The Anatomie of the English Nunnery at Lisbon in Portugal

The comic strip in The Anatomie of the English Nunnery begins on the unsigned recto of A2. The upper 60% of the recto is the titular matter, bound in two lined rectangles. One of the vertical lines from the inner rectangle actually crosses over the plate imprint, clearly indicating that this leaf had been printed in two separate operations, and probably two shops. A1 is blank on the recto, but on the verso--facing that title page--is The explanation of the Picture in the Title.

BEhold that holy Cell where Nunnes abide,

 And doe in Lisbons Monaſtry reſide.
 A  Here is the wall in which a grate doth ſtand
Diuiding iuſt the ſame on either hand.
 B  Within a Frier ſitteth on his ſeat,
And as Confeſſor doth the Nunnes intreat.
 C  Without a Nun doth kneele, who ſtrait begins
With ſober look to vtter all her ſinnes.
 D  But if you looke vpon the other ſide,
A ſleighter grate doth ſucha[sic] wall diuide:
Which vp and downe is lifted at their leaſure.
As Nuns and Friers one another pleaſure;
For rather than ſhe'll disobedient be,
She vnder creepes, as you the ſame may ſee.
 E  Thence doe they cheerely pace it arme in arme,
Friers haue power ſilly Nunnes to charme.
 F  So on a bed they wanton clip and kiſſe,
There's nothing in a Nunnery amiſſe.
 G  Then doth a banquet on a Table ſtand,
And from the bed he leads her by the hand;
Whereat they eate, carouſe, and kiſſe againe;
And, in a word, doe no delight refraine.
 H  Till Robinſon doth fret to ſee the guile
How ſuch diſſemblers at the world can ſmile:
So in a fury he the Curtain takes,
And open wide, with either hand it ſhakes
Bidding all men (behold) how they collude,
And doe poore ſilly Nouices delude.
  I For though they doe pretend the Worlds braue ſcorne
Yet to their ſecret Vaults treaſure is borne;
And riches comes in many wayes betide:
Thus haue they reaſon England to deride.
They doe indeed faire chaſtity profeſſe,
Obedience, pouerty, and ſeeme no leſſe:
But God doth know and Robinſon can tell,
All is a beaſtly falſhood in this Cell.

The strip itself follows the alphabetical order of this explanatory verse. The first of the three panels takes place in a walled, barred cell, labelled "A" twice. Under the superscription, "The frier Confeſsor" (labelled "b") listens to "A Nune att Confeſſion" (labelled "c"). Below, a man in a cap (labelled "i") crouches while carrying a basket of coins down a trap door. In the left of second panel, the monk raises the top of the bars while the nun lowers the others (labelled "d"). In the right, the monk and the nun approach a rounded doorway. The third panel is divided diagonally by a curtain attached by rings to the panel division of the second and third panels. To the right, a monk and a nun embrace on a canopy bed (labelled "f"), next to a set table ("g") below a rounded doorway. To the left, a man labelled "Thomas Robinſ" ("h") pulls back the curtain with his left hand while pointing at the nun and monk with his right. He has a banderolle that says, "behold."

This seems to be a print very much concerned with order: the orderly division of monastic cells, the disciplinary division of nuns and monks, as well as the image-textual division of frames and meaning. The explanatory verse tries to re-inscribe the cells with metrical meaning, even as the image itself defies that linear sense of order. The first panel brings together the first and last verses, and the curtain that Robinson pulls back in the third panel also hangs on the separation between the second and third panels.

Moreover, the dedicatory letters suggest an auto-critique of lexical order. The letter from Thomas Robinson (signed T.R.) tells the "indifferent Reader" that the term "anatomy" should not make one "expect ſome Chyrurgicall myſteries, or profound Lecture upon a diſſected body" but instead "the Author hereof is a man of no ſuch Science; b eing [sic] better skilled in Tackes, Sheats, Braces, Bowlins, &c... than in Veines, Sinews, Muſcles and Arteries. Yet what he promiſeth by the Title, hee hath performed in the Treatiſe, and hath truly anatomized this handmaid of the Whore of Babylon; laying open her principall veines and ſinewes in ſuch ſort, that he is bold to challenge the proud'ſt Doctor of her acquantance to  traduce his work..." Robinson emphasizes that this is a kind of work comparable to the medical sciences, demonstrated by his semi-empirical reference to his eyewitness testimony. "for here is nothing publiſhed, but what his owne experience, being optima magiſtra, hath taught him, and whereof he hath beene oculatus teſtis."

Robinson explains that the lineage of this nunnery descends from "the Abbey of Sion in England, now belonging to the Earle of Northumberland, (b) [directing to marginal note: See Stowes Chronicla at large.]which house together with another Monaſtrie of Carthuſian Monkes, called Shyne..." Robinson goes on to relate that Henry V established these two houses so that they could alternate prayer and devotions. Under the Henrician reformation, the King convicted for treason one Father Reynolds the Confessor (of these nuns), "in memory of whom they haue painted his Picture & maner of execution vpon their Church walles, eſteeming him as a holy Martyr amongst them, as good as either (c) S. Campian, or Beatus Pater Henricus Garnet..."

In the back, Robinson lists

The Friers of the Houſe.

Seth alias Ioſeph Foſter, Counfeſſor.
Iohn Viuian, }
Nicholas Barrowes, } two Prieſts.
Peter Conſul, a Familiar, that is, a Lay-Brother, but a drunken one, God knowes.

The Nunnes of the Houſe
Barbara Wifeman, Abbeſſe.
Anne Wiſeman Prioreſſe.
Elizabeth Hart, Chantreſſe.
Anne Wharton, Treaſureſſe.
Anne alias Ioſepha Bingham, Portreſſe.
Lucy Iohnſon Notareſſe.
Dorothy Fowler, Keeper of the Reliques & Church ſtuffe.
Bridget Browne, } Daughter of Sir Anth. Browne,
Lucy Browne, } Viſcount Montacute.
Elizabeth Preſton ſometimes Abbeſſe, but now in diſgrace with old Foſter.
Anne Martin.
Anne Markenfield.
Suſan Bacon.
Siſtly Arundell.
Margaret Smith, alias Becket, and her Siſter.
Mandlyn Shelby, }
Kathrine Dendy, } three of the Kitchin.
Elizabeth Cole, }
Martha.
Clara Dowman, indeed Anne Foſter, the Confeſſors Kinſwoman.
Kath. Knightly, } two merry ſinging
Mary Browne,} Waggs.
Anne, a Chambermaid of Sir. Anth. Browne.
Mary Barnes a welbeloued friend of Foſters.
Mary Dimmock, a diſcontented yong Nunne.
M. Blinkſop, falſely reported by Father Foſter to be allyed to diuers of the nobility.
Agatha.
Elianor and Angela, two Dutchwomen.
Bridget Mandanha, }
Maria Suarez } three Portugeſes.
Maria Rodriquez, }

I wonder what rhetorical purpose this list serves: Were these well-known people in England? Was this Anthony Browne well-regarded or already hated? The Oxford DNB says one Anthony Browne was one of the wealthiest peers in Sussex, who served Elizabeth as ambassador to Spain and the Low Countries despite (or because of) his Catholicism. He suffered rumors of plotting rebellion, so he proved his loyalty by leading a troop of horsemen in defense against the Spanish Armada. Another Anthony Maria Brown, the grandson of the former, has no mention in the ODNB except his sizeable inheritance.