John Foxe's Book of Martyrs

1570

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145	King Lucius.

The second booke contayning the next. 300. yeres following, with such thinges specially touched, as haue bene done in England, from the tyme of Kyng Lucius, to Gregorius, and so after to the tyme of Kyng Egebert.

BY these persecutions hetherto in the booke before precedent, thou maiest vnderstande (Christian Reader) how the fury of Satā & rage of men, haue done what they coulde to extinguish the name & religion of Christ. For what thing did lack, that eyther death coulde doo, or tormentes could worke, or the gates of hell coulde deuise: all was to the vttermost attempted. And yet all the furye & malice of Satan, al the wysdome of the world, & strēgth of men, doing, deuising, practising what they coulde: not withstanding the religion of Christ (as thou seest, hath had the vpper hand. Which thing I wysh thee greatlye gentle Reader, wysely to note, and diligently to ponder, in considering these former histories. And because thou canst not consider them, nor profit by them, vnlesse thou do first reade & peruse them:

A petition to the reader, diligently to read ouer the former booke of the x. persecutions.

let me craue therefore thys much at thyne handes, to turne and reade ouer the sayd histories of those persecutiōs aboue described: especially aboue al þ^e other histories of this present volume: for thy special edificatiō, which I trust shal redoūd to thee þ^e reader therof. Now because þ^e tyeng vp of Satā geueth to the church some rest, & to me some leysure to addres my self, to þ^e hādling of other stories: I mind therfore (Christ wylling) in this present booke, leauing a while the tractacion of these generall affayres, partaining to the vniuersal church: to prosecute such domestical histories, as more neare concerne this our country of England and Scotland, done here at home: beginning first with kyng Lucius, wyth whom the fayth first began here in thys realme, as the sentence of the some writers doth holde.

The fyrst planting of christen faith in England.
Question.

And for somuch here may ryse, yea & doth ryse, a great controuersie in these our popish dayes, concernyng the first origine and plāting of the faith in this our realme: it shall not be greatlye out of our purpose, somewhat to stay and say of this question, whether the church of England first receiued the fayth from Rome or not. The whiche, although I graunt so to be, yet being so graūted, it litle auayleth the purpose of them which would so haue it:

Whether Christiā religion in this realme came firste frō Rome.

forgyng this, that England had fyrst receaued þ^e christiā fayth and religion frō Rome. Clxxx. yeares after Christ: and also in the tyme of Austen, whom Gregorye sent hether. DC. yeares after Christ. Yet their purpose foloweth not therby, that we must therfore fetch our religion from thence still, as from the chiefe welhead and fountayne of all godlines.

Answer.

And yet as they are not able to proue the second, so neyther haue I any cause to graunt the fyrst: that is, þ^t our Christian fayth was first deriued frō Rome, which I may proue by. vj. or vij. good coniecturall reasons. Wherof, the first I take of the testimony of

Gildas.

Gildas, our countrymā, who in his historie affirmeth playne, that Britanie receaued the Gospell in the tyme of Tiberius þ^e Emperour, vnder whom Christ suffered. Lib. De victoria, Aurelij Ambrosij.

Tertullianus lib. cōtra iudeos

And sayth moreouer þ^t Ioseph of Arimathie after the dispersion of þ^e Iewes, was sent of Philip þ^e Apostle frō Fraunce to Britaine, about the yeare of our Lorde. 63. and here remained in thys land all hys tyme: and so with hys fellowes, layd the fyrst foundation of Christian fayth among the Britaine people. Wherupon other preachers and teachers comming afterward confirmed the same, & encreased it.

A petition to the reader, diligently to read ouer the former booke of the x. persecutions.

The fyrst planting of christen faith in England.
Question.

Whether Christiā religion in this realme came firste frō Rome.

Answer.

Gildas.

