Part 4

In conclusion it only remains to say a few words on the possible connexion of Stephen Scrope with two other works already mentioned, which, like his “Epistle of Othea” or “Boke of Knyghthode” and his “Sayings of the Philosophers,” were written for Sir John Fastolf or under his influence. One of them, the “Boke of Noblesse,” is preserved in a unique copy in the British Museum, Royal MS. 18 B. xxii., and was edited for the Roxburghe Club in 1860 by Mr. J. Gough Nichols. In the form in which it has come down to us, it was addressed to Edward IV. at the time of his invasion of France in 1475, professing to be “write and entitled to courage and comfort noble men in armes to be in perpetuite of remembraunce for here noble dedis, as right conuenient is soo to bee,” or, more precisely, for the purpose of inciting the English to recover by force of arms their lost foreign conquests. The contents were admirably summarized in the editor’s introduction, and all that need be said of them here is that, in addition to a highly interesting retrospect of English relations with France, they include a large amount of matter derived from a French treatise on the art of war, which is spoken of as the “Arbre de Batailles” and attributed to “Dame Cristyn.” Although the editor failed to identify the author, he pointed out that he must have been intimately associated with Fastolf and had access to his papers. Strictly speaking, Fastolf’s name is not specially prominent except in the marginal insertions and notes, where the writer refers to him as “myne autor” and gives several curious anecdotes as heard from his lips. The body of the MS. is clearly not autograph; but these additions, together with the title and colophon,[92] are in a different handwriting, and, although the editor seems to have been unaware of the fact, it is beyond question that of William Worcester, or Botoner, who was not only Fastolf’s servant and secretary, but is also known as an annalist and a diligent collector of matter on historical, topographical and other subjects.[93] The editor therefore dismissed his claims to the authorship of the work rather too hastily, for, as the final touches were certainly his, the only question is whether he was also responsible for the whole of it from its inception. From the limit of date of the events mentioned there is some reason to believe that it was originally composed within Fastolf’s lifetime and was only revised and enlarged in 1475 for a special occasion; and its date may perhaps be fixed still more exactly, since there is an allusion (p. 42) to “another gret armee and voiage fordone for defaut and lak of spedy payment _this yere_ of Crist M^lccccli.” Apart from the final additions there is evidence to connect Worcester with it in a passage of the prologue to a series of documents relating to the wars in France which were collected by him,[94] mainly no doubt from materials that belonged to Fastolf, and which may be regarded as _pièces justificatives_ to the “Boke of Noblesse.” This collection also appears to have been designed for Edward IV., but the original prologue was awkwardly recast, as we now have it, after Worcester’s death by his son for dedication to Richard III. The passage in it referred to, for which he is responsible, is as follows:

“And I, as moost symple of reasone, youre righte humble legemane, cannot atteyne to understond the reasons and bokes that many wise philosophurs of gret auctorite have writtene upone this vertue of Force, but that my pore fadyr, William Worcestre ... toke upone hym to write in this mater and compiled this boke to the most highe and gretly redoubted kyng, your most nobille brodyr and predecessoure, shewyng after his symple connyng, after the seyng of the masters of philosophie, as Renatus Vegesius in his Boke of Batayles, also Julius Frontinus in his Boke of Knyghtly Laboures, callid in Greke Stratagematon, a new auctoure callid The Tree of Batayles.”

Obviously this cannot apply to the purely historical documents of which the collection itself consists. It is, however, strongly suggestive of the “Boke of Noblesse,” to which they are, as it were, an appendix, and coupled with the evidence of the handwriting of the additions, it leaves little room for doubt that William Worcester was its author. At the same time, it is by no means unlikely that Stephen Scrope also had a hand in it. If indeed it was wholly compiled in 1475, this is impossible, since he died in 1472.[95] Assuming, however, for the reason given above, that it dates from 1451, or thereabouts, he was residing at the time with Fastolf and was no doubt on familiar terms with Worcester. As already remarked, a prominent feature of the work is the number of extracts translated from the so-called “Arbre de Batailles” of “Dame Cristyn.” This, however, was not, as the editor supposed, Honoré Bonet’s treatise of that name[96] assigned to a wrong author, but Christine de Pisan’s “Faits d’armes et de chevalerie” under a wrong title.[97] Whether Worcester was capable of making translations from it as early as 1451 is somewhat doubtful; for he seems to have only begun to learn French about August, 1458,[98] little more than a year before Fastolf’s death. Scrope on the contrary had before this translated two French works for the latter, one of them being by the same Christine, and it is therefore in this part of the “Boke of Noblesse,” if at all, that he may possibly have collaborated.

