2 And in youre book to set myn ymage. For MS illustrations, see the corresponding Textual Note.↩back to note source

4 mortall usage. Word-play here on two senses of mortal, meaning “as pertaining to death” and “as pertaining to mortals,” thus: “it is my custom and deadly tendency” and “it is my custom and tendency when it comes to mortals . . .”↩back to note source

7 my belle. See note to line 2 above.↩back to note source

21 patent. This is a plate which holds the sacramental bread during the celebration of the Mass.↩back to note source

23 For of my commyng there is no tyme sette. Compare Matthew 24:36.↩back to note source

28 Adams synne. This refers to the consumption of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for which Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3.↩back to note source

Before 29 the book of Johnne Lucas. The attribution of these works to “John Lucas” remains unclear. Henry MacCracken reads it as a scribal slip for “John Bochas,” the Middle English rendering of Giovanni Boccaccio, Lydgate’s source for the Fall of Princes, from which this poem is extracted: see Minor Poems, ed. MacCracken, 2:656n28.↩back to note source

39 do almes. The practice of distributing alms, in the form of material recompense to the poor and needy, is a core Christian virtue and stands at the heart of Christian penitential practice. Sharing goods within a community for the benefit of the common people is discussed in Acts 4:32 and 11:29 and prescribed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:1–2 and Galatians 2:10.↩back to note source