[Sidenote: Orfrayes not Goldsmith’s work, but frysed cloth of gold, a manufacture peculiar to the English.] Orfrayes yo{u} expounde Goldsmythes worke, w{hi}che ys as nere to goldsmythes woorke as clothe of golde, for this worde orefrayes, beinge compounded of the frenche worde (or) and (frays, or fryse,) the Englishe is that w{hi}che to this daye (beinge now made all of one stuffe or substance) is called frised or perled cloothe of gold; in Latyne, in tymes past, termed aurifrisium or aurifrixori{u}m. A thinge well knowen to the Saxons in Englande before, as to the Normans after, the Conqueste, and therfore fullye to satisfye you thereof, I will produce twoo auctorauctors of the weavinge and vse thereof before the conquest and since, wherin you shall pleynely see what yt was, and in what acco{m}pt yt was holden, beinge a worke peculier to the Englishe. The lieger booke of Elye, speakinge of Ediswetha daughter to Brightnothus, aldermanne, erle or duke, of northumberlande before the Conquest sayethe; cui tradita Coveneia, locus monasterio vicinus, vbi aurifrixorie et texturæ secretiùs cu{m} puellis vacabat; and a little after, Tunica Rubra purpura per gyrum et ab humeris aurifri vndiq{ue} circumdatu{m}. Then, after the conquest, mathew Paris speakethe thereof aboute ornamentes to be sente to the Poope. but because I haue not my mathewe Paris here, I will vouche one whose name hathe muche affinytye with hym, and that is Mathewe Parker Archbyshoppe of Canterburye, who, in the Lyfe of Bonifacius Archbishoppe of that see, hathe these wordes. “A^o. Domini 1246, Romæ multi Anglicani aderant Clerici, qui capis vt aiu{n}t chorealibus, et infulis, ornamentisq{ue} ecclesiasticis, ex Anglice tunc more gentis, ex lana tenuissima et auro artificiosè intexto fabricatis, vterentur. Huius modi ornamentoru{m} aspectu et concupiscentia provocatus Papa, rogavit cuiusmodi essent. Responsu{m} est, aurifrisia appellari, quia et eminens ex panno et lana qua{m} Angli fryse appellant, simul contexta sunt. Cui subridens et dulcedine captus Papa, Vere, inquit,” (for these are the woordes of Mathewe Paris whiche lyved at that tyme,) “Hortus noster delitiaru{m} est Anglia, verus puteus est inexhaustus, et vbi multa abundant, de multis multa sumere licet. Itaq{ue}, concupiscentia illectus oculorum, litteras suas Bullatas sacras misit ad Cistercienses in Anglia Abbates, quoru{m} orationibus se devotè commendabat, vt ipsi hec aurifrisia speciosissima ad suum ornandu{m} choru{m} compararent. Hoc Londoniensibus placuit, quia ea tum venalia habebant, tantiq{ue} quanti placuit vendiderunt.” In whiche discourse you not onlye see that orefryes was a weued clothe of golde and not goldsmythe worke, and that Englande had before and since the conqueste the arte to compose suche kynde of delicate Cloothe of golde as Europe had not the lyke; for yf yt hadd, the poope wolde haue made suche prouis{i}one thereof in other places, and not from Englande. And because you shall not thinke