Unlike the last-named work, the anonymous English version of Cicero’s “De Senectute” which Caxton printed in 1481 has already been attributed to William Worcester,[99] the ground of this assumption being an entry made in his “Itinerarium,”[100] that on 10th August, 1473, he presented to Bishop Waynflete at Esher a translation which he had made of this treatise, but got nothing in return. Apart from this statement there is no more reason for attributing Caxton’s text to Worcester than to Scrope. The language is better than might have been expected from either of them, but as no MS. copy exists, we cannot tell to what extent it was edited by Caxton. In the preface, as may be seen above (p. xxx.), it is said that the translation was made from the French of Laurence de Premierfait by Sir John Fastolf’s “ordenaunce and desyre.” As there is no reason to doubt this, its date cannot be later than 1459, so that, if Worcester was the translator, he kept it at least thirteen years before he offered it to Waynflete. This does not seem very likely, and his translation was therefore possibly a different one altogether, completed shortly before the occasion when the bishop so disappointed him by his cold acceptance of it. The earlier version in that case was almost certainly by Scrope; but, where so much is left to conjecture, the most that can be said is that the evidence upon which it has hitherto been assigned to Worcester is not wholly conclusive.

G. F. W.

ERRATA.

P. 2, l. 6, _for_ yowr emost _read_ yowre most.

P. 11, l. 1, _for_ streygth _read_ strey[n]gth.

P. 19, l. 17, _for_ yif is _read_ yif it.

P. 56, Text lii., l. 3, _transfer semicolon to end of line_.

P. 72, note 3, _for_ metu Dei _read_ nutu Dei.

P. 104, Text xci., l. 3, _for_ thyre _read_ thyne.

THE EPISTLE OF OTHEA TO HECTOR; OR THE BOKE OF KNYGHTHODE.

Noble[101] and worshipfull among the ordre of cheualrie, renommeed ffor in as much as ye and suche othir noble knyghtes and men of worchip haue exerciced and occupied by long continuaunce of tyme the grete part of yowre dayes in dedys of cheualrie and actis of armis, to the whic[h]e entent ye resseyved the ordre of cheualrie, that is to sey, principaly to be occupied in kepyng and defendyng the cristyn feythe, þe rigth of the chirch, the lond, the contre and the comin welefare of it—And now, seth it is soo that the naturel course off kynde, by revolucion and successyon of .lx. yeeres growyn vpon yowe at this tyme of age and feblenesse, ys comen, abatyng youre bodly laboures, takyng away yowre naturall streyngtht and power from all such labouris as concernyth the exercysing off dedis of cheuallrie, be it yowre noble courage and affeccion of such noble and worchipfull actis and desirys departyth not from yow, yet rygth necessarie [it] now were to occupie the tyme of yowre agys and feblenes of bodie in gostly cheuallrie off dedes of armes spirituall, as in contemplacion of morall wysdome and exercisyng gostly werkys which that may enforce and cavse yow to be callid to the ordire of knyghthode that schal perpetuelly endure and encrese in ioye and worship endelese.

