To take mede þe maide · and make hir at ese

I schal assaie hir my-self · and sotheliche appose

What man of molde · that hir were leuest

And if sho worche by my wit · and my wille folwe

I wole for-gyue hir this gilte · so me god help

¶ Curteisliche the clerc · as þe kyngN hight

Toke mede by þe Midel · and brought hir in-to chambre

And thare was mirthe and mynstralcye · Mede to plese

¶ Thay that wonyeth in westmynstre worschiped hir alle

Gentiliche with Ioie · þe Iustices so{in}me

Busked hem to þe boure · ther þe birde dwelled

To conforte hir kyndly · by clergies leue

And saiden mourne nouhte Mede · ne make thow no sorwe

For we wisse the kyng and thy way schape

To be wedded at þy wille · and wher þe leue liketh

For al conscience caste or craft as I trowe

¶ Mildeliche Mede thanne · Mercied hem alle

Of thayr grete goodnesse · and gaf hem echone

Coupes of clene gold · and coppis of siluer

Rynges with rubies · and riches manye

The leste man of hir meynge · a moton of golde

Thanne lauȝte þey leue · þise lordes at mede

¶ With þat comen clerkes to conforte hir the same

And biden hir be blithe · for we beth thyn owene

For to wirche thy wille · the while thow myght laste

¶ Hendeliche sho thanne · bih{u}yghte hem the same

To loue hem Lealy · and lordes to make

And in the consistorie atte Courte · do calle youre names

Schal no lewednesse · lette þe leode þat I louye

That he ne worth first auanced · for I am biknowen

ther konnyng clerkes · schul clokke bihynde

¶ Thane come ther a confessour caped as a frere C

To mede the maide · he melled this wordes

And saide ful softly · In schrifte as it were

TheweLX lewed men and lered men · had layn by the bothe

And falsnesse haued yfolwed þe · al this fifty wynter

I shal assoile þe my-self · for a seme of whete

And also be thy bedman · and ber wel thy message

Amonges knyghtes and clerkes · conscience to torne

¶ Thanne Mede For hir mysdedes · to þat man kneled

And schroue hir of hir schrewednesse · schameles I trowe

Tholde hym a tale · and toke hym a nobyle

For to ben hir bedeman · and hir brocour als

¶ Thanne he assoilled hir sone · and sithen he saide

We haue a wyndow a-worchyng · wole sitten vs ful heighN

Woldestow glase þat gable · and graue þer-Inne thy name

Siker scholde thy soule be · heuen to haue

¶ Wist I that quod þat womman I wolde nought spare

For to be youre frende frere · and faille yow neuere

While ye loue lordes · that leccherie hauntes

And lakkes nouȝt ladis tNhat loues wel the same

It is a frelete of flessche · ye fynde it in bokes

And a cours of kynde wher of we comen alle

Who may scape þe sclaundre · the scathe is sone amended

It is synne of seuene · sonnest for-gyuene

¶ Haue mercy quod Mede of men þat it hauntes

And I schal kouere youre kike / ki[r]ke · youre cloistre do maken

Wowes do whiten · and wyndowes glasien

do paynten and purtraie · and paie for þe makynge

That euery segge schal seye · I am suster of youre hous

¶ And god to alle good folk · swich grauyng defendes

To writen in wyndowes · of hir weldedes / wel dedes

And auenture pride be peynted ther · and pompe of þe worlde

For crist knoweþ thy conscience · and þy kynde wille

