¶The first chapiter treateth of .iiii. maner of monkes.

IT is manifeste: that there be .iiii. diuerse kyndis or sec­tes of monkes. ¶The first is of Cenobitis / that is to say of monasteriall persons / seruing god to gedder or in cō ­gregaciō / in monasteris / vnder oon rule: & oon abbot or oon priour / And of this secte or kynde be mynchins seruinge to gedder in monasterꝭ vnder oon rule / and oon abbasse or oon prioresse. ¶The seconde maner or secte is / of Anachoritꝭ & Eremitꝭ that is to say / of thē which not as sone as they haue takyn religion vppon thē / but by longe cōtinuāce & proufe ī monasteris / haue lerned / and had experience thurgh the cō ­forte of other / to fyght ageynste the suggestions & tempta­cions of the deuyll / And so well they be armed and īstructed [Page] by the good counsell of other / that they may suerly take vp­pon them / and be hable to fyght sole and solitarily: thurgh the helpe of all myghty god / without the comfort of other: agaynste the temptacions of the fesche / & agaynste all oder euyll thoughtes. ¶The .iii. kynde / maner / or secte / is of Sa­rabites / a secte detestable: whiche lyue not vnder obedience of any suꝑior / ne vnder any Rule that is good & approued / nor be tried in monasterꝭ: as golde is by the furnace / but be more lyke vnto ledde / supple & plyable to all vicis / And fayning thē selfe to be religiose / vnder the simulate habite / & tō ­sure of religiose men / be in all their dedes: vayne / ydell / and wordly / whiche by .ii. to geddre / or .iii. to gedder / or elles by oon a lone / lede their lyues: without hed or suꝑior / nor in ab­bayes or monasteris / but where they luste / folowinge their owne appetites and desyres / and takynge volup tuosite for ther lawe & reule. For what so euer they cōiect / or choyse af­ter their owne myndꝭ to be good / that they cal holy. & what is not aggreable to their appetitis / be it neuer so good ī de­de / they say it is not lawfull. ¶The .iiii. kynde or secte is of those that be vagabūdes / that ren from ꝓuince to prouince / from Cell to cell / abyding not in son place passing .iii. or .iiii. dayes / euer wāderinge / and neuer stable / gyuing them selfe to glotony & other lustes of the flesche / and in all their dedes be worse then the Sarabitis. Of whose moste wretched conuersacion: better it is not to medle then to speke of them. wherfore (sayth seynt Benet) omittinge and ouerpassinge them / let vs thrugh the helpe & succurre of all myghty god / entende to set an ordinance and to make a Rule / cōcerninge those monasteriall and religiose ꝑsons / of whome we spake of firste / that is to say of the Cenobitis.

¶The seconde chapiter treateth of what qualites an Abbasse ought to be.

[Page]AN abbasse that may be hable & worthy to take vppō hir the Rule & gouernance of a monastery or cōgre­gacion / must all wey call to hir remēberaunce & cōsydre the name of the dignite that she is called by / and labour effectu­ally that hir dedes be accordinge to hir name / and in no­thinge cōtrary to the dignite that she is called to / for she oc­cupieth the place of almyghty god: in the monastery / in so­moche as she is named after hym / thapostle sainge thus. ye haue receyued the holy goste: by whom ye be made the children of god / in whom we cry all to geder to almyghty god / & call hī Abba pat / that is to say fader / of the whiche name all abbottes & abbasses take their names: thabbot to be to his couēt a fader / & thabbasse a moder / And therfore the abbasse shall nothyng ordeyne / teche / ne cōmaūde (as god for bede she shulde) contrary to the cōmaundementes of all myghty god / whos rowme & authorite she hathe & occupi­eth / but hir cōmaundemētꝭ & doctrines must be in suche wise ordred & vttred: that they may take place / and effectually worke in the myndes of hir sisters & disciples / like vnto the swernes and sauour of the ryghtuisnes of all myghty god. ¶Thabbasse must alway haue ī hir mynde / that of hir doctrine & of the obediēce of hir susters & disciples / & of eyther of thē to gedre / that is to saye aswell of hir doctrine as of their obediēce: there shalbe a strayte examinaciō & triall made in the fereful day of the last iugemēt. ¶Thabbasse must kno­we also / that what so euer dāmage / īcōmodite / lacke of fru­te or vtilite / our lord findith in his shepe: that is to say in the couēt / it shalbe layde & imputed to the charge / blame / & de­faute of the sheparde / that is to say of thabbasse / Albeit she may therof discharge & acquite hir selfe by this meane & by none other / that is to say / if so be that she haue don hir diligē ce to the trowblouse & obstinate flocke / & that with all hir labour she hath endeuoured hir selfe to the amēdemēt of the­yre euyll dedes: than may she well for hir discharg & acq [...]tall at the day of dome / say to almyghty god with the ꝓphet I haue not hyd ne kepte within my brest thy iustice nor righ­tuisnes [Page] I haue shewed & declared to them thy treweth: I haue declared thy holsome communadementes / and they despisinge them: haue set my wordes & doctrine at nought. and then in ꝯclusion / euerlastinge deth shalbe their reward and punisshment / worthy and conuenīet to suche an obsti­nate and disobedient flocke: not consydering nor regarding their dutie as they ought to haue done. ¶Therfore whē so euer any oon takithe vppon hir the name of an Abbasse / she must Rule and gouerne hir disciples by two maner of doc­trines / that is to say / she muste shewe vnto them good and holy thynges by hir wordꝭ and doctrine / and more largely by example of hir dedes / so that to them whiche haue capa­cite of wit to vnderstonde / she muste teche and declare the cōmaundementes of almyghty god in wordes and doctri­nes / and to other that be dullardes / harde wytted / & more symple of vnderstandinge / she muste more openly and lar­gely shewe and teche the cōmaundementes of almyghty god by hir owne dedꝭ / For all those thynges which she for­bedith hir disciples by hir wordes / she muste by hir owne dedes shewe / that they ought not to be don / lesse that she p̄ ­chinge and techinge other: be founde reprouable in hir selfe and lesse that god for suche hir synnes and offēses: say vnto hir in this wyse. why doest thou teche my ryghtuisnes / and why takes thou vppō the to vtter the wordes of my lawes and testamēt thorough thy mouth. Thou haste by thy dedꝭ hated my doctrine: and caste far from the: my wordes and cōmaundementes. And thou Abbasse whiche haste espyed a lyttell mote in the Iye of thy sister: haste not seene a great blocke in thyne owne Iye. ¶The Abbasse shall nother put nor make any difference by twene person and person in the monastery / nether she shall bere more loue to one then to a nother / Excepte only to suche / as she fyndeth better then o­ther in good dedes / in the obseruance of the Religion / in the seruice of god / & in lowly obediēce. She that cam of higher or noble linage or of a fre kynrede: shall not be p̄ferrid in or­der of stōdinge: or vnto office / byfore a nother of lower byr­the [Page] or of a bonde stocke / except there be som other resonable cause then their byrth / as excellence in any maner of vertue and lerninge requiringe it / and if any suche cause resonable be / thē the abbasse according to their merites & aptnes may fauor / dispose order / & preferre / in standinge or other wyse / as she shall thynke ryght to requier / notwithstādinge there diuersite and condicion of byrth or any suche other thinge / or ellꝭ lat them kepe their place and order. For be she bonde / be she fre / be she of noble / or ignoble blode / and lynage / all be oon in our lorde Ihū chiste / and vnder oon lorde dothe bere equall borden of seruyce. For god takith no consyderacion ne regarde to the persone / but to the vertuose workes and merites. And maketh only difference by twyxe those per­sons that he fyndeth more obedient and better than other in good werkꝭ. Therfore the loue & fauor of thabbsse muste be indifferent and equall vnto all hir susters / And also oon discipline and correction must she gyue vnto them all after their offences / desertꝭ / & demerites in hir doctrine / she muste kepe the maner & forme of thapostel where he sayth / blame them / exhorte them / & rebuke them / that is to say / be it tyme of correction or of prayse & cōmēdation / she must euer med­le with terrors blandishementes / & with sharpnesse / swet­nesse / she muste shewe the sharpe mynde and auctorite of a maystresse / and the louing afeccion and tendrenes of a mo­der / that is to say / she must sharpely blame and rowghly re­buke wylfull vnruly rude and comborous ꝑsons / and su­che as be obedient / meke / pacient / & softe persons / she muste in louinge maner exhorte and desyre them to encrece dayly more and more in their vertuisnes / fro good to better. And suche as be veray negligent obstinate & rebelliose / we woll & cōmaūde that the abbasse not only sharply rebuke them / but also effectually punisshe & correcte them. ¶Also the ab­basse may not disimyll / cloke / ne hyde the faultes or offen­ses of them that doth a mysse / but as sone as the faultes be­gynne to sprynge / she shall to the vttermoste of hir power / [Page] plucke them vp hard by the rotes / hauyng alway in mynde the ioperdye of Hely the preest and minister of god in Silo / whiche for the negligent correction of his children / by the stroke of god fell and brake his necke? And suche persons as be of more honestie bettre capacite and vnderstandinge / she shall warne & correcte oons or twyse by wordꝭ of mouth but suche as be yeuen to vices and be hard harted / prowde / and disobedient / she shall punishe at the firste offence ether with rodde / or with other chastisement of the bodye / after hir discretion / according to that: that is written / a fole canne neuer be amēded nor corrected by wordes. And ageyne pu­nysche thy sonne with a rodde / and thou shalt delyuer his sowle from euerlastinge dethe / the abbasse must allwey re­membre bothe hir owne frayle nature / and also consydre the name of a moder that she is called by / and ryght well knowe / that to whome a gretter charge is cōmitted of him or hir / so moche the more frute is demaūded and required. ¶She muste vnderstande also howe harde / and labourose a thynge she hath vndertake / that is to say to gouerne sow­les / and to be haue hir selfe cōmodiousely in hir cures / accor­dynge to the diuersite of maners & condicions of a multitu­de of persons / for sōme she must conquere with fayre wor­des / sōme with rebukꝭ / sōme with good reasons and exhor­tacons / yea. and aftur the behauoure and capacite of euery person / she muste so shape and confourme hir selfe to theym all / and euer / oon of them / that not oonly she shal not suffer any dāmage or appeyringe of hir flocke cōmitted vnto hir / but she shall so ordre hir / that she may haue cause greatly to reioyse for thencrease of the numbre & goodnes of hir sayde flocke ¶And byfore all thynges she must be well ware that she doo not dissimull or lyttell regard the welth of sowles / cōmitted vnto hir / settinge more hir mynde vpon thynges terrestiall and trāsitory / as workes temperall and wordlye matires / but she must alwaye remembre / that she hathe ta­ke vppon hir the gouernance of christen sowles / of the whi­chesht [Page] shall gyue accomptis. And so thentēt that she by the pretense of the pouertie and necessite of the monastery / shall not haue any [...]appat [...]t o [...] probable came to [...]e busy and sol­licite aboutes wordly goodes / takynge the losse heede to the spirituell & god [...]y sowles / let hir remembre that it is wret­tyn. Firste fe [...]e ye with all your force & diligence / to poursue the kyngdōme of god / and his iustice by ryghtwose seruice / workes / and doing to god / and all thynges necessary shalbe prouided for you / by almyghty god / without your great la­bour and study / and nothynge shall you lacke. And agayne he sayth / nothyng is lackynge to them that drede and serue god. ¶The abbasse muste knowe well also that she / that hath takyn vpon hir to guyde sowles / must be all wey redy to gyue and make accomptes of theym. And howe so euer greate the numbre of the systers vnder hir cure be / lette hir knowe for certeyn / that at the day of iugemēt / she shall an­swere for the sowlle of euery oon of them / and for hir owne also / and thus the abbasse euer hauynge byfore hir yes / and cōtinually fering the strayte examinaciō of the maister she­perd / towchinge his flocke of shepe cōmitted to hir charge / when she is soo wate & ferefull of the accomptis & rekening that she muste make for other / she cannot but diligently & warely / remember hir owne selfe. And whyles thurgh hir good exhortacions & monicions / she ministreth socour and amēdimēt to other / she cānot be but therby amēdid hir self.

¶The .iii. chapiter treateth / howe and when the abbasse shall aske counsell of hir susters.

AS often as any matters of greate weyght and sub­stāce be to be treated and spoke of / in the monastery / the abbasse must call the hole couēt / into the chapter howse / or into sōme other place conuenient / and there must she hir selfe declare vnto them / what the mater is that is to be trea­ted of / & when she hath herde the mynde & councell of euery [Page] oon of her susters / she shall then take deliberacion and coū ­seyll with hir sealfe / and what thinge she iugeth more pro­fitable to be done: that shall she doo. And for this cause we haue cōmaūded (sayth seynt benet) that all be called to coū ­sayll / For often tymes to the yonge person god geueth reue­lacion what thynge is beste to be doone / ¶And the susters shall soo behaue theym in yeuinge their counsayle with all lowlynesse and humilite / that they presume not obstinatly and prowdly to defēde their owne opinion / or mayntaigne that thing / which after their mynde they thought best / but rather lett it hange: and remaygne in the arbytriment and Iugement of the abbasse / so that what so euer she thynke best to be doen / all they therin doo obey vnto hir. ¶But as it is conuenient for a disciple to obey hir mastresse / euyn soo it doth becom the mastresse to dispose all thynge wysely & ryghtuysly. And therfore ī euery thinge as well the abbasse as the couent / indifferētly ought to followe their mastresse / that is to say their rule / whiche is their very mastresse / ney­therony oon of them / ne the abbasse nor other / shall folysshe hardy nor without gret ꝯsyderaciō or weyghty cause swar­ue from it / but fermely & fastly holde them there to. ¶Noon ī the monastrey shall followe their owne wyll / neyther any shall presume frowardly to stryue with the abbasse eyther within the monastery or without / and if any oon presume so to doo / lett hir be put to reguler discipline & correction ac­cordingly / And yet the abbasse shall in all hir werkes / iuge­mentes & gouernāces / haue byfore hir yes the drede of god / and euer regarde the obseruātes & statutes of hir rule / being well assured & in no wyse dobtyng / that of all hir iugemētꝭ she shall yeue an accomptes byfore the moste equall iuge all myghty god. But if there be to be done any maters to w­chinge a smaller substance / cōcerninge the welthe & ꝓfite of the monastery / the abbasse shall then counseyle oonly with the hed offycers / and suche seniors: as hath ben of long con­tinuance and experience in the monastery accordynge as it [Page] wreten. Doo all thinge with councell / and then thou shalt­not afterward repente nor be sory of thy deede.

¶The .iiii. chapiter treateth of the instrumentes of good workes

LIke as all worldely artificers haue materyall instru­mentes apte for the accomplysshemēt of their worl­dely werkes / in lyke wyse there be instrumentes spirituell / for the crafte of religiose lyuinge / by the whiche religiose persons / bothe in this p̄sent lyfe / may honestly & after the pleasure of god be derected / composed / & ordred / & also after the same lyfe / they may blessedly reigne with christ ī heuē.

¶The firste of these instrumētes is / that ye loue your lorde god with all youre hart / that is to saye / applyenge all youre thoughtes oonly to him / and with all your mynde / that is to say applyenge all your studies / wittes and dilectacions oonly to hī / & with all your myght / that is to say applyenge all your bodies strenght and powars oonly to his seruyce.

¶The secōde is that ye loue your neyghbour as your selfe / wherby it apperith that ye shall after god / loue your selfe / and then your neyghbor as your selfe.

¶The .iii. is that ye sle no person / that is to say / bodely nor gostly with hande nor tonge / And specyally thou shalt not slee thyne owne sowle by any deedly synne.

¶The .iiii. is that ye breke not your chastite / that is to saye / that ye doo no maner of aduoutrye / fornicacion / incōtinen­cie nor any other synne or vnclēnesse of the flesche / & in lyke wyse ye shall doo noo spirituall fornicaciō / that is to say / ye shall worchip no falce godꝭ nor loue inordinatly youre selfe nor any other erthely creature.

