FOOTNOTES:
1. See The Peace of Constance, page 28.
2. See Archiepiscopate of Thomas Becket, page 1.
3. See Saladin Takes Jerusalem from the Christians, page 41.
4. See The Third Crusade, page 54.
5. See Philip of France Wins the French Domains of the English Kings, page 86.
6. See Signing of the Magna Charta, page 175.
7. See Innocent III Exalts the Papal Power, page 156.
8. See Decline of the Moorish Power in Spain, vol. v, page 256.
9. See Venetians and Crusaders Take Constantinople, page 121.
10. See Latin Empire of the East, page 140.
11. See The Sixth Crusade, page 208.
12. See The Teutonic Knights, page 68.
13. See Mamelukes Usurp Power in Egypt, page 240.
14. See Louis IX Leads the Last Crusade, page 275.
15. See The Sicilian Vespers, page 340.
16. See First Great Jubilee of the Roman Catholic Church, page 378.
17. See Rise of the Hanseatic League, page 214.
18. See Founding of the House of Hapsburg, page 298.
19. See Founding of the Mongol Empire, page 103.
20. See Russia Conquered by the Tartar Hordes, page 196.
21. See Height of the Mongol Power in China, page 287.
22. See Japanese Repel the Tartars, page 327.
23. See The Golden Bull, "Hungary's Magna Charta," page 191.
24. See The "Mad Parliament," page 246.
25. See Edward I Conquers Wales, page 316.
26. See Exploits and Death of William Wallace, page 369.
27. See Expulsion of Jews from England, page 356.
28. A tax originally levied by Ethelred II to maintain forces against the Danes.
29. He had killed the father of a young lady whom he had betrayed.
30. The King knew not how to behave to the murderers. To punish them for that which they had understood he wished them to do, appeared ungenerous; to spare them was to confirm the general suspicion that he had ordered the murder. He left them therefore to the judgment of the spiritual courts. In consequence they travelled to Rome, and were enjoined by Alexander to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where some, if not all, of them died.
31. Guy—Guido of Lusignan—was King of Jerusalem, the kingdom founded by the crusaders in 1099. When Saladin took the city, in 1187, he imprisoned Guy.
32. The house of Comnenus, rulers of the Byzantine empire.
33. Mother of John, grandmother of Arthur, and heiress of Aquitaine.
34. According to R. Coggeshall, Philip virtually declared himself
still ignorant on the point six months later.
35. These were the alternative versions proposed by John's friends,
according to M. Paris.
36. Johannem Mollegladium. This nickname is no doubt a translation of one which must have been applied to John in French, though unluckily its vernacular form is lost. It has been suggested that "if the phrase had any English equivalent, it would probably be something embracing a more direct metaphor than 'Softsword'—something like 'Tinsword,' or, better still, if the thirteenth century knew of putty, 'John Puttysword.'"
37. In 1199, by acknowledging Arthur as their liege lord and Richard's lawful heir.
38. I.e., "May the band that binds the felts and spars of the yurt never decay"; in other words, may he ever be prosperous—a favorite Mongol wish.
39. Transports.
40. The Petrion, which is repeatedly mentioned by contemporary writers, was a district built on the slope of a hill running parallel to the Golden Horn for about one-third of the length of the harbor walls eastward from Blachern. It had apparently been a neglected spot during the early centuries of the history of Constantinople, but had lately come to be the residence of numerous hermits, and the site of several monasteries and convents. A great part is now occupied by the Jewish colony of Galata.
41. Nicetas' Chronicate, Greek authority on the Latin conquest.
42. Engines for throwing stones and other missiles.
43. Alexius V, Byzantine Emperor.
44. The remarkable church of this monastery still exists as a mosque, and is known as Eski imaret Mahallasse. It still bears witness to its having been arranged for both monks and nuns. It is on the Fourth Hill, just above the Phanar.
45. Alexius V, his Greek name.
46. It was the quarter about the gate in the harbor walls, now known as Zindan Capou, near the dried-fruit market.
47. Another name of Constantinople.
48. The Great Church, dedicated to the "Divine Wisdom"; the Santa Sophia, built by Justinian.
49. This office still exists. The principal duty of the person who holds it is to recite the creed in great religious services when the patriarch officiates.
50. Romania was the usual name for the Byzantine or Eastern empire.
51. Innocent III.
52. By a similar manoeuvre did the Spaniards rob King René two hundred years later of the city of Naples.
53. Peter's Patrimony was an administrative division of the Papal States, situated in Central Italy northwest of the Roman Campagna.—ED.
54. Apulia, a former duchy, was now a part of the Two Sicilies.
55. Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, also ruler of a large part of Northern Italy, died about 1115, bequeathing her possessions to the papacy, which she had supported in its struggle with the Empire. The execution of her will had been prevented by the Imperial power.
56. This seems a very strong proof that the house of commons was not then in being; otherwise the knights and burgesses from the several counties could have given in to the lords a list of grievances, without so unusual an election.
57. Novgorod was for centuries the chief commercial city of Russia. It was an independent republic, holding sway over extensive territories around the Baltic Sea.