And thy coste and thy coueitise · and who the catellN auȝte

For-thy I lere yow lordes · leue{.}ht swiche werkes

To writen in wyndowes · of yowre weldedes

Or to greden after goddes men · whan ye delen doles

On auenture ye han youre hire here · and youre heuene als

¶ Nesciat sinistra quid faciat dextra

Late nouȝt thy left half · late ne raþe

Wite what thow worchest · with thy right side

For thus bit þe gospel · good men do · hir almesse

¶ M{o}aires and maceres · that menes ben bitwene

The kyng and þe comune · to kepe the lawes

To punisshen on pilories · and pynyng stoles

Brewesters and baxters bowchers and cookes

For thyse aren men of this molde þat most harm worches

To the pore pepyle · that parcel-mele buggen

¶ For thay poison the pepyle · priueliche and oft

Þey richen thurgh regraterie · and rentes hem buggen

With þat þe pore pepyle · shulde put in hir wombe

For tooke thay on trewely · thay tymbred nouȝt so heiȝ

Ne bouȝte non burgages · be ye ful certeyne

¶ And Med the Maide · the Mair hath bisoughte

Of alle swiche sellers · siluer to take

Or presentz with-oute pens · as peces of siluir

Rynges or other richesse · þo regraters to mayntene

¶ For my loue quod þat lady · loue hem vchone

And suffre hem to selle somdel ayeins resoun

¶ Salamon the sage · a sermon he made

For to amende Maires · and men þat kepen lawes

And tolde hem þis teme · þat I telle thenke

¶ Ignis deuorabit tabernacula eorum qui libenter accipiunt munera &ceteraC

Among þise lettered leodes · þis latyn is to mene

That fir schal falle and brenne al to blo askes

Þe houses and þe homes · of hem þat desireth

Gyftes or yeresyiftes · bi cause of hir offices

¶ The kyngN fro counseil cam · and called after mede

And of-sente hir as swithe · with sergeantes manye

That broughten hir to bour with blis and wiþ Ioye

¶ Curteisliche þe kyng þan comsed to telle

Tho mede þe maide · melleþ þise wordes

Vnwittily womman · wroughte hastow oft

And worse wrougtestow neuere · þan þo þow fals took

But I forgyue þo þat gilte · and graunte þe my grace

Hennes to thy deth-day · do so namore

¶ I haue a knyȝt conscience cam late fra biyonde

If he wilneth þe to wif · wiltow hym haue

Þhe / [Y]he lord quod þat lady · lor forbede elles

But I be holy at youre heste · lat honge me sone

¶ And thanne was conscience called · to com and apiere

Bifore þe kyng and his counseil · as clerkes and othere

KnelyngN conscience to þe kyng lowted

Tho wite what his wille were · and what he do schulde

¶ Wiltow wedde þis womman quod þe kyng if I wole assente

For scho is fayne of þy felawschip · for to be þy make

¶ Quod conscience to þe kyng crist it me forbede

Er I wedde swiche a wif · wo me bitide

For sche is frele of hir fayth · fikel of hir speche

And makeþ men mysdo · many score tyme

Trust of hir tresore · tr{e}ayeth ful manye

Wyuees and widewes · wantonnesse she teches

And lereth hem lecherie · þat loueþ hire gyftes

yowre fader she felled thurgh fals biheste

And haþ apoisunde popes peired holicherche

Is nauȝt a bet{e}tre baude · by hym þat me made

Bitwen heuen and helle · in erthe þouȝ men souȝte

For she is tikel of hir tail · talwis of hir tonge

