AS the Scriptures are plain to proue , the Doctors and learned fathers plentifull to testifie : so many & great are the signes and tokens which the Lord from time to time hath shewed , that Rome is Babylon , the Pope Antichrist , the abhomination of desolation , the arch-enemie of Christ , and that man of sin , which lifteth himselfe aboue all that is called God . 2. Thess. 2.4 . Among which none surely is more liuely & euident , and more to be weighed and considered , then that of Pope Ioane , which is such a notable president & singular demonstration therof , that no man ( vnlesse wholly possessed of Satan , and a verier beast then euer was Nabuchadnezar ) will doubt or put any diffidence therein . This is that which is the onely eyesore , and biting corasiue to our aduersaries , which pulleth downe their proud peacocks feathers , & battereth their paper wals cleane to the ground . This is that which grieueth them to the galles , and pricketh them to the quicke , which ouerwhelmeth them with horrour , & drowneth them top and taile in shame and dishonor . Eus ; eb . lib. 10. cap. 14. Superati pudore & adoperti cōfu●ione discedunt For as the shamefull and detestable end of Arrius , was such a terrour and cooling card to his adherents , that they went away husht , ouercome with shame , and couered with confusion : so that strange euent of Pope Ioane and her opprobrious death , is such a torment and torture vnto them , that in their own consciences they are stinged and accused , and compelled to crie : Esa 1.21 . Quomodo facta est meretrix vrbs fidelis ? How is that faithfull Citie become a strumpet ? Anton. Par 2. tit. 16. cap. 1.7 Antoninus the Archbishop of Florence , when he had opened this whole storie of Pope Ioane , was so astonied with the strangenesse and admiration of the matter , that he cried out : O altitudo sapientia , & scientiae Dei : quam incredibilia sunt iudicia eius ! O the depth of the wisedome and knowledge of God , how incredible be his iudgements ! A storie writer , liuing in the time of king Edward the sonne of Egelred , and Emma .

See Marianus printed at Basil , collum . 407. sub an . Dom. 854. Marianus Scotus , perceiuing what a déepe downfall and ruine this brought to the Sea of Rome , and that God would haue such a matter openly knowne , to the euerlasting detestation both of the person and place , writeth thus : The Author corrupted . Propter turpitudinem roi , & muliebrem sexum , Authores Pontificij huius Iohannae nomen non ponunt . Both for the shame of the matter , and also for the woman kind , the Popish Chroniclers leaue out the name of Pope Ioane . Can there be a more manifest token then this , both of great corruption of manners , and dissolutenesse of life ? Can there be a more infallible argument of open horror and filthinesse , in that onely Sea aboue all others ? Psal. 147.15 . Surely , surely , the Lord is righteous in all his wayes , and holy in all his workes , & all his iudgements are done in truth and equitie . A proper fig-leafe of our aduersaries to couer Dame Ioane . But our aduersaries haue a figge-leafe to couer this shame , and thinke by that , to shift and face out the matter , and to passe away inuisible in a cloud . They flatly denie that there was euer anie Pope Ioane in Rome , yea they stoutly and sturdily defend it , and say , that it is a fond and vaine fable , a lye , and a tale inuented of malice and stomach against them . Soft and faire , my Maisters : your figge-leafe is drie and withered , and not worth a rotten figge , for it doth vncouer your shame , shew your nakednesse , and bewray your trecherie and dastardnesse in the cause . Euseb. lib. 3. cap. 21. You cannot bridle the flowing Seas , nor blind the Sunne-beames : you haue as great an aduantage by the denying of it , as the Ebionites had by denying S. Pauls Epistles , and calling him an Apostata of the Law . But can you proue it so ? Alas you cannot : for your owne Doctors and Proctors haue written and related it so plainly and pithily , that you must néeds ( vnlesse you clip their credits , and deface them ) confesse it . Martinus Polonus the Popes Penitentiarie , and a Monke of the order of Cisterce , who liued about the yeare of our Lord 1320. hath written and reported it : Iohan 8. mu●ier vt fertur . Testimonies or the proofe ●f Pope Ioane ●vs dicitur . So hath Platina in Iohanne . 8 Sabellicus , Enneadis 9. lib. 1. Marianus Scotus : Rauisius Textor in Officina : Antoninus the Archbishop of Florence : Supplementum Chronicorum : Fasciculus temporum , and other moe . Are all these lyers and tale tellers ? Are the writings of all these men fabulous and vntrue ? I trust you will not say so . Then giue place vnto the truth , and kicke not against the spurre : for the truth is great , and will preuaile , will ye , nill ye , it will conquer . Denie not such a miraculous token , shewing as it were in a glasse , the corruption and abhomination of the Romane Church , and of the Pope thereof , the open aduersarie of God , and the abhomination standing in the holy place . Acknowledge and cenfesse it , and let the remembrance therof worke such repentance and remorse in you , t●●t you may renounce your errors , abiure your heresies , forsake the kingdome of darknesse , and serue the Lord in true holinesse and righteousnesse .

