The Canterbury Tales .........................................................................................................................................1

Geoffrey Chaucer .....................................................................................................................................1

Iamque domos patrias, Scithice post aspera gentis Prolia, laurigero, etc. STATIUS, Theb., XII, 519.

A young man named Melibeus, mighty and rich, begot on Prudence, his wife, a daughter who was called

It happened one day that, for his amusement he went into the fields to play. His wife and daughter remained

at home, the doors of his house being all fast shut and locked. But three of his old enemies, having spied out

the state of things, set ladders to the wall of the house and entered therein by a window; and they beat the

wife and wounded the daughter with five dangerous wounds in five different places; that is to say, in her feet,

in her hands, in her ears, in her nose, and in her mouth; and they left her for dead and went away.

When Melibeus returned to his house and saw all this mischief, he, like a madman, rending his clothes, began

Prudence his wife, so far as she dared, besought him to cease his weeping; nevertheless he wept and cried but

This noble wife Prudence remembered then the opinion of Ovid, in his book The Remedy for Love, wherein

he says: "He is but a fool who interferes with the mother weeping for the death of her child, until she shall

have wept her fill, and for a certain time; and only then may a man be diligent, with kind words, to comfort

her, and pray her to forgo her tears." For which reason this noble wife Prudence suffered, her husband to

weep and cry for a time; and when she saw her opportunity, she spoke to him. "Alas, my lord!" said she,

"Why do you allow yourself to act like a fool? For truly it becomes not a wise man to show such sorrow.

Your daughter, by grace of God, shall be healed and will recover. And were she dead even now, you ought

not, for this, to destroy yourself. Seneca says: 'The wise man will not take too sorrowfully to heart the death

of his children, but will suffer it with patience, just as he awaits the death of his own body.'"

Melibeus answered, saying: "What man should cease his weeping who has so great a cause to weep? Jesus

Prudence replied: "Indeed, well do I know that moderate weeping is not forbidden to anyone who sorrows,

among sorrowing folk; but, rather, it is permitted him to weep. The Apostle Paul writes unto the Romans:

'Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.' But though a tempered weeping may be

granted, excessive weeping certainly is forbidden. Moderation in grief should be considered, according to the

teaching of Seneca. 'When your friend is dead,' says he, 'let not your eyes be too wet with tears, nor yet too

dry; and though your tears rise to the eyes, let them not fall.' So, when you have given over your friend, be

diligent in procuring another; and this is wiser than to weep for the friend who is lost; for therein is no profit.

And therefore, if you govern yourself with wisdom, put away sorrow out of your heart. Remember how Jesus

son of Sirach says: 'A joyous and glad heart makes a man flourish in his age; but truly a sorrowful heart

drieth the bones.' He says also that sorrow hath killed many a man. Solomon says that as moths in the sheep's

fleece annoy the clothes, and as small worms the tree, so sorrow annoys the heart. Wherefore we ought to be

patient, not less for the death of our children than for the loss of worldly goods.

"Remember the patient Job, when he had lost his children and his substance, and had in his body received and

endured many a grievous tribulation, yet said he thus: 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed

To these things Melibeus answered, saying to Prudence his wife: "All your words are true, and likewise

profitable, but verily my heart is troubled so grievously with this sorrow that I know not what to do."

"Call, then," said Prudence, "all of your true friends and those of your kindred who are wise; tell them your

trouble and hearken to what they say in council; and then govern yourself according to their advice. Says

Then, upon the advice of his wife Prudence, Melibeus called together a great gathering of people, old and

young; and some among them were surgeons and physicians; and some were of his old enemies who seemed

to have become reconciled to him; and there came some of his neighbours who respected him more out of

fear than of love, as often happens; there came also a great many subtle flatterers; and there were wise

And when all these folks were assembled together, Melibeus, with sorrowful words and mien, told them his

trouble; and by the manner of his speech it appeared that in his heart he bore a savage anger, ready to take

vengeance upon his foes, and was desirous that the war upon them should quickly come. Nevertheless, he

asked their advice upon this matter. Then a surgeon, by leave and voice of all present who were wise, rose up

"Sir," said he, "as for us surgeons, it belongs to us that we do for everyone the best that we can, when we

have been retained, and that we do no harm to our patients. Wherefore it happens, many times and oft, that

when two men have wounded one another, the same surgeon heals them both. Therefore it does not become

us to foment warfare nor to support factions. And certainly, as to the healing of your daughter, although she is

dangerously wounded, we will be so attentive, by day and by night, that, with God's grace, she shall be made

Almost in the same words the physicians answered, save that they added: "Just as diseases are cured by their

His neighbours, full of envy, his false friends who feigned to be reconciled to him, and his flatterers, made a

semblance of weeping; and they greatly aggravated the matter by praising Melibeus, speaking of his might,

his power, his wealth, and his friends, and disparaging the strength of his enemies; and they said outright, that

Then arose an advocate, a wise man, by leave and advice of others who were wise, and said: "Masters, the

matter for which we are assembled here is a heavy thing, and a high, what with the wrong and wickedness

that have been done, and by reason of the great evil that may follow hereafter from this same cause; and, too,

by reason of the great wealth and power of both parties. For all of these reasons it were dangerous indeed to

err in this matter. Wherefore, Melibeus, this is our judgment: we counsel you above all things, that, without

delay, you take steps to guard your own person in such wise that you shall lack neither spy nor watchman.

And we counsel, that in your house you establish a sufficient garrison, so that the house may be as well

defended as you yourself. But, to say truth, as to initiating warfare in order to obtain a sudden revenge, we

can give no opinion, in so short a time, on whether such a move will be profitable. Therefore we ask for

leisure and time wherein to deliberate upon the matter more fully. For the common proverb runs 'Resolve in

haste, in haste repent.' And besides, men hold that he is a wise judge who quickly understands a case and

leisurely pronounces thereupon. For though delay may be annoying, nevertheless it is not to be blamed when

it is a question of rendering just judgments, or of securing vengeance, when the delay is both sufficient and

reasonable. And that was shown, in example, by Our Lord Jesus Christ. For when the woman taken in

adultery was brought into His presence, in order to learn what He would have them to do with her, though He

well knew what He would thereafter answer, yet would He not answer quickly, but deliberated; and He

stooped down and wrote twice upon the ground. For all these reasons, we ask time in which to deliberate, and

thereafter we will counsel you, by the grace of God, as to the most profitable course."

Up started, then, all of the young folk, at once, and the greater part of them scorned the counsel of the old

wise men; and they raised a clamour and said: that just as it is well to strike while the iron is hot, so should

men wreak their vengeance while they are fresh in anger. And they all cried loudly, "War, war!"

Upon this, one of the old wise ones arose, and with his hand commanding silence and attention, he said:

"Masters, there is many a man to cry 'War, War!' who yet knows but little of the meaning of it. War, in the

beginning, has so high an entrance, and so wide, that every man may enter when he pleases, and may find

war easily. But truly, what the end of war shall be is not so easy to know. For when a war is once begun,

many an unborn child shall die in the womb because of the strife, or else shall be born into sorrow and die in

wretchedness. Therefore, ere any war begins, men should take much counsel together and act only after much

But when this old man thought to reinforce his words with reasons, then wellnigh all the younger folk arose

and began to heckle him and to break up his argument, bidding him cut short his remarks. For indeed, he that

preaches to those who have ears but hear not, makes of himself a nuisance. As Jesus son of Sirach says: "A

tale out of season is as musick in mourning." Which is to say, it avails as much to speak to folk to whom the

speech is annoying as to sing before one who weeps. And when this wise man understood that he lacked an

audience, he sat down again, much confused. For Solomon says: "When there is none will hear thee, cease to

speak." "I see well," said this wise man, "that the proverb says truth, which runs, 'Good counsel is wanting

Again, Melibeus had in his council many men who said one thing in his private ear and spoke otherwise in

When Melibeus heard that the greater part of his councillors were agreed on war, straightway he showed

himself in accord with them and confirmed their judgment. Then Dame Prudence, seeing that her husband

shaped his course for war and revenge, humbly and after biding her time, said to him: "My lord, I beseech

you as earnestly as I dare and can, that you go not too hastily in this matter; and for your own good give me a

hearing. For Petrus Alfonsus says: 'And if one man do to another any good or any evil, let there be no haste to

repay it in kind; for then will the friend remain friendly, while the enemy shall but the longer fear.' The

proverb has it: 'He hastens well who wisely can delay.' And in foolish haste there is no profit."

This Melibeus answered Prudence his wife: "I purpose not to work by your counsel, for many causes and

reasons. For truly every man would then take me for a fool; by which I mean: if I by your advising, should

change things that have been ordained and confirmed by so many wise men. Secondly, I say that all women

are evil and none good. 'Behold, this have I found (saith the Preacher), counting one by one, to find out the

account; which yet my soul seeketh, but I found not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman

among all those have I not found.' And certainly, if I were to be governed by your counsel, it would appear as

if I had given over to you my sovereignty; and may God forbid that such a thing should ever be. For Jesus

son of Sirach says: 'A woman, if she maintain her husband, is full of anger, impudence,' and much reproach.'

And Solomon says: 'Give not thy son and wife, thy brother and friend, power over thee while thou livest, and

give not thy goods to another: lest it repent thee, and thou entreat for the same again. As long as thou livest

and hast breath in thee, give not thyself over to any. For better it is that thy children should seek to thee, than

that thou shouldest stand to their courtesy.' And also, if I were to work according to your counselling, certain

it is that my counsels must be kept secret until the proper time to make them known; and this could not thus

be. For it is written that 'The chattering of women can conceal nothing except that which they do not know.'

Furthermore, the philosopher says: 'In evil counsel women surpass men.' And for all these reasons I will not

When Dame Prudence, very affably and with great patience, had heard all that her husband chose to say, then

she asked of him leave to speak, and said: "My lord, as to your first reason, surely it may readily be

answered. For I say that it is no folly to overrule counsel when circumstances are changed, or when the

cause appears otherwise than at the first. And, moreover, I say that though you have sworn and warranted to

perform your enterprise, nevertheless, should you refuse for just cause to perform it, men will not therefore

say that you are a liar and forsworn. For the book says that the wise man deals not falsely when he changes

his first purpose for a better one. And although your undertaking be ordained and established by a great many

men, yet you need not accomplish it, unless you like. For the truth of things, and the profit thereof, are found

rather among a few folk who are wise and reasonable than among the multitude, where every man cries and

gabbles as he likes. Truly such a crowd is not worthy of honour. As to the second reason, wherein you say

that all women are evil, then certainly, saving your grace, you must despise all women by so saying; and he

that despises all displeases all, as the book says. And Seneca says that 'Whoso has sapience will not any man

dispraise; but he will gladly impart such knowledge as he can, and that without presumption and pride. And

for such things as he knows not, he will not be ashamed to inquire of and learn from lesser folk.' And, sir, that

there has been many a good woman may be easily proved. For certainly, sir, Our Lord Jesus Christ would

never have condescended to be born of a woman if all women had been evil. And thereafter, for the great

worth that is in women, Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He had risen from death unto life, appeared to a woman,

rather than to His disciples. And although Solomon says that he never found good in any woman, it follows

not, therefore, that all women are wicked. For, though he may never have found a good woman, surely many

another man has found full many a woman to be both good and true. Or perchance Solomon's meaning was

this: that so far as the highest virtue is concerned, he found no such woman; which is to say, that there is no

one who has sovereign goodness and worth, save God alone, as He Himself has caused to be recorded in His

gospels. For there is no creature so good that he is not somehow wanting in the perfection of God, Who is his

Maker. Your third reason is this: You say that if you were to be governed by my counsel, it should appear as

if you had given over to me the mastery and sovereignty of your person. Sir, saving your presence, it is not

so. For, if it were true, then, in order that no man should ever be advised, save by those who had mastery over

his person, men could not so often be advised. For truly, every man who asks counsel concerning any purpose

yet retains his freedom to choose whether he will or will not proceed by that counselling. And as to your

fourth reason, wherein you say that the chattering of women can hide things of the which they are not aware,

as one might say that a woman cannot hide what she knows sir, these words are only to be understood of

women who are both evil and gossipy; of which women men say that three things will drive a man out of his

own house: smoke, and the dripping of rain, and a wicked wife. And further, of such women, Solomon says:

'It were better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman in a wide house.' And, sir, by

your leave, that I am not; for you have often enough tested my ability to keep silence, and tried my patience,

and even how I can hide and conceal matters that men ought to keep secret. And, in good truth, as to your

fifth reason, wherein you say that in evil counsel women surpass men, God knows that this reason has no

standing here. For understand now, you ask counsel to do wickedness; and if your will is to work wickedness,

and your wife restrains such an ill purpose and overcomes you by reason and good counsel given, then,

certainly, your wife ought rather to be praised than blamed. Thus should you understand the saw of the

philosopher who says that in evil counsel women surpass their husbands. And whereas you blame all women

and their reasonings, I will show you, by many examples, that many women have been good and are yet, and

have given counsel both wholesome and profitable. True, some men have said that the advice of women is

either too dear or too cheap in price. But, be it that many a woman is bad, and her counsel vile and worthless,

yet men have found many a good woman, full wise and full discreet in giving counsel. Behold how Jacob, by

following the good advice of his mother Rebecca, won the blessing of Isaac, his father, and came to authority

over all his brethren. Judith, by her good counsel, delivered the city of Bethulia, wherein she dwelt, out of the

hands of Holofernes, who besieged it and who would have completely destroyed it. Abigail delivered her

husband Nabal from David the king, who would have slain him, and appeased the anger of the king by her

wit and good advising. Esther, by her good counsel, greatly exalted the people of God in the reign of King

Ahasuerus. And men may tell much of the same excellence of good advice in many a good woman.

Moreover, when Our Lord had created Adam, our forefather, he said thus: 'It is not good that the man should

be alone: I will make him a help meet for him.' Here you may see that, if women were not good, and their

counsels good and profitable, Our Lord God of Heaven would never have wrought them, nor called them the

help of man, but, rather, the confusion of man. And once a writer said, in two verses: 'What is better than

gold? Jasper. What is better than jasper? Wisdom. What is better than wisdom? Woman. And what is better

than woman? Nothing.' And, sir, by many other examples you may see that women are good and their

counselling both good and profitable. And thereupon, sir, if you will trust to my advice, I will restore to you

your daughter whole and sound. And moreover, I will do for you so much that you shall come out of this

When Melibeus had listened to the words of his wife Prudence, he said: "I see well that the word of Solomon

is true. He says, 'Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.' And, wife,

because of your sweet words, and because, moreover, I have tried and proved your great wisdom and your

"Now, sir," said Dame Prudence, "since you give yourself to be governed by my advice, I will tell you how to

choose your councillors. You shall first, in all your works, meekly pray to the high God that He will be your

adviser, and you shall mould your understanding in such wise that He may give you counsel and comfort, as

Tobit taught his son, that is to say: 'Bless the Lord thy God always, and desire of Him that thy ways may be

directed and that all thy paths and counsels may prosper.' And look to it that all your counsels are in Him for

evermore. Saint James, also, says: 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.' And after that, then shall

you take counsel within yourself, and examine well your thoughts, concerning all things that seem to be the

best for your own profit. And then shall you drive from your heart three things that are opposed to the

"First, he that takes counsel within himself, certainly he must be free from anger, and this for many reasons.

The first one is this: He that has great ire and wrath within himself thinks always that he is capable of doing

things that he cannot do. Secondly, he that is angry and full of wrath cannot think or judge well, and he that

cannot judge well cannot well advise. The third reason is this: That 'He that is angry,' as says Seneca, 'can

speak only to berate and blame.' And thus with his vicious words he drives others into a like state.

"And too, sir, you must drive covetousness out of your heart. For the Apostle says that 'The love of money is

the root of all evil.' And, trust me, a covetous man cannot judge correctly, nor can he think well, save only to

the furtherance of his covetousness; and that, in truth, can never really be accomplished, because the richer he

"And, sir, you must drive hastiness out of your inmost heart. For certain it is that you cannot hold to be best

the sudden thought that comes into your heart, but you must weigh it and advise upon it. For, as you have

heard before, the common proverb has it that he who resolves in haste soon repents. Sir, you are not always in

like mood and of a like disposition; for surely that which at one time seems good to you, at another appears to

"When you have taken counsel within yourself, and have, after due deliberation, deemed such, or such, a

thing to be for the best, then, I advise you, keep it secret. Reveal not your intentions to any person, save to

such as you may certainly know will be of help to render your position more tenable through such revelation.

For Jesus son of Sirach says 'Whether it be to a friend or a foe, talk not of other men's lives; and if thou canst

without offense, reveal them not. For he heard and observed thee, and when time cometh he will hate thee.'

And another writer says: 'Hardly shalt thou find one person who can keep secrets.' The Book says: 'While

thou dost keep thy counsel in thine own heart, thou keepest it imprisoned; and when thou revealest it to

anyone, he holdeth thee imprisoned.' And therefore it is better that you hide your thoughts within your own

heart, than pray to him to whom you have told them that he will be close and keep silence. For Seneca says:

'If thou canst not keep thine own counsel, how darest thou beg of another that he will do so?' But,

nevertheless, if you deem certainly that the revealing of your secret to anyone will better your condition, then

tell it to him in this wise. First, you shall give no indication whether you prefer peace or war, or this or that,

and show him not your determination and intent; for, trust me, councillors are commonly flatterers, especially

the councillors of great lords. For they are at pains always to speak pleasantly, inclining toward the lord's

desire, rather than to use words that are, in themselves, true and profitable. And therefore men say that the

rich man rarely receives good counsel, save as he has it from himself. And after that, you shall consider your

friends and your enemies. Touching your friends, you must consider which of them are most old and faithful,

and wisest, and most approved in counselling. And of them shall you ask advice, as the event requires.

"I say that first you must call into council such of your friends as are true. For Solomon says: 'Ointment and

perfume rejoice the heart; so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.' He says also: 'Nothing

doth countervail a faithful friend, and his excellency is invaluable.' For certain it is that neither gold nor silver

are worth so much as the goodwill of a true friend. Again he says: 'A faithful friend is a strong defence: and

"Then, too, shall you consider whether your real friends are discreet and wise. For the Book says: 'Stand in

the multitude of the elders, and cleave unto him that is wise.' And for this reason you should call to your

council, of your friends that have arrived at a proper age, those who have seen and experienced many. things,

and who have been approved in parliaments. For the Book says: 'With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of

days understanding.' And Tullius says: 'Great things are not accomplished by strength and activity of body,

but by counsel, authority, and knowledge; and these things do not become enfeebled with age, but rather

"And then you shall keep this for a general rule. First, you shall call to your council but a few of your most

special friends. For Solomon says: 'Have thou many friends, but of a thousand choose but one to be thy

councillor.' And although you should, at the first, tell your secrets to but a few, afterward you may tell them

to others, if there be need. But look to it always that your councillors have the three attributes that I have

mentioned, namely: that they are true, wise, and experienced. And act not always, and in every need, by the

advice of one councillor alone; for sometimes it is well to have the advice of many. Says Solomon: 'Without

counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of councillors they are established.'

"Now that I have told you of the sort of folk by whom you should be counselled, I will teach you which sort

of counsel you ought to eschew. First, you shall avoid the counselling of fools. For Solomon says: 'Consult

not with a fool, for he cannot keep counsel.' It is said in a book that the characteristic of a fool is this: he

readily believes evil of everyone. and as readily believes all good of himself. You shall also eschew the

counselling of all flatterers, such as force themselves rather to praise your person than to tell you the truth

"Wherefore Tullius says, that of all the pestilences of friendship, the greatest is flattery. And so it is more

needful that you eschew and fear flatterers than any other kind of men. The Book says that one should rather

flee from and fear the sweet words of flatterers than the earnest words of the friend who tells one the truth.

Solomon says that the words of a flatterer are a snare wherewith to catch innocents. He says also, that he who

speaks sweet words to his friend, sets before his feet a net to catch him. And therefore says Tullius Cicero:

'Incline not thine ears to flatterers, nor take counsel of flattering words.' And Cato says: 'Be well advised, and

avoid sweet and pleasant words.' And you must also eschew the counsels of such of your former enemies as

have become reconciled to you. The Book says that no one can safely trust to the goodwill of a former

enemy. And Aesop says: 'Trust not to those with whom you have been sometime at war or in enmity, neither

tell them of your intentions.' And Seneca tells us the reason for this. 'It may not be,' says he, 'that, where fire

has long existed there shall remain no vapour of heat.' And thereto says Solomon: 'The kisses of an enemy are

deceitful.' For, certainly, though your enemy may be reconciled, and appear before you in all humility, and

bow his head to you, you should never trust him. Surely he feigns this humility more for his advantage than

for any love of you; for he thinks to gain some victory over you by such feigning, the which he could not gain

by strife of open war. And Petrus Alfonsus says: 'Have no fellowship with ancient foes; for if you do good to

them, they will pervert it into evil.' And, too, you must eschew the advice of those who are your own servants

and bear themselves toward you with all reverence; for perchance they speak more out of fear than for love.

And therefore says a philosopher thus: 'There is no one perfectly true to him of whom he is afraid.' And

Tullius says: 'There is no power of any emperor, fitted to endure, save it be founded more in the love of the

people than in the fears.' You must also avoid the counselling of drunkards; for they can retain nothing.

Solomon says that there is no secrecy where drunkenness reigns. You should also suspect the counsels of

such as advise you privately to one thing and to a contrary thing in public. For Cassiodorus says that it is but

an artifice to hinder when a man does one thing openly and its contrary in private. You should also hold

suspect the counselling of the wicked. For the Book says that the advice of the wicked is always full of fraud.

And David says that he is a happy man who has I not followed the counselling of villains. You should also

"And. now, sir, that I have shown you as to the folk from whom you may take counsel, and what counsel you

may accept and follow, now will I teach you how that counsel should be examined, according to the doctrines

of Tullius. In bringing a councillor to the test, you must consider many things. First, you should consider that,

in this very thing that you purpose, and upon which you are in need of advice, only the truth may be told; that

is to say, state your case truthfully. For he that lies or prevaricates may not well be counselled, at least in so

far as he has deceived. And after this, you must consider the things that agree with your purpose in council;

whether reason agrees therewith; and whether you have power to attain your purpose; and whether the major

and the better part of your council agree with it. Then shall you consider the probable result of acting upon all

your advices: as hate, peace, war, honour, gain, loss, and many other things. And in all these things you must

choose the best and avoid all else. Then must you take into consideration the root whereof is grown the

matter of your counselling, and what fruit it may engender. Then, too, you shall consider all of the causes and

examine into the causes of causes. And when you have examined your counselling as I have outlined to you,

and have determined which part of it is the better and more profitable, and have found it to be approved by

many wise and elderly men: then shall you consider whether you have power to carry it to a good end. For

surely reason will not permit a man to begin a thing, save he carry it through as he should. Nor should anyone

take upon himself a burden so heavy that he cannot bear it. For says the proverb: He that too much embraces,

confines but little. And Cato says: 'Attempt only what thou hast power to do, lest the great task so oppress

thee that it shall behoove thee to forgo that which thou hast begun.' And if it be that you are in doubt whether

you can perform a thing, choose rather to suffer than to begin. For Petrus Alfonsus says: 'If you have power

to do any thing which you must later regret, it is better to say nay than yea.' That is to say, it is better to keep

silence than to speak. Then may you apprehend, and for stronger reasons, that if you have the ability to carry

out any work whereof it is likely that later you must repent, then it is better to suffer it to remain undone than

to begin it. Well do they speak who forbid a man to attempt a thing of which he has doubt of his ability to

perform it. And afterward, when you have thoroughly examined your counsels, as I have set forth, and are

convinced that you can carry through your enterprise to its goal, conform to it, then, gravely and carefully to

'Now it is time that I instruct you when and for what you may change your intention without reproach. For

truly a man may change purpose and plan when the cause for them is removed, or when a new condition

arises. For the law says that new conditions demand new counsels. And Seneca says: 'If thy plan be come to

the ears of thine enemy, change thy plan.' You may also change your plan if it develops that, through error or

for other reason, harm will ensue from following it. Also, if your counselling is dishonest, or comes of a false

premise, change your plan. For the laws provide that all dishonest mandates are invalid. And plans may be

"And take this for a general rule: That every counsel that is so rigorously established that it cannot be altered,

This Melibeus, when he had heard all the doctrines of his wife, Dame Prudence, answered her thus: "Dame,

so far you have well and agreeably taught me, in a general way, how I should govern myself in the choosing

and in the rejecting of councillors. But now I would fain have you descend to the particular, and tell me how

you like them and how they appear to you I mean, the councillors who have been already chosen in the

"My lord," said she, "I beg of you, in all humility, that you will not wilfully object to my reasons, nor allow

anger to enter your heart, even though I should say things that must displease you. For God knows that, as for

my intention, I speak to your best interest, your honour, and your advantage. And, truly, I hope that your

benignity will take it all in patience. Trust me, your counselling in this case should not be called counselling,

properly speaking, but only a motion to do folly; and you have erred in many ways.

