cōdly þ^e speedy helpe of readyng, more furthered. And thirdly the plēty of all good authours enlarged: accordyng as Aprutinus, doth truly report.

Imprimit ille die, quantum non scribitur anno. i.
The Presse in one day will do in Printyng,
That none in one yeare can do in writyng.

By reason whereof, as Printyng of bookes ministred matter of readyng: so readyng brought learnyng: learnyng shewed light, by the brightnes wherof blind ignoraūce was suppressed, errour detected, & finally Gods glory, with truth of his word, aduaunced.MarginaliaWhē Gunnes were first inuēted. This facultie of Printing was after the inuētion of Gunnes, the space of. 130. yeares: which inuention was also found in Germany, an. 1380. And thus much for the worthy commendation of Printyng.

¶ The lamentable losing of Constantinople.  

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Fall of Constantinople

Foxe's account of the fall of Constantinople is taken from Caspar Peucer's continuation of the chronicle of Johann Carion. (See Chronicon Carionis, ed. Philip Melanchthon and Caspar Peucer [Wittenberg, 1580], pp. 581-3). Foxe follows this account closely, although he abridges it somewhat. The fall of Constantinople may seem a curious disgression for Foxe, but he uses it as an opportunity to remind his readers of the dangers of the Ottoman threat and to urge them to pray to God to avert it.

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Thomas S. Freeman
University of Sheffield

Marginalia1453.
The losing of Constantinople. ANno. 1453. Constantinus Palœlogus, beyng Emperour of Constantinople, the. 29. day of the moneth of May, the great Citie of Constantinople was taken by the Turke Mahometes, after the siege of. 54. dayes: which siege began in the begynnyng of Aprill. Within the Citie, beside the Citizens were but onely. 6000. rescuers of the Grekes. And 3000. of the Venetians & Genuues. Agaynst these, Mahometes brought an armey of. 400. thousand, collected out of the countreys and places adioynyng neare about, as out of Grecia, Illyrico, Wallachia, Dardanis, Triballis, Bulganis, out of Bithynia, Galatia, Lydia, Cecilia, and such other: which places had the name yet of Christians. Thus one neighbour for lucre sake, helped to destroy an other.

The Citie was compassed of the Turkes, both by Sea and land. Mahometes the Turke diuided his armey in. iij. sondry partes, which in. iij. partes of the Citie, so bette the walles and brake them downe, that they attempted by the breaches therof to enter the Citie. But the valiauntnes of the Christians therein wanne much commendation, whose Duke was called Ioh. Iustinianus, of Genua. But for so much as the assaultes were great, and the number of the Christian souldiours dayly decreased, fightyng both at the walles and at the Hauen, agaynst such a multitude of the Turkes, they were not able long to hold out. Beside the armyes which lay batteryng at the walles, the Turke had vpon the Sea his nauye of. 200. and. 50. sayle, lying vpō the hauen of the Citie, reachyng from the one side of the hauens mouth vnto the other, as if a bridge should be made from the one banke to the other. Which hauen by the Citizens was barred with yron cheynes, whereby the Turkes were kept out a certaine space. Agaynst which nauiy vij. shippes there were of Genua, within the hauen, and. iij. of Creta, and certaine of Chio, which stode agaynst them. Also the souldiours issuyng out of the Citie, as occasion would serue, did manfully gaynstād them, and with wild fire, set their shyps on fire, that a certaine space they could serue to no vse. At length the cheynes beyng brast, & a way made, the Turkes nauye entred the hauē, and assaulted the Citie: whereby the Turke began to conceaue great hope, and was in forwardnes to obtayne the Citie.MarginaliaThe tyranny of the Turke toward hys owne men. The assault & skirmishe then waxyng more hoate, Mahometes the tyraunt stode by vpon an hill, with his warriers about him, crying and houlyng out vnto them to skale the walles and enter the Towne: otherwise, if any reculed, he threatned to kill them, and so he did: Whereby a great number of his souldiours in their repulse and retire, were slayne by the Turkes mē, beyng sent by his commaundement to slay them: and so they were iustly serued, and well payde their hyer.

