[Notes from 41/17-18 cont. to 70/22]

of power." In the Obedience Tyndale speaks of the place of the king as God's representative in the world: "The kinge is in the rowme of god in this world" (sigs. D₇v-D₈).

48/5 selle whome. I.e., "redeem for a price whomever."

48/16 Hebre. xi. Heb. 11:6.

49/4-5 open histories. Tyndale rarely cites his sources by name, although, as Hume (Study, p. 194) notes, he does refer to "platina [Platina] in the life of popes" (Practyse, Sig. C₆) and "the english polychronicon" (Practyse, Sig. F₂v). According to Hume (Study, pp. 198-199), "The three chief printed chronicles of English history available to him were Caxton's edition of The cronicles of Englond (1480); the English translation of Higden's Polycronycon . . . and Robert Fabyan's Chronicle (1516). It is not always clear which one Tyndale is using."

49/5-6 as well . . . sowthe. I.e. , "as well as [they know] it is noon when the sun is due south."

49/13 eare confession. See above, 48/10-11.

49/16-17 compellyd . . . compellyd. Supply "men" as object of both these verbs. This is an unusual use of this verb.

50/4 they. I.e., "the people" whom Tyndale claims could be made to "pay" for their sins.

50/6 presumption of workes. I.e., that penitential works in themselves are reparation for sins. Even though this was not church doctrine, it was a "presumption" underlying the attitudes of many in the church.

50/17 fastinge . . . euens. In the "Prologe" to Tyndale's The prophete Ionas he accuses the "ypocrites" of feigning "the sainctes moch moare cruell then ever was any heathen man & moare wrekefull and vengeable then ye poetes faine their godes or their furies yt torment ye soules in hell / if theyr evens be not fasted & their images visited & saluted wyth a Pater noster" (sig. A₃v).

50/21 offering . . . boxes. I.e., "putting money in their collection boxes."

51/1 to stroke . . . ignorant. The "lippes" are the organs of speech (OED 2). The metaphor of "stroking" works differently with "lippes & eyes," "to sooth the eyes and silence the lips of the uneducated" being perhaps the way to read this.

51/7 spirituall. 1531 reads spu_ll. Professor Richard Sylvester suggested that this is perhaps a printer's attempt to approximate sp_, a common medieval abbreviation for spiritu.

51/12 seruire elementis mundi. Cf. Gal. 4:3, "sub elementis mundi eramus servientes" (Vulgate), which Tyndale translated as "we . . . were in bondage vnder the ordinaunces of the worlde." Erasmus's Latin NT has "sub elementis mundi eramus in servitutem adacti."

51/17 Philip. ij. Phil. 2:15-16. Tyndale omits the first part of verse 15.

52/14 whan. I.e., "won." This is an obsolete past tense of "win" (OED). The 1537 and 1538 editions of the Exposition have "wanne," a more common sixteenth-century spelling of this form of the verb.

52/21 Matth. 5. Matt. 5:16.

53/3 the ensample of liuing do disagre. I.e., "the example of his life does contradict [his preaching]."

53/6 afrayed of S. Laurence? Because of the manner of his death by grilling, St. Lawrence was invoked for protection against fires (Bollandistes, Vies Des Saints, 9, 436). Tyndale argues that it was popular belief that failure to honor St. Lawrence would mean that the saint would allow or even cause a fire to harm people.

skin diseases. His statue has frequently been covered with a robe of wool (Bollandistes, Vies Des Saints, 1, 435). St. Anthony's "fire" was also called "burning sickness" or "sacred fire," and was later identified as erysipelas, a disease caused by grain damaged by ergot. This disease was epidemic In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (cf. Butler's Lives of the Saints, ed. H. Thurston and D. Attwater [New York, 1956], 1, 109).