¶The .v. is that ye doo no thefte / that is to say / ye shall not take nor vse the goodꝭ of an other frauduletly / nor without the owners wyll lycence or assēt / nor that ye religiose sisters take / receyue / or kepe ony thynge / without the certeyne knowlege & speciall graunt or licence of the abbasse. In lyke wyse ye shal not withdrawe any seruice that ye owe oonly [Page] to god / and doo it to the deuill. and if ye doo / ye doo theft.

¶The .vi. is that ye coueyt not / that is to say / that ye neither coueyt / whysshe / nor desyre any person where with to doo carnally any syn / nor coueyt any mānes goddꝭ fraudulētly / nor assent to any suche desyre of the flesche or goodꝭ / nor yet inordinatly desyre auctorite or honor.

¶The .vii. is that ye shall not bere ne saye any false witnes wherby it is also prohybyte makynge of leasynges / or false or wrongfull tales / and brekynge of any promyse or vowe.

¶The .viii. is ye shall of youre humylite do reuerence to all people wherin is īplyed that ye shall thynke & adiuge euery person beter then your selfe.

¶The .ix. is ye shal not do to another / that ye wolde not shulde be doone to your selfe.

¶The .x. is that ye shal for sake your selfe: that is to say your luste / pleasure / wyll / sensualite / & concupiscence to thentēt ye may ī all your thowghtes / wordꝭ / & werkꝭ / folowe christe & serue hī.

¶The .xi. is that ye shall chastise your body / that is to say / with resonable abstinēce watche prayer & discipline.

¶The .xii. is that ye loue not delicate pleasurꝭ / that is to say / that ye delyte not in delicate & plesant metes & drinkes / sigh­tes or any other thingꝭ of the worlde / nor any suche delecta­cions followe nor the loue.

¶The .xiii. is that ye inward­ly loue / fastinges / abstinence / temperans / and sobernes.

¶The .xiiii. is that ye refresshe powre people / that is to say / ye shall socoure them after your powar / with clothinge lo­gynge / mete / drinke / coūsayle / comfort / and visitacion. And all be it that these & the other workꝭ of charyte that followe cannot be actually performed in religiose persons / except in suche a person as hathe thoffice of thosteler or ospitiler / yet euery other religiose person may do it in good wyll / mynde / intent / counsayle / and comforth yeuinge to them that may do it / and in forberinge sumwhat of their mete and drynke / to thentēt the pore people may the more largely haue parte therof / They may also refreshe / visite / comfort / bury / & helpe their owne susters.

¶The .xv. is that ye clothe the naked. [Page]

¶The .xvi. is that ye vysite the seke.

¶The .xvii. is that ye bury the deed.

¶The .xviii. is that ye socour them that be in tribulacion & aduersite.

¶The .xix. is that ye cōfort them that be full of thought or sorowe.

¶The .xx. is that ye med­le not nor talke / speke / nor cōmune / in worde / werke / or deed of any wordly maters or busines / but them vtterly & extre­mely refuse and renounce so that in all your affections ye be vtterly alienate from the worlde.

¶The .xxi. is that in your lyuinge ye prefer nothynge aboue the loue of christe.

¶The .xxii. is that ye be neuer thurghly nor lōge angry / & if it fortune you to be angry / that then ye execute not your yre or anger / nor to do that thyng that your yre moueth you to.

¶The .xxiii. is that ye bere no malyce longe in your mynde / thynkynge in tyme to wreke your angre / or to auenge you.

¶The .xxiiii. is that ye thinke not nor kepe any dissayte / or fraude in your hart.

¶The .xxv. is that ye vse no simulatiō / nor dssimulacion / ne yeue no Iudas kysse / but when ye ma­ke any praxe or louedaye / or elles reconsyle youre selfe with any person / that then ye doo it as well & truly in your harte and dede / as in worde / and outwarde counttenance.

¶The .xxvi. is that ye kepe you alwayes within the boūdꝭ of charite / & neuer to forsake or be without loue and charite.

¶The .xxvii. is that ye swere not at all / nor in any maner of wyse / and that for drede of fallynge into piury or into custo­mable sweringe.

¶The .xxviii. is that when ye speke / ye speke the trwth allway both with harte and mouthe.

¶The .xxix. is that for oon euyll torne ye / doo nat a nother.

¶The .xxx. is that ye doo no wronge / and if any be doon to you / that ye suffre and take it paciently.

¶The .xxxi. is that ye loue your enemies / that is to say that ye showe hu­milite to your enemies for goddes sake / both by your pray­ers and also by releuynge them in their necessities / cōsyde­ringe that christe both loued you & by his deth redemid you when ye were his enemies / and indifferētly hath prepared for your enemies euerlastinge blisse as he hath doo for you. [Page]

¶The .xxxii. is that ye curse not / nor say euyll of them that curse or say euyll of you but rather blysse them and say well of them that curse or say euyll of you.

¶The .xxxiii. is that ye suffer and take in worthe / all aduer­sites / trowbles / and persecutions done to you for iustice / or for your good lyuinge or well doynge.

¶The .xxxiiii. is that ye be not Prowde neyther in youre mynde nor hart / beere not your selfe aboue a nother / nor dis­spise noon other / nor be not opinatiue.

¶The .xxxv. is that ye gyue you not moche to drynkynge of wyne nor ale / nor none other drynke.

¶The .xxxvi. is that ye be not a glotten nor ete moche nor often / hastly nor gladly.

¶The .xxxvii. is that ye be not slepy and sluggysshe nor moche yeuen to slepe.

¶The .xxxviii. is that ye be not slewthfull / heuy / or slow to doo your office or duete.

¶The .xxxix. is that ye be not trowblous / busy quarelynge / or grutchynge.

¶The .xl. is that ye be no detractor / bakbyter ne slaunderer nor reuylor of any person.

¶The .xli. is that ye put your full trust & all your hope oonly in god.

¶The .xlii. is that what so euer goodnes or vertue ye thynke to be in you that ye repute and knowe well that it cōmeth oonly of god and not of your selfe / ne of your merytes nor deseruynge.

¶The .xliii. is that what so euer euyll is in you / ye knowe for certeyne that it cōmeth of your selfe / & is done of your sel­fe / and so take and repute it.

¶The .xliiii. is that ye alway­es drede the day of iugement of god.

¶The .xlv. is that ye fere the paynes of hell.

¶The .xlvi. is that ye longe for euerlastynge lyfe with all your mynde & inward desyre.

¶The .xlvii. is that ye allweyes suspecte deth / & haue it dayly in rememberance as though it were present and continualy byfore your yes.

¶The .xlviii. is that ye be well ware euery howre what dedes ye doo in this p̄sent lyfe / that at no tyme ye fall or offēde rechelesly or necligent­ly by dede / worde / or thought / but that you euer p̄meditate / [Page] and discusse byfore / what ye shall doo / say / or intende.

¶The .xlix. is that ye knowe for certeyne that all myghty god all weyes / And continually ouer loketh seeth & hereth you / youre werkes / wordes / and thoughtes / in euery place and tyme.

¶The .l. is that ye by & by put a way all euyl thoughtꝭ as so ne as they cōme to your mynde / by fixinge your thoughtꝭ & remēbrāces faste vpon christe & his passion meritꝭ & benifitꝭ.

¶The .li. is that ye disclose your thoughtes & encōbrances of your mynde to som holsom and agyed gostly fader.

¶The .lii. is that ye kepe and refrayne youre mouthe from all euyll and shrewde speche and cōmunicacion.

¶The .liii. is that ye loue not to vse many wordes nor mo­che speche.

¶The .liiii. is that ye speke not nor vse no wordꝭ that be in­utile vayne trifelinge ydle or prouokynge lawghter.

¶The .lv. is that ye loue not moche lawghter or lowde or soden lawghter.

¶The .lvi. is that ye here with mery harte & glad mynde holy doctrines / sermons / exhortacions / lecturꝭ & scriptures.

¶The .lvii. is that ye gyue youre selfe diligently often and instantly vnto prayer.

¶The .lviii. is that ye knowlege and cōfesse dayly in your prayer vnto god all your synnes & euyll dedes of tyme pas­sed / with wepinge teres or at the leeste / with morning / sob­bynge and sorowing for the doinge of them / & from thense forth to kepe you fro the same synnes and euyll dedes.

¶The .lix. is that ye fulfyll not the desyrs and cōcupiscēces of the flesche and that ye hate your owne wyll.

¶The .lx. is that ye obey in all thynges the cōmaundemē ­tes of your abbasse / all though she (whiche god for bedde) do other wyse hir selfe / hauing ī mynde these wordes of all myghty god / what so euer they cōmaūde you to doo / doo ye / but doo not as they doo / that is to saye / when they doo amysse. [Page]

¶The .lxi. is that ye h [...]ad [...] wyll / nor desyre to [...] or called holy byfore ye so be / but that ye first endeuor you to be holy / where thurgh ye may deserue to be called holy.

¶The .lxii. is that ye fulfyll dayly in youre workes and de­des the cōmaundement of god.

¶The .lxiii. is that ye feruētly loue the vertue of chastite.

¶The .lxiiii. is that ye hate no person

¶The .lxv. is that ye haue no suspeccion / rancor / malice / ne enuy in you.

¶The .lxvi. is that ye loue no stryfes ne debates neyther in dedes nor wordes.

¶The .lxvii. is that ye eschewe pryde and bostynge and all that may be thoccasion of them.

¶The .lxviii. is that ye haue ī reuerēce your seniors & elders.

¶The .lxix. is that ye loue your yongres ī the loue of christe that is to say as norisshing thē as faders & moders ī pitie / in erudicion: by doctrine / In example of holines / by dredinge them when they be out of the waye / and in plentiousnesse of consolacion by confortynge them when they be feble.

¶The .lxx. is that ye pray for youre enemies / that is to say / for theyr reformacion and saluacion.

¶The .lxxi. is if any wrothe / debate / or variāce be amongꝭ any of you / that then ye be reconciled and returne to vnite & peace byfore the sonne goynge downe.

¶The .lxxii. is that ye neuer dispayre of the mercy of all myghty god.

¶Loo dere susters (sayth seynt Benet) these be the instru­mē rules / doctrines / and instruccions of spirituall crafte and occupation / whiche if they be continually fulfylled by you bothe by day and by nyght / and offred byfore god / and by him recognised in the laste daye of iugement: ye shall be re­compēsed of all myghty god / with the rewarde that he ha­the promysed / whyche neuer bodely yie hathe seen neuer ere hath harde / ne hart of man can thinke / whiche thynges al myghty god hath p̄paryd and made redy for theym that loue him. The shop the howse of offyce / & werkynge place wherein ye shalbe with the sayde Instrumentes diligently [Page] worke execute doo and brynge a bowte all these rules doc­trines and instructions / is the cloyster of the monastery and the stablenes and stedfastnes of religiose cōuersacion in the couent and congregacion.

¶Here foloweth the .v. chapiter which treateth of thobedience of Minchins.

THe chefe and principall degre of humilite is Obedi­ence without taryeng or delay makynge. This ver­tue agreeth well and becōmeth those virgins / and to them doth eapꝑteygne / whiche in their loue preferre no thynge / byfore the loue of all myghty god / or to whome no thynge is soo dere as christe. For eyther of the holy religion whiche they haue ꝓfessed / or for fere of the bytter paynes of Hell / or elles for Ioye of euerlastinge lyfe / as sone as any thynge is them cōmaūded by their superior to be doon / euin as it we­re cōmaunded by god / they cannot nor maye not make nor suffre any delay in the performynge or executynge therof / but incōtinent & forthwith doo it / euyn as it were cōmaun­ded of god / of whiche obedient ꝑsons all myghty god saith thus / as sone as she hard me: she obeyed my comaundemēt. And ageyne he sayth to them that be techers of his lawes / who soo euer herith you: hereth me / Therfore all those per­sons that forsake all that theyers is / renoūcinge their owne wylles / and gyuinge vppe anon their busines / leuinge that thynge vnperfited and vnfinisshed that they had in hande / doo folowe the cōmaūdementes of their superior in dedes / by and by and forthwith / and as in oon instant bothe those two thingꝭ / that is to say the cōmaūdemēt of the maistres / and the perfite dedes of the disciple / be accōplisshed to gyd­der swyftly thurgh the drede of god: of suche as hath a zele and inward desyre to goo to euerlasting lyfe / for the which zele and desyre / they take vppon theym a narowe passage / wherof (god sayth) It is a narowe and a strayte waye that [Page] leedith vnto euerlastinge lyfe. that is to say not lyuyng after their owne wyll / ne beinge obedient to their owne desyres and vnlefull pleasures / but continuinge their lyfe vnder the Iugement and power of a nother / lyuinge in monasteris: haue a full desyre that an abbasse or prioresse / haue the pre­emynence and rule ouer theym / all suche persons doubtles followe the sentence of all myghty god / wherin he sayth I am nat cōme to accomplyshe myn owne wyll / but his whi­che hath sent me. But this sealfe same obedience shall then be acceptable vnto god and plesant vnto other / whan that thinge which is cōmaunded is effectuosly brought to ende / not ferefully / slowly / or fayntly / ne with grutch or denyeng nor arguinge nor resoning it / for obediēce which is shewed vnto superiors in religiō / is shewed vnto god / he sayth him sealfe as it is aboue sayde / who so herethe you herethe me. ¶Moreouer the disciple muste be obedient with a good & free wyll / for god loueth him that gyueth a thinge with a cherefull and a mery hart / for if so be that a disciple be obe­dient with an euyll wyll / though she grutcheth not in wor­des / yet if she grutch inwardly in hir hart / notwithstāding it / she fulfyll the cōmaūdemēt that is gyuen vnto hir / yet is it not acceptable vnto god / whiche beholdeth and consyde­ryth the stomake / the hert / and mynde of the grudger. And for suche a thinge though she doo it / she purchasyth no gra­ce nor thanke / but rather she rennith in daunger and payne of suche grudgers without she make amendis therfore.

¶The .vi. chapiter treateth of silence and sobernesse in wordes.

LEt vs doo as the prophet sayth / I haue aduysid and purposed with my sealfe to take hede of my wayes / that I offēde not with my toong / I haue put a warde & ke­pinge vppon my mouthe / I haue holden my peace / I haue meked my sealfe / and I haue ceased and forborne from ty­me [Page] to declare / that thynge that hath bene goode. ¶Here in sheweth the prophete that a man muste som tyme cease of good cōmunicacion to showe the vertu of silence and sober­nes in wordꝭ / moche more he ought to cease of euyll cōmu­nicacion / for fere of punishement for his offenses. ¶Ther­fore vnto disciples all though they be ꝑfite / we wyll (sayth seynt Benet) that syldome licēce be graūted to speke / thou­ghe it be in goode / holy & edifyenge cōmunicacion / for luffe of the grauite and vertue that is in vsage of fewe wordes. For it is writtē. in many wordꝭ it is harde to a voyde synne. And also in a nother place it is written / dethe and lyfe han­geth ī the power of the toonge. For it becūmeth a mastresse to speke and teche / And a disciple to kepe silence and here / therfore if any thynges be to be inquired / let the inquisicion be made of the superior with all mekenes of spirite & body and with goode reuerence. ¶Scoffis and Idle wordes or excitynge lawghter in all places for euer we forbede and dampne (saith seynt Benet) And we wyl not that a disciple at any season be suffred to open hir mouthe to suche lyght speche or cōmunicacion.

¶The .vii. chapiter treateth of humilite.

