outward bodyes here, but as touchyng our eternall saluation, neither worke nor merite hath any place, but onely our fayth in Christ. And thus much briefly touchyng the ij. speciall remedies, whereby the operation of all deuilish Prophecies may be auoyded and defeated.

Now, many there be, which leauyng these remedyes aforesayd, and the safe protectiō which the Lord hath set vp in Christ, take other wayes of their owne,MarginaliaMans policie cā nothing doe against the deuil. seekyng by their owne policy, how to withstand and escape such Prophecies, either in eschuing the place and tyme subtilly, or els cruelly by killyng the partie whom they feare: wherof commeth iniury, murther, and parricide, with other mischiefes in common weales vnspeakable. To whom commonly it cōmeth so to passe, that whereby they thinke most to saue themselues, by the same meanes they fall most into the snare, being subuerted and cōfounded in their owne pollicie,MarginaliaNo power can withstand Sathan, but onely Christ, and our fayth in hym. for that they trusting to their owne deuise, and not vnto the Lord, which onely can dissolue the operation of Satan, the Lord so turneth their deuise into a trappe thereby to take them, wherby they thinke most surely to escape. Examples whereof we see not onely in Astyages kyng of þ^e Medes aforesayd, and Cyrus: but in infinite other like euentes, whiche the trade of the word doth dayly offer to our eyes. So Queene Margarete thought her then cockesure, whō Duke Humfrey was made away: when nothyng els was her confusion somuch, as the losse and lacke of that man.

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So if kyng Richard. 2. had not exercised such crueltie vpon his vncle Thomas, Duke of Glocester, he had not receaued such wrong by kyng Henry the. 4. as he dyd, pag. 502. Likewise this kyng Edward. 4. if he had suffered hys brother George, Duke of Clarence, to haue liued, his house had not so gone to wracke by Richard, his other brother, as it dyd. What befell vpon the student of Astrology in the Vniuersity of Basill, ye heard before, who if he had not mewed himselfe in his chamber for feare of his diuination, had escaped the stroke that fell. Now, in auoydyng such Prophetical euentes, which he should not haue searched, he fell into that which he did feare. These few examples for instruction sake, I thought by occasion to inferre, not as though these were alone: but by these fewe to admonishe the Reader of infinite other, whiche dayly come in practise of life, to the great daunger and decay, as well in priuate houses, as in weales publicke.

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MarginaliaA briefe rehearsall of the matter of prophecies before passed. Wherfore briefly to repete, what before simply hath bene sayd touchyng this matter, seyng that Sathan thorough such subtile Prophecies, hath and yet doth dayly practise so manifold mischiefes in þ^e world, settyng brother against brother, nephew agaynst þ^e vncle, house agaynst house, & realme against realme, gēdryng hattred, where loue was, & subuerting priuely the simplicity of our Christiā fayth,MarginaliaThe deuill ready to aunswere in matters of diuination. therfore the first thing & best is, for godly men not to busie their braines about such phantasies, neither in delightyng in them, nor in harkenyng to thē, nor in searchyng for them, either by southsayer, or by coniuration, or by familiar, or by Astrologer: knowyng and consideryng this, that who soeuer shalbe desirous or ready to search for them, the Deuill is as ready to aunswere his curiositie therein. For as once in the olde tyme of Gētilitie  

, he gaue his Oracles by Idols, & Priestes of that tyme: so now the same deuill, although he worketh not now by Idols, yet he craftely can geue now aunswere by Astrologers, and coniurers in these our dayes, and in so doyng, both to say truth, and yet to deceaue men when he hath sayd.MarginaliaCuriositie of prophecies to be auoyded. Wherfore leauyng of such curiositie, let euery Christen man walke simple in his present vocation, referryng hyd things not in the word expressed, vnto him which sayth in his word: Non est vestrum scire tempora & momenta temporum. &c. It is not for you to know the tymes, and seasons of tymes, which the father hath kept in hys owne power. &c.

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Secondly, in this matter of Prophecies, requisite it is (as is sayd) for euery Christen man to learne, how to discerne and distinct the true Prophecies, whiche procede of God, and the false Prophecies, whiche come of Sathan. The difference wherof, as it is not hard to be discerned: so necessary it is, that euery good man do rightly vnderstand the same, to the entent that he knowyng and flying the daūger of the one, may be the more certaine and constant in adheryng to the other.

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Thirdly, because it is not sufficient that the deceitfull Prophecies of the deuill be knowen, but also that they be resisted. I haue also declared, by what meanes the operatiō of Sathans workes and Prophecies are to be ouercome: that is, not with strength and policie of man, for that there is nothyng in man, able to counteruayle the power of that enemy. Vnder heauen there is nothyng els that cā preuayle agaynst his workes, but onely the name of the Lord Iesus the sonne of God, not outwardly pronoūced onely with our lippes, or signed in our foreheades with the outward crosse, but inwardly apprehended and dwellyng in our harts by a silent fayth, firmely and earnestly trustyng vpon the promises of God, geuen and sealed vnto vs in his name:MarginaliaThe strēgth of a Christiā mans fayth in Christ. For so it hath pleased his fatherly wisedome, to set him vp, to be both our rightuousnesse before himselfe, and also to be our fortitude agaynst the enemy, acceptyng our fayth in his sonne, in no lesse price then he accepteth the workes and worthynes of the same his sonne, in whom we do beleue.