GReat is the subtiltie , and maruellous is the craft the Sathan vseth to drowne men in heresie , to thrust them headlong into sinne and perdition , and to make them obstinately wallow and welter therein . He will prouide for them such fine excuses : he will get for them such starting holes and defences , that they shall thinke themselues secure , to be in the right way , and to stand vpon good and firme ground , when it is far otherwise : yea he will leaue no meanes vnaffayed to kéepe them in his subiection , and to make them drunken with their owne erronious opinions . This may be perceiued in none more perspicuously then in the Papists , and in no one thing more apparently , then in their defence of Pope Ioane , whom the diuell hath so bewitched , so blinded , and so wedded to their owne selfe willes , that to couer her deformitie , and to paint it out with some colour to the world , they haue spread themselues againe as the heauens , and left no way vnattempted . Wherefore let vs go further , and sée more of their dealing , and more of their fetches in the matter : and let vs come againe to Cope , and sée what a good and ghostly Maister he is for his Dame Ioane . After he had said , that the Pope might vs an Hermaphroditus , he resteth not there , but going further , he forceth Ouids Metamorphosis to serue his turne , and saith , that the Pope being a man , may be changed into a woman : for these be his words : Et ne à nostri temporis memoria longius abeam , non ignore monumentis literarum esse traditum , Mulierum quandam nomine Aemyliam Antonio Spensae , Ciui Eubulano nuptam , post duodecimum à nuptijs annum in virum tran●●●sse . Legi etiam alteram mulierem , vbi puerum peperisset , in marem fuisse mutatam .

But not to go farther then the remembrance of our owne time : I know that it is written that a certaine woman named Emylia , married vnto one Antonius Spensa a Citizen of Eubulum , ten yeares after she had bene married , was turned into a man . I haue likewise read of another woman , that when she had bene brought a bed , afterwards became a man . Certes this is strange , for a man to be turned into a woman : but all things well considered , it is nothing strange at all . For the Pope hath all lawes and knowledge within his breast , and whatsoeuer he be , he is holy , and immaculate , and can worke no small wonders . May not he change himselfe into sundrie shapes , as well as Iupiter , Mercurie , Apollo , and other of the Gods ? Metam lib. 3. Ponta●us . May not he be changed into a woman as well as Tiresias was : or as well as Caietana and Aemilia into men ? Yes doubtlesse , for he is farre aboue them , and can do much more then euer they could , Therefore maister Copes surmise , that the Pope may be changed into a woman , is very Catholicke and substantiall , and fit for such a pregnant and illuminate doctor . But fie for shame , what a sottish excuse is this ? What a vaine illusion and Maygame ? Is there no better shift nor surer refuge then this ? Is there no thicker cloud to spread ouer the matter with more likelihood ? Then who séeth not the bondage of Egypt ? who sées not the spirituall Babylon , and the madnesse of them that commit spirituall fornication with her ? Better it had bene , and the safer way by a great deale , simply and plainely to haue confessed it , then by a myracle to turne the Pope from a man into a woman , and that which is worst of all , obstinately to defend it . For now euery one doth sée , that you had leifer be filthie still , then leaue off your filthinesse , and had rather ( because you loue your vices ) Excusare , quàm excutere . Excuse them , then forsake them : and as many as in spi●●● and truth do loue the Lord , do mou●●e for griefe , to see men carried so heau● 〈◊〉 with such godlesse and retchlesse ima●●●ations .