DEre susters (sayth seynt Benet) holy scripture cryeth vnto vs with these wordes. Euery persone that ex­alteth him selfe shalbe humiliate / and brought vndre / And be that meketh and humbleth him selfe: shalbe exalted and brought vp. In this saynge holy scripture sheweth vnto vs that euery maner of a mannes owne exaltation or extollen­ce is a kynde and spice of pryde / of the which thynge the ꝓ­phete showeth him selfe to beware: sayng. Good lorde my hart is not exalted / nor my countenans is not hyghe / prow­de / nor stately. Nether I haue reioysed nor be prowde of any great arte / speche / or vertu / nor I haue desyred for any mer­ueyles to be knowne to the people. Nor I haue any thynge [Page] sought aboue my myght. But what good lorde / if I haue not mekely behaued me / but exalted my mynde by pryde / vayne glorye / or presumpcion / then let my punishement be lyke vnto the punishement of a lokynge childe the whiche is wayned & denied his moders breste / and then doth ꝑishe / wherfore good susters (sayth seynt Benet) if our mynde be to attaygne to the perfection of hygh humilite / if we wyll swyftly cōme to that heuenly exaltacion / to the which men doo ascende by the vertue of humylite in this present lyfe / that same ladder muste be rered and lyfte vppe with oure deedes ascendynge / whiche apered to Iacob in a vision / by the whiche ladder angelis were shewed vnto hun descen­dynge and ascendinge. All which descension and ascension / without doubt is noon notherwyse to be taken ne vnder­stonde / but that men by exaltyng them selfe / doo discende & by humling them selfe they doo alcēde. The ladder to rered is our present lyfe in this worlde / the whiche thurgh a me­ke harte is lyft vp by almyghty god vnto heuen. The sydes of the same ladder / we call oure bodie and sowle / bytwene the whiche sydes thurgh the callynge of all myghty god be ordred and set dyuerse steppes and degres of humilite and discipline as followith.

¶The .viii. chapiter treateth of the diuine seruyce by nyght.

[Page]IN wynter that is to say / fro the fyrste day of Nouem­bre vnto the feste of Easter / mynchyns muste aryse at the .viii. houre after it be nyght / that is to saye / after the sōne be serre / takynge the same houre durynge all that tyme as it is aforesayde. Fyrste daye of Nouembre to thintent that they may take their reste / vnto somewhat after mydnyght / and then aryse hauynge naturall dygestion. And when the nocturne is ended / they shall all the resideue of the tyme by­twene that and matyns or laudes whiche is all oon / gyue them selfe to redynge / som the spaulter / som lectournes / or other diuine seruyce / whereof they haue most nede or whe­rein they be moste vnredy. From Easter vnto the firste day of Nouembre a forsayde / the houre of their wakynge and arysynge shalbe so ordred / that a lyttel pause made after the nocturne is ended / wherein the mynchyns may goo to doo suche necessary busines as nature requireth / anon matyns or laudes shall followe / which they muste be saynge in the breke of the daye.

¶The .ix. chapiter treateth what psalmes shal­be sayd at the nocturnes in the wynter tyme.

IN wīter after this verse Deus in adiutorium meum intende: Dn̄e ad adiuuandum me festina / followethe next and immediatly. Domine labia mea aperies: & os me­um annūciabit laudem tuam / the whiche thryse songe / fol­loweth this psalme Dn̄e quid multiplicati / with glia patri / and after that Venite with the Inuitatorie must be songe. Thā followeth the hymne / & after it .vi. psalmes with their antems / thē the versicle: whiche ended / theabbasse shall gy­ue the vn̄diction. And all the quere syttynge ī their stalles or setꝭ / there shalbe red by .iii. mynchins appoynted therto .iii. lectours within boke / vppō the deske or lectourne / bytwene which lessons .iii. respōses must be songe wherof ii. respon­ses shalbe without glia patri. & the thirde with glia patri. [Page] And when the gloria patri is begonne / anon all shall aryse out of their setes / makynge obeyssance towardes the hygh aulter / in the worship and reuerēce of the holy Trinite / The lessons which they rede at the nocturne / shalbe of bokes as well of the olde testementes as of the newe / and also the ex­positions of both the testamentes / whiche haue be made of moost famose doctours and beste lerned in holy scripture / & mooste catholique faders / After these .iii. lessons with their respondes / followeth other .vi. psalmes / with alleluya / then the Chapiter muste be redde by harte / with a versicle and kyryeleyson / with the preces / And soo ended the nocturne whiche we call comunely matyns to the laudes.

¶The .x. chapiter treateth of the diuine seruice by nyght in the so­mer tyme.

FRome Ester vnto the firste daye of Nouember / the quantite of the psalmodie shalbe obserued / as is abo­uesayde / but the .iii. lessons which were wont to be redde in the boke / shall by cause of the shortnes of the nyght not be redde / but for them there shalbe redde / oon lesson of the olde testamēt by hart / without boke / with the which a short res­pōse shall followe / & all the remenant shalbe obserued & do­ne / as is abouesayd / And it is to vnderstōde / that neuer lesse then .xii. psalmes shalbe songe at the noctourn / by sydes do­mine quid multiplicati and venite.

¶The .xi. chapiter sheweth howe the Nocturnes shalbe sayde vp­pon the sondayes.

UPpon sondayes / the Mynchins must aryse more ere­ly to the nocturne / ī the which must be kept a nother mesure / that is to say / the .vi. psalmes shalbe songe as we haue [Page] a fore ordred with the versicle / & then all sittyng in order ī their seetes / there must be redde vppon the boke .iiii. lessons with their respondes / where oonly after the .iiii. responce / shalbe songe gloria patri / whiche begonne / anon all muste aryse with reuerence makynge their obeysance / After the whiche lessons followith by order / other .vi. psalmes with their antemes as the .vi. afore dyd / and with a versicle. after the whiche ageyne / other .iiii. lessons muste be redde / with their responses / after the order abouesayde. After the whi­che muste be songe .iii. canticles of the prophetes / which the abbasse shall assigne / and they shalbe songe with alleluya. Then the versicle songe / and the benedictiō gyuen by thab­basse / other .iiii. lessons of the newe testamēt must be redde / after the maner abouesayde / & after the .iiii. response / thab­basse shall begyn: Te deum / the whiche ended / she shall re­de a lesson of the gospell / with dewe reuerence and fere / all stondynge vppon their fete / that doon they shal answere to gydder Amen. Then thabbasse muste begyn the hympne: Te decet laus / and after that the benediction is gyuen / they muste begynne matyns / whiche we call laudes / The whi­che ordre as towchinge the nocturne / at all tymes / as well somer as wynter / must be equaly kept vppon the sondays / Except the mynchins fortune (as god forbede) to ryse late and so make shorter their lessons or respondes The whiche thynge must all way be take hede of that it happen not / and if it soo happen / let hir doo therfore vnto god due and con­digne satisfaction in the oratory / whiche we call the quere / by whose necligence and ouersyght it was doon.

¶The .xii. chapiter treateth howe the matyns whiche we call the laudes / shalbe sayd vppon the sondaye.

[Page]IN matyns or laudes which is all oon vppon the son­day: fyrste is sayd this psalme Deus miseriatur / with out anteme. after the whiche / folowith this psalme Mise­rere mei deus with alleluya / then Confitemini the .iiii. then Deus deus meus / Benedicite omnia opera / and Laudate dūm de celis / After them a chapiter of the apocalyps with out boke / an hympne / a versicle. Benedictꝰ with an antem And kyrieleyson with the preces folowinge / And so is en­dyd the matyns or laudes / whiche is all oon.

¶The .xiii. chapiter treateth howe matyns or laudes shalbe sayd vpon the feryall dayes.

UPpon feryall dayes / this wise shall mateyns or laudꝭ be executyd / The first psalme is Deus miseriat with out any anteme / which psalme shalbe songe tretably as vp­pon the sonday / that all the couent may cōme to the begyn­nynge of Miserere / whiche muste nexte be songe with an anteme / After the whiche psalme / other .ii. psalmes muste be songe / after the custom / that is to say / vppon the monday Verba mea: & Dixit iniustus / vppō the twisday Iudica me deus and Miserere the .ii. vppon the wednesdaye Exaudi deus orationem meam cum deprecor and Te decet / vppon the thursday Domine deus salutis and dn̄e Refugium / vp­pon the Fryday Notus in iudea and Bonum est confiteri / vppon the saterdaye. Domine exaudi orationem meā auri­bus percipe. And Audite celi que loquar / whiche psalme shallbe deuyded in two: with .ii. gloria patri. For vppon o­ther dayes / euery canticle of the prophetes that belongeth to the daye / shalbe songe as the churche of Rome syngeth. That is to saye / vppon Mondaye the canticle / Confitebor vppon tuysdaye Egodixi / vppon wednesdaye / Exultauit / vppon thursday Cātemus / vppon fryday Domine audiui. [Page] After this folowith Laudate dn̄m de celis / then a chapiter without boke of the appostle / an ympue and a versicle / be­nedictus with an anteme / than kyrieleyson and the preces / and so it is thende / But at the ende of euery matyns or lau­des and euensong: a pater noster shalbe sayde alowde of the prioresse / so that all the quere may here it and that for thex­chuenge of dissencions and debates / malices / greues / and grudges the whiche be wonte often tymes to sprynge / by cause that the mynchins monisshed throwgh the promyse of the peticion of the pater noster / wherin they say. Goode lorde forgiue vs our trespas as we forgyue other / may pur­ge theym selfe from the same faute. In all other howres of diuine seruice there shall no more be sayd alowde of the pa­ter noster / but Et ne nos / so that all the quere may answere Sed libera nos.

¶The .xiiii. chapiter treateth howe the nocturne shalbe sayd vpon sayntes dayes.

UPpon sayntes dayes and in other solenne festes / they shall execute all diuine seruice ī the nyght / as we ha­ue cōmaunded to be doon vppon sundayes / Excepte oonly that those psalmes / antems / and lessōs shalbe songe / which belongeth to the daye. But the maner in executinge shalbe kept as is abouesayde.

¶The .xv. chapiter treateth what tymes alleluya shalbe sayde.

FRom the holy feste of Ester / vnto the feste of witson­tyde / alleluya shalbe songe contynually / bothe with psalmes & respons / from witsontyde vnto Septuagesima / at the nocturne it shall be oonly songe nyghtly with the .vi. latter psalmes / euery sonday / except the sondayes bytwene septuagesima and Easter / the canticles matyns or laudes [Page] which is all oon Prime / the thirde houre / the .vi. houre / and the houre at none / with alleluya. Euensonge shalbe with oon anteme / respondes shall neuer be songe with alleluya. but bytwene ester and whitsontyde.

¶The .xvi. chapiter treateth howe diuine seruyce on the daytyme shalbe sayd.

THe prophete sayth to all myghty god. I haue gyuen to the laude and praysynge .vii. tymes in the daye. with holy nombre of .vii. / shalbe fulfylled in vs / if we paye the duties of our seruyce / in the tyme of matyns or laudes / Prime / the .iii. houre / the .vi. houre / the houre at none / euen­songe & Complene / For of these houres is it / that the ꝓphe­te sayth / Seuen tymes by the day I haue lauded and pray­sed the / For of the diuine seruice / that is to say the nocturne / whiche is done by nyght / the selfe same prophete saythe / I rose at midnyght to knowlege my selfe vnto the. wherfore good susters at those seasons / let vs gyue laude & praysynge to our maker / for the iugemētes of his iustice / that is to say at matyns or laudes: Prime the thirde houre / the .vi. houre at none / euensonge / & cōplene / And in the nyght let vs aryse to knowlage his ryghtousnes to cōfesse our selfe vnto him.

¶The .xvii. chapiter treateth what psalmes shalbe sayde at diuine ser­uice in the daytyme.

THus haue we declared the order of the psalmody at the nocturne and matens or laudes / and nowe let vs see for the houres that followethe. At Prime / there shalbe song .iii. psalmes / euery of theym by him selfe / with his glo­ria patri. But the hympne of the same / euer shalbe song af­ter Deus in adiutorium / byfore the psalmes be begō / After the .iii. psalmes: shalbe redde a chapiter / than a versicle / and [Page] kyrieleyson / with the preces followynge. Also in the thirde houre / the .vi. houre / and the houre at none / they shall execu­te in lyke maner: Fyrste with Deus in adiutorium / than the hympne that belongeth to the houre / thre psalmes / a chapi­ter / a verticle / kyrieleyson with the preces. And if the cōpa­ny be great / than the houres shalbe executed / with their an­tems / If the cōpany be small / thā shall they execute the say­de hourꝭ / without their antems. And euensong there shal­be songe .iiii. psalmes with their antems / than a chapiter / an hympne / a versicle / Magnificat with the anteme. kyrie­leyson with the preces / & pater noster / and soo depart. Com­plene shalbe executed with .iii. psalmes / which shalbe songe without anteme / After the which / shall followe the hymp­ne of the same houre / a chapiter / a versicle / kyrieleyson: a be­nediction / and the preces and so departe.

¶The .xviii. chapiter treateth by what order the same psalmes shalbe sayde.

FIrste euery hour of the daye shall begyn with Deus in adiutorium / and gloria patri. After the hympne that belongeth to the houre. And vppon the sonday at pry­me they shall synge. Beati immaculati / vnto Legem pone. At other houres / that is to say / thirde / syxte / and none / they shall synge. Legem pone: vnto Lucerna pedibus meis / vp­pon monday at pryme they shall synge .iii. psalmes / that is to say: Beatus vir: Quare fremuerunt: and Domine ne in furore / At the houres / thirde / sixte / and none / they shall syn­ge from Lucerna pedibus / vnto Ad dominū cū tribularer. The tuesdaye at prime theis be the psalmes. Domine deus meus: Domine dominus noster: and Confitebor / vnto this verse: Exurge. And the houres / thirde / syxt / and none / they shall synge from Ad dn̄m cum tribularer: to Sepe expug­nauerunt. And so dayly vnto the sondaye / shalbe repeted at the houres / the psalmes aforesayd. And the order of hymp­nes / [Page] chaptres / and versicles / shalbe dayly kept after oon ma­ner. Vppon wednesdaye at prime theis be the psalmes. Ex­urge: In domino cofido: and Saluū me fac. Vppon thurs­day at prime: Vsquequo domine: Dixit insipiens: and Dn̄e quis habitabit. Vppon Fryday. Conserua me domine. Ex­audi domine. and Diligam. vnto Cum sancto sanctus eris. Vppon Saterday. Cū sctō sanctus eris. Celi enarrant. Ex. audiat te dominus. And thus vpon the Sonday shall they begynne their psalmes of prime a geyne / at Beati immacu­lati. Euensonge shalbe songe with .iiii. psalmes. And vppō the sonday these be the psalmes. Dixit dominus. Cōfitebor. Beatus vir. & Laudate pueri. The mondaye. In exitu. Di­lexi. Credidi propter. and Laudate dominum omnes gētes. with Sepe expugnauerunt as oon psalme: and vnder oon gloria patri. The Thuesdaye. Deprofundis. Domine non. Memento. and Ecce (quam) bonum. The wednesdaye. Laudate nomen. Cōfitemini. Super flumina. and Cōfitebor. The Thursdaye. Domine probasti deuided in two / with twyse gloria patri. Eripe me. and Domine clamaui. The frydaye. Voce mea. Benedictus ī two / with twyse gloria patri. and Exaltabo vnto Confiteantur. And the satrisdaye. Confite­antur. Lauda anima mea. Laudate dūm qm̄ bonus psalmꝰ. and Lauda hierusalem. ¶Nowe an order set for psalmes at euensonge / all other maner of thynges / that is to say / chap­tres / respondes / hympnes / versicles / and canticles shalbe cō ­tinued as is abouesayd. ¶At cōplen / oon maner of psalmes shalbe had thurgh out the weke / that is to say. Cum Inuo­carem. Qui habitat. and Ecce nunc. Thus a direction set of the psalmodie / whiche shalbe songe in the seruice of the day tyme / all the residue of the psalmes of the psalter / muste be equally diuided into the nocturns of the .vii nyghtes of the weke. Diuidynge alway in two / those psalmes whiche be lengeste amonge other / And orderynge .xii. psalmes to eue­ry nyght / yeuynge spirituall kowlege / that if fortune anye man to be myscontēt with this diuisiō of psalmes. Let him [Page] order them other wyse / if he so thynke it better / so that this be alwayes obserued and well take hede to / that euery we­ke the psaulter of the hole numbre of .C.l. psalmes be songe to thende. And vppon Sondaye at the nocturne / that they begynne at the hed ageyne. For mynchins sheweth theym selfe / to be very dull / and of small deuocion / whiche by the cōpase of a hole weke / syngeth lesse then the psaulter / with other diuine seruice accustumable / seinge that we rede that holy fathers haue doon valliantly and gladly with greate currage that thinge in oon daye / the which wolde god / we of a faynt currage myght bringe a boute in a hole weke.

