An abridgement of the book of acts and monuments of the ChurchAn abridgement of the booke of acts and monumentes of the Church

Among the rest,¹ Marcus Arethusus ²their Bishop was most cruelly handled, because at the commandment of Constantine, he pulled down a temple of Idols, and builded a Church for Christians in the place. Now they considering how he was not favoured of Julianus, accused him of treason: who first fled, then hearing there were taken other for him, he returned again, & offered himself: whom when they had gotten, they first stripped naked, and beat him grievously, then they put him into a filthy sink, from whence again they took him, and caused boys to trust him in with sharp sticks. Lastly, they put him into a basket & anointed him with honey and broth, and hung him before the sun, as meat for wasps & flies to feed on. All this they did unto him, that he might be brought either to build again the temple, or give money to the building: which he refused. But at the last (taking him to be a poor man) they required but a small sum, which he also would not yield unto: answering that it were as great impiety to confer one halfpenny to a matter of impiety, as a great sum: thus they being not able to prevail against him, let him down. And thus much of the persecution in the primitive church,³ which agreeth with the time of the Apocalypse, taking every month for a sabbath of years: 42. Months, that make up just the time from Christs death, to the last year of persecution by Maxentius, which were 294. & six years under Licinius in Asia: in all 300. years, reckoning from the death of John Baptist, to ⟨p. 66⟩the end of Maxentius and Licinius: all which time Satan from the time of Licinius till John Wycliffe was bound up.⁴

Among the rest,¹ Marcus Arethusus ²their Bishop was most cruelly handled, because at the commaundement of Constantine, hée pulled downe a temple of Idols, and builded a Church for Christians in the place. Now they considering how he was not fauoured of Iulianus, accused him of treason: who first fled, then hearing there were taken other for him, hée returned againe, & offered himselfe: whom when they had gotten, they first stripped naked, and beate him gréeuously, then they put him into a filthy sinke, from whence againe they tooke him, and caused boyes to trust him in with sharpe sticks. Lastly, they put him into a basket & annointed him with hony and broth, and hong him before the sunne, as meat for waspes & flies to féed on. All this they did vnto him, that he might be brought either to build again the temple, or giue mony to the building: which he refused. But at the last (taking him to be a poore man) they required but a small summe, which he also would not yéeld vnto: answering yt it were as great impietie to confer one halfepeny to a matter of impietie, as a great summe: thus they being not able to preuaile against him, let him downe. And thus much of the persecution in ye primitiue church,