Passus nonus vt prius
to taken his teme / and tilion þe erthe
And purchasede hym apardoun / a pardoun / A pena & A culpa
For hym and his ayres / for euere to ben assoiled
And bad hym holden hym at hoem / and eryen his leyes
And alle þat holpe hym to erye / to sette or to sowe
Kynges and knyhtes þat holykyrke / holy kyrke defenden
And ryhtfulliche in reumes / ruylen þe comune
Haen pardon thorw purgatorye / to passe ful lyhtly
With patriarkes and prophetes / in paradis to sitton
Bishopis y-blessed / yf they ben as they sholde
Lele and fol of loue / and no lord drede
Merciable to meke / and mylde to þe gode
And bitynge in badde men / but yf they wol amende
drede nat for no deth / to distruye by here power
Lechery amonges lordes / and here luyther custumes
And suche liue as þei lereth men / oure lord treuthe hem graunteth
To be {peres} C to þe apostles / alle peple to reule
And deme with hem at domes-day / bothe quyke and dede
Marchauntes in þe margine / hadde many ȝeres
Ac no pena & a culpa / no treuthe wolde hem graunte
For they holde nat here haliday / as holichirch / holi chirch hem hoteth
And for they swore by here soule / and god mote hem helpe
Aȝen clene Consience / for couetyse of wynnynge
Ac vnder his secrete seal / treuthe sente hem a lettre
That bad hem bugge boldly / what hem best likede
And sethe sullen hit aȝeyn / and saue þe wynnynges
Amende mesondewes þerwith / and myseyse men fynde
And wyckede wayes / with here goed amende
And brugges to-brokene / by the heye wayes
Amende in som manere wyse / and mayndones / ma[y]dones helpe
Pore peple bedredene / and prisones in stokkes
Fynde hem for godes loue / and fauntkynes to scole
Releue Religion and renten hem bettere
And y shal sende ȝow my-sulue / seynt Mihel myn Angel
That no deuel shal ȝow dere / ne despeyre in ȝoure doynge
And sethe sende ȝoure soules / þer y my-sulue dwelle
And abyde þer in my blisse / body and soule for euere
Tho were Merchauntes mury / many wopen for ioye
Alle þe peple hadde pardon ynow / þat parfitliche lyuede
Men of lawe hadde lest / þat loth were to plede
But they pre manibus were payed for pledynge at þe barre
Ac he speneth his speche / and speketh for þe pore
That innocent and nedy is / and no man ha{l}rm wolde
That conforteth suche in eny caes / and coueyteth nat he / he[re] ȝiftes
And for þe loue of oure lord lawe for hem declareth
shal haue grace of agood / a good ende / and greet ioye aftur
Beth ywar ȝe wismen / and witty of þe lawe
For whenne ȝe drawe to þe deth / and indulgences wolde haue
His pardoun is ful petyt / at his partyng hennes
That mede of mene men / for here motynge taken
For hit is symonye / to sulle þat sent is of grace
And þat is wit and watur / and wynde and fuyre the ferthe
Thise foure sholde be fre / to alle folk þat hit nedede
Alle libbyng laborers / þat lyuen with here handes
Lellyche and lauhfollyche / oure lord t{e}reuthe hem graunteth
Beggares and Biddares beth nat / in þat bulle
Bote the sugestioun be soth / þat shapeth hym to begge
For he þat begeth or biddeth / but yf they haue nede
He is fals and faytour / and defraudeth the nedy
And also gileth hym þat gyueth / and taketh agayne his wille
For he þat gyueth for goddes loue · wolde nat gyue his thankes
Bote ther he wiste were wel grete nede
And moste merytorie / and to men þat {.}he ȝeueth fore
Catoun acordeth ther-with cui des videto
Woet no man as y wene / who is worthy to haue
Ac þat most neden / aren oure neyhebores T
And pore folk in cotes / charged with childrene
And chief lordes rente / þat they with spynnyng may spare
Spenen hit on hous huyre / bothe in mylke and in mele