¶The .xix. chapiter treateth of the doctrine of syngynge.

WE beleue that god is euery where present / that he beholdeth in euery place / both them that be good / and them that be euyll / But specyally let vs then thynke & beleue / that it is soo without any maner of doubt / whan we be at the diuine seruice / therfore let vs allway ha­ue in remembrance / that the prophete sayth. Do your duety and seruice vnto god with fere / And agayne. Syng ye wy­sely and intentyuely. Moreouer he sayth I shall synge vnto the in the face and syght of angelles. Therfore good susters (sayth seynt Benet) let vs well cōsyder / howe we must be­haue our selfe in the syght of all myghty god / and of his an­gelles. And whansoeuer we cōme to gydder / to synge the seruice of god / let vs take good hede / that our mynde accor­de to our voice / and that they twayne renne both oon way / and vppon oon thynge.

¶The .xx. chapiter treateth of the reuerence that ought to be had in prayers.

[Page]IF it so be that we intende to labour / or breke any ma­tier with a noble man / we take nothynge vppon vs / nor nothynge presume / but with humilite and due reuerē ­ce / howe moche more then ought we to make our supplica­cion to all myghty god / kynge of all kynges / and lorde of all men / with all maner of mekenes / lawly reuerence / and pu­re deuocion. And knowe we for certeyne / that not in many wordes / but in clennesse of harte / and cōpuncion of teres / he wyll gracyousely here vs. Therfore / prayer muste be shorte and pure / except parauenture it be be prolonghed / thurgh the loue and affection of the Inspiraciō of the grace of god. Howe be it all waye in congregacion / prayer shall be short / And after a serteyne signe or token made of the prioresse / all shall aryse and goo to gyther.

¶The .xxi. chapiter treateth of the deanes of the monastery.

IF the couent / be greate / we woll that certeyne of the susters of good proufe / and holy cōuersacion / be cho­sen and made deanes / which so made and ordeigned / shall with all diligence. take charge and hede / vppon their dean­res / in all maner of thyngꝭ / that apparteyneth to the cōmaū ­dimentes of god / and preceptes of their abbasse. which dea­nes / we will be elected suche persons / amonges whom / the abbasse may suerly diuide and distribute / parte of hir office and charges / and the sayde Deanes / shall not be chosen by order / but after the desertes and merytes of their lyues / and after their wyse doctryne / & good example / & if any of them inflamed with pryde / be foūde reproueable / if after that she be corrected / ons / twise / or thryse / If she woll not then amē ­de / let hir be avoyded / and a nother succede in hir place / whi­che is worthy the rowme / And of theym that be or deyned [Page] prepositours / whiche may be called Prioresses / we make lyke constitucion.

¶The .xxii. chapiter treateth in what maner Mynchyns shall take their reste and slepe.

EVerye oon of the mynchyns shall haue hir bedde by hir selfe alone to rest in / they shall take their beddingꝭ accordynge to the maner of their cōuersacion / and after the disposition and ordinance of the abbasse. And it may so be / all shall slepe in oon dorter. If the multitude wyll not suffre it / then .x. or .xx. or moo / shall reste and haue their bedde to geyther with certeyne senioures / that may diligently loke vnto them. A candell shall continually brenne in the dorter / vnto it be morninge / they shall slepe ī their clothes / and they shalbe gyrde with thonges or with cordes / and they shall haue no knyfe at their syde / whē they slepe / lesse be the mis­chaunce they be hurte slepynge. And this shall Mynchyns doo to thentēt / that they may al way be redy / & that they at certeyne watche or token made / may ryse vp without any tarcynge / and make spede / euery of them to preuent other / to the seruyce of almyghty god / yet not withstōdynge they shall doo it with all grauite & sobernes. The yonger susters shall not haue their beddes togyther / But meddeled by twyxt the beddes of their elders / they that be furste vp and redy toward the seruyce of god. Shall make soon softe and sobre styrrynge / with the soūde of their mouthes / or of their ete / or knockynge vppō the beddes sydes / to a wake theym that be sluggardes.

¶The .xxiii. chapiter treateth of excōmunicacion.

[Page]IF any suster be stubbern / inobedient / prowde / or ī any maner grutchynge of thingꝭ / contrary to the holy ru­le or els be espyed and foūde a dispiser of the preceptes of hir elders / let hir be monished / accordinge to the cōmaundemēt of all myghty god / oons or twyse / secretly of hir seniours. If she do not therby amende / then let hir haue a open rebu­ke / byfore all the couent. And if she wyl not soo amēde / and knowe what the payne & daūger of excōmunicacion is / let hir be excōmunicate. But if she be rude & sturdye / without shame or feare of god / let hir be put to bodely punishement.

¶The .xxiiii. chapiter treateth of the maner of excōmunicacion.

AFter the quantite of the offence / muste be the mesure of eccxmunicacion and discipline. The whiche ma­ner or quantite of thoffyce / hangeth in the iugement / and estimacion of the abbasse. But if any susters / be founde in a lyght offence / she shall be depriued the cōpany of hir susters / at the table. And of hir that is soo depriued from the com­pany at mete / this shalbe the ordre / that ī the quere / she shall not begynne psalme ne anteme / nor rede anye lesson / vnto the tyme that she haue doon satisfaccion for hir offence / she shall take refection of mete and drynke / after hir susters alo­ne as thus. If hir susters take repaste at the .vi. houre of the day / she shall take repaste at the .ix. houre. And if hir susters at the .ix. houre / thā she at the euynynge vnto the tyme that she purchase forgyuenes / with cōuenient satisfaccion.

¶The .xxv. chapiter treateth of the offen­ses that be mooste greuouse.

THat suster that is noted and taken in a more greuou­se offence / shalbe suspendyd / both from the table / and from the quere. None of hir susters shall eyther accompany with hir / or speke with hir. She shall be alone at all occupa­cion and worke that is enioyned vnto hir / perseuerynge in the weylynge of penance / vnderstondynge the frutfull sen­tence of the appostle / saynge suche a woman is geuen to the deuyll / as far as tocheth the destruccion of hir body. that hir soule may be sauffer at the daye of iugement of all myghty god. She shall ete hir mete alone. in what mesure / and at what houre thabbasse woll iuge cōueniēt / And none of hir susters passynge by hir / shall salue or blysse hir or hir mete.

¶The .xxvi. chapiter treateth of them that accompany with excōmunicat persons.

IF any suster presume without the cōmaundement of thabbasse / to accōpany hir selfe with any excōmuni­cate suster in any maner of wyse / or to speke with hir / or els to directe any message or wrytyng to hir / let hir be punished with lyke payne of excōmunicacion.

¶The .xxvii. chapiter treateth howe the Abbasse muste be diligent aboute the susters excōmunicate.

THe abbasse must take hede with all hir diligēce vppō those susters which doo offēce / for they that be seke & they that be hole / haue nede of a phisiciō / & therfore she must [vse all [Page] wayes as a wyse and an experte Phisicion / to sende to the offender / som aged susters as though they were hir secrete frendes and aydours / which shall priuily confort hir suster / that is wauerynge / and styr and prouoke hir to do satisfac­tion with humilite / & so shall they showe cōforte vnto hir / that she fall not into dispayre. But (as the appostle sayth) charyte may be in hir cōfermed and establysshed / and let all hir susters pray for hir. Trewly thabbasse is bounde great­ly to be ware / and with all hir wysdōme and laboure to ta­ke hede / lesse she lose any of hir shepe cōmitted vnto hir cure She muste well knowe that she hath take in honde / the cu­re of feble sowlles / and not to be as a lady ouer theym / that be hole and stronge. And let hir fere the thretnynge of the prophete / by whome all myghty god saythe. That thynge which ye did see hole and sownde / that ye toke and deuow­red / and that that was seke & feble / ye dispised and did caste out. And thabbasse shall also followe the piteouse example of the good shepeherde / which leuynge .lxxx. and .xix. of his shepe / in the hylles and wyldernesse / went to seke his oon shepe whiche was wanderynge and strayed away / vppon whose feblenes and disease he had so greate cōpassion / that he vouchyd saue / to couche hir vppō his holy shulders. and and so to brynge hir ageyne to his flocke.

¶The .xxviii. chapiter treateth of them that amēde not them selfe after due warnyngꝭ and monicions.

IF any suster rebuked or corrected for any maner of of­fence / yea and after excōmunicacion / if she doo not a­mende / she muste haue a sharpe correction / that is to say / let hir be punished withe betynge. And if therby she wyll not amende or elles perauenture (as god defende) She dothe [Page] leuate hir selfe in pryde / and wyll also defende hir dedes / thā shall the abbasse doo lyke a wyse physicion / that is to say. If she haue fyrste layde vnto hir sople and nurrisshynge medi­cynes / If she haue also layde vnto hir the oyntementes of good exhortaciōs / If she haue layd vnto hir the medicynes of holy scripture / yea and at the laste / if she haue added ther­to the corrosyue of excōicatiō / or ells punishemēt of betyng / And yet for all these espye that hir labor p̄uayleth nothyng / thē let hir to the sayd medecines adde that thyng / which is more soueraigne / that is to saye / hir owne and all hir susters prayers for hir / that allmyghty god / which all thynge may / wyll vouchesafe / to mynster helthe to their syke tuster / and if by these meanes she be not heled / Than let thabbasse vse the Instrumēt of abscision / as thapostle sayth. Caste a way the euyll from amonge you. And agayne he sayth. An vn­frutfull ꝑson / if she goo / let hir goo / lesse oon scabbyd shepe do infect and poyson the hole flocke.

¶The .xxix. chapiter treateth / whether that susters which haue departed or be put out of the monastery / shalbe receyued agayn.

A Suster whiche goyth out / or be put out of the mo­nastery thurght hir owne fawte / If she wyl retorne agayne / furst let hir promyse / fully to amende the fawte / for the whiche she went out / or was put out / and soo let hir be receyued into the loweste degre / That thereby hir humilite may be proued. And if she goo out agayne / let hir be recey­ued in lyke maner the thirde tyme. But after that / Let hir knowe well / that all returnynge into the monastery / shalbe denyghed vnto hir.

¶The .xxx. chapiter treateth howe mynchins beinge chyldren shalbe corrected.

[Page]FOr euery ayge and vnderstondynge / must be a verye propre and speciall mesure of correction or discipline / and therfore / damaselles or chyldrē of lesse age / yea and also they that vnderstonde not howe great payne of excōmunica­cion is: all suche whan they doo offende / muste be punisshid with great fastynge or els be kepte vnder / with sharpe be­tynges / wherby they may amende.

¶The .xxxi. chapiter treateth of the Selleresse and hir offyce.

THe Selleresse of the monastery muste be chosen oon of the couent / wyse / rype in goode maners / sobre / no great eter / not proude / not troublouse / no rebuker / or reuiler / not slowe / not prodigall. But dredynge god / whiche muste be to the hole couent as a moder. She shall take charge of all maner of thinges / she shall nothynge doo / without the cōmaundement of thabbasse / and what so euer thabbasse rōmaundeth: that shall she fulfyll / And what so euer thab­basse cōmytteth to hir custody / she shall kepe it / She shall not moleste / angre / nor make heuye hir susters / And if hir suster acke of hir any thynge vnresonably / she shall not des­piteousely angre / or wery hir / But resonablye with goode mode and mekenesse / she shall denye hir / that asketh other wyse thē she ought to doo / Let hir see wel to hir owne sow­le / hauynge in mynde the wordes of thapostle / that she that doth hir dewte and seruyce well: purchaseth vnto hir selfe a good estate and degre. She muste take vppō hir the char­ge and ouer syght / with all hir diligens of seeke ꝑsons / chil­dren / gyftes / & poure people: vnderstōding out of the doubt. that for all theis / at the day of dome she must gyue accōptꝭ. she shall ouersee all the vesselles & vtēsiles of the monastery & all the substance of the same / & so loke to thē / euyn as they [Page] were they consecrate and halowed vesselles of the Aultre: And she shall suffre nothynge / though it be of lyttell value / to goo to waste / nor vnloked to nor neclygently left or loste / She shall not gyue hir selfe to couetousnes / ne yeat be pro­digall in expenses / or els a distroyer of the substaunce of the monastery. But she shall al thynges doo in mesure / and ac­cordyng to the cōmaūdemēt of the abbasse / Aboue al thingꝭ she shall prefer humylite / and whan she hath not for to gy­ue the thynge that is asked: she shall gyue a fayre answere / as it is written / a fayre worde is more worth: than the gret­teste gyfte that may be / All maner of thynges that the ab­basse hath cōmytted vnto hir shal haue vnder hir charge: & what soo euer thabbasse doth prohibyte: that shall she not p̄ sume to do. She shall delyuer to hir Susters / their dutye of mete & drynke / without anye simulaciō / checke / or grudge / & without delay / so that by hir they haue noo occasion to offē ­de / remembrynge the saynge of all myghty god / what is she worthy to haue: that gyueth occasion of synne / to an in­nocent and lowly person. If the couent be great / she shal ha­ue helpe and comfort of other / by whose socour / she shall do hir duty and offyce cōmytted vnto hir / with a goode wyll / without any grudgynge / that that is to be gyuen / muste be gyuen in a competente tyme / And that that is to be asked / must be in lyke wyse / soo that no person be troubled / vexed / greued / or made angry: in the howse of god.

¶The .xxxii. chapiter treateth of the ke­pynge and occupyenge of the goodes of the monasterye.

AS touchyng the kepynge / occupyeng / or ministryng of the mouable goodꝭ of the monastery: as serramē ­tes / instrumētes / loomes / vessells / vesture / and all other ma­ner of suche thinges / thabbasse shall prouyde suche susters / of whose lyuynge and good maners / she stondeth in suerte [Page] of / & deliuer euery thyng to them / to be kept & gadered to gy­der as she iuggeth to the more ꝓfyte. Of the which goodes thabbasse shall kepe an Inuentatory or a byll indented: that when so euer / susters succedethe oon after a nother into the sayde offyce: she may knowe what she deliuereth / & what she receyueth. If any suster handle or entreate the goodꝭ of the monastery vngoodly / or necligently: let hir be rebuked / and if she doo amende / let hir suffre discipline and correctiō / accordynge to the rule.

¶The .xxxiii. chapiter treateth of proprietie.

PRincipally and before all other vices / this vice of pro­prietie must be cut out of the monastery by the roote / that is to say / that noo mynchyn presume to giue or receyue any thynge without the cōmaundement of the abbasse / ne haue any thyng propre / that is to say / by noo maner of wyse noo maner of thynge / nother boke / nother tables / poyntell / ne no other thynge erthly / For so moche that to theym it is not lefull / to haue their owne bodꝭ / nother their owne wyl­les in their owne power. But they must oonly truste / to ha­ue all maner of thyngꝭ necessarye / of the mother of the mo­nastery / Neyther it is leefull for theym / to haue any all ma­ner of thynge / which the abbasse hath not gyuen to them / or of hir certeyne knowlege expressely and specyally hathe suffred theym to haue. And all thynges must be vnto them incōmune / as it is written / Nother any of theym shall call / any thynge hir owne / or presume or suppose anye thynge to be hir owne. And if any mynchin be espyed to delyte or to haue pleasure in this moste cursed vice of ꝓpriete / let hir be monysshed ons or twyse / and if she doo not then amende / let hir be put to correction and regularite of discipline.

¶The .xxxiiii. chapiter sheweth whether euery Mynchyn shall equally receyue the thynges that be necessary for them /

AS it is wreten diuision was made to euery oon of the disciples and apposteles of christ / as euery of thē had nede. where we say not (as god forbed we sholde) that any respecte be had in the acceptynge of the persons. But that cōsyderaciō be had of their necessite. wherfore she that nedethe lesse: let hir thanke god / and be not myscōtent / if an other haue more. She that nedeth more / let hir submyt and humble hir selfe for hir infirmite / and be not proude of the pitie and cōpassion / that is shewed vnto hir. And so shall all the membres be in reste and peace. And before all thynges let it be seen that no sparke of grudgynge appere in any oon of them / for any cause / in any maner of worde or tokē. And if any mynchyn be espyed in this faute / let hir be subdued to more strayt punishement of discipline.