"First and foremost, you have erred in the method and manner of assembling your councillors. For you

should have called, at first, but a few, and thereafter, had there arisen a need, you might have called in more.

But, indeed, you have suddenly called into council a great multitude of persons, all very burdensome and all

very tiresome to hear. Also, you have erred thus: whereas you should have called into council only your true

friends, elderly and wise, you have gathered here many strange men, and young men, false flatterers,

reconciled enemies, and men who do you reverence without love. Again, you have erred in that you have

brought with you into council anger, covetousness, and hastiness, the which three things are antagonistic to

every honest and profitable parliament; nor have you voided nor destroyed them, either in yourself or in your

councillors, as you ought to have done. You have erred, again, in that you have revealed your wishes to your

councillors, and your desire to make war and obtain vengeance; they have learned from your speeches the

thing toward which you incline. Therefore, they have advised you agreeably to your wishes, rather than to

your profit. You have erred, also, in that it appears to have sufficed you to be counselled by these councillors

only, and with little advising; whereas, in so great and high a matter, it was really encumbent upon you to

have procured more councillors and to have deliberated longer upon the means of performing your enterprise.

Again you have erred, for you have not examined and tested your council in the manner aforesaid, nor in any

manner required by the cause. You have erred, again, in that you have made no division between your

councillors; that is to say, between your true friends and your feigned; nor have you learned the desire of your

true friends, the elderly and wise of them; but you have cast the words of every man into a hotchpot, and you

have then inclined your heart toward the majority, and upon that side have you stooped to folly. And since

you well know that men must always exhibit, in any gathering, a greater number of fools than of wise heads,

therefore in those councils composed of large numbers, where rather is considered the will of the majority

than the wisdom of individuals, you may see easily enough that in such cases the fools must have the

Melibeus answered her again, saying: "I grant that I have erred; but since you have already told me that he is

not to blame who changes councillors under certain conditions and for just causes, I stand ready to change

mine, just as you shall prompt. The proverb runs: To err is human, but to persist in sin is the work of the

To this replied. Dame Prudence: "Examine your council, and let us see which of them have spoken most

reasonably and given the best advice. And since such an examination is necessary, let us begin with the

surgeons and physicians who spoke the first in this cause. I say that the surgeons and physicians have spoken

discreetly, as they should; and they wisely spoke when they said that to their profession belongs the duty of

dealing honourably with every man, and to his profit, and to harm no one; and, according to their skill, to set

diligently about the healing of those under their care. And sir, since they have answered wisely and

discreetly, I advise that they be richly and nobly rewarded for their noble speech, and, too, that they may be

the more attentive to the healing of your dear daughter. For, though they are your friends, you must not suffer

it that they serve you for nothing; you ought, indeed, but the more to reward them and to give them largess.

And, touching the proposition that the physicians introduced into this case, namely, that, in diseases, the thing

is cured by its contrary, I would fain learn how you understand that saying and what is your opinion of it."

"Indeed," said Melibeus, "I understand it thus: That just as they have done me an injury, so should I do them

another. For just as they have revenged themselves upon me, and have thereby done me a wrong, so shall I

now take my revenge and do them a wrong. And then shall I have cured one contrary by another."

"Lo, lo," exclaimed Dame Prudence, "how easily is every man inclined toward his own desire and to the

securing of his own pleasure! Surely the words of the physicians should not have been interpreted in this

sense. For, indeed, wickedness is not the contrary of wickedness, nor is vengeance of vengeance, nor wrong

of wrong; but they are their likenesses. And therefore one vengeance is not to be cured by another vengeance,

nor one wrong by another wrong; but, rather, each of them fructifies and engenders upon the other. But the

words of the physicians should be understood in this wise: good and evil are opposites, and peace and war,

revenge and forgiveness, discord and concord, and many others. But, certainly, wickedness shall be cured by

goodness, discord by concord, war by peace, and so on of other things. And with this Saint Paul the Apostle

accords in many places. Says he: 'See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which

is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.' And in many other places he admonishes to peace and

"But now will I speak of the counselling that was given by the lawyers and suchlike wise men, who were all

of one accord, as you heard: to the effect that, above all else, you should be diligent in guarding your person

and in garrisoning and provisioning your house. And they held, also, that in these matters you ought to act

advisedly and after much deliberation. Sir, as to the first point, which touches upon the safety of your person,

you must understand that he who is at war should meekly and devoutly pray, above all things, that Jesus

Christ, of His great mercy, will keep him under His protection and be his sovereign and very present help in

time of need. For assuredly, in this world there is no man who can be safeguarded by advice, save and except

he be within the keeping of Our lord Jesus Christ. With this opinion agrees the prophet David, who says:

'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.' Now then, sir, you shall commit the

guarding of your person to your true friends, approved and well known; for of them only should you ask such

help. For Cato says: 'If thou hast need of aid, ask it of thy friends; for there is no physician so valuable as thy

true friend.' And hereafter you must keep always from all strange folk, and from liars, and hold them always

suspect. For Petrus Alfonsus says: 'Never take company of a strange man, on the way, unless it is that you

have known him longer than the present moment. And if it be that he fall in with you by accident, and

without your assent, inquire then, as subtly as you may, into his conversation and into his life, and do you

dissemble for yourself; say that you are going where you do not intend to go; and if he carry a spear, walk

upon the right side of him, and if he bear a sword, walk on his left.' And hereafter shall you wisely hold

yourself verily aloof from the sorts of people I have described, and eschew both them and their counsel. And

you shall not presume so much upon your strength that you are led to despise and hold as naught the might of

your adversary, thus endangering your person by this presumption; for every wise man fears his enemy. And

Solomon says that it is well for him that suspects all others; for verily he that, because of the courage of his

heart and the strength of his body, presumes too much upon them him shall evil befall. Then, you should

guard always against all ambushments and all espionage. For Seneca says: 'The wise man that fears danger

avoids danger; he does not fall into peril who peril shuns.' And though it may seem that you are secure in a

place, yet shall you be always upon your guard; that is to say, be not negligent either before your greatest

enemy or, your least. Seneca says: 'A man that is well advised dreads his weakest foe.' Ovid says that the

little weasel may kill the great bull and the wild hart. And the Book says that a little thorn may sorely prick a

great king; and that a hound will hold the wild boar. But, nevertheless, I do not say that you are to be so

cowardly as to be afraid where there is no just cause for fear. It is said in a book that some folk have a great

wish to deceive, who yet fear deception. But you shall fear poisoning, and withhold yourself from the

company of scoffers. For the Book says that with the scoffer one should have no fellowship, and should avoid

"Now, as to the second point, wherein your wise councillors have advised you to provision and garrison your

house, I would know how you understand their words, and what is your opinion of them."

Melibeus answered and said: "Verily, I understand them in this wise: that I am to equip my house with

towers, such as castles have, and other such buildings, and with armour and with artilleries; by means of

which I may keep my house and may so defend and keep my person that my enemies will not dare to

To this judgment Prudence then replied: "The garrisoning, provisioning, and equipping of high towers is

sometimes but the pandering to pride. And it sometimes happens that even when men build high towers and

great fortresses, at much cost and with untold labour, when they are completed they are not worth a straw,

unless they be defended by true friends, who are both old and wise. And understand well that the greatest and

strongest garrison a, powerful man may have, as well to defend his person as his property, is the love of his

vassals and his neighbours. For Tullius says that there is a kind of garrison which no man can vanquish or

"Now, sir, as to the third point, whereof your older and wiser councillors averred that you ought not suddenly

and hastily to proceed in this matter, but that you should provide for and array yourself with great diligence

and after much careful thought, indeed I think that they spoke wisely and truthfully. For Tullius says: 'In

every act, or ever thou begin it, array thyself with great diligence.' Then, say I, in seeking vengeance, in war,

in battle, and in making arrangements, before you begin you must thoroughly prepare yourself and do it with

much forethought. For Tullius says that a swift victory is the result of long preparation. And Cassiodorus says

"But let us now speak of the counsel that was given by your neighbours, those who do you reverence without

love; by your old reconciled enemies; by your flatterers who counselled you privately to certain things and

openly to quite others; and by the younger men, also, who advised a speedy taking of vengeance and an

immediate opening of hostilities. And certainly, sir, as I have said before, you were greatly in error in calling

such folk into your council; such councillors are sufficiently discredited by the reasons hitherto adduced. But,

nonetheless, let us descend to the particular. You should first proceed after the teaching of Tullius. Certainly

the truth of this matter, or of this counselling, needs no long inquiry. For we know well who they are that

have done to you this injury and this villainy, and how many offenders there are, and in what manner they

have wrought against you this wrong and harm. And after this, then shall you examine the second condition

which this same Tullius added. For Tullius puts forth a condition which he calls 'complying,' by which he

means: who they are, and how many of them, that complied with your wishes to do hasty vengeance on your

enemies, as you expressed it in council. And let us consider, also, who they are and how many, that complied

with the wishes of your adversaries. As to the first group, it is well known who they are that complied with

your hasty wilfulness; for truly all those who counselled you to make a sudden war are not your friends. Let

us now consider who they are that you hold so steadfastly to be friends of your person. For though you are a

mighty man, and a rich, true it is that you do but stand alone. For you have no child, save a daughter; nor

have you any brothers, or cousins, or other near kinsmen for the dread of whom your enemies might forgo

treating with you or attempting to destroy your person. You know also that your wealth, when apportioned

out, will be distributed to a few men not closely related to you; and when each of them shall have received his

share, then he will have but little incentive to avenge your death. But your enemies are three, and they have

many children, brothers, cousins, and other near kinsmen; and though it were that you had slain two or three

of them, yet, there should remain enough to avenge those deaths by killing you. And though it were that your

own kindred are true and more steadfast than those of your enemies, yet, nevertheless, your own kinsmen are

but distantly related to you, whereas the kinsmen of your adversaries are closely sib to them. And, certainly,

as for that, their condition is better than yours. Then let us consider, also, whether the advice of those who

urged you to a sudden vengeance accords with reason. Certainly you know here that the answer is nay. For

you know well that there is no man who may take vengeance upon anyone, save the judge who has proper

jurisdiction, and when it has been to him to take such vengeance, hastily or slowly, as the law requires. And,

moreover, as to that same word which Tullius calls 'complying,' you should consider whether your might and

power may consent to comply with your wilfulness and that of your councillors. And, surely, to that also you

must answer no. For indeed, properly speaking, we should do nothing save such things as we may do

rightfully. And, in truth, rightfully you may take no vengeance as of your own authority. Thus you may see

that your power does not rightfully consent to comply with your wilfulness. Let us now examine the third

point, which Tullius calls the 'consequence.' You must understand that the vengeance which you purpose is

the consequence. And from that follows another vengeance, another peril, and another war, and further

injuries and damages without number whereof we are not at this time aware. And, touching the fourth point,

which Tullius calls 'engendering,' you should consider that this wrong done to you was engendered of the

hate of your enemies; and of the vengeance taken on that evil would be begotten another vengeance, and

"Now, sir, as to the point which Tullius calls 'causes,' which is the last point to consider, you must understand

that the wrong that has been done you had certain causes, the which scholars call Oriens and Efficens, and

Causa longinqua and Causa propinqua, which is to say, the ultimate cause and the proximate cause. The

ultimate cause is Almighty God, Who is the Cause of all things. The proximate cause is your three enemies.

The accidental cause is hate. The material cause is the five wounds of your daughter. The formal cause is the

method of their working who brought ladders and climbed in at your windows. The final cause was the wish

to slay your daughter; it hindered them not, in so far as they did their best. But, to speak now of the ultimate

cause, as to what end they shall reach, or what shall finally betide your enemies in this case, I cannot judge,

save in conjecture and supposition. Yet we may suppose that they shall come to an evil end, for the Book of

Decrees says: 'Seldom, and only with great pain, are causes brought to a good end, when they have been

"Now, sir, if men ask me why God has suffered men to do this villainy, certainly I can answer nothing in any

reliable language. For the Apostle says that the wisdom and the judgments of Our Lord God Almighty are

very deep, whereof no man may comprehend anything, nor search into them. Nevertheless, by certain

presumptions and conjecturings, I hold and believe that God, Who is justice and righteousness, has permitted

"Your name is Melibee, which is to say, a man who drinks honey. You have drunk so much of the sweet

honey of mundane riches and delights and honours that you are intoxicated therewith, and have forgotten

Jesus Christ, your Creator: you have not honoured Him as you should have done, nor have you showed Him a

proper reverence. Nor have you well observed those words of Ovid, who says: 'Under the honey of the good

things of the flesh is hidden the venom that slays the soul.' And Solomon says that if you have found honey,

eat of it only a sufficiency; for if you eat of it overmuch, you shall vomit, and so be again hungry and in want.

And perchance Christ holds you in scorn, and has turned away His face from you, and shut up the ears of His

mercy; and also He has suffered it that you have been punished in that manner in which you have sinned. You

have sinned against Our Lord Christ; for, certainly, those three enemies of mankind, the world, the flesh, and

the devil, you have wilfully suffered to enter into your heart through the windows of your body, and you have

not sufficiently defended yourself against their assaults and temptations, so that they have wounded your soul

in five different places; that is to say, the deadly sins that have entered into your heart through your five

senses. In the same manner Our Lord Christ has willed and permitted it that your three enemies have entered

your house through the windows thereof, and have wounded your daughter in the manner whereof you

"Certainly," said Melibeus, "I see well that you so strengthen your arguments that I shall not revenge myself

upon my enemies, showing me thus the perils and the evils that may result from this taking of vengeance. But

if everyone were to consider, in every revenge, the dangers and ills that might ensue therefrom, no man

would ever take vengeance, and that would be harmful; for by vengeancetaking the wicked are set apart

from the good men. And they that have the will to do wickedly restrain their evil purpose when they see the

To this replied Dame Prudence: "Surely," said she, "I grant that much good and much evil come of

vengeance; but vengeancetaking does not belong to everyone, but only to judges and such as have a proper

jurisdiction and authority over wrongdoers. And I say, further, that just as an individual sins in wreaking

vengeance upon another man, so sins the judge if he does not fully exact payment from those who have

deserved to be punished. For Seneca says: 'That is a good master who convicts criminals.' And as

Cassiodorus says: 'A man shrinks from crime when he understands and knows that it angers the judges and

the sovereigns.' And yet another says: 'The judge who fears to deal justly makes criminals of men.' And Saint

Paul the apostle says in his Epistle to the Romans that not without reason are the fasces borne before the

magistrates. For they are borne to punish criminals and miscreants, and for the security of good and just men.

If, then, you would have revenge upon your enemies, you should turn to and have recourse unto the judge

having a proper jurisdiction over them; and he will punish them as the law demands and requires."

"Ah!" exclaimed Melibeus. "This idea of vengeance is no longer to my liking. I remember, now, how Fortune

has nourished me from my childhood, helping me over many a difficult place. I give heed to this; and now

will I make trial of her again, believing that, with God's help, she will aid me to avenge my shame."

"Indeed," said Prudence, "if you will act according to my advice, you shall not make trial of Fortune in any

way; you shall not bow down before her. For, to quote Seneca: 'Things done foolishly and in the hope of

Fortune, shall never come to any good end.' And as the same Seneca says: 'The clearer and the more shining

Fortune appears, the more brittle she is and the more easily broken.' Trust not in her, for she is neither

steadfast nor stable; for when you believe yourself to be most secure and most certain of her help, she will

deceive and fail you. And whereas you say that Fortune has nourished you from your childhood, I say that by

so much the less should you trust now to her and to her ingenuity. For Seneca says: 'As for the man who is

nursed by Fortune, she will make of him a great fool.' Now then, since you desire and demand vengeance,

and since the sort of vengeance that is to be had according to law and before a judge is not to your taste, and

since the vengeance that is attempted in reliance upon Fortune is dangerous and uncertain, then remains to

you no other remedy than to have recourse unto the sovereign. Judge Who punishes all villainies and avenges

all wrongs. And He will avenge you, as He Himself promises, for 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.'"

Melibee answered: "If I do not revenge myself for the injury that men have done to me, I invite and advertise

to those who have injured me, and to all others, that they are free to do me another wrong. For it is written: 'If

thou take no revenge for an old injury, thou invitest thine enemies to do thee a new evil.' And also, what of

my sufferance, men would do to me so much of villainy that I could neither endure it nor sustain it; and I

should be held in contempt. For men say: 'In patient sufferance shall many things happen to one, the which

"Certainly," said Prudence, "I grant you that too much of sufferance is not a good thing; but yet it follows not

therefrom that every person to whom men do a rascality may take vengeance for it; for that is the duty of and

belongs only to the proper judges. Wherefore the two authorities that you have quoted are only to be

understood as speaking to and of the judges; for when they suffer overmuch that wrong and crime remain

unpunished, they not only invite new injury and wrong, but they command that they be done. Also a wise

man says: 'The judge who does not chasten the sinner, bids him to sin again.' And it is conceivable that the

judges and sovereigns of any realm might show so much leniency to criminals and evildoers that, from such

sufferance, in process of time, they might so wax in power as to turn out the judges and the monarchs from

"But now let us assume that you have a proper leave to avenge yourself. I say that you have not now the

power to avenge yourself. For if you will compare your own with the power and might of your adversaries,

you shall find, in many ways, as I have previously pointed out, that their condition is better than yours. And

therefore say I that it is well, as for this time, to suffer your injuries in patience.

"Furthermore, you know well the common saw: It is madness in a man to strive with one who is stronger than

himself; and to strive with a man of even strength is dangerous; but to strive with a weaker man is foolish.

And for this reason a man should avoid all strife, in so far as he may. For Solomon says that it is to a man's

honour if he withhold himself from noise and strife. And if it so happen that a man of greater power or

strength does you an injury, make it your business to study how to stop the pain of it, rather than how to

avenge it. For Seneca says: 'He puts himself into great peril who strives with a greater than himself.' And

Cato says: 'If a man of higher degree or estate, or one more mighty than thou do thee an annoyance or

grievance, tolerate him; for he that once has grieved thee, at another time he may relieve and help.' Yet I am

assuming that you have both the power and the license to avenge yourself. I say, nevertheless, that there are

very many things which ought to constrain you to withhold your punishment, and make you rather incline

toward sufferance and to have patience under whatever may have been done to you. First and foremost, if you

will, consider the faults in your own person, for which defects God has permitted that you have this

tribulation, as I said before. For the poet says that we ought patiently to endure the tribulations that come to

us when we think upon and well consider that we have deserved them. And Saint Gregory says: 'When a man

considers well the multitude of his faults and sins, the trials and tribulations that he suffers will seem but the

lighter to be borne; and just in so much as he holds his sins to be the more heavy and grievous, in so much

will seem his pains the lighter and the easier to be borne.' Also, you ought to incline and bow down your

heart to observe and learn the patience of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as Saint Peter says in his Epistle. 'Jesus

Christ,' he says, 'hath suffered for us, and hath given example to every man to follow Him and to pray unto

Him; for He did never sin, nor ever came there a vicious word out of His mouth; when men cursed Him, he

cursed them not, and when men belaboured Him with blows, He would not menace them.' Also, the great

patience which the saints in Paradise showed in bearing the tribulations of this world, and all without their

deserving or their guilt this ought greatly to prompt you to patience. Furthermore, you should enforce

patience upon yourself when you consider that the tribulations of this world can but a little while endure,

being soon over and ended. But the happiness that a man looks to receive by bearing tribulations patiently is

perdurable, as the apostle says in his Epistle. 'The joy of God,' he says, 'is perdurable.' Which is to say, it is

everlasting. Also, hold and believe steadfastly that he is neither well bred nor well taught who cannot have

patience, or will not receive training in patience. For Solomon says that the belief and the knowledge of a

man are known by his patience. And in another place he says that he who is patient will govern himself

prudently. And this same Solomon says that the angry and wrathful man is noisy, while the patient man

moderates and quiets noise. He says, also, that it is better to be patient than to be very strong; and he that

governeth his own heart is more praiseworthy than he that taketh a city. And thereto says Saint James in his

"Surely," said Melibeus, "I will grant you, Dame Prudence, that patience is a great virtue of perfection; but

every man may not attain to the perfection that you seek; nor am I of the number of perfect men, for my heart

will never find peace until I have revenged myself. And though it was dangerous to my enemies to do me an

injury in taking vengeance upon me, yet took they no heed of their own peril, but fulfilled their evil purpose.

And therefore it seems to me that men ought not to find fault with me if I incur a little peril in taking

vengeance, even though I go to great excess, that is to say, that I avenge one outrage with another."

"Ah," said Dame Prudence, "you speak out of your purpose as you desire it to happen; but never in this world

should any man commit an outrage or go to excess to obtain his vengeance. For Cassiodorus says: 'As much

evil does he who avenges himself by outrage as did he who first committed outrage.' And therefore you must

avenge yourself in an orderly manner, and rightfully, that is to say, according to law, and not by excess nor

by outrage. For if you avenge yourself in any other way, you sin. And thereupon Seneca says: 'A man must

not avenge villainy with villainy.' If you say that right demands that a man defend himself violently against

violence, and fightingly against fighting, certainly you speak but the truth, when the fighting is done

immediately, without interval of tarrying or delay, and simply for defence and not for vengeance. And it

behooves a man that he conduct his defence with such moderation that men will have no cause to accuse him

of excess and outrage; for otherwise the thing were unreasonable. By God, you know well that you are not

now defending yourself, but are going to revenge yourself; and so it follows that you have no wish to do your

deed with moderation. That is why I hold that patience would be good for you. For Solomon says: 'He that is

"Certainly," said Melibeus, "I grant you that when a man is impatient and wroth because of that which

touches him not, and in no way concerns him, if he be harmed thereby it is not to be wondered at. For the law

provides that he is culpable who interferes or meddles with what does not concern him. And Solomon says

that he who interferes in the strife of other men is like one who seizes a hound by the ears. For just as he who

takes a strange dog by the ears is likely to be bitten, just so is it reasonable to suppose that he may be injured

who, by his impatience, meddles in the strife of other men, when it does not concern him. But you know well

that this deed, that is to say, my grief and unrest, touches me closely. Therefore, if I am angry and impatient,

it is no marvel. And, saving your presence, I cannot see wherein it can greatly harm me if I wreak my

revenge: for I am richer and stronger than are my enemies. And well do you know that with money and great

possessions are governed all the matters of this world. Solomon says that all things obey great wealth."

When Prudence had heard her husband boast thus of his possessions and money, despising the power of his

enemies, she answered and said: "Surely, dear sir, I grant that you are mighty and rich, and that wealth is a

good thing for those who have acquired it honestly and know well how to use it. For just as the body of man

cannot live without the soul, neither can it exist without worldly goods. And by means of riches a man may

acquire powerful friends. Thereupon says Pamphilius: 'If a cowherd's daughter be rich, she may make choice

of a thousand men, which she will take for her husband; for, of a thousand, not one will forsake or refuse her.'

And this Pamphilius also says: 'If thou be very happy, that is to say, if thou be very rich, thou shalt find a

great many comrades and friends. And if thy fortune change, so that thou become poor, then farewell

fellowship and friendship; for thou shalt be left alone, without any company, save it be the company of the

poor.' And still further says Pamphilius: 'Those who are thralls and born of bondmen's blood shall be made

worthy and noble by wealth.' And just as from riches come many good things, so from poverty come many

ills and evils. For deep poverty forces a man into evil deeds. Therefore Cassiodorus calls poverty the 'mother

of ruin,' which is to say, the mother of overthrowing or of falling down. And thereupon says Petrus Alfonsus:

'One of the greatest adversities of this world is when a man free by kindred and birth is constrained by

poverty to eat of the alms of his enemy.' And the same thing is said by Innocent in one of his books, for he

says: 'Sorrowful and unhappy is the condition of the poor beggar; for if he beg not his food, he dies of

hunger; and if he beg it, he dies of shame; and yet necessity constrains him to beg.' And thereupon Solomon

says that it is better to die than to live in poverty. And this same Solomon says that it is better to die the bitter

death than to live in such wise. For these reasons that I have given, and for many others that I could adduce, I

grant you that riches are good for those who have well acquired them, and for those who use them well. And

therefore will I show you how you should bear yourself in acquiring wealth, and how you should use it.