Tertullianus lib. cōtra iudeos

2.
Ex Tertul. cōtra Iudeos.

2 The second reason is out of Tertullian, who liuyng neare about, or rather somwhat before the tyme of thys Eleutherius, in hys booke Contra Iudæos, manifestlye importeth the same: where the said Tertulliā testifieng howe the Gospell was dispersed abroade by the sounde of the Apostles, and there reckening vppe the Medes, Persians, Parthians, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, Iewry, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Egipt, Pamphilia, with manye mo, at length commeth to the coastes of the Moorians, and al the borders of Spaine: with diuers nacions of Fraunce, and ther amongest all other reciteth also the partes of Britayne, whiche the Romanes could neuer attayne to, & importeth the same now to be subiect to Christ, as also reckeneth vp the places of Sarmatia, of the Danes, the Germanes, the Scithians, with many other prouinces and Iles to him vnknowen: in al which places sayth he, reigneth the name of Christ, which now beginneth to be common. Thys hath Tertullian. Note here, howe among other diuers beleuing nations, he mencioneth also the wildest places of Britayne to be of the same number. And these in hys tyme were christened, who was in þ^e same Eleutherius tyme, as is aboue sayd. Then, was not Pope Eleutherius, the first whych sent the Christian fayth into thys realme, but the Gospell was here receiued before hys tyme, eyther by Ioseph of Arimathia, as some Chronicles recorde, or by some of the Apostles or of their scholers, which had bene here preaching Christ, before Eleutherius wrote to Lucius.

2.
Ex Tertul. cōtra Iudeos.

3.
Ex Origene hom. 4. in Ezechi.

3 My thyrd probation I deduct our of Origen, Home. 4. in Ezechielem, whose woordes be these: Britanniam in Christianam consentire religionem. Wherby it appereth that the fayth of Christ was sparsed here in Englād before the dayes of Eleutherius.

3.
Ex Origene hom. 4. in Ezechi.

4.
Ex Beda.

4 For my fourth probation I take the testimonye of Bede, where he affirmeth that in hys tyme, and almost a thousand yeare after Christ, here in Britaine: Easter was kept after the maner of the East church, in the full moone: what day in the weeke so euer it fell on, and not on the sonday, as we do now. Wherby it is to be collected, that the first preachers in this lande, haue come out from the East part of the world, where it was so vsed, rather then from Rome.

4.
Ex Beda.

5.
Ex Nicephoro. lib. 2. cap. 40.

5 Fiftly I maye alledge the woordes of Nicephorus, lib. 2. cap. 40. where he saith, þ^t Simō Zelotes did spread þ^e Gospel of Christ to the west Oceane, and brought the same vnto the Iles of Britayne.

5.
Ex Nicephoro. lib. 2. cap. 40.

6.
Ex Pet. Cluniacensi ad Bernardum.

6 Sixtly may be added here also the wordes of Petrus Cluniacensis, who wryting to Bernard, affirmeth that þ^e Scots in hys tyme did celebrate their Easter, not after the Romane manner, but after the Greekes. &c. And as the sayde Britaines were not vnder the Romane order in the time of this Abbot of Cluniake: so neyther were they nor would be, vnder þ^e Romane Legate, in the time of Gregory: nor would admit any primacie of the Byshop of Rome, to be aboue them.

6.
Ex Pet. Cluniacensi ad Bernardum.

7.
Ex epist. Eleutherū ad Lucinm.

7 For the seuenth argument, moreouer I may make my probation by the playne wordes of Eleutherius, by whose epistle written to king Lucius, we maye vnderstand, þ^t Lucius had receaued the fayth of Christ in his land, before þ^e king sent to Eleutherius for the Romain lawes: for so the expresse wordes of the letter doe manifestly purporte, as hereafter followeth to be seene. By al which cōiectures, it may stād probably to be thought, that the Britaines were taught firste by the Grecians of the East church, rather then by the Romanes.

7.
Ex epist. Eleutherū ad Lucinm.

Peraduenture Eleutherius might helpe somethyng, eyther to conuert the kyng, or els to encrease the fayth then newly sprong among the people: but that he precisely was the first, that cannot be proued. But graunt he were, as in dede the most part of our English stories cō-

fesse,

n.j.

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