¶The .xxxv. chapitre treateth of the wekely kychynners.

SVstres shall soo doo seruyce eche to other / that none be excused from thoffice of the kychin / except it be so / that any be let / eyther by sekenes or els by sōme cause of gre­at profyte / for therby is purchased a great rewarde / to them that be feble and weked / shalbe ministred helpe / soucour / & cōfort of other / to thentent that they doo not their busines / with an euyll wyll / but all shall haue helpe / cōforte / and so­cour / after as the congregacion is / and after the site and set­tynge of the place. If the couent be great / the abbasse shalbe excused of the kychyn / and suche other as we haue aboue­sayd / that be occupyed in thynges of more profyte. But the [Page] resideue / shall doo seruyce to other in loue and charyte. She that goth out of hir offyce / at the wekes ende vppon the sa­terdaye / shall make all thynges clene. She shall washe the clothes with the which hir susters wype their handꝭ & their fete / The feete of all the couēt / as well shall she washe that gothe out of offyce as she that entreth īto the offyce / she that goth out of office / shall shewe & delyuer all the vessellꝭ & vtē ­syles of hir office / to the celleresse / clene & soūde / the whiche / the celleresse ageyn shall shewe & delyuer to hir that entreth into the offyce / so that she may knowe / what that she dely­uereth / & what she receyuith. ¶The seruitours by the weke which be called hebdomadarꝭ / oon houre before the refectiō of the couēt / shall take a morsell of brede / & a draught of drī ­ke / be sydes their dutie / to thentēt that they may doo seruyce to their susters at mealꝭ / without grudge & greuouse labou­re / yet vppō solēpne dayes / the sayd wekely seruitours shall take pacience / and abyde tyll the laste masse be doone. The sayd wekely seruitours / as well she that entreth / as she that goth out / by and by in the quere when matyns or laudes be ended vppon the sonday / shall prostrate them selfe before all their susters / desyrynge them to pray for theym / They that goo out of their offyce shall say this verse. Benedictꝰ es do­mine deus qui adiuuisti me et consolatus es me. whiche is thus moche to say. Blessed art thou lorde god / which haste helped me and conforted me. she whiche thries sayde / she shall receyue a Benediction / and soo departe. And then she that shall entre / shall followe and say / Deus in adiutorium meum intende: domine ad adiuuandum me festina. The which is in englyshe. Gracyous god intende to warde my soucoure / good lorde make spede to helpe me. And that thries shall be repeted of theym all. And after a benediction she muste entre hir offyce.

¶The .xxxvi. chapiter treateth of syke susters.

[Page]THere muste good hede be taken to the susters that be seke and diseased / byfore and aboue all thynge / and as ye wolde doo your duetie and seruyce vnto christe so shal ye vnto them / for christe saythe. I was seeke / and ye dyd vy­sit me / and agayne / what so euer ye dyd to oon of the leeste of these my seruantꝭ / to me ye dyd it. But suche seeke susters muste consyder / that seruice is done vnto them / in the wor­shyppe and honoure of god. And let theym not wery their susters whiche minister and dothe seruice vnto them / with inportunite or demaundynge thinges superfluose / And yet suche seeke persones must be forborne pacyently / For by the reasone of theym / a more buntefull rewarde is purchased. Therfore thabbasse must chefely take hede / that they suffre no dammage thurghe neglygence / To the whiche susters / beinge seeke / there shalbe deputied a certeyne chambre / and also oon to serue theym whiche is both dredynge god / and also diligēt & quycke / The vse of bathes / shall be offred vnto seeke susters / as often as shalbe expedient / but to them that be hole / and namely yonge persones / it shalbe sildome graū ­ted. Also eatynge of fleshe / may be graunted all way / to su­che as be seeke and feble / for their more spedy recouery. And after that they be amended / then must they all abstayne fro fleshe / as they were wonte to doo. The abbasse muste haue asinguler cure and charge / that the seeke susters be not neg­ligently seen to / of the celleresse and seruitours / For vnto hir charge it belongeth what so euer faute / offēce / or negligen­ce is done by hir disciples.

¶The .xxxvii. chapiter treateth of olde men and children.

THoughe nature of mankynde of it selfe be prone ap­pliant / and redy vnto mercy and compassion of these [Page] agys / that is to say of olde folkes / and yonge chyldrē / neuer the lesse for a more suerte / by cause all persons doth not vse these naturall compassions / we woll that also thauctorite of these Rule shall prouyde and see for theym / to the entent that in no wyse they lacke / & be destitute of their necessaris / wekenes of nature muste be alway consydered in theym / & therfore they shall not be bounde to the strayghtnes of the Rule / as tochynge their fedyng / but there must be had tow­ardes them a good consyderacion / and let them preuent the houres / lymitted by the Rule.

¶The .xxxviii. chapiter treateth of the wekely reder.

AT the table of the susters / whilꝭ they fede: there may want no lecture. whoo so catcheth a boke in hir han­de / shall take vppon hir to rede at all auētures / But she that shall rede the hole weke / muste entre the sonday / the which so enterynge / after masse and after she hathe receyued the blessed sacrament of the aulter / must desyre all hir susters to to pray for hir / that god kepe hir frome the spirite of vayne glorye. And this verse shalbe sayde in the quere thryes of all the couent / so that she that entreth / doo begynne it sayenge. Domine labia me aperies: et os meum annunciabit laudē tuam. whiche is to saye / Good lorde open thou my lyppes / and my mouthe shall shewe fourthe thy laude & praysynge / and thus after a benediction receyued / she shall entre tow­arde hir lecture. And depe and profunde sylence▪ shalbe kept at the table / soo that the wysperynge or voyce of noo person there be harde / but oonly of the reder. Souche thingꝭ as be necessary to theym that ete and drynke / the susters shall soo redely minister eche to other / that none of theym haue nede to aske or call for any thynge. And if so be they nede ought / [Page] let them aske it rather by the sounde of some maner of signe or tokyn / than by any voyce / and to thentent there be noone occasion gyuen of any euyll temptacion / none of them shall presume to talke any thynge there eyther of the lecture / or of any other thynge / except perauenture the prioresse wolde breuely declare ought / for the edyfyenge of hir susters / She that redeth for the weke / shall take a morsell of brede and a draught of drynke before she begynne to rede / for the more suertie of the holy cōmunion / and lesse it shold be a payne to hir to cōtynewe so longe fastinge. Afterwarde she shall take refection with them that be hebdomadarys in the kychyn / and seruitours in the refectorie. The susters shall not rede nor synge indifferētly by order / but oonly they that can beste to the difyenge of the houres.

¶The .xxxix. chapiter treateth of the mesure of meate.

WE thynke that in all monethꝭ of the yere .ii. diuer­se maners of meates be sufficient / to the dayly re­fection / as well at the .vi. houre of the day / that is to say / at none vppon etinge dayes / as at the .ix. houre / vppō fastynge dayes / in all monethes of the yere / and that for the diseases of dyuerse persones / to the entent / that she whiche ꝑauenture may not eate of that oon / may eate of that other. Therfore two maner of meates well dressed and seasoned / shalbe sufficient to all the susters / and if any oon of the sayd two meates / be appules / herbes / or pease / let them then ha­ue the thyrde meate / brede of a pounde in wayght / shall suf­fice to oon of theym for a daye / and that whether they take but oon refection / or elles dyne and suppe. And if they shall suppe / the thirde parte of the same pounde of brede / shalbe Reserued by the Celleresse / to be delyuered to hir Supper. [Page] And if the labour of the susters be great: it shalbe in the di­screcion and power of the abbasse / when it shalbe expediēt somwhat to encrease their porcion / surfettes alwayes set a syde / that a mynchyn neuer fall vnto indigestion byfore she be ware / For nothinge is more cōtagiouse and contrarye to a christen man or woman than surfet: or dronkenes / as our lorde sayth. Se that your bodis be not ouercom in surfet or dronkenes / But vnto damaselles and childrē yonge in age / the quātite abouesayd shall not alwayes be kept & mustrid but lesse then to theym that be elder / scarcite kept in all thin­ges. The etynge of flesshe of .iiii. foted bestes must alway­es be forborne of all mynchins / except theym alwayes that be feble or seke.

¶The .xl. chapiter treateth of the measure of drynke.

EVerye person hathe a gyfte by him selfe of god / oon after oon maner / a nother aftur a nother maner / And therfore the measure of meate and drynke for other persons (sayth seynt Benet) is set an ordred by vs / with som scru­pulosite and doubte. Notwithstandynge we consyderynge the wekenes of theym that be deseased / thinke verely / that hemma the which is nygh abowtes a mydes in the Itali­on toonge / a pynte in the frenche / and the Englysche toongꝭ (which be nyghe by all oon measure) suffyseth to euery per­son in wyne for oon daye. But they to whome god graun­teth / that they may suffre abstinence of lesse drynke / may well knowe that they shall haue their rewarde accordyng­ly. And if the necessite of the place / or great laboure / or elles the great hete of sommer woll require more. Let it stōde in the wyll and arbytrement of the soueraygne / regardynge amonges all thynges / that repleccion or dronkenes: vndre myne theym not before they be ware. All thoughe we rede [Page] that wyne ought in no wyse to be the drynke of mynchyns / yet for as muche as in our dayes / that thynge cānot be per­swaded vnto theym / at the leest / let vs graunt and obserue this / that we drynke not to our full and saciate / but scarcely and soberly / for wyne causith / yea them that be ryght wyse for to erre and goo out of the way of good lyuynge / and the same reason tochynge sobernesse / is to be vnderstonde / not oonly of wyne / but also of ale / bere / and all other drynkes / But where the pouerty of the place cōpelleth / that the me­sure aforesayde cannot be hadde / but muche lesse / or els no­thynge at all / let them thanke god that their dwell / & grou­ch not at it / For this we warne / counsayll and exhorte abo­ue all thynge / that susters leede their lyue to gydder with­out grutchynge.

¶The .xli. chapiter sheweth at what houres the susters shall take their refection.

FRom the holy feeste of Easter vnto witsontyde / the susters shall goo to dyner at the .vi. houre of the daye whiche is after the Englyshe rekenyng abowtes an houre before the mydday / & sope ī the euynnynge. And frō witsō ­tyde thurgh out all the sōmer / if the mynchyns haue no la­boure in the felde / or if they be not trowbled with ouer mo­che hete ī sōmer / thē vppō wednisdays & frydays they shall faste vnto che .ix. houre of the day / which is aboutꝭ .ii. of the clocke in the after none / vppō other dayes they shall dyne at the .vi. houre of the day / which .vi. houre if they haue busi­nes in the feelde / or elles the hete of sōmer be feruent / shalbe cōtinued & kept / also the wednesdaye and frydaye / if thab­basse so woll dispose & ordere it. And yet in all dispensaciōs / moderacions / and lycences / the abbasse must haue suche re­garde & ꝯsideraciōs that hir sustreses sowles may be saued / and that they shall doo / may be doo without grudge [Page] or murmure resonable. From the Idus of Septembre / vn­to Shrouetyde / they shall take their refeccion at .ix. of the day / In lent tyll Easter they shall eate at the euyn tyme / and euēsong shall soo be doō / that at their meate / they shall nede no lyght of candel / but all shalbe ended by day lyght. Also at all tymes / be it soper or other refeccion / so shall the houre be moderate / that all thinges be doon by daylyght.

¶The .xlii. chapiter sheweth that after complayne all the Sisters shall kepe silence.

AT all seasons mynchins ought to doo their deuoure to kepe silence / and chefly in the houres of the nyght. And therfore at all tymes / beynge fastynge daye or etynge day / If it be etyng day / anone as they aryse from soper / they muste sit all to gydder in oon place / and oon of them muste rede collacions / that is to say / a boke called collacions / or els Vitas patrum / er els som other boke that is apt to edifie and doo good to the herers. They shall not rede the bokes of the olde lawe / or the bokes of kynges / for vnto them that be fe­ble of vnderstōding / it shal not be fruteful not to hir that re­des scripture ī suche an houre. At other tymes they may be red. If it be fasting day / thē withī a lyttell whyle after that euensong is doon / anon they shall cōme to the lecture of the collacion / as we haue sayde before / and .iiii. or .v. leues ther­of redde / or elles as moche as oon houre wyll permit so that all the couēt in the meane tyme may cōme to gydder / if any of them be then occupied in any maner of thynge / cōmitted vnto hir / she must forthwith leueof / and cōme to the couēt / and so all they gaderyd to gydder in oon shall make an ende & execute cōplene. And departyng srome cōplene it shall not be lefull to any of theym afterward to speke any worde to [Page] any person. And if any of them be foūde to haue broke this Reule of silence / let hir be subdued to a strayt punishement except that necessite of gestes com vppon / or els perauentu­re thabbasse cōmitteth to any of thē somwhat to be doon. And yet that same thynge must be doon with great graui­te / moderacion and with honest and good behauour.

¶The .xliii. chapiter is of them that cōme late to the seruice of god and to grace byfore they goo to mete.

AT the houre of diuine seruice / anone as the signe is hatde or the bell ronge / all thinges left a parte what soeuer shall fortune to be in hande / they must renne with all spede that may be. Howe be it / it must be doō with grauite / soo that lewde behauour / or lyghtnesse be not foūde amon­ges them / For nothynge shalbe preferred the seruice of all myghty god. And if any cōm to the nocturne in the nyght / after glia patri of Venite / the which psalme / we wol (sayth seynt Benet) shalbe prolonged and song treatably allway / for the same cause / she shall not stonde in hir ordre ī the que­re / but she muste stonde laste of all / or elles in a place aparte which thabbasse shall ordeyne for suche slouthfull and neg­ligent persones / so that she may be seen of the abbasse or els of all the couēt / vnto the tyme that the seruyce of god be en­ded / she take repētance with open satisfacciō. And therfore we haue iuged thē to stōde in the lowest place or els a parte a syde / to thentēt that whylꝭ they be seen of all their susters / at the leeste for very shame they must amēde. For if soche a slowe ꝑson shold remayne without the quere / ꝑauēture su­che oon she myght be / that wolde take hir rest or slepe / or sit without at large or els gyue hede to fables therfore let noon occasiō be gyuē to the Deuill in hir. But let hir entre īto the quere / to thentent that she lese not all / & that she may make [Page] amendes for the resydew. At the houres of the day / she that cōmeth to diuine seruice after Deus in adiutorium / and gloria patri of the furste psalme / whiche is sayde after Deus in adiutorium / accordynge to the ordenance abouesayde. Let hir stonde in the laste place of the quere / nether she shall pre­sume to be accōpanied with thē that synge / vnto the tyme she doo satisfaction / except perauenture thabbasse gyue ly­cence vnto hir by suffrāce / so that yeat she beinge guylte doo satisfie therfore. At the houre of refection she that cōmethe not byfore grace / that they may all to gydder say grace and pray / and that they all may goo to the table to gydder / she that by hir owne negligēce and faute doth not so cōme / Let hir be rebuked therfore vnto the seconde tyme. If then she doo not amēde. Let hir not be fussred to be at the table amō ­ges them. but sequestrate and let hir be diuorcede from the company of theym all / and let hir ete alone / Hir porcyon of wyne and other drynke (except water) takyn awaye from hir / vnto the tyme she doo satisfactiō and amende / Lyke pu­nischement shall she suffre that is not present at the grace / which is sayde after mete. And we woll that none presume to take mete and drynke byfore and after the houre limitted And if any of theym resuse any thynge that is offred to hir / by the suffraygne / the next tyme that she desireth ought / she shall take that she furste refused / or els she shall nothing ha­ue / tyll she make a conuenient amendes.

¶The .xliiii. chapiter treateth of those that be excōmunicat / howe they shall do satisfaction.