"First, you should get it without any great desire, and leisurely, and gradually, and not over eagerly. For the

man who is too desirous of gathering riches abandons himself first to theft and to all other evils. And

thereupon says Solomon: 'A merchant shall hardly keep himself from doing wrong, and a huckster shall not

be freed from sin.' He says also: 'The wealth that cometh hastily unto a man goeth soon and passeth lightly

away from him; but the wealth that cometh by a little and a little waxeth alway and multiplieth.' And, sir, you

shall acquire riches by your wisdom and by your labour to your own profit; and that without wronging or

doing harm to any other person. For the law provides that no man shall legally become rich who injures

another in the process; that is to say, that Nature forbids, and rightfully, that a man acquire wealth at another's

expense. And Tullius says: 'No sorrow, no fear of death, nay nothing that may befall a man, is so much

against Nature as for a man to increase and take his profit at the expense of another. And though the great

man and the mighty man acquire riches more easily than thou, yet be not idle nor slow in gaining thine own

profit; for thou must, in all things, avoid idleness.' For Solomon says that idleness teaches a man to do many

evil things. And the same Solomon says that he that labours and busies himself to till his land shall eat bread;

but he that is given over to idleness and has no business or occupation shall fall into poverty and die of

hunger. And he that is idle and slow can never find a convenient time wherein to transact his business. For

there is a versifier who says: 'The lazy man excuses himself in winter because of the great cold, and in

summer because of the great heat.' For these reasons Cato says: 'Wake, and be not overly inclined toward

sleep; for a superfluity of rest causes and nourishes many vices.' And thereupon says Saint Jerome: 'Do some

good deeds, that the Devil, our Enemy, find you not unoccupied. For the Devil takes not easily into his

"Thus, then, in getting riches, you must avoid idleness. And afterward you shall use the wealth, which you

have acquired by your knowledge and by your labour, in such manner that men will not hold you to be too

stingy, or too sparing, or too foolishly generous, that is to say, too great a spendthrift. For just as men blame

an avaricious man for his meanness and penuriousness, in the same wise is he to be blamed that spends too

freely. Thereupon says Cato: 'Use the wealth which thou hast acquired in such manner that men shall have no

reason to call thee either wretch or niggard; for it is shameful for a man to have a poor heart and a rich purse.'

He says also: 'Use the wealth, which thou hast measureably.' That is to say, spend it within measure; for those

who foolishly spend and waste what riches they have, when they have no longer any property of their own,

scheme then to take that of another man. I say, then, that you shall flee avarice; using your riches in such

manner that men shall not say that you have buried them, but that you hold them in your power and at your

wielding. For a wise man reproves an avaricious man thus, in two verses: 'Wherefore and why does a man

bury his wealth, of his great avarice, when he knows well that he must needs die; for death is the end of every

man in this present life? And for what cause or occasion does he join or knit himself so closely to his goods

that all his wit may not dissever or part him therefrom; when he knows, or ought to know, that when he is

dead he shall have borne with him nothing at all from this world? Thereupon says Saint Augustine: 'The

avaricious man is like unto Hell; for the more it swallows the more desire has it to swallow and devour.' And

just as you would hate to be called an avaricious man, or a stingy, just so should you govern yourself that

men will not call you a spendthrift. Therefore says Tullius: 'The riches of thy house should not be hid, nor

should they be kept so closely that they may not be opened by pity and good will.' That is to say, in order to

give a part to those in need. 'But yet thy wealth should not be so openly exposed as to become the goods of

every man.' Afterward, in getting your wealth and in using it, you should have always three things in mind,

that is to say, Our Lord God, conscience, and your own good name. First, you have God in your heart, and for

the sake of no riches at all should you do anything which may in any manner displease God, Who is your

Creator and Maker. For, after the word of Solomon: Better it is to have little and therewith the love of God,

than great riches and treasure and the loss of God's love thereby. And the prophet says that it is better to be

held for a good man and to have but little of the wealth and treasure of this world, than to be held for a villain

and have great riches. And yet say I still, that you should always do your business in the gathering of wealth

so that you gather it with a good conscience. And the apostle says that there is not anything in all this world

whereof a man should have so great a joy as when his conscience bears a good witness unto himself. And the

wise man says that the substance a man has is righteous when sin lies not upon the conscience of that man.

Afterward, in gathering your riches and in the using them, you must busy yourself and be diligent to observe

that your good name be kept and conserved. For Solomon says: 'A good name is rather to be chosen than

great riches.' And thereupon he says elsewhere: 'Do thy diligence in keeping of thy friend and of thine own

good name; for these shall abide longer than any treasure, be it never so precious.' And surely he should not

be called a good man who, after God and his own conscience, in all things else is not diligent in the business

of maintaining his good name. Cassiodorus says: 'It is a sign of a good heart in a man when he loves and

desires to have and to keep an honoured name.' And thereupon says Saint Augustine: 'Two things there be

which are necessary and needful, and they are: good conscience and a good name; that is to say, a good

conscience for the sake of thy soul, and a good name for the sake of thy neighbour.' And he who will trust so

much in his own good conscience that he recks not of displeasing and setting at naught the value of his

neighbour's opinion of his good name, and cares nothing if he keep not his good name toward his neighbour

"My lord, now have I showed you how you should act in acquiring riches, and how you should employ them;

and well I understand that, because of the faith you rest in your wealth you will move toward war and battle. I

counsel you that you begin no war upon faith in the continuance of your wealth; for your wealth is not

sufficient to maintain war. Wherefore says a philosopher: 'He who intrigues for and will always have war,

shall never have sufficient funds; for the richer he is, the more must his expenses be, always providing he

wants respect and victory.' And Solomon says that the greater a man's riches the more leeches hang upon him.

And, dear sir, though because of your wealth you may have many followers, yet it behooves you not, nor is it

a good thing, to initiate a war when you may have a peace, and that to your own honour and profit. For

victory in battle in this world lies not in a great multitude of people, neither lies it in the virtue of man; but it

lies alone within the will and in the hands of Our Lord God Almighty. And therefore Judas Maccabeus, God's

own knight, when called upon to fight against an adversary greatly superior in numbers and stronger than his

own people, comforted his little army, saying: 'As easily may Our Lord God Almighty give victory unto a

few as unto a multitude; for the fortune of war lieth not in numbers, but cometh solely from Our Lord God of

Heaven.' And, dear sir, for as much as there is no man certain whether he be worthy that God give him the

victory, any more than he can be certain whether he is worthy of the love of God, therefore Solomon says that

every man should greatly fear to begin a war. Also, in battle, many perils befall, and many chances of evil,

and therein is a great man as easily slain as a poor; and thereupon is it written in the Second Book of the

Kings that the issue of battle is all at chance and is not to be known beforehand; for as easily hurt with a spear

is one man as any other. And since there lies great peril in war, therefore should a man flee and eschew

warfare, in so far as he may with honour. For Solomon says: 'He that liveth by the sword shall perish by the

After Dame Prudence had spoken in this manner, Melibeus answered and said: "I see well, Dame Prudence,

that by your fair words and by the reasons you have adduced before me, you are not in favour of war; but I

have not yet heard you advise as to what course I ought to pursue in this extremity."

"Certainly," quoth she, "I counsel you that you accord with your adversaries, and that you have peace with

them. For Saint James says in his Epistle that by concord and peace little fortunes grow great, and by discord

and warfare are great fortunes brought low. And well you know that one of the greatest things there is in all

this world is unity and peace. Wherefore says Our Lord Jesus Christ in this wise to His disciples: 'Blessed are

"Ah," said Melibee, "now do I see well that you love neither my honour nor my reputation. You know well

that my adversaries have begun this quarrel and contention by their outrage; and you see well that they

neither require nor ask peace from me, nor even do they ask to be reconciled. Will you, then, that I go and

show myself meek and make myself humble before them, and cry mercy of them? Forsooth that were not to

my honour. For just as men say that too much familiarity breeds contempt, so fares it with overmuch humility

Then began Dame Prudence to make a show of wrath, and she said: "Certainly, sir, saving your grace, I love

your honour and your profit as I do my own, and so have I ever; nor have you or any other hitherto said

anything to the contrary. And yet, if I had said that you should have bought a peace and a reconciliation, I had

not been much mistaken nor said very far amiss. For the wise man says that dissension begins with another,

but reconciliation with oneself. And the prophet says: 'Flee evil and do good; seek peace and follow it.' Yet

say I not that you shall rather sue to your enemies than they to you; for well I know that you are so

hardhearted that you will do nothing for me. And Solomon says that he that is too hard of heart shall in the

When Melibee had heard Dame Prudence show anger thus, he said: "Dame, I pray you that you be not

displeased at things I say, for you know well that I am in my angry mood, and that it is no wonder; and that

those who are angry cannot judge well of what they say or do. Wherefore the prophet says: 'The troubled eyes

have no clear sight.' But speak to and counsel me as you like; for I am ready to do as you wish; and if you

reprove me for my folly I am but bound the more to love you and praise you. For Solomon says that he that

reproves him who has done a folly shall have more grace than he that deceives him with sweet words."

Then said Dame Prudence: "I make no show of wrath or anger save for your great profit. For Solomon says

that more worth is he who reproves and chides a fool for his folly than is he that supports him and praises him

and laughs at his foolishness. And this same Solomon says that by the sorrowful visage of a man (that is to

say, by the sorry and heavy countenance of a man) the fool corrects and amends himself."

Then said Melibee: "I shall not know how to answer so many fair and good reasons as you show and lay

before me. Speak out briefly your counsel and your wish, for I am ready to fulfill and to perform it."

Then Dame Prudence showed him all her wish and desire, saying: "I counsel you, above all things, that you

make peace with God and become reconciled to Him and to His grace. For, as I have heretofore said, God has

suffered you to have this tribulation and unrest because of your sins. And if you do as I tell you to do, God

will send your adversaries unto you and make them fall at your feet, ready to do your will and to obey your

commands. For Solomon says that when the condition of a man is pleasant and to God's liking, He changes

the hearts of that man's enemies and constrains them to seek peace of him, and grace. And I pray you, let me

have private speech with your adversaries; for they shall not know that it is done with your consent. And

then, when I have learned their whole intent and will, I may the more surely counsel you."

"Dame," quoth Melibee, "do your whole will and whatsoever pleases you. For I put myself entirely at your

Then Dame Prudence, when she saw the goodwill of her husband, deliberated and took advice of herself how

she might bring this whole matter to a good end. And when she saw her time, she sent for these adversaries to

come to her privately; and truly showed them the great good to be gained from peace and the great harms and

dangers that are in war, and told them in a gracious manner that they ought to be repentant for the injury and

And when they heard the gracious words of Dame Prudence they were so taken by surprise and so ravished

with delight of her, that it was wonderful to tell. "Ah, lady," they said, "you have showed us the 'blessings of

sweetness' in the words of David the prophet; for the reconciliation we are in no way worthy of, though we

ought but in the greater contrition and humility to ask it this, of your goodness, you have offered to us. Now

see we well that the wisdom and knowledge of Solomon are true indeed, for he says that sweet words

multiply and increase friends and cause villains to become courteous and humble.

"Certainly," said they, "we will put our actions and all our matter and cause wholly in your good keeping; and

we stand ready to obey the word and command of Lord Melibee. Therefore, dear and benign lady, we pray

and beseech you, as humbly as we can, that it shall please you, in your great goodness, to fulfill your goodly

words in deeds; for we consider and acknowledge that we have offended and grieved Lord Melibee beyond

measure; so far indeed that it lies not within our power to make him any amends. Therefore we obligate and

bind ourselves and our friends to do whatsoever he commands. But perchance he has for us such a heaviness

of wrath, what of our offense, that he will impose upon us so great a pain of punishment that we shall not be

able to bear it. And therefore, noble lady, we beseech you of your womanly pity to take such advisement in

this need that we, and our friends, shall not be disinherited and destroyed because of our folly."

"Certainly," said Prudence, "it is a hard thing, and a dangerous, for a man to put himself utterly into the

arbitrament and judgment and into the might and power of his enemies. For Solomon says: 'Give not thy son

and wife, thy brother and friend, power over thee while thou livest, and give not thy goods to another: lest it

repent thee, and thou entreat for the same again. As long as thou livest and hast breath in thee, give not

thyself over to any.' Now, since he counsels that a man give not even to a brother or a friend the power. over

his body, by a stronger reason he forbids a 'man to give himself over to his enemy. Nevertheless, I counsel

you that you mistrust not my lord. For I know well and truly that he is kindly and meek, largehearted,

courteous, and nothing desirous nor covetous of goods and riches. For there is nothing in all the world that he

desires, save only respect and honour. Furthermore, I know well and am right sure that he will do nothing in

this case without my counsel. And I shall so work therein that, by the grace of Our Lord God, you shall be

Then said they with one voice: "Worshipful lady, we put ourselves and our property all fully at your

command and disposal; and we are ready to come, upon whatever day is agreeable to your goodness, to make

and give our obligation and bond, and that as strong as your goodness may desire: all that we may fulfill your

When Dame Prudence had heard the answers of these men, she sent them away again, secretly. And she

returned to Lord Melibee and reported to him how she had found these adversaries ready to suffer pain and

"Then," said Melibee, "he is well worthy of pardon and to have his sins forgiven who excuses not his crime

but acknowledges it and repents, asking indulgence. For Seneca says: 'There is the remission and the

forgiveness where confession is.' For confession is neighbour to innocence. And he says in another place: 'He

that is ashamed for his sin and acknowledges it, is worthy of remission.' Therefore I assent to peace; but it is

Then was Dame Prudence right glad and joyful, and she said: "Certainly, sir, you have well answered. For

just as by the counsel, assent, and help of your friends you have been stirred to avenge yourself and go to

war, just so you should not, without their consent, accord and make peace with your adversaries. For the law

says: "There is nothing so good in kind as that a thing shall be unbound by him by whom it was bound."

And then Dame Prudence, without delay or tarrying, sent messengers for their kindred and for their old

friends who were true and wise, and told them in detail and in order, in the presence of Melibee, all of this

matter, as it has been here expressed and declared; and she prayed them that they would advise and counsel

what best were to be done in this need. And when Melibee's friends had taken their advices in this said

matter, and had examined into it with diligence, they gave their counsel for peace and rest; and that Melibee

should receive, with good heart, the prayers of his adversaries for forgiveness and mercy.

And when Dame Prudence had heard the assent of her lord, Melibee, and the counsel of these friends, how

they accorded with her will and intention, she was wonderfully glad of heart; and she said: "There is an old

proverb which advises that the goodness you may do this day, do it; and delay it not until the morrow.

Therefore I counsel you that you send wise and discreet messengers to your adversaries, bidding them that, if

they are still minded to treat with you of peace and concord, they come hither to us without delay or

Which thing was done. And when these trespassers and repentant folk, that is to say, the adversaries of

Melibeus, had heard the messengers' words, they were right glad and joyful, and they replied full meekly and

favourably, yielding grace and giving thanks to their Lord Melibee and to all his party; and they made ready,

without delay, to accompany the messengers in obedience to the command of Lord Melibee.

Soon, then, they took their way toward Melibee's court, and they took with them some of their true friends to

stand as sureties for them, and as hostages. And when they were come into the presence of Melibee, he spoke

to them as follows: "It stands thus, and true it is, that you, without just cause, and without right or reason,

have done great injury and wrong to me, to my wife Prudence, and to my daughter also. For you have entered

my house with violence, and you did such outrage here that all men know well enough that you have fully

deserved death; therefore do I ask of you whether you will leave the punishment, the chastisement, and the

Then the wisest of these three answered for all of them, saying: "Sir, we know well that we are unworthy to

come into the court of so great and so worthy a lord as you are. For we have so greatly erred, and have

offended guiltily in such wise against your lordship, that verily we have been deserving of death. But yet, for

the great goodness and kindness that all the world witnesses in your person, we submit ourselves to the

excellence and benignity of your gracious lordship, and stand ready to obey all your commands, beseeching

you, that of your mercy and pity you will consider our great repentance and humble submission, and will

grant us forgiveness for our outrageous trespass and offence. For well we know that your liberal grace and

mercy reach out farther into goodness than reach our outrageous guilts and trespasses into wickedness; and

this despite the fact that we have wickedly and damnably offended against your high lordship."

Then Melibee took them benignly up from the ground, and received their obligations and bonds, by their

oaths, and their pledges and sureties and hostages, and assigned a day for their reappearance before his court

to receive and accept his sentence and judgment, the which he should impose; and after this, each man

And when Dame Prudence saw her opportunity, she asked her lord, Melibee, what vengeance he purposed

To which Melibee replied: "Surely I think and fully purpose to confiscate all that they have and to strip them

"Certainly," said Dame Prudence, "that were a cruel sentence and much against reason. For you are rich

enough, and have no need of other men's property. And you could easily in this way acquire a name for

covetousness, which is a vicious thing and ought to be avoided by every good man. For, after the word of the

apostle, covetousness is the root of all evil. Therefore were it better for you to lose an equal property of your

own than to take theirs from them in this manner. For better it is to lose goods with honour than to win them

by villainy and shame. And every man ought to be diligent about getting and keeping a good name. And he

should not only busy himself with the keeping of a good name, but he should impose upon himself the

constant task of renewing it. For it is written that 'The good fame or good name of a man is soon passed and

forgotten, unless it be renewed.' And touching what you say, that you will exile your adversaries, that seems

to me much against reason and out of all measure, considering how they have placed themselves within your

power. And it is written that 'He deserves to lose his privilege who abuses and misuses the might and the

power that are given to him.' And I submit that, even if you might impose upon them that pain by right and by

law, which I think that you could not, I say that you might not be able to put it into execution, by some

chance, and then were you as likely to fall again into war as you were before. Therefore, if you would have

men render you obedience, you must judge more courteously, that is to say, you must give more easy

sentences. For it is written that 'He who most courteously commands, men most readily obey.' Therefore I

pray you that in this need you contrive to conquer your own heart. For Seneca says: 'He that overcomes his

own heart, conquers twice.' And Tullius says: 'There is nothing so commendable in a great lord as when he is

kindly and meek and easily satisfied.' And I pray you that you will forgo your vengeance in this manner, in

order that your good name may be kept and preserved; and that men may have cause and reason to praise you

for pity and for mercy, and that you yourself shall not have cause to repent for what you have done. For

Seneca says: 'He conquers but evilly who repents of his victory.' Wherefore, I pray you, let there be mercy in

your mind and in your heart, to the end that God Almighty may have mercy upon you at His last judgment.

For Saint James says in his Epistle: 'For he shall have judgment without mercy, who hath showed no mercy.'"

When Melibee had heard the great arguments and reasons of Dame Prudence, and her wise information and

teaching, his heart began to incline toward the desire of his wife, considering her true intent; and he

conformed his will to hers and assented fully to her counselling. And he thanked God, from Whom proceeds

all virtue and goodness, that He had sent him a wife of so very great discretion.

And when the day arrived for his adversaries to appear before him, he spoke to them kindly, in this wise:

"Howbeit that of your pride and presumption and folly, and in your negligence and ignorance, you have

borne yourselves badly and have trespassed against me, yet for as much as I see and behold your great

humility and that you are sorry and repentant for your crimes, it constrains me to show you grace and mercy.

Therefore do I receive you into my grace and forgive you utterly all the offences, injuries, and wrongs that

you have done against me and mine; to this effect and to this end: that God of His endless mercy will, at our

dying day, forgive us our sins that we have sinned against Him in this wretched world. For doubtless, if we

be sorry and repentant for the sins and crimes which we have committed in the sight of Our Lord, He is so

free and so merciful He will forgive us our guilt and bring us into His everlasting bliss. Amen."

Jer. 6. State super vias et videte et interrogate de viis antiquis, que sit via bona; et ambulate in ea, et inuenietis

Our sweet Lord God of Heaven, Who will destroy no man, but would have all come unto the knowledge of

Him and to the blessed life that is everlasting, admonishes us by the Prophet Jeremiah, who says thus: "Stand

ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths (that is to say, the old wisdom) where is the good way, and

walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls," etc. Many are the spiritual ways that lead folk unto Our

Lord Jesus Christ and to the Kingdom of Glory. Of which ways there is a right noble way and a proper one,

which will not fail either man or woman who through sin has gone astray from the right way to the Heavenly

Jerusalem; and this way is called penitence, as to which man should gladly hear and inquire with all his heart,

in order that he may learn what penitence is, and why it is called penitence, and in how many ways penitence

functions, and how many kinds of penitence there are, and what things appertain and are necessary to

Saint Ambrose says that "penitence is the mourning of man for the sin that he has done, and the resolve to do

no more anything for which he ought to mourn." And another doctor says: "Penitence is the lamenting of

man, who sorrows for his sin and punishes himself because he has done amiss." Penitence, under certain

circumstances, is the true repentance of a man that goes in sorrow and other pain for his misdeeds. And that

he shall be truly penitent, he shall first regret the sins that he has done, and steadfastly purpose in his heart to

make oral confession, and to do penance, and nevermore to do anything for which he ought to feel regret or

to mourn, and to continue on good works; or else his repentance will avail him nothing. For, as says Saint

Isidore: "He is a mocker and a liar and no true penitent who does again a thing for which he ought to repent."

Weeping, when not accompanied by a refusal to sin, shall not avail. But, nevertheless, men should hope that

every time a man falls, be it never so often, he may arise through penitence, if he have grace; but certainly

there is great doubt of this. For, as Saint Gregory says: "With difficulty shall he arise out of sin who is

burdened with the burden of evil habit." And therefore repentant folk, who keep from sin and abandon sin ere

sin abandon them, Holy Church holds them to be sure of their salvation. And he that sins and verily repents in

his last moments, Holy Church yet hopes for his salvation, what of the great mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

And now, since I have declared unto you what penitence is, now shall you understand that there are three

deeds required by penitence. The first deed is that a man be baptized after he has sinned. Saint Augustine

says: "Save he be repentant for his former sinful life, he shall not begin to lead the new clean life." For truly,

if he be baptized without repentance for his old offence, he receives the sign of baptism but not the grace nor

the remission of his sins, until he have true repentance. Another defect is this, that men do deadly sin after

they have received baptism. The third defect is that men fall into venial sins after their baptism, and from day

to day. Thereof Saint Augustine says that "penitence of good and humble folk is the penitence of every day."

The kinds of penitence are three. One of them is public, another is general, and the third is private. That form

of penitence which is public is of two kinds: as to be expelled from Holy Church in Lent, for the slaughter of

children and suchlike things. Another is, when a man has sinned openly, of which sin the shame is openly

spoken of in the community; and then Holy Church, by judgment rendered, constrains him to do open

penance. Common or general penitence is when priests enjoin men collectively in certain cases, as,

peradventure, to go naked on pilgrimages, or barefoot. Private penitence is that which men do continually for

Now shall you understand what is necessary to a true and perfect penitence. And this stands upon three

things: contrition of heart, confession by word of mouth, and restitution. As to which Saint John Chrysostom

says: "Penitence constrains a man to accept cheerfully every pain that is put upon him, with contrition of

heart and oral confession, with restitution; and in doing of all acts of humility." And this is a fruitful

penitence for three things wherein we anger Our Lord Jesus Christ; that is to say, by delight in thinking, by

recklessness in speaking, and by wicked sinful works. And over against these wicked offences is penitence,

The root of this tree is contrition, which hides itself away in the heart of him who is truly repentant, just as

the root of another tree hides within the earth. From the root contrition springs a trunk that bears branches and

leaves of confession and the fruit of penance, As to which Christ says in His gospel: "Bring forth therefore

fruits meet for repentance." For by this fruit may men know this tree, and not by the root that is hidden in the

heart of man, nor by the branches, nor by the leaves of confession. And therefore Our Lord Jesus Christ says

thus: "By their fruits ye shall know them." From this root, too, springs a seed of grace, the which seed is the

mother of security, and this seed is eager and hot. The grace of this seed springs from God, through

remembrance of the day of doom and the pains of Hell. Of this matter says Solomon: "Fear the Lord, and

depart from evil." The heat of this seed is the love of God and the desiring of the joy everlasting. This heat

draws the heart of man unto God and causes him to hate his sin. For truly there is nothing that tastes so well

to a child as the milk of its nurse, nor is there anything more abhorrent to it than this same milk when it is

mingled with other food. just so, to the sinful man who loves his sin, it seems that it is sweeter than anything

else; but from the time that he begins to love devoutly Our Lord Jesus Christ, and desires the life everlasting,

there is to him nothing more abominable. For truly the law of God is the love of God; whereof David the

prophet says: "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." He that loves God keeps His law and His word. The Prophet

Daniel saw this tree in spirit following upon the vision of King Nebuchadnezzar, when he counselled him to

do penance. Penance is the tree of life to those who receive it, and he that holds himself in true penitence is

In this penitence or contrition man shall understand four things, that is to say, what contrition is, and what the

causes are that move a man to contrition, and how he should be contrite, and what contrition avails the soul.