To make with papelotes / to a-glotye with here gurles
That greden aftur fode / and hem-sulue also
Soffre muche hungur and wo / in wynter tymes
And wakynge on nyhtes to rise to þe reule to rokke þe cradel
Bothe to carde and to kembe / to cloute and to wasche
That reuthe is to rede / or in ryme shewe
The wo of this wommen / þat wonyeth in cotes
And of monye oþer men þat moche wo soffren
Bothe a-fyngred and afurste / to turne þe fayre outward
And ben a-basched for to begge / and wollen nat be aknowe
What hym nedede at here neyhebores / at noon and at eue
What other byhoueth / þat hath many childrene
And hath no catel but his craft / to clothe hym and to fede
And fele to fonge þerto / and fewe panes taketh
There is payne and peny ale / as for a pytaunce y-take
And colde flesche and fische / as venisoun were bake
C Fridays and fastyngdays / a ferthingworth of moskeles
Were afeste / a feste with suche folk / or so fele cockes
¶ These are Almusse to helpe / þat han suche charges
And to conforte suche coterelles / and crokede men and blynde
Ac beggares with bagges þe whiche brewhous ben here churches
But they be blynde or to-broke / or elles be syke
Thouh he falle for defaute / þat fayteth for his lyflode
reche ȝe neuere ȝe riche / Thouh suche lollares sterue
For alle þat haen here hele / and here ye-syhte
And lymes to labory with / and lollares lyf vsen
Lyuen aȝen goddes lawe / and þe lore of holi churche
Ac ȝut ar ther oþere beggares / in hele as hit semeth
Ac hem wanteth wyt / men and women bothe
The whiche aren lunatyk lollares / and lepares aboute
And madden as þe mone sit / more other lasse
Careth they for no colde / ne counteth of non hete
And aren meuynge aftur þe mone moneyeles þey walke
With a good witt witteles / mony wyde contreyes
Riht as Peter dede and poul / saue þat þey preche nat
Ne none muracles maken / Ac many tymes hem happeth
To profecye of þe peple / pleinge as hit were
And to oure syhte as hit semeth / seth god hath þe myhte
To ȝeue vch a wyht wyt / welthe and his hele
And suffreth suche go so / it semeth to myn inwyt
Hit aren as his postles suche peple / or as his priue disciples
For a LX sent hem forth seluerles / in a somur garnement
With-oute bagge and bred / as þe book telleth
{Or}Quando misi vos / sine pane & pera & cetera
Barfoot and bredles / beggeth they of no man
A LX reuerenseth hym ryht nauhte / no rather then another
¶ Nemini salutauerit per viam
Suche manere men matheu vs techeth
¶ Et egenos vagos induc in domum tuam
For hit aren murye mouthed men / munstrals of heuene
And godes boys bourdyors / as the book telleth
¶ Siquis / Si quis videtur sapiens / fiet stultus vt sit sapiens
And alle manere munstrals / me woet wel þe sothe LX
To vnderfongen hem fayre / byfalleth for þe ryche
For þe lordes loue or þe ladyes / þat they with longen
Men suffreth al þat suche sayen / and in solace taketh
And ȝut more to suche men / me doth ar they passe
Me syueth / [g]yueth hem giftes and gold / for grete lordes sake
Ryht so ȝe ryche / ȝut rather ȝe sholde
Welcomen and worschipen / and with ȝoure goed helpen
Godes munstrals and his mesagers / and his mury bordiours
The whiche lunatyk loreles / and lepares aboute
For vnder godes secret seal here synnes ben keuered
For they bereth none bagges / ne boteles vnder clokes
The whiche is lollarne lyf / P and lewede Ermytes
Loken louhliche to lache men Almesse
In hope to sitte at euen / by þe hote coles
Vnlouke his legges abrood / or ligge at his ese
Reste hym and roste / and his rug turne
drynke druie and depe / and drawe hym thenne to bedde
And whenne hym lyketh and luste / his leue is to ryse
