A1r

The Mirrour of Princely
deedes and Knighthood:

Wherein is shewed the worthinesse of the
Knight of the Sunne, and his brother
Rosicleer, sonnes to the great Emperour
Trebetio: with the strange
love of the beautifull and excellent
Princesse Briana,
and the valiant actes of
other noble Princes

and Knightes.

Now newly translated out of Spanish
into our vulgar English
tongue, by M.T.

A man with a crown steering a coach with two horses.

Imprinted at London
by Thomas East.

A1v A2r

To the right honourable the Lord
Thomas Haward.

Not being greatly forwarde of myne
own inclination, (right honourable) but
forced by the importunity of my friends
to make some triall of my selfe in this
exercise of trāanslation. I have adventured
upon a peece of worke not in deede the
most profitablest, as entreting of arms, nor yet altogether
fruitlesse, if example may serve, as being historicall, but
the while, either to be born withal for the delight, or not
to be refused for the str āangenes: farther I mean not to make
boaste of my travaile, for the matter was offred not made
choice off, as ther appeared lykewise little lybertie in my
first yielding. The earnestnesse of my friends perswaded
me that it was convenient to lay forth my talent for encrease,
or to sette my candle on a candlesticke, and the
consideration of my insufficiency drove me to thinke it
better for my ease, eyther quite to bury my talent, therby
to avoyde the breaking of thriftlesse debtes, or rather
to put my candle cleane out, then that it should bewray
every unswept corner in my house, but the opinion of
my friendes judgement prevailed above mine owne reason.
So upon hope to please them I first undertooke this
labour, & I have gone thorow withall, the rather to acquaint
my selfe with mine olde reading: wherto since the
dispatch theroff, I have made my friends privie, & upon
their good liking with request thereto, I have passed my
graunt unto thēem for the publicatiōon, reserving to my selfe
the order for the dedication, so as I should thinke best either
for the defence of my worke, or for some perticuler
merite towards me. And heerein I tooke no long leysure
to finde out a sufficient personage. For the manifolde benefits
receyved from your honourable parents my good A.ii. Lord A2v
Lord and Lady, quickly eased me of that doubt, and presented
your honour unto my viewe: whome by good
right I ought to love and honour in especiall, as being of
them begotten, at whose handes I have reaped especiall
benefit. The which benefit if I should not so gladly professe
openly, as I willingly received being offred, I might
well be challenged of unkindenesse: but were I as able
to make good my part, as I am not ignoraunt what may
be required at my hands, I would hope not to be founde
ungrateful. In the meane time this my travaile I cōommend
unto your Lordshippe, beseeching the same, so to accept
thereoff, as a simple testimony of that good will which I
bere to your parēents while they lived thēen being their servāant,
& now do owe unto their ofspring after their decease, for
their demerits. Under your honours protectiōon I shal lesse
fere the assalt of the envios, & of your honours good acceptaciōon
I have some hope in the mildenes of your Lordships
nature, not doubting but that as your Lordshippe
hath given no final signification in this your noble youth
of wisedome and courage to so many as knowe you, it
being the only support of your auncestours lyne: so the
same lykewise will maynteine your auncestours glorye
& the hope of your owne vertues with affabilitie & gentlenesse,
which was the proper commēendation of your parents.
The almightie encreese this hope with the other
vertues before named, to the good hope of your counttries
peace, your Princesse safetie, and your owne honour, with
the Joy of your kindred & friēends, whom not a few your parents
good deserving hath assured unto you, and of whose
ernest prayers you shal not faile, to further your wel doing.
Amongst them though last in worthinesse, yet with
the formost in well wishing and desire of wel deserving,
your honour shall finde me.

Your honours humbly most assured.

Margaret Tyler.