SOme of our Aduersaries take this Enthimeme for an insallible argument : An Enthimeme of our aduersaries to denie Pope Ioane . Dame Ioane is not registred in the Calendar among the Popes : Ergo it is but a vaine fable that euer Dame Ioane was Pope in Rome . The consequent is very simple , and not to be granted , because it is well knowne , that the Bishops names as well in Rome as in other places , haue vpon sundrie occasions bene oftentimes quite stricken out of the Calendar . But Dame Ioanes name ( they say ) is not in their Calendar . It may be so : and wherefore I pray ? Martious Polonus , one of their owne sworne brothers doth tell vs . Iohanna ( saith he ) non ponitur in Catalogo Pontificum , tam propter muliebrem sexum , quàm propter deformitatem facti . Pope Ioane is not reckoned in the Calendar of holy Popes , as well for that she was a woman , as also for very shame of the matter .

The like doth Sabellicus set downe . Nullus defunctae honor habitus : fama tenet , ob tam foeda rei memoriam . There was no honour bestowed at her buriall : the report is , for the remembrance of her filthie act . By this we sée , that the name of Pope Ioane was not put into the Calendar of the Popes , partly because she was a woman , and especially , because she was a woman of such a filthie life , and vicious behauiour . Therefore this reason of our aduersaries is a blind coniecture , and of no force . But ( say they ) In Scholijs in Platinam . Onuphrius Pamuinius vpon Platina , hath truly and learnedly written hereof : and he that list to reade that discourse of his , shall easily beléeue the whole matter to be fabulous . Truth it is , that such a one indéed hath of late written hereof , and beaten his braines not a litle to helpe out this matter , but all in vaine : for he was one of the Popes Parasites , hired and procured by him onely for that businesse . His booke was printed in Venice , and plausiblie accepted of his friends and wel willers : but the stuffe that he hath brought in there , to make the world beléeue , that there was neuer any Pope Ioane in Rome , is such trash , and so ridiculons , that it will grieue a good Christian in in his heart , to reade and sée it .

This is the craft & policie of the Pope , to hire and procure men to smooth and sooth his matters , and to face and grace out his impieties , with many forged lies and false suppositions : thinking by that meanes , to dazel mens eyes , and to make them beléeue they be true , godly , and apostolicall . Most impudent and notorious railers and lyers . This haue many popish Pages of late done , and especially Amphilochius , Onuphrius , Surius , and Hieronimus Bolsecus , one that hath vsed most shamlesse rayling , most vile , spitefull , and horrible lies and cauils , with an immoderate and vnciuill bitternesse , procéeding from the vnsauory and vnquiet humour of his heart , against the godly and reuerend ministers of the Gospell , Caluin , Beza , with others moe . God of his mercie grant , that they may repent & amend their liues , renounce their damnable errors , forsake their cursed slanders , and not aduenture their wits in such desperate causes . For , Nemo periculosiùs peccat , quàm qui peccata defendit . No man sinneth with more danger , then he that standeth in defence of sinne .