53/11-12 El or Elohim . . . mighte. The primary meaning of "El" is strength or power. The plural, however, variously refers to "rulers" or "judge," "divine ones" (including God), and "angels" (A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament). But "or Elohim in the plurel numbre" may be understood as parenthetical. Thus Tyndale's translation of the Hebrew is accurate. See also above, 32/19 and n.

53/18-19 And he . . . the. I.e., "and God will not allow others to exercise his power over you." See above, 53/17-18, and below, 53/21 and 54/2.

54/14 popyshe . . . euen. I.e., "papal fantasy even." See above, n. to 39/10.

54/19-20 & feare thez aboue God. I.e., fear their commandments more than we fear God. The verb "feare" is coordinate with "honour" and "do" (54/18).

54/21 lyke abhomination. I.e., "a similar abomination." See below, 160/16 and n.

55/2 .i. Tim. ij. I Tim. 2:5.

55/3-4 aduouryes . . . adulterers. "Aduouryes" are patrons or advocates. The more common form is "avowry" (OED). The play on words, "better cal them oure adulterers" is in part dependent on the similarity of this word to some of the sixteenth-century variant forms of the words "adultery" (e.g. "advowtry") or "adulterer" (e.g. "advouterer").

55/5 poste. I.e., a block of wood, perhaps as a type of stupidity or ignorance (OED 1c). Tyndale is, of course, describing a statue. See also below, 66/22 and 120/2.

55/19 scholers. I.e., young students or pupils.

56/5 in their . . . seruice. I.e., the merits of the saints are applied to others in return of the worship of those saints' images.

57/1-6 most obedient . . . punyshe hym. Cf. the Confutation, 497/27-498/18, where More comments on Tyndale's use of the "good child" example in the Answer to More (sigs. C₃-C₄). For More's questioning of the basic assumptions of Tyndale's example, see the Confutation, 490/30-497/4. "That the childe etc." (57/4-6) might be paraphrased "so that the child could depend on his previous good record and feel that it was unjust for his father to punish him."

57/9-10 presumption. I.e., a reason or ground of belief. The earliest OED citation for this sense is from 1586, but the meaning seems clear from context.

57/14 graunte. I.e., "admit."

57/16 calenge it. I.e., "demand forgiveness."

57/20-21 Paules doctrine. Cf. Rom. 4:2-5.

58/4 Hebre. 1 Heb. 1:14.

58/20 Why goist . . . owne self. I.e., "why don't you yourself go to your father?"

59/2-3 that it . . . offerith. The first clause here is parenthetical and "God" is understood as the subject of "offerith."

59/17 purged. Used intransitively.

59/19 ys that. I.e., "consists in the fact that."

60/2 of al. I.e., "over all things."

60/10 sendith to cal. I.e., "sends a messenger to summon." For examples of this sense of "send," see OED (8b).

61/12 ner saluation. I.e. "nor did he have power over salvation."

62/5 foote. The OED records no instance of this form for the plural, although the plural would make better sense here.

62/20-22 answered . . . merites. Cf. 1 Cor. 1:13.

62/22-66/3 He wold . . . right way. Tyndale has composed a lengthy discourse for St. Paul who is imagined as returning to comment on the question of merit. (Cf. above, 62/16.) For more on Tyndale's image of himself as a sixteenth-century St. Paul, see Moreana XXVIII, 106-107 (July 1991), 145-153.

63/6 haue my parte. I.e., "share.

63/17-18 wyshed . . . brethren. Cf. Rom. 9:3.

64/12 healthe. I.e., "salvation." "Healthe" is more than a metaphor; it did at times mean "salvation" (OED 4). Tyndale's translation of Luke 19:9 has "this daye is healthe ['salvation' AV] come vnto this housse."

64/18 false Prophetes. See below, 109/4-5.

65/1 profecte. I.e., "profit." The form "profect(e)" is a Renaissance assimilation of the Latin "profectus" (OED). See also below, 65/4 and 78/6.

65/2 se. I.e., "understand."