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Such is the strength and effect of fayth both in heauen, in earth, and also in hell: In heauen to iustifie, in earth to preserue, in hell to conquere. And therfore when any such Prophecie, or any other thyng is to vs obiected, which seemeth to tend agaynst vs, let vs first consider whether it sauour of Sathā, or not. If it do, then let vs seeke our succour, not in our selues, where it doth not dwell, neither let vs kill, nor slay, nor chaunge our vocation therfore, folowyng vnordinate wayes:MarginaliaOnely Christ able to withstand the power of Sathan. but let vs runne to our Castle of refuge, which is to the power of the Lord Iesus, remembryng the true promise of the Psalme: Qui habitat in adiutorio altissimi, in protectione Dei cœli cōmorabitur.MarginaliaPsal. 90. That is, Who so putteth his trust in the succour of the Lord, shall haue the God of heauen to his protector. And then shall it afterward follow the same Psalme. Ipse liberabit te a laqueo venantiū, & a verbo aspero. That is. And he shall deliuer him from the snare of the hunter, & from all euill wordes, & Prophecies, be they neuer so sharpe, or bitter agaynst him. &c. And thus much by the occasion of kyng Edward, of Prophecies.

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Now hauyng long taryed at home  

in describyng the tumultes and troubles within our owne land, we will let out our story more at large, to consider the afflictions and perturbations of other parties and places also of Christes Church, as well here in Europe vnder the Pope, as in the East parties vnder the Turke, first deducyng our story frō the tyme of Sigismund, where before we left:MarginaliaSigismundus Emperour. Which Sigismund, as is aboue recorded, was a great doer in the Coōcell of Constance agaynst Iohn Hus, and Hierome of Prage.MarginaliaSigismundus vnprosperous in hys warres. This Emperour had euer euill lucke, fightyng agaynst the Turkes. Twise he warred against them, and in both the battailes was discomfited and put to flight:MarginaliaSigismundus ouercome of the Turkes. once about the Citie of Mysia, fightyng agaynst Baiazetes the great Turke. an 1395. the second tyme fightyng agaynst Celebinus the sonne of Baiazetes, about the Town called Columbacium. But especially, after the Councell of Constance, wherein were cōdemned and burned those two godly Martyrs, more vnprosperous successe did thēMarginaliaSigismundus ouercome of the Bohemians. folow him, fightyng agaynst the Bohemians, his owne subiectes. an. 1420. by whō he was repulsed in so many battailes, to his great dishonour, duryng all the lyfe of Zisca, and of Procopius, as is afore more at length expressed: Who was so beaten both of the Turkes, & at home of his owne people, that he neuer did encounter with the Turkes after. Then followed the Councell of Basill, after the begynnyng wherof, within vj. yeares, this Sigismundus, which was Emperour, kyng of Hungary, & kyng of Boheme, dyed in Morauia. an. 1437.

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THis Sigismund left behynd him one onely daughter Elizabeth, who was maried toMarginaliaAlbertus Duke of Austrich, Emperour, king of Hungary, kyng of Boheme.
Albert, Duke of Austrich: by reason wherof he was aduaunced to the Empire, and so was both Duke of Austriche, Emperour, kyng of Hungary, and kyng also of Boheme.MarginaliaAlbertus Emperour but two yeares. But this Albert (as is afore declared) beyng an enemy and a disquieter to the Bohemians, and especially to the good men of Thabor, as he was preparyng and settyng forth agaynst the Turkes, in the meane tyme dyed, in the secēd yeare of hys Empire. an. 1439. leauyng his wife great with child.MarginaliaElizabeth daughter to Sigismund, wife to Albert Emp. Who lying then in Hungary, and thinkyng to be great with a daughter, called to her the Princes and chieftaines of the Realme, declaryng to them that she was but a woman and vnsufficiēt to the gouernaūce of such a state: and moreouer how she thought her selfe to be but with a daughter, and therfore required them to prouide among them, such a Prince and gouernour, (reseruyng the right of the kyngdome to her selfe) as were fit and able vnder her, to haue the regiment of the land cōmitted.MarginaliaThe Turke beginneth to inuade Hungary. The Turke in the meane while beyng eleuated and encouraged with his prosperous victories agaynst Sigismūdus aforesayd, began then more fiercely to inuade Hungarie and those parties of Christendome. Wherfore the Hungarians makyng the more hast,MarginaliaVladislaus brother to Casimirus K. of Polonie, made K. of Hungary. consulted among themselues, to make Duke Vladislaus, brother to Casimirus kyng of Polony, their kyng.

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But while this was in working betwene the Hunga-