by the outcome of events.

118. Caute . . . idem A loose paraphrase of Demosthenes’s On the Liberty of the Rhodians (De Rhodiorum libertatem) 33. Wolf ’s Latin translation reads: “Decet igitur, eos etiam qui ordinem in repub. traditum a maioribus deserverunt, itaque se gerunt ut potentiae paucorum studeant, honore dicendae apud vos sententiae privari” (It is therefore fitting that those who have even forsaken the commonwealth’s order handed down from our ancestors, and behave as if they seek the power of the few, should be deprived of the honor of speaking their opinions before you; Opera, 1:85). lege aliqua (by any law). Perhaps an error for “lege antiqua” (by ancient law), paraphrasing Wolf ’s “ordinem . . . traditum a maioribus.” 119. In . . . idem A generalizing condensation of the opening sentence of Demosthenes’s On the Chersonese in Wolf ’s Latin translation: “Aequum esset, Athenienses, ut oratores vestri omnes, neque odio impulsi, neque ad gratiam cuiusquam verbum ullum loquerentur, sed quod quisque optimum duceret, id proferret: vobis praesertim de publicis magnisque negotiis deliberationibus” (It would be proper, Athenians, that all your speakers should speak no word either impelled by hatred or for anyone’s favor, but what each one should deduce as best, that he should express to you, especially concerning our public deliberations and great affairs; Opera, 1:36). 120. Prudentes . . . idem A generalizing quotation of the opening of Demosthenes’s Olynthiaca 1 in Wolf ’s Latin translation: “Quamobrem ex omnibus facile vos utilia deligetis” (For which reason you [Athenians] easily pick out useful things from all [counsels]; Opera, 1:1). diligunt (they love). An obvious error for “deligunt” (they pick out), echoing Wolf ’s “deligetis.” 121. Dura . . . Demost. A paraphrase of Demosthenes’s complaint in Exordium 54 or 23 (25.1–2 in modern editions) that the Athenians blame their unsuccessful ventures on those

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[154] Robur, et manum, et arma sapienti prudentia prestat. Pyth.122 Prudence bestows upon the wise man strength, a fighting hand, and military arms. [155] Honesta bonis suadere facillimum est. Quint. lib. 3.123 It is very easy to urge honorable courses on good men. [156] Non est consilium in vulgo. in Hist. Sax.124 There is no sound counsel in the common people. [157] Privatae res semper offecere, officient publicis consiliis. 2 Dec. 2.125 Private interests have always impeded and will always impede public counsels.

who give them advice without considering the limits to which events can be foreseen by human counsel (“humano consilio provideri potest”) since they mainly depend upon Fortune (“maxima ex parte a Fortuna pendere”; Opera, 1:112–13). 122. Robur . . . Pyth. A close quotation of a saying attributed to Pythagoras in the “De prudentia” chapter in Stobaeus, Sententiae, 23r. Elizabeth substitutes “manum” (hand, fighting hand) for Gesner’s “murum” (wall). The Greek original equates—rather than declaring superior—the prudence of the wise with strength, a defensive wall, and a shield, not with arms in general, as Gesner and Elizabeth do. 123. Honesta . . . 3 A close quotation from Quintilian Institutio oratoria 3.8.38. Elizabeth replaces “honestis” with “bonis” to vary Quintilian’s emphatic repetition. The index entry in the 1542 Paris edition of Quintilian reads slightly differently: “honestis facile honesta suadentur.” 124. Non . . . Sax An exact quotation from Cicero Pro Plancio 4.9, cited in Cicero, Sententiae, 125: “Non est enim consilium in vulgo, non ratio, non discrimen, non diligentia, semperque sapientes ea quae populus fecisset ferenda, non semper laudanda dixerunt” (For there is no sound judgment in the common people, no reason, no discrimination, no diligence, and wise men have said that the things that the people had done must be endured but not always praised). consilium Cicero uses the term in the general sense of ‘sound judgment’; taking account of Elizabeth’s focus, we have translated it as “sound counsel.” in Hist. Sax. How this erroneous reference arose is unclear. See n65 to no. 81. 125. Privatae . . . Dec. 2 An exact quotation from the Florentine Livy edition’s index, which loosely paraphrases Livy Ab urbe condita 2.30.2: “Sed factione respectuque rerum priuatarum, quae semper offecere officientque publicis consiliis” (But through the strength of his party and of private interests, which always have injured and always will injure public policies). Livy is explaining why Appius Claudius’s “horrida” (monstrous) argument for setting up a dictatorship to suppress plebeian discontent won the day. consiliis In its original context Livy’s term is probably best construed as ‘policies.’ 2 Dec. 2 An error for “2 Dec. 1,” “Book 2 of the 1st Decade.” Renaissance editions of Livy group the books by ten-book “decades.”

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[158] Qui fortunae aut eventui, sua consilia aptat nusquam invenit gratiam. 2 De. 4.126 He who adapts his counsels to fortune or the outcome nowhere finds favor. [159] Summi gubernatores in magnis non numquam tempestatibus solent a rectoribus admoneri. Cic. Phili. 7.127 The greatest helmsmen are sometimes, in great storms, in the habit of being advised by helmsmen [passengers]. [160] Humana consilia castigantur, quando coelestibus preferuntur. Max. lib. 1.128 Human counsels are chastised when they are preferred to heavenly ones. [161] Gravior, et validior est decem virorum bonorum sententia, quam totius multitudinis imperitae. Cice. Pro Pla.129 Weightier and stronger is the opinion of ten good men than that of the whole ignorant multitude. 126. Qui . . . 4 A close quotation of the Florentine Livy edition’s index, substituting “aptat” (adapts) for the index’s synonymous “applicate.” The index entry distills a generalizing maxim from key phrases of Aristaenus’s speech in Livy Ab urbe condita 32 (book 2 of the 4th Decade), 21.34–35, urging the Athenians to ally with the Romans against Philip of Macedon: “quid aliud quam nusquam gratia stabili, velut qui eventum expectaverimus, ut fortunae applicaremus nostra consilia, praeda victoris erimus?” (what other fate awaits us than that we will become the prey of the conqueror, if like those who have simply waited upon the event, with firm goodwill nowhere to be found, we adapted our counsels / policies to fortune?). De. An error for “Dec[as],” i.e., “Decade.” 127. Summi . . . 7 A close quotation from Cicero’s Philippics 7.27, as excerpted in Cicero, Sententiae, 175. non numquam Elizabeth’s pleonasm derives from the Sententiae, not Cicero. rectoribus An error for “vectoribus” (passengers), the reading of the Sententiae and Cicero. 128. Humana . . . 1 A condensation of Valerius Maximus Facta et dicta memorabilia 1.6 (“De prodigiis”), 11: “sic deorum spreti monitus excandescunt, sic humana consilia castigantur, ubi se caelestibus praeferunt” (Thus the spurned warnings of gods grow hot with anger, thus human judgments are chastised, when they prefer themselves to heavenly ones). 129. Gravior . . . Pla. An exact quotation from Cicero, Sententiae, 124, which supplies the reference. The Sententiae extensively rewords Cicero’s claim in Pro Plancio 4.9: “si . . . decem soli essent in civitate viri boni, sapientes, iusti, graves, qui te indignum aedilitate iudicavissent, gravius de te iudicatum putarem quam est hoc quod tu metuis ne a populo iudicatum esse videatur” (if . . . there were only ten virtuous, wise, just, and weighty men in this state who had judged you unworthy of the aedileship, I should think that judgment to have much more weight than this one that you fear lest it should seem to be the judgment of the people). Drawn for the disappointed offi ce-seeker

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[162] Quid tibi prodest habere sapientiam si consilium neges, si consulendi copiam includas, clausisti fontem ut nec aliis influat nec tibi prosit. Amb.130 What good does it do you to possess wisdom if you should refuse to give counsel? If you should bury your store of counseling, you have closed off a spring, so that it neither flows to others nor is of use to you. [163] Sint multi necessarii, unus tamen consiliarius. Beru.131 Let there be many friends, but only one counselor. [164] Plus utilitatis afferunt duo fidi monitores, quam multa milia laudantium. Erasmus in Epist.132 Two trustworthy advisers are more useful than many thousands of encomiasts. [165] Consilia callida et audatia prima fronte laeta, tractatu dura, eventu tristia. ibidem.133 Wily and audacious counsels are pleasing at first sight, difficult in execution, and unhappy in outcome.

Laterensis, this contrast between the people’s judgment and that of the wise few precedes Cicero’s denial that “consilium” is to be found in the common people, quoted in no. 156. 130. Quid . . . Amb. An exact quotation from the “Consilium” chapter in Flores, 202e, derived from Ambrose De officiis 2.12.61; PL 16:126B–C. 131. Sint . . . Beru Elizabeth condenses advice in Bernard’s Epistle 1 to his nephew Robert: “Sint tibi multi necesarii: unus autem sit tibi consiliarius de mille” (Have many friends: but let one in a thousand be your counselor), in Opera (1544), fol. 188r; PL 182:75B. Bernard adapts Ecclesiasticus 6:6, Elizabeth’s no. 131. Beru. Another printer’s error for “Bern[ardus].” 132. Plus . . . Epist. Elizabeth excerpts Erasmus’s letter of April 26, 1526, to Father William of the Carthusian order: “Sed longe plus attulissent utilitatis duo tresve fidi monitores, quam multa laudantium millia” (But two or three trustworthy counselors would have conferred much more profit than many thousands of encomiasts), in Epistolarum Opus (Basel, 1538), 775 (for 785). 133. Consilia . . . ibidem A close quotation from the Florentine Livy edition’s index entry and the Livy passage it closely follows, Ab urbe condita 35.32.13. Elizabeth substitutes “fronte” for the nearly synonymous “facie” of the index and the “specie” of the main text. Consilia In its original Livian context “consilia,” which we have translated as “counsels,” is best construed as ‘policies.’ callida “Callida” has the sense here of ‘wily, clever.’ The Florentine Livy edition’s index gives the preferred modern reading, “calida” (rash, hasty), but its main text has Elizabeth’s variant (3:112v). Elizabeth may have adopted this variant after consulting the main text, or she may have independently subsituted the variant (deliberately or inadvertently). In her 1590s translation of Erasmus’s Latin version of Plutarch’s De curiositate, she confuses “calidus” with “callidus” and renders it as “sly”

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[166] Ubi publica iactura est, et dispendium commune, sicut dolor in universitate se porrigit: ita communi consilio, et auxilio est utendum. Pet. Rav.134 Where there is a communal loss and shared expense, there sorrow extends to the whole community, so one must make use of common counsel and aid. [167] Consilium peritorum ex apertis obscura aestimat, ex parvulis magna, ex proximis remota, ex partibus tota, scit enim qua via egredi debeat: et cito singula et distincte videt. idem.135 The experts’ counsel judges obscure things from the evident, great things from the small, remote things from the near, the whole from the parts, knows by what road one should go forth, and quickly and distinctly sees each step. [168] Novum factum, novum consilium expetit.136 A new event demands new counsel. (line 194). ibidem This erroneous reference suggests that this quotation was originally grouped with the earlier ones from Livy, nos. 157–58. 134. Ubi . . . Rav. A close quotation of a saying ascribed to “Petrus Ravenensis” (Peter of Ravenna) in the “Consilium” chapter in Flores, 240s. universitate An error for “universitatem.” 135. Consilium . . . idem A close quotation of a saying ascribed to “Petrus Ravenenesis” in the “Consilium” chapter in Flores, 240t, immediately following no. 166. egredi Elizabeth’s substitution for “aggredi.” 136. Novum . . . expetit This unattributed maxim echoes several vernacular proverbs; see Samuel Singer et al., eds., Thesaurus Proverbiorum Medii Aevi: Lexikon der Sprichwörter des romanisch-germanischen Mittelalters, 14 vols. (Berlin: Gruyter, 1955–2002), 8:476. Elizabeth probably derived her Latin sentence from a French or Italian proverb that used cognates of her paired terms “factum” and “consilium.” A close French version appears in Jean de Bueil’s fifteenth-century military tale Le Jovencel, which saw several printings between 1493 and 1529: “À nouveau fait, nouveau conseil”; see Maurice Maloux, Dictionmaire des proverbes, sentences, et maximes (Paris: Larousse, 1960), 104. The Italian equivalent, “A nuovo fatto, nuovo consigliato,” appears as early as the thirteenth century; see Chiaro Davanzati, Rime, ed. Aldo Menichetti (Bologna: Commissione per i testi di lingua, 1965), 13. Elizabeth’s postclassical sentence in any case runs counter to ancient Roman authors’ typical depictions of a “novum consilium” as dangerous: in a speech that she quotes in nos. 81 and 108, Sallust’s Caesar rejects a “novum consilium” for the punishment of the Catiline conspirators (De coniuratione Catilinae 51.8); in one of many critiques of foolhardy plans, Livy describes a disastrous “novum consilium” (Ab urbe condita 25.38.23). Yet Elizabeth’s two most cited classical Roman authors provide precedents: Cicero’s Pro lege Manilia 20 argues that one must confront war’s “novos casus” (new situations) by devising “novorum consiliorum rationes” (plans derived from new counsels, i.e., deliberations); Seneca’s De beneficiis 4.38.2 denies that it is wrong “cum re mutare consilum” (to change counsel, i.e., policy, as the situation changes).

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[169] Bonorum iudicia non negligenda. Amb.137 Good men’s judgments are not to be ignored. [170] Consilium religionis ab irreligiosis petere, non est consilium accipere. Greg.138 To seek counsel concerning religion from irreligious men is not to receive counsel. [171] Consilium in rebus arduis non debet esse preceps. idem. Epist. 5.139 Counsel in difficult matters should not be rash. [172] Consiliorum gubernaculum, lex divina. Cypr. lib. 2. Epist.140 The helm of counsels is divine law. [173] Consilium Dei, nemo, nisi spiritualis intelligit. Aug.141 Nobody except a spiritual being understands the counsel of God.

137. Bonorum . . . Amb. A close quotation of an index entry in Ambrose, loosely paraphrasing his De officiis 1.47.226: “Nam negligere bonorum iudicia, vel arrogantiae, vel dissolutionis est” (For to ignore the judgment of good men stems either from arrogance, or lack of principle) in Opera Omnia, 1:35B; PL 16:97C. Echoing Cicero’s De officiis 1.28.99, Ambrose advises that one should pay specific attention to others’ judgments about oneself. Elizabeth applies this Ciceronian concern for reputation to others’ judgments in general. 138. Consilium . . . Greg. A condensation of Commentarii in librum I Regum 5.4.25: “Ab irreligiosis quidem religionis consilium, aut sapientiae a stultis petere, non est consilium accipere, sed praecipitare” (But indeed to seek counsel concerning religious matters from the irreligious, or counsel of wisdom from the foolish, is not to get counsel, but rather to rush headlong; PL 79:374A). Greg. This commentary is no longer attributed to Gregory and does not appear in the 1533 edition of his Omnia Opera. 139. Consilium . . . 5 An exact quotation of an index entry in Gregory, paraphrasing a warning in Epistolae 2.6 (2.9 in modern numbering) against speedy (“citum”) counsel in highest (“summis”) matters (Omnia Opera, fol. 375A; PL 77:545B). 5 An error for “6.” 140. Consiliorum . . . Epist. A paraphrastic distillation of a long passage in a letter to Cyprian from religious leaders at Rome comparing the church to a storm-tossed ship. The writers claim that they cannot hold “consiliorum gubernacul[um]” (the helm of councils) unless they hold “debitam severitatem divini vigoris” (the obligatory severity of divine force) and “disciplinae ipsius semper custodita ratio” (the always preserved principle of that discipline) is maintained. Erasmus’s marginal gloss reads “Disciplina gubernaculum in tempestate” ([Church] discipline is the helm amid the storm). See Epistle 2.7 in Cyprian, Opera, ed. Desiderius Erasmus (Basel, 1558), 45; Epistle 31 in PL 4:316A. lex divina Elizabeth’s substitution for “disciplina.” 141. Consilium . . . Aug. A paraphrase of Augustine De civitate Dei, 12.15, himself citing Wisdom of Solomon 9:13–15: “Quis hominum potest scire consilium dei. . . . Corruptibile enim corpus aggravat animam, et deprimit terrena inhabitatio sensum multa cogitantem” (Who among men can know the counsel of God. . . . For our corruptible body weighs down the soul, and our earthly dwelling inhibits the mind thinking many thoughts) in Opera Omnia, 5:219B.

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[174] Consilia perfecta non sunt absque prudentia et benevolentia. Bern.142 There are no perfect counsels without prudence and benevolence. [175] Consulentem dominum qui non audiunt, audient finaliter condemnantem.143 Those who do not hear the counsel of the Lord will in the end hear Him condemning them. [176] Prudentia et fortitudo, virtutes principis sunt. Basil. in Epist.144 Prudence and courage are the virtues of a ruler.

De Pace Of Peace [177] Opus iustitiae pax. Esa. [Isaiah] 32[:17]. The work of justice is peace. [178] Tempus belli, tempus pacis. Eccle[siastes] 3[:8]. There is a time of war, a time of peace. [179] Cum placuerint Domino viae hominis, inimicos quoque eius convertet ad pacem. Proverb. 16[:7]. When the ways of men shall please the Lord, He will convert even his enemies to peace. [180] Ne obliviscaris legis meae, et precepta mea cor tuum custodiat, longitudinem enim dierum, et annos vitae et pacem apponent tibi. [Proverbs 3:1–2] Let thee not forget My law, and let thy heart guard My precepts, for they shall add to thee length of days, and years of life, and peace. 142. Consilia . . . Bern. An exact quotation of an entry in the index of “praecipuarum sententiarum” in Bernard, Opera. The original source, Epistle 42 to Henry, Archbishop of Sens, has a different word order and verb form: see Opera, fol. 197v; PL 182:808–9, n. 79. 143. Consulentem . . . condemnantem A condensation of an index entry in Bernard, “Consulentem deum qui audire nolunt, cum dolore finaliter condemnantem audient,” itself a drastic condensation of a lengthy sermon passage (Opera, fol. 84r; PL 183: 555B). Presumably an “ibidem” for no. 175 fell out at some stage of the publishing process. 144. Prudentia . . . Epist. Except for the addition of “sunt,” an exact quotation of an index entry in the Latin translation of Basil the Great, Opera Omnia, ed. Iano Cornario (Basel, 1540). The index entry loosely paraphrases a passage in Basil’s Epistle 138.

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[181] Corona sapientiae, timor Domini, replens pacem, et salutis fructrum.145 [Paraphrases] Eccle[siasticus] 1[:22]. The fear of the Lord is a crown of wisdom, filling up peace, and the fruit of salvation. [182] Dominus rectos faciet gressus tuos, itinera autem tua in pace producet. Pro. 4[:27]. The Lord will make thy courses straight; He will bring forward thy ways in peace. [183] Qui timet preceptum, in pace versabitur. [Proverbs] 13:[13]. He who fears the commandment will dwell in peace. [184] Quae sunt pacis sectanda [Paraphrases] ad Rom. 14[:19]. The things that are of peace must be followed. [185] Non est confusionis146 author Deus, sed pacis. [Paraphrases] 1 Corinth. 14:33. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. [186] Unanimes sitis, in pace agite, et Deus charitatis ac pacis erit vobiscum.147 [Paraphrases] 2 Cor. 13[:11]. Be of one mind, act in peace, and the God of charity and peace will be with you. [187] Nihil perniciosius civitati, quam divisio, ut nihil melius quam unio. Plato de rep.148 Nothing is more pernicious to the city-state than division, and nothing better than oneness. [188] Nunquam imperator ita pati credat, ut non se preparet bello. Veg.149 Let a general never trust so wholly to peace that he does not prepare himself for war.

145. fructrum An error for “fructum.” 146. confusionis The Vulgate reads “dissensionis” (of dissension). 147. Unanimes . . . vobiscum The Vulgate reads: “perfecti estote exhortamini idem sapite pacem habete et Deus dilectionis et pacis erit vobiscum” (be perfect, take exhortation, be of one mind, have peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you). 148. Nihil . . . rep. A distillation of Socrates’s questioning of Glaucon (Plato Republic 5.10, 462a–b) in the “De Republica” chapter in Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 269r: “Habemus ne ullum perniciosius civitati malum, quam quod eam dividit, & ex una plures facit? Vel melius quicquam eo quod ipsam vincit simul, & unam efficit? Non habemus” (Do we know of any evil more pernicious to the city-state than that which divides it and makes it many from one? Or anything better than that which simultaneously conquers the city and makes it one? We do not). 149. Nunquam . . . Veg. A fragmentary recasting not of Vegetius but of Seneca De vita beata 26.2: “Numquam imperator ita paci credit ut non se praeparet bello quod, etiam si

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[189] Dulce est nomen pacis, res vero ipsa tum iucunda, tum salutaris. Cicer. Phillip. 3.150 Sweet is the name of peace, and the thing itself is not only pleasant but also salutary. [190] Pax est repudianda, si sub eius nomine latet bellum. ibidem.151 Peace must be rejected if beneath its show hides war. [191] Hoc unum est tempus de pace agendi, dum sibi uterque confidit, et pares ambo videntur. Caesar De bello civili. lib. 3.152 This alone is the time for treating of peace, when each side is confident in itself and both sides seem equal. [192] Bellum pacis est causa. Sal[l]ust.153 War is for the sake of peace. [193] Pacem volunt etiam qui vincere possunt. Livius lib. 10. Dec. 3.154 Even those who can conquer wish for peace.

non geritur, indictum est” (Never does a general trust so wholly in peace that he does not prepare himself for a war that has been declared, even if it is not yet being waged). The confusion of authors no doubt arose from this sentence’s resemblance to the maxim of Vegetius cited in no. 253. pati An error for “paci.” 150. Dulce . . . 3 An exact quotation of Cicero, Sententiae, 217, which condenses a passage from Philippics 13.1, except that the first “tum” should read “cum.” 3 An error for “13.” Cicero, Sententiae, provides the correct reference. 151. Pax . . . ibidem An exact quotation of Cicero, Sententiae, 218, except that Elizabeth substitutes “latet” (hides) for “latitet” (should lie hidden). Cicero, Sententiae, which gives a reference to Philippics 12, recasts Cicero’s claim in Philippics 12.7.17: “Pacem ipsam si adferrent, quoniam sub nomine pacis bellum lateret, repudiandam” (Peace itself, if they brought it, ought to be rejected, since beneath the show of peace war would be hiding). 152. Hoc . . . 3 A close quotation from Caesar De bello civili 3.10.7. 153. Bellum . . . Sal[l]ust A distillation from Epistle 1 to Caesar, ascribed to Sallust in the Renaissance, 6.2: “sapientes pacis causa bellum gerunt” (the wise wage war for the sake of peace). “Bellum pacis causa” is an index entry in the 1546 Venetian edition of Sallust. See n89 to no. 107. 154. Pacem . . . 3 An exact quotation of an index entry in the Florentine Livy edition, which slightly modifies the word order of a passage from Livy Ab urbe condita 7.6.40. lib. 10. Dec 3. Elizabeth’s erroneous reference may have been inspired by a speech by Scipio Africanus reported in Livy Ab urbe condita 30 [book 10 of the 3rd Decade], 16.9: “tamen cum victoriam prope in manibus habeat, pacem non abnuere, ut omnes gentes sciant populum Romanum et suscipere iuste bella et finire” (although he had victory almost in his grasp, he did not reject peace, so that all nations might know that the Roman people both began and ended wars justly).

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[194] Non potest esse diuturna pax absque morum corruptione, nisi prudentibus viris respublica gubernetur. Eras.155 There cannot be everlasting peace because of the corruption of morals, unless the commonwealth be ruled by prudent men. [195] Melior est talis pugna, quae Deo proximum facit, quam pax illa, quae separat a Deo. ibid.156 Better is such a battle, which brings you closest to God, than that peace that separates you from God. [196] Non timeas contra charitatem esse, si unius scandalum multorum pace conpensaueris: melius est enim, ut pereat unus, quam unitas. Beru.157 You should not not fear that you act against charity if you should obtain the peace of many with the scandal of one; for it is better that one should perish, rather than unity. [197] Pacem amantes, Deum, qui est author pacis, amant. Isid.158 Lovers of peace love God, the creator of peace.

155. Non . . . Eras. Elizabeth paraphrases various recommendations for attaining peace, a central theme in Erasmus’s writings. Perhaps the closest are the recommendations for “solida pax” (lasting peace) in Querela Pacis (1517): “Repurgandi fontes ipsi, unde malum hoc scatet, pravae cupiditates tumultus istos pariunt. . . . Sapiant Principes. . . . Ita se . . . existimet rex . . . florentem, si civitates perpetua pace florentes habeat. Atque hunc principis animum imitentur proceres ac magistratus; omnia reipublicae commodis metiantur” (The sources whence this evil gushes forth must be purged, the evil desires that produce these tumults. . . . Let rulers then be wise. . . . Let a king think himself . . . flourishing, if he should have under his rule communities flourishing with perpetual peace. And let lofty men and magistrates imitate the mind of the ruler; let them measure all things in terms of the good of the commonwealth); see Erasmus, Querela Pacis, ed. O. Herding, in Opera Omnia, IV-2, ed Herding and Koster, 86. Similar passages occur in the Institutio, chaps. 1 and 3 (170, 186). 156. Melior . . . ibid. An exact quotation of Gregory Nazianzen in the “Pax” chapter in Flores, 779m. ibid. An error. 157. Non . . . Beru. A close quotation from Bernard’s epistles as cited in the “Pax” chapter in Flores, 779, with “pace compensaveris” substituted for “recompensaveris pace.” Bernard’s Epistle 102, which recommends dismissing a troublesome monk if he proves incorrigible, warns with more specificity about how the monk could disturb “unanimitatem” (PL 182:237A). Beru. Another error for “Bern[ardus].” 158. Pacem . . . Isid. An exact quotation of an index entry in Gregory the Great’s Omnia Opera, itself a paraphrase of a passage in a letter to King Agilulf claiming that the king shows his love of God by loving peace (Epistolae 7.4, in Omnia Opera, fol. 420D–E; Epistolae 9.42 in PL 77:975B). Isid. The misattribution to Isidore of Seville probably arose at some stage from confusion of this saying on peace with no. 246 on war, which is unattributed but taken from Isidore.

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[198] Concordia simul iuncta vinci non potest. Cypri. 1 Epist.159 Concord joined together cannnot be defeated. [199] Omnis pax, a Deo est. Greg. 17 Mor.160 All peace is from God. [200] Qui servare pacem non curat, ferre fructum spiritus recusat. Greg.161 Who does not undertake to serve peace refuses to bear the fruit of the Spirit. [201] Pax transitoria, est quoddam vestigium pacis aeternae. ibidem.162 Fleeting peace is a kind of trace of eternal peace. [202] Pacis radix est humilitas. Idem.163 Humility is the root of peace. [203] Concordia civitates construuntur; destruuntur autem discordia. August. Epist. 5.164 By concord city-states are built; but they are destroyed by discord.

159. Concordia . . . Epist. A close quotation from Cyprian’s Epistle 1, to Pope Cornelius, in Cyprian, Opera, 1; PL 3:831A (Epistle 12). Erasmus’s marginal gloss and index in this edition refer to “concordia invicta.” 160. Omnis . . . Mor. An exact quotation of an index entry on “pax” in Gregory, Omnia Opera, itself a loose paraphrase of a passage in Moralia in Job 17.25 (Omnia Opera, fol. 99E, PL 75:19A). Nos. 200–202 also come from index entries on “pax” in Gregory’s Omnia Opera. 161. Qui . . . Greg. An exact quotation of an index entry in Gregory, omitting an “ergo” found in the source passage in Regula pastoralis 3.2 (Omnia Opera, fol. 225D; PL 77:89B). 162. Pax . . . ibidem An exact quotation of an index entry in Gregory, recasting as a statement what is a rhetorical question in Regula pastoralis 3.22 (Omnia Opera, fol. 225G; PL 77:90D). 163. Pacis . . . Idem An exact quotation of an index entry in Gregory, which loosely paraphrases a passage in a letter to Cyriac of Constantinople decrying the schism between Western and Eastern Christendom: “Quanta sit pacis virtus . . . Sed quia in radice ipsius vivere aliter non valemus, nisi mente & actu humilitatem, quam ipse author pacis docuit, teneamus” (How great is the virtue of peace . . . but since in the root of that we cannot otherwise dwell unless we retain the humility in mind and act that the Creator of peace Himself has taught; Epistolae 11.45 in Omnia Opera, fol. 456G; 13.40 in PL 77:1289C–D). 164. Concordia . . . 5 A paraphrase of a passage in a letter from Augustine’s Epistle 5 to Flavius Marcellinus: “multitudo diversa atque vaga, concordia civitas facta erat . . . Quod si imitari discordantes vellent, rupto concordiae vinculo civitas laberetur” (a diverse and wandering band was made into a city-state by concord. . . . But if they, discordant, wished to imitate them [their warring pagan gods], their city-state would go to ruin, with the chain of concord broken; Opera Omnia, 2:14C; Epistle 138.2.10 in PL 33:529).

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[204] Concordia in civitate est, quod harmonia in musica. Idem. 2 De civitate.165 Concord in the city-state is what harmony is in music. [205] Pacis bono omnia constant. 19. De civitate.166 By the good of peace, all things are stable. [206] Concordia unum facit ex pluribus. Chrisost.167 Concord makes one out of many. [207] Pax a gratia est. Idem.168 Peace comes from grace. [208] Pax materia gaudii. Idem.169 Peace is matter of joy.

