[Sidenote: In the canon 22.] The third councel of Toletum, condemneth the peruerse and wicked custome of suche people which occupied themselues in vile and infected daunses: and aboue all uppon the Sondayes, and holy dayes when they should haue imployed themselues in the seruice of God.
[Sidenote: Article 23.] According to these Canons, there was made by the estates lately holden at Orleans, in the young age or minority of Charles the 9. an article, in which, amongest other thinges all iudges are forbidden to permit or suffer any publicke daunses, uppon the sondayes, and other solonme holy dayes.
But in the first place it were to be desired, and wished, that this ordinance might be straitly obserued and kept. Secondlye, that it were more generall, that is to say, that it did wholly and altogeather forbidd daunses, as wicked and unlawful thinges: for if we be Christians indeede, we ought not to suffer, that some pore and blinde Pagans should surmount and ouercome us in honesty & modesty. We fynd that amongest the Romains, they which were ouermuch geuen to daunsinge, caried, or bare with them so greate a note or marke of infamy, & sklaunder, that they oftentimes accounted and estemed them unworthy to exercise or haue a publicke and honorable office: as appeareth by the censure, punishment, and correction, of Domitian, who, for thys only cause, cast out of the Senate a citizen of Rome, as unmeete, and unworthy of such a degree of honor. Saluit in his Oration against Catilina, speaking of a certaine woman, named Sempronia, sayeth that shee could daunse more delicately and fynely, then did appertaine to an honest and good woman. Cicero much reprocheth and upbraydeth, yea and constantly obiecteth, to Gabinius the studying and practisinge of daunses, as an infamous thing. He both like in his Philippickes agaynst Antonius, and in the oration of Durena, he sayth that a sober man neuer daunseth, neither a part or priuily, neyther in an honest & moderate banquet, unlesse perhaps hee be unwyse, or out of his wit.
[Sidenote: Daunsers are folish & senseles persons.] Varro writeth, that Scipio was wont to say, that there was no difference at all betweene a furious, outragious, or mad man and a daunser, sauing that this man, that is to say, the daunser was then onely mad when he daunsed, and the other was so all his life long. From thence commeth the Latine prouerbe, that daunsers play the fooles, or wantons, but it is with measure.
Here wee euidently and playnly see, in what estimation and regard daunses were among Pagans and infidels, which trulye could not iudge otherwise therof, I speake of them which had the best and more sound iudgement, and which were able to weigh and consider, as well the daunses themselues, as their so pretious fruites, and excellent effectes. For if it be, yet after feastes and banquets, men commonly set, or geue themselues to daunse, and after that men be full of wyne and good meates, they bee then prouoked & pricked forwarde, by the prickes of the flesh, to what end serue such manner of gestures, if not, to make manifest & set out their intemperency. Now if men would refer it, or bringe it to bodily exercise, this would be very folishly done. For the body of her owne health, requireth not to be so shaken, tossed, and as a man woulde say, hunted after meate, for feare to hinder digestion, as the Phisition placed it amonge their rules of diet. Moreouer seeing yet men may exercise themselues in many other maners and sortes of exercises, hee, as mee thinketh openly sheweth, yet he hath not modesty, nor temperance, nor his health it selfe in estimation, yet is, he estemeth & regardeth not. &c. which choseth daunsing for his exercise. Daunses then were neuer heretofore otherwise accounted of, nether be at this present otherwise thought of, then mere vilany, & a most certaine, plaine, and evident testimony of the filthines & intemperancy of them which delighted themselues therin. Now, that so it is, the Prouerbe sayeth, De la panse, vient la Danse: from the panch commeth the daunce: [Sidenote: Math. 14. Mark. 6] And if we durst ioine therto whoredom their elder daughter, we shal find that she followeth after immediately. which thing we shall easily fynd, if we consider the most ordinary & common effectes of daunsing. what was the cause that Herode so lightly promised, to that goodlye daunser Salome, the daughter of Herodias, euen the one halfe of his Realme, and kingdome, but that by her vilanous, and shameles daunsing, shee had stirred up and set on fyre his concupiscence and lust who was already a villanous adulterer, and infamous whoremonger, so that the delighte and pleasure which he take therin, provoked him to be willing to make so excessiue and unmeasurable a recompence: Moreouer let us marke more narrowly in Genesis, that which is written of Dina the daughter of Jacob, and we shall find that daunses were partly the cause of her rauishing, or deflouring. For albeit, that in that place, there is no expresse mention made of daunses, yet so it is, that when it is sayde, that Dina went to see the daughters of the countrey or land, there is some appearance and likelihod that the daughters had this custome, to assemble themselues togeather in daunse, and that to the end, that in shewing the nimblenes of their body, their bewty, and wery conceyts, they might bee coveted and desyred of young men, as indeede Dina was by Sichem. And in this our tyme and age, do not men daily see many such thinges, which daunses bring with them: The example by mee heretofore brought forth and alleged, ought to serue for an example to all great lords, to withdraw their daughters from such baites. But setting all the rest aside, do wee not see that duncing hath cost, this holy man, and great prophet of God so deare, that it hath taken away from him the head from aboue his shoulders.
