but to one only, by whom at length she was begot with child, and delivered thereof in the high-way. And for this cause some would not reckon her among popes, in disliking her villainous fact. Thus Trithemius. With whom in substance agreeth Sabellicus, 1a man of great reckoning in Venice, yea one of the famousest men in his time for all manner of good learning: Of whose books2 Pius the Third professed he made as much reckoning as Alexander did of Homer's Iliads. Johannes Anglicus hujus Nominis vii. fit inde Pontifex, saith 3 Sabellicus. Fuit is Moguntiaco oriundus.

Pap. Stay you there, and save a labour. For I confess with Florimondus, that Sabellicus. by relying too much on Platina, hath put it in his history, doing therein very indiscreetly.

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Prot. And what think you of Wernerus Rolenink, who is reckoned by Paulus Langius, among the famous scholars of the order of Carthusians, and commended by Trithemius, for a man of good learning, and much devotion, whose words are these: Iste Johannes Anglicus cognomine, sed natione Moguntinus, circa hæc tempora dicitur fuisse. Et erat Fomina Habitu vestita virili: Sic in divina, Scriptura profecerat, ut par ei non inveniretur, & in papam eligitur. Sed post-impregnata, cum publicè in processione pergeret, peperit & moritur. Et hic sextus videtur fuisse papa, qui nomen sanctitatis sine re habuit usque huc. Et similiter sicut alii à Deo plagatus fuit; nec ponitur in catalogo Pontificum. That is, this John, by his Sirname English, by his country of Mentz, is reported to have sat as pope about this time. And she was a woman: But went in man's apparel. She profited so well in divinity, that she had no fellow, and so was chosen to be pope. But, after a while being great with child, as she went in publick procession, she was delivered thereof, and died. And this seems to be the sixth pope, which, to this day, was called holy, and proved nought. And, therefore, he was plagued by God, as the rest before him were plagued. Neither is she in the register of popes. How say you? Did not Wernerus indiscreetly in relating it thus plainly?

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Pap. Yes marry did he. But I wonder not at him, for relating of it, because in the same place (as Florimondus observes) he writes, that, inasmuch as she was a German, no German could ever since be chosen pope. Which is a lye with a latchet. For divers Germans, since that, have been advanced unto the popedom, as Damasus the Second and Victor the Second, with others.

Prot. True: Divers Germans have been popes, since Joan the Woman's popedom; and, if Wernerus writ the contrary, Wernerus lyed shamefully. But he had no rule of his tongue, who chargeth Wernerus with such a matter. For these are Wernerus's words, which follow presently upon the former: Nugantur aliqui, hac de causa nullum Alemannum in papam eligi, quod falsum esse constat. Some prattle, that for this

cause no German may be chosen pope, which is apparently false. Whereby you may see, that he reproveth that in others, for which be is injuriously reproved by your Florimondus. Your Florimondus may be a man in office, but, if he goes on as he begins, he will hardly prove himself honest.

Pap. Good words, I pray you, Sir; Florimondus may be honest enough, for any thing you say against him. For he writes, that he hath two editions of this Wernerus; the one bearing date what 2 year it was printed, the other without date, but very ancient. And these two (as he saith) do differ in reporting the story of Pope Joan, and in nothing else. Now it may be, that, though in yours it be as you say, yet in his it is otherwise.