And when he is rysen rometh out / and riȝt wel aspyeth
Where he may rathest haue a repaest / or a ronde of bacoun
Suluer or sode mete / and sum-tyme bothe
Loef oþer half loef / other alompe / a lompe of chese
And cayreth hit hoem to his cote / and cast hym to lyuene
In idelnesse and in ese / and by otheres trauayle
And what freke on this folde / fiscuth aboute
And can eny craft in caes / he wolde hit vse
Thorw which craft a LX couthe come / to bred and to ale
For-thy lollares þat lyuen in sleuthe / and ouer-land strikares
Buth nat in this bulle quod {Peres /} til they ben amended
Ne no beggare þat beggeth / but yf they haue nede
The boek banneth beggarie / and blameth hit in this manere
¶ Iunior fui{e} &-enim senui / e / e[t] alibi infirmata est vertus mea paupertate
Hit nedeth nat nouthe / anoon for to preche
And lere this lewede men / what þis latyn meneth
For hit blameth all beggarie / be ȝe ful certayn
For they lyue in no loue / ne no lawe holden
Ne weddeth none wymmen / þat they with deleth
Bringeth forth bastardus / beggares of kynde
Or þe bak or som bon þey breke / of here children
And goen and fayten with here fauntes for euere-more aftur
Ther aren mo mysshape / amonges suche beggares
Then of many oþere men / þat in this molde walken
And tho þat lyueth thus here lyf / leue ȝe non other
{..}Þai haue no part of pardoun / ne of preyeres ne of penaunces
Ac olde and hore / þat helples ben and nedy
And wymmen with childe / þat worche ne mowe
Blynde and bedredne / and broken in here membres
And alle pore pacient / apayed of goddes sonde
As mesels and mendenantes / men y-falle in meschief
As prisones and pilgrimes / and parauntur men y-robbed
Or by-lowe thorw luther men / and lost here catel aftur
Or thorw fuyr or thorw floed / y-falle in-to pouerte
That taketh thise meschiefes / mekeliche and myldeliche at herte
For loue of here lowe hertes / oure lord hath hem y-graunted
Here penaunce and here purgatorie vppon this puyre erthe
And pardon with the plouhman A pena & a culpa
And alle holy Eremytes / haue shal þe same
Ac Ermytes þat inhabiten / by the heye weye
And in borwes among brewesteres / and beggen in churches
Al þat holy Ermytes / hatede and despisede
As rychesses and reuerences / and ryche menne Almesse
Thise lollareslache draweres / lollares lache-draweres / lewede Ermytes
Coueyten þe contraye / for as coterelles they libbeth
For hit ben but boyes / bollares at þe ale
Noyther of lynage ne of lettrure ne lyf-holy as Ermytes
That wonede whilom in wodes / with beres and lyons
Summe hadde lyflode of his lynage / and of no lyf elles
And summe lyuede by here letterure / and labour of here handes
And somme hadde foreynes to frendes / þat hem fode sente
And briddes brouhte somme bred / þat they by lyuede
Al they holy Ermytes / were of heye kynne
forsoken lond and lordschipe / and alle lykynges of body
Ac thise Ermytes þat edifien thus / by the heye weye
Whilen were werkmen / webbes and taylours
And carteres knaues / and Clerkes with-outen grace
Holden ful hungry hous / and hadde muche defaute
Long labour and litte wynnynge / and at the laste they aspyde
That faytede in frere clothinge / hadde fatte chekes
And clothed hem in copes / clerkes as hit were
Or oen of som ordre / or elles aprofete / a profete
Aȝen þe lawe he lyueth / yf latyn be trewe
¶ Non licet uobis legem voluntati / set voluntat{.}em coniungere legi
Kyndeliche by Crist / ben suche y-cald lollares
As by þe engelisch of oure eldres / of olde mennes techynge
He þat lolleth is lame / or his leg out of ioynte
Or y-maymed in som membre / for to meschief hit souneth