165. Concordia . . . civitate A close quotation of Augustine De civitate Dei 2.21: “et quae harmonia a musicis dicitur in cantu, eam esse in civitate concordiam” (and what is called by musicians harmony in singing is concord in the city-state); see Opera Omnia, 5:34D. 166. Pacis . . . civitate Elizabeth paraphrases Augustine’s extended discussion of peace as the good order sought by all things in De civitate Dei 19.10–14 (Opera Omnia, 5:388C– 392D). Pacis bono A phrase perhaps inspired by chap. 11: “Tantum est enim pacis bonum, ut . . . nihil . . . possit melius inveniri” (For so great is the good of peace, that . . . nothing better can be found). The “Pax” section of Flores, 777c, gives a version of this passage but cites De civitate Dei without a book number. 167. Concordia . . . Chrisost. A probable reference to the sermon on peace by Severianus, Bishop of Galaba, printed in Chrysostom’s works immediately following a sermon by Chrysostom on the same topic and occasion: “Pax domini . . . discreta corpora in vnum conuenire animum . . . docet” (The peace of the Lord . . . teaches separate bodies to come together as one mind). Severianus compares Christ’s unifying peace to a painter’s allegorical figure of “concordia” (Chrysostom, Opera, 5:609B). 168. Pax . . . Idem Chrysostom praises the divine bestowal of peace in his sermon to welcome Severianus: “Pro pace loquimur, pro qua filius dei descendit ad terras, ut pacificaret per sanguinem non solum quae in terra sunt, sed & quae in coelis” (We speak for peace, for that by which the Son of God descended to earth, in order to pacify with His blood not only the things upon earth but also the things in heaven). Severianus responds in his sermon, “Christus . . . est rex pacis, cum sua pace procedens. . . . Christus pax nostra” (Christ . . . is the king of peace, advancing with His peace. . . . Christ is our peace; Opera, 5:609A). 169. Pax . . . Idem Chrysostom’s sermon proclaims the joy of peace: “ubi tempus pacis, recordatio dissensionis nulla est, ut sit gaudium in coelo, gaudium in terra” (when there is a time of peace, there is no recollection of dissension, so that there is joy in heaven, joy on earth). Severianus’s sermon describes the angels at Christ’s birth proclaiming “vobis hodie gaudium magnum. Hodie enim in pace ecclesia est” (there comes great joy to you today, for today the church is at peace; Opera, 5:609A).

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[209] Pacem contemnentes, et gloriam appetentes, pacem perdunt, et gloriam. Bern. in Epist.170 Condemning peace and seeking glory, they lose both peace and glory.

De Bello On War [210] Pro iustitia agonizare pro anima tua, et usque ad mortem certa pro iustitia, et Deus expugnabit171 pro te. Eccl[esiasticus] 4[:33]. Strive for justice for your soul, and even unto death fight for justice, and God will overthrow [your enemies] for you. [211] Non est differentia in conspectu Dei coeli, liberare in multis et in paucis, quoniam non in multitudine belli, sed de coelo fortitudo est. [1] Mach[abees] 3[:18, 19]. There is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven, to deliver with many or with few, since strength comes not from the abundance of military force but from heaven. [212] Si quando accesseris ad expugnandam civitatem, offeres ei primum pacem. De[u]t. 20[:10]. If at any time thou comest to fight against a city, thou shalt first offer it peace. [213] Gubernaculis tractanda sunt bella. Pro. 21.172 Wars are to be managed by rulers. [214] Varius eventus est belli, et nunc hunc et nunc illum consumit gladius. 2 Re. ca. 2.173 Various is the result of war: and sometimes one, sometimes another the sword destroys. 170. Pacem . . . Epist. An exact quotation of an index entry in Bernard, excerpting an outburst against “stulti filii Adam, qui contemnenetes pacem” (foolish sons of Adam, who condemn peace), in Epistle 126, to the Bishop of Aquitaine, in Opera, fol. 218r; PL 182:276B. 171. expugnabit Elizabeth or the printer has omitted the Vulgate’s “inimicos tuos” (your enemies), leaving “expugnabit” (will overcome) without a direct object. 172. Pro. 21 The correct reference is Proverbs 20:18. 173. 2 Re. ca. 2 Elizabeth cites 2 Kings (Samuel) 2; the correct reference is 2 Samuel 11:25. The printer may have confused a concluding “ca. 11” in Elizabeth’s notes with “ca. II,” whence “ca. 2.”

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[215] Pro eo quod habuisti fiduciam in munitionibus tuis et in thesauris tuis, tu quoque capieris. Ier. [Jeremiah] 48[:7]. Because thou hast trusted in thy bulwarks and in thy treasures, thou also wilt be taken. [216] Cessabit Moab esse populus, quoniam contra Dominum gloriatus est. Ibidem [48:42]. Moab will cease to be a people, since it has boasted against the Lord. [217] Princeps nec timeat bella, nec provocet. Plinius senior. lib. 24.174 Let the ruler neither fear wars nor provoke them. [218] Ut nolit princeps pugnare, moderationis est, fortitudinis autem, ut ne hostes velint. Ibidem.175 For a ruler not to wish to fight is moderation’s part, but it is courage’s part that his enemies should not wish to fight. [219] Prius est parare bella, quam gerere. Quintil. lib. 12.176 Preparation for war must precede its waging. [220] Pravi sunt arma foris, nisi sit consilium domi. Cicero. 2 offici.177 Of little value are arms in the field, unless there be good counsel at home.

174. Princeps . . . 24 A recast quotation from Pliny the Younger Panegyric on Trajan 16.2: “Non times bella, nec provocas.” Plinius senior This reference confuses son with father, Pliny the Younger with Pliny the Elder. lib. 24 An erroneous reference to book 24 of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History in thirty-seven books. Pliny the Younger’s Panegyric is correctly cited in no. 32. 175. Ut . . . Ibidem A recast quotation from Pliny’s Panegyric 16.3: “Nam ut ipse nolis pugnare, moderatio; fortitudo tua praestat, ut neque hostes tui velint” (For that you yourself do not wish to fight is moderation; your courage ensures that neither does your enemy wish to fight). Elizabeth’s parallel syntax underscores the antithesis. Ibidem No. 218 is indeed from the same source as the preceding sentence, although that source is misstated in no. 217. 176. Prius . . . 12 A condensation from Quintillian Institutio oratoria 12.3.5. 177. Pravi . . . offici. A close quotation from Cicero De officiis 1.22.76. Pravi An error for “parvi” (of little value). Elizabeth may have consulted Cicero directly for this frequently cited maxim, since “pravi” is closer to Cicero’s “parvi” than to “parva,” the corrupt form frequently found in compendia, e.g., Cicero, Sententiae, 41; the “Bellum” chapter of Flores, 128az (which misascribes it to Seneca); and the “Consilium” chapter of Polyanthea, fol. 53v. 2 error for “1.”

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[221] Suscipienda bella sunt, ut in pace sine iniuria vivatur. Idem. 1 offici.178 Wars should be undertaken so that we may live in peace without harm. [222] Non est cum hoste confligendum, nisi occacio obuenerit, et necessitas inciderit. Max. lib. 7.179 One should not engage the enemy unless an opportunity were to crop up or a necessity were to arise. [223] Saepe in bello, paruis momentis magni casus intercidunt. Caesar.180 Often in war, great opportunities are lost from small causes. [224] Bellum ex arbitrio sumitur non ponitur. Sa[l]lust.181 War can be embarked on but not abandoned at will. [225] Arma armis irritantur. Plin. iun[ior].182 More arms are provoked by arms. [226] Bellum ex victoria nascitur. Curt. lib. 2.183 War is born from victory.

178. Suscipienda . . . offici. An exact quotation of an entry in Cicero, Sententiae, 218, which condenses De officiis 1.11.35, by omitting “quidem” and “ob eam causam.” The latter phrase makes more emphatic the implication that the only just reason for war is selfdefense. 179. Non . . . 7 A close quotation from Valerius Maximus Facta et dicta memorabilia 7.2.2. occacio An error for “occasio.” 180. Saepe . . . Caesar A close quotation of Caesar De bello civile 1.21, exact except for a verb change that modifies the sense. intercidunt Elizabeth substitutes the present indicative of “intercido” (to be lost) for the imperfect subjunctive “intercederent” from “intercedere” (to happen, come to pass). Caesar’s sense is ‘Often in war, great calamities have come to pass from small causes.’ Elizabeth probably intended only to change the verb to present indicative but confused the two verbs. 181. Bellum . . . Sal[l]ust An exact quotation of an index entry in the 1546 and 1547 Venetian editions of Sallust, itself a condensing paraphrase of Bellum Jugurthum 83: “omne bellum sumi facile, ceterum aegerrume desinere ; non in eiusdem potestate initium eius et finem” (every war is easy to begin, but most difficult to stop; its beginning and end are not in the power of the same man). 182. Arma . . . iun[ior] A close quotation of Pliny the Younger Panegyricus 49.3. 183. Bellum . . . 2 A generalizing quotation from Quintus Curtius Rufus Historia vitae Alexandri 7.8.21, where the Scythians warn Alexander that “bellum tibi ex victoria nascitur” (for you, war is born from your very victory). 2 An error for “7.”

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[227] Bellum non suscipiendum, nisi cum maius emolumentum spei, quam damni metus ostenditur. Caesar Aug. apud Tranquill.184 War must not be undertaken, unless the profit of hope [hope of profit] appears greater than fear of loss. [228] Bellum est iustum, quod necessarium est, et arma sunt pia, quibus nulla nisi in armis relinquitur spes. Livi. lib. 9. Dec. 1.185 The war is just that is necessary, and arms are righteous for those for whom no hope remains but in arms. [229] Bellum seipsum alit. Cato. apud Liui. lib. 4. Dec. 4.186 War feeds itself. [230] Nunquam minus, quam in bello euentus respondent. Idem. 10. lib. Dec. 3.187 Never less than during wars do events turn out as desired. [231] Luxuria, et otio militaris disciplina tollitur. Idem. lib. 10. Dec. 4.188 Military discipline is lost by extravagance and ease. 184. Bellum . . . Tranquill. A close quotation of Augustus Caesar’s maxim in (Gaius) Suetonius (Tranquillus) Lives of the Caesars 2.25.4. emolumentum spei (the profit of hope). An error for “emolumenti spes” (the hope of profit). 185. Bellum . . . 1 An exact quotation of the Florentine Livy edition’s index except for Elizabeth’s addition of “sunt.” The index entry rearranges a speech in Livy Ab urbe condita 9.1.10 that begins “Iustum est bellum.” 186. Bellum . . . 4 A close quotation of an index entry described as “Catonis verbum” (Cato’s dictum) in the Florentine Livy edition and of the identical Livy passage in Ab urbe condita 34 (book 4 of the 4th decade), 9.12, with a generalizing present-tense “alit” (feeds) substituted for future-tense “alet” (will feed). Cato the Elder meant that Roman soldiers will be able to live off conquered territory; the detached maxim means more generally that war is self-sustaining. The sentence also appears in the “Bellum” chapter of the 1539, 1546, and 1552 Polyanthea editions, fol. 44r, with Elizabeth’s present-tense “alit” and her Livy book reference numbers but without the ascription to Cato. Probably Elizabeth consulted both the Polyanthea and her Livy index here. 187. Nunquam . . . 3 A close quotation of the Florentine Livy index, itself an exact citation of Hannibal’s claim in Livy Ab urbe condita 30 (book 10 of the 3rd decade), 30.20, also quoted with Elizabeth’s Livy reference numbers in the “Bellum” chapter of the 1539, 1546, and 1552 editions of the Polyanthea, fol. 44r, immediately after her no. 229. respondent Elizabeth’s plural form follows the Florentine Livy edition rather than the singular “respondet” in the 1539, 1546, and 1552 Polyanthea editions, providing further evidence that she consulted her Livy edition directly here. nunquam never. A substitution for “nusquam” (nowhere). 188. Luxuria . . . 4 A close quotation from the Florentine Livy index, with two words transposed and “tollitur” substituted for a verb close in sense, “solvitur.” The index entry turns into direct statement a passage in indirect discourse in Livy Ab urbe condita 40 (book 10 of the 4th decade), 1.10.

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[232] Nunquam ad publicum certamen produxeris militem, nisi cum eum videris sperare victoriam. Veget. lib. 3.189 You should never lead an army into open battle except when you suppose it anticipates victory. [233] Necesse est cum multis pugnet, qui multis vult imperare. apud Plutarch. in Apoph.190 He who wishes to command many must fight with many. [234] Maxime Mars odit cunctanctem. Eurip.191 Greatly Mars, the god of war, hates the loiterer. [235] Necessario e bello multae oriuntur molestiae. Eurip. in Here. fur.192 Many distresses arise from a necessary war. [236] Non verbis vincuntur hostes, sed armis. Demost. Exodi. 5.193 Enemies are conquered not by words but by arms. 189. Nunquam . . . 3 An exact quotation from Vegetius De re militari 3.26. Elizabeth draws most of her Vegetius quotations from this chapter, which concludes book 3 with a series of sententiae on war strategy. 190. Necesse . . . Apoph. A close quotation of Regio’s Latin rendering of a saying of Spartan King Agis in the “Apophthegmata Laconica” (Plutarch, 89G). 191. Maxime . . . Eurip. An exact quotation, except for a misprint, of Melanchthon’s Latin rendering of Euripides, Heracleidae (Children of Heracles), line 722, in his edition, Tragoediae, 221, also used by Elizabeth for no. 75. cunctanctem A printer’s error for “cunctantem.” Euripides’s corresponding Greek term, “μέλλοντας” (loiterers), is plural. 192. Necessario . . . fur. This passage is adapted not from Euripides but from Wolf ’s translation of Demosthenes’s Fourth Philippian 58.5, “necesse enim necesse est multas oriri e bello molestias” (it is inevitable, yea inevitable, that many distresses arise from war) in Opera, 1:61–62. Elizabeth’s “necessario” echoes Wolf ’s repeated “necesse” but shifts the sense from the necessary effects of war to the effects of a necessary war. Eurip. . . . fur This incorrect reference to Euripides’s Hercules Furens may have been intended by Elizabeth for the preceding sentence, no. 234, which is from another Euripidean play with a similar title. Here. A printer’s error for “Herc[ules].” 193. Non . . . 5 A paraphrase of a passage from Demosthenes’s Exordium 27 or 44 (Wolf gives both numbers; 45 in modern numbering): “verborum fortitudinem atque audaciam, nisi iustus apparatus & vires accesserint, ut iucundas esse auditu, sic ad agendum periculosas. . . . Vincendi sunt hostes pugnando ab iis, qui huius verbi splendorem adepturi sunt” (Verbal courage and audacity, unless accompanied by fully equipped armaments and forces, as they are pleasant to listen to, so they are dangerous to carry out. . . . Enemies must be conquered by fighting on the part of those who would capture the splendor of this speech), in Opera, 1:104. Non verbis . . . sed armis Elizabeth’s antithesis echoes Roman rhetoricians more directly than Wolf ’s Demosthenes. Publius Rutilius Lupus’s De figuris sententiarum, which saw several Renaissance editions, gives this example of “paromoion” in 2.12: “Cum quidem adversarius armatus praesto est, resistendum est huic non verbis, sed armis” (When indeed an armed enemy is ready, he must be opposed not with words, but arms). Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria, the source of nos. 155 and 219, lists “non verbis, sed armis” as wordplay (9.3.75). Exodi. 5 Errors for “Exordi[um]” and for “27” or “44.”

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[237] Rarae foelicitatis est, multa prelia eaque prospere gerere. Idem.194 It is rare good fortune to wage many battles succesfully. [238] Qui foris bellum gesturus sit operam det, ut domi omnia in tuto, sint collocata. Ibidem.195 He who will wage war abroad, let him apply himself so that all things may be made safe at home. [239] Transacto bello constantior pax sit, in tranquillitate autem nolle bellum mouere, haud aeque periculo vacat. Thucid. apud Stob.196 Peace is more stable after war, but in tranquillity not to be willing to wage war is by no means equally devoid of danger. [240] Armorum disciplinam discant pueri. Plato de fortitu.197 Let boys learn the discipline of arms. [241] Non quaeritur pax, ut bellum exerceatur: sed bellum geritur, ut pax acquiratur. Aug. ad Bonif.198 Peace is not sought so that war may be practiced; rather war is waged so that peace may be gained. 194. Rarae . . . Idem A distillation of various passages in which Demosthenes speaks of fortune’s role in war. Perhaps the closest is “Ad Philippi epistolam” (Answer to Philip’s Letter) 14–15, where he notes Philip of Macedon’s current success but predicts his eventual downfall: “Dum in bellis victoria potiuntur, eorum mala vulgus non perspicit. . . . Magna enim vis est in fortuna, ad omnes res mortalium: vel ea potius omnia sibi vindicat” (While they [kingdoms] gain victory in wars, the common people do not perceive their troubles. . . . For there is indeed great force in Fortune, concerning all things mortal: or rather Fortune might lay claim to all; Opera, 1:69); cf. Exordium 49 or 38 (39 in modern numbering), “Fortuna . . . modo hos, modo illos fovet, aut affligit” (Fortune . . . favors or afflicts these men on one occasion, those men on another; Opera, 1:111). 195. Qui . . . Ibidem A generalizing paraphrase of Demosthenes’s argument in First Olynthian 25–27 that the Athenians should not wait for Philip of Macedon to attack them but rather wage war abroad against him in order to keep themselves safe at home: “vos illic belligerabitis . . . & secure hac vestra fruemini. . . . Quantum autem intersit, hic an illic bellum geratur, verbis nihil opus esse abitror” (you will fight there . . . and you will enjoy your possessions securely. . . . But I think there is no need for speeches concerning how much difference it makes whether war is waged here or there; Opera, 1:5). 196. Transacto . . . Stob. An exact quotation of Gesner’s Latin rendering of Thucydides’ pronouncement in History of the Peloponnesian War 1.124.2, in the “De . . . pertinentibus ad bellum consilia” chapter of Stobaeus, Sententiae, fol. 351r. 197. Armorum . . . fortitu. A paraphrase of a marginal gloss in Ficino’s translation of Plato’s Laches (De Fortitudine): “Pueros discere debere armorum disciplinam” (Boys ought to learn the discipline of arms; Opera, 3:87). The gloss summarizes Nicias’s argument (181e–182d). 198. Non . . . Bonif. An exact quotation and reference from the “Bellum” chapter in Flores, 119h. The source is Augustine’s letter to Boniface, a Roman commander in Africa who had rebelled against the Roman emperor (Epistle 189.6, in PL 33:856).

elizabeth’s sententiae

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[242] Cum iustum bellum suscipitur, utrum aperte pugnet quis, an ex insidiis, nihil ad iustitiam interest. Idem.199 When a just war is undertaken, whether one fights openly or by plotting makes no difference to the justice [of the war]. [243] Ordo mortalium paci accommodatus hoc poscit, ut suscipiendi belli authoritas atque consilium penes principes sit. Aug. contra Faust.200 The order of mortal things, being favorable to peace, demands that the authority and judgment [counsel] to undertake war be in rulers’ hands. [244] Fortitudo quae per bella tuetur a barbaris patriam, vel defendit infirmos, vel a latronibus socios, plena iusticia est. Amb. De officiis.201 Courage that, by wars, guards the homeland from barbarians, or defends the weak or allies from brigands, is full of justice. [245] Si bona fuerit causa pugnantis, belli exitus malus esse non possit, sicut nec bonus iudicabitur finis, nisi causa non bona et intentio non recta precesserit. Beru.202 If the cause of battle were good, the outcome of war could not be bad, just as the result will not be deemed good unless a good cause and a proper intention precedes it.

199. Cum . . . Idem An exact quotation from the “Bellum” chapter in Flores, 119–20i. The source is Augustine’s Quaestiones in Heptateuchum 6.1.10 (PL 34:781). 200. Ordo . . . Faust. An exact quotation and reference from the “Bellum” chapter in Flores, 119d, except that the Flores retains Augustine’s phrasing, “ordo naturalis mortalium” (the natural order of mortal things). Unlike Elizabeth and the Flores, the source passage places power in the hands of a single “principem” (Contra Faustum Manichaeum 22.75; PL 42:448). 201. Fortitudo . . . officiis An exact quotation and reference from the “Bellum” chapter in Flores, 120 l. By contrast, the source, Ambrose De officiis 1.27.129 (PL 16:61B) and the versions in the “Bellum” and “Fortitudo” chapters of the Polyanthea, fols. 43r, 117r, read “bello” or “in bello” for “per bella” and “domi defendit infirmos” (defends the weak at home). 202. Si . . . Beru. A close quotation from the “Bellum” chapter in Flores, 120o. belli Elizabeth’s substitution for “pugnae” (of the battle). nisi This conjunction, which Elizabeth found in the Flores, creates a misleading double negative. The original source, Bernard’s De laude novae militae (Opera, 98r; PL 182:922C), reads “ubi” (where), as does the version in the “Bellum” chapter of Polyanthea, fol. 48v. Beru. Another printer’s error for “Bern.”

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[246] Bellum iustum est, quod fit de precepto principis, de rebus repetendis, vel propter iniuriam repellendam.203 A just war is one that is declared by the ruler’s command, concerning reparations, or in order to repel injury. [247] Adversariorum pugna constanter aliquando declinanda. Greg, 3 Moral.204 Sometimes battle with enemies must be resolutely declined. [248] Nemo provocare audet, aut facere iniuriam ei regno, aut populo, quem intelligit expeditum, atque promptum ad vindicandum. Veg. 3.205 No one dares provoke or do injury to that kingdom or people that he understands to be ready for action and prompt to revenge. [249] Bellorum tempora et exitus a deo pendent. Aug. 5 De civit. cap. 22.206 The times and the outcomes of wars depend upon God. [250] Bellis corruptos hominum mores, Deus emendat. Ibid. 1 de civit. cap. 1.207 Through wars God reforms the corrupt habits of men.

203. Bellum . . . repellendam A loose quotation of a sentence from Isidore of Seville in the “Bellum” chapter of Polyanthea, fol. 43r. The source is Etymologiae 18.1; PL 82:639B. Elizabeth changes the Polyanthea’s “propulsandorum hominum causa” (in order to repel men) to “propter iniuriam repllendam” and “ex edicto” (from a command) to “de precepto principis.” 204. Adversariorum . . . Moral. An excerpt from an index entry in Gregory, Omnia Opera: “Aduersariorum pugna constanter aliquando appetenda est, & aliquando prudenter declinanda” (sometimes one must resolutely seek battle with one’s enemies, and other times one must prudently decline). The original passage from Moralia 31.23 is phrased as a question with infinitives, not as a passive periphrastic (fol. 186L; 31.27.58 in PL 76:606B). constanter By transferring the adverb from the omitted first clause to the second clause, Elizabeth emphasizes the heroism of nonbelligerence. 3 An error for “31.” 205. Nemo . . . 3 A conflation and slight recasting of two maxims of Vegetius: “Nemo provocare, nemo audet offendere, quem intelligit superiorem fore si pugnet” (3, prologue), and “Nemo enim bello lacessere, aut facere audet iniuriam ei regno vel populo, quem expeditum & promptum ad resistendum vindicandumque cognoscit” (4.31). These maxims appear, with correct references, in the “Bellum” chapter in Flores, 124–25ah, 127aq. Nevertheless, Elizabeth evidently cites Vegetius directly; her “ei” is in Vegetius but not in the Flores version. 206. Bellorum . . . 22 A close quotation of the chapter title in Augustine De civitate Dei 5.22 (Opera Omnia, 5:97B): “Tempora exitusque bellorum ex dei pendere iudicio.” 207. Bellis . . . 1 A paraphrase of Augustine’s claim that divine Providence “solet corruptos hominum mores bellis emendare” (is accustomed to amend men’s corrupt morals with war) in De civitate Dei 1.1 (Opera Omnia, 5:3B).

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[251] Pax videtur maximum homini bonum: bellum maximum malum. Idem. lib. 19.208 Peace seems the greatest good to man, war the greatest evil. [252] Utilius constat erudire armis suos, quam alienos mercede conducere. Veg. lib. 3.209 It is certainly more profitable to train your own army than to hire foreigners for pay. [253] Qui desiderat pacem, preparat bellum. Ibidem.210 He who desires peace prepares for war. [254] Qui secundos eventus desiderat, dimicet arte non casu. Ibidem. Let him who wishes for successful outcomes fight with tactical skill, not at random. [255] Non est divitiarum secura possessio: nisi armorum defentione servetur. Ibidem.211 There is no secure possession of wealth unless it be protected by defense of arms. [256] In prelio amplius solet iuuare occasio quam vertus. Ibidem.212 In battle opportunity more often helps than valor. [257] Difficile vincitur, qui de suis, et de aduersarii copiis vere potest iudicare. Ibidem.213 He who can judge correctly of his own and his enemy’s troops is difficult to defeat. [258] Qui frumentum necessariumque commeatum non preparat vincitur sine ferro. Ibidem.214 He who does not furnish grain and other necessary supplies is conquered without a blow. 208. Pax . . . 19 A summarizing paraphrase of Augustine’s argument in De civitate Dei 19.11–12 (Opera Omnia, 5:588D–590D). 209. Utilius . . . 3 A close quotation of Vegetius 1.28, the last line of the book. Utilius Elizabeth’s more dignified substitution for Vegetius’s “vilius” (cheaper). 3 An error for “1.” 210. Qui . . Ibidem. Nos. 253–54 are close quotations of Vegetius De re militari 3, prologue. The two sentences are also cited together in the “Bellum” chapters in both Flores, p. 124ah, and Polyanthea, fol. 43v. preparat Elizabeth’s present indicative form follows the corrupt version in the Flores and Polyanthea. Renaissance editions of Vegetius, like modern ones, have a horatory subjunctive: “praeparet” (let him prepare); see e.g., Vegetius, De re militari (Paris, 1532), 83. 211. Non . . . Ibidem. A close quotation from Vegetius 3.3. defentione An error for “defensione.” 212. In . . . Ibidem. A paraphrase from Vegetius 3.26. vertus An error for “virtus.” 213. Difficile . . . Ibidem. A close quotation from Vegetius 3.26. 214. Qui . . . Ibidem. An exact quotation from Vegetius 3.26.

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[259] Quo genere pugnaturus sis, nesciat hostis, ne aliquibus remediis resistere moliatur. Ibidem.215 Let the enemy not know in what manner you are going to fight, lest he endeavor to resist with countervailing means. 215. Quo . . . Ibidem. A close quotation of the final maxim in Vegetius 3.26, changing Vegetius’s plural “hostes” (enemies) and its corresponding verbs to the singular.

Ranging across a period from before her accession in 1558 to sometime in the early 1580s, Elizabeth’s multilingual inscriptions in or on her books share with her translations and the Sententiae a simultaneously linguistic, ethical, and spiritual engagement with texts. More books with more of her inscriptions may well come to light and extend our insights into her responses to her reading. The marginalia in her French Psalter reveal Elizabeth’s participation, already as princess, in processes of learned translation that involve emending or adding to a text. She corrects the translation of one psalm against the Vulgate; she enters in sequence the names of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet that shape the acrostic design of another psalm, a formal feature unnoted in the French text. On the title page of this Psalter she inscribes a line of gnomic piety from Petrarch’s Trionfo della morte (Triumph of Death). Together these entries contribute to the multilingual diffusion of what she proclaims, in another of her marginalia, “Verbum Dei.” Elizabeth’s jottings in her copy of Thomas Cranmer’s Defense of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Our Saviour Christ (1550) employ Latin, French, and Italian, the three foreign languages she had used to translate Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations (1545), to affirm her own Reformed convictions. She enters a paragraph in humanist Latin on the last page of the Defense, commending the work and its author, and adds French and Italian mottoes that translate a Pauline expression (from Vulgate Latin) to celebrate

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Cranmer’s zeal for the truth. While her Latin paragraph acknowledges that corruption and error prevail in most of Christendom, her use of French and Italian to praise her godfather’s erudite and godly efforts signals the hope that the Catholic countries that are home to these vernaculars may yet embrace true, enlightened faith. Elizabeth embellished an English version of the French translation of the New Testament made by Théodore de Bèze, Calvin’s successor at Geneva (1579), with front and back covers embroidered with emblems and mottoes in Latin. Drawing on an eclectic mix of classical, Biblical, patristic, and medieval sources like that of her Sententiae, these mottoes articulate the convictions of a Christian humanist. One embroidered motto reads: “vicit omnia pertinax virtus e. c.” The clause, ‘Steadfast virtue has conquered all things,’ derives from Livy, one of Elizabeth’s preferred pagan authors; its expression of confidence in the power of human virtue to withstand Fortune constitutes an important Stoic strain in sixteenth-century Christianity. The Livy quotation is followed, however, by an abbreviated tag. However it is to be construed—the possibilities include “et christus,” “et caelum,” “e christo,” or “e caelo”—the tag expresses Elizabeth’s concomitant belief that a Christian’s victory in virtue depends on God’s grace. Two quotations on discrete pages of this New Testament reaffirm the centrality of Scripture, the core of her Reformed faith since her girlhood grounding in evangelical humanism: one from a manual attributed to Saint Bernard, another from Thomas Rogers’s English translation (1581) of a pseudo-Augustinian medieval treatise that she ascribes to Augustine. As in the Sententiae, which includes quotations from Bernard and several other medieval authors, the spectrum of Christian authorities in Elizabeth’s inscriptions registers her self-conscious participation in a long tradition of Christian faith and learning—exactly the historical perspective claimed by such spokesmen as John Jewel, Matthew Parker, William Whitaker, and Richard Hooker—to define and distinguish the Elizabethan Church of England.

