At Constantinople is the crosse of our Lord and his cote without seame, the sponge and the rede with which the Jewes gave our Lord gall to drinke on the Crosse, and there is one of the nayles that our Lorde Jesu Christ was nayled with to the Crosse. Some men think that halfe the Crosse of Christ be in Cipres in an Abbey of Monkes, that men call the hill of the holy crosse, but it is not so, for the crosse that is in Cipres is the crosse on which Dysmas[23] the good theefe was hanged, but all men wot[24] not that, & that is evil done but for the getting of the offering they say that it is the crosse of our Lorde, and ye shall understande that the crosse of our Lorde Jesus Christ was made of foure maner of trees, as it is conteyned in this verse following. _In cruce fit Palma, Cedrus, et Cypressus, Oliva._ [Illustration] For the piece that went ryght up from the earth unto the head was of Cipres, and the piece that went overthwart, to the which his handes were nayled, was of Palme, and the stock that stood within the earth in the which they had made a morteys, was of Cedre, and the table aboue his head was a foote and a half long, on which y^e tytle was written, y^t was of Olyve. Y^e Jewes made this crosse of these foure maner of trees for they thought y^t our Lord shold have hanged as long as y^e crosse might last, therefore they made the foote of Cedre, for Ceder may not in the erth ne[25] in water rot; they thought that the body of Christ shold have stonken, they made the piece y^t went from the yearth upwarde of Cipres so that the smell of his body shold greve no man that came by, and that overthwart was made of Palme in signification of Victory. And the table of the tytle was made of Olive, for it betokeneth peace, as the story of Noe witnesseth, when y^e dove brought y^e braunch of Olive that betokened peace made between God and man. And you also shal understande, that the Christen men that dwell over the sea, say that the pece of the Crosse that we call Cipres was of the tree that Adam eate the appell of, and so finde they written, and they say also that their scripture saith, that when Adam was sicke he sayd to his son Seth that he shold go to Paradise and pray that the Aungel that kepeth Paradise, y^t he wold send him oyle of the tree of mercy for to anoynte him that he might have health, & Seth went, but the Aungel would not let him com in at the gate, but said unto him that he might not have y^e oyle of mercy, but he took him three carnels[26] of the same tree that his father eate the appell of, and bad him as sone as his father was dead, that he should put these carnels under his tongue and bury him, and he did so, and of these three carnels sprang a tree, as the Angel sayd and when the tree bare fruite, then shold Adam be made whole. And when Seth came againe and founde his father dead, he did with the carnels as the Aungell commaunded him, of the which came three trees, whereof