CAP. XX.
Yet of the holy citie of Hierusalem.
bell tower
AND ye shall understand that whan men fyrst come to Hierusalem, they go fyrste a pylgrimage to the Church, where that the holy grave is, the whiche is out of the citie on the North syde, but it is now closed in with the wall of the towne, and there is a full fayre church rounde, all open aboue, and well covered withleede and on the west syde is a fayre toure and a strong for belles.
And in the middes of the church is a Tabernacle made like a little house, in maner of halfe a compasse, ryght well and richly of gold and asure and other coloures well dyght & on the ryght syde is the sepulchre of oure Lorde, and the tabernacle is viii foote long and v fote wide and xi fote of height. And it is not longe sythen the sepulchre was all open, ytmen might kysse it and touche it: but for men that came thether payned1them to breake the stones in peces or pouder, therefore the Soudan hath made a wall about the sepulchre that no man may touch it. On the lefte syde is no wyndowe, but therein is many lampes light, and there is a lampe that hangeth before the sepulcre lyght brenning and on the fryday it goeth oute by itselfe, and lyghteth againe by itselfe at the houre that our Lorde rose from death to life. And within that church upon that right side is the mount Calvary, where our Lord was done on the crosse, and the crosse was sette in a morteys2in the roche that is white of coloure, and a lyttle redde medled3with, and upon that roche dropped the bloude of the woundes of our Lord whan he was pained on the crosse & that is called Golgatha and men go up to that Golgatha upon greces.4And in that mortays was Adams head founde after Noyes flood, in token that the sinnes of Adam, shoulde bee boughte in the same place, and aboue that roche made Abraham sacryfice to our Lord, and there is an auter,5and before that auter lyeth Godfry of Boleyn,6Bawdewyn7and other that were Christen and kinges of Hierusalem. And ther as our Lord was done8upon thecrosse, is thys wrytten in greke,Otheos9basylon, ysmon persemas, ergaste sothyas oyos. That is to say in latine,Hic Deus Rex noster ante secula operatus est salutem in medio terræ, That is to saye, This God our King before worldes, hath wrought healthe in the myddes of the earth. And also upon the roche where the crosse was fyxed is wrytten within the roche,Eros10guyst basys, thou, pestes, thoy, thesmoysy. That is to say in latin,Quod vides est fundamentum totius mundi et hujus fidei. And it is to saye, that thou seest, is grounde of all the world and of this faith. And ye shall understande that our Lorde whan he dyed was thyrty & two11yeare olde and three monethes and the prophecie of David sayth that he should haue xl yeares, when he saith thus.Quadraginta annis proximus fui generatione huic, that is to say, fourtie yeare was I neighbour to this kinde, and thus it should seme that prophecie were not sothe,12but it is. For in olde time men called yeares of ten monethes of the which Marche was the fyrst & December the last. But Cayus Cezar13that was Emperour of Rome dyd sette to these two moneths Januarie & Februarie and ordeyned the yere of xii months. That is to say ccc14dayes without lepe yere the proper course of the sonne and therefore after the accompting of x moneths to the yeare, he dyed in xl yeare and three moneths.
the pillar and three other pillars
Also within mounte Calvary at the ryghte syde is there an aulter where the piller lyeth that our Lorde wasbound to when he was scourged and thereby are three15other pyllers that alwaye drop water, and some saye that those pyllers weepe for our Lords death, and neare this aulter in a place xlii grees16depe was founde the verye crosse by the assent17of sainct Eleyn18under a roch where the Jewes had hydde it and it was assayed, for they founde three crosses, one of our Lorde and two of theves. And Saint Elene assayed them on a dead body that rose as sone as the very19crosse of our Lordewas laid on him. And thereby, in the vale, is the place where the foure nayles of our Lord were hyd, for he had two nayles in his handes and two in his fete, and one of those nailes the Emperour of Constantinople20dyde make a bridell for his horse to beare him in bataile, for by21the vertue that it had, he overcame his enimies, and wan22all the land of Asye, Turky, Damasse the more23and the lesse, Surrey and Hierusalem, Araby, Percy, and Mesopotamy, the Kingdome of Alabe,24Egipt the high and the lowe, and other kingdomes many full nyghe all unto Ethyope the low, and also unto Inde the lesse, that then was chrysten. And there was in that tyme many good men and holy hermits, of whome the booke of25the fathers lyves speaketh, and they are now in Paynims & Sarasins handes, but whan God will righte26as these landes are lost through sinne of Christen men, so shall they be won againe by christen men throygh the helpe of God. And in the myddes of this Church is a compasse,27in the which Joseph of Armath28layd the body of our Lord whan he had taken him of29the crosse & upon the same place dyd he wash the fete of our Lorde, & that compasse men say is in the myddes of the world.
1:Tried hard.2:Mortise.3:Mixed.4:Steps.5:Altar.6:Bouillon.7:Baldwin.8:Placed.9:Should readὉ θεὸς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν πρὸ αἰώνων εἰργάσατο σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς.10:Should readὋ εἲδες, ἐστὶ βάσις τῆς πίστεως ὅλης τοῦ κόσμου τούτου.11:Other editions have 33 years and 3 months.12:Sooth, true.13:Caius Julius Cæsar.14:Other editions give the proper number of days,viz., 365.15:Other editions say four, which is the number represented in the engraving.16:Paces.17:Perception, or sagacity.Lat., sensus.18:Helena, mother of Constantine.19:True, veritable.20:Another is said to be incorporated in the so-called Iron Crown of Lombardy. Guisto Fontanini, Archbishop of Ancyra, gives a list of twenty-three places claiming to have a nail—Venice havingthree. M. Rohault de Fleury gives six more—whilst, according to tradition, Helena sent two to her son, and threw one in the sea to still a storm, thus leaving but one to meet all demands.21:Through.22:Won or conquered.23:Greater.24:Aleppo.25:The Vitæ Sanctorum Patrum, many old printed copies of which exist.26:When God thinks fit.27:A linen swathing-band.28:Arimathæa.29:Off.
1:Tried hard.
2:Mortise.
3:Mixed.
4:Steps.
5:Altar.
6:Bouillon.
7:Baldwin.
8:Placed.
9:Should readὉ θεὸς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν πρὸ αἰώνων εἰργάσατο σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς.
10:Should readὋ εἲδες, ἐστὶ βάσις τῆς πίστεως ὅλης τοῦ κόσμου τούτου.
11:Other editions have 33 years and 3 months.
12:Sooth, true.
13:Caius Julius Cæsar.
14:Other editions give the proper number of days,viz., 365.
15:Other editions say four, which is the number represented in the engraving.
16:Paces.
17:Perception, or sagacity.Lat., sensus.
18:Helena, mother of Constantine.
19:True, veritable.
20:Another is said to be incorporated in the so-called Iron Crown of Lombardy. Guisto Fontanini, Archbishop of Ancyra, gives a list of twenty-three places claiming to have a nail—Venice havingthree. M. Rohault de Fleury gives six more—whilst, according to tradition, Helena sent two to her son, and threw one in the sea to still a storm, thus leaving but one to meet all demands.
21:Through.
22:Won or conquered.
23:Greater.
24:Aleppo.
25:The Vitæ Sanctorum Patrum, many old printed copies of which exist.
26:When God thinks fit.
27:A linen swathing-band.
28:Arimathæa.
29:Off.