Book inscriptions in Elizabeth’s handwriting or embroidery Elizabeth’s inscriptions in her French Psalter, before 1558 1 On sig. Lvv, Elizabeth underlined a phrase in Psalm 101:7 and inserted a marginal note.

Ie suis faict semblable au pellican du desert: ie suis faict comme chauue soris au domicile.

hibou2

In the margins opposite the section breaks of Psalm 118, Elizabeth wrote the names of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Aleph. Beth. Gimel. Daleth. He. vau. vau. Zain. Zain. Heth. Theth. 1. Source: Windsor Castle, Royal Library. Elizabeth’s French black-letter Psalter, measuring about 4 × 5 inches and carrying the running title “Le psaultier de David” on some of its pages, has lost its title page and front matter through sig. Aii. The Vulgate numbering of the Psalms is used in this edition. This is the volume that contains the quatrain “No crooked leg” inscribed in Elizabeth’s hand on the verso of its last page and signed by her; see Poem 4 in CW, 132, and in ACFLO, 37. To her name she appends a four-cornered device with a loop at each corner, and a further horizontal flourish across the top. This device resembles the one that Henry VIII appended to his name in his royal signature. Since Elizabeth always wrote an R after her name when she became queen, the quatrain must predate November 1558.The character of her other inscriptions in this volume is compatible with an earlier date as well. These transcriptions of Elizabeth’s inscriptions in books in the Royal Library at Windsor are reproduced with the gracious permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 2. hibou Elizabeth corrects according to the Vulgate’s “bubo” (owl), whose French equivalent is “hibou,” not “chauue soris,” i.e., “chauve souris” (bat).

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Iod. Caph. Lamed. Mem. Nun. Sameth. Ain. Phe. Zade. Cuph. Res. Sin. Thau.3 On sig. Biii r in the margin opposite Isaiah 44:9 in French, Elizabeth wrote the Vulgate Latin version of the same text after underlining it.

Tous plasmateurs dydoles ne sont riens: Plastae Idoli omnes nihil Sunt.4 On sig. Bviii r, the last leaf of the volume, in the blank space below the end of the text, Elizabeth drew an armillary sphere, superimposing it on a drawing of an unclasped, wide-open “Verbum domini” (so inscribed on its left-hand page) and aligning the sphere’s axis with the gutter formed by the page opening, Below the open Word of God, Elizabeth drew a banner and inscribed as a motto a line from Petrarch.

Miser é chi Speme in cosa mortal pone5

3. Aleph . . . Thau In the Hebrew original, the Psalm is arranged as an acrostic with eight verses for each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. While neither the Vulgate nor the French Psalter nor any complete English Bible prior to the 1560 Geneva Bible notes the acrostic, both George Joye and Miles Coverdale give the transliterated names of the Hebrew letters at the head of each section of verses in their respective English translations of Psalm 118. See The Psalter of David in English, trans. George Joye (London, 1544?), fols. xciii r–xcix r, and The Psalter, or Book of the Psalms, both in Latin and English, trans. Miles Coverdale (London, 1540), fols. ciii v–cvi v. Elizabeth may have had recourse to either or both of these texts; the British Library preserves Henry VIII’s annotated copy of Joye’s Psalter, and Queen Katherine Parr used a copy of Coverdale’s Psalter in her devotional writings. Yet Elizabeth does not simply copy either Joye’s or Coverdale’s transliterations; her variant names and spellings of Hebrew letters diverge from Joye’s in five instances and from Coverdale’s in four. Elizabeth may have studied a little Hebrew with the Hebraist Anthony Chevallier around 1550–1553; see G. Lloyd Jones, The Discovery of Hebrew in Tudor England: A Third Language (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1983), 240. 4. Plastae . . . Sunt “All makers of idols are nothing.” 5. Miser . . . pone ‘Wretched is he who places hope in mortal thing.’ Except for the added verb “é” (with Elizabeth’s characteristically idiosyncratic accent), the line is an exact quotation of Petrarch, Trionfo della morte (Triumph of Death), pt. 1, line 85. The line is also quoted in a long excerpt from Petrarch’s poem in Domenico Nani Mirabelli’s Polyanthea (Solingen, 1539), 200v, a major source for Elizabeth’s Sententiae. Yet in all five editions of the Polyanthea that we have consulted (1503, 1517, 1539, 1546, 1552), the line appears with the incorrect plural “cose,” which suggests that Elizabeth consulted Petrarch’s text directly.

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Elizabeth’s inscriptions in her copy of Thomas Cranmer’s A Defense of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Our Saviour Christ, after 1550 6 Mottoes written on the title page.

senza posare mai. Sans iamais m’arrester.7 In book 3, “Of the presence of Christ in His Supper,” fol. 72r–v, below the marginal rubric “Christe him self vsed figuratiue speeches,” and opposite the marginal reference to Galatians 3, Elizabeth altered the text.

And sainct Paule sayth,8 that in Baptisme wee clothe vs with Christe, and be buryed with him. Thes baptisme and washing, and newe byrth, this water that spryngeth in a man, & floweth into euerlastyng life, and this clothinge and buriall baptisme can not be understande of any material water, material washyng, and material byrthe, clothinge and buriall In book 4, “Of the eatyng and drinking,” fol. 96v, opposite the marginal reference to Cyril, “in Iohan. lib. 4. cap. 18,” Elizabeth repositioned a phrase mislocated in the text and made the requisite grammatical adjustment.9

And in another place he [Cyril] sayth, Forasmuche as the fleshe of them to liue them to Christe doth naturally geue life, therefore it maketh lyfe, that bee partakers of it.

6. Source: Windsor Castle, Royal Library. The volume that Elizabeth inscribed is a copy of the first edition of Thomas Cranmer, A Defence of the True and Catholike doctrine of the sacrament of the body and bloud of our sauior Christ (London: Reynold Wolfe, 1550). 7. senza . . . m’arrester “Without ever stopping,” first in Italian and then in French. The Greek adjective and adverb, “ἀδιάλειπτος” and “ἀδιαλείπτως” (without ceasing), and their Vulgate rendering, “sine intermissione,” are recurrent in St. Paul’s epistles, used either to assure a particular church of his own spiritual activity or to exhort its members to demonstrate theirs (Romans 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:2, 2:13; 5:17; 2 Timothy 1:3).Elizabeth’s inscriptions of these terms impute a Pauline perseverance to her godfather, Cranmer, who combated the Romanist dogma of transubstantiation in this work. 8. Paule sayth In Galatians 3:27 and Romans 6:3–4, respectively. 9. adjustment Wolfe, the printer, would make the identical correction in the second edition of Cranmer’s Defence (London, 1550).

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On fol. 101r, below the marginal rubric “The symple people bee deceyued,” Elizabeth keyed a marginal note of definition for a word she underlined in Cranmer’s text.

Sacreing of sacrefising

For els what made the people to runne frome theyr seates to the altar, and from aultar to aultar, and from sakeryng (as they called it) to sakeryng, peepyng, tootyng, and gasynge at that thynge, whiche the priest held vp in hys handes, if they thought not to honour that thyng, whiche they sawe? On the blank verso of the last page of the work, Elizabeth wrote:

Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis Scripsit hanc apologiam contra errorem transubstantiationis, qui iam multis seculis adeo inuasuit. Vt Vniuersus fere orbis Christianus hac polluatur macula sicque vt rei Veritate iam palam cognita maior pars tamen non resipiscat. quae res Vt est imis deploranda lachrimis, ita deus optimus maximus supplici petendus est / Voce, ut ille (penes quem solum est), dignetur tandem ob omnium oculos excutere tenebras, quò possint agnita ueritate, confiterj suum perpetuum et aeternum honorem confiteri. / Amen. / Αμημ / Ainsi soit il.10

10. Archiepiscopus . . . il “The Archbishop of Canterbury wrote this defense against the error of transubstantiation, which now for many ages has seized control to such an extent that virtually the whole of Christendom is defiled in this manner with the stain, and in such a way that although the truth of the matter is now publicly known, the greater part of men still do not regain their senses. Regarding which matter, just as it must be bewailed with the humblest tears, so the most good and most great God must be besought with a supplicating voice so that He (within whose power it alone is) may deign at last to drive out before the eyes of all men the shadows, whereby they might acknowledge, after the truth has been recognized, His perpetual and eternal honor. Amen.” Elizabeth gives first the Vulgate Latin and English transliteration of Hebrew “Amen” (So be it); then the Greek New Testament transliteration (with a characteristic substitution of a ‘mu’ for the terminal ‘nu’; see ACFLO, 149n45); and then the French equivalent.

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Elizabeth’s inscriptions on and in her Geneva New Testament, c. 1579–81 11 Border mottoes on front cover.

[. . . co]elum patria | scopvs vitae christvs | christo vive12 Mottoes in banderoles on front cover, placed above and below an embroidered heart shape that forms the center of a plant stalk with two leaves, which bears a Jack-in-the-pulpit-like flower.

eleva cor svrsvm | ibi vbi e c13

11. Source: University of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS e Museo 242. This small, chunky volume, which lacks a title page and front matter, is part of The new testament of our lord Jesus Christ, translated out of Greeke by T. Beza, whereunto are adioyned summaries . . . Englished by L[aurence] Tomson (London, 1578?). Its text picks up with Romans 1:1 and page 251. Elizabeth embroidered front and back covers for this volume in silver thread on black velvet, setting off two different plant-and-flower motifs centered on each cover and faced on their left by a large E. A series of mottoes is inscribed on banderoles above and below each flower and also in borders along the four edges of each cover. The mottoes can be read only intermittently; wear has obscured or effaced a number of letters. 12. [. . . co]elum . . . vive ‘Heaven is our home. The goal of life is Christ. Live in Christ.’ [co]elum patria. The phrase is patristic. Ambrose in Enarrationes in XII Psalmos affirms “piis patria coelum est” (for the pious, heaven is their home; PL 16:1162D). scopvs . . . christvs This is the first maxim in Juan Luis Vives’s frequently reprinted book of sententiae, Satellitium Animi (Bodyguard of the Soul), which was first published in 1526 with a dedication to Princess (later Queen) Mary; see Ad Veram Sapientiam Introductio . . . Satellitium Animi (Cologne, 1552), sig. F6v. christo vive This phrase recalls several New Testament passages but is perhaps closest to Romans 6:11 in the Vulgate reading: “viventes autem Deo in Christo” (but living unto God in Christ). 13. eleva . . . e c “ec” is evidently an abbreviation for “est christus” or, less likely, “est coelum”; Elizabeth lacked space to spell out the words. The whole motto can be rendered ‘Lift the heart upward, there where Christ—or heaven—is.’ While “Christus” would normally be abbreviated “chr” or “x,” the Scriptural echo suggests that Elizabeth intends “christus.” She conflates the Vulgate reading in Colossians 3:1–2, “quæ sursum sunt quærite, ubi Christus est” (seek the things that are above, where Christ is) with “Sursum corda” (Lift up your hearts), the words addressed by to the congregation by the celebrating priest that begin the Eucharistic liturgy in the Roman Mass. The equivalent phrase in English and the congregation’s response, “We lift them up unto the Lord,” figure at the same juncture in the Church of England’s “Order of Holy Communion”; see The Book of Common Prayer, 1559: The Elizabethan Prayer Book, ed. John E. Booty (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia for Folger Shakespeare Library, 1976), 260–61.

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Border mottoes on back cover.

beatvs qvi divitias scripturae legens verba | vertit in | opera14 Mottoes in banderoles on back cover, placed above and below an embroidered starburst or daisylike flower crowning a plant stalk with two leaves.

vicit omnia pertinax virtus e c15 Elizabeth’s inscription on the pasted-in first leaf.

August. I walke many times into the pleasant fieldes of the holye scriptures, where I plucke vp the goodlie greene herbes of sentences by pruning: Eate them by reading: chawe them by musing: And Laie thm vp at Length in the hie seate of memorie by gathering them together: that so having tasted thy sweetenes I may the Lesse perceaue the bitternes of this miserable Life16 14. beatvs . . . opera ‘Blessed is he who, reading the words, turns the riches of Scripture into works.’ Except for substituting “divitias scripturae” for “divinas Scripturas,” Elizabeth exactly quotes a passage in chap. 2 of the Tractatus de ordine vitae et morum institutione, formerly attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux. See Bernard, Opera (Lyon, 1544), fol. 310r; PL 184:566C. 15. vicit . . . ec vicit . . . virtus ‘Steadfast virtue has conquered all things.’ The original source is Livy Ab urbe condita 25.3.14: “vincit tamen omnia pertinax virtus” (nevertheless steadfast virtue conquers all things). Elizabeth’s version omits the conjunction “tamen” and substitutes a perfect-tense “vicit” for Livy’s present-tense “vincit.” She may have derived Livy’s maxim from an intermediate source: it appears without “tamen” in the “pertinax” entry in Thomas Elyot’s Latin-English dictionary, Bibliotheca Eliotae (London, 1548), where it is translated as “vertue constant and continuing still in goodnesse, overcometh all things”; it appears exactly as Elizabeth cites it in the “pertinax” entry in Robert Estienne’s Latin-French Dictionnaire Latinogallicum (Paris, 1552). EC This abbreviation, used for lack of space, could stand for any of several phrases—e.g., “et christus,” “et caelum,” “e christo,” or “e caelo”—that Christianize a classical formulation. 16. I . . . Life An exact quotation, except for Elizabeth’s possibly inadvertent substitution of “musing” for “using,” of a passage in chap. 21 of A Right Christian Treatise. Entitled S. Augustines Praiers, trans. Thomas Rogers (London, 1581), 88. Rogers closely follows the Latin of the medieval pseudo-Augustinian Meditationes 22 (PL 40:917). Elizabeth’s “musing” is more vivid but less literal than Rogers’s “using,” which renders “frequentando” (frequently using, frequently visiting). Rogers does not present the work as authentically Augustinian but rather as a profitable devotional work once it has been “purged”—as his title page announces and his preface elaborates—“from divers superstitious [i.e., Roman Catholic] points.”

elizabeth’s book inscriptions Beneath this inscription, a horizontal rule has been drawn across the page, followed by a note in a seventeenth-century hand.

This was queene Elizabethes booke & this was her owne hande writting aboue.

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The translation of Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s Epistulae morales 107 (108 in Renaissance editions) is prefaced as follows in Nugae Antiquae, the collection of important historical documents preserved by the Harington family: “N.B. This letter was given by Queen Elizabeth, to her servant, John Harington, in token of remembrance of her Highness’ painstaking and learned skill, 1567, and which he did highly prize and esteem in such sort.”1 John Harington (1561–1612), one of Elizabeth’s godchildren, was on especially affectionate terms with her. He received this translation from her as a boy of six. We find no reason to doubt either the ascription of the translation to Elizabeth or its reliability as a copy of her original text. In appendix 2 we discuss the high degree of reliability of the transcriptions from John Harington’s commonplace book that were printed in the first edition of Nugae Antiquae (1769–75). Both the vocabulary and the syntax of the translation of Seneca’s epistle attest to its authenticity as Elizabeth’s work. The phrase “subtle scanning,” an expansive rendering of Seneca’s “subtilitas,” resonates with Elizabeth’s use of the phrase “subtle scannings” in a parliamentary speech of 1585.2 Her immediately following phrase, “that breeds this contempt,” expands “in despiciendis” (in despising) by employing one of her favorite verbs, “breed,” often ap1. Nugae Antiquae: Being a Miscellaneous Collection of Original Papers in Prose and Verse. By Sir John Harington, 2 vols. (Bath and London, 1769–75), 1:135. 2. CW, 183; see other uses of “scanning” on 189, 194.

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plied in its general sense of ‘cause’ to the arousal of attitudes and emotions. Elizabeth uses this verb about twenty times in this sense in her extant original writings: compare her 1567 speech attacking men who “bred you that . . . doubt.”3 She also often uses the verb in her translations without provocation from her source text. Five instances occur in her translation of Cicero’s Pro Marcello, including a very loose rendering of “qui scilicet tibi insidiaretur” (who doubtless was plotting against you) as “that breeds this doubt.” Nine instances occur in her translation of Boethius, such as “breed an uncertain opinion” (book 5, prose 3), where “breed” renders “erit” (will be). Eleven instances occur in the verse translation of Erasmus’s Latin translation of Plutarch, including the expansion of “offendunt” to “breedeth . . . offense” (line 25). The translation of the Seneca letter employs “brook” in the sense of ‘endure’ (“brook well sickness”), for which the OED gives examples from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries only in its more common usage in negative or restrictive constructions. Elizabeth uses this verb four other times, once in a similarly positive construction in a letter of March 1586 to James VI of Scotland: “The expertest seamen . . . brook nimblest the roughest storms.”4 The translation of the Seneca epistle renders “degener” (base-born) in its last sentence as “of . . . bastardly mind”; in book 3, meter 6 of her Boethius translation she similarly translates “degener” as “bastard.” Syntactic features shared with Elizabeth’s other writings include subject-verb nonagreement—“The clear days follows the dark clouds; the roughest seas ensues the greatest calms”—and frequent ellipses, for example, of the infinitive “to be,” indicated here by a caret, in “caused thee ^ troublesome to all.” Seneca’s epistle expounds in animated fashion the central Stoic tenet that one should bear one’s fortune with equanimity. Stoicism, especially as modified and combined with Christian beliefs, was popular among educated Elizabethans.5 Elizabeth herself felt its attraction. One of her mottos, “Semper eadem” (Always the same), declared Stoic constancy a 3. CW, 106; see other examples on 32, 105, 106 (a second instance), 200, 202, 204, 234, 23, 275 (two instances), 278, 364, 372, 383, 387 (two instances), 296, 426 (three instances). 4. CW, 274. For Elizabeth’s negative constructions with “brook,” see CW, 134, and her verse translation of Erasmus’s translation of Plutarch’s De curiositate, lines 94 and 241. 5. On Renaissance Stoicism and attempts to reconcile it with Christianity, see Jill Kraye, “Moral Philosophy,” in The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy, ed. Charles B. Schmitt, Quentin Skinner, Eckhard Kessler, and Jill Kraye (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 360–74. On Stoicism in sixteenth-century England, see Gilles D. Mon-

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defining feature of her character. The motto recalls Seneca, who praises the constant man as “unum hominem” (one man) rather than “nunquam eundem” (never the same; Epistulae morales 120.21–22). Elizabeth’s Sententiae contain ten quotations from Seneca, two from the Epistulae morales. Thirty years later she would turn to translating the profoundly Stoic moralizing of a Christian author, Boethius. Seneca’s terse, sententious prose style had an important influence on writings by late-sixteenth-century humanists.6 Elizabeth’s Senecan affinities emerge in her compact, elliptical prose and her fondness for sententiae.7 As she translates this epistle, she often finds idiomatic English equivalents for Seneca’s brief clauses with their sharp turns of phrase and striking antitheses. Although scholars still debate to what extent his collection contains actual letters sent to a younger friend, Lucilius, whom he exhorts to live by Stoic principles, the epistles are certainly intended to advocate Stoic morality among a wider audience. Employing the informal intimacy and conversational immediacy of the familiar letter, Seneca infuses his letters with colloquialisms and frequent direct address—to Lucilius but also to the general reader—to drive his points home. Elizabeth follows suit. She pointedly renders the opening series of sharp questions that confront Lucilius with his failure to maintain Stoic equanimity. Even some of the freedoms she takes display a Senecan spirit. Simulating conversation, Seneca often imagines what his interlocutor might say. He quotes an imagined complaint, “Servi me reliquerunt” (My servants have left me). Elizabeth turns the imaginary quotation into a direct question, “Have thy servants forsaken thee?” and renders the authorial response in a contemporary idiom, “Thou art in good case” (You are well off ). Using terse, passive periphrastic constructions, Seneca offers three examples of natural hardships to be accepted by the

sarrat, Light from the Porch: Stoicism and English Renaissance Literature (Paris: Didier Érudition, 1984). 6. On “Senecan” style in the Renaissance, see Morris W. Croll, “Attic” and Baroque Style, ed. J. Max Patrick and Robert O. Evans with John M. Wallace (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969); and George Williamson, The Senecan Amble: Prose Form from Bacon to Collier (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951). 7. On Elizabeth’s sententiousness, see ACFLO, xxviii–xxix; Mary Thomas Crane, Framing Authority: Sayings, Self, and Society in Sixteenth-Century England (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993), 120–21, and Crane, “ ‘Video et Taceo’: Elizabeth I and the Rhetoric of Counsel,” Studies in English Literature 14 (1988): 1–15.

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wise man. Elizabeth replaces these with equally terse imperatives that are more idiomatic in English. Seneca’s “Hiems frigora adducit: algendum est” (Winter brings on cold weather: we must shiver) becomes “The winter bringeth his colds: shiver then.” Elsewhere she introduces colloquialisms although Seneca’s language is more formal: “whine” for “queri” (to complain), “wrestles a pluck” for “obluctatur” (struggles). Despite her affinities for Senecan aphorism, at points Elizabeth is more voluble than her source. In translating such fluent authors as Boethius from Latin and Marguerite de Navarre and Calvin from French, she regularly condenses more than she adds. But in translating Seneca’s epistle, she often fills out his curt locutions while just once excising a digressive passage near the end. In place of a sharp antithesis with a repeated auxiliary verb, “effugere ista non potes, contemnere potes” (to shun these things you cannot, [but] to despise them you can), Elizabeth’s formulation is more expansive and more varied: “To shun these things, we cannot; to despise them lieth in our power.” Seneca exhorts us to be “impigri atque alacres” (energetic and cheerful). Expanding upon the two parallel adjectives and activating the negative root of “impigri” (“unslothful,” hence “energetic”), Elizabeth creates a contrast, urging us to be “not like the grudging sluggard, but as the joyful man.” Her most significant alterations of Seneca are not expansions, however, but recastings in a Judeo-Christian vein. She substitutes “our Maker” for “Jove” and “God” for Seneca’s “fate” and “the gods.” Calm acceptance of Fate becomes, with her, submission to God’s will. Such a state of mind would have held profound attraction for Elizabeth in 1567, the date given by John Harington for this translation, and she may have used her translation of Seneca’s letter to help her regain her equanimity in confronting a serious crisis. The recent news of Mary Queen of Scots was unrelievedly catastrophic: first, the murder of Mary’s secretary, David Rizzio; then the murder of her husband and Elizabeth’s cousin, Lord Darnley; then Mary’s elopement with Darnley’s suspected murderer, the earl of Bothwell, and, finally, the outraged uprising of the Scottish people against their queen. In letters written in 1567 Elizabeth pointedly castigates Mary’s impetuosity and confusion—“I will boldly tell you what I think of it”; “This you see plainly, what we think of the marriage . . . no good friend you have in the whole world can like thereof ”—while affirming the constancy of her own resolve to advise Mary frankly on what might yet be salvaged of her situation—above

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all, making sure to safeguard “your son the prince . . . for the comfort of yours and your realm, which . . . we have from the beginning always taken to heart, and therein do mean to continue.”8 Seneca’s epistle as translated by Elizabeth plainly spells out the further undergirding required by her constancy when, as would happen with Mary in Scotland, events outstrip human control and God’s will must be borne with composure and compliance. This becomes the posture consistently adopted by Elizabeth in the letters of condolence that she wrote as queen. It also becomes increasingly central to any sense of stability she can claim for her rule, as in her parliamentary speech of 1576 where she affirms that her “full assurance” of “God’s most mighty grace” endows her with a constancy that is Christian but also Stoic: “Thus I began, thus I proceed, and thus I hope to end.”9 Seneca’s epistle includes near its close five iambic trimeter lines of a verse prayer translated from the Greek Stoic Cleanthes. Though these are not lineated as verse in the sixteenth-century editions we have consulted, Seneca notes that the prayer is in “versibus” (verses). While the Nugae prints Elizabeth’s rendering as prose, we believe that she renders the lines in nine unrhymed iambic lines: six tetrameters (lines 2–7) framed by two pentameters (lines 1, 8) and a final hexameter that provides resounding closure (line 9). Her use of unrhymed iambic lines of varying lengths anticipates the experimental verse forms of her translations of Boethius, Plutarch, and Horace in the 1590s. Metrical contraction, another staple of her late verse translations, figures prominently in these nine lines. Instances including “Fath’r,’and” (line 1); “No’abode,” “I’will” (line 3); “will’I” (line 4); “that’so” (line 5); and “th’willing” (line 9) sustain the speechlike character of the entire letter and enhance the earnest tonality of this poetic prayer. Although Elizabeth misconstrues some individual words and elliptical turns of phrase in Seneca’s epistle, several ostensible mistranslations are, in fact, exact renderings of the early modern edition that served as her source. Desiderius Erasmus’s second edition of Seneca’s Opera, published in Basel in 1529, was the frequently reissued, standard 8. CW, 116, 118–19. 9. CW, 169. This is the one speech that Elizabeth had a clerk copy out for John Harington. She sent it to him with a note addressed, “Boy Jack, I have made a clerk write fair my poor words for thine use. . . . Ponder them in thy hours of leisure and play with them till they enter thine understanding, so shalt thou hereafter, perchance, find some good fruits hereof when thy godmother is out of remembrance” (Nugae Antiquae, 1:154).

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sixteenth-century text of Seneca until the edition of Muretus (MarcAntoine Muret) appeared in 1585. Erasmus’s edition, however, underwent many revisions as other scholars’ emendations were incorporated in the text.10 Besides the 1529 edition, we have consulted Erasmus editions of 1537 (Basel), 1539 (Antwerp), 1552 (Basel), 1555 (Lyon), and 1557 (Basel). Elizabeth closely follows the 1555 Lyon edition published by Sebastian Gryphius, which incorporates within the text of the epistle six substantive alternate readings proposed by the distinguished Spanish humanist Nonius Pincianus (Fernan Nuñez de Guzman). Other Erasmus editions, including those of 1529 and 1552, print these alternate readings, together with many other variants, among Pincianus’s “Castigationes,” labeled as a separate section at the end of the volume. From what we have been able to infer about Elizabeth’s translating practices, however, it is extremely unlikely that she culled these six alternative readings from the copious set of emendations in Pincianus’s appendix. It is even more unlikely that Elizabeth, by sheer coincidence, translated only those six Pincianus emendations that appear in the main text of the 1555 Lyon edition. It is thus virtually certain that the 1555 Lyon edition, or another pre-1563 edition (that we have not seen) containing a text very similar to the Lyon edition, served as Elizabeth’s source for this epistle.

10. On Renaissance editions of Seneca, see L. D. Reynolds, The Medieval Tradition of Seneca’s “Letters” (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965), 4–8.