Then it is thus: that contrition is the real sorrow that a man receives within his heart for his sins, with firm

purpose to confess them and to do penance and nevermore to do sin. And this sorrow shall be in this manner,

as says Saint Bernard: "It shall be heavy and grievous and sharp and poignant in the heart." First, because

man has offended his Lord and his Creator; and more sharp and poignant because he has offended his

Heavenly Father; and yet more sharp and poignant because he has angered and offended Him Who redeemed

him, Who with His precious blood has delivered us from the bonds of sin and from the cruelty of the Devil

The causes that ought to move a man to contrition are six. First, a man should remember his sins, yet see to it

that this same remembrance be not to him in any wise a delight, but only great shame and sorrow for his

guilt. For Job says: that sinful men do things that ought to be confessed. And therefore Hezekiah says: "I will

remember all the years of my life, in bitterness of heart." And God says in the Apocalypse: "Remember from

whence thou art fallen." For before that time when first you sinned, you were the children of God and

members of the Kingdom of God; but because of your sin you are become slavish and vile, and the children

of the Fiend, hated of the angels, the slander of Holy Church, and food of the false serpent. You are perpetual

fuel for the fire of Hell. And yet more vile and abominable, for you offend often and often, like the dog that

returns to his vomit. And you are even yet more vile, for your long continuation in sin and your sinful habits,

for which you are as filthy in your sin as a beast in its dung. Such thoughts cause a may, to take shame to

himself for his sinning, and not delight, as God says by the Prophet Ezekiel: "Thou shalt remember thy ways

The second reason why a man ought to have contempt for sin is this: that, as Saint Peter says, "He that

sinneth is the slave of sin." And sin puts a man into deep thraldom. And thereupon the Prophet Ezekiel says:

"I went sorrowfully, in abhorrence of myself." And truly, well ought a man to abhor sin and to release

himself from that thraldom and degradation. And see what Seneca says about this matter. He says thus:

"Though I knew that neither God nor man should ever be cognizant of it, yet would I disdain to commit a

sin." And the same Seneca also says: "I am born to greater things than to be thrall to my body, or than to

make of my body a thrall." Nor a viler thrall may man or woman make of his or her body than by giving that

body over to sin. And were it the lowest churl, or the lowest woman, that lives, and the least worth, yet is he

or she then more vile and more in servitude. Ever from the higher degree than man falls, the more is he

enthralled, and by so much the more to God and to the world is he vile and abominable. O good God! Well

ought a man to have disdain of sin; since, because of sin, whereas he was once free, now is he in bondage.

And thereupon Saint Augustine says: "If thou have disdain for thy servant, if he offend or sin, have thou then

disdain that thou shouldest do any sin." Have regard of your worth, that you be not foul unto yourself. Alas!

Well ought they then to disdain to be servants and thralls to sin, and to be sorely ashamed of themselves,

when God of His endless goodness has set them in high place, or given them understanding, bodily strength,

health, beauty, prosperity, and redeemed them with His heart's blood, who now so unnaturally, in face of His

nobleness, requite Him so vilely as to slaughter their own souls. O good God! You women, who are of so

great beauty, remember the proverb of Solomon, who says: "A fair woman who is the fool of her body is like

a gold ring in the snout of a sow." For just as a sow roots deep into every ordure, so does she root her beauty

The third cause that ought to move a man to contrition is fear of the day of doom and of the horrible pains of

Hell. For as Saint Jerome says: "Every time that I remember the day of doom I quake; for when I eat or drink

or do whatever thing, ever it seems to me that the trump sounds in my ear, bidding the dead arise and come to

judgment." O good God! Greatly ought a man to fear such a judgment, "Where we shall be all," as Saint Paul

says, "before the throne of Our Lord Jesus Christ." And there we shall compose a general congregation,

whence no man shall absent himself. For truly there shall avail neither essoin nor excuse. And not only shall

our faults be judged, but all our deeds shall openly be made known. As Saint Bernard says: "There shall no

pleading avail, and no trickery; we shall give reckoning for every idle word." There shall we have a judge

that cannot be corrupted or deceived. And why? Because, in truth, all our thoughts are known unto Him; nor

for prayer nor for bribing shall He be corrupted. And therefore says Solomon: "The wrath of God will spare

no one, either for prayer or gifts." Therefore, at the day of doom, there shall be no hope of escape. Wherefore,

as says Saint Anselm: "Great anguish shall all sinful folk have at that time; there shall the stern and angry

judge sit above, and under Him the horrible pit of Hell, open to destroy him who must acknowledge his sins,

which sins shall be openly showed before God and before all creatures. And on the left side more devils than

any heart can think, to harry and to draw the sinful souls to the punishment of Hell. And within the hearts of

folk shall be the tearing of conscience and without shall be the world all burning. Whither then shall the

wretched sinful man flee to hide himself? Certainly he shall not hide; he must come forth and show himself."

For truly, as says Saint Jerome: "The earth shall cast him forth and the sea also; aye, and the air, which shall

be filled with thunders and with lightnings." Now, indeed, whoso well thinks of these things, I suppose that

his sin shall not be a delight within him, but a great sorrow, for fear of the pain of Hell. And therefore said

Job to God: "Let me take comfort a little, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness

and the shadow of death; a land of darkness as darkness itself: and of the shadow of death, without any order,

and where the light is as darkness." Lo, here may it be seen that Job prayed for respite to weep and to bewail

his trespass; for indeed one day of respite is better than all the treasure of the world. And for as much as man

may acquit himself before God by penitence in this world, and not by treasure, therefore should he pray to

God to grant him respite for a while to weep and to bewail his sins. For truly, all the sorrow that a man might

feel from the beginning of the world is but a little thing in comparison with the sorrows of Hell. As to the

reason why Job called Hell the "land of darkness," it is to be understood that he called it "land" or "earth"

because it is stable and never shall fail; "dark" because he that is in Hell lacks the materials for light. For truly

the dark light that shall come out of the fire that burns for ever shall turn him all to pain who is in Hell; for it

shall show unto him the horrible devils that torment him. "Covered with the darkness of death:" that is to say,

that he who is in Hell shall lack the sight of God; for truly, to see God is life everlasting. "The darkness of

death" is the sin which the wretched man has done, which hinders his seeing the face of God; just as does a

cloud that comes between us and the sun. "Land of ill ease:" because there are three kinds of pains against

three things that folk of the world have in this present life, that is to say, honours, delights, and riches. Over

against honours they have in Hell shame and confusion. For well you know that men call "honour" the

reverence that man gives to man; but in Hell is no honour or reverence. For indeed no more reverence shall

be done there to a king than to a knave. As to which God says, by the Prophet Jeremiah: "They that scorn me

shall be scorned." "Honour" is also called great lordship; but there no man shall serve another, save to his

harm and torment. "Honour," again, subsists in great dignity and rank; but in Hell all they shall be trodden

upon by devils. And God says: "The horrible devils shall go and come upon the heads of the damned." And

this is because the higher they were in this life, the lower shall they lie and be defiled in Hell. Against the

riches of this world shall they have the misery of poverty; and this poverty shall be of four kinds: lack of

treasure, whereof David says: "They that trust in their wealth, boast themselves in the multitude of their

riches, they shall sleep in the darkness of death, and nothing shall they find in their hands of all their

treasure." And, moreover, the misery of Hell shall consist of lack of food and drink. For God says thus,

through Moses: "They shall be wasted with hunger, and the birds of Hell shall devour them with bitter death,

and the gall of the dragon shall be their drink, and the venom of the dragon their morsels." And, furthermore,

their misery shall be for lack of clothing, for they shall be naked of body save for the fire wherein they burn,

and for other filth; and naked shall they be of soul, devoid of all virtues, which are the clothing of the soul.

Where shall be then the gay robes and the soft sheets and the soft shirts? Behold what God says by the

prophet Isaiah: "Under them shall be strewed moths and their covering shall be of the worms of Hell." And

still further, their misery shall lie in lack of friends; for he is not poor who has good friends; but there no

friend; for neither God nor any other shall be friend to them, and each of them shall hate all others with a

deadly hatred. "The sons and the daughters shall rebel against father and mother, and kindred against kindred,

and each of them shall curse and despise the others," both day and night, as says God through the Prophet

Micah. And the loving people that once loved each other so passionately, each of them would eat the other if

he might. For how should they love in the torments of Hell who hated each other in the prosperity of this life?

For trust it well, their carnal love was deadly hate; as says the Prophet David: "Whoso loveth wickedness

hateth his own soul." And whoso hates his own soul, truly he may love no other, in any wise. And therefore,

in Hell is no solace nor any friendship, but ever the more fleshly relationships there are in Hell, the more

cursings and the more deadly hates there are among them. And, again, they shall lack every kind of pleasure;

for truly, pleasures are according to the appetites of the five senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. But

in Hell their sight shall be full of darkness and of smoke, and therefore full of tears; and their hearing full of

wailing and the gnashing of teeth, as says Jesus Christ; their nostrils shall be full of a stinking smell. And, as

the Prophet Isaiah says, "their savouring shall be of bitter gall." And as for touch, all the body shall be

covered with "fire that never shall be quenched and with worms that never shall die," as God says by the

mouth of Isaiah. And for as much as they shall not think that they may die of pain, and by death thus flee

from pain, then may they understand the words of Job, who said, "There is the shadow of death." Certainly a

shadow has the likeness of that whereof it is the shadow, but the shadow is not the substance. Just so it is with

the pain of Hell; it is like unto death because of the horrible anguish. And why? Because it pains for ever, and

as if they should die at every moment; but indeed they shall not die. For as Saint Gregory says: "To these

wretched captives shall be given death without death, and end without end, and want without ceasing." And

thereupon says Saint John the Evangelist: "They shall seek for death and they shall not find it; and they shall

desire to die and death shall flee from them." And Job, also, says: "Death, without any order." And though it

be that God has created all things in right order, and nothing at all without order, but all things are ordered

and numbered; yet, nevertheless, they that are damned have no order, nor hold to any order. For the earth

shall bear them no fruit. For, as the Prophet David says: "God shall destroy the fruits of the earth from them."

No water shall give them moisture, nor the air refreshment, nor the fire a light. For, as Saint Basil says: "The

burning of the fire of this world shall God send into Hell unto the damned souls there, but the light and the

radiance thereof shall be given in Heaven unto His children" just as the good man gives flesh to his children

and bones to his dogs. And since they shall have no hope of escape, Saint Job says at the last that horror and

grisly fear shall dwell there without end. Horror is always the fear of evil that is to come, and this fear shall

dwell for ever in the hearts of the damned. And therefore have they lost all their hope, and for seven causes.

First, because God their judge shall be without mercy to them; they may not please Him, nor may they please

any of His saints; they can give nothing for their ransom; they shall have no voice wherewith to speak to

Him; they cannot flee from pain; and they have no goodness within themselves which they might show to

deliver them out of pain. And therefore says Solomon: "The wicked man dieth; and when he is dead he shall

have no hope of escaping from pain." Whosoever, then, will well understand these pains, and bethink him

well that he has deserved these very pains for his sins, certainly he shall have more longing to sigh and weep

than ever to sing and play. For, as Solomon says: "Whoso shall have the wisdom to know the pains that have

been established and ordained for the punishment of pain, he will feel sorrow." "This same knowledge," says

The fourth point that ought to cause a man to feel contrition is the unhappy memory of the good that he has

left here on earth; also the good that he has lost. Truly, the good deeds that he has left are either those that he

wrought before he fell into mortal sin, or the good deeds he did while he lived in sin. Indeed the good deeds

he did before he fell into sin have been all deadened and stultified and rendered null and void by the repeated

sinning. The other good deeds, which he wrought while he lay in mortal sin, they are utterly dead as to the

effect they might have had on his life everlasting in Heaven. And then the same good deeds that have been

rendered null by repeated sinning, which good works he wrought while he stood in a state of grace, shall

never quicken again without an utter penitence. And thereof God says, by the mouth of Ezekiel: "If the

righteous man shall turn again from his righteousness, and do wickedness, shall he live?" Nay, for all the

good works that he has wrought shall never be held in memory, for he shall die in his sin. And thereupon, as

to that same chapter, Saint Gregory says thus: "That we shall understand this principally: that when we do

mortal sin it is for naught that we tell of or draw from memory the good works that we have wrought before."

For, certainly, in the doing of mortal sin there is no trusting to the help of good that we have wrought before;

that is to say, as it affects the everlasting life in Heaven. But notwithstanding this, the good deeds quicken

again and return again, and help and are of avail in attaining the everlasting life in Heaven, when we have

contrition. But indeed the good deeds that men do while they are in deadly sin, because they are done in

deadly sin, shall never quicken again. For truly, that thing which never had life may never quicken;

nevertheless, albeit these deeds avail nothing as to the perdurable life, yet they help to lighten the pains of

Hell, or else to acquire temporal riches, or else, because of them, God will enlighten and illumine the heart of

the sinful man to be repentant; and also they avail in accustoming a man to the doing of good deeds, to the

end that the Fiend has less power over his soul. And thus the compassionate Lord Jesus Christ wills that no

good work be utterly lost; for in somewhat it shall avail. But for as much as the good deeds that men do while

they are in a state of grace are all stultified by sin ensuing; and, also, since all the good works that men do

while they are in mortal sin are utterly dead, in so far as the life everlasting is concerned, well may that man

who does no good work sing that new French song, J'ai tout perdu mon temps et mon labeur. For certainly,

sin bereaves a man of both goodness of nature and the goodness of grace. For indeed the grace of the Holy

Ghost is like fire, which cannot be idle; for fire fails anon as it forgoes its working, and even so does grace

fail immediately it forsakes its work. Then loses the sinful man the goodness of glory, which is promised only

to good men who suffer and toil. Well then may he sorrow, who owes all his life to God, as long as he has

lived and as long as he shall live, and who yet has no goodness wherewith to repay his debt to God. For trust

well, "he shall give account," as Saint Bernard says, "of all the good things that have been given him in this

present life, and of how he has used them; in so much that there shall not perish a hair of his head, nor shall a

moment of an hour perish of all his time, that he shall not be called upon to give a reckoning for."

The fifth thing that ought to move a man to contrition is remembrance of the passion that Our Lord Jesus

Christ suffered for our sins. For, as Saint Bernard says: "While I live I will keep in remembrance the travail

that Our Lord Christ suffered in preaching; His weariness in travail; His temptations when He fasted; His

long watchings when He prayed; His tears when He wept for pity of good people; the grievous and the

shameful and the filthy things that men said of Him; the foul sputum that men spat into His face; the foul

buffets that men gave Him; the foul grimaces and the chidings that men said; the nails wherewith He was

nailed to the cross; and all the rest of His passion, which he suffered for my sins and not for his own guilt."

And you shall understand that in man's sin is every order or ordinance turned upsidedown. For it is true that

God and reason and sensuality and the body of man have been so ordained and established that, of these four

things, the next higher shall have lordship over the lower; as thus: God shall have lordship over reason, and

reason over sensuality, and sensuality over the body of man. But, indeed, when man sins, all of this order or

ordinance is turned upsidedown. Therefore, then, for as much as the reason of man will not be subject to nor

obedient to God, Who is man's Lord by right, therefore it loses the lordship that it should hold over sensuality

and also over the body of man. And why? Because sensuality rebels then against reason; and in that way

reason loses the lordship over sensuality and over the body. For just as reason is rebel to God, just so is

sensuality rebel to reason, and the body also. And truly, this confusion and this rebellion Our Lord Jesus

Christ suffered upon His precious body, and paid full dearly thus, and hear you now in what wise. For as

much, then, as reason is rebel to God, therefore is man worthy to have sorrow and to die. This Our Lord Jesus

Christ suffered for mankind after He had been betrayed by His disciple, and secured and bound "so that the

blood burst out at every nail of His hands," as says Saint Augustine. Moreover, for as much as reason of man

will not subdue sensuality when it may, therefore man is worthy of shame; and this suffered Our Lord Jesus

Christ for man when they spat in His face. Furthermore, for as much, then, as the wretched body of man is

rebel both to reason and to sensuality" therefore is it worthy of death. And this Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered

for man upon the cross, where there was no part of His body free from great pain and bitter passion. And all

this Jesus Christ suffered, Who never did any wrong. And therefore it may be reasonably said of Jesus thus:

"Too much am I tortured for things the punishment of which I do not deserve, and too much disgraced for

shame that belongs to man." And therefore may the sinful man well say, as says Saint Bernard: "Accursed be

the bitterness of my sin, for which there must be suffered so much bitterness." For truly, according to the

diverse discordances of our wickedness, was the passion of Jesus Christ ordained in divers ways, as thus.

Certainly sinful man's soul is betrayed unto the Devil by covetousness of temporal prosperity, and scorned by

deceit when he chooses carnal delights; and it is tormented by impatience under adversity, and spat upon by

servitude and subjection to sin; and at the last it is slain for ever. For this confusion by sinful man was Jesus

Christ first betrayed and afterwards bound, Who came to loose us from sin and pain. Then was He scorned,

Who should have been only honoured in all things. Then was His face, which all mankind ought to have

desired to look upon, since into that face angels desire to look, villainously spat upon. Then was He scourged,

Who had done nothing wrong; and finally, then was He crucified and slain. So was accomplished the word of

Isaiah: "He was wounded for our misdeeds and defiled for our felonies." Now, since Jesus Christ took upon

Himself the punishment for all our wickedness, much ought sinful man to weep and to bewail that for his sins

The sixth thing that ought to move a man to contrition is the hope of three things; that is to say, forgiveness

of sin, and the gift of grace to do well, and the glory of Heaven, wherewith God shall reward a man for his

good deeds. And for as much as Jesus Christ gives us these gifts of His largess and of His sovereign bounty,

therefore is He called Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudeorum. Jesus means "saviour" or "salvation," in whom men

shall hope to have forgiveness of sins, which is, properly, salvation from sins. And therefore said the angel to

Joseph: "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, Who shall save His people from their sins." And thereof says Saint

Peter: "There is no other name under Heaven given to any man, whereby a man may be saved, save only

Jesus." Nazarenus is as much as to say "flourishing," wherein a man may hope that He Who gives him

remission of sins shall give him also the grace to do well. For in the flower is hope of fruit in time to come;

and in forgiveness of sins is hope of grace to do well. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," says Jesus: "if

any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."

That is to say, by the good works that he shall do, which good works are the food of God; "and he shall sup

with Me" by the great joy that I shall give him. Thus may man hope, for his deeds of penitence, that God

Now shall a man understand in what manner shall be his contrition. I say, that it shall be universal and total;

that is to say, a man shall be truly repentant for all the sins that he has done in delight of his thought; for

delight is very dangerous. For there are two ways of acquiescence; one is called acquiescence of the

affections, when a man is moved to do sin, and delights in long thinking thereon; and his reason well

perceives that it is sin against the law of God, and yet his reason restrains not his foul delight or appetite,

though he see well that it is opposed to the reverence that is due to God; although his reason consent not to do

that sin in very deed, yet some doctors say that dwelling long on such delight is full dangerous, be it ever so

little. And also a man should sorrow for all that he has ever desired against the law of God with perfect

acquiescence of his reason; for there is no doubt of it, there is mortal sin in acquiescence. For truly, there is

no mortal sin that was not first in man's thought, and after that in his delight, and so on unto acquiescence and

unto deed. Wherefore I say, that many men never repent for such thoughts and delights, and never confess

them, but only the actual performance of great sins. Wherefore I say that such wicked delights and wicked

thoughts are subtle beguilers of those that shall be damned. Moreover, a man ought to sorrow for his wicked

words as well as for his wicked deeds; for truly, the repentance for a single sin, unaccompanied by repentance

for all other sins, or else repentance for all other sins and not for a single sin, shall not avail. For certainly

God Almighty is all good; and therefore He forgives all or nothing. And thereupon says Saint Augustine: "I

know certainly that God is the enemy of every sinner." And how then? He that continues to do one sin, shall

he have forgiveness for the rest of his sins? No. Furthermore, contrition should be wondrous sorrowful and

full of suffering; and for that God gives fully His mercy; and therefore, when my soul was suffering within

me, I had remembrance of God, that my prayer might come unto Him. Moreover, contrition must be

continual, and a man must keep and hold a steadfast purpose to shrive himself and to amend his way of life.

For truly, while contrition lasts, man may continue to have hope of forgiveness; and of this comes hatred of

sin, which destroys sin within himself and also in other folk, according to his ability. For which David says:

"Ye that love God hate wickedness." For trust this well, to love God is to love what He loves and to hate what

The last thing that man shall understand about contrition is this: What does contrition avail him? I say, that at

times contrition delivers a man from sin; as to which David says: "I said I will confess my transgressions unto

the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." And just as contrition nothing avails without firm

purpose of shrift, if man have opportunity, just so shrift itself is of little worth without contrition. Moreover,

contrition destroys the prison of Hell and makes weak and feeble all the strength of all the devils, and restores

the gifts of the Holy Ghost and of all good virtues; and it cleanses the soul of sin, and delivers the soul from

the pain of Hell and from the company of the Devil, and from the servitude of sin, and restores it unto all

spiritual good and to the company and communion of Holy Church. And furthermore, it makes of him who

was formerly the son of anger to be the son of grace; and all these things are proved by holy writ. And

therefore he that would set his understanding to these things, he were full wise; for truly, he should not then,

in all his life, have desire to sin, but should give his body and all his heart to the service of Jesus Christ, and

do Him homage. For truly, Our sweet Lord Jesus Christ has spared us so graciously in our follies that, if He

The second part of penitence is confession, which is the sign of contrition. Now shall you understand what

confession is, and whether it ought to be used or not, and which things are necessary to true confession.

