FOOTNOTES:
[1] In the 'Paradiso' (canto xv.) he introduces his great-great-grandfather Cacciaguida, who tells of himself that he followed the Emperor Conrad to fight against the Mohammedans, was made a knight by him, and was slain in the war.
[2] From the letter already referred to, cited by Lionardo Bruni.
[3] Charles II. of Naples was the cousin of Philip III., the Bold, of France, the father of Charles of Valois; and in 1290 Charles of Valois had married his daughter.
[4] These decrees and the other public documents relating to Dante are to be found in various publications. They have all been collected and edited by Professor George R. Carpenter, in the tenth and eleventh Annual Reports of the Dante Society, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1891, 1892.
[5] This decree was pronounced in a General Council of the Commune by the Vicar of King Robert of Naples, into whose hands the Florentines had given themselves in 1313 for a term of five years,—extended afterwards to eight,—with the hope that by his authority order might be preserved within the city.
[6] Among the letters ascribed to Dante is one, much noted, in reply to a letter from a friend in Florence, in regard to terms of absolution on which he might secure his re-admission to Florence. It is of very doubtful authenticity. It has no external evidence to support it, and the internal evidence of its rhetorical form and sentimental tone is all against it. It belongs in the same class with the famous letter of Fra Ilario, and like that, seems not unlikely to have been an invention of Boccaccio's.
[7] Literally, "who by the sweetness of its glory put exile behind our back."
[8] The sun,—a planet according to the Ptolemaic astronomy.
[9] It was a common belief that the spring was the season of the creation.
[10] These three beasts typify the division of sins into those of incontinence, of violence, and of fraud.
[11] Who he was and What should result.
[12] In Limbo, neither in hell nor in heaven.
[13] The heaven of the Moon, the nearest to Earth of the nine concentric Heavens.
[14] The type of illuminating grace.
[15] It was Galahaut who, in the Romance, prevailed on Guinevere to give a kiss to Lancelot.
[16] When it is sunrise at Jerusalem it is midnight in Spain, midday at the Ganges, and sunset in Purgatory.
[17] To be buried alive.
[18] Leah and Rachel are respectively the types of the virtuous active and contemplative life.
[19] As they come nearer home.
[20] In the preceding canto a mystic procession, symbolizing the Old and New Dispensation, has appeared in the Earthly Paradise. At its head were seven candlesticks, symbols of the sevenfold spirit of the Lord; it was followed by personages representing the truthful books of the Old Testament, and these by the chariot of the Church drawn by a griffon, who in his double form, half eagle and half lion, represented Christ in his double nature, human and divine.
[21] The lower septentrion, the seven stars of the Great Bear.
[22] Words from the Æneid (vi. 884), sung by the angels.
[23] The olive is the symbol of wisdom and of peace; the three colors are those of Faith, Charity and Hope.
[24] Words from the Æneid, iv. 23.
[25] All the joy and beauty of Paradise which Eve lost, and which were now surrounding Dante.
[26] When he had entered Purgatory.
[27] The words are from Psalm xxxi., verses 1 to 8.
[28] If the wind blow from Africa.
[29] Both devout and piteous.
[30] Through the influences of the circling heavens.
[31] From divine grace.
[32] In Hell.
[33] Not yet obliterated by the waters of Lethe.
[34] Inspired by me.
[35] Other objects of desire.
[36] Numidia, of which Iarbas was king.
[37] The beard being the sign of manhood, which should be accompanied by wisdom.
[38] The one which by its attractions most diverted me from Beatrice.
[39] A solitary lady whom he had met on first entering the Earthly Paradise, and who had accompanied him thus far.
[40] The first words of the 7th verse of the 51st Psalm: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
[41] The four cardinal virtues.
[42] The three evangelic virtues.
[43] Now with the divine, now with the human.
[44] Light in its essence; all other light is derived from it.
[45] This union of substance and accident.
[46] So overwhelming was the vision that the memory could not retain it completely even for an instant.
[47] The wish to see the mystery of the union of the two natures, the divine and human in Christ.
[48] That Love which makes sun and stars revolve was giving a concordant revolution to my desire and my will.
[49] The middle aisle of St. Paul's in London was the fashionable walk.