MAny there be ( I know ) and those our owne countrimen , who thinke and beléeue Dame Ioane to be an English woman borne . The cause why Pope Ioane is thought to be an English woman born . I can coniecture no other thing to be the cause hereof but report onely , being for the most part more commen then true , and especially because in manie authors intreating of this matter , is found , Iohannes Anglicus , or Iohannes de Anglia , which séemeth vnto them to be transtated , Iohn an English man , or Iohn of England . Because I would haue all those that be not as yet truly certified & resolued herein to agrée together , and rightly to beléeue this point , I will declare vnto them the truth of the matter , according to the opinions of the best and most approued writers . Why she was called Ioane English . She was called Ioane English , by the surname of her father , and borne at Mentz in Germanie . Martinus Polonus the Popes ghostly Penitentiarie , discoursing at large of this matter affirmeth the same , for thus he writeth : Iohannes Anglicus natione Maguntinus , sedit annos duos , mensem vnum , dies quatuor , &c. Iohn English ( so surnamed ) borne at Mentz , sate in the Romane Sea two yeares , one moneth , and foure dayes . Theodoricus Niemus also , sometime the Popes Secretarie , and therefore had good cause to know the truth hereof , doth liuely paint out the whole matter , & expresly sheweth the same . Et fuit mulier de Maguntiae nata , quae studuit Athenis sub virili habitu : & in tantum profecit in artibus , vt tandem veniens Romam per biennium in schola Artes liberales legerit : & adeo sufficient fuit , vt etiam Maiores & Nobiles vrbis eius lectiones frequenter audiuerint . Et postea eligitur in Papam , &c. And there was Ioane a woman , borne at Mentz , who had studied at Athens in the apparell of a man , and had so profited in the Arts , that at last comming to Rome , two yeares together she professed the liberall sciences in a Schoole . And her gift in teaching was such , that the Elders and Nobles of the Citie resorted often to here her reade . Afterward she was chosen Pope , &c. Pope Ioane a Dutch woman . We néed not cite anie more testimonies for farther proofe hereof : these two do manifestly shew that she was a Dutchwoman borne , and not called Ioane English by the name of the countrey , for that she was an English woman borne in England ( as many imagine ) but onely by the surname of her father . For who knoweth not that there are manie at this day called by the names of Scot , Irish , French , Welsh , Norman , Gascoine , Holland , and yet not borne in anie of these countries , but onely in England . Her right name was Gilberts , but called Ioan the eight . Therefore it is true , & without all doubt , that Pope Ioane was not borne in England but in Germanie . Notwithstanding some there be ( whose authoritie is verie credible and sufficient ) that say her name was Gilberta , and called Ioan the eight : Pope Ioane was a student at Athens . who likewise affirme , that she was a Dutch-woman of Mentz , and went with an English Monke out of the Abbey of Fulda to Athens , in mans apparel . Well , truth it is that she was in the yong yeares of a girle brought to Athens by one that was her louer in mans apparell . There she studied , and profited so much in diuerse sciences , that none were found to be compared with her . Women brought vp in mens apparel , and taken for men . This is not strange , nor much to be maruelled at : For Rauisius Textor in Officina writeth the like of one Marina , that dissembling what she was , liued manie yeares in an Abbey as a Monke : and of Lasthenia , Axiothea , and others , that being women , came into the Schoole in mans apparell to heare Plato . The like doth manie others write of Euphrosyna that holy maide , that dwelt thirtie and sixe yeares in Monkes apparell among Monkes , and was neuer otherwise taken then for a Monke .

Pope Ioane came to Rome . From Athens she came to Rome , & there professed learning openly , and had great Doctors to her scholers , and for opinion of learning and good life by one consent of all , was made Pope . She was created Pope of Rome . Her behauiour in that high office . Being in this high and glorious seate , she behaued her selfe so orderly , and discharged that supernall office so absolutely , that she was with child , and as she went in procession deliuered thereof , & so died . A most liuely president of the whorish Sea . Thus was the Pope of Rome , who is such a parles fellow that he cannot e●re , a woman with child , deliuered in procession , dead openly in the stréets , and buried without anie honour or solemnitie . God giue all Christians grace by this example to beware of the Antichristian and Babylonicall Pope , to renounce him , and all his errors , to reiect him and all his parasites , and to sée the truth , and that blessed hope whereunto they haue bene called , so as they may glorifie him alone , who is the true God , and also that same Iesus Christ whom he sent downe to vs from heauen : to whom with the Father , and holy Ghost be giuen all honour and glorie euerlastingly . Amen .