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Prot. I myself have seen two editions of Wernerus as well as Florimondus; yea, I have seen four; one 3 printed in the year 1479, another printed by Nicholas Gotz, of Seltestad, I know not when, for it carries no date: A third without note, either of the printer, or of the place where it was printed, or of the time when it was printed. But, questionless, very ancient: A fourth printed at Frankfort, 1584. In the three ancient ones, there is not a word different in the narration of Pope Joan: Nor in the fourth, saving that the words Nugantur aliqui, &c. are in the fourth, and not in the other. But in none of them is there any such thing as Florimondus chargeth him with. But, will you hear what the next man saith to the point in question? He is Matheus Palmerius, * an Italian, and one of the choice men which were at the council kept by Eugenius the Fourth, against the council of Basil. • Pontifex 106. Johannes Anglicus (saith Palmerius) sedit Annis 2, Mensibus 3. Fama est hunc Johannem Fœminam fuisse, & uni soli familiari cognitam: Qui eam complexus est, &, gravis facta, peperit Papa existens: Quamobrem eum inter Pontifices non numerant quidam, ideò nomini numerum non facit.' That is, John was a woman, yet not known so to be but to one of her familiars, who lay with her. She was delivered in the time of her papacy : And, because some reckon her not among the Popes, there are no more Johns for her, than if she had never been. Thus Palmerius. Pap. Be it so. But what saith Platina, I pray you, for your purpose?

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Prot. Platina, keeper of the library in the Vatican, a man of great wit and learning, 7 writes thus: Johannes Anglicanus, ex Moguntiaco oriundus, malis artibus (ut aiunt) pontificatum adeptus est: mentitus enim sexum, cum fœmina esset, adolescens admodum Athenas cum amatore docto viro proficiscitur, ibique præceptores bonarum artium audiendo tantun profecit, ut Romam veniens paucos admodum etiam in sacris literis pares haberet, nedum superiores. Legendo autem, & disputando doctè, & acutè, tantum benevolentiæ & authoritatis sibi comparavit, ut, mortuo Leone, in ejus locum (ut

1 Loco Citato.

2 Viz 1480, 3 By Henry Quentel. 4 Math. Palmerius, Natione Italus- -qui in Conc. Florentino (quod Eugenius Papa iv. contra Basil. Synodum celebravit) inter præclarissimos viros annumeratus fuit. Trithem. Descript. Eccles. 5 In Chron. ad Ann. 853. 6 Bartholomæus Platina Apostolicus abbreviator, vir undecunque doctissimus, &c. Trith. de Script Eccles. 7 De Vitis Pontif. in Joh. viji.

Martinus ait) omnium consensu pontifex crearetur: Verùm postea à servo compressa, cum aliquandiu ventrem occultè tulisset, tandem, dum ad Lateranensem Basilicam proficisceretur, inter theatrum (quod Colosseum vocant à Neronis Colosso) & S. Clementem, doloribus circumventa peperit: Eoque loci mortua pontificatus sui Anno 2, merise. 1, diebus 4, sine ullo honore sepelitur.' The meaning of which is, John English, born at Mentz, got the popedom (as men say) by evil means. For he dissembled his sex, being a woman, indeed: And, when she was very young, she went to Athens with a scholar, who was in love with her; where, by hearing good readers of all good learning, she profited so well, that when she came to Rome, she had few fellows, but never a one her better. Now by reading and disputing, learnedly and wittily, she got so much credit, that, upon Leo's death, she was chosen in his room, as Martin writes, by common consent. But, within a while after, she proved with child by one of her servants; and, though she carried all closely for a time, yet, at length, as she went to St. John Lateran's, between the theatre, called the Colosses, and St. Clement's, she fell in travel, and was delivered of a child, and died in the place; which was in the second year, first month, and fourth day of her reign; And she was buried without any solemnity. How like you this?

Pap. So and so. But Bernartius is of opinion, that this was never written by Platina, but was foisted into him. For I have heard,' saith he, by Antonius Hetweeld, a man of good report, and an alderman of Lovain, that one Engelbertus Boonius, a reverend man, and dean of a great church in Germany, had oftentimes told him, that he had seen many ancient manuscripts of Platina in the Vatican at Rome, and perused them diligently, and yet found never a word in any of them touching Pope Joan.

