epigrams, Erasmus, sea battle, historical document, counterattack, Naval Battle, epic, epigrams, Thomas More

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other work. His attempt failed and when his epigrams reached Brixius’s attention it took Erasmus several years to defuse the animosity that arose between his mutual friends. ¹⁸⁰

Brixius delivers his account of the sea battle as an epic, memorialising the heroism of the French sea captain, Hervé, who died when his ship, the Cordelière, was sunk during battle. More responded to Brixius’s implicit undermining of English courage with accusations of historical inaccuracy and exaggeration, as well as poking fun at his inept artistry. In one epigram he writes that “Brixius immerita quod sustulit Heruea laude,/ Quod merito aduersum fraudat honore ducem” (“I am not at all surprised that Brixius has conferred upon Hervé praise which he did not earn, and has deprived the opposing captain of his due honor”). ¹⁸¹ In another epigram More subjects the veracity of Brixius’s historical account to a forensic analysis in order to undermine his credibility. He quotes lines 106-111 of the Chordigera in which Brixius writes of the captain’s martial vigour in fighting simultaneously with javelin, sword, axe, shield and other weapons that he disarmed from his assailants (no. 173, ‘Postea de Eadem ‘‘Chordigera’’’: ‘A later Incident from the Same Poem, ‘‘Chordigera’’’). In response, More writes: “sed debuit ante moneri/ Lector tunc Herueo quinque fuisse manus” (“but your reader ought to have been informed in advance that Hervé had five hands”). ¹⁸² Wilfully misrepresenting Brixius’s epic rendition of the event as a flawed historical document, More suggests that he is a shameless liar. In order to

¹⁸⁰ Hoyt Hopewell Hudson, The Epigram in the English Renaissance (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1947), p.50. Apparently, Erasmus also failed to prevent Brixius publishing his counterattack and was further belated in his attempt to prevent More publishing a set of epigrams responding to the AntiMorus although only five copies had been sold before More recalled them (see pp.50-5).

¹⁸¹ ‘In Evndem de Eodem Herveo et Eadem Nave Qvae in Pvgna Navali Conflagravit’ (‘On the Same Author Dealing with the Same Hervé and the Same Ship (Which was Burned Up in a Naval Battle)’), no. 171, ll.1-2.

¹⁸² ‘Epigramma Mori Allvdens ad Versvs Svperiores’ (‘More’s Epigram Mocking the Verses Above’), no. 174, ll.13-14.

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