Queen Elizabeth’s translation of Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s Epistle 107 in Moral Epistles to Lucilius (Ad Lucilium epistulae morales), ca. 15671 [1] Where is thy wit become?2 Where lies this subtle scanning that breeds this contempt of all?3 What harbor hath the stoutness of thy mind? Can so small thing vex thee?4 Thy servant saw thy business great, and thought that meetest cause to leave thee so. What and thy friends5 beguile thee? (Give them that name that the epicure gave them: such be their christening.6) What great matter is it if they leave 1. Source: Nugae Antiquae: Being a Miscellaneous Collection of Original Papers in Prose and Verse. By Sir John Harington, 2 vols. (Bath and London, 1769–75), 1:135–38. We have compared Nugae Antiquae: Being a Miscellaneous Collection of Original Papers, in Prose and Verse, arr. and ann. Thomas Park, 2 vols. (London, 1804), 1:109–14. We have inserted the section numbers of modern editions of Seneca in square brackets. 2. Where . . . become? What has become of your “wit” (intelligence)? Elizabeth renders “Ubi illa prudentia tua?” (Where is that prudence of yours?). 3. Where . . . all? Expands the reading in Erasmus’s text: “ubi in despiciendis rebus subtilitas?” (where is that subtlety in despising things?). Modern editions read “in dispiciendis rebus” (in examining things). scanning examining, judging. 4. so . . . thee Elizabeth follows Pincianus’s reading adopted in the 1555 edition, “tam pusilla te res angit?” (does so small a thing vex you?). Erasmus’s 1529 edition reads “tam pusilla tangunt?” (do so small things affect [you]?). 5. What . . . friends Erasmus’s main text provides the standard modern declarative reading, “si amici,” but the margin offers an alternative interrogative, “Quid si amici” (What if friends . . . ?). Elizabeth adopts the latter. What and What if. 6. that name . . . christening that name The notion seems to be that Epicureans as devotees of pleasure were mere fair-weather friends. the epicure Erasmus’s text reads “Epicurus noster.” While the Nugae capitalizes “the Epicure,” Elizabeth’s use of the definite article may generalize the reference to any practitioner of Epicurean hedonism, including early modern ones. She similarly translates “Epicurus” as “the epicure” in Boethius

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thee at thy need,7 that made thee mar thy work, and caused thee troublesome to all?8 [2] There is none, of all these things, neither unwonted or unlooked for. To be offended at these matters is as great a scorn, as to whine that thou art dashed with mire, or troubled with the throng.9 Our life is as thrall to mishaps as [b]ains be common, multitudes not rare, and journeys of sundry sorts.10 Some things are deferred, and other readily happens.11 It is no delighting12 thing to live. For so, thou enterest into a long journey, where sometimes thou must needs slip, and then, up again;13 and so sometimes thou fallest, oftentimes art wearied, and driven to cry out, of death: “Thou measurest this way.”14 book 3, prose 2. such . . . christening Expands Pincianus’s reading adopted in the 1555 edition: “ita vocentur” (so let them be called ), adding the irony of hypocrites’ receiving Christian baptism. 7. What . . . need? Expands the exclamation proposed by Pincianus and adopted in the 1555 edition: “Quota pars non est si omnibus rebus tuis desunt illi” (How small a matter is it if they neglect all your affairs!). Erasmus’s 1529 edition reads “quo turpius, non omnibus sit rebus tuis” (whence there may not be more shame in all your affairs). 8. caused . . . all caused you to be troublesome to all. Elizabeth follows Pincianus’s reading adopted in the 1555 edition: “te aliis molestum esse reddebant” (they rendered you troublesome to others). Like modern texts, Erasmus’s 1529 edition reads “te aliis molestum esse credebant” (they deemed you to be troublesome to others). 9. as great . . . throng as . . . scorn as laughable; “tam ridiculum.” that . . . throng Inverts and loosely translates the two parts of Seneca’s formulation (in Erasmus’s text) “quod spargaris in publico aut inquineris luto” (that you are spattered in public or befouled with mud). Modern editions read “in luto” (in mud). 10. Our . . . sorts Elizabeth’s claim that life’s misfortunes are as many as “bains,” “multitudes,” and “journeys” loosely renders the sense but preserves the three specifics in Seneca’s triple comparison of the vulnerable condition of life to that “of a public bath” (“balnei”), “of a crowd” (“turbae”), and “of a journey” (“itineris”). [b]ains public baths. “Pains,” the Nugae reading, is an obvious transcription error. 11. Some . . . happens Erasmus’s text reads “quaedam intermittentur, quaedam incident” (certain things will be deferred, others things will come to pass). Elizabeth changes the tenses to present. 12. delighting “delicata” (fastidious, dainty), perhaps confused with late Latin “deliciosa” (pleasurable) derived from the same root, “delicia” (delight). 13. and . . . again Elizabeth renders Pincianus’s emendation adopted in the 1555 edition: “oportet . . . erigaris” (you must rise). Erasmus’s 1529 edition, like modern editions, reads “oportet . . . arietes” (you must butt up against). 14. sometimes . . . way sometimes, oftentimes Elizabeth’s additions. driven . . . way Erasmus’s main text provides the standard modern reading: “oportet . . . exclames, O mors! idem mentiaris” (you are bound to cry out, ‘O, [for] death!’ and thus you lie [by pretending to desire death]). Elizabeth follows the alternative reading in Erasmus’s mar-

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In some place, thou shalt leave thy companion; in another time, thou shalt have his company; in another, thou shalt fear him.15 By such mishaps fallen in offense, this broken, craggy16 way must thou pass. [3] Whoso must die,17 let his mind be prepared against all events. When he hath suffered the clap, let him be sure the lightning is past.18 Let him not be ignorant that he is come into that place where grievous woes and revenging cares have made their harbor, where pale disease and sad age have built their tenement.19 In this rotten bower,20 our life we must lead. To shun these things, we21 cannot; to despise them lieth in our power. And thus we may contemn them, if oft we think thereon, and overtake22 them ere they hap. [4] There is no man but stoutlier resisteth that to which a long-continued purpose hath hasted his readiness, and maketh him with force resist the hardest haps by forethoughts of such chances. But, far away from this, the unskillful23 man is made full sore afraid of every trifling cause. Let this be our greatest care, that never nothing happen to us,

gin, “metiaris” (you measure). It yields the construal “you are bound to cry out, ‘O death, thus you measure.’ ” 15. thou shalt have . . . him thou . . . company Misconstrual of “efferes” (thou shalt bear him), i.e., to the grave. fear him fear something happening to him. Seneca reads simply “timebis” (you will fear), i.e., for a friend’s death. 16. By . . craggy By . . . offense Erasmus’s text reads “per eiusmodi offensus” (by knocks of this sort that cause one to stumble). offense stumbling. broken, craggy “confragosum” (broken, difficult). 17. Whoso . . . die Erasmus’s text reads “Mori vult” (One wishes to die). Modern editions treat this as a question. 18. When . . . past Elizabeth misconstrues Pincianus’s emendation adopted in the 1555 edition: “Sciat se venisse, ubi patiatur fulmen” (Let it [the mind] know that it has come where it might suffer the thunderbolt). Her “hath suffered” renders present subjunctive “patiatur” (might suffer) as a perfect indicative. Erasmus’s 1529 edition has a completely different verb, “tonat” (thunders). 19. where grievous . . . tenement A quotation from Virgil Aeneid. 6.274–75. Since Renaissance editions do not print these lines as verse or identify their source, Elizabeth may not have recognized the quotation. 20. In . . . bower “in hoc contubernio” (in this soldier’s tent). bower habitation, abode. Elizabeth seems to have guessed at the sense from the context. 21. we Elizabeth’s substitution, here and in the next sentence, for Seneca’s familiar address to Lucilius. 22. overtake reach, catch up with, detect in a fault; “praesumpseris” (you anticipate). 23. far . . . unskillful far . . . this “contra” (contrariwise). unskillful lacking in knowledge or practical ability; “imparatus” (unprepared).

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that our imagination24 hath not foretold us. And (for that all things be made more grievous by novelty), let this daily thought stand thee in stead, that thou never be a new soldier25 to any mishap. [5] Have thy servants forsaken thee? Thou art in good case.26 Other they have robbed; some they have accused; other they have killed, betrayed, overtrodden, yea, ended with venom, and shortened their days by false accusation.27 There is nothing thou canst reckon that hath not been the luck of more than one.28 Since, then, many and sundry mishaps be leveled to our share29—of which some stick fast in us; other some glance very near unto us, and, when they most touch us,30 we go not free without some graze of another’s mishap.31 [6] Let us make no wonder of such things, to which we are born. Let no one complain of that, that alike doth hap to all. Thus I mean “alike”: for though one shun it, he might have suffered it. The law is alike, not by the use, but by the commandment. Let equity reign over thy mind and, without bill of complaint,32 pay the tribute that to death thou owest. [7] The winter bringeth his colds: shiver then. The summer showeth her heat: give place to his glooms.33 The evil-seasoned air 24. greatest, imagination Elizabeth’s additions. 25. new soldier “Tiro” can refer specifically to a new soldier or more generally to a novice of any kind. The military sense is consistent, however, with Seneca’s military imagery throughout the letter. 26. Have . . . case Have . . . thee? An assertion in Seneca. Thou . . . case You are well off. 27. ended . . . accusation Slightly expands “alium veneno, alium criminatione petierunt” (some they have attacked with poison, some with a criminal accusation). venom poison; “veneno.” 28. more . . . one “multis” (many). 29. be . . . share are aimed at our portion in life. Erasmus’s text reads “in nos diriguntur” (are directed against us). 30. other . . . us other some others, some others. glance . . . us “vibrant” (dart). when . . . touch us “et cum maxime veniunt” (and at this very moment are coming). Elizabeth’s “when . . . most” literally construes the idiom “cum maxime” (just when, at this very moment) and associates the clause with what follows rather than what precedes. 31. we . . . mishap “quaedam in alios perventura nos stringunt” (some that were meant to land on others graze us). 32. bill . . . complaint written statement of a case; a pleading by the plaintiff, rendering “querela” (complaint, including formal legal complaint). 33. give . . . glooms “aestuandum est” (we must broil). “Hot gloom” was used in the early modern period to refer to the sun’s excessive heat.

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breedeth diseases: brook well sickness.34 An untamed beast crosseth thy way; yet, worst than that, one harmfuller, of thine sex. 35 Some thing water destroyeth, another the fire takes away; the wandering36 state of things no man may change. This, only, lieth in our power: to frame a stout mind and worthy a good body, by which we may strongly withstand mishaps, and easily consent to Nature’s misery.37 [8] Yea, Nature herself (which daily our eyes witnesseth) tempereth the force of her reign with the number of 38 her changes. The clear days follows the dark clouds; the roughest seas ensues the greatest calms; the winds that harm and help, be blasted both at once. 39 The day follows the trace the night hath gone before; part of the heavens by rolling cometh aloft, when other part is drenched in hidden place far from our sight.40 The continuance of all standeth by contrarieties. [9] To this law our mind must be prepared; let it follow and obey this. And whatsoever betides, let him think it behooved to be done; and let him find no fault with Nature’s blame.41 It is best to suffer that thou canst not mend. And, since God is the Author of all things that be, without whom nothing can hap, let us follow Him with no grudging mind. An evil soldier is he who with sighs follows his

34. brook . . . illness “aegrotandum est” (we must fall ill). brook endure. 35. yet . . . sex yet . . . that Elizabeth’s addition. sex kind, i.e., humankind. 36. Some . . . wandering Some . . . . another Elizabeth follows Pincianus’s reading adopted in the 1555 edition: “aliud aqua, aliud ignis eripiet” (water will carry away one thing, fire another). This is also the reading in modern editions. Erasmus’s 1529 edition reads “alium . . . alium” (one person . . . another person). wandering Elizabeth’s addition heightens the paradox of a mutable nature that cannot be changed. 37. body . . . misery body human body, person; “viro” (man). consent . . . misery “naturae consentiamus” (we may accord with Nature). 38. daily, the number of Elizabeth’s additions. 39. ensues . . . once ensues follows. the winds . . . at once Expands “flant in vicem venti” (the winds blow in turn). 40. The day . . . sight The day . . . before Expands “noctem dies sequitur” (day follows night). part . . . sight Expands “pars caeli consurgit, pars mergitur” (a part of the heavenly bodies rises, and a part of them sets). drenched submerged in water, drowned. Elizabeth renders “mergere,” here referring to the setting of heavenly bodies, in terms of its common meaning ‘to immerse in water.’ Bibliotheca Eliotae (1548) gives as the first sense “to drowne in the water.” 41. let . . . blame “nec velit obiurgare naturam” (let him not wish to blame Nature). with . . . blame by blaming Nature.

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captain. [10] Wherefore let us take our charge not like the grudging sluggard, but as the joyful man; nor let us leave this course of fair workmanship, in which all our sufferance is well engraven.42 And thus let us talk with our Maker:43 [11] The[e],44 Father, and Ruler of the lofty sky, Lead me whereso it please Thee best. No abode shall stay,45 but I will obey; With no slow pace will I trace Thy path.46 Imagine that so I cannot do;47 Yet must I follow Thee with tears, And, as a wicked wretch, must bide48 That which, as a good man, I might have borne.49 Destinies guide the willing, but draw the grudging sort. [12] So let us live; so do we speak, that they50 may ever find us ready, and not unprepared. The greatest heart is it that bequeaths to God his 42. not like . . . engraven Expands “impigri atque alacres” (energetic and cheerful). in which . . . engraven Erasmus’s text reads “cui quicquid patimur intextum est” (into which whatever we suffer is woven). 43. our Maker Elizabeth shortens and Christianizes Seneca’s “Iovem, cuius gubernaculo moles ista dirigitur” (Jove, by whose guidance this world-mass is directed). She also omits Seneca’s attribution to his Greek Stoic predecessor Cleanthes the verses that he proceeds to translate into Latin. Elizabeth may have remembered Seneca’s description of Jove as guide of the world’s “moles” (mass) in her 1596 prayer to the “Most omnipotent Maker and Guider of all our world’s mass” (CW, 425). 44. The[e] The Nugae text reads “The,” treating this line as a description of God that prefaces the following verses. We read “Thee” because, in the Latin, this is the opening of the prayer addressed to God. The Nugae text also treats Elizabeth’s rendering as prose. On the assumption that her metrical composition reveals her intent, we lineate the prayer as verse. See our introduction, p. 413. 45. No . . . stay No delay will detain (me). abode delay. stay detain, hold back, stop. 46. With . . . path Expands “assum impiger” (I am eager). 47. Imagine . . . do Loosely paraphrases “Fac nolle” (Suppose / Imagine that I am not willing). 48. And . . . bide “malusque patiar” (And will suffer as a bad person). bide suffer, endure. 49. That . . . borne Erasmus’s edition reads “quod pati licuit bono” (what I could have borne as a good man). 50. so . . . they so . . . speak An emphatic mode of assertion, representing resolve as already being enacted; “loquamur” (let us speak). they the “Destinies” referred to in the verses. Seneca reads “fatum” (fate).

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part; and he, of base and bastardly mind, that wrestles a pluck with the world’s order, conceives thereof an evil opinion, and seeks rather to amend God51 than himself. Farewell. 51. bequeaths . . . God bequeaths . . . part assigns his fortune to God. part fortune. Erasmus’s text reads “se deo tradidit” (has given himself over to God). In place of “deo,” modern editions read “ei” (to it) as a reference to Fate. wrestles . . . with “obluctatur” (struggles against). a pluck a bout. God Seneca reads “deos” (plural).

In 1579 Elizabeth presented her eighteen-year-old godson John Harington with her translation of a letter written by Marcus Tullius Cicero to C. Scribonius Curio, which is no. 6 in book 2 of Epistulae ad familiares (Familiar Letters / Letters to Friends). This large collection of 426 letters in sixteen books was probably arranged and published after Cicero’s death by his secretary Tiro. In the early modern era, Cicero— often known as Tully by reference to his middle name—was widely regarded as the greatest Roman prose writer; his letters were considered the major classical model for the rhetoric and style of the humanist epistle, a crucial genre for communication among the Renaissance elite, whether in Latin or in the vernacular. In The Schoolmaster Roger Ascham recommends that students parse and translate letters of Cicero into English and then back into Latin as part of their early training.1 It is a virtual certainty that Elizabeth did such exercises under Ascham’s guidance.2 This translation appears in the 1775 Nugae Antiquae as “Transla1. Roger Ascham, The Schoolmaster (1570), ed. Lawrence V. Ryan (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia for Folder Shakespeare Library, 1967), 14–15. Ascham recommends the use of his friend Johannes Sturm’s selection Ciceronis Epistolarum Libri IV . . . Puerili Educatione Confecti (Strassburg, 1539), a school text frequently reprinted through the eighteenth century, which contains another letter to Curio (Epistulae ad familiares 2.4) in which Cicero discusses the different sorts of letter. 2. Elizabeth’s autograph Latin letter of February 2, 154[8], to Edward VI (no. 7 in ACFLO, 14–15, and CW, 15–17) was nonetheless printed as Ascham’s in Rogeri Aschami

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tion, by Q. Elizabeth, of one of Tullies familiar Epistles, given by her to John Haryngton, 1579.” As with the translation of Seneca’s Epistle 107, we have found no reason to doubt the Nugae Antiquae’s ascription of this translation to Elizabeth (see the introduction to Seneca’s epistle and appendix 2). Phrases throughout the translation, while by no means unique to Elizabeth, recall her habitual modes of selfexpression. For example, the phrase “this my great care,” which expansively renders Cicero’s request that relief be given to “huic meae sollicitudini” (this my worry), employs one of her favorite nouns, “care,” repeatedly used in her speeches and letters to describe both her “care” for her subjects and their “care” for her: she characterizes her rule as “care of you all,” “care that it behoveth me to have,” and she acknowledges to members of Parliament “the safekeeping of my life, for which your care appears so manifest.”3 “Great care,” with its addition of an adjective to Cicero’s Latin, recalls in particular Elizabeth’s frequent use of “care” with forms of “great”: she writes of “great care” twice, “greater care” three times, and uses such phrases as “of your cares the greatest,” “the care . . . to be great,” “none whose . . . care can be greater,” “care such and so great.”4 In translating Seneca’s Epistle 107, moreover, Elizabeth loosely renders “id agendum est” (this must be done) as “Let this be our greatest care.” In the letter to Curio, Elizabeth translates “neque vero cuiquam salutem ac fortunas suas tantae curae fuisse umquam puto” (Nor indeed do I think that to anyone was his safety and fortunes ever of so great a care) as “For I think there was never man so careful for his life and goods.” Her phrasing contains two characteristic turns of phrase. “Never so careful” recalls her five uses of “never so,” including the claim in her first speech to Parliament (1559) to “be never so careful of your well-doings.”5 “Careful for” occurs six times in Elizabeth’s extant works, in, for example, her declaration in the same speech that any man she would marry would be as “careful for the preservation of the realm and you as myself ” and her claim in another parliamentary speech (1586)

Epistolarum Libri Quatuor, ed. William Elstob (Oxford, 1703), and Whole Works of Roger Ascham, ed. Rev. Dr. Giles (London, 1865). 3. CW, 71, 181. 4. See, respectively, ibid., 71–72; 169, 179, 195; 79. 106, 331, 332. 5. Ibid., 58; see other uses of “never so” on 96, 168, 287, 337, 339.

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that she is “careful for the safety of my life.”6 The translation of the letter to Curio also condenses “neque enim sum veritus, ne sustinere tua in me merita vel innumerabilia non possem” (for neither have I been afraid, that I could not sustain your services to me, even numberless) into “though you should do never so much for me.” This phrasing is closer to Elizabeth’s “yet shall you never have any a more mother than I” in a parliamentary speech of 1563 than it is to Cicero’s Latin.7 Her characteristic mode of expression resonates further in two idioms, “stick to” and “look to.” The Cicero translation renders “non dubitavi . . . petere” (I have not hesitated to seek) as “I will not stick to be a suitor.” Elizabeth uses “stick to” in the obsolete sense of ‘hesitate to, be reluctant to’ five times elsewhere, as in “I will not stick to do all pleasure for your request.”8 She also translates Calvin’s “n’ont point fait de difficulté de mourir” (they did not raise objections to dying) as “they did not stick to die.”9 “Look to” gives an idiomatic cast to Elizabeth’s version of Cicero’s final sentence, “eam autem tui [modern editions: ‘tuo’] unius studio me assequi posse confido” (moreover I am confident of being able to achieve it by your support alone), which she renders as “I never look to do it but by your means only.” She uses “look to” in the sense of ‘expect to’ in similar contexts where others’ services are required, as in a 1586 letter telling the commander of the English troops at Flushing in the Netherlands to keep her fully informed: “we do look to hear often from you touching your proceeding therein.”10 Ellipsis of infinitive “to be,” finally, is also a characteristic feature. Like her translation of Seneca’s letter, this translation of Cicero’s letter contains an instance, indicated here by a caret: “may chance ^ available.” In such specifics of style as these, the Cicero translation registers as authentic work. The genre of the letter was manifestly of great interest to Elizabeth as queen; her correspondence constitutes the bulk of her writings. In the letter that she translates, Cicero finds himself in a delicate political situation, tendering a request couched in the rhetoric of friendship 6. Ibid., 57, 204; also see 22, 57 (a second example), 58, 361. In another redaction of her first parliamentary speech, she expresses hope for a husband “no less careful for the common good” than she is (59). 7. Ibid.,, 72. 8. Ibid.,, 290; also see 198, 379. 9. See p. 273 in this volume. 10. CW, 280; also see 279, 398.

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and mutual obligation that permeated social relations among elite Romans and Elizabethans alike. He solicits Curio’s support of the candidacy of T. Annius Milo for the consulship, the highest office in republican Rome, in 52 B.C.E. Milo, a friend and political ally of Cicero, was a bitter enemy of P. Clodius Pulcher, who as tribune of the people had engineered Cicero’s exile from Rome in 58 B.C.E. Milo had promoted Cicero’s triumphant recall to Rome in the following year. Now Cicero wished to repay Milo’s support and, with Milo’s election, strengthen his own precarious position in the collapsing Roman republic. Cicero’s letter thus falls within the recognized subgenre of the petitionary letter, discussed by both ancient and Renaissance writers on epistolary rhetoric.11 The prefatory note to the three London editions of Cicero’s Epistulae ad familiares published by T. Marsh in 1574, 1577, and 1579 with notes by C. Hegendorf commends the “artificosa” (artful) nature of the rhetoric of request in this letter. In De Conscribendis Epistolis (On Letter-Writing), frequently reprinted following its publication by Froben at Basel in 1522, Desiderius Erasmus gives numerous examples of petitionary rhetoric from Cicero’s letters.12 His warning that the epistolary petitioner will not succeed if he “magisque poscit, quam petit” (demands rather than seeks) echoes Cicero’s own concern in this letter lest he, in Elizabeth’s rendering, seem “to demand rather than desire” (“exigere magis, quam rogare”) Curio’s support.13 Undertaking this translation allowed Elizabeth to think with and through the Ciceronian position of a vulnerable participant in power struggles, thus engaging not only with the young Harington’s prospects at court but also with her own concerns as a monarch on the international stage. Elizabeth’s choice of this particular letter demonstrates her interest in rhetorical, ethical, and political issues central to “friendship” relations, whether those of republican Rome or of early modern courts. In this letter, the writer and the recipient stand on either side of a social

11. Stanley K. Stowers discusses the treatment of the petitionary letter by the ancient rhetoricians Demetrius of Phalerum and (pseudo-)Libanius in Letter Writing in GrecoRoman Antiquity (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986), 58–59. 12. Desiderius Erasmus, Opera Omnia, pt. 1, vol. 2, ed. Jean-Claude Margolin and Pierre Mesnard (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1971), 470–73. Henri Estienne praises the Curio letter in his discussion of Cicero’s petitionary letters in “De Variis Generibus Epistolarum Ciceronis . . . Comementarius,” in Commentationes Diversorum. . . . in Epist. M. T. Ciceronis . . . ad Familiares ([Geneva], 1577), 181–83. 13. Erasmus, Opera Omnia, 1:2, 466.

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divide. Cicero belonged to a wealthy landed family of central Italy. Yet in Rome he was a so-called new man (“homo novus”), the first member of his family to enter politics and to rise to the consulship in 63 B.C.E. Curio, by contrast, was the young scion of a political family with a long history in Rome. Despite ingratiating references to close friendship, Cicero’s formality of expression and carefully calculated tone indicate that this relationship was not an intimate one but, rather, based for the most part on perceived mutual interests in the political sphere.14 In Rome and in Tudor England, the notion and rhetoric of friendship encompassed a range of positions: on the one hand, lofty ideals of mutual devotion among men of similar rank, morals, and values, as expounded in books 8 and 9 of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Cicero’s De amicitia; on the other hand, mundane relations of political expediency and mutual exchanges of goods and services, often among social unequals.15 Cicero’s letter invokes widely held Roman notions of mutual “officia” (services) and “beneficia” (favors) to underscore such reciprocal obligations. Apart from a few inadvertent misconstruals, Elizabeth’s translation is generally accurate. Yet at certain key junctures, flagged in our notes, her additions and loose renderings evoke a considerably more ideal relationship of mutual love than the original does. The tendency appears deliberate. She speaks of “friendship” where Cicero speaks of “services“ (“officia”), and of a “loving” mind where Cicero speaks of a “generous” (“ingenui”) one. She adds three “friend” references not found in her source. While Cicero declares that he seeks a “reputation for pious loyalty” (“pietatis laudem”) in supporting Milo, Elizabeth has Cicero comparing his support of Milo with the way he would “honor my fa14. See Cicero’s Epistulae ad familiares, ed. D. R. Shackleton Bailey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 1:347; Pierre Cordier, “La lettre et l’amicitia,” in Paroles romaines, ed. Florence Dupont (Nancy, France: Presses Universitaires de Nancy, 1995), 31–32. 15. On Cicero’s notions of friendship, see David Konstan, Friendship in the Classical World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 122–37. On the contrast between ideals of friendship and the exchange of goods and services, see Richard P. Saller, Personal Patronage under the Early Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), 11–39. On classically derived ideals of friendship in Renaissance England, see Laurie Shannon, Sovereign Amity: Figures of Friendship in Shakespearean Contexts (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002); on more utilitarian notions of friendship during the same period, see Lawrence Stone, The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500–1800 (New York: Harper and Row, 1977), 97–98.

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ther.” By eliding his emphasis on reputation and foregrounding the affective force of his claim to “pietas” (the loyalty owed those to whom one is bound), she suggests more strongly than her source the possibility of reconciling “true,” deep friendship with the pragmatic allegiances of political life. The possibility of combining an ideal friendship of mutual affection with political alliance was a momentous issue for Elizabeth in 1579, the year that she gave her Cicero translation to John Harington. In 1579 she seemed resolved to marry “Monsieur,” François Hercule, Duke of Anjou, brother of the French king Henri III, and the next in line to the French throne, despite considerable opposition at court and among the people to a marriage with a foreign Catholic prince. Scholars disagree about the precise mixture of political calculation and emotional investment in Elizabeth’s protracted and ultimately abortive marriage negotiations with Monsieur in 1579–83.16 She entered these negotiations with an eye to an alliance with France against Spain, yet she came to express great affection for him. In several letters of 1579, written to him and to her ambassador in Paris, Amyas Paulet, Elizabeth strikingly envisions their relationship as an ideal friendship beset by worldly obstacles. In May she expresses to Paulet her confidence in her “plain and friendly dealing” with Monsieur and in the “increase of friendship” she expects from his visit.17 In writing to Monsieur after a visit in August that was judged mutually successful, she invokes an intimate bond of friendship between princes who are equals in giving and receiving affection and companionship: “I confess that there is no prince in the world to whom I would more willingly yield to be his, than to yourself, nor to whom I think myself more obliged, nor with whom I would pass the years of my life, both for your rare virtues and sweet nature, accompanied with so many honorable parts. I do not want this negotiation to 16. For contrasting treatments, see Susan Doran, Monarchy and Matrimony: The Courtships of Elizabeth I (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), 130–95; and Jasper Ridley, Elizabeth I: The Shrewdness of Virtue (New York: Fromm International, 1989), 206–14. Doran argues that political calculations always mattered more to Elizabeth, however “real” her expressions of affection were (163, 187-89); Ridley argues that Elizabeth was sometimes “carried away” by love (213). 17. CW, 236. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, a strong supporter of the French match on political grounds (Doran, Monarchy, 159–60), also appealed to Elizabeth’s desire for companionship: a letter he wrote her in 1579 urged her to marry Monsieur and remedy her single state: “no companion, friend, or servant beloved on whom to bestow favors . . . , nor from whom to receive any sign of love and service” (CW, 241).

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trouble you any more, but rather that we may remain faithful friends and assured in all our actions.” Yet this is always also a hierarchical pairing in which Elizabeth, as a reigning sovereign, holds the upper hand. Alluding to Monsieur’s controversial demands, including open exercise of his Catholic religion and the crown and title of king of England, to which her subjects reacted with increasing hostility, she tells him in the same letter that she is “not assured that I should consent” to the marriage given the “great questions . . . being raised.”18 In translating and modifying Cicero’s letter to Curio, Elizabeth seeks to reconcile ideals of friendship and political necessities as she would be unable to do, ultimately, in her marriage negotiations with Monsieur.

* Editions of Cicero’s Epistulae ad familiares were in ample supply by 1579. Since this letter contains few and minor variants in the Renaissance editions we have consulted, and nothing that substantively affects meaning or sheds distinctive light upon Elizabeth’s rendering, it matters little for assessing her translation to determine what edition she used. Some possibilities can, however, be discounted—in particular, the many editions containing the marginal annotations of Paulus Manutius (Paolo Manuzio), such as the three London editions edited by Denys Lambin with his and Manutius’s glosses, published by Henry Bynneman in 1571 and Thomas Vautroller in 1575 and 1579. Manutius glosses Cicero’s oblique phrase “novitate temporum meorum” (on account of the strangeness of my fortunes)—the reading of all texts of the letter—as “Tempore exsilij sui” (in the time of his exile). As construed by Manutius, the “strangeness of my misfortunes” alludes to the nadir of Cicero’s political career: his exile from Rome in 58–57 B.C.E. Eliza18. CW, 243–44 (translation slightly modified). Elizabeth’s French reads: “De ma part Ie confesse qu’il n’y a prince au monde a qui plus uolontiers Ie me rende sienne qu’a uous mesme ny a qui Ie me pense plus obligé, ny auecq qui Ie passeroys les ans de ma uie, Et pour uoz rares uertus et le doux naturel accompaigné auec tant d’honorables parties. . . . [je] ne ueux que ce negoce uous fasche plus ains que demeurons fideles amis et assurez en toutes noz actions”; “non assurée que Ie me consentasse, Puis uoyant les grandes questions qui se faisoyent” (ACFLO, 153). In March 1581 Elizabeth described herself as “la plus fidelle amie que oncques Prince euct” (ACFLO, 56), “the most faithful friend that ever prince had” (CW, 249). In her last extant letter to Monsieur, written in September 10, 1583, after the marriage plans had collapsed, she continued to refer to their relationship as a “friendship” (“amitie”) that ill-willed advisers sought to damage or “break” (“rompre”; CW, 259; ACFLO, 162).

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beth construes this phrase as “by reason of my mean beginning,” an ostensible reference to Cicero’s lowly origins, which she would not have been likely to do if she had seen Manutius’s gloss. Presumably she used one of the many editions of the Epistulae ad familiares or of Cicero’s complete works that have no marginal notes to this letter. Alternatively, she may have used an edition of the Epistulae with notes by a commentator who did not gloss this particular phrase, such as the three editions mentioned earlier, which Thomas Marsh published in London in the 1570s.