First, you shall understand that confession is the true discovery of sins to the priest; I say "true," for a man

must confess all the circumstances and conditions of his sin, in so far as he can. All must be told, and nothing

excused or hidden, or covered up, and he must not vaunt his good deeds. And furthermore, it is necessary to

Of the birth of sins, Saint Paul says thus: that "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;...

so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." And this man was Adam, by whom sin entered into

the world when he broke the commandment of God. And therefore, he that at first was so mighty that he

should never have died became such a one as must needs die, whether he would or no; and all his progeny in

this world, since they, in that man, sinned. Behold, in the state of innocence, when Adam and Eve were naked

in Paradise, and had no shame for their nakedness, how that the serpent, which was the wiliest of all the

beasts that God had made, said to the woman: "Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the

garden?" And the woman said unto the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the

fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye

touch it, lest ye die.'" And the serpent said unto the woman: "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know, that

in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and delectable

in the sight, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat; and gave also unto her husband, and he did eat. And the

eyes of them both were opened. And when they knew that they were naked, they sewed figleaves together

into a kind of breeches to hide their members. There may you see that mortal sin had first suggestion from the

Fiend, who is here figured by the serpent; and afterward the delight of the flesh, as shown here by Eve; and

after that the acquiescence of reason, as is shown by Adam. For trust this well, though it were that the Fiend

tempted Eve, that is to say, the flesh, and the flesh delighted in the beauty of the forbidden fruit, certainly

until reason, that is, Adam, consented to the eating of the fruit, yet stood he in the state of innocence. From

that same Adam caught we all that original sin; for we are all descended from him in the flesh, engendered of

vile and corrupt matter. And when the soul is put into a body, immediately is contracted original sin; and that

which was at first merely the penalty of concupiscence becomes afterwards both penalty and sin. And

therefore are we all born the sons of wrath and of everlasting damnation, were it not for the baptism we

receive, which washes away the culpability; but, forsooth, the penalty remains within us, as temptation, and

that penalty is called concupiscence. When it is wrongly disposed or established in man, it makes him desire,

by the lust of the flesh, fleshly sin; desire, by the sight of his eyes, earthly things; and desire high place, what

Now, to speak of the first desire, that is, concupiscence, according to the law for our sexual parts, which were

lawfully made and by rightful word of God; I say, for as much as man is not obedient to God, Who is his

Lord, therefore is the flesh disobedient to Him, through concupiscence, which is also called the nourishing of

and the reason for sin. Therefore all the while that a man has within himself the penalty of concupiscence, it

is impossible but that he will be sometimes tempted and moved in his flesh to do sin. And this shall not fail

so long as he lives; it may well grow feeble and remote by virtue of baptism and by the grace of God through

penitence; but it shall never be fully quenched so that he shall never be moved within himself, unless he be

cooled by sickness or my maleficence of sorcery or by opiates. For behold what Saint Paul says: "The flesh

lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary, the one to the other; so that ye

cannot do the things, that ye would." The same Saint Paul, after his great penance on water and on land (on

water by night and by day, in great peril and in great pain; on land in famine, in thirst, in cold, and naked, and

once stoned almost unto death), yet said he: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body

of this death?" And Saint Jerome, when he had long lived in the desert, where he had no company but that of

wild beasts, where he had no food but herbs, with only water to drink, and no bed but the naked earth, for

which his flesh was black as an Ethiopian's with heat and wellnigh destroyed with cold, yet said he that the

heat of lechery boiled through all his body. Wherefore I know well and surely that they are deceived who say

that they are never tempted in the flesh. Witness Saint James the apostle, who says that everyone is tempted

in his own concupiscence. That is to say, each of us has cause and occasion to be tempted by the sin that is

nourished in the body. And thereupon says Saint John the Evangelist: "If we say that we have no sin, we

Now shall you understand in what manner sin waxes or increases in man. The first thing to be considered is

this same nurturing of sin, whereof I spoke before, this same fleshly concupiscence. And after that comes the

subjection to the Devil, that is to say, the Devil's bellows, wherewith he blows into man the fire of

concupiscence. And after that a man bethinks himself whether he will do, or not, the thing to which he is

tempted. And then, if a man withstand and put aside the first enticement of his flesh and the Fiend, then it is

no sin; and if it be that he do not, he feels anon a flame of delight. And then it is well to be wary, and to guard

himself, else he will fall anon into acquiescence to sin; and then he will do it, if he have time and place. And

of this matter Moses says that the Devil says thus: "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my

lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them." For certainly, just as a

sword may part a thing in two pieces, just so acquiescence separates God from man. "And then will I slay

him in his sinful deed." Thus says the Fiend. For truly, then is a man dead in soul. And thus is sin

accomplished by temptation and by acquiescence; and then is the sin called actual.

Forsooth, sin is of two kinds; it is either venial or mortal sin. Verily, when man loves any creature more than

he loves Jesus Christ our Creator, then is it mortal sin. And venial sin it is if a man love Jesus Christ less than

he ought. Forsooth the effect of this venial sin is very dangerous; for it diminishes more and more the love

that man should have for God. And therefore, if a man charge himself with many such venial sins, then

certainly, unless he discharge them occasionally by shriving, they may easily lessen in him all the love that he

has for Jesus Christ; and in this wise venial sin passes over into mortal sin. Therefore let us not be negligent

in ridding ourselves of venial sins. For the proverb has it: "Mony a mickle mak's a muckle." And hear this

example. A huge wave of the sea comes sometimes with so great violence that it sinks a ship. And the same

harm is caused sometimes by the small drops of water that enter through the little opening in the seam into

the bilge of the ship, if men be so negligent that they do not discharge it in time. And therefore, though there

be a difference between these two ways of sinking, nevertheless the ship is sunk. Just so it is sometimes with

mortal sin, and with vexatious venial sins when they multiply in a man so greatly that the worldly things he

loves, for which he venially sins, have grown as great in his heart as the love for God, or greater. And

therefore, the love for everything that is not fixed or rooted in God, or done principally for than he love God's

sake, though a man love it less. God, yet is it venial sin; and it is mortal sin when the love for anything

weighs in the heart of man as much as the love for God, or more. "Mortal sin," as Saint Augustine says, "is

when a man turns his heart from God, Who, is the truly sovereign goodness and may not change, and gives

his heart unto things that may change and pass away." And true it is that if a man give his love, the which he

owes all to God, with all his heart, unto a creature, then certainly so much of his love as he gives unto the said

creature he takes away from God; and thereby does he sin. For he, who is debtor to God, yields not unto God

Now since man understands generally what venial sin is, it is fitting to tell especially of sins which many a

man perhaps holds not to be sins at all, and for which he shrives not himself; yet, nevertheless, they are sins.

Truly, as clerics write, every time a man eats or drinks more than suffices for the sustenance of his body, it is

certain that he thereby sins. And, too, when he speaks more than it is necessary it is sin. Also, when he hears

not benignly the complaint of the poor. Also, when he is in health of body and will not fast when other folk

fast, and that without a reasonable excuse. Also, when he sleeps more than he needs, or when he comes, for

that reason, too late to church, or to other places where works of charity are done. Also, when he enjoys his

wife without a sovereign desire to procreate children to the honour of God, or when he does it without

intention to yield to his wife the duty of his body. Also, when he will not visit the sick and the imprisoned, if

he may do so. Also, if he love wife or child or any other worldly thing more than reason requires. Also, if he

flatter or blandish more than, of necessity, he ought. Also, if he diminish or withdraw his alms to the poor.

Also, if he prepare his food more delicately than is needful, or eat it too hastily or too greedily. Also, if he

talk about vain and trifling matters in a church or at God's service, or if he be a user of idle words of folly or

of obscenity; for he shall yield up an accounting of it at the day of doom. Also, when he promises or assures

one that he will do what he cannot perform. Also, when he, through thoughtlessness or folly, slanders or

scorns his neighbour. Also, when he suspects a thing to be evil when he has no certain knowledge of it. These

Now shall men understand that while no earthly man may avoid all venial sins, yet may he keep them down

by the burning love that he has to Our Lord Jesus Christ, and by prayer and confession, and by other good

deeds. For, as Saint Augustine says: "If a man love God in such manner that all that he ever does is done in

the love of God, and truly for the love of God, because he burns with the love of God: behold, then, how

much a drop of water falling in a furnace harms or proves troublesome; and just so much vexes the venial sin

a man who is perfect in the love of Christ." Men may also keep down venial sins by receiving deservingly the

precious body of Jesus Christ; also by receiving holy water; by almsgiving; by general confession of

confiteor at mass and at compline; and by the blessings of bishops and of priests, and by other good works.

Now it is a needful thing to tell which are the mortal sins, that is to say, the principal sins; they are all leashed

together, but are different in their ways. Now they are called principal sins because they are the chief sins and

the trunk from which branch all others. And the root of these seven sins is pride, which is the general root of

all evils; for from this root spring certain branches, as anger, envy, acedia or sloth, avarice (or covetousness,

for vulgar understanding), gluttony, and lechery. And each of these principal sins has its branches and its

And though it be true that no man can absolutely tell the number of the twigs and of the evil branches that

spring from pride, yet will I show forth a number of them, as you shall understand. There are disobedience,

boasting, hypocrisy, scorn, arrogance, impudence, swelling of the heart, insolence, elation, impatience, strife,

contumacy, presumption, irreverence, obstinacy, vainglory; and many another twig that I cannot declare.

Disobedient is he that disobeys for spite the commandments of God, of his rulers, and of his spiritual father.

Braggart is he that boasts of the evil or the good that he has done. Hypocrite is he that hides his true self and

shows himself such as he is not. Scorner is he who has disdain for his neighbour, that is to say, for his fellow

Christian, or who scorns to do that which he ought to do. Arrogant is he who thinks he has within himself

those virtues which he has not, or who holds that he should so have them as his desert; or else he deems that

he is that which he is not. Impudent is he who, for his pride's sake, has no shame for his sins. Swelling of

heart is what a man has when he rejoices in evil that he has done. Insolent is he that despises in his judgments

all other folk in comparing theirs with his worth, and with his understanding, and with his conversation, and

with his bearing. Elated is he who will suffer neither a master nor a peer. Impatient is he who will not be

taught nor reproved for his vice, and who, by strife, knowingly wars on truth and defends his folly. Contumax

is he who, because of his indignation, is against all authority or power or those that are his rulers.

Presumption is when a man undertakes an enterprise that he ought not to attempt, or one which he cannot

accomplish; and that is called overconfidence. Irreverence is when men do not show honour where they

ought, and themselves wait to be reverenced. Obstinacy is when man defends his folly and trusts too much in

his own judgment. Vainglory is delight in pomp and temporal rank, and glorification in this worldly estate.

Chattering is when men speak too much before folk, clattering like a mill and taking no care of what they say.

And then there is a private species of pride that waits to be saluted before it will salute, albeit the one who has

it is of less worth than is the other, perchance; also, when he attends services in church he desires to sit, or

else to go, before his neighbour in the aisle, or to kiss the pax before him, or to be censed before him, or to

make offering before his neighbour, and similar things; all against his necessity, peradventure, save that in his

heart and his will is such proud desire to be magnified and honoured before the people.

Now there are two kinds of pride; one of them lies within the heart of man, and the other lies without.

Whereof, truly, these aforesaid things, and more than I have named, appertain to that pride which is within

the heart of man; for that other species of pride lies without. But notwithstanding, one of these species of

pride is a sign of the existence of the other, just as the fresh bush at the tavern door is a sign of the wine that

is in the cellar. And this second kind of pride shows itself in many ways: as in speech and bearing, and in

extravagant array of clothing; for truly, if there had been no sin in clothing, Christ would not have noted and

spoken of the clothing of that rich man in the gospel. And, as Saint Gregory says, that same precious clothing

is culpable for the glory and beauty of it, and for its softness. and for its strange new modes, and its fantastic

ornamentation, and for its superfluity, and for the inordinate scantiness of it. Alas! May not men see, in our

days, the sinfully costly array of clothing, especially in the matter of superfluity, or else in inordinate

As to the first sin, it lies in the superfluity of clothing, which makes cloth so dear, to the harm of the people;

not only the cost of embroidering, the elaborate notching or barring, the waved lines, the stripes, the twists,

the diagonal bars, and similar waste of cloth in vanity; but there is also the costly furring of gowns, so much

perforating with scissors to make holes, so much slashing with shears; and then the superfluity in length of

the aforesaid gowns, trailing in the dung and in the mire, ahorseback and afoot, as well of man's clothing as

of woman's, until all this trailing verily, in its effect, wastes, consumes, makes threadbare and rotten with

dung the superfluity that rather should be given unto the poor; to the great harm of the aforesaid poor. And

that in sundry wise: this is to say, the more that cloth is wasted, the more it costs the people because of its

scarcity; and furthermore, if they would give such perforated and slashed clothing to the poor folk, it would

not be suitable for their wearing, what of their state, nor sufficient to help their necessity to keep themselves

from the fury of the elements. On the other hand, to speak of the horrible inordinate scantiness of clothing, let

us notice these shortcut smocks or jackets, which, because of their shortness, cover not the shameful

members of man, to the wicked calling of them to attention. Alas! Some of them show the very boss of their

penis and the horrible pushedout testicles that look like the malady of hernia in the wrapping of their hose;

and the buttocks of such persons look like the hinder parts of a sheape in the full of the moon. And

moreover, the hateful proud members that they show by the fantastic fashion of making one leg of their hose

white and the other red, make it seem that half their shameful privy members are flayed. And if it be that they

divide their hose in other colours, as white and black, or white and blue, or black and red, and so forth, then it

seems, by variation of colour, that the half of their privy members are corrupted by the fire of Saint Anthony,

or by cancer, or by other such misfortune. As to the hinder parts of their buttocks, the thing is horrible to see.

For, indeed, in that part of their body where they purge their stinking ordure, that foul part they proudly show

to the people in despite of decency, which decency Jesus Christ and His friends observed in their lives. Now,

as to the extravagant array of women, God knows that though the faces of them seem chaste and gentle, yet

do they advertise, by their attire, their lickerousness and pride. I say not that a moderate gaiety in clothing is

unseemly, but certainly the superfluity or inordinate scantiness of clothing is reprehensible. Also, the sin of

adornment or apparel lies in things that appertain to riding, as in too many fine horses that are kept for

delight, that are so fair, fat, and costly; in many a vicious knave who is kept because of them; in too curious

harness, as saddles, cruppers, poitrels, and bridles covered with precious caparison and rich, and with bars

and plates of gold and silver. As to which God says by Zechariah the prophet: "I will confound the riders of

such horses." These folk have but little regard for the riding of God of Heaven's Son and of His trappings,

when He rode upon the ass and had no other caparison than the poor cloaks of His disciples; nor do we read

that ever He rode upon any other beast. I say this against the sin of superfluity, and not against reasonable

display when the occasion requires it. And further, certainly pride is greatly shown in keeping up a great

household, when such servants are of little profit, or of no profit. And this is especially so when such an array

of servants is mischievous and injurious to the people, by the insolence of high rank or by way of office. For

truly, such lords sell then their lordships to the Devil of Hell when they sustain the wickedness of their

following. And when folk of low degree, as those that keep and run hostelries, sustain the thievery of their

servants, which is done in many ways. This kind of folk are the flies that seek honey or the dogs that seek

carrion. Such folk strangle spiritually their lordships; as to which thus says David the prophet: "Wicked death

shall come upon such masters, and God will give that they descend into Hell; for in their houses are iniquities

and evil deeds." And God of Heaven is not there. And truly, unless they mend their ways, just as God gave

His blessing to Laban for the service of Jacob and to Pharaoh for the service of Joseph, just so will God give

His curse to such lordships as sustain the wickedness of their servants, unless they shall make amendment.

Pride of the table is often seen; for truly, rich men are bidden to feasts and poor folk are turned away and

rebuked. The sin of pride lies also in excess of divers meats and drinks; and especially in certain baked meats

and madedishes, burning with spirituous liquors and decorated and castellated with paper, and in similar

waste; so that it is scandalous to think upon. And also in too great preciousness of vessels and in curious

instruments of minstrelsy, whereby a man is stirred the more to the delights of luxury; if it be that he thereby

sets his heart the less upon Jesus Christ, certainly it is a sin; and certainly the delights might be so great in

this case that a man could easily fall thereby into mortal sin. The varieties of sin that arise out of pride, truly,

when they arise with malice imagined, advised, and aforethought, or from habit, are mortal sins, and of that

there is no doubt. And when they arise out of frailty, unadvisedly and suddenly, and are quickly withdrawn

again, albeit they are grievous sins, I think that they are not mortal. Now might men ask, whence pride arises

and takes its being, and I say: sometimes it springs out of the good things of nature, and sometimes from the

benefits of Fortune, and sometimes from the good of grace itself. Certainly the good things of nature consist

of either physical wellbeing or riches of the soul. Certainly physical wellbeing consists of the weal of the

body, as strength, activity, beauty, good blood, and generous candour. The benefits of nature to the soul are

good wit, keen understanding, clever talent, natural virtue, and good memory. The benefits of Fortune are

riches, high rank. and the people's praise. The good of grace consists of knowledge, power to suffer spiritual

travail, benignity, virtuous contemplation, ability to withstand temptation, and similar things. Of which

aforesaid things, certainly it is great folly in a man when he permits himself to be proud of any of them. As

for the benefits of nature, God knows that sometimes we receive them naturally as much to our detriment as

to our profit. As, to take bodily health, certainly it passes away lightly enough, and moreover it is often the

reason for the wickedness of the soul; for God knows that the flesh is a great enemy to the soul; and

therefore, the more sound the body is, the more are we in danger of falling into sin. Also, to feel pride in the

strength of one's body is a great folly; for certainly the flesh lusts for that which is detrimental to the spirit,

and ever the stronger the flesh is, the sorrier must the soul be: and above all this, strength of body and worldly

boldness bring a man often into danger of mischance. Also, to be proud of his gentility is a great folly; for

often the gentility of the body debases the gentility of the soul; and furthermore, we are all of "One father and

one mother; and we are of one nature, rotten and corrupt, both the rich and the poor. Forsooth, but one kind of

gentility is praiseworthy, and that it is which clothes a man's heart with virtue and morality and makes of him

Christ's child. For trust this well, that over whatsoever man sin has gained the mastery, that man is a very serf

Now there are general signs of gentility; as the eschewing of vice and ribaldry and servitude to sin, in word,

in deed, and in conduct; and as the practising of virtue, courtesy, and purity, and being generous, which is to

say, bounteous within measure; for that which goes beyond a reasonable measure is folly and sin. Another

such sign is, when a man remembers and bears in mind the good that he has received from others. Another is,

to be benign to his good inferiors; wherefore, as Seneca says: "There is nothing more becoming a man of high

estate than kindliness, courtesy, and pity. And therefore the flies that men call bees, when they make their

king, they choose one that has no prick wherewith he may sting." Another is, for a man to have a good heart

and a diligent, to attain to high virtuous things. Now truly, for a man to pride himself on the gifts of grace is

also an extravagant folly; for these same gifts of grace that should have turned him to goodness and to

alleviation, turn him to venom and confusion, as says Saint Gregory. Certainly, also, whoso prides himself on

the benefits of Fortune, he is a full great fool; for sometimes a man is a great lord at morning who is a captive

and a wretch ere it be night; and sometimes the wealth of a man is the cause of his death; sometimes the

pleasures of a man cause the grievous malady whereof he dies. Certainly the people's commendation is

sometimes false enough and brittle enough to trust; today they praise, tomorrow they blame. God knows,

Now, since it has come to pass that you have understood what pride is, and what the species of it are, and

whence pride arises and springs, now you shall understand what is the remedy for the sin of pride, and that is,

humility or meekness. That is a virtue whereby a man may come to have a true knowledge of himself, and

whereby he will hold himself to be of no price or value in regard to his deserts, but will be considering ever

his frailty. Now there are three kinds of humility: as humility of heart, and another humility is of the mouth,

and the third is in a man's works. The humility of heart is of four kinds: one is, when a man holds himself to

be of nothing worth before God in Heaven. Another is, when he despises no other man. The third is, when he

recks not though men hold him as nothing worth. The fourth is when he is not sorry for his humiliation. Also,

the humility of the mouth is of four kinds: temperate speech, meek speech, and when a man acknowledges

with his own mouth that he is as he thinks himself to be, in his heart. Another is, when he praises the

goodness of another man and nothing thereof belittles. Humility in deeds is in four manners: the first is, when

a man puts other men before him. The second is, to choose the lowest place of all for himself. The third is,

gladly to assent to good counsel. The fourth is, to abide gladly by the decision of his rulers, or of him that is

After pride I will speak of the foul sin of envy, which is, according to the word of the philosopher, sorrow for

other men's prosperity; and according to the word of Saint Augustine, it is sorrow for other men's weal and

joy for other men's harm. This foul sin is flatly against the Holy Ghost. Be it that every sin is in opposition to

the Holy Ghost, yet, nevertheless, for as much as goodness appertains properly to the Holy Ghost and envy

springs by nature out of malice, therefore is it especially against the goodness of the Holy Ghost. Now malice

has two species, that is to say, a heart hardened in wickedness, or else the flesh of man is so blind that he does

not consider himself to be in sin, or he cares not that he is in sin, which is the hardihood of the Devil. The

other kind of malice is, when a man wars against the truth, knowing that it is truth. Also, when he wars

against the grace that God has given to his neighbour; and all this is envy. Certainly, then, envy is the worst

sin there is. For truly, all other sins are sometime against only one special virtue; but truly, envy is against all

virtues and against all goodnesses; for it is sorry for all the virtues of its neighbour; and in this way it differs

from all other sins. For hardly is there any sin that has not some delight in itself, save only envy, which ever

has of itself but anguish and sorrow. The kinds of envy are these: there is, first, sorrow for other men's

goodness and prosperity; and prosperity being naturally a thing for joy, then envy is a sin against nature. The

second kind of envy is joy in other men's harm; and this is naturally like the Devil, who always rejoices in

man's harm. From these two species comes backbiting; and this sin of backbiting, or detraction, has certain

forms, as thus. A man praises his neighbour with a wicked intention, for he puts always a wicked twist into it

at the end. Always he puts a "but" in at the end, which implies more blame than all the praise is worth. The

second form is, when a man is good and does or says a thing to good intent, the backbiter turns all this

goodness upsidedown to his own evil end. The third is, to belittle the goodness of a neighbour. The fourth

form of backbiting is this: that if a man say good of a man, then the backbiter says, "Faith, such or such a man

is better than he," in disparagement of him that men praise. The fifth form is this, to assent gladly and listen

gladly to the evil that folk speak of others. This sin is a great one; and it grows according to the wicked

endeavours of the backbiter. After backbiting comes grumbling or murmuring; and sometimes it springs from

impatience with God, and sometimes with man. Impatience with God it is when the man grumbles against the

pains of Hell, or against poverty, or loss of chattels, or against rain or tempest; or else complains that

scoundrels prospers or else that good men have adversity. And all these things should men suffer patiently,

for they come by the right judgment and ordinance of God. Sometimes grumbling comes of avarice; as Judas

complained of the Magdalen when she anointed the head of Our Lord Jesus Christ with her precious

ointment. This murmuring is such as when a man grumbles at good that he himself has done, or that other

folk do with their wealth. Sometimes murmuring comes of pride; as when Simon the Pharisee murmured

against the Magdalen when she approached Jesus Christ and wept at His feet for her sins. And sometimes

grumbling arises out of envy; as when men discover a man's secret weakness, or swear of him a thing that is

false. Murmuring, too, is often found among servants, who grumble when their masters bid them to do lawful

things; and for as much as they dare not openly gainsay the commands of their masters, yet do they speak

evilly of them and grumble and murmur privately, for very spite; which words men call the Devil's

Paternoster, though the Devil never had a Paternoster, save that vulgar folk give these murmurings that name.

Sometimes grumbling comes of anger or privy hate, that nurtures rancour in its heart, as I shall hereafter set

forth. Then comes bitterness of heart, through which bitterness every good deed of one's neighbour seems to

one to be but bitter and unsavoury. Then comes discord, which undoes all friendship. Then comes spite, as

when a man seeks occasion to annoy his neighbour, though he do never so well. Then comes accusation, as

when a man seeks occasion to offend his neighbour, which is like the guile of the Devil, who watches both

night and day to accuse us all. Then comes malignity, through which a man annoys his neighbour privately, if

he may; and if he may not, then nevertheless his wicked will shall not want for means to harm him, as by

Now will I speak of the remedy for this foul sin of envy. First, is the love of God, and the love of one's

neighbour as one's self; for indeed the one cannot be without the other. And trust well, that by the name of

your neighbour you are to understand your brother; for certainly all of us have one fleshly father and one

mother, that is to say, Adam and Eve; and even one spiritual father, and that is God in Heaven. Your

neighbour you are bound to love and to wish all good things; and thereunto God says, "Love thy neighbour as

thyself." That is to say, to the salvation both of life and soul. Moreover, you shall love him in word, and in

benign admonition and in chastening; and comfort him in his vexations, and pray for him with all your heart.

And you shall love him in deed and in such wise that you shall charitably do unto him as you would that it

were done unto yourself. And therefore you shall do him no damage by wicked words, nor any harm in his

body, nor in his goods, nor in his soul by the enticement of wicked example. You shall not covet his wife, nor

any of, his things. Understand also that in the word neighbour is included his enemy. Certainly man shall love

his enemy, by the commandment of God; and truly, your friend shall you love in God. I say, you shall love

your enemy for God's sake, and by His commandment. For if it were reasonable that a man should hate his

enemies, then God would not receive us into His love, when we are His enemies. For three kinds of wrong

that his enemy may do to a man, he shall do three things in return, thus: for hate and rancour, he shall love

him in heart. For chiding and wicked words, he shall pray for his enemy. And for the wicked deed of his

enemy, he shall do him kindness. For Christ says: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to

them and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." Lo, thus Our Lord Jesus Christ

commands that we do to our enemies. For indeed, nature drives us to love our enemies, and, faith, our

enemies have more need for love than our friends; and they that have more need, truly to them men ought to

do good; and truly, in the deed thereof have we remembrance of the love of Jesus Christ Who died for His

enemies. And in so much as that same love is the harder to feel and to show, in that much is the merit the

greater; and therefore the loving of our enemy has confounded the venom of the Devil. For just as the Devil is

discomfited by humility, so is he wounded to the death by love for our enemy. Certainly, then, love is the

medicine that purges the heart of man of the poison of envy. The kinds of this degree of sin will be set forth

After envy will I describe the sin of anger. For truly, whoso has envy of his neighbour will generally find

himself showing anger, in word or in deed, against him whom he envies. And anger comes as well from pride

This sin of anger, according to Saint Augustine, is a wicked determination to be avenged by word or by deed.