Although this was some comfort to the Christians, to see and behold out of the Citie, the Turkes retinue so consumed: yet that hope lasted not long. Shortly after, by rage of warre, it happened Iustinian the Duke aboue named, to be hurt, who notwithstandyng that he was earnestly desired by Palœlogus the Emperour, not to leaue his Tower whiche he had to keepe, seyng his wounde was not deadly daungerous,MarginaliaThe cowardnes of Duke Iustinian. yet could he not be entreated to tary, but left his standyng, and his fort disfurnished, settyng none in hys place to award the same. And so this doughty Duke, hurt more with his false hart, then with force of weapon, gaue ouer and fled to Chius, where shortly after for sorrow, rather then for sorenes of wounde, he dyed. Many of his souldiours seyng their captaine flee, followed after, leauing their fort vtterly destitute without defence. The Turkes vnderstandyng that vantage, soone brast into the Citie.MarginaliaThe Emperour of Constantinople slayne. The Emperour Palœlogus seyng no other way but to flee, makyng toward the gate, either was slayne, or els troden downe with the multitude. In the which gate. 800. dead mens bo-dies were found and taken vp.

MarginaliaConstantinople wonne of the Turkes. The Citie of Constantinople thus being gotte, the Turkes sacking and raunging about the streetes, houses, and corners, did put to the sword most vnmercifully, whōsoeuer they found, both aged and younge: matrones, virgins, children, and infantes, sparing none: the noble matrons and virgins were horribly rauished: the goods of the citie, the treasures in houses, the ornamentes in churches were all sackt and spoyled, the pictures of Christ approbriously handled, in hatred of Christ.MarginaliaThe bloudy victory of the Turkes. The spoyle and hauoke of the citie lasted three dayes together, while the barbarous souldiours murdered and rifeled what them listed.

These thynges thus beyng done, and the tumult ceased,MarginaliaThe horrible tyranny of the Turkes. after three dayes, Mahometes the Turke, entreth into the Citie, and first callyng for the heades and auncients of the Citie, such as he founde to be left aliue, he cōmaunded thē to be mangled & cut in peeces. It is also (sayth my author) reported, that in the feastes of the Turkes, honest matrones and virgins, and suche as were of the kynges stocke, after other contumelies, were hewen and cut in peeces for their disport.

And this was the end of that princely and famous citie of Constantinople, beginning first by Constantinus, and ending also with Constantinus:MarginaliaConstantinople called new Rome. which for the princely royaltie thereof. was named and euer honoured, from the time of the first Constantine, equally with the Citie of Rome, and called also by þ^e name therof new Rome, and so cōtinued the space of 1120. yeares. I pray God that olde Rome may learne of new Rome, to take heede and beware by tyme.

This terrible destruction of the Citie of Constantinople, the Queene of Cities, I thought here to describe, not so much to set forth the barbarous crueltie of these filthy rakehels and mercyles murtherers:MarginaliaA warning to all Christendome, by Constantinople. as specially for thys, that we beyng admonished by the dolefull ruine and misery of these our euenchristened, may call to mynde the plagues and miseries deserued, which seeme to hange no lesse ouer our owne heades, and thereby may learne betime to inuocate and call more earnestly vpon the name of our terrible & mercifull God, that he for his sonnes sake, will keepe vs, & preserue his church among vs, and mitigate those plagues and sorrowes, which we no lesse haue deserued, then these aboue mynded, before vs, Christ graunt it. Amen. Ex hist. Wittenbergica Peucerl.

¶ The history of Reynold Pecocke Byshop of Chichester, afflicted and imprisoned for the Gospell of Christ.  

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Reginald Pecock

It is profoundly ironic that Bishop Reginald Pecock, who devoted a great deal of time and effort to combatting the Lollards in print, should have been enshrined by Foxe as a proto-Protestant. The reason for this, however, is clear: following Bale, Foxe assumed that anyone condemned for heresy during the Middle Ages must have been one of the numerous hidden members of the True Church that that existed before Luther. As a bishop and a university trained scholar, Pecock was a particularly valuable individual for Foxe to appropriate.