By the way or meane of daunsing, the children of Israell, were willing to geue honour to an ydole, to a calfe of Gold, to a dead thing, and which they themselues had molten & framed after the imitation & manner of Pagans, which in such a sort & fashion serued their gods. Bee not these things sufficient to make a man flie daunses, & to prouoke a christian man to haue them in abomination, & to abhore them as things which haue ordinarilye, and commonlye serued to idolatry, and haue prouoked to whoredome, and haue chaunged and altered many daughters of good house and stocke, from the loue and fauour of their parentes, and finally haue caused infinite murthers: murthers I say, for in all the 3 peeces of Scripture before alledged, we euer fynd ther the death of some. In the daunse before Herod the death of John Baptist. In the rape or rauishing of Dina, Sichem, his father, & all his sobiectes, died there. In the worshipping of the golden calfe, where the children of Israel daunsed and leaped so nimblie, cherefully, & merily, before that their belly was full, there died then aboute three thousande in recompence of their ioy and gladnes. If then we would consider the issues, and effectes, which come from daunses, & the fayre or goodly fruites which they bring forth, we would neuer thinke, but that the heares would stand upright upon our very heades when the question is of daunsing.
It remaineth now to answeare them, who would serue themselues with certaine parcels and peeces of the scripture, in which mention is made, that the faithfull people haue daunsed. [Sidenote: Exo. 15 20.] First they alledge that which is written in Exodus, that Mary the prophetesse, the sister of Aaron, who after that God had ouerwhelmed and drowned Pharao & his army in the red sea, toke a taberet in hir hand, & being attended, or waited upon by other women, song with them a songe to the lord: as also Moses, and the children of Israel song another.
The like is founde in the booke of Samuel, after that Dauid had slaine Goliath, that many women came out of all the townes of Israel singing and daunsing before King Saule, with tabours, rebeckes, and other instrumentes of harmonie, or musicke.
But when these which loue to leape and daunse, seeing there is here spoken not only of daunses, but also of taberets and other musicall instrumentes, do thinke that they are already in the hall of leapinge or skipping, and do daunse according to the note and measures that the Minstrels and Pipers wil sound or play to them: inferringe that the holy scripture before alleged maketh for them, and that by it daunses are approued, they are indeede fouly deceaued and very farre of from their reckoninge, because that reckoning without the host, it was meete for them to reckon twyse.
For it is most certaine that there is as much difference betweene their daunses, and those which holy men haue used, as there is betwene mariage and fornication. I meane betweene chastity & whoredome. And euen as it is no maner of way permitted or suffered to committe whoredome, so our daunses and the usage of them may not be allowed nor receiued. But to cut it short, that is to say, to be short, wee can not gather that any appearaunce or shew of euil, or any signe of watonnes or dissolutenes, was euer found in the daunses of holy men, but altogeather contrariwise, they therein behaued themselues with such honor, fear, and reuerence towardes God, the whole matter it selfe beyng accompanied, with so great honesty and sobernesse, as nothinge more. And in which mens deede 3. pointes are to be considered and marked, which can not be at any hand found in the Prophane and wicked daunses of our tyme.