Babylons Beautie: or the Romish-Catholicks Sweet-Heart.

THE "WHOREISH" CATHOLIC FAITH

Containing a most lively and lovely Description of Romes Cardinall Vertues and rarest endowments...A worke most seasonably composed for the revived eternall shame of all the mad-Maintainers and Idolizers of Romes great Diana, so cried-up and fought for, now a daies, by Papists, Atheists, and formall Malignant Protestants. 

 

First Edition. Small 4to (190 x 136mm). [6], 30 pp. A little browned in places, old ink blot to the title-page, some light foxing in places, most likely removed from a larger tract volume (old ink number 48 on the title-page). 19th-century red roan-backed marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt (rubbed and bumped, covers scratched).

 

London: by G.M. for Ralph Rounthwait, 

Wing V293 recording Huntington, New York Public Library, Union Theological Seminary and Yale only in the USA. Six locations in the UK

 

A powerful anti-Catholic polemic in which the Pope and the Catholic faith is described using derogatory feminine descriptive language.

 

The pamphlet is dedicated by Vicars to two women: Rebecca Woolaston (1591-1660) the wife of Sir John Wollaston (1585/6-1658) Lord Mayor of London between 1643-4 and Anne Sprignall, wife of Sir Richard Sprignall (1599-1659):

 

"I could not possibly pitch upon more fit Patrons thereof, than your good Ladiships, my every worthily most honoured good Friends, whom I know by most happie experience to be two most eminently gracious and grave Matrons in this our Israel; two most fruitful and faithfull Professours and practisers of true Piety and Holines; yea, I say, two most hearty and heroick haters and contemners of this Romish-Strumpet, and all her most detestable Idolatries, and adhominable superstitious fooleries and mimicall fopperies in Religion, meer baubles of Babel to mock and cheat the children of errour and disobedience..."

 

Vicars sets his two female dedicatees against the supposed "whorish" behaviour of the Catholic Church, describing the Pope as "Babylon's Beautie" and the "Romish-Catholicks Sweet-Heart." Vicars describes a supposed long history of Catholic association with supposed fallen women including how many Popes raised a "mightie masse of money" by licensing brothels (p.8.) and Pope Joan is described as "an English woman, a right Whore of Rome...committed reall and carnall Whoredome with a slave which she kept and put much trust in, for such filthy and loathsome secrets (p.9)"

Stock Code: 250156