And therefor I, yowre most humble sone Stevyn, whiche that haue wele poundered and consideryd the many and grete entreprises of labouris and aventuris that ye haue embaundoned and yovyn youre selph to by many yeeris contynued, as wele in Fraunce [and] Normandie as in othir straunge regions, londes and contrees—and God, which is souuerayne cheueten and knyght off all cheualrie, hath euer preseruyd and defendid yow in all yowre seyde laboures off cheualrye into this day, ffor the which ye be most specyaly obliged and bownden to becom hys knyght in yovre auncient age, namely for to make ffyghtyng ayen youre goostly ennemyes, that allwey be redy to werre wyth youre sovle, the [Sidenote: f. 3.] which, and ye ouerecom hym, shall cawse yow to be in renomme and worchyp in Paradis euerlastyng—I, consideryng thees premisses wyth othir, have (be the suffraunce off yowre noble and good ffadyrhode and by yowre commaundement) take vpon me at this tyme to translate ovte off Frenche tong, ffor more encrese of vertu, and to reduce into owre modyr tong a Book off Knyghthode, as wele off gostly and spirituell actis off armys for the sowle hele as of wordly[102] dedys and policie gouernaunce, and which is auctorised and grounded fryst vpon the .iiii. Cardinal Vertous, as Justice, Prudence, Fors and Temperaunce, also exempled vpon the grete conceytys and doctrine off fulle wyse pooetys and philosophurs, the whiche teche and covnesell how a man schuld be a knyght for the world prynspally, as in yeftis off grace vsyng, as the Cardinalle Vertuus make mencion, ffryst in iustice kepyng, prvdently hym self gouuernyng, hys streynght bodely and gostly vsyng, and magnanimite conseruyng, and allso gouuernyng hymself as a knyght in the seyde Cardinall Vertuouse kepyng. Which materis, conseytys and resons be auctorised and approued vpon the textys and dictes off the holde[103] poetys and wyse men called Philosophurs. And allso ye schal fynde here in this seyde Boke off Cheuallry how and in whatte maner ye, and all othir off whatte astate, condicion or degre he be off, may welle be called a knyght that ouercomyth and conqveryth hys gostly ennemyes by the safegard repuignand defence off hys sovle, wich among all othir victories [and] dedys off worchip is most expedient and necessarie, where as dayly in grettest aventures a man puttyth hym inne and most wery he is to be renommed in worchip and callid a knyght that dothe exercise hys armes and dedys off knyghthode in gostly dedys, in conqveryng his gostly ennemees and ouyrcomyng þe peple and aventure off the world.

And this seyde boke, at the instavnce and praer off a fulle wyse gentylwoman of Frawnce called Dame Cristine, was compiled and grounded by the famous doctours of the most excellent in clerge the nobyl Vniuersyte off Paris, made to the ful noble famous prynce and knyght off renovnne in his dayes, beyng called Jon, Duke of Barry, thryd son to Kyng Jon of Frawnce, that he throwe hys knyghtly labourys, as welle in dedys of armes temporell as spirituell exercisyng by the space and tyme of .c. yeerys[104] lyvyng, flowrid and rengnyd in grete worchip and renownne of cheualry. And in thre thyngges generaly he exercisyd his knyghtly labowris. Thereof oon was in victories, dedis of cheualrie and of armys, in defendyng the seyde royalme of Frawnce from his ennemyes. [The second was] in grete police vsyng, as of grete cowneseylles and wysdomys, yevyng and executing the same for the conseruacyon of iustice and transquillite and alsoo pease kepyng for all the comon welleffare of that noble royaulme. The thredde was in spirytuell and gostly dedys yovyn ontoo for the helthe and wellfare of hys sovle. And in euery of these thre thynggys the seyde prynce was holden ful cheualrouse and suremounted in his dayes above all othir. Wych schewyth welle opynly to euery vnder-stander [Sidenote: f. 4.] in the seyde booke redyng that it was made acordyng to hys seyde victorious dedis and actis of worchip exercysyng.

And the seyde booke ys diuidyd in thre partys gederid in a summe of an .c. textys, drawen vpon the dictis and conceytys of the seyd most famous poetys off olde tyme beyng, as Vyrgyl, Ouyde, Omer and othir; and also with an .c. commentys therevpon, callid exposicyons or glosis vpon the seyde textys, of exemplys temporell of policie gouernaunce and worldlye wysdoms and dedys, grovndyed and also exempled by experiens and by auctorite of the auncient philosophurs and clerkes, as Hermes,[105] Plato, Salomon, Aristotiles, Socrates, Ptholome and suche othir. And vpon thies exemplis and glosis is made and wretyn also an othyr .c. allegories and moralizacions, applied and moralized to actis and dedys of werkyng spirituell, for to doctrine enforme and to lerne euery man nov lyvyng in this world how he schuld be a knyht exercisyng and doyng the dedys of armys gostly, for euerlastyng victorie and helthe of the sovle. Which allegories and moralizacions ben grovnded and auctorised vpon the .iiii. holy doctoris of the chirche, as Austyn, Jerom, Gregorie, Ambrose, alsoo vpon the Bible, the Holy Ewaungelistes and Epistollys and othyr holy doctorus, as here textis more opynly schalle appere hereafftyr. Fiat. Fiat. Amen.