Prot. That dean had the luck of it, if he light on such ancient manuscripts, as the alderman of Lovain told Bernartius of. But how came the manuscripts in the Vatican to be many and old, seeing printing was in use, and Platina died Anno 1481? And how chanced it, that neither Onuphrius, nor Bellarmine, nor Baronius, who have had as free access into the Vatican library as any, could never light on these manuscripts? How chanced it, that none, since Bernartius, thought good to except in that sort against Platina? Onuphrius, Bellarmine, and Baronius's acknowledgment, that this story is in Platina, persuade me, that either Bernartius belyed the alderman, or the alderman belyed the dean, or the dean made a fool of the alderman : For, questionless, if there had been any such manuscripts, some of them would have found them out, and made it known to the world, ere this. For they are glad of narrower fig-tree leaves to cover their nakedness withal, than such manuscripts, if they were forth-coming: But, perhaps, you have some better answer behind than this.

Pap. I have. For what could you reply, if I answered that

1 Impudens aliquis nebulo interpolavit scripta Platina. Audivi ex Antonio Hetweldio, amplissimo laudatissimoque viro, Consulari Lovaniensi, dixisse sibi sæpius Engelbertum Boonium➡ vidisse se Romæ, in Bibliotheca Vaticana, antiquissima Platina exemplaria manuscripta, sedulò examinasse, & de Joanne fœmina ne literam quidem reperisse. Bernartias de Utilitate legenda Hist. lib. ii. p. 111.

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which ' Bellarmine hath upon another occasion, to wit, that Platina wrote not by pubick authority, nor took his history out of the publick registers of the church?

Prot. I could quickly tell you, that both Bellarmine and you speak without book. For, besides that, Platina 2 himself professeth, that he writ by the commandment of Sixtus the Fourth, 3 Onuphrius confesseth, that he followed Damasus, Anastasius, and such historiographers as had written before of the same matter.

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Pap. But what say you to Florimondus, whose answer is, That Platina reported it rather to shew his reading, than for that he thought it true?

Prot. What is Florimondus's reason for that?

Pap. Marry, if he had thought it true, saith Florimondus, he would have exaggerated it, and made the worst of it, that thereby he might have revenged himself of the Popes at whom he was angry. For Paul the Second, as all men know, racked him, and deprived him of all his dignities, and justly cast him into prison, and kept him there as long as himself lived.

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Prot. That Paul the Second racked Platina, and deprived him of his dignities, and kept him long in prison, is very true: But that he cast him justly into prison, is false. For Trithemius witnesseth, that Paul the Second dealt cruelly therein. Yet, suppose all to be true: Doth it follow in your Florimondus's logick, Paul the Second wronged Platina, ergo, Platina hated all Popes? And why not then: Sixtus the Fourth gratified Platina many ways: Sixtus the Fourth set Platina at liberty, and restored him to his dignities: Ergo, Platina loved all Popes? If one man's kindness could not work love towards all, it is not likely that one man's unkindness should breed an heartburning against all: Wherefore, notwithstanding this, we may well think that Platina wrote as he thought: And the rather, for that, in the words following, he professeth, that such a thing might well happen. What say you to Chalcocondylas, the Athenian, whom I named next before Platina, as a witness for us in this controversy ? Pap. I say, Chalcocondylas hath not this tale.

Prot. What, man? Are not these his words? Constat mulierem quandam in Pontificatum esse subvectam, quia Sexus ignorabatur. Nam Italiæ occidentales penè omnes barbam radunt. Cum autem illa mulier gravida esset facta, & ad festum sive sacrificium prodiisset, peperit infantem inter sacrificium in conspectu Populi. Quaproper, ne decipiantur iterum, sed rem cognoscant, neque ambigant, Pontificis creati virilia tangunt, & qui tangit, acclamat: Mas nobis Dominus est.' That is, It is well known, that a certain woman was made Pope, by reason they knew not her sex: For all (almost) in the western parts of Italy, shave their beards. Now, when she was great with child, and came abroad to solemnise some day, or to say service, as she was at

1 Tom. ii. de Pœnitentia, lib. iii. cap. 13. ad Zistum iv.

2 Proœmio Lib. de Vitis Pontif. in Epistola

3 Annotat. in Plat. in vit. S. Petri Apostoli. 4 Lib. citato, cap. 4. p. 36. 5 Si hæc vera sibi persuasisset, tanquam unguis in ulcere fuisset, & odium, quod in Pontifices conceperat, audacius evomuisset. 7 Crudelissimè.

