MYsaduysed for faut of reason and discrecion, by the Emperour of al euyll grace and mischief, Kynge of lewde gouernaunce & necessitie, Duke of foly and negligence, Countie of beggery and lechery, Prynce of peryll and payne, Marques of daunger and disloialtie, Baron of espyes in forestes, hygh wayes, & other places murderous, And chief Capitayn of all caultelty & deceyt.
Salutacion.
TO all and euery our subiectes of our vncredable & cursed nacion, vnlucky, lousy, vnfortunable, vnwytty, bandy beggers, hedge crepers, falsefiers of lettres and seales, contrefaysers of saltes, coyners of money, lyers, mockers, staffe trayners, stelynge pardoners, purse pyckers, pyke lockes, berers of fals relikes & seales, heritikes, charmours, sorcyers, and other suche lyke kepers of familiar spirites, theues murderers, enpoysoners, cutte purses, chyrche theues, maynteyners of tydynges and lyes, tellers of tales, pykers of males, flaterers, draw latches, and other of suche and lyke ordre: As tothdrawers, tryaclours, leches, glottons, swerers, scalde scoruy scabbed hedes / stynkyng knaues, baudes, ruffyans, hazarders, horemongers, horse corsers, carders, dycers, preestes hores, blasphemours, for swerers, vsurers, trayters, & other suche lyke / as fals flaterynge fryers / loude lousy lyers / foles, fantastykes, and furyouse [Page] people, marchauntes, monkes, chanons, scō lers in vayne, hangmen, fleers of horses, galowclappers, vacaboundes, beters of father and mother, gloutes and glotons, and to all other suche our vnnoble subiectes and liege men inhabytynge within this our noble realme & Yle of Knauery, & to al other our subiecctes inhabityng within corners, cotages, baudy stynkyng lanes & aleys, & other suche like, beyng vnfortunate to be hanged, scourged, burned, or drowned, and to eche of them after theyr meryt or degre, Be it knowen to your weake wyt and vnderstandynge, that after the disposicion of the wedder, and the Iugement pronosticate by our maladuysed Astrologians, so wyse instructe and experte that oft tymes they know nat what day it is whan they ryse, nor what houre it is whan they go to bed / and after the constellacion of one of the seuen planets, which is vnknowē whiche of them it may be: haue sayd & affyrmed vpon payn of theyr cursed & meschaunt lyues (which peraduenture shall be brief vnto them of theyr great dishonour and shame) that about the begynnynge of the moneth of May about mydnyght, shall be vppon vs an Eclypse of the sonne. By occasion wherof, in the somer ensuyng may engendre, breed, and encrease amonge vs many & greate multytude of dyuers small & lytle beestes & bestylons, whose names amonge vs & you be nat vnknowen / and be called maternally Lyce, [Page] Flees, and nyttes / whiche beestes so named as we be aduysed shall breed, encrease, and grow amonge vs in great nombre and multytude / and also with them shall breed and increace other bestes and wormes / but nat so nygh enioynynge vs. As flyes, flyeng hartes, hornets, betles, pysmers, and other suche lytle wormes or beestes / which lytle beestes or wormes shall bere no daunger of venym. ¶Also with these lytle beestes after the constellacyon before specyfyed, shall encrease an other sorte or maner of beestes which shall & wyll be preiudiciall and hurtefull to you, yf stronge defence be nat had to the contrary. As waspes, lezardes, todes, serpētes, adders, & snakes, & other lyke venymous beestes.
¶Therfore seynge and consyderynge these occasyons afore pronosticate: we straytely commaunde vpon payne of the punysshment of the bestes aforsayd, as lyce, flees, & nyttes, eche of you our sayd subiectes aswell men as women, that ye may prouyde haboundaūce and nat ouer measure / for we fynde by the wyse instructyon of our vnexpert Astrologians and Pronosticatours aforsayd, that by occasyon of this constellacion aboue, may be withdrawen out of you our naturall subiectes and people, all helthe and good naturall dysposicion / from the which as we trust our lorde shall preserue you. For yf ye contynue styll as ye be, as one fyndeth you, so shall he leue you, neuer to thryue.
¶Furtthermore our vnwyse Astrologyans and Pronosticatours aboue rehersed, playnly do say and affyrme, that yf these lytle wormes and beestes aforesayd, as lyce, flees, and nyttes, be and may inhabyt, encrease, & breed amonge you and in your araye, as doublets, shyrtes, hosen, & suche other your garmentes, and therein well fedde, lodged, and kepte, in great multytude and quantytie innumerable, that that shall be vnto you as good as yf ye toke euery daye a purgacyon or lettynge of blood / for they wyll eate and withdraw all your good blood from you, and non shall remayne but the bad / of the whiche myght grow great inconuenience in hurtynge your corporall helthe in dyuers maners / as froū celynge of your skynnes, small scrapes and scratchynges / scalde scoruy and scabbed hedes, & other semblables, as stynkyng odours, impostumes, and other wheles, carnels, and cancres / and all suche other and lyke aduentures, as moche now as herafter / as we hope that sodeynly shall fall vpon you the constellacyon afore rehersed.
¶wherefore seynge and consyderynge these occasyons, wherof as we perceyue ye haue no care, as of your honor, helth, & other goodnes to you conuenyent: we wyll and commaūde vpon the payne aforsayd, that eche of you / as well men as women behaue theym selfe to prouyde in the way and maner aforsayd, or els the weke shall bete the stronge.
¶And also be it prouyded, that yf chaunced ye coulde nat inhabyt & lodge all these lytle beestes before specified within all your garmentes, as hose, shyrtes, doublets, hedes, and cotes, we effectually ordeyne, establysshe, and enact (and that vpon our great displeasure) that ye lodge and inhabyt them in maner of garnyson within your beddes, houses, and in all other your dwellyng places, in so great multytude and plenty, that they may put out your iyes / which we pray god may be.
And as concernynge the other beestes before named, as serpentes, adders, todes, lezardes, & other suche beynge preiudiciall, in that case we wyll & commaunde that ye do after your fantastyke foly & wyll, that is to saye, to take them or leue them / as it pleaseth you.
¶Also we commaunde agayne vppon the paynes aforsayd to you our subiectes specified, & to all other to whom this dignite belongeth, that duryng the tyme, ye be nat so bolde to pare or cut your nayles as ye haue vsed to do in tymes passed.
¶And we by our disordinate coūcell of foles idiots, lunatikes, fantastikes, & melancolous people, haue enacted these contemptes aforesayd to the contrary nat withstandynge.
¶wherfore we commaūde vpon the paynes reherced, to all our hed officers, as comon beggers, vacabondes / stelynge pardoners / to the drawers, blynde harpers, berers of fals seales, outlawes, pyllory knyghtꝭ hedge crepers [Page] and all and euery our naturall offycers so loyterynge and ronnynge ouer & in our landes, lordeshyps, & contrees, that this present commaundement generall playnly may be cryed, & with hygh voice publisshed & declared to man & woman, dog and cat, with great solempnitie, in suche purporte and effecte that may com in easely at theyr eares & ronne fast out of theyr arses, which by lycklyhood may well be / & no man to the contrary withstandynge / for it pleaseth vs so, & so is our wyll to be done.
¶In presence and wytnesse of the lorde and Capytayne of mysorder, the Prouost of euyl prefe, the Esquier Snyueler, Gautier ye scabbed, Philip the halter, & many other / as Roger outlaw, Thomas pyllorye, & suche other our officers of our noble Court testifiers.
Fynysshed in our Palais & Abbay enuyronned with all mischief, the .xi. day of August, & of our reigne. M.