Rihte so sothly / such manere Ermytes
Lollen aȝen þe byleue / and þe lawe of holy churche
For holy churche hoteth alle manere peple
Vnder obedience to be / and buxum to þe lawe
Furste Religious of religioun / a reule to holde
And vnder obedience be / by dayes and by nyhtes
Lewede men to labory / lordes to honte
In frithes and in forestes / for fox and other bestes
That in wilde wodes been / or in waste places
As wolues þat wuryeth men wymmen and childrene
And vppon sonendayes to cese goddes seruice tohere / to here
Bothe matynes and masse / and aftir mete in churches
To heren here euensong / euery man ouhte
Thus hit by-longeth for lordes / for lered and for lewed
Vcche haly-day to here / holly þe seruise
Vigilies and fastyngdays / forther-more to knowe
And fulfille tho fastynges / but infirmite hit made
pouerte or oþer penaunces as pilgrimages and trauayles
Vnder this obedience / ar we vchone
And ho-so breketh this be wel waer / but yf he repente
Amenden P hym and mercy aske / and mekeliche hym shryue
Y drede me and he dey / hit worth for o dedly synne
Acounted byfore god / but Consience excuse hym
Loke now where this lollares and lewede Ermites
Yf they breke þis obedience / þat beth so fer fram chirche
Where se we hem on sonendayes / the seruise to here
As matynes by þe morwe / til masse by-gynne
Or sonendayes at euensong / se we wel fewe
Or labory for here lyflode / as þe lawe wolde
¶ Ac aboute mydday at mele-tyme / y mette with hem ofte
Somme in his cope / as he a Clerk were
And forth / fo[r] þe cloth þat keuereth hym / ykald he is a frere
Wascheth and wypeth / and with þe furste sitteth
He sat at þe syde benche / and at þe seconde table
Cam no wyn in his wombe / thorw þe woke longe
Ne no blanked on his bed / ne whyte bred byfore hym
The cause of al this caytiftee / cometh of many bischopes
That soffreth suche sottes / and oþere synnes regne
Certes ho-so durste sygge hit / Simon quasi dormit
Vigilare were fayrere / for thow haste a greet charge
For many wakere wolues / ar wroken in-to thy foldes
Thy berkeres aren as blynde / that bringeth forth thy lombren
¶ dispergentur oues / þe dogge dar nat berke
The tarre is vntydy / þat to þe shep bylongeth
Her salue is of supersedeas / in sumnoures boxes
Thy shep ben ner al shabbede / the wolf shyt wolle
¶ Sub molli pastore & cetera
How herde where is thyn hond / and thyn hardy herte
For to go wurye þe wolf that the wolle foureth / fou[l]eth
Y leue for thy lacchesse · thow lesest many wetheres
And many a fayre flees / falsliche is y-wasche
When thy lord loketh to haue / allouaunce of his bestes
And of þe moneye thow haddest ther-with / his mebles to haue
And þe wolle worth weye / wo is the thenne
¶ Redde racionem villicacionis / or in arrerage fall
Thyn huyre herde as y hope / hath nat to quyte thy dette
Ther as mede ne mercy / may nat amyte / a myte a-vaille
But haue this for þat / tho þat thow toke
Mercy for mede / and my lawe breke
Loke now for thy lacchesse / what lawe wol the graunte
Purgatorie for thy paie / Ore / O[r] perpetuel helle
For shal no pardon preye for ȝow there / ne no princes lettres
For y can construe vch a word / and kennen hit the an englische
And y by-hynde hem bothe / by-held alle þe bulle
In two lynes as hit lay / and nat alettre / a lettre more
And was y-wryte ryhte thus / in witnesse of treuthe
¶ Et qui bona egerunt / ibunt in vitam eternam
Qui vero mala / in ignem eternam / etern[u]m
Peter quod the prest tho / y kan no pardoun fynde
Bote dowel and haue wel / and shal haue thy soule
And do yuele and haue euele / and hope thow non oþere