Queen Elizabeth’s translation of one of Marcus Tullius Cicero’s letters to C. Scribonius Curio; Epistulae ad familiares (Familiar Letters / Letters to Friends) 2.6, ca. 15791 Tully to Curio. [1] I have written these unto you by Sextus Julius,2 my friend Milo’s companion, not knowing whether you are yet come into Italy. But because you are shortly looked for, and it is certainly reported that you are now departed out of Asia toward Rome, the importance of the matter made us think no haste too great, being desirous you might receive letters3 as soon as might be. My Curio, if it were I only that had showed you friendship4—and yet indeed it is far greater by your acceptation than by my account—I should hardly be bold to desire any great matter at your hands. For it is a grief to an honest nature to ask anything where he hath well

1. Source: Nugae Antiquae: Being a Miscellaneous Collection of Original Papers in Prose and Verse. By Sir John Harington, 2 vols. (Bath and London, 1775), 2:235–37. We have compared the text in Thomas Park’s 1804 London edition. The heading reads: “Translation, by Q. Elizabeth, of one of Tullies familiar Epistles, given by her to John Haryngton, 1579.” We have inserted the section numbers of modern editions of Cicero in square brackets. 2. Sextus Julius Sextus Villius Annalis. In the rapid, loosely formed italic hand written by Elizabeth at this period, V frequently resembles J and apparently prompted a mistranscription here. 3. letters “litteras” (these letters, i.e., this letter). The OED notes the use of plural “letters” with singular meaning in formal contexts imitating the Latin. 4. if . . . friendship “si mea in te essent officia solum” (if there were only my services to you [to be considered]). Elizabeth alters the sense by treating “solum” as if were an adjective modifying the speaker rather than an adverb. Her rendering of “officia” (services, duties) as “friendship” also heightens the affective emphasis.

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deserved, lest he should seem to demand rather than desire, and to ask a recompense rather than a benefit.5 [2] But seeing it is well known and famous, by reason of my mean beginning, how greatly I am bound unto you, and seeing it is a part of a loving mind to desire to be more beholding where he is much beholding already, I will not stick to be a suitor unto you, in these my letters, for the thing which is most acceptable6 and necessary for me of all others. For, though you should do never so much for me, yet I dare presume it shall not be lost, trusting that no benefit can be so great, but that either I shall be able to receive with kindness, or to reward it with thankfulness, or to honor it with commendation.7 [3] Sir, I have set all my study, diligence, care, labor—mind, soul, and all8—to make Milo consul. And I am persuaded I am bound to do it, not only as I would recompense my friend, but as I would honor my father.9 For I think there was never man so careful for his life and goods as I am for Milo’s preferment, wherein methinks my whole

5. honest . . . benefit to . . . nature “homini pudenti” (to a modest man). benefit kindness, favor; “beneficii.” 6. my mean . . . acceptable my . . . beginning “novitate meorum temporum” (in the unusualness of my [bad] circumstnaces). how . . . you “tua in me . . . maxima beneficia” (your very great kindnesses toward me). not stick to not hesitate to. of . . . loving “ingenui” (of a generous). most acceptable most pleasing, gratifying; “maximum” (most important). 7. receive . . . commendation receive The reading of the first edition of Nugae Antiquae; later editions insert “it.” I . . . commendation The Marsh editions of Cicero read “vel . . . capere animus meus accipiendo, vel remunerando, cumulandoque illustrare possit” (that my heart could make room for by receiving, or praise by thanking or crowning [with praise].” Like modern editions, the Lambin and Manutius editions have “in accipiendo . . . in remunerando.” 8. Sir . . . all Sir Elizabeth’s addition. study attention; devotion, partisan sympathy. According to the OED, these obsolete senses are often activated when “study” is used, as it is here, to translate “studium.” soul . . . all “mentem denique omnem” (and, to conclude, my whole mind). Elizabeth treats “omnem” as if it were the noun “omnia” rather than a modifier of “mentem.” 9. would . . . father “me non officii solum fructum sed etiam pietatis laudem debere quaerere” (that I should seek not only the reward of my good services but also some reputation for pious loyalty). Elizabeth interprets the first alternative as Cicero’s reference to favors he would do for Milo rather than favors he expects to receive. She again highlights the affective element by subordinating the exchange of “officium” (service) to the profession of friendship. Cicero applies the notion of familial piety to his loyalty to Milo; Elizabeth eliminates Cicero’s emphasis upon reputation.

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state stands. Herein, I understand, you10 can do us so much help that we shall need to seek no farther. All this we have already: the best sort, for the acts of his tribuneship for my sake, as I trust you think; the people and the multitude, for his shows and triumphs and his liberal nature; the youth and the favorites, for his own commendation among them;11 last of all, my voice—not so mighty, perhaps, as others, yet esteemed and honest and bound unto him, and therefore may chance available.12 [4] Now we have but need of a head and a captain and, as it were, a master to rule and govern these same13 winds. And if we should wish for one in all this empire,14 we could not choose a fitter man than you. And therefore, if you think me mindful, if you think me thankful, if you think me an honest man that labor so earnestly for my friend15—to conclude, if you think me worthy of your benefits—I desire you to help me in this my great care and to assist me to win this honor, or rather, as it were,16 to save my life. For Milo himself, this I dare promise: that you shall find no man of more courage, gravity, constancy, or faithfulness towards you, if you will receive him into your friendship. And, for my part, you shall do me so much honor

10. you “te unum” (you alone). 11. the best . . . them the best sort “bonorum studium conciliatum” (the favorable support of honest men). trust . . . think “spero te intelligere” (I hope you understand). liberal generous. the favorites “gratiosorum in suffragiis” (those enjoying favor in the Assembly of Centuries). Glossed by Shackleton Bailey as “the six suffragia (centuries) of equites in the Assembly of Centuries, consisting of young aristocrats and distinguished members of the Order” in his Loeb edition, Cicero’s Letters to Friends (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001), 1:242n. for . . . them Elizabeth condenses “propter ipsius excellentem in eo genere vel gratiam, vel diligentiam” (because of his own outstanding favor or assiduity in that sphere). commendation repute. 12. my . . . available my voice my vote; “nostram suffragationem” (our [i.e., my] vote, support). may . . . available may happen to be efficacious; “gratiosam” (enjoying favor). 13. same aforementioned; “quos proposui” (which I have indicated). 14. if . . . empire “si ex omnibus unus optandus esset” (if we had to choose one from all). 15. you think . . . friend you think . . . you think . . . you think Elizabeth heightens the emphasis in Cicero’s three parallel phrases by tripling his single occurrence of the verb phrase “existimare potes” (you can regard). for . . . friend “de Milone.” 16. as it were “ut verius dicam” (to speak more truly).

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and reputation as I shall have cause to confess that you have showed yourself as much my friend for my credit as you have done heretofore for my safety.17 [5] I doubt not but you see how I am tied to this matter, and how it importeth me not only to strive but to fight18 also to perform it; else, I would write more. But now I commend19 and deliver the whole matter and all myself into your hands. Only this I shall say: if I obtain it, I shall almost be more bound to you than to Milo; for I am not so glad that Milo saved my life as I would be glad to recompense him20 for it. And I never look to do it but by your means only. 17. showed . . . safety “eumdem te . . . fuisse in laude mea, qui fueris in salute” (you were the same for my reputation as you were for my safety). for . . . credit in advancing my reputation (obsolete sense of ‘credit’). 18. how I . . . fight how I . . . matter Condenses “cum haec ad te scriberem, quantum offici sustinerem” (while I write this to you, how great a duty I am bearing; all sixteenth-century editions consulted). Modern editions offer various readings. how . . . me Condenses “quanto opere mihi esset in hac petitione Milonis” (how much it is necessary for me in this candidacy of Milo’s). strive . . . fight The pair “strive” / “fight” renders the pair “contentione” / “dimicatione” (in rivalry, quarrel / in conflict, battle). strive Used both in its modern sense of ‘endeavor strenuously’ and in its earlier sense of ‘contend in rivalry.’ 19. commend commit, entrust; “commendo.” 20. to . . . him “in referenda gratia” (in expressing gratitude).

Although this version of one hundred lines of a choral ode from the tragedy Hercules Oetaeus (Heracles on Oeta), ascribed in the Renaissance to Lucius Annaeus Seneca,1 is preserved only in an early copyist’s secretary hand, and although its provenance is unrecorded before it entered the holdings of the Bodleian Library about 1620, this text has generally been regarded as Elizabeth’s.2 The plausibility of the attribution is supported by a cluster of stylistic features that this work shares with her other translated and original work in verse. These include emphatic iambic verse rhythm; gnomic brevity; keywords, no longer current in English, drawn from the native word stock (cark, clots, fore-winds, geason, hind, seely, wain); adjectives with meter-filling suffixes in -y or -ed (beechy, easty, greeny, swifty, reddy, hornèd, smoothèd, wornèd); participles with meter-filling prefixes in y- (y-got, y-tied); and recurrent alliteration (gainful grasp, hoarded heaps).

1. The ascription of this tragedy to Seneca dates from antiquity, but present-day opinion weighs against Seneca as author; see John G. Fitch, ed. and trans., Seneca: Oedipus, Agamemnon, Thyestes; [Seneca:] Hercules on Oeta, Octavia, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004), 333–34. 2. Leicester Bradner, in Poems of Queen Elizabeth I (Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1964), 80, includes the work among Elizabeth’s poetry because of general similarity in style to her other writings without committing himself to her authorship. Steven May has recently accepted the work as Elizabeth’s and noted its thematic similarity to other writings of hers, in Queen Elizabeth I: Selected Works (New York: Washington Square Press, 2004), 295.

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While these general features also mark the plain style of such midsixteenth-century poets as Barnabe Googe and George Turberville, certain words and phrases are more distinctively characteristic of Elizabeth. The adjective “reddy” (84), used in the sense of ‘reddish’ rather than as a variant spelling of “ready,” appears in single instances in only two poets other than Elizabeth in the Chadwyck-Healey English Poetry database for poetry composed between 1500 and 1600, and once in a 1579 drama in the Chadwyck-Healey English Verse Drama database for the same period. “Reddy” appears twice, however, in Elizabeth’s translation of Boethius (book 1, meter 2, line 13, and book 2, meter 3, line 1).3 The phrase “best fore-winds,” an addition to the Latin that employs the obsolete term “fore-winds” in the sense of ‘favorable winds,’ occurs nowhere else in the Chadwyck-Healey databases for English Poetry, English Verse Drama, English Prose Drama, or English Fiction; it recurs, however, in Elizabeth’s prayer for the success of the Cadiz expedition (1596).4 The expression “recks not for” (80), meaning ‘does not care about, is not anxious about,’ recurs in Elizabeth’s translation of Plutarch, once verbatim (196), once as “does not reck for” (170). A similar phrase (“I reck not for”), by contrast, occurs only once in the four Chadwyck-Healey databases among all works other than Elizabeth’s composed between 1500 and 1600; this occurrence is in Nicholas Udall’s prose drama Respublica (1530). Other features of the translation of the choral ode—for example, the addition of some elliptical sententious phrases (17–18, 47–48) and some hasty misconstruals of the Latin—also appear characteristic of Elizabeth’s work. The rendering of “Latias” (Latin 684) as “broader,” which confuses “Latias” with “latiores” (broader), recalls similar mixups elsewhere in her translations, while the mistranslation of “Coro” (650), the Northwest wind, as “Easty wind” (74) resembles her mistaken rendering of “Cori” in her Boethius translation as “Southeast wind” (book 4, meter 5, line 13). Such considerations, compounded with her earlier decisions to translate Seneca’s Epistle 107 and to invoke his authority several times in her Sententiae, make this translation of a cho-

3. “Reddy” meaning ‘reddish’ occurs in John God’s poem A discourse of . . . a Widowe (London, 1570); in J. C.’s poem A Poore Knight his Pallace (London, 1579); and Robert Wilson’s verse drama The Three Ladies of London (London, 1584). Neither these works nor their authors have any thematic affinities with the translation of the choral ode. 4. CW, 426.

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ral ode, then believed to be his work, on the subject of the discomforts and dangers of being a monarch seem a very plausible enterprise for Elizabeth. The close resemblances of the chorus to her own reflections on queenship, discussed below, increase the plausibility of the attribution. Our discussion and notes proceed on the assumption that the translation is hers. Apart from a handful of irregular lines signaled in our notes, Elizabeth translates this choral ode into unrhymed iambic pentameter— that is, English blank verse.5 For the use of this meter to translate poetry from Latin, there were precedents in Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, who around 1539 made a blank verse translation of the dactylic hexameters of books 2 and 4 of Virgil’s Aeneid, and in George Turberville, who in 1567 employed blank verse to translate eclogues in dactylic hexameters by the neo-Latin poet Mantuan (Battista Spagnuoli) as well as selected epistles from Ovid’s Heroides written in elegiac couplets. The absence of rhyme was probably what determined Elizabeth’s choice of blank verse, for which classical poetry itself furnished the precedent. Rhymelessness becomes the consistent hallmark of her practice in making English verse translations of classical texts in the 1590s. The other feature of blank verse, its ten-syllable iambic line unit, had the appeal of its growing popularity in the period, but it may have particularly attracted Elizabeth’s attention as a promising metrical analogue of her Latin original. The choral ode in anapestic dimeters consists mainly of ten-syllable lines, with fewer lines of nine or eleven syllables. Near their midpoint the Latin lines have a metrical pause, or diaeresis, which Elizabeth often replicates as a caesura in her English lines. Notwithstanding these formal similarities between her blank verse lines and the stichic (single-line) units of the verse form of her Latin source, Elizabeth typically groups the lines of this translation into syntactic and “sense” pairings that give them the effect of couplets. Such binary organization attests to the continuing formal influence of the rhymed verse that Elizabeth employed in her original poetry in English. In translating the choral ode, Elizabeth handles her text in a man5. The irregular lines (4, 75, 82, 109) are characterized by a hypermetrical sixth foot which could easily be regularized in every case. Because this text is preserved in the hand of an unknown copyist, there are several possible sources for the metrical irregularities: a nonfinal draft by Elizabeth that required further revision; the copyist’s own errors in copying a finished version by Elizabeth; or a faulty copy of a finished version by Elizabeth that the copyist reproduced, faults and all, as the surviving manuscript.

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ner unlike her practice in her other translations: here she resorts frequently to loose paraphrase and makes many additions to her source. The result, an English poem one-fourth longer than its Latin original, is less a translation, strictly conceived, than an imitation.6 Her source is lines 600–699 of act 2 of Hercules Oetaeus, an ode uttered by the chorus of Aetolian women, attendants of Hercules’s desperately jealous wife, Queen Deïanira. She has just dispatched a messenger to present Hercules with a robe that she believes will magically rekindle his love for her. Instead, as Deïanira’s nurse realizes, the robe’s fiery folds, saturated with poisoned blood, will wrap Hercules in torment. He will be driven to immolate himself in a funeral pyre prepared for him on Mt. Oeta in Thessaly. The ode has a prefatory section (583–99) in which the chorus bewails Deïanira’s unhappy lot as a wife and recalls the girlhood pleasures and festivals that had bound them closely to her before she married. Separating the critique of high estate from a rehearsal of marital misfortunes that did not address the situation of a virgin queen, Elizabeth omits the contrast between virginity and marriage as well as the speech of Deïanira into which the ode modulates at its end (700–705). As a consequence, her version focuses on the chorus’s reflections on the vulnerability of monarchs and other eminent persons to the treachery of fellow mortals and the vicissitudes of Fortune. While this series of lyric reflections begins by warning those in high places to choose trustworthy companions, the emphasis throughout falls on the extreme difficulty—even impossibility—of reconciling greatness with safety and happiness. In contrast, the chorus idealizes the country life of simple virtue and concludes with a fervent wish to avoid high position: “me nulla vocet turba potentem” (May no crowd call me great 693). The force of this wish is heightened by Elizabeth into a pious exclamation that in her case could only be a contrary-to-fact yearning: “God shield that ‘mighty’ me the vulgar call” (118). God had determined otherwise for her. Her spirited rendering comports, however, with her self-image as a godly queen who is unfailingly conscientious in caring for her people’s well-being. As Erasmus had observed in the first chapter of

6. On imitation in Renaissance poetics, see Thomas M. Greene, The Light in Troy: Imitation and Discovery in Renaissance Poetry (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982). Greene observes that humanists distinguished “translatio” from “imitatio” but that the distinction remained fluid (51–52).

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his Institutio Principis Christiani, whoever wishes to be a monarch and does not shoulder its duties reluctantly is either a fool or a knave who does not realize the intense burdens of rule.7 Elizabeth’s textual expansions and additions intensify the contrast drawn in her source between the lives of the great and the lowly. She puts her own descriptive touch on the negative tenor of emotions experienced by monarchs: “So icy is their joy, and hopeless, woe” (26). She elaborates a sardonic comment by the chorus, “Plures fulgor convocat aulae” (The court’s luster summons the many 617), converting it to a first-person voicing of disillusionment: “The court’s luster a stale guest made for me, / Delighted with the shine, no woe forethought” (29–30). She also expatiates on the chorus’s idealization of the simple country wife, whose life, according to Elizabeth’s addition, is free from “lewd”— that is, base and unprincipled—”suspect” (96). In a text replete with sententious utterances, she inserts a typically curt, oblique remark on the need for caution in high places— “Heed, then, the clocks of warnèd harms with good” (17)—and proceeds to term this admonition a “gift” (21) to anyone so placed, not excluding, it seems, herself. As will be explained below, considerations regarding the source edition used by Elizabeth slightly favor a date in or after 1589 for this translation. The ode’s reflections on the discomforts and dangers of wearing a crown resonate with sentiments she expressed at various points throughout her reign. However, these reflections particularly recall passages in her first reply to the parliamentary petitions urging the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in November 1586. Like the choral ode, Elizabeth’s first reply generalizes on the rare correlation of high estate with happiness: “I have lived many years . . . in place of rule, and . . . I have tasted of those sorrows and troubles whereunto [this] life is subject, and have felt more grief and fewer joys than haply to the world I may seem to have done.” She further emphasizes that her life as queen has been in continual jeopardy: “Considering the manifold dangers intended and practiced against me, . . . I must needs say it is admirable . . . that now I live.” Like the translation of the choral ode, Elizabeth’s first reply describes the dark emotions continually experienced by a monarch: “These former remembrances, present feeling, and future expectations of evils . . . have made me think an evil is much the better the 7. Desiderius Erasmus, Institutio Principis Christiani (1523), in Opera Omnia, part 4, vol. 1, ed. O. Herding and F. Schalk (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1974), 152.

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less while it endureth, and so, them happiest that are soonest hence; and taught me to bear with a better mind these treasons.” Further, Elizabeth, like the ode, contrasts the restrictions of high estate with the supposedly freer, happier condition of the lowly, imagining how it might have been “if it had pleased God” to make herself and Mary “both milkmaids with pails on our arms, so that the matter should have rested between us two” to settle in private. Finally, the reply rejects what the translation of the choral ode terms “lewd suspect,” the rumor that Elizabeth has “dealt . . . cautelously” (craftily) with Mary, seeking to “circumvent her” and trap her into confessing the treasons and treacheries that she so steadfastly denied.8 We hypothesize that Elizabeth’s encounter with the choral ode in or after 1589 recalled the mordant reflections provoked by responding to Parliament and debating with herself over signing the warrant for Mary’s execution. The exceptional volubility and freedom with which Elizabeth handles her source seem to have sprung from the agonizing dilemma that the queen of Scots had posed for the safety of her life and crown. The late 1580s and early 1590s may well have provoked a return to such reflections. Although Elizabeth and her people had escaped the punishment for Mary’s death that the king of Spain intended in dispatching the Armada in 1588, there was continuing apprehension that Spain was preparing a new invasion of England.9

* In seeking to identify Elizabeth’s source for the ode, we have consulted the following editions of Seneca’s tragedies: two early sixteenth-century Italian imprints (Florence, 1506; Venice: Aldus, 1517); the first issue of the highly accurate and elegant, much reprinted Gryphius edition (Lyon, 1541); five scrupulously accurate paginary reprints of the Gryphius edition (1548, 1573, 1576, 1581, 1598); and a London edition of 1589.10 Although the textual evidence is inconclusive, it seems likely that she used the London edition, a less carefully produced paginary reprint of one of the Gryphius editions. The 1589 London edition shares with

8. CW, 187, 192. 9. See Elizabeth’s speech at the closing of Parliament in April 1593 (CW, 329, 331–32). 10. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Tragoediae (London, 1589), was printed in London by Richard Robinson.

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the other sixteenth-century texts consulted several substantive variant readings, not given in modern editions, that are reflected in Elizabeth’s translation and signaled in our footnotes. But more important, the 1589 London edition contains variants, including misprints, that distinguish it from the Lyon edition of Gryphius in any of its reprints. Two unique substantive variants, in particular, make it probable that this London edition was Elizabeth’s source. In lines 125–26, which evoke the Tagus River in Spain, all Renaissance and modern editions consulted, except the 1589 London edition, read “stupet aurato / flumine clarum radiare Tagum” (marvels to see the shining Tagus beam with its golden waters). The London edition, misprinting “fulmine” for “flumine,” offers a more atmospheric image of the famously golden river: “marvels to see the shining Tagus beam with its golden flash of light.” Elizabeth’s translation reads: “Abashed at golden, shining Tagus’ beams” (42). While this is a plausible enough rendering of the reading in the standard Latin text (with the noun “beams” rendering the verb “radiare”), the description of “golden, shining Tagus’ beams” lacks an equivalent for “flumine” (waters, river current).11 It seems likely that Elizabeth’s source did not contain “flumine” at all, as the 1589 London edition did not. In lines 666–67 all Renaissance editions consulted refer periphrastically to the exotic, luxurious silk that the simple housewife does not use. All of these, except the London edition, read: “quae Phoebeis subditus euris / Legit Eois Ser arboribus” (the things that the Serian [i.e., Chinese], exposed to the sunny East, has plucked from eastern trees). Garbling these lines, the London edition omits the human subject of the verb in this subordinate clause and adds a grammatical object: “quae Phoebeis subditus Euris / Legit Eois fructus arboribus” (the things that [ ], exposed to the sunny East, has plucked fruits from eastern trees). Elizabeth awkwardly expands the periphrasis to “The silky land that lies to sunny East / Needs not the fruit from eastern tree to pluck” (91–92). Elizabeth’s description of silk as “fruit” is probably a cognate rendering of the reading “fructus” unique to the 1589 London edition (both the Latin and English terms can refer to various natural products). Her making “the silky land” the subject of “pluck” could 11. An obvious equivalent—and an optimal alternative to “beams”—would have been ‘streams,’ an obsolete term for the waters of a river used later by Elizabeth in line 22 of her fragmentary translation of Horace’s Ars poetica (1598).

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be the result of misconstruing the human subject “Ser” (“sericus” is “silken”) in a Lyon edition. Much more probably, however, “silky land” is the grammatical subject that Elizabeth conjectured, based on the context, for the one missing in the London edition.12 Her addition of “needs not” to the subordinate clause further obscures the sense by making it sound as if the “silky land,” rather than the modest housewife, is the one that needs no luxurious silk. Like her earlier translation of Seneca’s concluding verse prayer in Epistle 107, her later verse translations of classical texts in 1593 and 1598—her Boethius, Plutarch, and Horace—are not imitations but close, literal renderings of the syntax and sense of her Latin sources. Such fidelity to syntax and sense, however, compels Elizabeth to vary the lengths of the line units in these translations into English verse. Freer with its ancient source but stricter in its metrical design, her rendering of the choral ode from Hercules Oetaeus inverts the priorities that shape her other verse translations. Blank verse and the mode of imitation combine in a creation that is unique within Elizabeth’s work. 12. In a similar passage on the superfluity of luxurious silk in book 2, meter 5, line 8 of her Boethius translation, Elizabeth renders genitive “Serum” as “Seric,” a cognate she may have coined. If “Ser” had appeared in her Seneca edition, she would probably have offered some such cognate rendering.

Queen Elizabeth’s translation of a speech of the chorus of Hercules Oetaeus, a tragedy ascribed to Lucius Annaeus Seneca— probably done circa 15891 What harming hurl of Fortune’s arm thou dreads, Let fraught2 of faith the burden of care relieve, And take thou such, to fear approved, by proof,3 The unpicked locks of certain trust to hold: For geason is the faith, and rarely kept is trust,4

1. Source: University of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS e Museo 55, fols. 48r–49r. The text, written in a compact secretary hand with frequent embellishments and many ambiguous letter-forms, is one of several discrete manuscript items given to the Bodleian around 1620 by Dr. Robert Clay (d. 1628) and subsequently bound together. Other items bound with this text include copies of letters and papers relating to ecclesiastical and political matters between 1564 (letters by James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham) and 1601 (documents relating to Essex’s insurrection). This text is listed as “A translation of Q. Eliz. out of Seneca” on a contents page, and it is notated “A Translation of Q Elizabeth ex dono D. Clay” in the left upper margin of the first page; other items in the collection bear similar inscriptions— e.g., “Donum D. Clay, for the Vniuersity Library.” A hand different from that of the copyist of Elizabeth’s English lines entered the heading “Seneca in Hercule Etoeo” and inserted corresponding lines of the source text at intervals in the margin through fol. 48v. Our numbers in square brackets are keyed to Elizabeth’s lineation, but our notes make references to the line numbers of her source. 2. fraught freight. 3. such . . . proof such persons as have been put to the test of fear by experiencing it; “Fidas comites . . . fatis” (Trusted companions of your fates 601). approved put to the test. proof experience. 4. For . . . trust Like lines 75, 82, and 109, this line has six feet. Its two halves are closely synonymous; they expand “Nam rara fides” (For rare is loyalty; 602). Either “is trust” or, less likely, “the faith” could be removed without detriment to the sense. The hypermetri-

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Where puffèd sails from best fore-winds be fall’n.5 The weight of scepter’s sway, if [thou]6 must bear, Albeit the vulgar crew fill full thy gates, And hundred thresholds with their feet be smoothed; Though with thy glaives and axes thou be armed, And root full great do glory give thy name:7 Amid the view of all these sundry sorts,8 One9 faultless faith, her room (ev’n scant) may claim. The golden ledge full wrathful spites besets,10 And where the gates their posts draw forth (by breadth, More easy way to guiles, and pass[age] safe),11 Heed, then, the clocks of warnèd harms with good.12 And let the hidden blade no wrong thee work;13

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cal foot is possible evidence of a draft version before Elizabeth had chosen among alternative phrasings. geason rare, scarce. 5. Where . . . fall’n In adding this image to “vbi iam melior / Fortuna ruit” (when better fortune comes to ruin 602–3), Elizabeth anticipates the final sailing image in her lines 119–23. fore-winds favorable winds. 6. [thou] Emended by reference to “Tu quicumque es qui sceptra tenes” (Whoever you are who holds the scepter 604). The copyist first wrote “choise” (choice), then “chuse” (choose), superimposing “u” on “oi.” Neither alternative yields sense in the context. 7. Though . . . name Elizabeth’s addition. glaives A term used at different periods for three kinds of weapons: spears, bills, and swords. root . . . great distinguished ancestry; or if “root” is read as a variant spelling of “rout,” a great crowd—anticipating the reference in the next line. 8. Amid . . . sorts in the sight of all these different types of persons; “cum tot populis stipatus eas, / in tot populis” (although you go surrounded by so many peoples of the world, among so many peoples 607–8). 9. One Only one, at most one; “vix una” (scarcely one 608). 10. The . . . besets “Tenet auratum limen Erinnys” (Furies beset the golden threshold—of rulers’ residences 609). wrathful spites a possible rendering of “Erinnys” (Furies); but also, possibly, the copyist’s mistranscription of “wrathful sprites” (spirits). 11. by . . . safe The sense of this convoluted passage is that cunning deceptions pass safely through great, wide-open doors. It renders “Et cum magnae patuere fores, / Intrant fraudes, cautique doli” (610–11). pass[age] We emend the manuscript reading “passed,” a probable copyist’s error, as Bradner suggested in Poems of Elizabeth I, 80. 12. Heed . . . good Elizabeth’s addition. clocks Possibilities of variant spellings and pronunciation yield alternative readings: one, “clocks” in the sense of ‘bells,’ sounding an alert to harms impending amidst present good; the other, taking “clocks” as ‘cloaks’ in the sense of ‘pretenses, outward shows,’ thus as disguising warned-of harms with apparent good. 13. And . . . work “Ferrumque latens” (And the hidden sword 612).

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For when most show by gazers’ eyen is spied,14 And presence great, thy honor most advance, This gift retain:15 as fellow to thy room, Disdain may frown, but Envy thrust thee through.16 No ofter doth the East the night’s care release,17 And makes the shady dark with light abash,18 Than kings be made in instant short, and marred.19 So icy is their joy, and hopeless, woe:20 The love of kingdom’s rule, observed with care, But, for himself, a king but few regard.21 The court’s luster a stale guest made for me, Delighted with the shine, no woe forethought.22 And this man seeks the nearest room to prince, To glitt’ring view amid the streets he comes; While broilèd is with cark the miser’s breast, In search of gainful grasp his name to spread; In compass of the hoarded heaps to find

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14. For . . . spied Loosely renders “cumque in populos / Prodire parant” (for when they prepare to walk among the people 612–13; all sixteenth-century editions consulted). eyen eyes. 15. And . . . retain Elizabeth’s addition. This . . . retain remember this freely offered counsel. 16. as . . . through “comes invidia est” (envy is a companion 613). room place, position, authority. 17. No . . . release This line has eleven syllables. Either of two elisions, “N’ofter” or “th’East,” will accommodate it to five feet. night’s . . . release removes the anxieties of night; “noctem . . . summovet” (drives off night 613). release remove, cancel. 18. And . . . abash Elizabeth’s addition. 19. kings . . . marred By noting how quickly kings are made and destroyed, Elizabeth renders the point of the Latin differently. It reads “Regem totiens credite nasci” (So often [as night gives way to day] believe kings to be born 615)—i.e., if a king survives a night, it is as if he were reborn in the morning. marred destroyed. 20. So . . . woe Elizabeth’s addition. icy slippery. 21. The . . . regard Men love the rule of a kingdom, observing it with rapt attention, but few venerate the king himself. Expands “Pauci reges, non regna colunt” (Few worship kings and not their kingdoms 616). 22. The . . . forethought The court’s luster made a stale guest as far as I was concerned, [even though I was initially] delighted with the glitter, with no foreboding of future woe. for me as for me. Elizabeth recasts as a first-person locution “Plures fulgor convocat aulae” (The court’s luster summons the many 617; all sixteenth-century editions consulted).

