Freers, Freers Wo Ye Be

by: James M. Dean (Editor)

from: Medieval English Political Writings  1996

(Trinity College Cambridge MS 1144 fol. 58v)

5                    10                    15                    20                    25                            30                    35                    40

Freers, freers, wo ye be, ministri malorum! For many a mannes soule brynge ye ad penas inffernorum Whan seyntes ffelle ffryst ffrom heven, quo prius habitabant In erthe leyfft tho synnus seven et ffratres communicabant Folness was the ffryst ffloure quem ffratres pertulerunt For folnes and fals derei multi perierunt Freers, ye can weyl lye, ad ffalandum gentem And weyl can blere a mannus ye pecunias habentem. Yf thei may no more geytte, fruges petunt isti For folnes walde thei not lette, qui non sunt de grege Cristi Lat a ffreer off sum ordur, tecum pernoctare Odur thi wyff or thi doughtor hic vult violare; Or thi sun he weyl prefur, sicut ffurtam ffortis God gyffe syche a ffreer peyn in inferni portis!         Thei weyl assayle boyth Jacke and Gylle, licet sint predones, 1 And parte off pennans take hem tylle, qui sunt latrones Ther may no lorde of this cuntré sic edifficare As may thes ffreers, were thei be, qui vadunt mendicare Mony-makers I trow thei be, regis proditores Therffore yll mowyth thei thee, ffalsi deceptores Fader ffyrst in Trinité, ffilius atque fflamen         Omnes dicant Amen.

woe be to you; (see note) ministers of evil     to the pains of hell first; (see note) who originally dwelt [there] (see note) and consigned them to the friars Foulness; first blossom; (see note) which the friars perfected; (see note) violence many perish lie to deceive people fool; eye to get money get they seek the first-fruits; (see note) would; cease who are not of Christ's flock of some order spend the night with you Either; (see note) he will want to violate son; will abduct like a strong thief give; pain at the gates of hell         will accost; (see note)         who are thieves country build in this way wherever who go about begging Counterfeiters traitors to the king For this may they ill prosper false deceivers     Son and Holy Ghost         Let all say Amen

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Footnotes

FREERS, FREERS, WO YE BE: FOOTNOTES

1 Lines 30-31: Although they are [normally] just petty thieves / who help themselves to the penance money

FREERS, FREERS, WO YE BE: NOTES

1 Freers. MS ffreers. Here and elsewhere in this poem I substitute F for initial ff. The manuscript lines are written as long lines, with the Latin ending each line. In these notes I do not record Wr's normalizations of the text in PPS, which include a for o in folnes and floure, final e on some words, doughtour for doughtor, etc. Wr reprints his PPS version in Reliquiae Antiquae.

5 Whan seyntes. There is a direct lineal descent from the fallen angels (here called seyntes) to the satanic friars.

7 synnus seven. The author alleges that the fallen angels transmitted the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, lust) directly to the friars. Wr, PPS, reads the for tho (MS þo).

9 ffloure. Wr, PPS, spells fflauré.

10 quem. Wr, RA and PPS, reads quae.

18 fruges. A reference to the first fruits of Romans 8:23 ("And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit"). See also PPC lines 728-29: "Right so fareth freres with folke opon erthe; / They freten up the furste-froyt and falsliche lybbeth."

23-25 Odur thi wyff . . . or thi sun. In antifraternal literature friars were alleged to be lecherous and untrustworthy, especially when they could enter homes. For a parallel see Preste, Ne Monke, Ne Yit Chanoun, lines 73-96.

29 Jacke and Gylle. Proverbial for every male and female. See Whiting, Proverbs, J2 and J7.