Bote he þat euele lyueth / euele shal ende
The prest thus and the perkyn / of þe pardon iangelede
And y thorw here wordes a-woke / and waytede aboute
And seyh the sonne in the souhe / sou[t]he / sitte þat tyme
Meteles and moneyles / on Maluerne hulles
Musyng on this meteles / A myle way y ȝede
Mony tyme this meteles / hath maked me to studie
Of that y seyh slepynge / if hit so be myhte
And of {Peres} the {plouhman} fol pencyf in herte
And which a pardoun {Peres} hadde / the peple to glade
And how þe prest inpugnede hit / throw two propre wordes
Ac men setteth nat by sowngewarie for me seth hit often fayle
¶ Caton counteth hit at nauht / and Canonistres at lasse
Ac for þe boek bible / bereth witnesse
How danyel deuynede / and vndede þe dremes of kynges
Of Nabugodonasor / þat no pere hadde
And sethen aftur his sones / and sayde hem what they thouhte
And Ioseph mette merueilously / how þe mone and þe sonne
And thenne Iacob iuged / {Iop} Iosepes sweuene
Beau fitz quod the fadur / for defaute we shal
Y my-sulue and my sones / seche the for nede
Hit biful as his fadur saide / in farao his tyme
That Ioseph was Iustice / Egipte to saue
His eleuene bretherne / hym for nede souhte
And his faur Isaak / and also his dame
Al this maketh me / on meteles to studie
And how þe prest preuede / no pardon to do wel
And demede þat dowel / indulgences passeth
Bionales and trionales / and bisshopes lettres
For ho-so doth wel here / at þe day of dome
Worth fayre vnderfonge / byfore god þat tyme
So dowel passeth pardoun / and pilgrimages to Rome
Ȝut hat þe pope power / pardoun to graunte
To peple with-outen penaunce / to passe in-to ioye
As lettrede men vs lereth / and lawe of holichurche / holi churche
¶ Quodcumque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum & in celis
And so y leue lely / lord forbede elles
That pardoun and penaunces and preyere don saue
Soules þat haue syneged / seuene sythes dedly
Ac to triste vp this trionales / treuly me thynketh
Hit is nat so syker for þe soule / certes as y dowel
For-thy y rede ȝow renkes / þat riche ben on this erthe
Vp truste of ȝoure tresor / trionales to haue
Be ȝe neuere þe baldere / t{r}o breke þe ten hestes
And manliche ȝe maistres / mayres and iuges
That haen the welthe of this world / and wise men ben holde
To purshace ȝow pardoun / and the popes bulles
At þe dredful dome when dede shullen ryse
And comen alle bifore Crist / acountes to ȝelde
How we ladde oure lyf here / and his lawes kepte
And how we dede day be day / the doem wol reherce
A pouhe ful of pardon / there ne prouinciales lettres
Thow we befounden / be founden in the fraternite / of alle fyue ordres
And haue indulgences doublefold / but dowel vs helpe
Y sette nat by pardon a pese / ne nat a pye hele
For-thy y consayle alle cristene / to crye god mercy
And marie his moder / be oure mene to hym
That god gyue vs grace here / ar we go hennes
Suche werkes to worche / the while we ben here
That aftur oure deth-day / dowel reherce
At þe day of dome we dede as he tauhte Amen
passus
+ C
de
passus
coterelis feste LX
lunatyk lollares
de
passus
// by-hold hyer
of lollarne childre
of lollarne childre
de
passus
// Hyere mette
wille wyt lollare
to þe meteward
wille wyt lollare
to þe meteward
de
passus
// a somple of
sweuenys
sweuenys
de
· 9us ·
visione
· 9us ·
Barfoot and bredles
visione
propure lollares LX
· 9us ·
visione
// notate ȝe lewede
ermytes
ermytes
· 9us ·
visione
notate episcopi
// Hyer a prest askyd
persis bull to rede
persis bull to rede
· 9us ·
Dowel
// notate de indulgennces / indulge[n]ces P
& pardones & trionales
& pardones & trionales
visione Incipit