SHe that for a more greuous offence is excōmunica­te frome the quere and from the table. whan the ser­uice of god is soonge in the quere muste lyghe downe byfo­re the Quere doore sayenge nothynge / but oonly beynge prostrate grouelynge with hir hedde towchynge the Erth [Page] at the fete of all hir susters / cōmynge out of the queer / and that shall she doo with contynuance / vnto the abbasse iuge that she haue doon satisfaccion / which mynchyn / whan by the cōmaūdement of thabbasse / she doth cōme into the cha­piter howse / shal prostrate hir selfe byfore the fete of the say­de abbasse / and afterward at the fete of all hir susters / desy­rynge them to pray for hir. And than if thabbasse cōmaun­de she shalbe receyued īto the quere / in what order or degre that thabbasse woll decerne and limite / Soo that she pre­sume not to begynne psalme / lecturne / or any other thynge in the quere / except thabbasse gyue a newe cōmaundemēt. And at euery houre whan the seruice of god is soonge / she shall prostrate hir selfe vppon the erth ī the place where she stondeth / and soo shall she doo satisfaccion in the quere / tyll thabbasse cōmaūde hir to cease: they that be excōmunicate for lyght fautes oonly from the table / shall doo fatisfaccion in the quere / vnto the tyme the abbasse gyue other cōmaū ­dement. This shall they allway doo tyll the thabbasse gyue them there absolution and say that it is sufficient.

¶The .xlv. chapiter treateth of theym that doth amysse in the quere.

IF any mynchyn whā she begynneth a psalme / respō ­de / anteme / or lectourne / make anye faute / excepte by dewe satissfaction / there before all hir susters she doo sub­mytte hir selfe / let hir be put to a more punishmēt / And that bycause she wolde not be corrected with mekenes that: that she trespaseth thurghe neglygence. But chyldren for suche a faute muste be bette.

¶The .xlvi. chapiter treateth of thoos which in any maner of other thynges doo offende

[Page]IF any Mynchyn whiles she is in any laboure in the kychyn in the celler / in the executinge thoffyce of a ser­uitoure in the bakehouse / in the garden / or in any maner of occupacion whyles she labourythe / where so euer it be / doo ought a mysse / or breke any thynge / lese any thynge / or elles make anye excesse in any maner of place / if she cōme not by and by before the abbasse or the couent and of hir owne free wyll doo satisfactiō & showe hir trespase before it be know­en by som other / let hir be subdued to a gretter amēdes / and if the trespasse be oonly to the hurte of hir owne sowle and secrete / she shall shewe it oonly to sōme holsome and aged goostly fader / whiche can cure and make hole not oonly his owne offenses and sykenesse / but others also and neuer dis­close nor publyshe them.

¶The .xlvii. chapiter treateth of thappoyntment of the houre of diuine seruice

IT apperteigneth to the charge of thabbasse to showe the houre of the seruyce of all myghty god / bothe by daye and by nyght. Ether muste she doo it hir selfe or elles cōmitte this charge to som dyligent sustre soo that all thin­ges be ended incōueniēt houres. They shall begyn psalmes or antems euery of theym except the abbasse by ordre / or to whome so euer the cōmaundement be gyuen. There may none presume to synge or rede aught / but she that may soo well doo and performe it / that the herers may be the better therby / whiche thinge she muste doo with humilite / graui­te / and fere / and by the abbasse cōmaundement or elles not.

¶The .xlviii. chapiter speketh of dayly hande laboure.

IDlenes is an vtter and extreme enemy of the sowle / and therfore certeyne tymes susters must be occupied [Page] in laboure of the hande / and certayn tymes in redyng god­li lectours or ī good meditaciōs And therfore we thinke bo­the the sayd tymes in this wyse to be well ordred / that is to say that frō Easter vnto the Kalēdas of October in the mor­ninge fro the firste houre of the day vnto almoste the .iiii. of the daye let theym laboure aboute suche thynges as be ne­cessary. And from the .iiii. houre of the day / vnto almost the syxte houre / they must gyue them selfe to redynge. ¶Aftur the .vi. houre rysynge from the table / they shall reste a wyle in their beddꝭ / with all silence / or els if she woll gyue hir selfe to reding / let hir so rede softli bi hir selfe / that she trouble no­ne other. And the houre of none must be executed at the hal­fe houre before the .viii. houre of the daye. And then agayne what so euer is beste to be doon / let them laboure in it vnto euynsonge tyme. And if the necessite of the place or els po­uerte compelleth that they muste be occupyed theym selfe / aboute the gatheringe in of Corne / they may not take it he­uely nor be greued there with / for than they be very trewe mynchins / whan they lyue with the laboure of their owne handes / as dyd our faders and the appostles / notwithston­dynge all thynges shalbe be doon in measure and with dis­crecion / bycause of them that be feble and weke in bodye or spirite. From the kalēdas of October vnto shrouetyde / they shall gyue theym selfe vnto redynge / tyll the seconde houre of the day be full. And at the seconde houre of the daye they shall execute the thirde houre. And then vnto the .ix. houre of the day euery of theym shall laboure aboute hir busines / whiche is inioyned vnto hir. Than the firste signe of the .ix. houre stricken / euery oon of theym shall departe frome hir worke / that they may be redy / whan the .ii. sygne stryketh. And after they haue dyned / they shall gyue som to redynge of lessons / and som to redynge of psalmes. In the dayes of lent from the mornynge vnto the thirde houre of the daye / full they must gyue them selfe to redynge / and from that ty­me tyll the .x. houre of the day full / they muste laboure in su­che [Page] occupacion as is committed vnto theym / in the whiche dayes of lent / euery of theym shall haue by her selfe a boke oute of the lybrary whyche boke she shall rede from the be­ginninge to the endinge by order. and the same bokes must be delyuered vnto them at shrouetyde / Byfore all thyngys oon or two sustres of the eldest ī the religiō shalbe deputed whych shall goo aboute the monastery at all soche tymes & seasons as there susters be at there redinge / & ouersee theym lesse perauenture som suster be founde slothfull / which gy­ueth hir selfe to idlenes & tellynge of tales / and is not myn­dyd towardꝭ redyng. And so is not oonly vnꝓfytable to hir selfe / but also she disturbeth and letteth other / Suche oon if she (as god forbede) be founde / let hir be rebuked ones and the secōde tyme if she do not so amēde / let hir be submitted to correcciō regular / in suche wyse as other by hir may haue cause to be effrayde. Nether oon suster shall accompany hir selfe with a nother / but in houres and tymes conuenient. ¶Vppon the sonday they shall all gyue thē selfe to redinge / except those which be deputed to dyuers offices. And if any of them be so neglygent and slowthfull / that she wyl not / or elles she cannot gyue hir selfe to meditacion or to redynge / let some maner of busines be inioyned vnto hir / to thentent that she be not idle / The susters that be feble / or elles be ten­dre / or haue be delicatly brought vp / to theym suche occupa­cion or busines shalbe cōmitted / that nether they be idle / ne yeat oppressed with ouer moche laboure / where throughe they shulde forsake the monastery / whiche wekenes & ten­drenesse muste be cōsydered by thabbasse after hir discreciō.

¶The .xlix. chapiter treateth of the obseruing of lent.

THough at all tymes a mynchin in hir lyuinge ought to kepe the obseruāce of lēt / yit ī so moche as that ver­tue of that cōtinuall obseruance is but ī fewe persons / ther­fore we coūsell that they kepe their lyfe in the dayes of lent / [Page] with all clēnesse / that is to say / that they in those holy dayes / clense and washe clene away / all their necligences of other tymes paste. The which is thē doon acceptably / as it ought to be / when they kepe their Selfe from all maner of vices and gyue their diligēce to prayer with wepynge / to reding / to cōpunction of herte / and to abstinence. Therfore in those dayes of lent / let vs encrease some thinge in our selfe / ouer & aboue the duty of our custumeable seruyce / which we were wont to do / and pray at other tymes / that is to say / addinge specyall and pryuate prayers / with more abstinence of mete and drynke. And let euery oon in those dayes of lēt offre vn­to god of hir owne fre wyll / with gostly Ioy / som thinge aboue hir custumable seruice or dutie / and aboue the measu­re to hir cōmaunded / that is to say / let hir withdrawe from hir body / somwhat of meate & drinke / of slepe / of spekynge / of skoffynge / & tryfelinge / and with Ioy of a spirytuall de­syre / let hir longe for the feste of Easter. Howe be it that selfe thynge that ony of them doth aboue hir custumable deuty / she must showe it to hir abbasse. And with hir wyll & pray­er it muste be doon / For what so euer be doon without the wyll and leue of hir spirituall moder / shalbe accompted pre­sumpcion and vayne glory / and to no rewarde. Therfore all thynge muste be doon with the wyll of the abbasse.

¶The .l. chapiter speketh of susters that labourth farre from the quere.

SVsters whiche be ferre fro the monastery or oratory in laboure / and may not com to the quere in a cōueni­ent houre / if thabbassed do perceyue it so to be of trewthe / let them thē there do their dewty vnto god / where as they la­boure / with goodlye drede and fere / knelynge vppon their knees / Also the houres of goddes seruyce accustumed and appoynted / may not be forget of theym that be sent forth in iorneys / But as moche as they may / they must do their dy­uyne [Page] seruyce and negligent / not to pay the duty of their ser­uice in dewe and conuenient tymes.

¶The .li. chapiter speketh of susters whiche goith forth / but no ferre Iorney.

SVsters that goith forth in any maner of messayge / & truste to returne to the monastery the same day / shall not presume ne take vppon theym to eate without the mo­nastery / all though they be desyred of any person / except per­auenture they haue a cōmaundement of thabbasse / And if they do other wyse / let them be excōmunicate.

¶The .lii. chapiter treateth of the quere of the monastery.

THe oratory / whiche is as moche to say as the place of prayr muste be in dede & in effecte as it is called / that is to say that nothing erthly may there be doon / layed / or lef­te / that dothe not apꝑteygne to the seruice of god. whan the seruice of god is ended / all the couent muste goo out with si­lēce / & do reuerēce vnto god / to thentent that a suster / which perauenture woll bede sūme peculier or specyall prayers of hir pryuate deuocion / be not letted thorough the vngoodly be hauoure of a nother / and if so be that a nother also wolde pray secretly by hir selfe / let hir com in with all silēce / & pray not with a lowde voyce / but with teres and full intencion and entirenesse of herte. Therfore she that occupieth not hir selfe aboute souche busines of prayers & meditacions / may not be suffred / after the seruice of god is doon / to make any taryenge in the oratory / as is abouesayde / lesse that a nother suffer impediment by hir.

¶The .liii. chapiter treateth of hospitalite and the maner of receyuinge of gestes.

[Page]THe .liii. chapiter treateth oonly of hospitalite / & of the receyuinge & charytable entertaynynge of gestes and pylgrimes / which for many īcōuenientes that myght there vppon ensue / specyally by muche cōuersacion with men cā ­not conueniently nor without great perill of sowles be exe­cuted nor ꝑformed amonges mynchins / after the forme ex­pressed ī the same chapit / Neuerthelesse to thentēt that they may knowe the deuoute & charitable maner of hospitalyte / & the receyuinge of gestes that monkes be bounden to. And that no parte of seynt Benettꝭ rule be by vs conceyled or hid for them / we haue therfore translate the sayde chapiter ap­plyenge it to the monkes oonly / accordynge to the originall text as followeth / without any mēcion makīge of mīchīs / seīge that they cānot cōueniētly as a boue is sayd obserue it.

ALl gestes and estraungers cōmynge to the monaste­ry shalbe receyued in lyke maner as christe shold be / for he shall say I was a geste / and ye receyued me / And to all maner of people deue reuerence shall be shewed / howe be it chefely to men of our owne fayth or religion / & peregrines / Therfore as sone as it is shewed that a geste is cōme / the soueraygne or suche oon as hath the offyce of the hospitular must goo agaynste him with the shewe & a demonstracion of all cherfull & charytable maner / And furste of all / let them goo into the oratory & pray to gydder / and then salute them selfe with the kysse of peace / whiche kysse shalnot be offred / except they haue first prayed to gydder / for excheuinge of il­lusiōs that cōmeth of the deuyll / In that same salutaciō all humilite must be shewed. ¶whan gestes com & goo / christe whiche is receyued in them / muste be worshipped in them / with submission of the hed / or elles with prostracion of all the body / vppō the erth. Gestꝭ onꝭ receyued must be brought vnto prayer / & afterward let the soueraygne sit with them / or elles suche a broder whom the soueraygne wyll cōmaū ­de. The lawe of all myghty god shalbe redde byfore the sa­me geste / for gostely edificacion / & after that let the geste ha­ue [Page] all the chere that may be. The soueraygne shall breke his faste for a straungers sake / except it be so great a day of faste that it may not be broken / that is to say a faste vowed / or cō ­maunded by the churche / but the remenāt of the bretherne shall prosequte & continewe the custom of fastinge. Thab­bot shall gyue water to the estrangers handes. And as well the Abbot as all the hole couent shall washe the fete of the gestes & estraungers / whiche doon they shall say this verse / Suscepimus deꝰ misericordiā tuā in medio templi tui / that is to say. Lorde god we haue receyued thy mercy ī the mid­des of thy temple. The receyuinge of pore people & peregri­nes muste principally with all diligence be regarded / for in them more than in other christe is receyued / for as for ryche men / the fere & drede of theym requyreth of force / honour & reuerence to be doo vnto them. The kychin of thabbot & of gestes whiche is all oon / shalbe disseuered fro the couent ke­chin to thentent that gestes cōminge vppon at vncertayne houres / which neuer fayleth in a monastery / shall not trow­ble the bretherne of the couēt. Into the which kychin .ii. bre­therne shall entre for a yere / which can & may well doo that offyce. To whom after as nede shall reqre: there shall be mi­nistred solace & succurre of other / so that they may doo their seruice without grudge. And ageyne whan they haue lesse to do in the kychin / then let them goo to suche busines as is cōmaūded vnto them / & not only in this office of the kitchin but also in all other offices of the monasterye this consyde­racion muste be hadde / that whan they nede solace and hel­pe they muste haue it / & ageyne whan they haue nothynge to do in their offices: they must obey their superior in that he woll elles commaunde. And also a broder whose sowle dre­deth god singularly / must haue a house assigned to hī / to re­ceyue gestes īto / wherin shall be beddes made sufficiently / & the house of all myghty god / that is to say the house assig­ned for hospitalite must be wisely ordered by wyse persons. But no Brother in no maner of wyse shall accompanye [Page] him selfe / or holde cōmunicacion wit a geste / except he haue lycence / or be cōmaunded / And if he mete and se any gestes or estraungers / a salutacion mekely (as is aboue sayd) gyuē vnto them & blessinge desyred / be shall passe by / saynge that it is not lefull for hym / to speke with a geste or a straunger.

¶The .liiii. chapiter sheweth that a mynchin ought not to receyue letters or tokyns.

IN no wyse it shall be lawfull to a minchin to receyue letters / tokens / or any other small gyftes frome fader other or moder / or from any ꝑson / or elles oon of thē from a nother amonges them selfe / nether to sēde any suche thingꝭ without the leue and also the cōmaundement of thabbasse. And if any maner of thinge be sent vnto a mynchī from hir fader or moder / she shall not take vppō hir selfe to receyue it / except it be shewed to the abbasse afore / And if the abbasse cōmaunde that it be receyued / it shall be in thabbasse power to whom she wyll cōmaunde the sayd minchin / after that she hath it so receyued to gyue or delyuer it. And the suster to whom that thinge was sēt / shall not be therwith miscō ­tent / lesse the deuyll haue therby occasion towardes hir / and she that presume the otherwyse than thus / shall be submit­ted to reguler discipline.

¶The .lv. chapiter treateth of the rayment of the myn­chins and the houses of office belongyng to the same.