As comune as a cartwey · to eche a knaue þat walketh

Tho monkes to mynstralles · to messels in hegges

Sisours and sompnours swiche men hir preiseþ

Shireues of schires · were schent if she nere

For she doth men lese · hir lond and hir lif boþe

Sche lates passe prisoners · and paieth for hem ofte

And gyues þe gailers gold · and grotes togidires

Tho vnfettre þe fals · flee where hem liket

And takeþ þe trewe by þe toppe · and tyeth hym faste

And hanges hym for hatered þat harme dide neuere

¶ To be cursed in consistorie she counteþ nouȝt a resshe

For sche coped þe Comissarie and cetes hise clerkes

Sche is assoilled as sone · as hir-self likeþ

And may nee as muche do · in a monthe one

As your secret seel · in sixe score daies

For sche is priue with þe pope prouisours it knoweth

For sire Simonye and hir-self · seleþ hir bulles

Scho blisses þise bisschopes · thyoN þey be lewed

Prouendres persons and prestes mainteneþ

To haue lemannes and lotebies al hir lyues dayes

And bryngen forth barnes · ayein forbode lawes

Ther sche is wel with þe kyng wo is þe reame

For sche is fauorable to þe fals · and folweþ trouhte oft

By Iesu wiþ hir Iewels · youre Iustices she shendeþ

And lith ayein þe lawe and letteþ hym þe gate

Þat fayth may nouȝt haue his forth · hir floreyns go so þikke

Scho ledes þe lawe as hir list · and loue-daies makes

And does men lese thurugh hir loue · þat lawe myght wynne

the mase for a mene man · þouȝ he mote hir euere

Lawe is so lordlich and loþ to make ende

With-oute presentz or pens · sche pleiseþ wel fewe

¶ Barons and burgeis she brynges in sorwe

And al þe comune in care · þat couetten lyue in trouthe

For clergie and couetise · sche coupleþ togideres

Thys is the lif of þat lady · now lorde gyue hir sorwe

And alle þat menteneth hir men meschaunce hem bitide

For pore men mowe haue no power · to pleyne hem þouȝ þei smerteC

Swilke a maister is Mede among men of goode

Thayne morned Mede and meNed hir to þe kyng

Tho haue space to speke spede if she myȝte

¶ þe kyng graunted hir grace · with a good wille

Excuse þe if thow canst · I can namore seggen

For conscience acuseþ þe · to congey þe for euere

¶ Nay lord quod þat lady · leues hym þe worse

Whan ye witen witerly · wher þe wronge liggeþ

Þer þat meschief is grete · Mede may {spede} helpe

And þow knowest conscience · I cam nouȝt to chide

Ne depraue þy persone with a proude herte

Wel þow wost wyrnard · but if þou wilt gabbe

Thow hast hanged on my halfN · elleuen tymes

And also griped my gold · gyue it wher þe liked

And why thow wratthest þe now · wonder me thynket

yet I may as I myȝte · menske þe with yiftes

And mayntene þy manhode · more þan þow knowestN

¶ And þou hast famed me foule · bifore þe kyng here

For kylled I neuere no kyng · ne conseild þer-after

Ne dede as þow demest I do on þe kynge

¶ In normandye was he nouȝt · noyede for my sake

And þow þy-self sothly · schamedest hym ofte

Crope in-to a caban for colde of þy nailles

Wendest þat wyntre wolde haue lasted euere

And draddest to be dede · for a dym cloude

And hidest homward · for hongre of þy wombe

¶ With-oute pite pilour · pore men þow robbedest