Anger, according to the philosopher, is the hot blood of man quickened in his heart, because of which he

wishes to harm him whom he hates. For truly, the heart of man, by the heating and stirring of his blood,

grows so disturbed that he is put out of all ability to judge reasonably. But you shall understand that anger

manifests itself in two manners; one of them is good, the other bad. The good anger is caused by zeal for

goodness, whereof a man is enraged by wickedness and against wickedness; and thereupon a wise man says

that "Anger is better than play." This anger is gentle and without bitterness; not felt against the man, but

against the misdeed of the man, as the Prophet David says: Irascimini et nolite peccare. Now understand, that

wicked anger is manifested in two manners, that is to say, sudden or hasty anger, without the advice and

counsel of reason. The meaning and the sense of this is, that the reason of man consents not to this sudden

anger, and so it is venial. Another anger is full wicked, which comes of sullenness of heart, with malice

aforethought and with wicked determination to take vengeance, and to which reason assents; and this, truly, is

mortal sin. This form of anger is so displeasing to God that it troubles His house and drives the Holy Ghost

out of man's soul, and wastes and destroys the likeness of God, that is to say, the virtue that is in man's soul;

and it puts within him the likeness of the Devil, and takes the man away from God, his rightful Lord. This

form of anger is a great joy to the Devil; for it is the Devil's furnace, heated with the fire of Hell. For

certainly, just as fire is the mightiest of earth engines of destruction, just so ire is mightiest to destroy things

spiritual. Observe how a fire of smouldering coals, almost extinct under the ashes, will quicken again when

touched by brimstone; just so will anger quicken again when it is touched by the pride that lies hidden in

man's heart. For certainly fire cannot come from nothing, but must first be naturally dormant within a thing,

as it is drawn out of flints with steel. And just as pride is often the matter of which anger is made, just so is

rancour the nurse and keeper of anger. There is a kind of tree, as Saint Isidore says, which, when men make a

fire of the wood of it, and then cover over the coals with ashes, truly the embers will live and last a year or

more. And just so fares it with rancour; when it is once conceived in the hearts of some men, certainly it will

last, perchance, from one Easterday to another Easterday, and longer. But truly, such men are very far

In this aforesaid Devil's furnace there are forged three evils: pride that ever fans and increases the fire by

chiding and wicked words. Then stands up envy and holds the hot iron upon the heart of man with a pair of

long tongs of abiding rancour. And then stands up the sin of contumely, or strife and wrangling, and strikes

and hammers with villainous reproaches. Certainly, this cursed sin injures both the man who does it and his

neighbour. For truly, almost all the harm that any man does to his neighbour comes from wrath. For certainly,

outrageous wrath does all that the Devil orders; for it spares neither Christ nor His Sweet Mother. And in his

outrageous anger and ire, alas! full many a one at that time feels in his heart right wickedly, both as to Christ

and as to His saints. Is not this a cursed vice? Yes, certainly. Alas! It takes from man his wit and his reason

and all the kindly spiritual life that should guard his soul. Certainly, it takes away also God's due authority,

and that is man's soul and the love of his neighbour. It strives always against truth, also. It bereaves him of

From anger come these stinking engenderings: first hate, which is old wrath; discord, by which a man

forsakes his old friend whom he has long loved. And then come strife and every kind of wrong that man does

to his neighbour, in body or in goods. Of this cursed sin of anger comes manslaughter also. And understand

well that homicide, manslaughter, that is, is of different kinds. Some kinds of homicide are spiritual, and

some are bodily. Spiritual manslaughter lies in six things. First, hate; and as Saint John says: "He that hateth

his brother committeth homicide." Homicide is also accomplished by backbiting; and of backbiters Solomon

says that "They have two swords wherewith they slay their neighbours." For truly, it is as wicked to take

away a man's good name as his life. Homicide consists also in the giving of wicked counsel deceitfully, as in

counselling one to levy wrongful duties and taxes. And Solomon says that cruel masters are like roaring lions

and hungry bears, in withholding or diminishing the wages (or the hire) of servants; or else in usury; or in

withholding alms from poor folk. As to which the wise man says: "Feed him who is dying of hunger." For

indeed, unless you feed him, you slay him; and all these are mortal sins. Bodily homicide is when you slay a

man with your tongue is some manner; as when you give command to slay a man, or else counsel him to the

slaying of another. Homicide, in deed is in four manners. One is by law; as when a judge condemns a

culpable man to death. But let the judge take care that he do it rightfully, and that he do it not for delight in

the spilling out of blood, but only for the doing of justice. Another kind of homicide is that which is done by

necessity, as when one man slays another in his own defence, and when he may not otherwise escape his own

death. But certainly, if he may escape without killing his adversary, and yet slays him, he commits sin, and he

shall bear the punishment for mortal sin. Also, if a man by force of circumstances, or by chance, shoot an

arrow or cast a stone with which he kill a man, he commits homicide. Also, if a woman negligently overlie

her child in her sleep, it is homicide and mortal sin. Also, when a man interferes with the conception of a

child, and makes a woman barren by the drinking of poisonous drugs, whereby she cannot conceive, or slays

an unborn child deliberately, by drugs or by the introduction of certain substances into her secret parts with

intent to slay the child; or does any unnatural sin whereby man or woman spill his or her fluid in such manner

or in such place as a child cannot be conceived; or if a woman, having conceived, so hurt herself that she

slays her child, it is homicide. What do we say of women that murder their children for dread of worldly

shame? Certainly, such a one is called a horrible homicide. Homicide it is, also, if a man approach a woman

by desire of lechery, through the accomplishing of which her child is killed in the womb, or strike a woman

knowingly in such manner that she is caused to miscarry and lose her child. All these constitute homicide and

are horrible mortal sins. Besides' there come from anger many more sins, as well of word as of thought and of

deed; as that of accusing God of, or blaming God for, a thing of which a man is himself guilty; or despising

God and all His saints, as do wicked gamblers in divers countries. They do this cursed sin when they feel in

their heart a great wickedness toward God and His saints. Also, they do it when they treat irreverently the

sacraments of the altar, and then the sin is so great that scarcely may it be forgiven, save that the mercy of

God passes all His works; it is so great and He is so benign. Then comes of anger, venomous anger; when a

man is sharply admonished after confession to forgo his sin, then will he be angry and will answer scornfully

and angrily, and will defend or excuse his sin as the result of the weakness of his flesh; or else he did it to

keep the good will of his fellows, or else, he'll say, the Fiend enticed him; or else he did it because of his

youth, or else his temperament is so mettled that he could not forbear; or else it was his destiny, as he says,

until a certain age; or else, he says, it comes to him out of the breeding of his ancestors; and suchlike things.

All this kind of folk so wrap themselves in their sins that they will not deliver themselves. For truly, no man

that excuses himself for his sin may be shriven of it until he meekly acknowledges it. After this, then comes

swearing, which is expressly against the commandment of God; and this comes often of anger and ire. God

says: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Also, Our Lord Jesus Christ says, through

Saint Matthew: "Nolite iurare omnino: neither by Heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is His

footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,

because thou canst not make one hair white or black: but let your communication be, yea, yea, nay; for

whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil." For Christ's sake, swear not so sinfully, thus dismembering

Christ by soul, heart, bones, and body. For indeed it seems that you think that the cursed Jews did not

dismember enough the precious body of Christ, since you dismember Him even more. And if it be that the

law compel you to swear, then be governed by the rule of the law in your swearing, as Jeremiah says, quarto

capitulo: "Iurabis, in veritate, in iudicio et in iusticia: thou shalt swear, the Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment,

and in righteousness." That is to say, you shall swear truth, for every lie is against Christ. For Christ is utter

truth. And think well on this, that every great swearer, not by law compelled to swear, the plague will not

depart from his house while he continues to indulge in such forbidden swearing. You shall swear for the sake

of justice also, when you are constrained by your judge to bear witness to the truth. Also, you shall swear not

for envy, nor for favour, nor for reward, but for righteousness; for the declaring of it to the honour of God and

the helping of your fellow Christian. And therefore, every man that takes God's name in vain, or falsely

swears by word of mouth, or takes upon him the name of Christ that he may be called a Christian man, and

who lives not in accordance with Christ's example of living and with His teaching, all they take God's name

in vain. Behold, too, what Saint Peter says, Actuum, quarto capitulo: "Non est aliud nomen sub celo, etc.

There is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." That is to say, save

the name of Jesus Christ. Take heed also how in the precious name of Christ, as Saint Paul says ad

Philipensess secundo: "In nomine Iesu, etc. In the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven,

and things in earth, and things under the earth." For it is so high and so worshipful that the cursed Fiend in

Then it appears that men who swear so horribly by His blessed name despise Him more boldly than all the

Now, certainly, since swearing, unless it be lawfully done, is so strictly forbidden, much worse is false

What shall we say of those that delight in swearing and hold it for an act of the gentry, or a manly thing, to

swear great oaths? And what of those that, of very habit, cease not to swear great oaths, though the reason

therefor be not worth a straw? Certainly this is a horrible sin. Swearing suddenly and thoughtlessly is also a

sin. But let us pass now to that horrible swearing of adjuration and conjuration, as do these false enchanters or

necromancers in basins full of water, or in a bright sword, in a circle, or in a fire, or in a shoulderbone of a

sheep. I can say nothing, save that they do wickedly and damnably against Christ and all the faith of Holy

What shall we say of those that believe in divinations, as by the flying or the crying of birds, or of beasts, or

by chance, by geomancy, by dreams, by creaking of doors, by cracking of houses, by gnawing of rats; and

such kinds of wickedness? Certainly, all these things are forbidden by God and by all Holy Church. For

which they are accursed, until they repent and mend their ways, who set their beliefs in such filth. Charms

against wounds or maladies in men or in beasts, if they have any effect, it may be, peradventure, that God

permits it that folk shall have the more faith in Him and the more reverence unto His name.

Now will I speak of lying, which generally is the using of words in false signification with intent to deceive

one's fellow Christian. Some lying there is whereof there comes no advantage to anyone; and some lying is

done for the ease and profit of one man, and to the uneasiness and damage of another man. Another kind of

lying is done to save one's life or chattels. Another kind of lying is born of mere delight in lying, for which

delight they will fabricate a long tale and adorn it with all circumstances, where all the groundwork of the tale

is false. Some lying is done because one would maintain his previous word; and some lying is done out of

Let us now touch upon the vice of flattering, which comes not gladly from the heart, but for fear or for

covetousness. Flattery is generally unearned praise. Flatterers are the Devil's nurses, who nurse his children

with the milk of adulation. Forsooth, as Solomon says, "Flattery is worse than detraction." For sometimes

detraction causes a haughty man to be more humble, for he fears detraction; but certainly flattery that causes

a man to exalt his heart and his bearing. Flatterers are the Devil's enchanters, for they cause a man to think of

himself that he is like what he is not like. They are like Judas who betrayed God; for these flatterers betray a

man in order to sell him out to his enemy, that is, to the Devil. Flatterers are the Devil's chaplains, that

continually sing Placebo. I reckon flattery among the vices of anger; for oftentimes, if one man be enraged at

Let us speak now of such cursing as comes from an angry heart. Execration generally may be said to embrace

every kind of evil. Such cursing deprives a man of the Kingdom of God, as says Saint Paul. And oftentimes

such cursing returns again upon the head of him that curses, like a bird that returns again to its own nest. And

above all things men ought to eschew the cursing of their children, and the giving to the Devil of their

Let us now speak of chiding and reproaching, which are great evils in man's heart; for they rip up the seams

of friendship in man's heart. For truly, a man can hardly be reconciled with him that has openly reviled and

slandered him. This is a terrible sin, as Christ says in the gospel. And note now that he who reproaches his

neighbour, either he reproaches him for some painful evil that he has in his body, as with "leper" or

"hunchbacked scoundrel," or by some sin that he does. Now, if he reproach him for a painful evil, then the

reproach is turned upon Jesus Christ; for pain is sent, as the righteous giving of God, and by His permission,

be it of leprosy or malady or bodily imperfection. And if he reproach him uncharitably for sin, as with "you

whoremonger," "you drunken scoundrel," and so forth, then that appertains to the rejoicing of the Devil, who

is ever rejoiced when men sin. And truly, chiding may not come, save out of a sinful heart. For according to

the abundance of what is in the heart the mouth speaks. And you shall understand that when any man would

correct another, let him beware of chiding or reproaching. For truly, save he beware, he may easily quicken

the fire of anger and wrath, which he should quench, and perhaps will slay him whom he might have

corrected gently. For, as Solomon says, "the amiable tongue is the tree of life," which is to say, of the

spiritual life; and in sooth, a foul tongue drains the vital forces of him that reproaches, and also of him that is

reproached. Behold what Saint Augustine says: "There is nothing so like the Devil's child as he that chideth."

Saint Paul says, too: "The servant of the Lord must not strive." And though bickering be a sinful thing as

between all kinds of folk, certainly it is most unsuitable between a man and his wife; for there is never rest

there. Thereupon Solomon says: "A continual dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman, are

alike." A man who is in a house, the roof whereof leaks in many places, though he avoid the dripping in one

place, it finds him in another; and so fares he who has a chiding wife. If she cannot scold him in one place,

she will scold him in another. And therefore, "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and

hatred therewith," says Solomon. Saint Paul says: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as it is fit

in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." Ad Colossensess, tertio.

After that, let us speak of scorn, which is a wicked sin; especially when one scorns a man for his good works.

For truly, such scorners are like the foul toad, which cannot bear to smell the sweet odour of the vine when it

blossoms. These scorners are fellowpartakers with the Devil; for they rejoice when the Devil wins and sorrow

when he loses. They are adversaries of Jesus Christ; for they hate what He loves, that is to say, the salvation

Now will we speak of wicked counsel; for he that gives wicked counsel is a traitor. For he deceives him that

trusts in him, ut Achitofel ad Absolonem. Nevertheless, his wicked counsel first harms himself. For, as the

wise man says, every false person living has within himself this peculiarity, that he who would harm another

harms first himself. And men should understand that they should take counsel not of false folk, nor of angry

folk, nor of vexatious folk nor of folk that love too much their own advantage, nor of too worldly folk,

Now comes the sin of those that sow discord amongst folk, which is a sin that Christ utterly hates; and no

wonder. For He died to establish concord on earth. And more shame do they do to Christ than did those that

crucified Him; for God loves better that friendliness be among men than He loved His own body, the which

He gave for the sake of unity. Therefore they are like the Devil, who ever goes about to make discord.

Now comes the sin of the doubletongued; such as speak fairly before folk, and wickedly behind; or they

make a semblance of speaking with good intention, or in jest and play, and yet they speak with evil intention.

Now comes betraying of confidence, whereby a man is defamed: truly, the damage so done may scarcely be

Now comes menacing, which is an open folly; for he that often menaces, he often threatens more than he can

Now come idle words, which sin is without profit to him that speaks and also to him that listens. Or else idle

words are those that are needless, or without an aim toward any profit. And although idle words are at times

but a venial sin, yet men should distrust them; for we shall have to account for them before God.

Now comes chattering, which cannot occur without sin. And, as Solomon says, "It is a sin of manifest folly."

And therefore a philosopher said, when men asked him how to please the people: "Do many good deeds and

After this comes the sin of jesters, who are the Devil's apes. For they make folk laugh at their buffoonery, as

they do at the pranks of an ape. Such clownings were forbidden by Saint Paul. Behold how virtuous and holy

words give comfort to those that labour in the service of Christ; just so the sinful words and tricks of jesters

and jokers comfort those that travail in the service of the Devil. These are the sins that come by way of the

The remedy for anger is a virtue which men call mansuetude, which is gentleness; and even another virtue

Gentleness withholds and restrains the stirrings and the urgings of man's impetuosity in his heart in such

manner that it leaps not out in anger or in ire. Tolerance suffers sweetly all the annoyances and wrongs that

men do to men bodily. Saint Jerome says thus of gentleness, that "it does harm to no one, nor says harm; nor

for any harm that men do or say does it chafe against reason." This virtue is sometimes naturally implanted;

for, as says the philosopher: "A man is a living thing, by nature gentle and tractable to goodness; but when

Patience, which is another remedy against anger, is a virtue that suffers sweetly man's goodness, and is not

wroth for harm done to it. The philosopher says that "patience is that virtue which suffers meekly all the

outrages of adversity and every wicked word." This virtue makes a man godlike and makes him God's own

dear child, as Christ says. This virtue discomfits one's enemy. And thereupon the wise man says: "If thou wilt

vanquish thy enemy, learn to endure." And you shall understand that man suffers four kinds of grievances

The first grievance is of wicked words; this suffered Jesus Christ without grumbling, and patiently, when the

Jews many times reproached Him and showed how they despised Him. Suffer patiently, therefore, for the

wise man says: "If thou strive with a fool, though the fool be wroth or though he laugh, nevertheless thou

shalt have no rest." Another outward grievance is to suffer damage in one's chattels. In that Christ endured

patiently when He was despoiled of all that He had in the world, that being His clothing.

The third grievance is for a man to suffer injury in his body. That, Christ endured full patiently throughout all

His passion. The fourth grievance is in extravagant labour. Wherefore I say that folk who make their servants

labour too grievously, or out of the proper time, as on holidays, truly they do great sin. Thereof endured

Christ full patiently, and taught us patience when He bore upon His blessed shoulder the cross whereon He

was to suffer a pitiless death. Hereof may men learn to be patient; for certainly, not only Christian men

should be patient for love of Jesus Christ, and for the reward of the blessed life everlasting, but even the old

pagans, who never were Christians, commended and practised the virtue of patience.

Upon a time a philosopher would have beaten a disciple for his great misdoing, at which the philosopher had

been much annoyed; and he brought a rod wherewith to scourge the youth; and when the youth saw the rod

he said to his master: "What do you intend to do?" "I will beat you," said the master, "for your correction."

"Forsooth," said the youth, "you ought first to correct yourself who have lost all your patience at the offence

of a child." "Forsooth," said the master, weeping, "you say truth; take the rod yourself, my dear son, and

correct me for my impatience." From patience comes obedience, whereby a man becomes obedient to Christ

and to all to whom he owes obedience in Christ. And understand well that obedience is perfect when a man

does gladly and speedily, with entire good heart, all that he should do. Obedience, generally, is to put into

practice the doctrine of God and of man's masters, to whom he ought to be humble in all righteousness.

After the sins of envy and of anger, now will I speak of the sin of acedia, or sloth. For envy blinds the heart of

a man and anger troubles a man; and acedia makes him heavy, thoughtful, and peevish. Envy and anger cause

bitterness of heart; which bitterness is the mother of acedia, and takes from a man the love of all goodness.

Then is acedia the anguish of a troubled heart; and Saint Augustine says: "It is the sadness of goodness and

the joy of evil." Certainly this is a damnable sin; for it wrongs Jesus Christ in as much as it lessens the service

that men ought to give to Christ with due diligence, as says Solomon. But sloth has no such diligence; it does

everything sadly and with peevishness, slackness, and false excusing, and with slovenliness and

unwillingness; for which the Book says: "Accursed be he that serveth God negligently." Then acedia is the

enemy to every state of man; for indeed the state of man is in three degrees. One is the state of innocence, as

was the condition of Adam before he fell into sin; in which state he was maintained to praise and adore his

God. Another state is the condition of sinful men wherein they are obliged to labour in praying to God for the

amendment of their sins. Another state is the condition of grace, in which condition man is bound to acts of

penitence; and truly, to all these things acedia is the enemy and the opposite. For it loves no busyness at all.

Now certainly this foul sin of acedia is also a great enemy to the livelihood of the body; for it makes no

provision for temporal necessity; for it wastes, and it allows things to spoil, and it destroys all worldly wealth

The fourth thing is that acedia is like those who are in the pain of Hell, because of their sloth and their

sluggardliness; for those that are damned are so bound that they may neither do well nor think well. First of

all, from the sin of acedia it happens that a man is too sad and hindered to be able to do anything good,

Then comes that kind of sloth that will endure no hardship nor any penance. For truly, sloth is so tender and

so delicate, as Solomon says, that it will endure no hardship or penance, and therefore it spoils everything that

it attempts to do. To combat this rottenhearted sin of acedia or sloth, men should be diligent to do good

works and manfully and virtuously to come by the determination to do well; remembering that Our Lord

Jesus Christ rewards every good deed, be it ever so little. The habit of labour is a great thing; for, as Saint

Bernard says, it gives the labourer strong arms and hard thews, whereas sloth makes them feeble and tender.

Then arises the dread of beginning to do any good deeds; for certainly, he that is inclined toward sin, he

thinks it is so great an enterprise to start any works of goodness, and tells himself in his heart that the

circumstances having to do with goodness are so wearisome and burdensome to endure, that he dare not

Now enters despair, which is despair of the mercy of God, and comes sometimes of too extravagant sorrows

and sometimes of too great fear: for the victim imagines that he has done so much sin that it will avail him

not to repent and forgo sin; because of which fear he abandons his heart to every kind of sin, as Saint

Augustine says. This damnable sin, if it be indulged to the end, is called sinning in the Holy Ghost. This

horrible sin is so dangerous that, as for him that is so desperate, there is no felony or sin that he hesitates to

do; as was well showed by Judas. Certainly, then, above all other sins, this sin is most displeasing to Christ,

and most hateful. Truly he that grows so desperate is like the cowardly and recreant combatant that yields

before he is beaten, and when there is no need. Alas, alas! Needlessly is he recreant and needlessly in despair.

Certainly the mercy of God is always available to every penitent, and this is the greatest of all God's works.

Alas! Cannot a man bethink him of the gospel of Saint Luke, 15, wherein Christ says: "Joy shall be in Heaven

over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance."

Behold further, in the same gospel, the joy of and the feast given by the good man who had lost his son, when

his son, repentant, returned to his father. Can they not remember, also, that, as Saint Luke says, XXIII

capitulo, the thief who was hanged beside Jesus Christ said: "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into

Thy Kingdom." "Verily," said Christ, "I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Certainly,

there is no such horrible sin of man that it may not be, in his lifetime, destroyed by penitence, by virtue of the

passion and the death of Jesus Christ. Alas! Why then need a man despair, since mercy is so ready and so

great? Ask, and it shall be given unto you. Then enters somnolence, that is to say, sluggish slumbering, which

makes a man heavy and dull in body and in soul; and this sin comes from sloth. And truly, the time that a

man should not sleep, in all reason, is the early morning, unless there be a reasonable necessity. For verily the

morningtide is most suitable for a man to say his prayers, and to meditate on God and to honour God, and to

give alms to the poor person who first asks in the name of Christ. Behold what Solomon says: "Whoso would

awake in the dawn and seek me, me shall he find." Then enters negligence, or carelessness, that recks of

nothing. And if ignorance is the mother of all evil, certainly then negligence is the nurse. Negligence cares

As to the remedies for these two sins, as the wise man says: "He that fears God spares not to do that which he

ought." And he that loves God, he will be diligent to please God by his works, and will exert himself, with all

his might, to do well. Then enters idleness, which is the gate to all evils. An idle man is like a house that has

no walls; the devils may enter on every side and shoot at him, he being thus unprotected, and tempt him on

every side. This idleness is the sink of all wicked and villainous thoughts, and of all idle chattering, and

trifles, and of all filthiness. Certainly Heaven is for those that labour, and not for idle folk. Also, David says:

"They are not among the harvest of men and they shall not be threshed with men," which is to say, in

Purgatory. Certainly, then, it appears that they shall be tormented by the Devil in Hell, unless they soon

Then enters the sin that men call tarditas, which is when a man is too tardy or too longtarrying before he

turns unto God; and certainly this is a great folly. He is like one that falls in the ditch and will not arise. And

this vice comes of a false hope whereunder a man comes to think that he shall live long; but that hope full

Then comes laziness; that is when a man begins any work and anon forgoes it and holds his hand; as do those

who have anyone to govern and who take no care of him as soon as they find any difficulty or annoyance.

