ntonnesse, with which ill qualities hee was
so beset, that thereby hee was throwen into a sea of grief. The worde
_Extremum malorum mulier_, The vtmost of euils is a woman. A fourth,
who being a person of suspected religion, was continually hanted with
intelligencers and spies that thought to praie vppon him for that hee
had, he could not deuise which waie to shape them off, but by making
away that he had. To obscure this, hee vsed no other fansie but a number
of blinde flies, whose eies the colde had closed, the word _Aurum reddit
acutissimum_, Gold is the onely phisicke for the eiesight A fifth, whose
mistres was fallen into a consumption, and yet would condiscend to no
treatie of loue, emblazond for his complaint, grapes that witherd for
want of pressing. The dittie to the mot, _Quid regna sine vsu_. I will
rehearse no more, but I haue an hundred other, let this be the vpshot
of these shewes, they were the admirablest that euer Florence yelded. To
particularize their maner of encounter, were to describe the whol art of
tilting. Some had like to haue falle ouer their horse neck and so breake
their neckes in breaking their staues. Others ranne at a buckle in stead
of a button, & peraduenture whetted their spears pointes, idlely gliding
on their enemies sides, but did no other harme. Others ranne a crosse at
theyr aduersaries left elbow, yea, and by your leaue sometimes let not
the lists scape scot-free they were so eager. Others because they
would be sure not to be vnsadled with the shocke, when they came to the
speares vtmost proofe, they threw it ouer the right shoulder, and so
tilted backward, for forwarde they durst not Another had a monstrous
spite at the pommell of his riuals saddle, and thought to haue thrust
his speare twixt his legges without rasing anie skinne, and carried
him cleane awaie on it as a coolestaffe. Another held his speare to
his nose, or his nose to his speare, as though he had ben discharging a
caliuer, and ranne at the right foote of his fellowes stead. Onely the
earle of Surry my master obserued y true measures of honor, and made all
his encounterers new scoure their armor in the dust. So great was his
glorie y daie, as _Geraldine_ was therby etemally glorifide. Neuersuch
a bountifull master came amongst the heralds (not that he did inrich the
with anie plentifull purse largesse) but that by his sterne assaultes
hee tithed them more rich offals of bases, of helmets, of armour, than
the rent of