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One bit to slake desire’s craves, he seeks.23 Not all the coast where Istris’ trade24 doth haunt, With gems bedecked through hue of divers kind;25 Nor Lydia fair, with sweetest streams suffice, To quench nor answer all such thirst by half;26 Nor yet the soil that bides Zephyrus’ slave Abashed at golden, shining Tagus’ beams;27 Nor Hebrus’ service28 may content at full, Rich though Hydaspes’ sedge his fields throw out;29 Though Ganges’ course his confines all do grace

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23. And . . . seeks “Cupit hic regi proximus ipsi / Clarus latas ire per urbes, / Vrit miserum gloria pectus: / Cupit hic gazis implere famem” (One man is eager to walk, famous, through the broad towns, nearest the king himself: glory burns his wretched breast; another desires to fill his hunger with treasures 618–21). Elizabeth construes lines 620–21 as referring not to Seneca’s distinct types, the seeker of glory and the seeker of riches, but to the seeker of both at once. miser’s breast “miserum . . . pectum” (the wretched breast [of the glory-seeker]). The conflated clauses yield extra meaning; “miser” has both the obsolete sense of ‘miserable’ and its modern sense of ‘miserly.’ glitt’ring Foregrounds the physical senses of “clarus” (celebrated; bright, glistening). broiled agitated, but its physical sense evokes “Vrit” (burns). cark burden, distress. to slake . . . seeks “Cupit hic gazis implere famam” (He seeks to fill up his hunger with treasure 621). craves cravings (otherwise attested only in the nineteenth century) or clefts (J. O. Halliwell, ed., Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, 11th ed. [London, 1889], 1:278). Either alternative fits with “implere.” 24. Istris’ trade the course of the river Ister (the lower part of the Danube); “plaga gemmiferi . . . Istri” (the tract of the jeweled Ister). trade course, path. 25. through . . . kind Elizabeth’s addition. 26. Nor . . . half “nec tota sitim / Lydia vincit” (nor does all Lydia conquer his thirst 623–24). Ancient Lydia, in Asia Minor, was famed for its opulence. fair . . . streams Elizabeth’s imagistic addition to the Latin description of Lydia as failing to satisfy the miser’s “thirst.” 27. Nor . . . beams A reference to Spain’s proverbially golden Tagus River, represented here as a sunlike source of life. bides . . . slave is subservient to Zephyrus, the Western wind. Abashed . . . beams “stupet aurato / Flumine clarum radiare Tagum” (is stunned to see the shining Tagus beam with its golden waters 625–26). The 1589 London edition of Seneca’s tragedies has the unique variant “fulmine” (with its flash of light) for “flumine” (with its waters); see our introduction, p. 445. 28. Hebrus’ service The river Hebrus, noted for its beauty and golden sands, located in Thrace (present-day southern Bulgaria and northern Greece), probably serves as a metonymy for this region. service servitude, rendering cognate “serviat” (627), which has a general sense of ‘were to serve as a slave’ but here probably means ‘were to be politically subject to.’ 29. Hydaspes’ . . . out Hydaspes The Punjab river Jhelum. throw out “cingat” (were to extend around 628, in all sixteenth-century editions consulted).

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With fillèd force to water all his lands: To greedy, grating wights, enough not all That Nature well doth please; his lack, not so.30 This man doth homage owe unto kingly force,31 And harbor-[h]ome adores where last he haunts:32 Not meaning that his plowshare should advance, Like crooked hind, his master’s gain, with clots, By murd’ring oft the ground;33 no ease of toil, Though thousand leas his husbandmen turn up;34 Well pleasèd, rests his search with goods, ev’n such As pleasure may, by gift, another’ need.35 A badder sort the prince’s court regard,

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30. To . . . so “Avidis, avidis natura parum est” (For the greedy, the greedy, Nature is too small 631). Elizabeth’s loose rendering probably means ‘Not all the things that Nature does well are enough to please the greedy man; his lack of any of them does not please him at all.’ greedy, grating A variation on “Avidis, avidis.” grating obtaining by oppression or importunity. 31. This . . . force This eleven-syllable line may be in a draft or a corrupted state; it could easily be regularized by replacing “unto” with “to.” kingly force “reges” (kings 632). 32. And . . . haunts “Colit . . . regumque lares” (He courts the homes of kings 632). harbor place of shelter, lodging, or hospitality. harbor-[h]ome A pleonastic compound rendering “lares” (home). We have emended the copyist’s “harbrowe Rome,” where R appears, from its awkward shape and alignment, to be a later insertion. Alternatively, the copyist’s phrase might be construed as the equally pleonastic compound “harbor-room” (“rome” was a fifteenth-to-seventeenth-century spelling of “room”), with “room” in its early modern sense of ‘estate.’ The least plausible possibility is that “harbor-Rome” was meant to evoke the Latin playwright’s Rome as the capital where the ruler mainly resides. 33. Not . . . ground “Non ut presso vomere sepere / Numquam cesset curvus arator” (Not so that his stooping plowman may never cease with his sunken plowshare 633–34). The greedy man seeks riches at kings’ courts rather than wealth deriving from productive use of his landed estates. crooked hind bent-over farmhand. clots clods. 34. no . . . up no . . . toil Elizabeth’s addition, implying that the greedy man will give his laborers no rest despite his wealth gained at court, but will seek still more profit at their expense. Though . . . up Even if his tenant farmers should plow up a thousand tracts of land for him; “mille secent arva coloni” (635). 35. Well . . . need “Solas optat, quas donet, opes” (He seeks wealth alone, that he might give 636). Elizabeth’s two lines translate a single line, whose sense is obscure in sixteenth-century editions. Elizabeth construes the problematic “donet” as referring to gifts from his own riches with which the greedy man could give pleasure to others in need but does not. Modern editions have the more appropriate “quas ponat” (that he may hoard). Well . . . goods The greedy man is satisfied only by possessions. another’ another’s (unmarked genitive).

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With foil[ing] foot that stumble gives at all;36 And each to lose, with no avail to one;37 That might may equal harm, they power achieve.38 Whose living’s thread, drawn out, is of such length, Whom hap not takes, ere Nature calls away?39 The hornèd, newèd moon them blessèd call, Whose wane them misers judge, when day doth fall;40 A man full rarely happy is, and old. More surer sleeps, then, downy turfs procure: All Tyre, where purple woven is, and made, Not so sound slumber doth his owner yield;41 The gilded roofs the quiet rest bereaves, And waking nights the purple draws from ease. O that the breasts of rich men naked were,

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36. A . . . all The lines describe destructive behavior that certain power-seekers direct toward everyone at court. badder sort “hic” (this man). regard value. foil[ing] “ut calcet” (that he may trample upon 637). The copyist reads “foiled,” an obvious error. at all to all. 37. And . . . one Intensifies “Perdatque aliquos, nullumque levet” (That he may ruin some and support none 638). each everyone. lose ruin. avail assistance. 38. That . . . achieve In order that their might may be equal to their [desire to] harm, they acquire power; “Tantum ut noceat, cupit esse potens” (He wishes to be powerful, only so that he might harm 639). equal Elizabeth probably misconstrued “tantum ut” (only so that) as equivalent to “tantum quam” (so much as), hence “equal.” 39. Whose . . . away? “Quota pars moritur tempore fati?” (How many die in the time of their allotted fate? 640). hap . . . takes chance does not take. 40. The . . . fall “Quos felices Cynthia vidit, / Vidit miseros abitura dies” (Whom the goddess of the moon sees blessed, the dying day sees as wretched 641–42; all sixteenth-century editions consulted). Modern editions read “enata dies” (the newborn day). The point, garbled in early modern editions, is that those blessed during the moon of a previous night are wretched by the next morning. Elizabeth copes with the textual difficulty by affirming that those blessed during the night of a new moon will be wretched by the end of the following day, during which the moon will wane. misers wretches, rendering cognate “miseros.” 41. More . . . yield “Caespes Tyrio mollior ostro / Solet impavidos ducere somnos” (The turf couch, softer than Tyrian purple, often provides fearless slumbers 644–45). This is the reading in all sixteenth-century editions consulted except the 1589 London edition, which reads “melior” (better) for “mollior” (softer). More surer safer; “impavidos” (fearless). all Tyre Tyrian purple dye is a frequent Roman synecdoche for Eastern luxury; cf. “purple” in line 70.

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The smoothèd dreads of lofty lucks that hide!42 The Brutian43 stream more milder course doth hold When Easty wind44 him strikes with force’s stroke. In franchèd mind from care, the seely soul, possessed,45 A pot of 46 beechy-tree full sure he keeps, With steady hand that fears no snatch from hold;47 No sudden fright affrays; no thief he dreads;48 With ease y-got, and single49 show, he feeds, And recks not for the girded blades to thigh.50 The golden cup a bloody mixture keeps. The wife that y-tied is, to man of mean estate,51 No carking hath, in order pain to set: Nor shining gift of Reddy Sea she wears;52

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42. The . . . hide Rich men’s breasts hide suppressed fears of lofty Fortune; “Quantos intus sublimis agit / Fortuna metus!” (How many fears does lofty Fortune stir within! 649–50). smoothèd hushed up, made less conspicuous. 43. Brutian The region of the Bruttii was at the “toe” of Italy, now Calabria. 44. Easty wind “Coro” (650). Corus (or Caurus) is the Northwest wind. 45. In . . . possessed “Pectora pauper secura gerit” (The poor man has a breast free of care 652). This line has six feet. franchèd Variant of the past participle “franchised,” meaning ‘made free.’ seely In context the primary sense of this term is ‘poor,’ rendering “pauper,” but “seely” also had relevant early modern senses of ‘humble,’ ‘innocent,’ ‘fortunate,’ and ‘spiritually blessed.’ possessed Hypermetrical and redundant, the copyist’s reading “possessed” appears to be a remnant of an earlier rendering which “he keeps” in line 76 was meant to replace. Deletion of “possessed” would regularize the meter and the meaning. 46. of made out of, from. 47. With . . . hold “non trepida . . . manu” (with untrembling hand 654). 48. No . . . dreads Elizabeth’s addition. 49. single simple, plain. 50. recks . . . thigh recks . . . for does not care about, is not anxious about. girded . . . thigh swords girded to the thighs of potential assailants. “Strictos . . . enses” (656) refers to drawn swords, not girded ones. Elizabeth’s misconstrual activates one sense of “stringere,” ‘bind fast,’ rather than the more appropriate sense here, ‘unsheathe.’ The Latin line alludes to the sword of Damocles. 51. The . . . estate The line’s six feet are possible evidence of an unrevised line or textual corruption; deletion of “that” and “is” would yield a pentameter. to . . . estate to a man of modest degree; “modico. . . marito” (to a husband of modest means 658). 52. No . . . wears She has no necklace to take pains to place in order, nor does she wear a gleaming gift of the Red Sea—i.e., pearls; “Non disposito clara monili / Gestat pelagi dona rubentis” (Not bright with a well-arranged necklace, she does not wear the Red Sea’s gifts 659–60). Elizabeth’s “no . . . nor” takes the necklace of pearls and the “gifts” to

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Her ears free from the pluck of gemmy weight, No stone of Eoa’s waves53 her cumber makes; Soft wool ingrained with Sidon’s purple fair Drinks not the red, for use that her befalls; No Maeon needle filleth she with sleaves,54 By parted hues that give the shade with art.55 The silky land that lies to sunny East Needs not the fruit from eastern tree to pluck.56 Every herb the color’s dye may mix That distaff fills with yarn that skill not spun.57 She nurses not the doubts of wedlock-bed; Of lewd suspect, of weary works, she shuns.58 The wrathful lamp Erinys lighteth up, The feastful day adorn[ed] by pest’ring rout.59 The poor man deemeth not his happy state,

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be separate items. carking Either an unattested variant of “carcan” in the sense of ‘necklace’ or a copyist’s confusion of “carkan” with “carking,” possibly prompted by the commonplace notion that a simple country life was free of “carking” in the sense of ‘trouble, worry.’ pain to pain, i.e., to strive to. 53. Eoa’s waves “Eoa . . . unda” (662), either ‘an eastern sea’ or ‘a sea located somewhere east of India.’ 54. Maeon . . . sleaves Maeon Lydian. sleaves silk filaments; the OED’s first citation in this sense is from 1591. 55. By . . . art That with divided hues artfully yield together a (variegated) shade. The line is Elizabeth’s addition. parted divided into different parts. shade partial darkness—which here would deepen colors. 56. The silky . . . pluck An allusion to silkworm cultivation in China; see our introduction, pp. 445–46. 57. Every . . . spun For the idealized simple wife, common herbs can be mixed to produce dye to fill the distaff with yarn that she spins without skill; “Quaelibet herbae tinxere colus / Quas indoctae nevere manus” (Any old herbs have dyed the wools that unskilled hands have woven 668–69). Elizabeth’s “dye” filling the “distaff ” reproduces the literal sense of “colus” (distaffs), which here, by a common metonymy, refers to the wool on the distaffs. Every Any; treated as equivalent to Latin “quilibet” in a 1552 dictionary cited in the OED. 58. Of . . . shuns Elizabeth’s addition. suspect suspicion. weary irksome. 59. The wrathful . . . rout The . . . lamp Possibly a copyist’s error for “With wrathful lamp,” as Bradner suggested (Poems of Elizabeth I, 80). Erinys . . . day The Fury ignites her torch of wrath to pursue a (wedding) celebration. adorn[ed] . . . rout We have amended the copyist’s “adorns,” which wrenches the grammar. The line renders as passive “populi coluere” (crowds have attended 672); “coluere” can also mean ‘have adorned.’ Bradner proposed that Elizabeth may have intended “adored,” since “coluere” can also

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Till wealthy, ruined folk by fall it show. Whoso, therefore, the middle way eschews, The wry and crooked balks most sure to tread.60 While Phaethon-boy, one day, of father got To rule the reins, and eke his wain to guide, In leaving wonted walk and wornèd ways With by-slide, while th’ uncouthèd skies he shears (Such place as heat of Phoebus’ flame not touch), His ruin was; the world, his fellow plain,61 Daedalus yet more larger scope and broader took,62 Who never yet a sea by name did grace; Though Icarus sought the true and living birds

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mean ‘have adored.’ pest’ring troublesome; overcrowding. rout company of (disorderly) people. 60. The . . . tread Elizabeth replaces “Stabili numquam tramite curret” (Will never run in stable path 676; all sixteenth-century editions consulted). wry twisted. balks ridges in one’s path, stumbling-blocks. 61. While . . . plain Phaethon, son of the sun-god, lost control of his father’s chariot of the sun while trying to drive it, wreaking havoc in the heavens and setting the earth afire. Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt before he could do more damage (Ovid Metamorphoses 2.1–228). Phaethon became a figure for dangerously arrogant and impetuous behavior. wain chariot. guide “concitat” (spur, urge on 678; all sixteenth-century editions consulted). wonted . . . ways Doublet rendering of “solitum . . . iter” (accustomed path 679). wornèd A disyllabic variant of “worn” (much used), evidently coined to fill out the meter. uncouthèd A disyllabic variant of “uncouth” in the sense of ‘unknown,’ evidently also coined to fill out the meter. shears “secat” (680; all sixteenth-century editions cited). Modern editions read “petens” (seeking). the . . . plain The world was plainly Phaethon’s fellow in ruin; “Secum pariter perdidit orbem” (He ruined the world with himself at the same time 682). 62. Daedalus . . . took The last of three twelve-syllable lines in Elizabeth’s translation. The length might indicate an unrevised or corrupt line or might be an intentional metrical pun on Daedalus’s “larger” route. Daedalus The fashioner of wings out of feathers and wax as a means for him and his son Icarus to escape from Crete. He warned his son to steer a middle course and not melt his wings’ wax by flying too close to the sun, nor to dampen his wings by flying too close to the sea. Icarus nonetheless flew too close to the sun, melting his waxen wings and falling to his death in the Icarian Sea, which bears his name (Ovid Metamorphoses 8.188–235). Icarus came to symbolize the excess that opposes moderation. took The Latin verb and verb form vary greatly in sixteenth-century editions; the Lyon and London editions have a historical present “cum peragrat” (while he traverses 683). larger . . . broader Misconstrual of “Latias . . . oras” (Latin shores 684; all sixteenth-century editions consulted). Modern editions read “placitas . . . oras” (peaceful shores).

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By guile to pass, and win the tryer’s right,63 His father’s feathered wings despised with scorn; To Phoebus near, with swifty gait, he hies; And christened by his slip the sea64 was, sure. Evil-bought the great, where ill exceeds the good.65 Let one full happy be, and highly flee;66 God shield that “mighty” me the vulgar call.67 The lee of shore my seely boat shall touch;68 Let no full wind to depth69 my bark bequeath. From safest creeks doth Fortune glide and shun, With search70 in middest sea for tallest ship, And takes it, dearest prey, the near-to-cloud.71

120

63. Though . . . right “Sed dum volucres vincere versa / Icarus audet” (But while Icarus dares to outdo real birds 686–87). Icarus The meter requires disyllabic pronunciation. the . . . right what rightfully belongs to him who makes a bold attempt. 64. with . . . sea with . . . gait Elizabeth’s addition. hies hastens (primary meaning); ascends (possible additional meaning, as a variant spelling of the now obsolete verb “high”). The primary meaning of “volat” (688) in this context is ‘flies’ (like a bird), but it can also connote ‘hurries.’ the sea the Icarian Sea; “ignoto . . . / ponto” (unknown sea 689–90). 65. Evil-bought . . . good “Male pensantur magna ruinis” (High things are painfully counterbalanced by ruin 691). Evil Here, as at many junctures in Elizabeth’s Plutarch translation, the pronunciation “ill” fits the meter. the great the state of greatness. 66. Let . . . flee Early modern “flee” is often interchangeable with “fly.” The Latin reads “volet” (let fly 692; all sixteenth-century editions consulted). Modern texts read “sonet” in place of “volet”: “Felix alius magnusque sonet” (Let another be spoken of as blest and great 692). 67. God . . . call “Me nulla vocet turba potentem” (May no crowd call me great 693). God shield God forbid. The pious turn of phrase is Elizabeth’s. 68. lee . . . touch lee . . . shore section of coast sheltered from the wind. seely ‘modest’ and ‘frail’ are the dominant senses, rendering “tenuis” (694). The early modern senses of ‘fortunate’ and ‘spiritually blessed’ may also, however, be intended; compare line 75 and note. touch “stringat” (touch, almost touch, brush; 694). The Renaissance nautical sense of “touch” is ‘keep as close to (the wind) as the vessel will sail’; Elizabeth’s variation expresses the desire to keep as close to the land as possible. 69. depth the deep, the deep part of the sea. 70. From . . . search From . . . shun “Transit tutos fortuna sinus” (Fortune passes over safe bays 697). “Fortune” in the sense of ‘bad fortune’ is also the meaning in the source. With search i.e., , Fortune searches. 71. And . . . near-to-cloud takes . . . prey Elizabeth’s addition. the near-to-cloud The ship that becomes Fortune’s prey on the open seas has topsails touching the clouds. Elizabeth elliptically renders “Quarum feriunt sipara nubes” (Whose topsails hit the clouds 699).

Francesco Petrarch’s Trionfi, published in 1470, consists of six poems in terza rima depicting visions of the progress of his love for Laura. In the Triumph of Love, love first conquers the poet; in the Triumph of Death, death overcomes Laura; in the Triumph of Eternity, the poet turns away from earthly things, envisions eternity and heavenly beatitude, and hopes for eventual reunion with his beloved in heaven. The Trionfi were extremely popular in the sixteenth century, appearing in numerous editions with commentaries interpreting them as an allegory of the soul’s journey to God. The whole work was translated into pentameter couplets by Elizabeth’s great-uncle by marriage, Henry Parker, Lord Morley, probably in 1554; William Fowler completed another version in 1587–88. Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, translated the Triumph of Death into terza rima in the 1590s. The influence of the Trionfi is widely attested in Elizabethan poetry, visual arts, and court pageantry.1 Their poetic blending of Christian spirituality with Petrarchan eroticism perhaps explains both their courtly appeal and the asperity of Roger Ascham’s complaint in The Schoolmaster that “Italianated” Englishmen had “in more reverence, the Triumphs of Pe1. On the Renaissance reception of Petrarch’s work, see D. D. Carnicelli, ed., Lord Morley’s “Tryumphes of Fraunces Petrarcke”: The First English Translation of the “Trionfi” (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 19–71; Margaret P. Hannay, Noel J. Kinnamon, and Michael G. Brennan, eds., The Collected Works of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, vol. 1, Poems, Translations, and Correspondence (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), 254–67.

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trarch, than the Genesis of Moses.”2 In the eyes of this Protestant humanist educator, such erotic religiosity competed dangerously with the power of Scripture. On the basis of a marginal note in the Arundel Harington manuscript, Elizabeth has been credited with eighty-eight cross-rhymed lines of English pentameter that render the first ninety lines of the Triumph of Eternity.3 This verse translation was entered in the manuscript in a secretary hand that Ruth Hughey, the editor of the Arundel Harington manuscript, tentatively assigned to the mid- or late sixteenth century; in the right margin at the end of the text, an italic hand of uncertain date has written “E.R. P re:.”. Misconstruing the abbreviations following the initials, Hughey took this marginal note to read “E[lizabetha] R[egina] scr[ipsit].”4 Several scholars, including Leicester Bradner, David Norbrook, and Thomas Roche, have accepted this verse translation as Elizabeth’s.5 Great caution is warranted, however. We cannot be certain that “E.R.” refers to “Elizabeth Regina” rather than someone else with these initials. The abbreviations after the initials are also enigmatic. In the medieval and early modern eras, a barred p is a symbol for “per,” and the colon and raised dot after “re” signal a contracted word, so these letters can be expanded to “per re-----.” A possible construal that would support an identification with Elizabeth is “per re[ginam],” i.e., written by the queen, but such a formula would be awkwardly redundant following “E[lizabetha] R[egina].” Other possible senses of these abbreviations, such as “per re[ligionem], i.e., by religion (one reaches heaven) or “per re[quiem],” i.e, written in leisure, would leave the mystery of “E.R.”

2. Roger Ascham, The Schoolmaster (1570), ed. Lawrence V. Ryan (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia for Folger Shakespeare Library, 1967), 70. 3. The Trionfo dell’Eternità or Triumphus eternitatis is also known as the Trionfo della divinità (Triumph of Divinity). 4. See Ruth Hughey, ed., The Arundel Harrington Manuscript of Tudor Poetry, 2 vols. (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1960), 1:33–34; 2:456–57. 5. Leicester Bradner, in The Poems of Elizabeth I, ed. Bradner (Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1964), xiv, 79; David Norbrook, “The Rhetor,” New Republic 223-20 (2000): 41; Thomas P. Roche, in Petrarch in English, ed. Roche (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 2005), 4, 69; and Roche, in Anna Hume, ed. Roche, The Early Modern Englishwoman: A Facsimile Library of Essential Works, ser. 2, pt. 3, no. 8, gen. eds. Betty S. Travitsky and Patrick Cullen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2006), xvii–xviii. Also see comments by the editors of Lady Mary Sidney Herbert in Poems, Translations, and Correspondence, 1:261.

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intact. Even if we assume that “E.R.” refers to Elizabeth, we still do not know who made the ascription, or when, or with what intent. Scribes sometimes offered false ascriptions of works based on conjecture or, as in the case of Shakespeare, to elevate a text’s status, so an ascription to Elizabeth could be a guess or a fabrication.6 More crucially, features internal to this text—its thematic, formal, and (above all) stylistic divergences from Elizabeth’s authenticated translations and writings—make it unlikely, in our view, that the Petrarch translation is her work. In reviewing the evidence, we begin with circumstances conducive to a positive case for attribution. Elizabeth certainly knew the Triumphs. Queen Katherine Parr, her early mentor in translation, owned the Canzoniere & Trionfi (Venice, 1544) with commentary by Alessandro Vellutello, the most widely disseminated edition of Petrarch in the sixteenth century. On becoming queen, Mary Tudor took possession of Parr’s books, which presumably passed in turn to Elizabeth on her accession.7 Already, at some date before November 1558, she had slightly misquoted a line from Petrarch’s Triumph of Death, “Miser é chi Speme in cosa mortal pone” (Wretched is he who places hope in mortal thing), as she inscribed it in her French Psalter.8 Regarding a possible motive for this Petrarch translation, Elizabeth could have undertaken it as an exercise for her Italian tutor Battista Castiglione, whose poetic interests are attested by his own Italian verses: two canzoni praising Elizabeth, one praising God, and a sonnet praising Elizabeth Berkeley, all composed at unknown dates and published in 1580.9 Yet various features of the Petrarch translation mark it as thematically and formally anomalous in the context of Elizabeth’s authenticated work. The translation ends with a description of Laura in the 6. Compare Brian Vickers’s discussion of problems in attributing “A Funeral Elegy” to Shakespeare based on the initials “W.S.” in “Counterfeiting” Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s “Funerall Elegy” (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 60–79; he discusses scribal guesses and fabrications on 73. 7. See James P. Carley, The Books of Henry VIII and His Wives (London: British Library, 2004), 139. 8. See Elizabeth’s marginalia and n5 on p. 400 of this volume. 9. Maria Bellorini, “Giovan Battista Castiglione, consigliere di Elisabetta I,” in Contributi dell’ istututo di filologia moderna, Serie inglese, ed. Sergio Rossi (Milan: Pubblicazioni dell’ Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 1974), 126–41, notes that a certain “Giovambattista da Castiglione . . . Gentil’huomo Fiorentino” published a commentary on Petrarch in 1532, but he was probably not the same man as Elizabeth’s tutor, who hailed from Turin (129n).

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midst of a group of beautiful women in heaven; it does not include Petrarch’s extended autobiographical rehearsal of his long, sorrowful love for Laura and his final wish to join her in heaven. As it stands, the fragment suggests that the translator was drawn more to the general Christian vision of the vanity of mortal things and of eternal beatitude than to Petrarch’s personal eroticism. Even so, the turn from mortal to immortal things through poetic vision in the translated lines breaks markedly with the evangelical humanist emphasis on God’s saving grace in the two early translations that Elizabeth made to and from Italian: Katherine Parr’s Prayers or Meditations (English to Italian) and a sermon on Christ by Bernardino Ochino (Italian to Latin). As a translation in verse, the Petrarch further diverges from Elizabeth’s early work with Italian prose. Her first known use of verse in any language is an English couplet of 1554. In the context of Elizabeth’s later work, this Petrarch translation has little affinity, either thematic or formal, with her translations of classical Latin texts, whether those of the 1560s and 1570s preserved among other literary remains of the Harington family or those of the 1590s. If the fragmentary Petrarch translation were later work by her, it would be her only translation of a nonclassical work after the 1540s, except for a six-line paraphrase of four Latin lines of her own composition done ca. 1572 and her twenty-seven stanzas of unrhymed French verse composed ca. 1590, which may prove to be a translation from a yet unidentified source.10 The cross-rhymed quatrains of the Petrarch translation are an awkward attempt to imitate terza rima. Unlike the Italian tercets, the English quatrains show little correspondence to the poem’s syntactic and semantic units. This fragmentary translation might perhaps be construed as an experiment that Elizabeth prudently chose not to repeat. What remains certain, however, is that the Petrarch translation, if taken to be hers, would be her only use of rhyme in translating verse, except for the six-line paraphrase of her own Latin in 1572. The Petrarch translation also conforms more closely to sixteenthcentury metrical norms than any of the translated verse known to be Elizabeth’s, except for the six-line paraphrase and the imitation of the Hercules Oetaeus chorus that we believe to be Elizabeth’s work; in both these cases, a freer approach in rendering her source enabled her to impose more regularity on her verse units. The Petrarch translation 10. CW, 299, 413.

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contains no headless lines or lines with feminine endings, features that occur in all of Elizabeth’s other translations except the six-line paraphrase, the Hercules Oetaeus chorus, and the nine-line verse prayer in her translation of Seneca’s Epistle 107. Again with the exception of the six-line paraphrase and the Hercules chorus, the Petrarch translation makes far less use of metrical contraction and expansion to sustain iambic rhythm than Elizabeth’s authenticated verse translations do: the eighty-eight lines contain only eleven instances of contraction, four of expansion. These fifteen instances all involve word-internal, unstressed e, a common site of contraction and expansion in sixteenth-century English poetry; four of the contractions are occurrences of “ev’n” (21, 38, 57, 73). Absent, in sharp contrast, are instances of multiple contraction within a single word and contraction and expansion of vowels other than word-internal, unstressed e—both of which characterize Elizabeth’s verse translations.11 We have consulted seven mid-sixteenth-century editions of Petrarch’s Triumph of Eternity, including the 1544 edition originally owned by Parr; they contain the same set of substantive variants from modern editions and present no substantive variants among themselves.12 The Petrarch translation and Elizabeth’s authenticated verse translations are broadly comparable in their mostly plain style and in their close rendering of the sense of the text in sixteenth-century editions. As in translations known to be hers, the Petrarch translation sometimes renders the Italian with a possible but contextually inappropriate sense—for example, “wand’ring” (84) for “pellegrine” (85) rather than its sense of ‘rare, excellent, noble,’ which is common in love poetry. However, the strongest evidence against attributing the fragmentary Petrarch translation to Elizabeth lies in uncharacteristic aspects of its style and diction. The Petrarch translation displays little of her curt sententiousness, characteristic ellipses, and inversions of normal word order. Most tellingly, the Petrarch translation does not make nearly as heavy use of 11. The other contractions are “e’er” (22), “wand’ring” (27, 60, 84), “hung’ring” (60), “flow’ring” (80), and “heav’nly (86). The expansions are “abusèd” (6), “seemèd’ (21), “hastèd” (31), and “stoppèd” (69). 12. Besides the Vellutello edition of 1544, we have examined Venetian editions of 1541, 1545, 1546, 1552, 1559, and 1560. For the modern text, we have consulted Francesco Petrarca, Trionfi, Rime estravaganti, codice degli abbozzi, ed Vinicio Pacca and Laura Paolino (Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori, 1996), 511–38.