Platina. creduntur.

6 De Script. Ecelesiasticis, verbo, Bartholomæus 8 Apparet, ea quæ dixi ex his esse, quæ fieri posse

9 De Rebus Turcicis, lib. vi. p. 98.

service, she was delivered of a child in the sight of all the people. Wherefore, lest hereafter they should be deceived in like sort, they make ́ trial of his manhood by touching, and he that toucheth proclaimeth, We have a man to our Pope.

Pap. I confess, these words are in Chalcocondylas, translated into Latin. But, I say with Baronius, that, though it be in the Latin, yet that was by Clauserus the translator's bad dealing, who foisted it in. It was not written in the Greek by Chalcocondylas.

Prot. How proves Baronius that?

Pap. Nay, he meddles not with proving of it, but refers you over to Florimondus for it. For Florimondus hath excellently well, as Baronius saith, discovered Clauserus's cousenage therein.

Prot. How, I pray you? For I know you have Florimondus at your finger's end.

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Pap. Why, Florimondus compared Clauserus's translation into Latin, with a Frenchman's translation of the same into French; and, by that, he saw this tale was not in Chalcocondylas, for he found nothing of it in the Frenchman's translation.

Prot. And is this Florimondus's reason, so much commended by Baronius, whereby he discovers Clauserus's cousenage? Now the vicar of S. Fools be ghostly father to them both: For why might not the Frenchman as well leave it out, as Clauserus put it in?

Pap. Oh, a faithful translator, as Florimondus notes, durst not have left it out, if he had found it in the Greek.

Prot. Nor put it in, if he had not found it in the Greek: Durst he? And why may not we hold Clauserus as faithful an interpreter, as the Frenchman? Yea, why may not we hold him more faithful, seeing the Frenchman was a Papist? For Papists hold it lawful, in translating, to omit offensive matter: And so doth no Protestant. The truth is, Clauserus shewed himself an honest man in translating it: And the Frenchman shewed himself a popish companion in concealing it; Which appears by the Greek, printed at Colen, Anno 1615, wherein it is, and by Gretser's confession, Fac sunt qui velint, ea quæ leguntur, Lib. vi. Hist. Laonici, non ab authore, sed ab interprete Clausero esse. Going on thus, ægre credo. Nam, in Bibliotheca Bavarica Monachii, tres extant Historiæ hujus Manuscripti Codices, & unus ibidem in Bibliotheca Academiæ Ingolstadiensis, in quibus omnibus hoc de Joh. Papa fœmina fabulamentum legitur: Nec credibile est interpretem ipsos etiam Græcos Codices vitiare potuisse.' There are who hold opinion, saith he, that, that which is read of Pope Joan, in the sixth book of Chalcocondylas, was never written by the author, but chopped in by Clauserus the translator; which I can hardly believe. For there are three MSS. of Chalcocondylas, in one library in Bavaria, and another in the library of the university of Ingolstadt; in all which, this tale of

1 Annal. Tom. x. ad Ann. 853, num. 66. ejusmodi fabulare petitur esse descripta, non postore Clausero fraudulenter appositum.

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Quamvis, apud Chalcocondylam Latinè redditum, tamen ab ipso authore positum scias, sed ab im2 Ibid. Imposturam egregiè detexit Florimondus, 4 Florim. Fab. Joannæ, cap. 6. num. 2.

3 Florim. fabula Joanne, cap. 6. num. 2. Fidus interpres prætermittere non ausus fuisset, si in Græco exemplari exaratum invenisset. 5 Gretser, lib. ii. de Jure, &c. prohibendi lib. malos, cap. 10.

6 Tom. ii. Defens. Bellar, lib. iii. cap. 24. col. 906.