These are the modern shepherds who knowingly allow their sheep to run to the wolf in the briers, or have no

care for their governing. Of this come poverty and the destruction of both spiritual and temporal things. Then

comes a kind of dull coldness that freezes the heart of man. Then comes lack of devotion, whereby a man is

so blinded, as Saint Bernard says, and has such languor of soul, that he may not read or sing in holy church,

nor hear or think of anything devout, nor toil with his hands at any good work, without the labour being

unsavoury and vapid to him. Then he grows slow and slumbery, and is easily angered and is easily inclined

toward hate and envy. Then comes the sin of worldly sorrow, such as is called tristicia, which slays men, as

Saint Paul says. For, verily, such sorrow works the death of the soul and of the body also; for thereof it comes

to pass that a man is bored by his own life. Wherefore such sadness full often shortens a man's life before his

Against this horrible sin of acedia, and the branches thereof, there is a virtue that is called fortitudo or

strength; that is, a force of character whereby a man despises annoying things. This virtue is so mighty and so

vigorous that it dares to withstand sturdily, and wisely to keep itself from dangers that are wicked, and to

wrestle against the assaults of the Devil. For it enhances and strengthens the soul, just as acedia reduces it and

makes it feeble. For this fortitudo can endure, by long suffering, the toils that are fitting.

This virtue has many species; and the first is called magnanimity, which is to say, greatheartedness. For

certainly a great heart is needed against acedia, lest it swallow up the soul by the sin of sadness, or destroy it

by despair. This virtue causes folk to undertake hard things, or grievous things, of their own initiative, wisely

and reasonably. And for as much as the Devil fights a man more by craft and by trickery than by strength,

therefore men may withstand him by wit and by reason and by discretion. Then there are the virtues of faith

and of hope in God and in His saints, to achieve and accomplish the good works in which one firmly

purposes to continue. Then comes security and certainness; and that is when a man shall not doubt, in time to

come. the value of the toil of the good works that he has begun. Then comes munificence, which is to say,

that virtue whereby a man performs great works of goodness that he has begun; and that is the goal to reach

which men should do good works; for in the doing of great good works lies the great reward. Then there is

constancy, that is, stability of purpose, and this should be evidenced in heart by steadfast faith, and in word

and in attitude and in appearance and in deed. Also, there are other special remedies against acedia or sloth,

in divers works, and in consideration of the pains of Hell and of the joys of Heaven, and in faith in the grace

of the Holy Ghost, that will give to a man the strength wherewith to perform his good purpose.

After acedia I will speak of avarice and of covetousness, of which sin Saint Paul says that "The love of

money is the root of all evil:" ad Timotheum, sexto capitulo. For verily, when the heart of a man is

confounded within itself, and troubled, and when the soul has lost the comforting of God, then seeks a man a

Avarice, according to the description of Saint Augustine, is the eagerness of the heart to have earthly things.

Others say that avarice is the desire to acquire earthly goods and give nothing to those that need. And

understand that avarice consists not only of greed for land and chattels, but sometimes for learning and for

glory, and for every kind of immoderate thing. And the difference between avarice and covetousness is this.

Covetousness is to covet such things as one has not; and avarice is to keep and withhold such things as one

has when there is no need to do so. Truly, this avarice is a sin that is very damnable; for all holy writ

condemns it and inveighs against that vice; for it does wrong to Jesus Christ. For it takes away from Him the

love that men owe to Him and turns it backward, and this against all reason; and it causes that an avaricious

man has more hope in his chattels than in Jesus Christ and is more diligent in the guarding and keeping of his

treasure than in the service of Jesus Christ. And therefore Saint Paul says, ad Ephesios, quinto, that "this ye

know, that no... covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God."

What difference is there between an idolater and an avaricious man, save that an idolater, peradventure, has

but one idol and the avaricious man has many? For verily, every florin in his coffer is his idol. And certainly

the sin of idolatry is the first thing that God forbids in the ten commandments, as witnesses Exodi, capitulo

XX: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." Thus an

avaricious man, who loves his treasure more than God, is an idolater, by reason of this cursed sin of avarice.

Of covetousness come these hard exactions whereunder men are assessed and made to pay taxes, rents, and

payments in lieu of service, more than duty requires or reason demands. Also, they take from their serfs

amercements that might more reasonably be called extortions than amercements. As to which amercements

and fines of serfs, some lords' stewards say that it is just, because a churl has no temporal thing that does not

belong to his lord, or so they say. But certainly these lordships do wrong that take away from their serfs

things that they never gave them, Augustinus de Civitate, libro nono. The truth is that the condition of

Thus may you see that man's sin deserves thralldom, but man's origin does not. Wherefore these lords should

not greatly glorify themselves in their lordships, since by natural condition, or origin, they are not lords of

thralls; but thralldom came into being first as the desert of sin. And furthermore, whereas the law says that the

temporal effects of bondmen are the property of their lords, verily, by that is to be understood, the property of

the emperor, who defends them in their rights, but who has no right to rob or to plunder them. And thereupon

says Seneca: "Thy prudence should cause thee to live benignly with thy slaves." Those whom you call your

serfs are God's people; for humble folk are Christ's friends; they are at home in the house of the Lord.

Think, also, that such seed as churls come from, from such seed come the lords. As easily may the churl be

saved as the lord. The same death that takes the churl takes the lord. Wherefore I advise you to do unto your

churl as you would that your lord should do unto you, if you were in the churl's plight. Every sinful man is a

serf to sin. I advise you, verily, that you, lord, act in such wise with your serfs that they shall rather love you

than fear. I know well that there is degree above degree, and that this is reasonable; and reasonable it is that

men should pay their duty where it is due; but, certainly, extortions and contempt for underlings is damnable.

And furthermore, understand well that conquerors or tyrants often make thralls of those who were born of as

royal blood as those who have conquered. This word of thralldom was unknown until Noah said that his

grandson Canaan should be servant to his brethren for his sin. What say we then of those that plunder and

extort money from Holy Church? Certainly, the sword which men give to a knight when he is dubbed,

signifies that he should defend Holy Church and not rob or pillage it; and whoever does so is a traitor to

Christ. And, as Saint Augustine says: "They are the Devil's wolves that pull down the sheep of Jesus Christ."

And they do worse than wolves. For truly, when the wolf has filled his belly, he ceases to kill sheep. But

truly, the plunderers and destroyers of God's Holy Church do not so, for they never cease to pillage. Now, as I

have said, since it was because sin was the first cause of thralldom, then it stands thus: that all the while all

the world was in sin, it was in thralldom and subjection. But certainly, since the time of grace came, God

ordained that some folk should be higher in rank and state and some folk lower, and that each should be

served according to his rank and his state. And therefore, in some countries, where they buy slaves, when

they have converted them to the faith, they set their slaves free from slavery. And therefore, certainly, the

lord owes to his man that which the man owes to his lord. The pope calls himself servant of the servants of

God; but in as much as the estate of Holy Church might not have come into being, nor the common

advantage kept, nor any peace and rest established on earth, unless God had ordained that some men should

have higher rank and some lower: therefore was sovereignty ordained to guard and maintain and defend its

underlings or its subjects within reason and so far as lies in its power, and not to destroy or to confound them.

Wherefore, I say that those lords that are like wolves, that devour the wealth or the possessions of poor folk

wrongfully, without mercy or measure, they shall receive, by the same measure that they have used toward

poor folk, the mercy of Jesus Christ, unless they mend their ways. Now comes deceit between merchant and

merchant. And you shall understand that trade is of two kinds; the one is material and the other is spiritual.

The one is decent and lawful and the other is indecent and unlawful. Of this material trade, that which is

decent and lawful is this: that where God has ordained that a kingdom or a country is sufficient unto itself,

then it is decent and lawful that of the abundance of this country men should help another country that is

more needy. And therefore there are permitted to be merchants to bring from the one country to the other

their merchandise. That other trade, which men barter with fraud and treachery and deceit, with lies and with

false oaths, is accursed and damnable. Spiritual trade is properly simony, which is earnest desire to buy

spiritual things, that is to say, things that appertain to the sanctuary of God and to the cure of the soul. This

desire, if it be that man is diligent in accomplishing it, even though his desire have no effect, yet it is a deadly

sin; and if he be ordained he sins against his orders. Simony is named for Simon Magus, who would have

bought, with temporal wealth, the gift that God had given, by the Holy Ghost, to Saint Peter and to the other

apostles. And therefore you should understand that both he that buys and he that sells spiritual things are

called simonists; be it by means of chattels, or by entreaty, or by fleshly asking of his friends fleshly friends

or spiritual friends. Fleshly friends are of two kinds, as kindred and other friends. Truly, if they ask for one

who is not worthy and able, it is simony if he take the benefice; but if he be worthy and able, it is not. The

other kind is when a man or woman asks folk to advance him or her, only for wicked fleshly affection that

they may have for that person, and that is vile simony. But certainly, in that service for which men give

spiritual things unto their servants, it must be understood that the service is honest; and also that it be done

without bargaining, and that the person be able. For, as Saint Damasus says: "All the sins of the world,

compared to this sin, are as naught." For it is the greatest sin that may be done, after that of Lucifer and

Antichrist. For by this sin God loses the Church and the soul that He bought with His precious blood, because

of those who give churches to those who are not worthy. For they put in thieves, who steal souls from Jesus

Christ and destroy His patrimony. By reason of such unworthy priests and curates have ignorant men the less

reverence for the sacraments of Holy Church; and such givers of churches put out the children of Christ and

put in the Devil's own sons. They sell the souls that they watch over as lambs to the wolf that rends them.

And therefore they shall never have any part in the pasture of lambs, that is, the bliss of Heaven. Now comes

hazardry with its appurtenances, such as backgammon and raffles; whence come deceit, false oaths, chidings,

and hatred for one's neighbours, waste of wealth, misspending of time, and sometimes homicide. Certainly,

hazarders cannot be without great sin while they continue to practise their craft. Of avarice come also lying,

theft, false witnessing, and false oaths. And you must understand that these are great sins, expressly against

the commandments of God, as I have said. False witnessing lies in word and also in deed. In word, as by

taking away your neighbour's good name by bearing false witness against him, or by depriving him of his

chattels or his heritage by such false witnessing when you, for anger or reward, bear false witness or accuse

him by your false witnessing, or else when you falsely excuse yourself. Beware, you jurymen and notaries!

Certainly, by false witness, was Susanna in great sorrow and pain, as have been many others. The sin of theft

is also expressly against God's command, and that of two kinds, corporal and spiritual. Corporal, as taking

your neighbour's chattels against his will, be it by force or by fraud, be it by short lineal measure or by short

measure of capacity. By secret swearing, and, of false indictments against him, and by borrowing your

neighbour's goods with intent never to return them, and by similar things. Spiritual theft is sacrilege, that is to

say, injuring of holy things, or of things sacred to Christ, and is of two kinds; by reason of the fact that it is a

holy place, as a church or a churchyard, every vile sin that men do in such places may be called sacrilege, or

every violence done in such places. Also they who withhold what of right belongs to Holy Church are guilty

of sacrilege. And plainly and generally, sacrilege is to steal a holy thing from a holy place, or an unholy thing

Now shall you understand that the relief for avarice is mercy and pity in large doses. And men might ask why

mercy and pity relieve avarice. Certainly, the avaricious man shows no pity nor any mercy to the needy man;

for he delights in keeping his treasure and not in the rescuing or relieving of his fellow Christian. And

therefore will I speak first of mercy. Mercy, as the philosopher says, is a virtue whereby the feelings of a man

are moved by the trouble of him that is in trouble. Upon which mercy follows pity and performs charitable

works of mercy. And certainly, these things impel a man to the mercy of Jesus Christ that He gave Himself

for our sins, and suffered death for the sake of mercy, and forgave us our original sins; and thereby released

us from the pains of Hell and lessened the pains of Purgatory by means of penitence, and gives us grace to do

good, and, at the last, gives us the bliss of Heaven. The kinds of mercy are: to lend, and to give, and to

forgive, and to set free, and to have pity in heart and compassion on the tribulations of one's fellow Christian,

and also, to chasten, as need may be. Another kind of remedy for avarice is reasonable largess; and truly, here

it behooves one to give consideration to the grace of Jesus Christ, and to one's temporal wealth, and also to

the perdurable wealth that Christ gave to us; and to remember the death that he shall receive, he knows not

when, where, or how, and also that he must forgo all, that he has, save only that which he has invested in

But for as much as some folk are immoderate, men ought to avoid foolish largess, which men call waste.

Certainly, he that is prodigal gives not his wealth, but loses his wealth. Truly, that which he gives out of

vainglory, as to minstrels and to followers, in order to have his renown carried about the world, he does sin

thereby rather than gives alms. Certainly, he shamefully loses his wealth who seeks in the gift thereof nothing

but sin. He is like a horse that chooses rather to drink muddy or turbid water than the clear water of a well.

And for as much as they give where they should not give, to them belongs that cursing which Christ will give

After avarice comes gluttony, which also is entirely against the commandment of God. Gluttony is

immoderate appetite to eat or to drink, or else to yield to the immoderate desire to eat or to drink. This sin

corrupted all this world, as is well shown by the sin of Adam and Eve. Read, also, what Saint Paul says of

gluttony: "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the

enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their

shame, who mind earthly things." He that is addicted to this sin of gluttony may withstand no other sin. He

may even be in the service of all the vices, for it is in the Devil's treasure house that he hides himself and

rests. This sin has many species. The first is drunkenness, which is the horrible sepulture of man's reason; and

therefore, when a man is drunk he has lost his reason; and this is deadly sin. But truly, when a man is not

used to strong drink, and perhaps knows not the strength of the drink, or is feebleminded, or has toiled, for

which reason he drinks too much, then, though he be suddenly caught by drink, it is not deadly sin, but

venial. The second kind of gluttony is when the spirit of man grows turbid for drunkenness has robbed him of

the discretion of his wit. The third kind of gluttony is when a man devours his food and has no correct

manner of eating. The fourth is when, through the great abundance of his food, the humours in his body

become distempered. The fifth is, forgetfulness caused by too much drinking, whereby sometimes a man

In another manner are distinguished the kinds of gluttony, according to Saint Gregory. The first is, eating

before it is time to eat. The second is when a man gets himself too delicate food or drink. The third is when

men eat too much, and beyond measure. The fourth is fastidiousness, with great attention paid to the

preparation and dressing of food. The fifth is to eat too greedily. These are the five fingers of the Devil's hand

Against gluttony abstinence is the remedy, as Galen says; but I hold that to be not meritorious if he do it only

for the health of his body. Saint Augustine will have it that abstinence should be practised for the sake of

virtue and with patience. Abstinence, he says, is little worth unless a man have a good will thereto, and save it

be practised in patience and charity and that men do it for God's sake and in hope of the bliss of Heaven.

The companions of abstinence are temperance, which follows the middle course in all things; and shame,

which eschews all indecency; and sufficiency, which seeks after no rich foods and drinks and cares nothing

for too extravagant dressing of meats. Measure, also, which restrains within reason the unrestrained appetite

for eating; sobriety, also, which restrains the luxurious desire to sit long and softly at meat, and because of

which some folk, of their own will, stand, in order to spend less time at eating.

After gluttony, then comes lechery; for these two sins are such close cousins that oftentimes they will not be

separated. God knows, this sin is unpleasing to God; for He said Himself, "Do no lechery." And therefore He

imposed great penalties against this sin in the old law. If a bondwoman were taken in this sin, she should be

beaten to death with rods. And if she were a woman of quality, she should be slain with stones. And if she

were a bishop's daughter, she should be burnt, by God's commandment. Furthermore, for the sin of lechery,

God drowned all the world by the deluge. And after that He burned five cities with thunderbolts and sank

Let us speak, then, of that stinking sin of lechery that men call adultery of wedded folk, which is to say, if one

of them be wedded, or both. Saint John says that adulterers shall be in Hell "in the lake which burneth with

fire and brimstone" in the fire for the lechery, in brimstone for the stink of their filthiness. Certainly, the

breaking of this sacrament is a horrible thing; it was ordained by God Himself in Paradise, and confirmed by

Jesus Christ, as witness Saint Matthew in the gospel: "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and

shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh." This sacrament betokens the knitting together of

Christ and of Holy Church. And not only did God forbid adultery in deed, but also He commanded that "thou

shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife." This behest, says Saint Augustine, contains the forbidding of all desire

to do lechery. Behold what Saint Matthew says in the gospel: "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after

her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Here you may see that not only the doing of this

sin is forbidden, but also the desire to do that sin. This accursed sin grievously troubles those whom it haunts.

And first, it does harm to the soul; for it constrains it to sin and to the pain of everlasting death. Unto the

body it is a tribulation also, for it drains it, and wastes and ruins it, and makes of its blood a sacrifice to the

Field of Hell; also it wastes wealth and substance. And certainly, if it be a foul thing for a man to waste his

wealth on women, it is a yet fouler thing when, for such filthiness, women spend on men their wealth and

their substance. This sin, as says the prophet, robs man and woman of good name and of all honour; and it

gives great pleasure to the Devil, for thereby won he the greater part of the world. And just as a merchant

delights most in that trading whereof he reaps the greater gain, just so the Fiend delights in this filth.

This is the Devil's other hand, with five fingers to catch the people into his slavery. The first finger is the

foolish interchange of glances between the foolish woman and the foolish man, which slays just as the

basilisk slays folk by the venom of its sight; for the lust of the eyes follows the lust of the heart. The second

finger is vile touching in wicked manner; and thereupon Solomon says that he who touches and handles a

woman fares like the man that handles the scorpion which stings and suddenly slays by its poisoning; even

as, if any man touch warm pitch, it defiles his fingers. The third is vile words, which are like fire, which

immediately burns the heart. The fourth finger is kissing; and truly he were a great fool who would kiss the

mouth of a burning oven or of a furnace. And the more fools they are who kiss in vileness; for that mouth in

the mouth of Hell; and I speak specifically of these old dotard whoremongers, who will yet kiss though they

cannot do anything, and so taste them. Certainly they are like dogs, for a dog, when he passes a rosebush, or

other bushes, though he cannot piss, yet will he heave up his leg and make an appearance of pissing. And as

for the opinion of many that a man cannot sin for any lechery he does with his wife, certainly that opinion is

wrong. God knows, a man may slay himself with his own knife, and make himself drunk out of his own tun.

Certainly, be it wife, be it child, or any worldly thing that a man loves more than he loves God, it is his idol,

and he is an idolater. Man should love his wife with discretion, calmly and moderately; and then she is as it

were his sister. The fifth finger of the Devil's hand is the stinking act of lechery. Truly, the five fingers of

gluttony the Fiend thrusts into the belly of a man, and with his five fingers of lechery he grips him by the

loins in order to throw him into the furnace of Hell; wherein he shall have the fire and the everlasting worms,

and weeping and wailing, sharp hunger and thirst, and horror of devils that shall trample all over him, without

respite and without end. From lechery, as I said, spring divers branches; as fornication, which is between man

and woman who are not married; and this is deadly sin and against nature. All that is an enemy to and

destructive of nature is against nature. Faith, the reason of a man tells him well that it is mortal sin, since God

forbade lechery. And Saint Paul gives him over to that kingdom which is the reward of no man save those

who do mortal sin. Another sin of lechery is to bereave a maiden of her maidenhead; for he that so does,

certainly, he casts a maiden out of the highest state in this present life and he bereaves her of that precious

fruit that the Book calls "the hundred fruit." I can say it in no other way in English, but in Latin it is called

centesimus fructus. Certainly, he that so acts is the cause of many injuries and villainies, more than any man

can reckon; just as he sometimes is cause of all damage that beasts do in the field, who breaks down the

hedge or the fence, just so does the seducer destroy that which cannot be restored. For truly, no more may a

maidenhead be restored than an arm that has been smitten from the body may return thereto to grow again.

She may have mercy, this I know well, if she does penance, but it shall never again be that she is uncorrupted.

And though I have spoken somewhat of adultery, it is well to show forth more dangers that come of adultery,

in order that men may eschew that foul sin. Adultery, in Latin, means to approach another man's bed, by

reason of which those that once were one flesh abandon their bodies to other persons. Of this sin, as the wise

man says, follow many evils. First, breaking of faith; and certainly, in faith lies the key to Christianity. And

when faith is broken and lost, truly, Christianity stands barren and without fruit. This sin is also a theft; for

theft commonly is to deprive a person of his own thing against his will. Certainly this is the vilest thievery

that can be when a woman steals her body from her husband and gives it to her lecher to defile her; and steals

her soul from Christ and gives it to the Devil. This is a fouler theft than to break into a church and steal the

chalice; for these adulterers break into the temple of God spiritually and steal the vessel of grace, that is, the

body and the soul, for which Christ will destroy them, as Saint Paul says. Truly, of this theft Joseph was

much afraid when his master's wife besought him to lie with her, and he said: "Behold, my master wotteth not

what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand: there is none greater in this

house than I; neither hath he kept any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do

this great wickedness and sin against God?" Alas! All too little is such truth encountered nowadays. The third

evil is the filth whereby they break the commandment of God and defame the Author of matrimony, Who is

Christ. For certainly, in so far as the sacrament of marriage is so noble and honourable, so much the more is it

a sin to break it; for God established marriage in Paradise, in the state of innocence, in order to multiply

mankind to the service of God. And therefore is the breaking thereof the more grievous. Of which breaking

come oftentimes false heirs, that wrongfully inherit. And therefore will Christ put them out of the Kingdom

of Heaven, which is the heritage of good folk. From this breaking it happens oftentimes, also, that people wed

or sin with their own kindred; and specially the looselivers who haunt the brothels of prostitutes, who may

be likened to a common privy wherein men purge themselves of their ordure. What shall we say, also, of

whoremasters who live by the horrible sin of prostitution, yea, sometimes by the prostitution of their own

wives and children, as do pimps and procurers? Certainly these are accursed sins. Understand also that

adultery is fitly placed in the ten commandments between theft and homicide; for it is the greatest theft that

can be, being theft of' body and of soul. And it is like homicide, for it cuts in twain and breaks asunder those

that were made one flesh, and therefore, by the old law of God, adulterers should be slain. But nevertheless,

by the law of Jesus Christ, which is a law of pity, He said to the woman who was taken in adultery and

should have been slain with stones, according to the will of the Jews, as was their law: "Go," said Jesus

Christ, "and have no more will to sin," or "will no more to do sin." Truly, the punishment of adultery is given

to the torment of Hell, unless it be that it is hindered by penitence. And there are yet more branches of this

wicked sin; as when one of them is a religious, or else both; or folk who have entered orders, as a

subdeacon, or deacon, or priest, or hospitaller. And ever the higher that he is in orders, the greater is the sin.

The thing that greatly aggravates their sin is the breaking of the vow of chastity, taken when they received the

order. And furthermore, the truth is that the office of a holy order is chief of all the treasury of God, and His

special sign and mark of chastity, to show that those who have entered it are joined to chastity, which is the

most precious kind of life there is. And these folk in orders are specially dedicated to God, and are of the

special household of God; for which, when they do deadly sin, they are especially traitors to God and to His

people; for they live on the people in order to pray for the people, and while they are such traitors their

prayers avail the people nothing at all. Priests are angels, by reason of the dignity of their ministry; but

forsooth, as Saint Paul says: "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Truly, the priest that resorts

to mortal sin, he may be likened to the angel of darkness transformed into the angel of light; he seems an

angel of light, but, forsooth, he is an angel of darkness. Such priests are the sons of Eli, as is shown in the

Book of the Kings, that they were the sons of Belial, that is, the Devil. Belial means, "without judge"; and so

fare they; they think they are free and have no judge, any more than has a free bull that takes whatever cow

pleases him on the farm. So act they with women. For just as a free bull is enough for all a farm, just so is a

wicked priest corruption enough for all a parish, or for all a county. These priests, as the Book says, teach not

the functions of priesthood to the people, and they know not God; they held themselves but ill satisfied, as the

Book says, with the flesh that was boiled and offered to them and took by force the flesh that was raw.

