De feculo ferreo, quod in tibiis de
Which tho was kinge of Rome-londe,
With great bataile and with strong honde
All Grece, Perfe and eke Caldee
Wan and put under, fo that he
Nought al only of thorient
But al the marche of thoccident
Governeth under his empire
As he that was hole lord and fire
And held through his chivalrie
Of al this worlde the monarchie
And was the first of that honour,
Which taketh name of emperour.
Where Rome thanne wolde affaile,
fignatum eft a tem- There mighte no thing contrevaile,
pore Julii ufque in
regnum Caroli But
every contre must obeie.
magni regis Fran- Tho goth the regne of bras aweie
And comen is the worlde of steel
And ftode above upon the whele.
As fteel is hardest in his kinde
Above al other that men finde
Of metals, fuch was Rome tho
The mightiest and lafte fo
Long time amonges the Romains,
Til they become fo vilains,
That the fals emperour Leo
With Conftantin his fone alfo
The patrimonie and the richeffe,
Which to Silvester in pure almeffe
The firfte Conftantinus lefte,
Fro holy chirche they berefte.
But Adrian, which pope was
And figh the mifchef of this cas,
Goth into Fraunce for to pleine
And praieth the great Charlemaine
For Criftes fake and foule hele,
That he wol take the quarele
Of holy chirche in his defence.
And Charles for the reverence
Of god the cause hath undertake
And with his hoft the waie take
Over the mountes of Lumbardie.
Of Rome and al the tirannie
With blody fwerd he overcome
And the citee with strengthe nome
In fuche a wife and there he wroughte,
That holy chirche ayein he broughte
Into fraunchise and doth restore
The popes lufte and yaf him more,
And thus whan he his god hath ferved,
He toke as he hath well deserved
The diademe and was coroned
Of Rome, and thus was abandoned
Thempire, whiche came never ayeine
Into the hande of no Romaine.
But a long time it ftode fo ftille
Under the Frensshe kinges wille,
Til that fortune her whele fo lad,
That afterward Lumbardes it had
Nought by the fwerd, but by fuffraunce
Of him, that tho was king of Fraunce
De feculo noviffimis jam temporibus ad
Whiche Karle Calvus cleped was,
And he resigneth in this cas
Thempire of Rome unto Lowis
His coufin, which a Lumbarde is,
And fo it lafte into the yere
Of Alberte and of Berenger.
But than upon diffenfion
fimilitudinem pedum They felle and in divifion
divifo, quod poft de- Among hem self that were grete, ceffum ipfius Caroli, So that they lofte the beyete
cum imperium Ro
manorum in manus
Longobardorum per
Of worship and of worldes pees.
venerat, tempore Al- But in proverbe netheles
incepit. Nam ob Men fain: ful felden is that welthe
contingit,ut Alemani Can fuffre his owne estate in helthe, imperatoriam adepti And that was in the Lumbardes fene, fint majeftatem, in
cuius folium quen- Suche comun ftrife was hem betwene dam principem Theu
tonicum Othonem Through covetife and through envie, mitus conftituerunt. That every man drough his partie,
piente divifio per uni- Which mighte leden any route verfum orbem in pof- Withinne bourgh and eke withoute.
nos ad alterutrum di- The comun right hath no felawe,
fummacionem ultimi So that the governaunce of lawe
Was loft and for neceffite
Of that they stode in suche degre
Al only through divifion
Hem nedeth in conclufion
Of ftraunge londes helpe befide,
And thus for they hem self divide
And ftonden out of reule uneven,
Of Alemaine princes seven
They chofe in this condicion,
That upon here election
Thempire of Rome sholde ftonde.
And thus they left it out of honde
For lacke of grace and it forfoke,
That Alemains upon hem toke.
And to confermen here estate
Of that they founden in debate
They token the poffeffion
After the compoficion
Among hem self and ther
They made an emperour anon,
Whos name as the cronique telleth
Was Othes, and fo forth it dwelleth.
Fro thilke daie yet unto this
Thempire of Rome hath ben and is
To thalemains, and in this wise
ye to-fore have herd devife
How Daniel the fweven expoundeth
Of that ymage, on whom he foundeth
The world, which after fholde falle,
Come is the last token of alle.
Upon the feet of erthe and steel
So ftant the world now every dele
Departed, which began right tho,
Whan Rome was devided fo.
And that is for to rewe fore,
For alwey fithe more and more
The worlde empeireth every day,
Wherof the fothe fhewe may.
At Rome first if we beginne,
The walle and al the citee withinne
Stant in ruine and in decas,
The feld is where the palais was,
The town is waft, and over that
If we behold thilke estate,
Whiche whilome was of the Romains
Of knighthod and of citizeins
To peise now with that beforne,
The chaf is take for the corne,
And for to fpeke of Romes might
Unnethes ftant ther ought upright
Of worship or of worldes good,
As it before time ftood.
And why the worship is away
If that a man the fothe say,
The cause hath ben devifion,
Which moder of confufion
Is, where the cometh overall
Nought only of the temporall
But of the fpirital also.
The dede proveth it is fo
And hath do many daies er this
Through venim, which that medled is
In holy chirche of erthely thing.
For Crift him self maketh knowleching,
That no man may to-gider serve
God and the world, but if he swerve
Froward that one and ftonde unstable,
And Criftes word may nought be fable.
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