I.

Othea, of prudence named godesse, That setteth goode in worthynesse, To the,[106] Hector, noble prince myghty, That in armes is evere worthye, The sone of Mars,[107] the god of bateyle, In dedys of armes which wyll not fayle, And of myghty Minerve, the godes, [Sidenote: f. 5.] The whiche in armes is hy maystres, Sucessoure of the noble Troyens, Heyre[108] of Troye and of the ceteseyns, Salutacion afore sette plenere I sende, wyth love feyned in no manere. O good lorde, how am I desyryng Thi grete avayle, which I goo sekeyng, And that aumented and preseruyd It may be, and euer obseruede Thy worchipe and worthines in old age, That thow hast gretly hadde in thi fryst age. Now for to schewe the my pistile playnely, I wyll the enorte and telle verily Off thyngges that be ful necessarie To hye worthynesse and the contrarie, To the opposite off worthinesse, So that all goode hertys may theym dres[109] For to gete be goode besy lernynge The hors that in the eyre is flyynge (It is named the Pegasus truly), That all louers loueth hyly.[110] And because of thi condycion I knowe be rygth inclynacion Able to take knythly dedys on hand More than is in othir .v. score thowsand (For as a godes I haue knovynge, Not by the assay but by kunnyng, Of thynges the which be on to kome), I owthe to thynkke on the, hole and some[111]; For I knowe thowe shalte be euer duryng, Worthiest of all the worthy lyvyng, And schall afore all othir namyd be, So that I may be belouyd of the. Belovyd, why schuld not I be soo? I am that the which arayeth all thoo That loueth me and holdyth me dere; I rede theym lessons in chaiere, Which maketh theym clyme heuen onto. I pray the that thow be oon off tho That will here inne beleve me wele.[112] Now sete it well thane in thy mynd and fele The wordes that I wyll to the endyte, And yf thowe here me owght telle, sey or wryte Any thyng that for to come may be As that I seye, vmbethynke the As that they were past, so do thow oughte Knowe ryght wele that they be in my thought In the spyrite off profecie. Vndirstonde wele nowe and greve not the, For I shall no thyng sey but that schalle falle. Thynke wele the comyng is not yet at all.

Othea opon the Greke may be takyn for the wysedome off man and woman[113], and as ancient pepyll of hold tyme, not havynge yit at that tyme lyght of feythe, wirchippyd many goddys, vndyr the which lawe be passed the hyest lordes that hathe ben in the world, as the reaume off Assire, of Perse, the Grekys, the Troyens, Alexandre, the Romaynes and many other, anamly the grettest philosophurs that[114] euer was—so as yet at that tyme God hade not oppenyd the ȝate off mercy, but we Crysten men and women now at this tyme by the grace of God enlumynid wyth very feyth may bryng ayene to morall mynde the oppinyons of ancient pepyll and thereopon many feyre allegories may be made—and as they hade [Sidenote: f. 6.] a costom to worchipe all thynge the which above the comon cours of thynges hade prerogatyue of some grace, many wyse ladyes in there tyme were called godesses. And trwe it ys, aftyr the storie, that in the tyme that grete[115] Troye fflorishede in his grete name a ful wyse ladie callede Othea, consyderyng the ffre thought[116] of Hector of Troye, the which that tyme ffloryshed in vertues, and that it be a shewynge of fortunes to be in hym in tyme commynge, sche sent hyme many grete and notabil yiftys, and namly the fayre stede that men callyd Galathee, the which had no felawe in all the worlde. And becavse that all wordly grace[s] that a good man oughte for to have were in Hector, morally we may sey that he toke theyme by the cownsel of Othea, the which sent hyme this pystylle.