And bare hir bras at þy bakke · to caleys to selle

Þer I laft with my lord his lif for to saue

I mad hise men mery · and mournyng lette

I batered hem on þe bake · and bolded hir hertes

And did hem hoppe for hope · to haue me at wille

Had I ben marchal of hise men · by marie of heuene

I dorste haue laide my lif · and no lasse wedde

He scholde haue be lord of þat lond · a lenthe and a brede

And also kyng of þat kitthe · his kynne for to helpe

Þe leste brolle of his kynne · a barones piere

¶ Cowardliche þow conscience conseilled hym þennes

To leuen his lordschip · for a litel siluer

That is þe richest reame · þat reyne ouer houeþ

It becommeth to a kyng þat kepeþ þe reame

To geue mede to men · þat mekeliche hym serueth

To aliens and to alle men · to honoure hem with gyftes

Mede makeþ hym be-loued · and for a man holden

Emperours and erlis and alle maner lordes

For yiftes han yong men · to rennen and to ride

The pope and alle prelates · presentz vnderfongen

And medeþ men hem-seluen · to meyntene hir lawes

Seruantz for hir seruice · we se wel þe sothe

Taken mede of hir maistres as þey mowe acorde

Beggers for hir biddyng · bidden men mede

Mynstralles for hir murthe · mede þey aske

Þe kyng haþ mede of hise men · to make pees in londe

Men þat techeþ children · craue of hem mede

Prestes þat preches þe pepyle to goode · asken mede

And masse pens and hire mete · at þe mele-tymes

Alkynnes crafty men crauen Mede · for hir prentys

Marchantz and Mede moot nede go togidres

No wight as I wene with-oute Mede may libbe

¶ Quod þe kyng to conscience by crist as me thynkeþ

Mede is wele worthy · the maistrie to haue

¶ Nay quod conscience to þe kyng · and kneled to þe erthe

Ther aren two maner of medes · my lorde with youre leue

Þat oon god of his grace · graunteþ in his blisse

To þo þat wol worchen · while þey ben here

The prophete preches þer-of · and put it in þe psaltre

¶Domine quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo :

Lord who schal whonye in þy wones · and with þyn holy seintes

Or resten in þyne holy hilles · þis askeþ dauid

And dauid assoilleþ it hym-self as the sauter telleth

Qui in gredietur / ingredietur sine maculo & operatur Iusticia :

¶ þo þat entren of on colour · and of one wille

And han wrouȝte werkes with right and with resoun

And he þat ne vseþ nauȝt · þe lif of vsurie

And enformeþ pore men · and purseueth treuthe

¶ Qui peccuniam suam non dedit ad vsuram & munera super Innocentum

And al þat helpeþ þe Innocent · and hold with þe rigtful

With-oute mede doþ hem goode · and þe treuþe helpeþ

Swich manere men my lord · schal haue þis first mede

Of god at a grete nede · whan þey gon hennes

¶ Ther is and otherLG Mede mesurelees þat maistres desireþ

To meyntene mysdoers · Mede þey take

And þer-of sayes þe sauter in a salmes ende

In quorum manibus iniquitates dextra eorum repleta est muneribus

And he þat gripeth hir gold · so me god helpe

Schal abye it bittre · or þe book lees

¶ Prestes and persons þat plesyng desireth

Þat takes Mede and moneie · for messe þat þey syngeþ

Takes hir mede here · as mathew vs techeþ

Amen amen recipiebant mercedem suam :