GArmentes & clothinge shalbe gyuen vnto the susters / after the qualite of the place where they dwell / or af­ter the temperatnes of the ayer / For in colde regyons is mo­re nede / in hote regions lesse nede / And thus consyderacion resteth oonly in thabbasse. ¶And as for the coloure or curs­nes of the clothe / & of all other apparell ganerally / the min­shins shall not grudge nor cōplayne / but be contēt with su­che [Page] cloth as may be gotten ī the ꝓuīce or coūtre / where they dwell and with that cloth that is courseste / and that may be bought best chepe. Thabbasse shal se for the mesure of their garmentes / that they be not to short for the werers / but me­serable. They that take newe garmentes / shall delyuer al­waye their olde by and by / to be put in the vestiarye for po­re people. It is sufficient for a mynchī to haue two grarmē ­tes of euery sorte / by cause of nyghtes and for wasshynge of the same / And what so euer and aboue the sayde two gar­mentes that is superfluous and muste be take awaye. Also shoos & what so euer other olde thynge there be / they shall delyuer them whan they receyue newe / as touchinge their Bedstuffe / a mat / a stamyn / a couerlet / and a bolster be suffi­cient. The whiche beddes muste be often tymes serched of thabbasse / lesse the mynchins take or kepe any thinge / that thabbasse is not priuey vnto / And if ought be founde with any of theym / that she hath not receyued of the abbasse / let hir be submitted to the moste greuous discipline. And to the entent that this vyce of propriete may be plucked vp by the rote / all thinges necessary muste be gyuen by thabbasse to the minchins / as well garmentes / bokes / and instrumētes for their crafte and occupaciōs / so that all excuses of necessi­te may be taken away. yet the same abbasse muste alway consyder the sentence of thactes of the appostels that distri­bucion was made to euery oon of them / as necessite requi­red. And therfore the abbasse muste cōsyder the infirmytes of theym that lacketh / and not the euyll wyll of theym that be enuyous / Howe be it in all hir iugemētes / let hir well thī ­ke / That after hir dedes she shall be agayne rewarded of al­myghty god. ¶Other thynges there be in this chapiter / cō ­cernynge the garmentes of monkes / whiche by cause they be not mete nor cōuenient / for women we haue in this oure translacion made no mencion of them.

¶The .lvi. chapiter treateth of the table of thabbasse.

[Page]THabbasse muste allway haue at hir table peregines and gestes / howe be it as often as there is no gestes / thabbasse may call vnto hir whome she luste of hir susters / but she shall euer take hede / that oon or too of the eldeste in the religion / be lefte with the sufters for their discipline.

¶The .lvii. chapiter treath of the artificers of the monastery.

IF there be any artificers in the monasterye / they shall doo their occupacion with all humilite / so that they haue firste the cōmaundement or leue of the abbasse / And if any of theym be prowde for the conninge of the crafte that she hath byfore a nother / bycause she semith to doo soom ꝓ­fyte to the monastery aboue other / suche oon must be with­drawen and sequestred from that crafte / & shall not goo to it agayne / except thabbasse cōmaunde hir after that she ha­the meked & submitted hir selfe / If any thinges of the war­bes of thartificers be to be solde: they that shal haue the sale / must se wysely / and beware that there be no fraude / nether in the worker / nor in the seller / nor no fraude doo to the mo­nastery. And let theym all way remembre Ananie and Sa­phire / lesse perauenture they and all other / which do any de­ceyte in the goodꝭ of the monastery / suffre lyke deth in their sowles / as the forsayd Ananie and Saphire suffred in their bodies / that is to say sodeyne deth. In the prices of all suche stuffe / the synne of courtouse muste vtterly be exchued / and therfore let it be solde somwhat better chepe / than it sholde haue be of secular persons / to thentent that god may be glo­rified in all thynges.

¶The .lviii. chapiter treateth of the maner & forme of the receyuinge of susters into the monastery.

WHan any person commethe newly to conuersyon towardes religigiō / hyr enterynge shall not be ly­ghtly [Page] graunted to hir but as the appostell saythe / take ye a good proufe / whether hir inward intent and desyre / com of god or not. And therfore if suche oon cōmyng / doo perseuer in hir desyre / & be perceyued to suffer pacyently iniurys sayd and doon vnto hir / and to be contented with the difficultie that is made for hir entringe by the space of .iiii. or .v. dayes / and that she stonde stedfaste in hir peticion / let hir be admit­ted to entre / and then let hir be in the gesten chambre a fewe dayes / and afterward let hir be in the chambre of the noui­ces / where she shall cōtynewe in meditacion / and there eate and drynke. And suche an aged suster shalbe deputed vnto hir whiche is an apt person to wynne sowles / whiche shall tenderly and diligently take hede vppon hir / and applye hir selfe to vnderstōde / if she seke god veryly without feyning / & wether she be diligētly gyuin to the seruyce of all myghty god / to obediēce / & to abyde & suffre rebukes. Harde thinges & sharpe thynges must be declared vnto hir / by the whiche men goo vnto god / & if she promyse to cōtinewe in hir sted­fastnes / thē after tow monethꝭ be passed / let this rule be red­de vnto hir by order / and these wordes say vnto hir. Behol­de and loke / This is the lawe vnder the whiche thou wylt continewe and doo seruyce / If so be thou mayste kepe it: en­tre / If thou mayste not / goo thy waye wyles thou arte fre. And if she contynewe styll / Then lette hir be brought into the forsayde chambre of Nouices / And agayne lette hir be proued in all pacience. And aftur the space of .vi. monethes let the Rule be redde vnto hir agayne / That she may well knowe whereto she entrethe. And if she stonde yeat in hir purpose by the space of other .iiii. monethes / then after the same .iiii. monethes / let this same rule be redde vnto hir a­gayne / And if that she takynge with hir selfe a delyberaciō / wyll promyse / that she wyll kepe all maner of thingꝭ in the rule / and obserue all thinges commaunded of hir superior / then let hir be receyued into the couent / knowynge for cer­teyn / that it is ordeyned by the lawe of the rule / that it may [Page] not be lefull for hir fro that daye forth warde / to goo out of the monastery / nor to caste the yoke of the rule from hir nec­ke / nor plucke hir necke out of the yoke of the Rule / whiche with soo longe a visement she myght byfore haue refused / whan she shall be reseyued / she must in the quere / in the pre­sence of all the couent / make a promisse of hir stabilite / and of the cōuersacion of hir maners / and obedience / byfore god and his sayntes after the sayde rule / to thentent that at any season when she doo otherwyse / she may well knowe hir selfe to be dāpned of allmyghty god / whome she mocketh / & scorneth / of the which hir promyse she must make a wry­tinge to the name of the seynt / whose relequys there restith / and to the name of thabbasse there beyng p̄sent / The whi­che wrytynge she shall wryght with hir owne hande / or els if she be not lerned therto / som other at hir desyre shall wri­te it / and she shall signe it / and with hir honde ley it vppon the aulter / and therwith begyn this verse Suscipe me dn̄e secundū eloquiū tuū et viuā: et ne confūdas me ab expecta­tione mea / that is to say. Good lorde receyue me after thyne owne worde / and graunt me to lyue in the / and put me not abacke from that that I loke for & truste vnto / whiche verse all the couēt muste repete thries / addynge to it Gloria patri. Then she muste prostrate hir selfe to the fete of euery myn­chyn / and desyre theym to pray for hir / And from that daye forth she muste be accompted as oon of the couent. Goodes if she haue any / eyther let hir byfore hir professiō distribute them to power people / or elles let hir by solempne and open graunte / gyue them to the monastery / reseruinge nothynge to hir selfe therof at all / for frō that day forth / she muste well knowe / that she shall haue no power of so moche / as of hir owne bodye / Therfore anone in the quere: let hir be put out of hir owne apperell / with the which she is clothed / and doo on the clothes of the monastery. But the garmentes which she is put out of / must be kept in the vestiarye / that if in any tyme / through the intysynge of the deuyll / she cosent to goo [Page] out of the monasterye (as god forbede she shulde) then do­inge of the clothes of the monastery / let hir be caste out in hir olde array / howe be it that wrytynge whiche thabbasse re­ceyued vppon the altare: she shall not receyue agayne / but it muste be kept styll in the monastery.

¶The .lix. Chapiter treateth of the children of noble men and poure men.

IF it forfune any noble man to offre his daughter vnto god in the monastery / if that chylde be within laufull ayge. Hir fader and moder shall make the writynge which we haue declared byfore. And with their oblaciō they shall wrappe the sayde wrytinge / and the hande of the chylde in the alter clothe / and in that maner of wyse muste they offre their chylde. And as for their goodes / they shall promyse in the same wrytinge with an othe / that nether by them selfe nor by any other person / nor by no maner of way / nor at any tyme / they shall any thynge gyue to their sayde chylde / nor gyue occasiō that she shall any thyng haue. Or truly if they wil not doo thus / but they woll in any wyse somwhat gy­ue vnto the monastery in almes for their owne sowle helth / let theym make a graunte therof vnto the monastery / reser­uynge to them selfe (if they so woll) the vse and profit ther­of durynge their lyues. And so euery way must be stopped that no suspeccion of propriete remayne to the childe / by the which she deceyuyd (as god forbede) myght peryshe / whi­che thynge we haue lerned by experience. And in lyke ma­ner shall pouer men do for offerynge of their chyldren. But they that haue nothynge at all / let theym make their wry­tynge without graunte of any thynge. And let theym offre their doughter with their oblacion byfore wytnes.

¶The .lx. chapiter treateth of seculer prestes that desyre to entre into religion in any monastery.

[Page]ALbeit that this .lx. chapiter nor no parte therof may touche or concerne the congregacion of Mynchins / yet for the cause aboue rehersed ī the other chapiters of this rule not towchynge them / and specyally for the instruction of som monkes meynly lettered / we haue trāslated the say­de .lx. chapiter ī fourme folowing. ¶If any preeste desyre to be receyued & takyn into the monastery / it shal not be lyght­ly at the firste desyre graunted to him. Howe be it if he cōti­nually ꝑsiste in this his desyre & supplicaciō / let him knowe & be well assured / to be bounde to obserue all the strayctnes of the rule / and that no maner of thinge shalbe to him ther­of released / according to the scripture. Frēde or broder wherfore cāme thou? Neuerthelesse: he may be licenced to stonde in order aftur the abbot / and to gyue benediction / & to synge masse / if so be that thabbot so cōmaunde. And elles beynge not cōmaunded / let him in no wyse presume any thynge a­boue a nother brother. But let him euer remembre that he is subiect and bounde to reguler obseruance / and by the rea­son of his ordre / let him the rather gyue all other example of all mekenes & humylite / and if he be the cause of any goode ordināce or order of any other good thynge in the monaste­ry / let him euer regarde that place and degre that he entred into / whan he cāme firste into the monastery / and not that place nor degre whiche for the reuerence of presthod to him was graūted. And also if any clarke not preste of lyke desy­re / couet to be accept & associat īto the monastery / let him be set in ameyne place / so that firste he promyse thobseruacion of the rule and his stabilite in the same.

¶The .lxi. chapiter treateth of mynchyns Straungers.

IF a mynchin estraunger cōme from fer contrey / if she wyll abyde in the monastery as a geste / and be cōtent with the custome of the place as she fyndeth / & with hir ex­cesse [Page] or superfluite trouble not the monastery / but vtterly be content what so euer she fynde / let hir then be receyued for as longe tyme as she desyreth / If she with reason / charite & mekenes rebuke / or fynde in any defaulte in any thyng that is a mysse in the monastery / thabbasse must handle & treate the mater wysely / For perauenture all myghty god hathe sent the same ꝑson thydder to that intent. And if afterward the said mynchin wol stablyshe hir selfe there / hir wyll shall not be refused / especiallye for as moche as in the tyme that she hathe been there as a geste / hir lyfe myght well haue be knowen / and if she be founde wastfull or vicious in the ty­me that she is there as a geste / then not alonly she muste not be associate to the body of the monastery / but also it must be honestly sayde vnto hir that she departe / lesse thoroughe hir wrechednes other be made the werse / And if she be not su­che oon as is worthy to be put out / then not oonlye if she de­syre it / she shall be receyued and associate to the couent / but also she shalbe desyred to byde and cōtinewe there / to then­tent that by hir vertues / other may take example / or by hir good example other may the better be instructed. And in as moche as in euery place / we do seruice to oon lorde & to oon kynge it is lefull for thabbasse to set hir somwhat ī a hygher place / if she perceyue that she be a ꝑson worthy therto. The abbasse muste beware alway that she take not at any tyme a mynchin to continewe in hir monasterye whiche is of an other knowen monastery / with the consent of thabbasse of the same / or elles hir letters of cōmendacon / For it is writtē that that thou wilt not haue doon to thy selfe / doo not thou to a nother.

¶The .lxii. chapiter treateth of monkes ꝓmoted to presthod after their ꝓfession in the monastery.

IF any abbot haue nede of a preste or deacō let thē che­se oon of his owne monkes / which maybe worthy to take vppon him and vse that ordre / the which brother after [Page] that he be ordred / let him beware of all elacion and pryde / & let him not presume to do no thinge / but suche as shalbe cō ­maunded by thabbot beynge well assured that for the dig­nite of his ordre / he is the more boūde vnto regular lyfe and cōuersacion. And also let him take hede / that by the occasion of his presthod / he forget not the obbedience and discipline of the rule / but rather more and more encrease and profyte in vertues and good liuinge towardes god. But let him all way (except when he ministrethe in the auter) regarde & re­mēbre that place & rome that he was in / whē he entred the monastery / and if perauenture the abbot and the couent / by oon assent for his great vertues and the merites of his lyfe / wyll promote and exalte hym aboue his seniors / yet let him knowe and consyder that he is neuer the lesse bounde to ke­pe & obserue the rule & preceptes ordeyned & assigned by the Deanes or suffraygnes / and if he woll otherwyse presume then let him be Iugged / estimed / & reputed / not a preste / but a rebell / And if he after sondray monicions woll not refor­me him selfe / than let the bishop of the diocese haue knowe­lege therof / And if he wyl not amende by the byshop / then his offenses beinge manifeste and open / let him be eiect and expelled out of the monastery / specyally if his cōtumacye & rebellion be suche that he woll not obey ne be subiecte to the rule. ¶This the .lxii. chapiter in lyke wyse towcheth not in any thynge the congregacion of mynchins / yet for lyke cau­se as we dyd the other chapiters aboue rehersed / we haue translate & insert it among the rules of the same mynchins.

¶The .lxiii. chapiter speketh of the ordre of the couēt.

MInchins shall kepe and cōtinewe their order and de­gre in the monastery / as the tyme of their conuersion and the deseruing and merites of their lyuinge / doth requi­re / & as the abbasse wyll deserne & order / allbeit as thabbasse muste be so discrete and circūspecte / that she in that behalfe [Page] trowble not to the flocke cōmitted vnto hir. Nor She may not / as she had an absolute power & fre wyll ouer hir suster­es / order or dispose any thynge wrongfullye. But she must remember alway that of all hir iugementes and dedes / she muste gyue accomptis to all myghty god. Therfore accor­dynge to the order that thabbasse doth / or elles to that / that the susters haue thē selfe by order of their cōuersiō & ꝓfessiō so they shall com to the paxe / & to receyue their maker / to be­gyn a psalme / & to stōde in the quere / And euer in all places ī order kepynge / ther shall no regarde had to age of yeres / nor ayge of yeres shalbe preiudiciall to the yonger beynge elder in conuersion or profession / For Samuell and Damuell be­inge but children in ayge / gaue iugement vppon them that were their seniors. Therfore except oonly them the whiche of a great auisemēt thabbasse hath preferred / or elles degra­ded and put backe for certeyne causes / al other as they come into the religion / so shall they be in ordre as thus. She that cōmeth into the monasterye at .ii. of the clocke of the daye / must knowe that she is Iunior to hir that came at on of the clocke / what so euer ayge or dignite she be of. And the yong mynchins in all thinges muste be kept in discipline and fere of all their susters. The yonger must do reuerēce to the elder & the elder must loue the yonger / In thir callyng or spekyng oon to an other / It is not lefull for any / to name another by hir ꝓpre name / but the elders call their Iuniors susters / the Iuniors shall call the elders Dompnas / whiche is to say da­mes a name of reuerēce & suffragētly / Thabbasse stōdeth in christes stede and shall be called Madame & abbasse / & this name she hath not of hir owne presūpcion and vsurpacion / but for the honour & loue of christe / She must remēber & cō ­sider / & so behaue hir selfe / that she be worthy suche honour / whersoeuer susters mete / the yōger shall aske blessīge of the elder / If the elder passe by the yonger / the yōger shall aryse / & gyue hir place to sit. The yōger shal not p̄sume to sit dow­ne except hir elder cōmaūde hir / to thentēt that it may be ac­cōplyshed [Page] and fulfylled amonges them / that is written by thapostell / euery oon preuentinge an other in doinge reuerē ­ce. yonge children & damaselles in the quere and at the table muste take and kepe their places / vnder fere and drede / And without the quere & fro the table & elles where they muste be kept vnder tutell and gouernance of their seniors therto assigned / vnto the tyme that they com to the ayge of vnder­stondynge / and discrecion.