Certainly, so these scoundrels hold themselves not pleased with roasted flesh and boiled flesh, with which the

people feed them in great reverence, but they will have the raw flesh of laymen's wives and of their

daughters. And certainly these women that give assent to their rascality do great wrong to Christ and to Holy

Church and all saints and all souls; for they bereave all these of him that should worship Christ and Holy

Church and pray for Christian souls. And therefore such priests and their lemans also, who give assent to

their lechery, have the cursing of all the Christian court, until they mend their ways. The third kind of

adultery is sometimes practised between a man and his wife; and that is when they have no regard to their

union, save only for their fleshly delight, as says Saint Jerome; and care for nothing but that they are come

together; because they are married, it is all well enough, as they think. But over such folk the Devil has

power, as said the Angel Raphael to Tobias; for in their union they put Jesus Christ out of mind and give

themselves to all filthiness. The fourth kind is the coming together of those that are akin, or of those that are

related by marriage, or else of those whose fathers or other kindred have had intercourse in the sin of lechery;

this sin makes them like dogs that pay no heed to relationship. And certainly, kinship is of two kinds, either

spiritual or carnal; spiritual, as when one lies with one's sponsor. For just as he that engenders a child is its

fleshly father, just so is his godfather his spiritual father. For which reason a woman is in no less sin when

she lies carnally with her godfather or her godson than she would be in if she coupled with her own fleshly

brother. The fifth kind is that abominable sin whereof a man ought scarcely to speak or write,

notwithstanding it is openly discussed in holy writ. This wickedness men and women do with divers

intentions and in divers manners; but though holy writ speaks of such horrible sin, holy writ cannot be

defiled, any more than can the sun that shines upon the dunghill. Another form of sin appertains to lechery,

and that comes often to those who are virgin and also to those who are corrupt; and this sin men call

pollution, which comes in four ways. Sometimes it is due to laxness of the body; because the humours are too

rank and abundant in the body of man. Sometimes it is due to infirmity; because of the weakness of the

retentive virtue, as is discussed in works on medicine. Sometimes it is due to a surfeit of food and drink. And

sometimes it comes from base thoughts that were enclosed in man's mind when he fell asleep; which thing

may not happen without sin. Because of this, men must govern themselves wisely, or else they may fall into

Now comes the remedy for lechery, and that is, generally, chastity and continence, which restrain all the

inordinate stirrings that come of fleshly desires. And ever the greater merit shall he have who restrains the

wicked enkindlings of the ordure of this sin. And this is of two kinds, that is to say, chastity in marriage and

chastity in widowhood. Now you shall understand that matrimony is the permitted coming together of man

and of woman, who receive, by virtue of the sacrament, the bond of union from which they may not be freed

in all their life, that is to say, while they both live. This, says the Book, is a very great sacrament. God

established it, as I have said, in Paradise, and had Himself born into wedlock. And to sanctify marriage, He

attended a wedding, where He turned water into wine, which, was the first miracle that He wrought on earth

before His disciples. The true result of marriage is the cleansing of fornication and the replenishing of Holy

Church with believers of good lineage; for that is the end of marriage; and it changes deadly sin to venial sin

between those who are wedded, and makes one the hearts of them, as well as the bodies. This is true

marriage, which was established by God ere sin began, when natural law occupied its rightful position in

Paradise; and it was ordained that one man should have but one woman, and one woman but one man, as

First, because marriage figures the union between Christ and Holy Church. And another is, because the man

is the head of the woman; at any rate it has been so ordained by ordinance. For if a woman had more men

than one, then should she have more heads than one, and that were a horrible thing before God; and also, a

woman could not please too many folk at once. And also, there should never be peace or rest among them;

for each would demand his own thing. And furthermore, no man should know his own get, nor who should

inherit his property; and the woman should be the less beloved from the time that she were joined with many

Now comes the question, How should a man conduct himself toward his wife? and specifically in two things,

that is to say, in tolerance and reverence, as Christ showed when He first made woman. For He made her not

of the head of Adam, because she should not claim to exercise great lordship. For wherever the woman has

the mastery she causes too much disorder; there are needed no instances of this. The experience of every day

ought to suffice. Also, certainly, God did not make woman of the foot of Adam, because she should not be

held in too great contempt; for she cannot patiently endure: but God made woman of the rib of Adam,

because woman should be a companion to man. Man should conduct himself toward his wife in faith, in

truth, and in love; as Saint Paul says: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and

gave Himself for it." So should a man give himself for his wife, if there be need.

Now how a woman should be subject to her husband, that is told by Saint Peter. First, by obedience. And

also, as says the law, a woman who is a wife, as long as she is a wife, has no authority to make oath or to bear

witness without the consent of her husband, who is her lord; in any event he should be so, in reason. She

should also serve him in all honour. and be modest in her dress. I know well that they should resolve to

please their husbands, but not by the finery of their array. Saint Jerome says that wives who go apparelled in

silk and in precious purple cannot clothe themselves in Jesus Christ. Also, what says Saint John on this

subject? Saint Gregory, also says that a person seeks precious array only out of vainglory, to be honoured the

more before the crowd. It is a great folly for a woman to have a fair outward appearance and inwardly to be

foul. A wife should also be modest in glance and demeanour and in conversation, and discreet in all her

words and deeds. And above all worldly things she should love her husband with her whole heart, and be true

to him of her body; so, also, should a husband be to his wife. For since all the body is the husband's, so

should her heart be, or else there is between them, in so far as that is concerned, no perfect marriage. Then

shall men understand that for three things a man and his wife may have carnal coupling. The first is with

intent to procreate children to the service of God, for certainly, that is the chief reason for matrimony.

Another is, to pay, each of them to the other, the debt of their bodies, for neither of them has power over his

own body. The third is, to avoid lechery and baseness. The fourth is, indeed, deadly sin. As for the first, it is

meritorious; the second also, for, as the law says, she has the merit of chastity who pays to her husband the

debt of her body, aye, though it be against her liking and the desire of her heart. The third is venial sin, and

truly, hardly any of these unions may be without venial sin, because of the original sin and because of the

pleasure. As to the fourth, be it understood that if they couple only for amorous love and for none of the

aforesaid reasons, but merely to accomplish that burning pleasure, no matter how often, truly it is a mortal

sin; and yet (with sorrow I say it) some folk are at pains to do it more and oftener than their appetite really

The second kind of chastity is to be a clean widow and eschew the embraces of man and desire the embrace

of Jesus Christ. These are those that have been wives and have lost their husbands, and also women that have

fornicated and have been relieved by penitence. And truly, if a wife could keep herself always chaste with

leave and license of her husband, so that she should thereby give him never an occasion to sin, it were a great

merit in her. These women that observe chastity must be clean in heart as well as in body and in thought, and

modest in dress and demeanour; and be abstinent in eating and drinking, in speech and in deed. They are the

vessel or the box of the blessed Magdalen, which fills Holy Church with good odour. The third kind of

chastity is virginity, and it behooves her to be holy in heart and clean of body; then is she the spouse of Christ

and she is the beloved of the angels. She is the honour of this world, and she is the equal of martyrs; she has

within her that which tongue may not tell nor the heart think. Virginity bore Our Lord Jesus Christ, and virgin

Another remedy for lechery is, specially to withhold oneself from such things as give rise to this baseness; as

ease, and eating and drinking: for certainly, when the pot boils furiously, the best measure is to withdraw it

from the fire. Sleeping long in great security from disturbance is also a nurse to lechery.

Another remedy for lechery is, that a man or woman eschew the company of those by whom he expects to be

tempted; for though it be that the act itself is withstood, yet there is great temptation. Truly a white wall,

though it burn not from the setting of a candle near it, yet shall the wall be made black by the flame. Often

and often I counsel that no man trust in his own perfection, save he be stronger than Samson and holier than

Now, since I have expounded to you, as best I could, the seven deadly sins, and some of their branches, and

their remedies, truly, if I could, I would tell you of the ten commandments. But so high a doctrine I leave to

the divines. Nevertheless, I hope to God that they have been touched upon in this treatise, each of them all.

Now, for as much as the second part of penitence deals in oral confession, as I said in the first paragraph

hereof, I say that Saint Augustine says: Sin is every word and every deed and all that men covet against the

law of Jesus Christ; and that is, to sin in heart, in word, and in deed by one's five senses, which are sight,

hearing, smell, taste or savour, and feeling. Now it is well to understand that which greatly aggravates every

sin. You should consider what you are that do the sin, whether you are male or female, young or old, noble or

thrall, free or servant, healthy or ailing, wedded or single, member of a religious order or not, wise or foolish,

clerical or secular; whether she is of your kindred, bodily or spiritual, or not; whether any of your kindred has

Another circumstance is this: whether it be done in fornication, or in adultery, or otherwise; incest, or not;

maiden, or not; in manner of homicide, or not; horrible great sins, or small; and how long you have continued

in sin. The third circumstance is the place where you have done the sin; whether in other men's houses, or

your own; in field, or in church or churchyard; in a dedicated church, or not. For if the church be consecrated,

and man or woman spill seed within that place, by way of sin or by wicked temptation, the church is

interdicted till it be reconciled by the bishop; and the priest that did such a villainy, for the term of all his life,

should nevermore sing mass; and if he did, he should do deadly sin every time that he so sang mass. The

fourth circumstance is, what gobetweens, or what messengers, are sent for the sake of enticement, or to gain

consent to bear company in the affair; for many a wretch, for the sake of companionship, will go to the Devil

of Hell. Wherefore those that egg on to or connive for the sin are partners, in the sin, and shall partake of the

damnation of the sinner. The fifth circumstance is, how many times has he sinned, if it be in his memory, and

how often he has fallen. For he that falls often in sin, he despises the mercy of God, and increases his sin, and

is ungrateful to Christ; and he grows the more feeble to withstand sin, and sins the more lightly, and the more

slowly rises out of sin, and is the more reluctant to be shriven, especially by his own confessor. For the which

reasons, when folk fall again into their old follies, either they avoid their old confessors altogether, or else

they make parts of confession in divers places; but truly, such divided confessions deserve no mercy of God

for one's sins. The sixth circumstance is, why a man sins, as by way of what sort of temptation; and whether

he himself procured that temptation, or whether it came by the incitement of other folk; or whether he sin by

forcing a woman or by her consent: or, if the sinner be a woman, despite all her efforts were she forced or

not this shall she tell; and whether for greed of gain or for stress of poverty, and whether it was of her own

procuring, or not; and all such trappings. The seventh circumstance is, in what manner he has done his sin, or

how she has suffered men to do it unto her. And the same shall the man tell fully, with all the circumstances;

and whether he has sinned with common brothelwomen, or not; or has done his sin in holy times, or not; in

fasting times, or not; or before confession, or after his last shriving; and whether he has, peradventure, broken

therefor his enjoined penance; by whose help and by whose counsel; by sorcery or cunning: all must be told.

All these things, according as they are great or small, burden the conscience of a man. And, too, that the

priest who is your judge shall be the better advised to his judgment in giving, you penance, that is, according

to your contrition. For understand well that after a man has defiled his baptism by sin, if he would gain

salvation, there is no other way than by penitence and shrift and penance; and specifically by the two, if there

Then shall a man reflect and consider that if he will make a true and profitable confession, there must be four

conditions. First, it must be in sorrowful bitterness of heart, as said King Hezekiah to God: "I will remember

all the days of my life in bitterness of heart." This condition of bitterness has five signs. The first is, that

confession must be shamefaced, not to cover up nor to hide sin, for the sinner has offended his God and

defiled his soul. And thereof Saint Augustine says: "The heart suffers for the shame of its sin." And if he has

a great sense of shame, he is worthy of great mercy from God. Such was the confession of the publican who

would not lift up his eyes to Heaven, for he had offended God in Heaven; for which shamefacedness he

received straightway the mercy of God. And thereof says Saint Augustine that such shamefaced folk are near

to forgiveness and remission. Another sign is humility in confession; of which Saint Peter says "Humble

thyself beneath the might of God." The hand of God is mighty in confession, for thereby God forgives you

your sins; for He alone has the power. And this humility shall be of the heart, and shall be manifested

outwardly; for just as he has humility to God in his heart, just so should he humble his body outwardly to the

priest that sits in God's place. Since Christ is sovereign and the priest is means and mediator between Christ

and the sinner, and the sinner is the last, in reason, the sinner should nowise sit as high as his confessor, but

should kneel before him, or at his feet, unless infirmity hinder it. For he shall care not who sits there, but only

in whose place he sits. A man who has offended a lord, and who comes to ask mercy and to be at peace again,

and who should sit down at once by the lord's side men would hold him to be presumptuous and not worthy

so soon to have remission or mercy. The third sign is, your confession should be made in tears, if a man can

weep; and if a man cannot weep with his fleshly eyes, let him weep in his heart. Such was the confession of

Saint Peter; for after he had forsaken Jesus Christ he went out and wept full bitterly. The fourth sign is, when

the sinner forgoes not for shame to make his confession. Such was the confession of the Magdalen, who did

not spare, for any shame before those who were at the feast, to go to Our Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledge

to Him her sins. The fifth sign is, that a man or woman shall obediently receive the penace that is imposed for

the sins; for certainly, Jesus Christ, for the sins of a man, was obedient unto death.

The second condition of true confession is that it be speedily done; for truly, if a man had a dangerous

wound, the longer he waited to cure himself the more would it fester and hasten him toward his death; and

also the wound would be but the harder to heal. And it is even so with sin that is long carried in a man

unconfessed. Certainly a man ought to confess his sins without delay, for many reasons; as, for fear of death,

which often comes suddenly and whereof no man can ever be certain when it will come or in what place; and

also the prolonging of one sin draws a man into another; and further, the longer he delays the farther he is

from Christ. And if he live until his last day, scarcely then may he shrive himself or then remember his sins,

or repent of them, because of the grievous malady about to cause his death. And for as much as he has not in

his life hearkened unto Jesus Christ when He has spoken, he shall cry to Jesus Christ at the last and scarcely

will He hear him. And understand that this condition must have four elements. Your shrift must be

considered in advance and well advised upon, for wicked haste gives no profit; and that a man shall be able to

make confession of all of his sins, be they of pride, or of envy, and so forth, according to the kind and the

circumstances; and that he shall have comprehended in his mind the number and the greatness of his sins; and

how long he has lain in sin; and also that he shall be contrite for his sins, and have a steadfast purpose that

never again, by the grace of God, shall he fall into sin; and also that he fear and keep watch upon himself, so

that he shall flee the occasions whereof he is tempted to sin. And you shall also shrive yourself of all your

sins to one man, and not of some of them to one man and some to another; when, it is to be understood, the

intention is to split up your shriving out of shame or fear; for this is but the strangling of your soul. For

indeed, Jesus Christ is wholly good; there is no imperfection in Him; and therefore He perfectly forgives all,

or nothing. I do not say that if you are sent to the director for a certain sin you are bound to show unto him all

the rest of your sins, whereof you have been shriven by your own curate, save and except you wish to do so

out of humility; for this does not constitute dividing your shrift. Nor do I say, in speaking of divided

confession, that if you have leave to shrive yourself to a discreet and honest priest, where you wish to do so

and by leave of your curate, that you may not as well shrive yourself to him of all your sins. But let no blot

remain behind, let no sin be untold, so far as you have remembrance of them. And when you shall be shriven

by your curate, tell him as well all of the sins that you have done since last you were shriven; and then this

Also, true confession asks certain other conditions. First, that you shrive yourself of your free will, not by

constraint, nor for shame, nor for illness, nor for any such things; for it is only reasonable that he who

trespassed of his own free will shall as freely confess it, and that no other man tell his sin, but that he himself

do it, nor shall he withhold or deny his sin, nor allow himself to become angry at the priest for admonishing

him to leave sin. Another condition is that your shrift be lawful; that is to say, that you, who shrive yourself,

and also the priest who hears your confession, be verily of the faith of Holy Church; and that a man be not

deprived of hope of the mercy of Jesus Christ, as was Cain or Judas. And also a man must himself accuse

himself for his own trespass, and not another; but he shall blame and reproach himself and his own malice for

his sin, and not another; nevertheless, if another man be the occasion for or enticer to his sin, or the state of a

person be such that because of that person the sin is aggravated, or else if he cannot fully shrive himself

without telling of the person with whom he has sinned; then he may tell; so that the intention be not to

Also you shall tell no lies in your confession; as to seem humble, perchance, in saying that you have done

sins whereof you were never guilty. For Saint Augustine says: if thou, by reason of thy humility, liest against

thyself, though thou wast not in sin before, yet art thou then in sin because of thy lying. You must also

confess your sin with your own mouth, unless you grow dumb. and not by letter; for you have done the sin

and you shall have the shame thereof. Also, you shall not embellish your confession with fair and subtle

words, the more to cover up the sin; for then you beguile yourself and not the priest; you must tell it plainly,

be it ever so foul or so horrible. You shall also shrive yourself to a priest that is discreet in counselling you,

and moreover, you shall not shrive yourself for vainglory, nor hypocritically, nor for any cause other than the

fear of Jesus Christ and the wellbeing of your soul. Also, you shall not run suddenly to the priest to tell him

lightly of your sin, as one would tell a jest or a tale, but advisedly and with great devotion. And, generally

speaking, shrive yourself often. If you fall often, then you rise by confession. And though you shrive yourself

more than once of sin. for which you have been already shriven, it is the more merit. And, as Saint Augustine

says, you shall thereby the more easily obtain release from and the grace of God, both as to sin and

punishment. And certainly, once a year, at the least, it is lawful to receive the Eucharist, for truly, once a year

Now have I told you of true confession, which is the second part of penitence. The third part of penitence is

expiation; and that is generally achieved through almsgiving and bodily pain. Now there are three kinds of

almsgivings: contrition of heart, where a man offers himself to God; another is, to have pity on the

weaknesses of one's neighbours; and the third is, the giving of good counsel, spiritual and material, where

men have need of it, and especially in the procuring of men's food. And take note that a man has need of

these things, generally; he has need of food, he has need of clothing and shelter, he has need of charitable

counsel, and of visiting in prison and in illness, and sepulture for his dead body. And if you cannot visit the

needy in person, visit him by your message and by your gifts. These are general almsgivings, or works of

charity, by those who have temporal riches or discretion in counselling. Of these works you shall hear at the

These almsdoings shall you do with your own proper things, and without delay, and privately, if you can;

but nevertheless, if you cannot do it privately, you shall not forbear to do such works though men may see

you, so long as they be done not for the world's approbation, but for the pleasing of Jesus Christ. For take

witness of Saint Matthew, capitulo quinto: "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a

candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let

your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in

Now, to speak of bodily pain, it consists of prayers, of vigils, of fasts, of virtuous teaching of orisons. And

you shall understand that orisons or prayers consist of a pious will of the heart that has made amends to God

and expresses itself by spoken word, asking for the removal of evils and to obtain things spiritual and

durable, as well as temporal things, sometimes; of which orisons, truly, in the prayer of the paternoster has

Christ included most things. Certainly, it is invested with three things pertaining to His dignity, wherefore it

is more dignified than any other prayer; Jesus Christ made it Himself; and it is short, so that it may be learned

the more easily, and be held the more easily in the heart of memory, that man may the oftener help himself by

repeating the prayer; and in order that a man may the less grow weary of saying it, and that he may not

excuse himself from learning it; it is so short and so easy; and because it comprises within itself all good

prayers. The expounding of this holy prayer I commit to these masters of theology; save that thus much will I

say: that, when you pray that God forgive your trespasses as you forgive those that trespass against you,

beware that you are not uncharitable. This holy orison diminishes each venial sin, and therefore it appertains

This prayer must be truly said and in utter faith, in order that men may pray to God ordinately and discreetly

and devoutly; and always a man shall subject his own will to the will of God. This prayer must also be said

with great humility and all innocently; honourably and not to the annoyance of any man or woman. It must

also be followed by works of charity. It is of avail also even against the vices of the soul; for, as Saint Jerome

says, "By fasting we are saved from the vices of the flesh, and by prayer from the vices of the soul."

After the foregoing you shall understand that bodily pain lies in vigils; for Jesus Christ says, "Watch and

pray, that ye enter not into temptation." You shall understand, also, that fasting stands in three things; in the

forgoing of material food and drink, and in forgoing worldly pleasures, and in forgoing the doing of mortal

sin; this is to say, that a man shall guard himself from deadly sin with all his might.

And you shall understand, also, that God ordained fasting; and to fasting pertain four things: Largess to poor

folk, gladness of the spiritual heart in order not to be angry or vexed, nor to grumble because you fast; and

also reasonable hours wherein to eat moderately; that is to say, a man shall not eat out of season, nor sit and

Then you shall understand that bodily pain lies in disciplining or teaching, by word or by writing, or by

example. Also, in wearing shirts of hair or coarse wool, or habergeons next the naked flesh, for Christ's sake,

and such other kinds of penance. But beware that such kinds of penance on your flesh do not make your heart

bitter or angry or vexed with yourself; for it is better to cast away your hair shirt than to cast away the

security of Jesus Christ. And therefore Saint Paul says: "Clothe yourselves as those that are the chosen of.

God, in heart of mercy, gentleness, longsuffering, and such manner of clothing." Whereof Jesus Christ is

Then, discipline lies also in beating of the breast, in scourging with rods, in kneelings, in tribulations, in

suffering patiently the wrongs that are done unto one, and also in patient endurance of' illnesses, or losing of

Then shall you understand which things hinder penance; and these are four, that is to say, fear, shame, hope,

and despair. And, to speak first of fear, since a man sometimes thinks that he cannot endure penance, against

this thought may be set, as remedy, the thought that such bodily penance is short and mild compared with the

Now against the shame that a man has in confession, and especially of these hypocrites that would be held so

perfect that they have no need for shrift against that shame should a man think, and reasonably enough, that

he who has not been ashamed to do foul things, certainly he ought not to be ashamed to do fair things, and of

such is confession. A man should also think that God sees and knows all his thoughts and all his deeds; from

Him nothing may be hidden nor covered. Men should even bear in mind the shame that is to come at the day

of judgment to those who are not penitent and shriven in this present life. For all the creatures on earth and in

Now to speak of the hope of those who are negligent and slow in shriving themselves that is of two sorts.

The one is, that he hopes to live long and to acquire riches for his delight, and then he will shrive himself; and

as he tells himself, it seems to him that it will then be time enough to go to confession. Another is the

overconfidence that he has in Christ's mercy. Against the first vice he shall think, that our life is in no

security; and also that all the riches in this world are at hazard, and pass as does a shadow on the wall. And,

as Saint Gregory says, it is part of the great righteousness of God that never shall the torment cease of those

that would never withdraw themselves willingly from sin, but have always continued in sin; because, for the

Despair is of two sorts: the first is of the mercy of Christ; the other is the thought of sinners that they cannot

long persevere in goodness. The first despair comes of the thought that he has sinned so greatly and so often,

and has lain so long in sin, that he shall not be saved. Certainly, against that accursed despair should be set

the thought that the passion of Jesus Christ is stronger to loose than sin is strong to bind. Against the second

despair, let him think that as often as he falls he may rise again by penitence. And though he may have lain in

sin ever so long, the mercy of Christ is ever ready to receive him into grace. Against that form of despair

wherein he deems that he should not long persevere in goodness, he shall think that the feebleness of the

Devil can do nothing unless men allow him to; and also that he shall have strength of the help of God and of

Then shall men understand what is the fruit of penance; and according to the word of Jesus Christ, it is the

endless bliss of Heaven, where joy has no opposite of woe or grievance, where all evils of this present life are

past; wherein is security from the torments of Hell; wherein is the blessed company that rejoices evermore,

each of the others joy; wherein the body of man, that formerly was foul and dark, is more bright than the sun;

wherein the body, that lately was ailing, frail, and feeble, and mortal, is immortal, and so strong and so whole

that nothing may impair it; wherein is no hunger nor thirst, nor cold, but every soul is replenished with the

ability to perceive the perfect knowing of God. This blessed Kingdom may man acquire by poverty of spirit,

and the glory of humbleness, and the plenitude of joy by hunger and thirst, and the ease and rest by labour,

Now do I pray all those who hear this little treatise, or read it, that, if there be within it anything that pleases

them, they thank Our Lord Jesus Christ, from Whom proceeds all understanding and all goodness. And if

there be anything that displeases them, I pray them, also, that they impute it to the fault of my ignorance and

not to my intention, which would fain have better said if I had had knowledge. For our Book says, "All that is

written is written for our instruction;" and that was my intention. Wherefore I meekly beseech you that, for

the sake of God's mercy, you pray for me that Christ have mercy upon me and forgive me my trespasses and

especially for my translations and the writing of worldly vanities, the which I withdraw in my retractations:

as, The Book of Troilus; also The Book of Fame; The Book of the Nineteen Ladies; The Book of the

Duchess; The Book of Saint Valentine's Day, Of the Parliament of Birds; The Tales of Canterbury, those that

tend toward sin; The Book of the Lion; and many another book, were they in my remembrance; and many a

song and many a lecherous lay, as to which may Christ, of His great mercy, forgive me the sin. But for the

translation of Boethius's de Consolatione, and other books of legends of saints, and homilies, and of morality

and devotion for those I thank Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother and all the saints of Heaven;

beseeching them that they, henceforth unto my life's end, send me grace whereof to bewail my sins, and to

study for the salvation of my soul: and grant me the grace of true penitence, confession, and expiation in

this present life; through the benign grace of Him Who is King of kings and Priest over all priests, Who

redeemed us with the precious blood of His heart; so that I may be one of those, at the day of doom, that shall