¶ That laborers and lowfolk / low folk · takeþ of hir maistres

It is no manere mede · but a resonabile hire

In marchandise {s} is no mede I may it wel a-wowe

It is a permutacion apertly · a peny-worth for anoþer

¶ And reddestow neuere Regum þow recraied mede

Why þe vengeaunce fel on saul and on his children

God sent to saul by samuel þe prophete

Þat agag of amalek and alle hise pepyle after

Shulde deye for a dede · þat don had hir eldres

¶ For-þy saide samuel to saul god hym-self hoteþ

Þe be buxome at is biddyng · His wil to ful-fille

Wende to Amalec with þyn ost and what þou fyndest þer sle it

Bernes and bestes · brynne hem to dede

Widewes and wyues · wommen and children

Mobles and vnmobles · and al þat þow myȝte fynde

Brenne it bere it nouȝt awey · be it neuere so riche

For mede nor for moneie · loke þow destruye it

Spille it and spare it nouȝt · thow schalt spede þe bettre

¶ And for he coueited hir catel · and þe kyng spared

Forbare hym and his bestes · bothe as þe bibile witnesseþ

Oþer-wise þan he was warned of þe prophete

God saide to samuel þat saul scholde deye

And al his sede for þat synne s{c}henfuliche ende

Swiche a myschefe Mede made · Saul þe kyng to haue

Þat god hated hym for euere · and alle hise heires after

The culorum of þis cas · kepe I nouȝt to schewe

An auenture it noyed men · none ende wol I make

For so is þis worlde went · with hem þat han power

Þat who-so sayeth hem sothes is sonnest I-blamed

¶ I conscience knowe þis · for kynde wit me it tauȝte

That reson schal renge / re[gn]e · an reames gouerne

And riȝt as agag hadde · happe schulle somme

Samuel schal sleen hym · and saul schal be blamed

And dauid schal be diademede · and daunten hem alle

And oon cristene kyng kepen hem alle

¶ Schal namore Mede be Maistre as scho is nouþe

And loue and lewednese and leaute togideres

Þise schul be Maistres of molde trouthe to saue

And who-so trespasseþ ayein treuþe · or takeþ ayein his wille

Leaute schal don hym lawe · and no lief elles

Schal no sergeant for hir seruice · were a silk howue

Ne no pelure in his cloke · for pledyng atte barre

Mede of mysdoers · makeþ many lordes

And ouer lordes lawes · reules þe reames

¶ And kynde loue shal come yet · and conscience togidires

And make of lawe a laborer · swich loue schal arise

And swich a pees among þe pepyle · and a parfit treuþe

Þat Iues schal wene in hir wit · and waxen wonder glade

Þat Moises or Messie be come into þis erthe

And haue wonder in hir hertes · þat men beþ so trewe

Alle þat bereþ baselard · brode-swerd or launce

Axe ouþer hachet · or any wepene elles

Schal ben demed to þe deth · but if he do it smythe

In-to sykel or to siþe · to share or to culter

Conflabunt gladios suos in vomeres & cetera

Eche man to playe with a plowe pikeys or spade

Spynne or sprede donge · or spille hym-self with sleuþe

¶ Prestes and persons · with placebo to hunte

And dyngen vp-on dauid ech a day til eue

Hunttyng or haukyng · if any of hem vse

His boste of his benefice · worþ bynome hym after

Schal neiþer kyng ne knyȝt · Conestable ne Meire

Ouerlede þe comune · ne to þe Court sompne

Ne put hem in panel · to don hem pliȝte hir trouþe

But after þe dede þat is don · oon dome schale reward

Mercy or no mercy · as trouþe wol acorde

¶ Kynges Court and comune Court Consistorie and chapitle

Al shal be but o{n}on Court and on be Iustice

Thanne worth trewe tonge a tidy man þat tened me neuereC

Batailles schal non be · ne no man bere wepene

And what smyth þat any smyteth · be smyte þerwith to deþe

Non leuabit gens contra gentem gladium & cetera :

¶ And er þis fortune falle · fynde men schal þe worste

Bi sex sonnes and a shippe · and half a schef of arwes

And þe mydel of a mone schal make þe Iewes to torne

And saracenes for þat siȝte shul synge Gloria in excelsis & cetera

And Makometh an Mede myshappe schal þat tyme

For melius est bonum nomen quam diuicie multeN

¶ Also wroth as þe wynde · wex Mede in a while

I kane no latyn quod she clerkes wote þe soþe

Se what salamon seiþ in sapience bokes

Þat hij þat yeueþ giftes · þe victorie wynneþ

And muche worschip hadde þerwith · as holy writ telleþ

Honorem adquiret qui dat munera & cetera

¶ I leue wel lady quod conscience þat þy latyn be trewe

An thow art like a lady · þat radde a lesson ones

Was omnia probate and þat plesed hir herte

For that lyne was no langer · atte leues ende

Had she loked þat other half and þe leef torned

Sche schulde haue founden · fele wordes folwyng þer-after

Quod bonum est tenete · Treuthe that texte made

¶ And so ferde ye madame ye koude namore fynde

Þo ye loked on sapience sittyng in youre studie

this texte þat ye han tolde · were good for lordes

And yow failled a konnynge clerc · þat kouþe þe leef haue tornedC

And if ye seke sapience eft fynde schal ye þat folweth

A ful teneful tixte to hem þat takeþ Mede

And þat is · animam autem aufert accipientium & cetera :

And þat is þe taille of þe tixte · of þat ye schewede

Þat þeiȝ we wynne worschip · and with mede haue victorie

Þe soule þat þe soude takeþ · bi so muche is bounde