65/6 therfore . . . a nother. I.e., "therfore if you love one of us more than another."

65/19-20 not of Christes . . . Antichristes. I.e., "not among Christ's but Antichrist's disciples."

66/2 vs his apostles. This is still "Paul" speaking. (See above, n. to 62/22-66/3.)

66/7-8 whether we . . . or no. A distinction had been made in scholastic theology between certitude of the knowledge of grace and conjectural knowledge based on the consciousness of delighting in God and despising the things of the world while not being conscious of any mortal sin (ST, I-II, q. 112, a. 5). Later theologians such as Gabriel Biel (d. 1495) and his disciple Bartholomaeus von Usingen (d. 1532) stressed the difficulty of attaining certitude in the question of knowledge of salvation, but emphasized the possibility of a "conjectural certainty" (cf. H.A. Oberman, The Harvest of Medieval Theology, Cambridge, Mass., 1963, 1963, pp. 228-229). More refers to this uncertainty as a check on man's boldness: "and thys vncertaynty of grace to folow is y^e brydle y^t refrayneth our boldnes" (Confutation, 451/23-24). See also below, 143/8-9.

66/l0 John .xvij. John 17:3.

66/11 in grace. I.e., "in the state of grace."

66/16-17 vngratiousnes. I.e., "wickedness or gracelessness. The modern sense of "ungracious" is not recorded until the nineteenth century (OED). The word play on "grace" and "lack of grace" was thus even more effective for the sixteenth-century reader.

66/21-22 steke vp . . . poste. See above, 55/5 and n. and 61/20.

67/1 fauoure of God. Cf. below, 67/5, "fauoure of God or state of grace."

67/3 price. I.e., "worth the price." Probably intended as a noun, but a form of the word is used as an adjective as late as 1615 (OED).

67/15 fleasly. The OED lists no instance of this spelling of "fleshly."

67/17 .1. Cor. v. 1 Cor. 5:11.

67/18 falseprophetes. See the Introduction, pp. 196-197.

68/7-8 And to beleue . . . working I.e., "believing in [God's] mercy is a reason for love, and love is a reason for good works."

68/18 enuie. Meaning "malice" (OED 1) rather than "envy." The progression is from pride, through anger, to hate and active maliciousness.

68/20-21 and haue . . . brethern. I.e., "and [those who are baptized in Christ] have all promised to be just like Christ himself to their brothers."

69/2-3 vnions pluralities . . . totquots. For definitions of these ecclesiastical terms, see the Glossary. Cardinal Wolsey's machinations to gain income from a number of ecclesiastical benefices are among the more obvious examples of the use and result of such dispensations. See Pollard, pp. 173-174 et passim.

69/16 that olde. I.e., "that old precept or commandment."

70/1 newe lerning. I.e., the teachings of the Reformation. The first instance of this phrase cited by the OED is dated 1530.

70/19-21 exaltinge . . . shoes. In the Practyse Tyndale goes into more detail about Wolsey's hat and throne: "it ['the cardenalles hatte'] sette on a cupborde and tapers aboute / so that y^e greatest duke in the londe must make curtesye therto: yea & to his empty sete he beinge awaye" (sig. K₅). Among the "prodigal and wasteful expences" attributed to Wolsey in 1529 was that "We triumphed at the receiving of his cardinals hat" (LP, 4, 5750). Wolsey was also allegedly guilty of "stamping a Cardinalls hat under the King's arms on the coins of groats made at York" (LP, 4, 6075). Pollard (p. 318) notes that Wolsey "naturally expected dukes to hold the ewer and towel while he washed, and earls to tie the latchet of his shoes." But also see Cavendish, 116/1-17, on Wolsey's desire to wash ceremonially with the Duke of Norfolk.

70/22-71/3 hauyng . . . per posteriora. I.e., "having no other recourse, because his soul could find its escape (discharge) in no other [way], took a medicine (purgative) so that he might send forth his spirit through his