A3r

M T. to the Reader

The commendation

of the story.
Thou hast heere, gentle Reader, the historie of Trebatio
an Emperour in Greece: whether a true storie of
hun in deede, or a fained fable, I wot not, neither dyo I
greatly seeke after it in the translation, but by me it is done
into English for thy profit & delight. The chiefe matter
therin contained is of exploits of wars, & the parties therin
named, are especially renowmed for their magnanimitie
& courage. The authors purpose appearth to be this,
to animate thereby, and to set on fire the lustie courages
of yoūung gentlemen, to the advauncement of their line, by
ensuing such like steps. The first tongue wherein it was
penned was the Spanish, in which nation by common
report, the inheritance of all warlike commendation hath
to this day rested. The whole discourse in respect of the
ende not unnecessary, for the varietie & continuall shift of
fresh matter very delightfull, in speaches short & sweet,
wise in sentence, and wary in the provision of contrary
accidents. For I take the grace thereoff to be rather in
the reporters device then in the truth of this report, as I
would that I could so well impart with thee delight
which my selfe findeth in reading the Spanish: but seldome
is the tale carried cleane from an others mouth. Such delivery
as I have made I hope thou wilt friendly accept, that rather for that it is a womans woork, though in a story
prophane, and a matter more manlike then becōommeth my
sexe. But as for the manlinesse of the matter, That a woman
maye
write of
warre.
thou knowest
that it is not necessary for every trumpettour or drumslare
in the warre to be a good fighter. They take wage onely
to incite others though themselves have privy maimes,
and are thereby recurelesse. So Gentle Reader if my
travaile in Englishing this Authour, may bring thee to a
liking of the vertues hærein commended, and by example
therof in thy princes & countries quarrel to hazard thy
person & purchase good name, as for hope of well deserving
my selfe that way, I neither bend my selfe therto nor
yet feare the speach of people if I be found backward. I
trust every man holds not the plow, which would the groūund A.iij. were A3v
were tilled: & it is no sinne to talke of Robinhood though
you never shot in his bow: Or be it that the attempt were
bolde to intermeddle in armes, so as the auncient Amazons
did, and in this story Claridiana doth, & in other stories
not a fewe, yet to report of armes is not so odious
but that it may be borne withal, not onely in you men which
your selves are fighters, but in us women, to whom the
benefit in equal part apperteineth of your victories, either
for that the matter is so commendable that it carrieth no
discredit from the homelinesse of the speaker, or for that
it is so generally knowen that it fitteth every man to
speake thereoff, or for that it iumpeth with this common
feare on all partes of warre and invasion. The invention,
ti dispositiōon, trimming, & what els in this story, is wholy
an other mans, my part none therein but the translation,
as it were onely in giving entertainment to a stranger,
before this time unacquainted with our coūuntry guise.
Mary the worst perhappes is this, That a woman
of your
yeares maye
write in
this argument.
that amonge so many
straungers as dayly come over, some more auncient, and
some but new set foorth, some penning matters of great
weight and sadnesse in divinitie or other studies, the profession
whereof more neerely beseemeth my yeares, other
some discoursing of matters more easy & ordinary in common
talke, wherein a gentlewoman may honestly employ
hir travaile. I have notwithstanding made countenance
onely to this gentleman, whōom neither his personage might
sufficiently commend it selfe unto my sere, nor his behaviour
(beeing light & souldierlike) might in good order acquaint
it selfe with my years. So that the question now ariseth
of my choice, not of my labour, wherfore I preferred
this story before matter of more importance. For answere
whereto gentle Reader, the truth is, that as the first motion
to this kinde of labour came not frōom my selfe, so was this
peece of worke put upon me by others, & they which first
counsailed me to fall to worke, tooke upon them also to be
my taskemasters and overseers least I should be idle, and
yet bicause the refusall was in my power, I must stand to
answere for my easy yelding, & may not be unprovided of ex- A4r
excuse, wherin if I should alledge for my selfe the matters
of lesse worthynesse by as aged years have bene taken in
hand, & that dayly new devises are published, in songs, sonets,
enterludes, & other discourses, and yet are borne out
without reproch, only to please the humour of some men:
I thinck I should make no good plea therem, for besides that
I should finde therby so many known enimies as known
men have ben authors of such idle conceits, yet would my
other adversaries be never the rather quieted: For they
would say that aswel the one as the other were al naught, &
though peradventure I might passe unknown amongst a
multitude, & not be the onely gaze or the od party in my il doing,
yet bicause there is lesse merit of pardon if the fault
be excused as cōommon, I wil not make that my defence which
cannot help mee, & doth hinder other men. But my defēence
is by example of the best, amongst which many have dedicated
their labours, some stories, some of warre, some phisick,
some lawe, some as concerning goverment, some divine
matters, unto divers ladies & gentlewomen. And if
men may & do bestow such of their travailes upon gentlewomen,
then may we womēen read such of their works as
they dedicate unto us, and if we may read them, why not
farther wade in thēen to the serch of a truth. And then much
more why not deale by translatiōon in such argumēents, especially
this kinde of exercise being a matter of more heede
then of deep invention or exquisite learning, & they must
needs leave this as confessed, that in their dedications they
minde not only to borrow names of worthy personages,
but the testimonies also for their further credit, which neither
the one may demaund without ambition, nor the other
graunt without overlightnes: if women be excluded from
the view of such workes as appeare in their name, or if
glory onely be sought in our common inscriptious, it mattereth
not whether the parties be men or women, whether
alive or dead. But to retourn whatsomever the truth is,
whether that women may not at al discourse in learning,
for men lay in their claim to be sole possessioners of knowledge,
or whether they may in some maner that is by limita A.iiij. tion or A4v
tion or appointment in some kinde of learning, my perswasion
hath bene thus, that it is all one for a woman to pen a
story, as for a man to addresse his story to a woman. But
amongst al my il willers, some I hope are not so straight
that they would enforce me necessarily either not to write
or to write of divinitie. That you
maie not
write of divinitie.
Whereas neither durst I trust
mine own judgement sufficiently, if matter of controversy
were handled, nor yet could I finde any booke in the
tongue which would not breed offence to some, That you
meant to
make a common
benefit
of your
paines.
but I perceive
some may be rather angry to see their spanish delight
tourned to an English pastime, they could wel alow
the story in Spanish, but they may not afford it so chepe,
or they would have it proper to themselves. What Natures
such men be off, I list not greatly dispute, but my
meaning hath ben to make other parteners of my liking,
as I doubt not gentle reader, but if it shal plese thee after
serious matters to sport they self with this Spaniard, The use &
profit of
this Spanish
translation.

thou shalt finde in him the just reward of mallice & cowardise,
with the good speed of honesty & courage, beeing able
to furnish thee with sufficient store of forren example
to both purposes. And as in such matters which have
bene rather devised to beguile time, then to breede matter
of sad learning, he hath ever borne away the price which
could season such delights with some profitable reading,
so shalt thou have this straunger an honest man when
neede serveth, & at other times, either a good companiōon to
drive out a wery night, or a merry test at thy boord. The conclusion.
And
thus much as concerning this present story, that it is neither
unseemly for a woman to deale in, neither greatly requiring
a lesse staied age then mine is. But of these two
points gentle reader I thought to give thee warning, least
perhaps understanding of my name & yeares, thou mightest
be carried into a wrong suspect of my boldnesse and
rashnesse, frōom which I would gladly free my selfe by this
plaine excuse, & if I may deserve thy good favour by lyke
labour, when the choice is mine owne I will have a speciall
regard of thy liking.

So I wish thee well.
Thine to use,

M.T.

omittedpp.1 - pp.178 +2 unnumbered pages

omitted3 unnumbered pages