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cognates as Elizabeth normally does. Where close rendering makes a cognate almost inevitable, a cognate does appear: thus, “contenti” / “content” (58, 57); “preme” / “press” (64); “eternità” / “eternity” (69, 68); “fame mortale” / “mortal fame” (80, 78); “casti” / “chaste” (89, 86). Yet more striking are the numerous instances in which the translator avoids cognates that might easily have been used: “stabile e ferma” / “steady and fast” (2); “divine” / “God’s” (13); “governa” / “guides” (17, 18); “immobile ed eterna” / “never-changing and e’er-living” (21, 22); “meraviglia” / “strange” (25, 28); “ferma” / “fast” (29, 30); “variar” / “change” (41, 42); “eterna” (45) / not translated; “frali” / “subject to decay” (52, 51); “argomento” / “reason” (53, 52); “consiglio” (counsel) / “good advice” (53, 52); “governa” / “guide” (55, 54); “desiosi” (desirous) / “wish” (60, 59); “varietà” / “change” (73, 72); “diviso” / “piecemeal parted” (76, 75); “variato” / “changed” (78, 77); “governo” / “rule” (79, 78); “in eterno” / “forever” (81, 79); “angeliche” / “heav’nly” (86); “oneste” / “good” (89, 86); “natura” / “Kind” (90, 88). In an instructive contrast much closer to Elizabeth’s typical practice, Lord Morley’s couplet translation of this poem employs cognates in thirteen of the twenty-three instances above.13 The rendering of “stabile” by “steady” rather than its cognate “stable” in the Petrarch translation would simply be a less usual choice for Elizabeth. In translating Boethius she renders forms of Latin “stabilis” with “steady” and related forms three times and with “stable-steady” once; in fourteen other instances in Boethius and in her Pro Marcello translation she renders “stabilis” and its various derivatives with “stable” and related forms.14 Other noncognate renderings in the Petrarch translation would be, by contrast, wholly uncharacteristic of Elizabeth—for example, “natura” as “Kind.” Except for a few instances where she does not translate the term at all, she always, in a total of ninety instances, translates Latin “natura” and French “nature” as “nature” or a deriva-

13. Morley, Trymphes, 153–56, gives “stable and fyrme” for “stabile e ferma” (2) ; “devyne” for “divine” (13); “governe” for “governa” (17); “eterne” for “eterna” (21); “varieth” for “variar” (41); “frayle” for “frali” (52); “counsel” for “consiglio” (53); “division” for “diviso” (76); “in eternity” for “in eterno” (81); “angelyke” for “angeliche” (88); “honest” for “oneste” (89); “nature” for “natura” (90). 14. For “steady” and related forms, see Boethius, meters 1.1.22; 1.2.11; 3.2.37; for “stablesteady,” see meter 3.9.3; for “stable,” “stably,” “unstable,” “stability,” “stablished,” see Pro Marcello 29 (two instances); Boethius, meters 1.4.16; 1.5.47; 2.4.3; 2.8.1; 4.1.21, 4.3.27, 4.6.42; book 3, prose 12; and book 4, prose 6 (four instances).

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tive (“natural,” “naturally”), but never once as “kind.”15 The periphrastic rendering of “frali” as “subject to decay” in the Petrarch translation is also uncharacteristic of Elizabeth, whose authenticated corpus includes eight occurrences of “frail” but no occurrence of “subject to decay.”16 Again, while the Petrarch translation renders “desiosi” as “wish,” she uses the Latin cognate “desideratum” to render Italian “desiderato” in her translation of Ochino’s sermon. In her Italian translation of Parr she invariably uses the noun “desiderio” and verb “desiderare” to render the cognate noun and verb, “desire,” but never uses “desiderio” and “desiderare” to render etymologically unrelated near-synonyms such as the noun and verb “will,” which she instead renders with “volere” and “voluntà.”17 This pattern of cognate use strongly suggests that if Elizabeth had translated the Petrarch, she would have rendered “desiosi” with a cognate like “desirous” or “desiring”—both of which she often uses in her own writing.18 The noncognate renderings in the Petrarch translation diverge not only from Elizabeth’s general preference for cognates but also from her own attested noncognate renderings. While the Petrarch translation renders “oneste” as “good,” she normally uses cognates to render forms of the Latin adjective “honestus” and its Romance language derivatives: she renders Italian “onesta” as Latin “honesta,” Latin “honestum” and “honestissimorum” as “honest,” and French “honeste” as “honest” (twice). Though she does once render Latin “honestissima” with the noncognate “most laudable,” she never renders a form of this adjec15. See Seneca Epistulae morales 107, secs. 7, 8, 9; Hercules Oetaeus chorus (Latin 631; English 48), Cicero Pro Marcello, secs. 8, 9, 19, 25, 27 (two instances); Plutarch De curiositate 168; Horace Ars poetica (Latin 108; English 121). The total of seventy instances in Boethius is too numerous to list, but there are four in book 1, eighteen in book 2, nineteen in book 3, fourteen in book 4, and fifteen in book 5. For Elizabeth’s renderings of French “nature” as “nature,” see Marguerite, Le Miroir, 868, 1265; and Calvin, Institution, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, and 17. (These and subsequent references to Marguerite and Calvin cite respectively line numbers of Le Miroir and page numbers of the 1541 French edition of the Institution, which have been inserted in the margins of our modern-spelling versions of Elizabeth’s translations of both texts.) 16. See CW, 257, 313, 320; Boethius, book 2, prose 8; book 3, prose 8 (two instances) and prose 10; book 4, prose 2. 17. For “desideratum,” see Ochino, “Che cosa è Christo,” p. 306 (in this volume); for “desiderio,” see Parr, Prayers, versicles 4 (twice), 50–51, 70, 121, 129, and the prayer before going into battle; for “desiderare,” see versicles 2, 10, 49, 124, 126, 151, 174. 18. For “desiring,” see CW, 18, 22, 33, 35 (twice), 37, 38, 40, 52, 187, 221, 264, 353; for “desirous” see CW, 39, 66, 199, 200, 214, 363.

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tive as “good.”19 Again, the Petrarch translation renders “argomento” as “reason.” Elizabeth renders seven occurrences of French “argument” and three occurrences of Latin “argumentum” with the English cognate “argument.”20 In translating Erasmus’s Latin version of Plutarch, she renders the plural “argumentis” with the noncognate “matter” (196), but she never renders a Latin or Romance cognate of “argument” as “reason.” While the Petrarch translation renders “varietà” as “change,” Elizabeth translates the one instance of Latin “varietas” in Pro Marcello and the three instances in the Consolation of Philosophy with the cognate “variety.”21 In her Calvin translation she renders French “varieté” with the noncognate synonym “diversity,”22 but she never employs the more semantically distant term “change.” The Petrarch translation twice uses “strange” (15, 28) in the positive sense of ‘marvelous, wonderful.’ This usage is not attested in work known to be Elizabeth’s, where “strange” usually means ‘foreign’ but sometimes takes the negative senses of ‘unknown’ or ‘aberrant.’ While the first occurrence of “strange” in the Petrarch translation responds to the adjective “pellegrine” (strange, marvelous), the other renders the noun “meraviglia” (marvel, wonder). By contrast, in her Calvin translation Elizabeth renders the adjective “merveilleuse” with the cognate “marvelous” and the adverb “merveilleusement” once with the cognate “marvelously” and once with the noncognate “wondrous well,”23 but never as “strange.” The compound epithets of the Petrarch translation further distinguish it from Elizabeth’s characteristic modes of expression. The Petrarch translation renders “eterno” as “e’er-living.” In her Calvin translation she renders forms of “eternel” as “eternal” (three times) and as “everlasting” (six times), but never as “ever-living.”24 In her Boethius translation she renders forms of the adjective “aeternus” as “eternal” (six times) and “everlasting” (four times), but, again, never as “ever-

19. For the cognate translations, see Marguerite, Le Miroir, 95, 820; Ochino, “Che cosa è Christo,” p. 304 (in this volume); Plutarch, De curiositate, 388; Boethius, book 1, prose 4; for “laudable,” see Boethius, book 3, prose 7. 20. See Calvin, Institution, 3, 4, 10, 19, 21 (two instances), 22; Boethius, book 4, prose 6; book 5, prose 4 (two instances). 21. See Cicero, Pro Marcello, sec. 5; Boethius, book 2, prose 5; book 3, prose 10 and 12. 22. See Calvin, Institution, 11. 23. See ibid., 3, 6, and 23. 24. For “eternal,” see ibid., 11, 18 (two instances); for “everlasting,” see 9, 10, 18, 19 (two instances), 20.

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living.”25 Both “eternal” and “everlasting” are found in her original writings, but “ever-living” is not.26 The Petrarch translation’s four other compound epithets are also unattested in Elizabeth’s authenticated work: “over-late,” a pleonastic rendering of “tarde” (13); “never-changing” (22), rendering “immobile” (21); “ever-turning” (19), a hyperbolic rendering of “molto voltar” (18); and “swift-running” (47), a pleonastic rendering of “rapido” (47). In her Horace translation, she renders “tardus” (164), cognate with Petrarch’s “tarde,” with a simple “late” (178). In her Boethius translation, she renders “immobilis” as “unmoveable” (book 4, prose 6), “unchanging” (book 4, prose 6), and “unturning” (book 5, prose 6); she never renders the term with a compound epithet. Petrarch’s “rapido,” used of a stream, and defined in John Florio’s Italian-English dictionary (1611) as “furious, violent, or swift as a running stream,” has the same connotations as Latin “rapidus.” Boethius uses “rapidus” several times in his meters to describe water or wind; Elizabeth renders it as “whirling” (1.5.30), “roaring” (1.5.44), “raging” (2.2.1), and “running” (4.6.9), but never as a compound epithet. Furthermore, the parallel compound epithets in line 22 of the Petrarch translation, “In never-changing and e’er-living age,” display a rhetorical ornamentation far from Elizabeth’s characteristic style but closer to (and perhaps influenced by) Philip Sidney’s, nine of whose poems appear in the Arundel Harington manuscript. One of Sidney’s poems in the Arcadia (1st ed., 1590) offers an analogue in a line singled out by Abraham Fraunce to illustrate wordplay in his Arcadian Rhetorike: “The ever-turning spheres, the never-moving ground.”27 The additions to Petrarch’s text in the English translation are also uncharacteristic of Elizabeth. The expansion of “il tempo” to “nimble time” (8) employs an adjective not found in her writing, although the superlative “nimblest” does occur once.28 The Petrarch translation has three occurrences of the exclamatory phrase “O happy”: “O happy sprights” (43), “O happy he” (46), and “O happy, wand’ring mind” (60). While the second literally renders “O felice colui” (46), the first adds the exclamatory “O” to “Beati spirti” (43) and the third adds an ironic 25. For “eternal,” see Boethius, meters 2.3.17 and 4.6.17; book 4, prose 4; book 5, prose 3 and prose 6 (two instances); for “everlasting,” see book 4, prose 4 (two instances); book 5, prose 6 (two instances). 26. For “eternal,” see CW, 168; for “everlasting,” see CW, 6, 54, 319 (two instances), 424. 27. Abraham Fraunce, The Arcadian Rhetorike (London, 1588), sig. D6r. 28. CW, 274.

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(or contextually inappropriate) “happy” to “O mente vaga” (61). In her translations Elizabeth does not add to her source to create such a refrainlike effect. Instead she uses “O happy” only when literally translating the Latin phrases “o felix / felicem” (Boethius, book 2, prose 4; book 2, meter 8, line 26) or their French equivalents, “o heureuses / o bienheureux” (Le Miroir 1091, 1382). When her source text has no interjection, Elizabeth does not add one.29 We conclude that the Petrarch translation in the Arundel Harington manuscript presents too many discrepancies for it to be identified as a plausible composition by Queen Elizabeth. The possibility that someone ascribed it to her during the early modern period remains an intriguing mystery. 29. See, further, in Elizabeth’s Le Miroir translation: “O the happy” for “O l’heureux” (“Au Lecteur,” 21) and “O how happy” for “Las, bienheureux” (907; “las” is short for the interjection “Hélas”). By contrast, Elizabeth renders “heureux” without an interjection simply as “happy”: “Bien heureux est, qui” (1361) becomes “Happy is he.” Compare “Happy too much,” rendering “felix nimium,” in Boethius’s meter 2.5.1.

Translation ascribed to Elizabeth of Francesco Petrarch’s Trionfo dell’eternità, lines 1–901 Triumph: Petrarch. Amazed to see nought under Heaven’s cope Steady and fast,2 thus to myself I spake; “Advise thee well:3 on whom doth hang thy hope?” “On God,” said I, “That, promis[e]4 never brake With those that trust in Him. But now I know How erst the fickle 5 world abusèd me, Eke what I am, and was. And now, to go— Or, rather, fly—the nimble6 time I see.

1. Source: Arundel, West Sussex, Arundel Castle, Arundel Harington MS, fols. 219v– 220v (.jpg images). In her edition of The Arundel Harrington Manuscript (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1960), Ruth Hughey transcribes this poem at 1:360–63. She identifies the copyist, who writes a secretary hand, as “Hand B” of the manuscript, from which she infers that this text was entered early in Elizabeth’s reign (2:457). Her remarks on the dating of “Hand B” in her introduction are much more tentative, however (1:33–34). 2. fast firmly fixed. Here and in line 30 renders Petrarch’s “ferma” (2, 29). 3. Advise . . . well Sixteenth-century editions read “Guarda” (Consider 3), not present in modern editions. 4. promis[e] “promessa” (5). The final letter looks like a t rather than an e, evidently a penslip. 5. fickle Translator’s addition. 6. nimble Translator’s addition.

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Blame would I, wist I whom; for all the crime Is mine that should, not slacking till the last, Have erst unclosed mine eyes before this time. For, truth to say, old wax I all too fast, But over-late7 God’s grace came never yet. In me also, I trust, there shall be wrought Works wonderful and strange8 by means of it.” These said, and answer made, thus more I thought:9 If none, of all these things, do stand in stay,10 That Heaven turns and guides,11 what end at last Shall follow of their ever-turning12 sway? While deeper yet my searching mind I cast,13 A world all new, ev’n then, it seemèd me, In never-changing and e’er-living14 age: The sun, the sky with all her stars, to see Dissolvèd quite with earth, and seas that rage;15 One made more fair and pleasant in his place.16 When him17 that never stayed, but erst to change Each thing was wont, wand’ring in divers race,18 Stand on one foot I saw. How seemed it strange!19

10

20

7. over-late “tarde” (late 13). 8. wonderful . . . strange “alte . . . e pellegrine” (high and strange 15). strange Here and in line 28, with the sense of ‘exceptionally great, arousing wonder.’ Petrarch’s “pellegrino” has a similar range of senses: ‘strange, rare, wonderful, excellent.’ 9. These . . . thought These i.e., these words. The translator probably misread “Così” (thus 16) as “cose” (these things). thus . . . thought Translator’s addition. 10. stand . . . stay “stanno” (stand, last 16.) 11. guides “governa” (17). Both the modern sense and the early modern sense of ‘rules’ are applicable. 12. ever-turning A hyperbolic rendering of “molto voltar” (much-turning 18). 13. While . . . cast “Questo pensava; e mentre più s’interna” (This I was thinking; and while my mind enters more deeply into meditation 19). 14. never-changing, e’er-living “immobile ed eterna” (21). 15. that rage Translator’s addition. 16. One . . . place Petrarch has an initial “E” (And 24) that clarifies the sense. 17. him Time. The referent is also obscure in Petrarch: all sixteenth-century editions read “colui che” (he who 26). 18. wand’ring . . . race “discorrendo” (running hither and thither 27). 19. one . . . strange one foot Sixteenth-century editions read “in un pie” (on one foot 26); modern editions read “in un punto” (in one moment 26). The early modern

petrarch’s trionfo dell’eternità, lines 1–90

All his three parts20 brought into only one, And that one, fast: so that, as wont it was, No more so swift, it hastèd to be gone,21 But had one show, as earth22 despoiled of grass; There were not “shall be,” “hath been,” “after,” “erst”23 To irksome,24 weak, and divers state, that brought Our life. As sun doth pierce the glass, so pierced My thought, yea, more, for nothing stoppeth thought. What grace find I, to see, if I attain Ev’n, face to face, the greatest good25 of all? No ill, which only Time gives, and again, As first it came with Time, eke part it shall. The Bull or Fish lodge shall no more the sun,26 Whose change doth make a toil27 now die, now spring; Now waste, now grow. O happy sprites that wone, Or shall hereafter stand, in the chief ring,28 Whose names aye Memory writes in her book! O happy he, to find whose hap shall be,29

471

30

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reading represents Time as standing still, on one foot. How . . . strange “Qual meravigilia ebb’io” (What wonder I felt 25). 20. three parts past, present, future. 21. so . . . gone “s’affrette” (hastens 30). 22. But . . . earth But . . . show An obscure addition, perhaps meaning ‘had only one appearance.’ The translator does not translate “herma” (solitary, deserted 31), describing the “earth.” 23. erst In this series, the translator does not render “mai” (never 32). 24. irksome Sixteenth-century editions read “amara” (bitter 33); modern editions read “humana” (human). 25. the greatest good “il summo bene” (the highest good). The manuscript reads “god,” one variant spelling of “good” in the sixteenth century. Since the highest good is God, both ‘greatest good’ and ‘most great God’ may have been intended. 26. The . . . sun The sun will no longer enter the astrological “houses” of the constellations of Taurus or Pisces. 27. a toil “nostro lavoro” (our toil 41). 28. O . . . ring “Beati spirti che nel sommo choro / sì troveranno, o trovano, in tal grado” (Blessed are the spirits who in the highest choir / Will be, or now are, in such an exalted rung 43–44). wone dwell. chief highest. ring Presumably Petrarch’s celestial choir, imagined as forming a circle around God’s throne. 29. whose . . . be A pleonastic addition.

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The deep channel of this swift-running brook,30 Whose name is Life, that many wish to see.31 Wretched and blind the common sort, that stay Their hope on things which Time reaves in a trice, All32 deaf, naked, and subject to decay, Quite void of reason and of good advice;33 And wretched mortal men, throughout diseased.34 Whose beck35 doth guide the world, by Whom at jar Are set the elements, and eke appeased, Whose skill doth stretch beyond my reach so far That ev’n the angels are content, and joy Of thousand parts but one to see, and bend Their wits to this, and this wish to enjoy.36 O happy,37 wand’ring mind, aye hung’ring to the end, What mean so many thoughts? One hour doth reave That, many years gathered with much ado. Tomorrow, yesterday, morning and eve,38 That press our soul, and it encumber so,

50

60

30. deep . . . brook “il guado / di questo alpestro e rapido torrente” (the ford / across this rapid Alpine torrent 46–47). brook torrent. Petrarch’s image is of fording the “torrent” of mortal “life” to reach eternity. The translator construes “guado” (ford) in another, now obsolete sense, “bottom or bed of any water,” as it is defined in John Florio’s 1611 Italian-English dictionary. The translator accordingly reinterprets Petrarch’s image as one of finding the “deep channel” of eternity at the bottom of the “brook” of “Life.” 31. wish . . . see “è sì a grado” (is so pleasant 48). 32. All “O veramente” (O truly 52). 33. reason . . . advice reason All sixteenth-century editions read “argomento” (argument, reasoning 53). good advice “consiglio” (53) means both advice and the faculty of giving good advice—i.e., prudence. 34. And . . . diseased An awkward reordering of “egri del tutto e miseri mortali” (completely diseased and wretched mortals 54). 35. beck “ciglio” (eye-blink 55). 36. bend . . . enjoy A paraphrastic expansion of “ed in ciò stanno desiosi e ’ntenti” (and rest in this [beatific contemplation] desirous and engrossed 60). Petrarch’s angels are wholly and happily engrossed in the beatific vision, yet still desirous of more—a common paradox in evocations of beatitude. 37. happy An addition, either meant ironically or a sign that the translator has confused the sorrowful speaker desiring eternity and the angels described in preceding lines. 38. Tomorrow . . . eve The translator omits “dianzi, adesso” (before, now 65), which begins this line.

petrarch’s trionfo dell’eternità, lines 1–90

Before Him39 pass, shadelike, at once away. For “was”40 or “shall be” no place shall be found But for the time of “is,”41 “now,” and “today”: Only eternity, knit fast and sound. Huge hills shall be made plain,42 that stoppèd clean Our sight, nor shall there anything remain, Whereon may hope or our43 remembrance lean, Whose change make other do that is but vain, And life to seem a sport: ev’n with this thought, What shall I be? What was I heretofore? All shall be one, nor piecemeal parted aught: Summer shall be, nor winter, any more; But time shall die, and place be changed withal; And years shall bear no rule on mortal fame, But his renown forever flourish shall, That once achieved to be of flow’ring name.44 O happy souls that now the path doth tread, Or henceforth shall, whenso it haps to be, Which to the end whereof I speak doth lead! Of fair and wand’ring 45 sprites, yet happiest she Whom Death hath slain far short of Nature’s bound: The heav’nly talk, good46 words, and thoughts so chaste

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39. Before Him An addition. 40. “was” Renders two past-tense verbs, the past absolute “fu” and the imperfect “era” (67). 41. “is” The translator does not render “in presente” (68), which follows at this point. 42. Huge . . . plain Huge An addition; “dietro e ’nanzi” (before and behind 70) is untranslated. plain level, flat (now regional). 43. our All sixteenth-century editions read “nostro” (our 72); modern editions read “vostro” (your 72). 44. But . . . flow’ring “anzi che fia / chiaro una volta, fia chiaro in eterno” (but on the contrary, whoever shall once be famous shall be famous for eternity 80–81). 45. wand’ring “pellegrine” (85). Though “pellegrine” can mean ‘wandering,’ here, in reference to the beatified spirit, it must have the sense of ‘rare, wonderful, excellent.’ 46. talk . . . good talk “divise” (88) here has its poetic sense of ‘appearances, miens, demeanors.’ Alessandro Vellutello’s marginal gloss in the 1544 edition owned by Parr reads “sembianze” (appearances). The translator, however, construes “diviso” in its early modern sense of ‘speech, chat,’ which is also an obsolete sense of the English cognate “device.” good “oneste” (honorable, virtuous 89).

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Open shall lie unfolded in that stound,47 Which Kind48 within a youthful heart hath placed. Heavily retraced annotation in an italic hand, in the right margin, opposite a curly bracket enclosing the final three lines.

E. R. P re:. 47. Open . . . stound Open . . . unfolded An expansion of “Parranno” (Will appear 88). stound hour. 48. Which Kind Which A reference to the “talk,” “words,” and “thoughts.” Kind Nature; “natura” (90).

The editorial criteria that governed the selection of contents for Elizabeth I: Collected Works required that a candidate text be attributed to Elizabeth within her lifetime or, at most, within a very few years of her death in 1603, and that every attribution carry reliable authority—best met by texts in her own handwriting, or signed by her, or circulated as hers by royal authorization. Exception was made, however, on careful consideration of the quality and provenance of a small number of texts: Elizabeth’s quatrain “ ‘Twas Christ the Word” (Poem 3), attributed to her in manuscript and printed sources dating from ca. 1614 to 1626,1 and three of Elizabeth’s letters to Sir Francis Walsingham (Letters 34, 35, and 37) that survive in a seventeenth-century manuscript collection, “Sir Dudley Digges’s Complete Ambassador,” published under that title in London in 1655. At points, the editing of Elizabeth’s translations involves circumstances similar to those of her letters to Walsingham. The source for

1. The quatrain is possibly no longer an exception to these editorial criteria. An anonymous oil-on-wood portrait head of Queen Elizabeth which has been dated ca. 1565 was sold at Christie’s in July 1994 to Woollabra Trading Company. In the inner base of its gilded frame, the painting carries this inscription, in what is described only as “a later hand”: “Christ was the word that spake it: | He took the bread and brake it: | And what his word did make it: | That i believe and take it:” See the catalog accompanying the Tate Gallery exhibition of October 12, 1995–January 7, 1996, Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England, 1530–1630, ed. Karen Hearn (London: Tate Publishing, 1995), no. 33, p. 79.

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appendix 2

two translations reliably attributed to Elizabeth—one, Seneca’s Epistulae morales 107; the other, a letter of Cicero’s to Curio, no. 6 in book 2 of Epistulae ad familiares—was the commonplace book of Sir John Harington (1561–1612), a favorite godson of the queen. He dated the Seneca translation 1567, the Cicero translation 1579, and recorded both texts as gifts from Elizabeth. His descendant Henry Harington literally plundered this collection to create Nugae Antiquae, first published in two volumes in 1769 and 1775.2 The British Library catalog characterizes the contents of Nugae Antiquae as “authentic remains,” and scholars have treated them as such. Here we confirm this overall judgment of authenticity while also signaling the need for caution regarding the degree of verbatim transmission of material by Elizabeth in Nugae Antiquae. One fact can be stated at the outset. The first edition of Nugae Antiquae is the best extant authority for the contents of British Library MS Additional 46367. This manuscript is the mutilated remnant of John Harington’s commonplace book, the leavings of Henry Harington’s “selection” process in which he detached from their binding most of the items he wished to print in Nugae Antiquae. Among the texts attributed to Elizabeth, the commonplace book now retains no trace of either the Seneca or the Cicero translation. But it still contains the latter half of one letter and all of another letter that were printed in Nugae Antiquae under the heading “A precious Token of her Highness’s great Wit and marvelous Understanding.” It is accordingly possible, for this stretch of text, to compare John Harington’s manuscript copy with Henry Harington’s printed copy and trace how accurately the latter reproduces the former. John Harington’s copies, in turn, are our closest access to those originals of Elizabeth’s that he possessed. Nugae Antiquae describes them in a heading ostensibly derived from the commonplace book: “The Letter

2. The fuller original title of the first volume is Nugae Antiquae: Being a Miscellaneous Collection of Original Papers in Prose and Verse. Written in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, James I &c. By Sir John Harington . . . and others who lived in those Times. With an Original Plate of the Princess Elizabeth, Engraved 1554 (Bath: W. Frederick, and London: J. Robinson and J. Dodsley, 1769). A second volume carrying an additional title line, Selected from authentic remains by the Rev. Hen. Harington, A. M., Of Queen’s College, Oxon., appeared from the same publishers in 1775. A second, enlarged edition of the entire text in three volumes was published in 1779, and a third in 1792. The fourth edition, “rearranged” and “corrected” by Thomas Park, appeared in two volumes in 1804; Park’s interventions often sophisticate the text, but his is the basis of subsequent reprints.

THE RELIABILITY OF NUGAE ANTIQUAE AS A SOURCE

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the Queenes Majesty wrote, whylest she gave instructions for the other that followith.”3 Elizabeth is represented as simultaneously writing one letter and dictating another while also engaged in hearing a narration. No date is given. With one conspicuous exception, the first edition of Nugae Antiquae closely reproduces the second half of Elizabeth’s written letter as copied in British Library MS Additional 46367. John Harington’s surviving text picks up as follows, within a sentence beginning “Since but one other . . .” in Henry Harington’s printed text. Boldface indicates words in the manuscript that are changed in the printed text; carets mark places where words are inserted, and these are explained below: . . . parte the divine power hath geven vs for the best: It followith then that there must be the playnte, or gone is all the mone: And4 your request that seldome I denye had not enforced a coustome newlie made, it wolde haue pleased me well that you should not forgeatt how hardlye grene woundes suffer theire touchers hand, but since a naye your firme frende can scarse be brought to make you: the vpper scale you shall touche to sounde the deapthe shall serve the feelers parte. / When I a gathering make of common pathes and trades, and thinck vppon the sondrie sortes of traveillers in them |5 I fynde a muse no greatter when multitudes be gathered and faces manye ^ one, amongest the whiche, not twoe of all be founde a lyke: then wonder breedes in me howe all this worldlye masse so long is made to holde where never a Mowlde is framed a lyke, no never a mynde agreese.6 / And were it not that heavenlye powre7 overcommeth humayne philosophie: it could ^ content me well to remember that an euell is bettre the lesse while it endurethe. /8

The 1769 Nugae Antiquae replaces “suffer” with “suffered”; inserts “a” to read “many a one”; and inserts “not” between “could” and “content.” Of these three alterations, only the last alters meaning. 3. Nugae Antiquae, 1769–75 edition, 1:117. 4. This “And” also appears in the 1779 and 1792 editions. It becomes “If ” in Park’s 1804 edition—a characteristic example of his sophisticating of the text by updating the obsolete “an(d),” which could have the meaning of ‘if ’ in clause-initial position in the sixteenth century. 5. The 1779 and 1792 editions also have “them.” Park adds “bothe” after “them.” 6. This sentence in the 1779 edition also ends with “agreese”—the manuscript reading. The 1792 edition adds “wyth any other,” followed by Park. 7. The 1779 and 1792 editions read “dower” in a sense-altering change that Park adopts in his 1804 edition. 8. The 1779 and 1792 editions read “less it be endured,” followed by Park.