¶The .lxiiii. chapiter treateth of the elecciō of thabbasse.

IN the ordinance & makynge of thabbasse this consy­deracion muste allway be had / that is to say / that she be made Abbasse / whome all the hole couent in the fere of god / or a parte of theym / thoughe it be but small / beynge of better counsell & zele then the more parte is / woll chose. She that shall be abbasse muste be chosen for the deserte & meri­tes of hir lyfe / hir doctrine and wisdom / yea & though she be to weste in degre of all the couēt. And if all the couēt be gyuē to vices of oon assent (as god forbede) chose a person which they thinke wyll concent & cōforme hir to their vices / & so to to be of lyke mynde in lyue vnto them / if those vices in any wyse com to the knowlege of the Bysshoppe / to whose di­ocesses that place belongeth / or elles be euident to abbasses or other of their neyghbours / christen men they shall prohi­byte & let the cōcēt of suche euyll religiose ꝑsons to take any effecte. and they shal set & ordeyne oon / that is worthy to ha­ue the dispēsociō & administraciō of the house of god / knowynge well that for the sittynge a parte of an vnhable ꝑsone / & ꝓuidynge an hable / ꝑson / they shall receyue a good rewar­de if they doo it of pure mynde / & for the loue of god / As con­trarywyse / it is great syn if they be negligēt / & se not therto. ¶But it is to be remēbred that this maner of election was made by seynt benet / byfore the ordināce of the se apostolyq̄ which nowe be to be obserued & p̄ferred to his instituciō of [Page] seynt benet. ¶Thabbasse ones ordeyned / must alway remē ber what charge she hath take vppō hir / & to whō she must gyue accōptes of hir villicaciō & dispēsacion. She must also well knowe that it is hir dutie / more to doo good & profyte / than to haue preheminence. Therfore she muste be well ler­ned in the lawes of god & hir religion / & that she vnderston­de & be that person that can she we & teche the lawes / rules / & cōstitucions of the religion with suche histores of holy scrip­ture & seyntes lyues as be moste expedient for the cōgrega­cion. She must be chaste / sober / mercifull / & meke / and euer in all hir werkes / let hir extoll a exalte mercy & equite aboue Iustice & seuerite / to thentent that she may purchase that sa­me hir selfe. ¶Let hir hate vyce / & loue hir susters / and in hir correctiō she must deale wysely that it excede not / lesse whi­les she coueyteth ouersore / to rubbe a way the ruste / the ves­sell breke / She muste all way consyder hir owne fragilite / & remember / that a rede all though it be somwhat bruzed. yet it is not to be vtterly broken & destroyed. But by these say­inges / we do not meane nor entende that she suffer vices to growe / but wysely & with charyte she shall cut them a way as she sethe to euery of hir susters to be expedient / as we ha­ue a forsayde / and she muste couet & effectually laboure mo­re to be loued of hir susters than to be dradde. She shall not be full of hastines / trowbelowse / ne of sowre mode / or dis­playsant countenance / she shall not be importune or intole­rable nor obstinate nor selfe wylled / she shall not be ītangled with ielosy / nor be to moche suspiciose / for suche a person is neuer in quietnesse / nor neuer takyth reste. In hir cōmaūde­mentes she must be wyse / prouident / & circumspect. And all suche labour or occupacion / as she shall enioyne to any of hir susters / be it that it cōcerne the seruyce of god / or the busines of the worlde / she muste haue good discrecion & moderaciō / callinge to hir mynde / the discrecion of holy Iacob sayinge. If I cause my flocke to ouerlabour them selfe / they all shall dye in oon daye. Therfore takynge these witnesses / & other [Page] moo examples of discrecion / moder of vertues / she shall so moderate all thynges / that stronge persones shall desyre to do the sayd labours and occupacions / & weke persons shall not refuse them. And specyally she must regarde / that in all poyntes she obserue this present rule / to thentēt that for hir good adnūstracion / she may here of almyghty god / that the good seruante harde / whiche distributed the corne to his fe­lowes ī tyme / I tell you trouth (sayth the gospell) God shall for his dispensacion in fewe thynges / cōmitte vnto him the ouersyght of all his goodes.

¶The .lxv. chapiter she with of the proueste or priores of the monastery.

OFten tymes truely it happeneth / that through the ma­kynge of a prouest or a prioresse / greuous sclaunders & occasioons of inconuenientes be raysed in monasterys / for whiles there be som inflate with the cursed spirite of pryde / supposinge them selfe to be secōde abbasses / takynge vppō them cruell ladiship / they noryshe slaunders / and make dys­cencions and debates in the couent / and princypally in those places / where the prioresse is made of the same bysshope / or of the same prelate whiche made thabbasse / whiche thinge howe farre out of reason it is / a man may sone perceyue / for euyn from the begynnynge of hir makynge and orderyng / & occasion is gyuē vnto hir to be prowde / whiles hir owne mynde doth make suggestion vnto hir / that she is clene de­lyuered / from the power of hir Abbasse / by cause she was made prioresse of him / that thabbasse was made of. Ther­of be raysed Inuies / wrothes / striues / backbytingꝭ / hatredꝭ / dissencions / makynge & marrynge / discordes & discorders / And whiles thabbasse & the prioresse be of contrary myndꝭ / it foloweth necessaryly / that whiles this dissenciō hangeth [Page] there two sowlles muste be in Ioperdy / And also they that be vnder thā / whiles they flater the parties / do rynne vnto vtter ꝑdiciō & dampnaciō / Of the which iuꝑdie the mische­fe prīcypally towcheth thē / which were the causers / ayders / & ꝓcurators or assistēcz / of the makyng of the sayd prioresse. And therfore we se byfore our Ien that it is expediēt for the consernacion of pease & cheryte within the monastery / that the ordināce of all thofficers of the monastery / hange in the wyll & disposicion of the abbasse / And if it may be let all the ꝓfite / vtile / charges / & administracions of the monastery / be ordred as we haue abouesayde / by the deanes suche as the abbasse woll assigne / & not by a prioresse. For whilꝭ the charge is cōmitted to dyuerse ꝑsons / oon ꝑson shall not fall into pryde. And if the place reqer to haue a prioresse / or elles the couent desyre it resonably / with humilite / & if thabbasse iu­ge it to be expediēt / then whom so euer she doth chese with the coūsayll of hir susters dredynge god / she may make hir prioresse. The which prioresse shall do all suche thingꝭ with reuerēce / as be cōmitted & cōmaūded vnto hir by hir abbas­se / And nothinge do contrary to the will & ordināce of thab­basse. For the more that she is p̄ferred aboue other / the more busy & diligētly she must obserue the p̄ceptꝭ of the rule. whi­che prioresse if she be espyed vicious or deceyued with the spirite of pride / or elles be ꝓued a breker or a dispiser of this holy rule / let hir be warned with wordes vnto the .iiii. ty­me. If she do not then amēde / let hir then be corrected as re­gular disciplyne woll requyer. And if therby she doo not a­mende / let hir then be put out / & eiecte of the office of the pri­oresse / & a nother whiche is worthy hir rome / be surrogate and succede. And if afturwarde amonge the couent she be not quiete and obedient / let hir be expelled the monasterye yet neuer the lesse to exclude the flame of enuy / & euyll wyll. out of thabbasse mynde and sowle / let hir in this processe a yenste the prioresse thinke that she muste gyue an accomp­tes to god of all hir iugementes.

¶The .lvi. chapiter treateth of the porters of the monastery.

AT the gate or the monasterye ther shall be set a wyse olde suster / whiche can receyue & gyue an answere / And she must be of suche grauite / that of lyklyhod / she shall be no wanderer / which porter muste haue a lodge nygh the gate / that cōmers may fynde oon all way present / of whom they shall be answered / And as sone as ony oon knokketh / or elles a pore body callyth / she shall say deo gracias / or elles som other good worde / And with all mekenes & fere of god she shall gyue an answere by and by / with veruent charyte / whiche porter if she nede helpe or cōfort / shall haue with hir a yonge suster. The monastery (if it may be) must be so byl­ded / that all necessaryes / that is to say / water / a mylle / a gar­dyne / a bakehowse / & other dyuerse occupacions may be ex­ercysed within the monastery / that the mynchins haue no nede to wandre out of the monastery / for wāderynge out of there manastery in no wyse is expediēt for their sowles / we woll that this rule be often tymes red amonge the couent / lesse any suster woll excuse hir selfe by ignorance.

¶The .lxvii. chapiter treateth of bretherne sent forth in iorney.

MOnkes that muste be sent out of the monasterye for any busines / muste cōmende them selfe to the prayer of all their bretherne / or elles of thabbot / And allway at the laste oryson of the seruice of all myghty god / there shall be had a rememberance for them that be absent. And brether­ne retorninge home from their Iorney / that same day that that they cōme home in / at euery houre of the day whan the seruice of god is sayde / shall prostrate their selfe vppon the payment of the quere / And there shall desyre the prayers of all their bretherne for their excesses / done in their absences / [Page] lesse by chaūce they haue offēded by the way / other in seing or herynge of any euyll thynges / or idle speche. Nether any of them shall presume to tell any maner of thynge that they sawe or harde without the monastery / for of that cōmethe mouche distruccion / And if any presume to do it / let him be punisshed by reguler discipline / In lyke wyse also shall he be punisshed / that p̄sumeth eyther to goo out of the cloyster of the monastery / eyther to goo any whither / or elles do any maner of thynge / be it neuer so lytle wothout the cōmaun­dement of the abbot. ¶All be it that the matter of this cha­piter cannot towche any minchins / by cause they ought not for any cause / be it neuer so great to be sēt out of the monasterye / yet be cause we woll cōceyle no thinge of the rule from theym / we haue therfore translate this chapiter in maner and fourme folowynge.

¶The .lviii. chapiter treateth what is to be doone if impossible thinges be inioyned to a suster.

IF fortune / that to any sustre any greuouse or impossi­ble thynges be cōmitted to be doon / she muste yet ac­cept the cōmaūdemēt with all mekenes & obedience / & if she se that the weyght of that charge / farre passe the measure of hir power / let hir shewe the causes why she may not do it to hir soueraygne sobrely / paciētly / & ī tyme / not with a prow­de stomake with stōdynge / or ageyn sayenge it. And if aftur she hathe thus shewed hir cause to hir Soueraygne / it be thought to the same that the sayd iniunccion or cōmaunde­ment / ought yet to be executed and doon / then let that suster well knowe / that it is expedient for hir to do it / & trustynge to the helpe of god / lat hir charytably obey.

¶The .lxix. chapiter cōmaūdeth that oon presume not in the monastery to defende a nother.

[Page]CHefely mynchins muste be ware / that oon of theym presume not / for any maner of occasion / or in any ma­ner or wyse / to defende a nother in hir offēce in the monaste­ry / yea all thoughe / they be neuer so nygh in kynrede / This thinge in no maner of wyse may be presumed of minchins. For of it cōmunely spryngeth moste greuous occasions of slaundeers and debates and other incōuenintes. And if any oon doo offende in this / let hir be more sharply punished.

¶The .lxx. chapiter cōmaundeth that none presume to bete a nother.

ALl occasion of presumpcion / must be a voyded in the monastery / wherfore we make and ordeygne (sayth seynt Benet) that it be not lefull to any suster to excōicate or bete any of hir susters / hir oonly except / to whom power is cōmitted of thabbasse so for to doo / They that doth amysse muste be rebuked opynly / before all their susters / to thentēt that other may be affrayde therby. ¶To children vnto the tyme they be .xv. yeres of age / diligence of discipline / tutell / and sure kepynge / muste begyuen of all their susters / & that with all measure and reason. For she that ether presumethe to punishe / or stryke ony suster of a gritter ayge thē .xv. with out the cōmaundement of thabbasse / or elles is ouer sharpe or hasty with the children without discrecion / She must be puneshed by reguler discipline / for it is written. That / that thou wylt not haue doon to thy selfe / do thou to none other.

¶The .lxxi. chapiter sheweth that susters be obedient eche to other.

THe vertue of obedience / is not oonly to be shewed & exhibite vnto thabbasse of all the mynchins / But all­so all the sustrꝭ / must shewe obedience / eche to other / knowī ­ge that by this way of obediēce / they shall goo to god / Therfore the cōmaūdementes of thabbasse or prioresse / euer p̄fer­red [Page] and set afore / to the which we wyll no priuate cōmaun­dement be preferred after them / euery Iunior shall obey hir Senior / with all cheryte and diligence. And if ony be foun­de cōtencious / let her be rebuked. ¶If any suster for any cause / be it neuer so lytle / be rebuked in any maner of wyse of the abbasse / or if any that is superior vnto hir / or elles if she vnderstonde the mynde of any of hir superiors some what angrey or moued ayenste hir / all thoug hit be but litle / by & by without any taryenge / so longe shall she prostrate vppon the grounde / byfore the fete of the same superior / doinge sa­tisfaction / vnto the tyme that the same anger or mouynge be heled with a benediction / which thinge if any oon refuse to do / let hir haue bodely punishemēt / or elles if she be stub­borne / let hir be expelled the monastery.

¶The .lxxii. chapiter treateth of good zele whiche mynchins ought to haue.

AS there is an zele of bitternes / the which desseuerith man from god / and ledith vnto hell / ryght so there is a good zele / whiche disseuerith man from vices / and ledeth man vnto god / and to euerlastynge lyfe. Therfore this zele must mynchins excersyse with most feruent loue / that is to say / that eche preuent other in doinge reuerence. They must suffre moste paciently the infirmities of their susters / be the infirmites of body or of condicions / They must shewe obe­dience / as euery of them wolde be the furste to do obedience and in maner stryue amonges them selfe / who shalbe most obedient. None of them shall pursue the thinge that she iu­geth ꝓfytable for hir selfe / But rather that / that she iugeth to be ꝓfitable to a nother. They that thall shewe charite as susters ought / with pure and vnfeygned loue. They muste drede god. They muste loue their abbasse / in pure and meke cherite. They shall preferre nothing vnto christe. who brin­ge vs to gydder to euerlastinge lyfe. Amen.

¶The laste chapiter sheweth all obseruacion of Iustice is cōteigned in this rule.

WE haue written & declared this rule (sayth seynt Be­net) to thentēt / that obseruinge the same in monaste­res / we may showe our selfe / to haue somwhat / ey­ther of the honesty of goode maners / or els at the leest▪ soom begynnyng of goode conuersacyon. But furthermore they that effectually / and spedely pursue to haue the veray ꝑfection of goode lyuinge / to theym be necessarye the doctrynes of holy fathers / the kepynge of the whiche doctrines / bryn­geth a man to the higheste degre of perfectiō / For what bo­ke / or what sentēce of the auctoryte of almyghty god / of the olde or of the newe testament / is not the moste streyght rule & directyue of the lyfe of man / Or what boke of holy catho­lyque faders doth not declare the strayght way / & euyn cur­le / wherby we may com to oure maker. Also the collacions and sermons of faders / and their lyues and ordinances / yea and also the rule of our holy fader seynt Basyle: what other thinge be they? But for the well lyuyuge and obedient mō ­kes and minchins / examples and instrumentes of vertues? But to vs that be slothfull / euyll lyuers / and neglygent per­sons / they be shame and confusion. ¶Therfore (sayth seynt Benet) what so euer thou art / that makeste spede / towarde the heuēly cōtray / performe thou by the helpe of christe this small rule written by vs / forthe begynninge of good lyue / and religiose cōuersacion / And then in cōclusyon / thorough the ꝓtection of all myghty god / thou mayst attayne to ferre higher steppes of doctrine / & vertues / wherof we haue ma­de mencion byfore.