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Foxe's first account of Pecock was printed in his Commentarii. It began with long passages of Foxean rhetoric on the tyranny of the Roman Church, the existence of a godly remnant who did not bow their knees to Baal and the theology of the Eucharist (fos. 157r-168v). This was followed by copy of a letter from Thomas Bourchier, the archbishop of Canterbury, forbidding discussion of Pecock's case while it was still sub judice (fos. 169r-171r). There is no other surviving copy of this document, and how Foxe obtained it is a matter for speculation, but it gives every appearance of being genuine. This followed by a version of a recantation that Pecock made at Paul's Cross on 4 December 1457 (fos. 171r-172r). With one important exception, Foxe's version of this conforms to the other known versions of this document. No other surviving copy of the recantation contains Pecock's denial that it was necessary to believe that Christ's body was materially in the sacrament and it is safe to assume that this was Foxe's invention. The Commentarii account of Pecock then concludes with Foxe's declaration that Pecock's recantation must have been coerced and insincere, since he was imprisoned (fos. 172r-173r). However, over 50 pages later, Foxe printed a 'Collectanea quaedam ex Reginaldi Pecocki Episcopi opusculis exustis conservata, ex antiquo psegmate transcripta'(fos. 199r-203v). This was a series of articles, apparently - from Foxe's description - copied out of an 'ancient' manuscript fragment. Foxe identified the first article as coming from Pecock's The Book of Signs, a work now lost. The remaining eleven articles are all drawn from Pecock's Book of Faith; although they are abridgements, they do reflect fairly accurately what Pecock does say in portions of his text (cf. Reginald Pecock, Reginald Pecock's Book of Faith, ed. J. L. Morison [Glasgow, 1909], pp. 264-66, 287-91, 302-3, 283-6, 112-14, 222-9, 234-5, 161-2, 147-8, 148-9 and 149-50).

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In the Rerum, the account of Pecock was repeated (pp. 109-16), but the 'Collectanea' was dropped, never to be reprinted. In the 1563 edition, the Rerum account was faithfully translated and reprinted. In the 1570 edition Foxe retained Bourchier's letter and Pecock's recantation, but dropped the rest of his earlier account of Pecock. However, Foxe added a summary of the charges against Pecock which was entirely taken from Bale's Catalogus (p. 595), even the attack on Polydore Vergil at the conclusion. The 1570 account of Pecock was reprinted, without change, in the 1576 and 1583 editions.

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Thomas S. Freeman
University of Sheffield

MarginaliaThe storye of Reynold Pecocke. AFter the death of Henry Chichesley before mentioned, pag. 679. next succeeded Iohn Stafford, an. 1445 who continued 8. yeares. After hym came Iohn Kempe, an. 1453. who sat but three yeares. Then succeeded Thomas Burschere. In the tyme of which Archbishop, fell þ^e trouble of Raynold Pecocke, Byshop of Chichester, afflicted by the Popes Prelates for hys fayth and profession of the Gospell. Of this Byshop, Halle also in hys Chronologie toucheth a little mention, declaring that an ouerthwart iudgement (as he termeth it) was geuen by the fathers of the spiritualtie agaynst him. This man (sayth he) began to moue questions not priuatly, but openly in the Vniuersities, concerning the Annates, Peter pence, and other iurisdictions and authorities pertayning to the sea of Rome, and not onely put forth the questiōs, but declared his minde and opinion in the same: wherefore he was for this cause abiured at Paules Crosse. Thus much of him writeth Halle, Of whom also recordeth Polychronicon, but in fewe wordes. This byshop, first of S. Assaphe, then of Chichester, so long as Duke Humfrey lyued (by whom he was promoted and much made of) was quyet and safe, and also bolde to dispute and to write hys mynde, and wrote (as Leland recordeth) diuers bookes and treatises. But after that good Duke was thus (as ye haue heard) made away, this good man lacking his backstay, was open to his enemies, and matter soone found agaynst him. Wherupon he beyng complayned of, and accused by priuy and malignant promoters vnto the Archbishop, letters first were directed downe from the Archbishop, to cite all men to appeare that coulde say any thyng agaynst him. The forme of which citation here ensueth.

MarginaliaThe citation of the Archb. Tho. Bowcher, alias Bourscher. THomas by the permission of God. Archb. of Canterbury, primate of all England and Legate of the Apostolicke Sea, to all and singular Persons, Vicares, Chaplaynes, Curates, and not Curates, Clerkes and learned