ward, and now by Queene Elyzabeth: In Scotland by the godly nobilitie: In Fraunce, by the Queene of Nauarre and her sonne: also by the prince of Condy and the worthye Admirall, and his two brethren, and many others: In Flaunders, by thē whom the Regent calleth Beggers: So as was in the tyme of the Machabees, agaynst Antiochus.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe thyrd note.Thirdly that the kyng shall exalte hym selfe aboue all that hath the name of God, and shall lift vp his mouth to speake presumptuously agaynst God.
MarginaliaThe fourth note.Fourthly, that he careth not for the desires of wemē: which may seme to note how the Popes doctrine shal forbid the honest and lawfull mariage in Churchmen.
MarginaliaThe fifthe note.The fifte specialtie whiche they apply to the Pope, is that foloweth in the Prophet, saying: Neither shall he regarde the God of his fathers, nor any God: MarginaliaMauzim the popes God.but in steade of him, shall set vp his God Mauzzim, and shall worshyp him with siluer, and gold, and pretious stone. &c. Whiche they do apply to the Pope, settyng vp hys God of bread, & worshypping him with glisteryng golden ornamentes, and most solemne seruice.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe sixte note.Sixtly, it foloweth: and he shall encrease them with much glory and riches, and shal diuide vnto them, landes and possessions. &c. meanyng that the Pope hauyng dominiō ouer treasures of gold siluer, and all precious thynges of the land, shall indue his Cardinals, prelates, his flatteryng doctours, with Friers and Monkes and priestes, & all such as shall take his part, with great priuilegies, liberties, reuenues and possessions. And thus, I say, some there be, whiche applye this Prophesie of the vij. and xi. chap. of Daniel, MarginaliaThe vii. & xi chapt. of Daniel, meaneth the great Antichrist the Turke.vnto the Byshop of Rome. Whom although I take to be an extreme persecutour of Christes Churche: yet I iudge rather those ij. chapters of Daniel concernyng the litle horne in the midle of the x. hornes, and the great destroyer of the pleasaūt land and glorious holy mountaine, to meane first Antiochus, and by him secondly to meane þe great Antichrist, þe Turke: who hath now set already the tabernacles of hys palace betwene the seas, accordyng to the Prophesie of Daniel, as is aboue sayd.
[Back to Top]Ouer and besides these Prophesies aboue alledged, may be added also the Prophesie of Ezechiel chap. 39. speakyng of Gog and Magog:
Ezekiel 39:1-29.
MarginaliaThe prophisies of the newe Testamēt, concerning the Turke.Procedyng further in this matter, let vs come now to the Prophesies of the newe Testament, and marke the woordes of S. Paul writyng to the * Marginalia* 2. Thessal. 2.Thessolonians, whiche then were Christened, and now either are Turkishe, or vnder the Turke, whiche woordes bee these:
2 Thess. 2:2-4.
In an unusual piece of exegesis, Foxe is interpreting the 'defection'usually regarded as a reference to apostasy by exegetes, of the conversion to Islamof regions in the Middle East and North Africa that were formerly Christian.
MarginaliaThe place of S. Paule 2. Thess. 2. applied to the pope.Notwithstandyng this text of the holy Apostle (as I aforesayd) may be verified also with no lesse reason, vpon the Byshop of Rome, thē vpon þe Turke, both for þt he is a mā of sinne, that is, his seat & Citie is a great mainteyner of wickednes: and also for þt he is an aduersarye, that is, contrary in all his doynges and procedyngs, to Christ. Thirdly for that he sitteth in the temple of God, and so did not Mahumete. Fourthly because he is an exalter of him self, & sitteth more like a God, then a man, in Rome: wherof see more in the booke set forth in Englishe, called the CONTESTATIONS of the popes.
The lack of pagination for this section (at least in the 1570 edition where it first appeared) is almost certainly because it was a late insertion into thetext. It is also almost certain that this section was a response to the revolt of thenorthern earls in 1569 and the papal deposition of Elizabeth at the beginning of 1570. This section is illustrated with a dozen woodcuts depicting historical, or putatively historical, instances of papal dominance over secular rulers. All but one of thesewoodcuts was newly created, apparently for this section. (The woodcut depicting thehumiliation of Henry IV at Canossa, which had been used earlier in the volume, wasreused in this section). The expense involved in creating these woodcuts suggeststhat Day may have received financial support for producing this section. It iscertainly true that Archbishop Parker aided Foxe in researching this section.
[Back to Top]Yet while the carving of the woodcuts must have taken weeks, if not months,it would appear that the text for this section was composed fairly quickly. This section consists of a summary of the rise of the papacy, an exegesis of passages in St Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians identifying the Antichrist, as well as a summary of papal attempts to depose and dominate European rulers. This sectionconcludes with 'The Image of Antichrist', which, in turn, is an exact reprinting of ananonymous work, A solemne contestation of diverse popes for the advancing of their supremacy (London, 1560), STC 20114, which had been printed by John Daya decade earlier. (For a discussion of this work, and an argument that Foxe himselfcompiled it, see Thomas S. Freeman, 'A solemne contestation of diverse popes: A Work by John Foxe?', English Language Notes 31[1994], pp. 35-42). Apart from nuggets of information contributed by others, there is littlenew research in this section, which largely reiterates episodes already described in theActs and Monuments. What is striking, however, are the important borrowings, acknowledged and unacknowledged, from William Tyndale's Practice of Prelates.Foxe did not normally cite Tyndale's work, probably becausehe had access to better and more detailed sources. But in this section, Foxe gives an indication that Tyndale's interpretation of history had on his thought. For a discussion of this book see Thomas S. Freeman, 'A solemne contestation of diverse popes: A Work by John Foxe?' English Language Notes 31 (1994), pp. 35-42.
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But to returne agayne vnto þe Turkes, among all the Prophesies both of þe old Testamēt & of þe new, there is none þt paynteth out the Antichristian kyngdome of the Turkes, better thē doth þe reuelation of S. Iohn: whose wordes let vs weygh & cōsider. Who in þe Apoc. 9. where he speaketh of opening the seuenth and laste seale (which signifieth the last age of þe world) & there writing of þe vij. trumpets of the vij. Aungels, at the soundyng of the vj. Aungell, sayth:
Rev. 9:14-18.
By the seuenth seale is ment the seuenth and last age of the world, whiche last age of the world, is from Christ to the iudgement and resurrection of the dead.
MarginaliaThe vii. trumpes of the vii. Angels in the Apocal. expounded.By the seuen Aungels with their seuen trumpets, is signified the seuen plages, that come in this seuenth and last age of the world.
MarginaliaThe sixte trumpe.By the sixt trumpet of the sixt Angell is ment the sixte plague commyng last and next before the plague of the great iudgement day, whiche sixt plague is here described to come by the East kynges, that is, by the Turkes, as foloweth to be sene.
MarginaliaLoosing out the Angels, vpon the riuer Euphrates.By losing the Aungels whiche had rule of the great ryuer Euphrates, is signified the lettyng out the East kynges: that is, the Turkes, out of Scythia, Tartaria, Persia, and Arabia, by whom the thyrd parte of Christendome shalbe destroyed, as wee see it this day hath come to passe.
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