Of Galyle.
FROM this countrey that I have spoken of, men go to the playne of Galyle and leave the hyll on the one side and Galyle is of the province of the lande of promyssion and in that province is the lande of Naym and Capharnaym and Corasaym and at Bethsayda was Saint Peter & Saint Andrew borne. At Carasaym shall Antechrist be borne, and as some men say he shall be borne in Babilon therefore sayd the Prophet, De babilonia Coluber exiet, qui totum mundum devorabit, That is to say, Of Babilon shall come a serpent that shall devoure all the worlde. And this Antechrist shall be nourished in Bethsayde and shall raign in Corasaym, therefore sayth holy writ, Ve tibi Corasaim Ve tibi Bethsayda, that is to say, Wo be to the Corasaim, Wo be to the Bethsayda. And the cave of Galyle is foure myle from Nazareth. Of that citie was the woman of Cananee, of whome the Gospell speaketh, and there our Lorde did the fyrst myracle at the wedding at the Archedeclyne[1] when he turned water into wine. And from thence men go unto Nazareth that was sometime a great Citie, but now there is but a lyttle towne and it is not walled, and there was our Lady borne, the name toke our Lorde of this Citie, but our Ladie was gotten at Hierusalem. At Nazareth Joseph toke our lady to wyfe whan she was fourtene yeare of age, and there the aungell saluted hir sayinge, Ave gratia plena Dominus tecum, That is to saye, Hayll full of grace the Lord be with thee. And there was sometime a great Church, and now is there but a lyttle closet to receive the offryngs of the Pylgrymes, and there is the well of Gabryell where our Lorde was wont to bathe him in wan he was lyttle. At Nazareth was our Lord nouryshed, and Nazareth is to say floure of gardeyn & it may be well called so, for there was nourished the floure of lyfe, that was our lorde Jesu Christ. At halfe a myle from Nazareth is the bloude[2] of our Lorde, for the Jewes ledde him upon an hyghe roche to cast him downe & slea him, but Jesu Christ passed them and lepte on a roche where his steps be yet sene, & therefore some when they dreade them of theves or else of enemies, say thus, Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat. And they say also these verses of the Psalter three tymes, Irruat super eos formido & pavor in magnitudine brachii tui Domine Fiant immobiles quasi lapis, donec per transeat populus tuus domine, & populus iste quem redemisti. And so when all this is sayd, a man may go without any lettyng.[3] Also ye shall understande and know that our blessed Lady bare hir chylde whan she was xv yeare of age, and she lived with hym xxxii[4] yeare and three monethes, and after his passion she lived xxii[4] yeare.
[1:] Pynson says Archetryclyne, Ἀρχιτρίκλινος,, the president of a banquet.
[2:] Should be leap.
[3:] Hindrance.
[4:] Other editions say 33 and 24, which would make the Virgin's age 72 when she died (see ante, p. [70]).
CAP. XXXVI.
The way of Nazareth to the mount or hyll of Tabor.
AND from Nazareth to the mounte Tabor is thre[1] myle, and there our Lord transfygured hym before sainct Peter, sainct Jhon & sainct James. And there they saw ghostly[2] our Lorde and Moyses and Helye the prophetes. And therefore Sainct Peter sayde, Bonum est nos hic esse, faciamus tria tabernacula, That is to say, It is good to us to be here, make we three tabernacles. And our lord Jesu Chryste bad them that they should say it to no man, unto the time that he was rysen from death to lyfe. And uppon the same hyll shall foure aungels sowne[3] theyr trompets, and rayse all men that are dead to lyfe, and then shall they come in bodie and Soule to the Judgement, but the Judgement shall be in the Vale of Josaphat on Easterday, at the same tyme as our Lorde rose from death to lyfe. And also a myle from mounte Tabor is mount Hermon, and ther was the citie of Namy,[4] before the gates of the Citie our Lord raysed the wydowes sone, that had no more Chyldren.
[1:] Others say 4.
[2:] In a spiritual shape.
[3:] Sound.
[4:] Nain.
CAP. XXXVII.
Of the sea of Galyle.
AND from thence men go to a citie that men call Tyberyen,[1] that sitteth[2] on the sea of Galyle, it is no sea ne arme of the sea, for it is but a staumble[3] of fresh water, and it is no more than an hundred furlongs long and XL brode, and therein is many good fyshes. And by that same sea, standeth many good cities, and therefore thys sea chaungeth often his name after the cities that stande thereupon, but it is all one water or sea and upon this sea, our Lorde went dry fote and there sayde he to Peter when he came on the water, & was nere drowned, Modice fidei quare dubitasti? That is to saye, Thou of lyttle fayth, why hadst thou doubte.