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MS Additional 46367 has four horizontally ruled lines at the end of the text of the first letter and then continues with the second letter, the one that Elizabeth dictated while writing the first. Here, again, boldface and carets mark the discrepancies between the manuscript and the first edition of Nugae Antiquae: A question once was asked me thus. Must ought be denyed a frendes request,—Answere me, yea or naye: It was answered nothing;9 And first it is best to scanne what a frinde is, which I think nothing ells but frendshipps harborowe. Nowe it foloweth what frindshippe is, which I deeme to be one vniforme consent of twoe myndes, suche as vertue lincks & nought but death can breake. / Therefore I conclude that the howse that shrincketh from his foundacion shall downe for me. / For frend Leaves he to be that dothe demaunde more then the givers graunte with reasons Leave may yelde, And if then mye frend no more my foe god send the mend. / And if needylye thow must will, yet at the least no power be thyne to atchieve thie desyre. For where myndes differ and opinions swarve, there is scant a frend in that companye. / But if my happ have fallen in so happie a soyle, as one suche be found that wills but10 that besemes, and I be pleased with that he so allowes, I bidd my self fare well. And then I am but his. / 11

The pattern here is similar—two instances of substantive alterations set within a sequence of small, nonsubstantive changes. In this second letter, the 1769–75 and 1779 Nugae Antiquae transpose “once was” to “was once”; determine Elizabeth’s ambiguous phrase “answered nothing” as an utterance, “Nothing”; and replace “ells but” with “less than.” Only the 1769 edition continues with readings close to those of the commonplace book, replacing “to be” with “nothynge but” and “breake” with “part.”12 Of the seven further alterations in this passage in the first edition of Nugae Antiquae, all but two preserve meaning: “that” becomes “which”; “his” becomes “its”; “with” becomes “which” (one sense-altering ex-

9. The 1769–75, 1779, and 1792 editions capitalize “nothing” and set it off with a comma, which Park takes a step further by enclosing it in quotation marks—“answered, ‘Nothing.’ ” A difference in sense results. 10. The 1779 and 1792 editions suppress this “but,” followed by Park. 11. British Library, MS Additional 46367, fol 134 r. 12. The 1779 second edition departs further from the commonplace book in suppressing Elizabeth’s metaphor of friendship’s harbor and tightening up her conversational reiteration, “I think nothing else . . . I deem to be,” to yield the reading “which I thinke nothynge less than friendship is, which I deem nothynge but one uniform consent . . .” The 1792 edition and Park reproduce this reading of the second edition.

THE RELIABILITY OF NUGAE ANTIQUAE AS A SOURCE

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ception); “my foe god send the” becomes “God send my foe may” (the other sense-altering exception13); “thie” becomes “thine”; “have” becomes “be”; “that” becomes “who.” This sample of 377 words attributed to Elizabeth (187 in the first letter, 190 in the second letter) is admittedly small. In the first letter, as noted above, 3 of 187 words are sites of alteration; 1 of these involves an alteration of meaning. Expressed as percentages, alterations of readings of the manuscript in the first edition of Nugae Antiquae (1769) affect about 1.6 percent of the text; alterations that change meaning affect about 0.53 percent of the text. In the second letter, 18 of 190 words are sites of alteration; at most 3 of these involve alteration of meaning. Total alterations affect about 9.5 percent of the text; alterations that change meaning affect about 1.6 percent of the text. Such modest percentages provide reassurance regarding the trustworthiness of the first edition of Nugae Antiquae as a source for materials by Elizabeth. In our introductions to Elizabeth’s translations of Cicero’s and Seneca’s letters, we adduce further evidence for her composition from characteristic diction and turns of phrase. We also relate some telling deviations from the source texts to her circumstances and concerns. In addition, by comparing the translations with their Latin sources, we have been able to correct two evident mistranscriptions of Elizabeth’s original texts in their Nugae Antiquae versions.14 13. The original phrasing seems to mean ‘And if then my friend no more: my foe. God send thee [to] mend [that identity of foe-to-me].’ 14. See nn10 and 44 to the Seneca letter on pp. 416 and 420 of this volume.

index of names

For texts with facing page original- and modern-spelling versions, footnotes to the original-spelling versions are in lightface font (e.g., 385n170) and footnotes to the modern-spelling versions are in bold (e.g., 75n130). Abraham, 53n50, 75n130, 224–25, 258–59, 324–25 Adam, 58–59, 62–63, 63n82, 84n171, 134, 168n166, 258–59, 385n170 Adams, Herbert Mayow, 292n1 Agathon, 371n110 Agesilaus, 366n94 Agis, 389n190 Alexander the Great, 348n7, 349 Allaire, Joseph L., 28n6 Altman, Joel, 335n19 Ambrose, Saint, 352, 356, 361, 363, 376, 378, 391, 403n12 Ames, Percy W., 25n1, 40n1 Amos, 347 Amyot, Jacques, 13 Anna (Biblical prophetess), 324–25 Anne (Boleyn), Queen, 25, 29, 31 Anselm, Saint, 352, 362 Aquinas, Saint Thomas, 204 Ariosto, Ludovico, 16 Aristotle, 41n2, 270–71, 347n5, 359, 371, 429 Armada, Spanish, 84n170, 444

Arundel Harington manuscript, 6, 460, 462, 467, 468, 469n1 Ascham, Roger, 2, 11, 12, 14, 204, 339, 340, 341, 425, 459–60 Augereau, Antoine, 29, 32–34, 57n61, 95n217, 105n265, 108n226 Augustine, Saint, 204, 336, 342–43, 344, 352, 354, 361–62n69, 362, 363, 367, 378, 383, 384, 390–93, 398, 404 Augustus Caesar, 388 Bailey, D. R. Shackleton, 429n14, 435n11 Baldwin, William, 333, 335n16, 337 Bale, John, 1, 4, 11, 26, 34, 36–38; A Godly Meditation of the Christian Soul (edition of Elizabeth’s Glass), 1n1, 4n8, 11n16, 26, 34–39, 44n5, 124n278, 332 Basil the Great, Saint, 379 Bellemain, Jean, 2, 25, 53n50, 204–5 Bellorini, Maria, 2n5, 461n9 Benoit, Jean-Daniel, 210n16 Bentley, Thomas, 26, 34–35, 46n12, 50n28, 55n55, 56n59, 60n73, 62n77, 64n88, 66n92, 66n96, 68n98, 76n127, 76n133,

484 Bentley, Thomas (continued) 82n148, 90n168, 98n192, 100n199, 102n206, 106n214, 108n224, 116n251, 118n258 Bernard, Saint, 337, 343, 354–55n37, 376n131, 379, 382n157, 385, 391n202, 398, 404n14 Berthelet, Thomas, 129n1 Bèze, Théodore de, 398, 403n11 Bias, 372 Blair, Ann, 342n34 Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus, 5, 17, 31, 411; De consolatione philosophiae, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14–15, 16, 17–20, 31, 464, 465nn15–16, 466–67, 468 Booty, John E., 343n38, 403n13 Born, Lester K., 295n5 Bothwell, Earl of (James Hepburn), 412 Bracciolini, Poggio, 206n6 Bradner, Leicester, 12n19, 20, 439n2, 448n11, 454n59, 460 Brennan, Michael G., 459n1, 460n5 Briçonnet, Guillaume, 28 Budé, Guillaume, 206n6 Bueil, Jean de, 377n136 Caligula, Gaius Caesar, 228–29 Calvin, John, 45n11, 53n50, 203–4, 207–8, 291–92; Institution de la Religion Chrestienne, 3, 18, 26, 133, 203–87, 412, 465n15, 466 Cambridge, University of, 1, 2, 12, 204 Camden, William, 10 Cancellar, James, 26, 34–39, 46n12, 124n278 Carley, James P., 461n7 Carnicelli, D. D., 459n1 Carver, P. L., 295n6 Castellio, Sebastian, 275n215 Castiglione, Baldassare, 13 Castiglione, (Giovan) Battista, 2, 296, 461 Catherine of Aragon, Queen, 338 Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius), 357, 388 Cecil, Sir Robert, 8 Cecil, Sir William (later Lord Burghley), 8, 335, 343, 430n17

index Cerovski, John S., 30n12 Chadwyck-Healey English Literature Databases, 440 Chadwyck-Healey Patrologia Latina Database, 343n36 Charles V, 292 Châtelain, Henri, 219n8 Cheke, Sir John, 2, 204, 294–95 Cherchi, Paolo, 339 Chevallier, Anthony, 400n3 Chomarat, Jacques, 206n6 Chrysostom, Saint John, 353, 361, 363, 369, 384 Church of England, 38–39, 209, 302n18, 343–44, 398 Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 5, 11, 133, 179n235, 206, 270–71, 340–41, 353, 358, 360, 361n65, 365, 375, 377n136, 378n137, 381, 386–87, 425, 427–29, 431–32; Epistulae ad familiares 2.6, 5–7, 8, 17, 425–36, 478, 481; Pro M. Marcello, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18, 410, 464–66 C. J. (early modern author), 440n3 Claudius, Appius, 351n22, 374n125 Clay, Robert, 9, 447n1 Cleanthes, 413, 420n43 Clegg, Cyndia Susan, 334n10 Colclough, David, 334n12 Cordier, Pierre, 429n14 Cornario, Iano, 348n6, 379n144 Corrado, Sebastiano, 359n55 Corus (Northwest wind), 453n 44 Cotgrave, Randle, 97n221, 113n297, 248n111 Coverdale, Miles, 400n3 Cox, Richard, 204, 294–95 Crane, Mary Thomas, 335n17, 411n7 Cranmer, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, 5, 45n11, 292, 296, 397–98, 401–2 Crete, 455n62 Croll, Morris W., 411n6 Curio, Gaius Scribonius, 425, 428–29, 433 Curtius Rufus, Quintus, 334, 352, 387 Cyprian, Saint, 356, 378, 383 Cyril of Alexandria, Saint, 401 Cyrus the Great, 349

index Daedalus, 455 Damocles, 453n50 Daniel, 347 Dante Alighieri, 344 Darnley, Earl of (Henry Stewart), 412 Davanzati, Chiaro, 377n136 David, 121n334, 245n99, 250–51, 260–61, 306–7 Day, John, 293n2 Deïanira (Hercules’s wife), 442 Demetrius of Phalerum, 333, 349 Demosthenes, 11, 270–71, 336, 339–40, 358, 372–73, 389, 390 Denham, Henry, 34n24, 104n208, 108n224 devil, the (Satan), 82–83, 100–101, 110–11, 133, 143, 146, 162, 166, 184, 187, 276–77 Digges, Sir Dudley, 477 Diogenes, 348n7 Diogenes Laertius, 372 Diotogenes, 350n16 Doran, Susan, 210n15, 430n16 Duffy, Eamon, 207n9 Edward VI, 1–2, 3, 12, 203, 206n8, 291–96, 300–303 Elijah, 224–25, 306–7, 310–11 Elizabeth I (references to works only): Ars poetica 1–178 (translation of Horace), 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 413, 445n11, 446, 467; “Che cosa è Christo” (translation of Ochino), 3, 13, 26, 291– 327, 462, 465, 466n19; De consolatione philosophiae (translation of Boethius), 5, 7, 8, 9, 14–15, 16, 17–20, 31, 410–13, 415–16n6, 440, 446, 464, 465nn15–16, 466–67, 468; De curiositate (translation of Erasmus’s Latin version of Plutarch), 7, 8, 11, 12, 16–17, 19–20, 376n133, 410, 413, 440, 446, 466; Elizabeth I: Autograph Compositions and Foreign Language Originals, 1n2, 2n5, 10n15, 12n19, 21, 25n2, 30n11, 54n47, 205n4, 294n4, 337n22, 346n1, 399n1, 402n10, 425n2, 431n18; Elizabeth I: Collected Works, 1n2, 9n12, 16n16, 21, 30n11, 32n16, 84n170, 205n4, 206n8, 207n11,

485 208nn12–14, 213n1, 294n4, 332nn3–4, 334n12, 335n18, 337n22, 346n1, 399n1, 409n2, 410nn3–4, 413nn8–9, 420n43, 425–27nn2–8, 427n10, 430n17, 431n18, 440n4, 444nn8–9, 462n10, 465n18, 467n26, 467n28, 477; Epistulae ad familiares 2.6 (translation of Cicero), 5–7, 8, 425–36, 478, 481; Epistulae morales 107 (translation of Seneca), 5–7, 8, 19, 409–21, 446, 463, 465n15, 478, 481; Hercules Oetaeus, choral ode (translation of work attributed to Seneca), 7, 8, 9, 19, 439–56, 462–63, 465n15; Institution de la Religion Chrestienne, chap. 1 (How We Ought to Know God) (translation of Calvin), 3, 18, 26, 133, 203–87, 412, 465n15, 466; Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse (Glass of the Sinful Soul) (translation of Marguerite de Navarre), 2, 15, 17, 19, 25– 125, 133, 204, 209, 293, 332, 412, 465n15, 466n19, 468; Pro M. Marcello (translation of Cicero), 7, 8, 9, 15, 16 , 17, 18, 410, 464–66; Sententiae, 4, 41n2, 331–94, 397, 398, 400n5, 411; trilingual Prayers or Meditations (translation of Katherine Parr), 3, 26, 85n171, 128–99, 293, 397, 462, 465; Trionfo dell’eternità, lines 1–90, (fragmentary translation of Petrarch attributed to Elizabeth), 6, 459–74 Elizabeth II, 399n1 Elstob, William, 426n2 Elton, Geoffrey R., 302n1 Elyot, Sir Thomas, 333, 335, 337, 404n15, 419n40 Ennius, 356 Erasmus, Desiderius, 17, 26–28, 206, 294–95, 331–38, 341, 342, 343–44, 348nn6–7, 353nn29–30, 354n33, 356n42, 371n112, 376, 378n140, 382, 383n159, 413–14, 415–21nn3–51, 428, 442–43; De curiositate (Latin translation of Plutarch’s Περὶ πολυπραγμοσύνης), 7, 8, 11, 12, 16–17, 19–20, 376n133, 410, 413, 440, 446, 466 Erinyes (Furies), 448n10, 454 Essex, Earl of (Robert Devereux), 8, 447n1

486 Estienne, Henri, 206n6, 428n12 Estienne, Robert, 404n15 Euripides, 359, 371n110, 372, 389 Evans, Robert O., 411n6 Eve, 62–63 Ferguson, Gary, 27n3 Ficino, Marsilio, 340, 359n55, 371n109, 390n197 Fitch, John G., 439n1 Florio, John, 13, 467, 472n30 Fowler, William, 459 Foxe, John, 207n10 François I, 27, 29, 218n4 Fraunce, Abraham, 467 Froben, Johann, 428 Gabrielli, Vittorio, 293n2, 301n1 Galen, 244–45 Ganges River, 450 Gardiner, Stephen, 29, 136n5, 207 George of Trebizond, 353n31, 369n103 Gesner, Konrad, 338, 349n11, 349n13, 357n47, 357n49, 371n110, 374n122, 390n196 Giles, Rev. Dr., 11n17, 340n29, 426n2 Girard, Jean, 33–34, 218n4 God, John, 440n3 Goliath, 157, 178, 199 Googe, Barnabe, 440 Görlach, Manfred, 19n27 Greene, Thomas M., 442n6 Gregory Nazianzen, Saint, 382n156 Gregory the Great, Saint, 337, 354, 361, 362, 363, 369, 378, 382n158, 383, 392 Grindal, William, 2, 204 Gryphius, Sebastian, 414, 444–45 Guy, John, 7n11 Hannay, Margaret P., 459n1, 460n5 Hannibal, 388n187 Harington, Henry, 478–79 Harington, John, 5–6, 8, 12, 16, 409, 412, 413n9, 428, 478–79; Nugae Antiquae (excerpts from Harington’s papers),

index 6, 409, 413n9, 415n1, 416n10, 420n44, 425–26, 433n1, 434n7, 477–81 Hatch, Maurice, 11n18 Hearn, Karen, 477n1 Hebrus River, 450 Hegendorf, Christoph, 428 Henri d’Albret, King of Navarre, 28 Henri III, 7 Henri IV, 8 Henry VIII, 1, 3, 4, 31, 129, 131, 134, 135–39, 156, 177–78, 198, 204, 291, 293, 294, 302n1, 332, 338, 400n3 Hercules, 389nn191–92, 442 Herding, Otto, 332n5, 382n155, 443n7 Herveus of Bordeaux, 352n26, 362n70 Hoby, Sir Thomas, 13 Hoffman, C. Fenno, 130n3 Homer, 339 Hooker, Richard, 398 Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus), Ars poetica, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 413, 445n11, 446, 467 Hughey, Ruth, 460, 469n1 Hydaspes (ancient name for Jhelub River), 450 Iamblichus, 347n49 Icarus, 455 Inquisition, Roman, 291 Isaac, 53n50 Isaeus, 357n46 Isaiah, 68n100, 72n115, 80n144, 84n154, 84n171, 90n166, 92n175, 108n227, 122n270, 134, 224–25, 364, 379, 400 Isidore of Seville, Saint, 382, 392n203 Isocrates, 11, 350, 357 Ister (ancient name for Danube River), 450 Jacob, 53n50 James, Susan E., 2n3, 130n2 James VI and I, 410 Jeremiah, 54n43, 82n149, 85n172, 86–87, 310–11, 386 Jerome, Saint, 356, 367

index Jerusalem, 112–13, 324–25 Jesus Christ, 27, 29, 45n11, 46n12, 48n20, 51n34, 53n50, 54–55, 56n59, 57n62, 59n70, 60n73, 63n82, 64–67, 70–71, 82–83, 90n168, 100–101, 105n268, 108–9, 114–15, 116n251, 130, 139–44, 146, 151, 153, 154n87, 155–56, 158, 159n113, 163, 175n213, 177, 178n228, 179, 181–83, 185, 192, 195, 197–98, 206, 208, 218n6, 274–75, 278–79, 280–81, 291, 293–94, 295, 296, 297–98, 300–327, 369, 384nn167–69, 397, 398, 401, 403, 404n15 Jewel, John, 343, 398 John (Jesus’s disciple), 308–9 John the Baptist, 306–7, 324–25 Jonah, 95n217 Jones, Rufus M., 275n215 Jonson, Ben, 16 Jourda, Pierre, 28n4 Jove, 420n43, 455n61 Joye, George, 400n3 Julius Caesar, 360n65, 365n89, 366n90, 371, 381, 387 Kastan, David Scott, 35n25 Katherine (Parr), Queen, 2, 3, 17, 25–27, 29, 34–35, 40–41, 121n336, 129, 134, 136–39, 157–58, 179, 204, 207, 208, 212–13, 216–17, 218n7, 291, 293, 344, 461, 463, 473n46; Lamentation of a Sinner, 3, 45n11, 205n4; Prayers or Meditations, 3, 26, 85n171, 128–99, 293, 397, 462, 465 Keinanen, Nely, 40n1 Kempis, Thomas à, 130, 138n9 Kinnamon, Noel J., 459n1, 460n4 Kipling, Gordon, 2n4 Konstan, David, 429n15 Kraye, Jill, 410n5 Lactantius, 234–35, 363 Lagnerius, Petrus (Pierre Lagnier), compiler of Cicero’s Sententiae Insigniores, 340–41, 353n32, 358nn51–52, 360nn62–64, 365nn86–88, 367n98,

487 374n124, 375n127, 375–76n129, 381nn150–51, 386n177, 387n178 Lambin, Denys, 431, 434n7 Laterensis, M. Iuventius, 376n129 Laura (Petrarch’s beloved), 459, 461–62 Lazarus, 75n130 Lefèvre d’Etaples, Jacques, 28, 45n13, 79n148 Lefranc, Abel, 219n8 Lehmberg, Stanford E., 335n15 Leicester, Earl of (Robert Dudley), 34n23 Leo the Great, Saint, 367 Lily, William, 294 Livy (Titus Livius), 336, 341–42, 348n5, 351, 374n125, 375n126, 376n133, 377n136, 381, 388, 398, 404n15 Lloyd-Jones, G., 400 Louise de Savoie, Queen, 28 Lucilius, 411 Luther, Martin, 27, 45n11, 207, 333 Lydia (kingdom of Asia Minor), 450 Lysias, 358 Magi, the, 306–7, 324–25 Major, George, 372n116 Maloux, Maurice, 377n136 Manning, Roger B., 336n20 Mansfield, Bruce, 343n40 Mantuan (Battista Spagnuoli), 441 Manutius, Paulus (Paolo Manuzio), 431, 434n7 Marcus, Leah S., 1n2 Margolin, Jean-Claude, 428n12 Marguerite de Navarre, 17, 27–29, 121n336, 291; Le Miroir de l’âme pécheresse, 2, 15, 17, 19, 25–125, 133, 204, 209, 293, 332, 412, 465n15, 466n19, 468 Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius), 340 Marsh, Thomas, 428, 432, 434n7 Mary (Tudor), Queen, 34n23, 207, 292, 333, 403n12, 461 Mary, Queen of Scots, 6–7, 412–13, 443–44 Mary Magdalene, 310–11 Matthiessen, F. O., 13n21 May, Steven F., 14n24, 20n28, 439n2

488 McCoy, Richard C., 336n20 Mears, Natalie, 334n13 Melanchthon, Philipp, 359–60n59, 372n115, 389n191 Menichetti, Aldo, 377n136 Mesnard, Pierre, 428n12 Migne, J.-P., 22 Milo, Titus Annius, 428, 429, 433–36 Mirabelli, Domenico Nani, compiler of Polyanthea, 41n2, 338–39, 341, 342, 347– 48n5, 352n28, 354n34, 356n44, 359n56, 361nn68–69, 362n71, 363n75, 366n92, 371n111, 386n177, 388n187, 391n202, 392n203, 393n210, 400n5 Miriam (Moses’s sister), 73nn123–24, 75n129 Monsarrat, Gilles D., 410–11n5 “Monsieur” (François Hercule de Valois), 7, 430–31 Montaigne, Michel de, 13, 339 Morini, Massimiliano, 15n25 Morley, Lord (Henry Parker), 459, 464 Moses, 73n123, 74–75, 282–83, 285n257, 297–98, 306–15, 460 Moss, Ann, 338n25, 339n26 Mountague, James, Bishop of Winchester, 4n9, 331–32 Mueller, Janel, 1n2, 130n3, 135n1, 333n6 Mulcaster, Richard, 208n13 Muretus (Muret, Marc-Antoine), 414 Naunton, Sir Ralph, 30n12 Nero (Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus), 78n135 Nichols, John Gough, 292n1, 293n2, 295 Nicias, 390n197 Noah, 258–59 Norbrook, David, 460 North, Sir Thomas, 13 Ochino, Bernardino, 291–94; “Che cosa è Christo,” 3, 13, 26, 291, 294–97, 300–327, 337n23, 462, 465, 466n19 Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), 41n2, 366, 441, 455n61 Oxford, University of, 1, 7, 9, 12

index Pacca, Vinicio, 463n12 Pannier, Jacques, 219n8 Paolino, Laura, 463n12 Paris, Parlement of, 207 Park, Thomas, 415n1, 433n1, 478n2, 479nn4–8, 480nn9–10 Parker, Matthew, 398 Patrick, J. Max, 411n6 Paul, Saint, 5, 27, 29, 31, 38, 45n11, 53n47, 84n171, 120–23, 133, 134, 148n54, 168nn165–66, 179n236, 216–17, 218n6, 234–35, 254–55, 260, 261, 264–65, 280–81, 306–9, 318–21, 346–47, 380, 397, 401 Paulet, Sir Amyas, 430 Pemberton, Caroline, 20n28 Pembroke, Countess of (Mary Sidney Herbert), 459 Peter (Jesus’s disciple), 310–11, 320–21 Peter of Blois (Petrus Blesensis), 352n27 Peter of Ravenna, 352n27, 377 Petrarch, Francesco, 344, 397, 400, 459–63; Trionfo dell’eternità, 6, 459–74 Petrus Chrysologus, 361n67 Phaethon, 455 Philip of Macedon, 375, 390nn194–95 Phillips, John R., 207n9 Philip II, 34n23, 444 Phoebus Apollo, 455 Piccolomini, Aeneas Silvius, 206n6 Pilkington, James, 447n1 Pincianus, Nonius (Fernan Nuñez de Guzman), 414, 415n4, 416nn7–8, 416n13, 417n18, 419n36 Pittacus of Mytilene, 349 Plato, 206, 240n84, 270–71, 337, 339, 340, 353n29, 358, 359, 371, 372n114, 380 Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus), 386 Pliny the Younger (Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus), 337, 340, 352, 386nn174–75, 387 Plutarch, 13, 240–41, 338–39, 341, 348–49, 357, 359, 366, 371, 376n133, 389; Περὶ πολυπραγμοσύνης (De curiositate), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19–20, 21

index Politian (Angelo Poliziano), 206n6 Ponet, John, 293n2 Prescott, Anne Lake, 30n13, 31, 33, 65n87 Privy Council, 291, 335 Ptolemy Soter, 349n9 Pulcher, P. Clodius, 428 Pythagoras, 350, 359, 374 Quilligan, Maureen, 25n1, 35 Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus), 206, 351, 364, 374, 386, 389n193 Red Sea, 453 Regio, Raffaele, 349nn8–10, 349n13, 357n45, 366n94, 389n190 Reynolds, L. D., 414n10 Riddehough, Geoffrey, 20 Ridley, Jasper, 430n16 Rizzio, David, 412 Roche, Thomas P., 460 Rogers, Thomas, 398, 404n16 Rose, Mary Beth, 1n2 Roye, William, 206n7 Rutilius Lupus, Publius, 389n193 Ryan, Lawrence V., 11n17, 339n29, 425n1, 460n2 Saint Paul’s School, London, 294 Saller, Richard P., 429n15 Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus), 10, 135n4, 340, 360n65, 365, 366n90, 377n136, 381, 387 Salminen, Renja, 20, 21, 28n5, 29n8, 29n10, 32, 33n20 Savile, Henry, 10 Schalk, F., 332n5, 443n7 Scipio Africanus, 381n154 Screech, M. A., 339n28 Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, 5, 17, 340–44, 351, 356, 360, 364, 366, 367n97, 377n136, 380n149, 447; Epistulae morales 107, 5–7, 8, 19, 409–21, 446, 463, 465n15, 478, 481; Hercules Oetaeus choral ode (attributed to Seneca), 7, 8, 9, 19, 439–56, 462–63, 465n15 Seres, William, 293n2

489 Severianus, Bishop of Gabala, 384nn167–69 Shakespeare, William, 461n6 Shannon, Laurie, 429n15 Shell, Marc, 25n1, 32, 40n1 Sidney, Sir Philip, 467 Simeon (Biblical seer), 306–7, 324–25 Singer, Samuel, 377n136 Skinner, Quentin, 333n7, 336n20 Socrates, 350 Solomon, 30, 64–65, 69n103, 70–71, 85n175, 88n164, 90n171, 102n204, 110n231, 295, 337, 355, 378n141 Solon, 372 Somerset, Duke of (Edward Seymour), 291, 296 Sorbonne, Faculty of Theology, 29 Starkey, David, 293n3 Statius (Publius Papinius), 236n72 Stephenson, Barbara, 28n4 Stiblin, Caspar, 372n115 Stobaeus, Johannes, 337–39, 349– 50nn11–17, 357, 358n50, 358n54, 359n55, 360n59, 371, 372n113, 374n122, 380n148, 390 Stone, Lawrence, 135n4, 429n15 Stowers, Stanley K., 428n11 Sturm, Johann, 11n18, 425n1 Suetonius (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus), 229n49, 366, 388 Surrey, Earl of (Henry Howard), 441 Swain, Margaret H., 3n7, 40n1, 203n1, 210, 212n1 Tagus River, 445, 450 Tate Gallery, London, 477n1 Themistius, 350 Thomas of Ireland (Hibernicus), compiler of Manipulus florum (Flores), 338–39, 341–42, 352n27, 356n44, 361nn67–68, 362n75, 367n101, 376n130, 377nn134–35, 382n157, 384n166, 386n177, 391nn199– 202, 392n205, 393n210 Thompson, Craig R., 343n40, 344n41 Tiberius (Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Augustus), 366n93

490 Tiro (Cicero’s secretary), 425 Titus, Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus, 366n91 Tomson, Laurence, 403n11 Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus), 337, 352n23 Traversari, Ambrogio, 372n114 Turberville, George, 440, 441 Tyndale, William, 45n11, 136n5 Tyre, 452 Udall, Nicholas, 440 Valerius Maximus, 375, 387 Valla, Lorenzo, 206n6 Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus), 341, 344, 380, 380–81n149, 389, 392–94 Vellutello, Alessandro, 461, 463n12, 473n46 Veronese, Guarino, 359n58 Vickers, Brian, 461n6 Villius Annalis, Sextus, 433n2 Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro), 417n19, 441 Virgin Mary, 38, 60–61, 306–7, 318–19, 324–25

index Vives, Juan Luis, 403n12 Vos, Alvin, 11n18 Wallace, John M., 411n6 Walsingham, Sir Francis, 477 Wentworth, Peter, 334 Whitaker, William, 398 Whitford, Richard, 130, 138n9 Williamson, George, 411n6 Wilson, Robert, 440n3 Windebank, Thomas, 12–13, 17 Wolf, Hieronymus, 339–40, 357n48, 358n53, 372n117, 373nn118–20, 389nn192–93 Wolfe, Reynold, 401n6, 401n9 Wyatt, Michael, 293n2 Xenophon, 350 Yeo, Elspeth, 203n1, 210 Zacchaeus, 326–27 Zephyrus (West wind), 450 Zeus, 420n43, 455n61