By Othea we schall vndirstond by the vertu of prudence and of wysedome, wherewyth he was arayed; and because the Cardinal Vertues ben necessarie to good pollicie, we schall speke of them, sewynge ich after othyr. And to þe fryst we have youen a name and takyn a maner of speche in some wyse poetykly, the bettyr to folewe owre matere acordyng to the very storie, and to owre purpoyse we schall take some auctoritees of ancient philosophres. Thus we schall sey that by the seyde lady this present was yovyn or sente to goode Hector, the which in lech wyse may be to all other desirynge bounte and wysedome. And as the vertue of prudence ought gretely to be recomendede, Aristotle, the prynce off philosophurs, seyth, “Becavse that wysedome is þe most noble off all othir thynges, it schulde be shevyd by the best resone and the most behouely maner that myghte be.”

Fore to bryng ayen to allegorie the purpos of owre matyr to owre wordes, we schall applique Holy Scrypture to edificacion of the soule, beyng in wrecheed worlde. As by the grete wysedome and hye myȝte of God all thynges that be resonabily made all scholde streche to the ende of hyme, and becawse that owre speryt, mad off God to hys lekenes, is made of thynges moste noble aftyr the aungelles, it is behouely and necessarie that it be arayed wyth vertues, whereby it may be conveyed to the ende for the which it was made. And becavse it was lettyd by the assautes of the wacches[117] of the enemy of helle, the which is his dedely enemye and aduersarie and oftyn distourbeth it to come to hys beaute,[118] we may calle mankyndely lyfe very cheualrie, as the Scripture seyth in many partes, and standyng[119] all erthyly thynges[120] be desceyvable,[121] we schulde haue in contynuell mynde the tyme [Sidenote: f. 7.] for to come, which is wythowte ende. And because this is the grete wysedome of perfite knygthhode and that all othir be of no comparison to regarde of the victorius peple the which be corounede in blys, we schal take a maner of speche of gostly knyhthode, that [is] to be done princypally to the preysynge of God and to the profyth of thoo þat wylle delyte theyme to here this present dittee.

Howe prudence and wysedome is modyr and conditoures of all vertues, wythowte the which the tothire may not be well gouernede, it is necessarie to gostly knyghthode to be arayed wyth prudence, as Seynte Austyn seyth in the book of Singularite off Clerkes,[122] that in what maner of place prudence be men may lyghtly cesse and amende[123] all contrarius thynges, but there w[h]ere prudence is despisyd all cont[r]arius thynges hath domynacyon. And to this purpoose Salamon seyth in his Proverbis, “Si [intraverit sapientia cor tuum et scientia animæ tuæ placuerit, consilium custodiet te et prudentia servabit te.”][124]

II.

And to the entent that know may be What thou schuldeste do, drawe vnto þe The vertues that may the most restore, The bettir to come to that seyde afore Of the worshipful chevalroures.[125] Allthoughe that it be aventerous, Yet schall I sey whi that I sey thus. A cosyn germayne[126] I haue, I wys. Fullefyllyd sche is beaute wyth all; But of all thynges in specyall Sche ys ful softe and temperede full wele; Of stroke of ire felyth sche no dele; [Sidenote: f. 8.] Sche thynkkyth no thynge but of rygth balance. It is the godesse of Temperance. I may not all only but by hyre face Haue the name of that by myghty grace; For yef the weghte ne were sche to the made, The all were not worthe a leke blade.[127] Therefor I wyll that with me sche love the. Yf she wyll, lete hire note forgetyn be; For she is ryght a wele lerned godesse, Hyr witte I love and prays myche in distrese.

Othea seyth that Temperance is here cosyn germayne,[128] the which he schuld loue; for the vertu of temperance may veryly be seyde cosyn germayne and lykennd [to] prudence, for temperans is schewer of prudence and of prudence folwyth temperance. Therefor it is seide that he shulde hold hyr for his love; and euery good knygth shulde do the same, that desiryth due prayse of goode peple. As the philosophre Demetricus[129] seyth, “Temperance moderath vices and perfyteth vertues.”

The good spiryte shuld haue the vertue of temperance, the whiche [hath] the propirte to lemyte and to sede on syde superfluytes.[130] For Seynt Austyn seyth in the book of the condycions[131] ... of concupyscence, the whiche be contrary to vs and lettyth vs from Godes lawe, and more also to dispite fleschely delytys and worldly praysynge. Seynt Petir spekyth to that purpose in hys fyrst Pystyl, [“Obsecro vos tanquam advenas et peregrinos abstinere vos a carnalibus desideriis, quæ militant adversus animam”].[132]

III.