58. Suzdal was at this time the principal state of Central Russia, with a capital of the same name.
59. Translated by Joseph Sohn.
60. Thus was gradually introduced what has since been considered the constitutional method of opposing the measures of the Crown, the refusal of the supplies for the current year. Henry's predecessors were too rich to depend on the aid of their vassals: to resist their will with any hope of success it was necessary to have recourse to the sword. But his poverty compelled him annually to solicit relief, and to purchase it by concessions to his parliament.
61. The Earl of Gloucester also massacred the Jews in Canterbury; and the Earl of Derby destroyed their houses at Worcester and compelled them to receive baptism. As a justification, it was pretended that they were attached to the King, had Greek fire in their possession, kept false keys to the gates, and had made subterraneous passages from their houses leading under the walls.
62. Grandfather of King Robert Bruce, of Scotland.
63. The military tenants were ordered under the penalty of felony to bring into the field not only the force specified by their tenures, but all the horsemen and infantry in their power: every township was compelled to send eight, six, or four footmen well armed with lances, bows and arrows, swords, crossbows, and hatchets, who should serve forty days at the expense of the township; and the cities and burghs received orders to furnish as many horsemen and footmen as the sheriff might appoint. No excuse was to be allowed on account of the shortness of the time, the approach of the harvest, or any other private inconvenience.
64. It is amusing to compare the opposite writers of this period. Wikes and the letter-writer in Westminster are royalists, and severely censure the ambition and treason of Leicester, but, in the estimation of the chroniclers of Dunstable and of Waverly, he lived a saint and died a martyr.
65. By these we are to understand Northern and Southern China, separated by the great Hoang-ho on the eastern, and by the southern limits of Shen-si on the western side.
66. This conduct toward the professors of the several systems of faith is perfectly consistent with the character of Kublai, in which policy was the leading feature. It was his object to keep in good humor all classes of his subjects, and especially those of the capital or about the court, by indulging them in the liberty of following unmolested their own religious tenets, and by flattering each with the idea of possessing his special protection. Many of the highest offices, both civil and military, were held by Mahometans.
67. Neither do those who profess the Mussulman faith regard Mahomet as a divinity, nor do the Jews so regard Moses; but it is not to be expected that a Tartar emperor should make very accurate theological distinctions.
68. This word, probably much corrupted by transcribers, must be intended for one of the numerous titles of Buddha.
69. The saggio of Venice being equal to the sixth part of an ounce,
these consequently weighed twenty ounces, and the others in
proportion up to fifty ounces.
70. In many parts of the East, the parasol or umbrella with a long
handle, borne by an attendant, is a mark of high distinction, and
even denotes sovereignty when of a particular color.
71. This is Polo's name for Kublai's capital—Khan-Balig ("the Khan's city")—the Chinese Peking, captured by the Mongols in 1215. In 1264 Kublai made it his chief residence, and in 1267 he built a new city—Marco Polo's Tai-du, more properly Ta-tu—a little to the northeast of the old one.
72. Subdivisions of counties, corresponding to the English hundreds.
73. Llewelyn's brother.
74. It is said that Edward promised the Welsh "a native prince; one who could not speak a word of English," and then presented to their astonished gaze the new-born infant.
75. A British diplomat who has been for many years director of the imperial maritime customs of China.
76. These names appear to be intended for Abaka-khan, a Mongol or Mogul, and Vang-san-chin, a Chinese. Many of the latter nations were employed by Kublai, both in civil and military capacities, and rendered him good service.
77. By the port of Zaitun is probably meant Amoy, and by Kinsai the port of Ningpo or of Chusan, which are at the entrance of the river which flows by Hang-chau, the Kinsai of Polo.
78. The idea of being rendered invulnerable by the use of amulets is common among the natives of the eastern islands.
79. If the original operations were directed, as might be presumed, against the ancient capital, we should infer that the city here spoken of was Ozaka, situated at the mouth of the river upon which, at some distance from the coast, Kioto stands, and which is known to have been formerly much frequented by Chinese shipping. But, according to P. Gaubil, the island was that of Firando, near the city of Nagasaki, not then a place of so much importance as it has since become.
80. There is here a manifest error in the date, which instead of 1264 should rather be 1284. In the early Venice epitome it is 1269, as well as in the early texts printed by the Paris Geographical Society; and in the Basel edition, 1289. Polo cannot be made accountable for these contradictions among his transcribers.
81. No clew presents itself by which to discover the island meant by the name of Zorza or—allowing for the Venetian pronunciation—Jorja. Some suppose it to be in one of the lakes of Tartary.
82. Translated and edited by Francis Egerton, Earl of Ellesmere.
83. In his charter to the city, King Henry exempts his Jews, who were to remain the exclusive property of himself and his successors.
84. The remarkable letter of Robert Grostête, then Archdeacon of Leicester, afterward the famous Bishop of Lincoln, to the Countess on this subject, shows the feelings of the most enlightened churchman in those times toward the Jews. His mercy, if it was mercy, would spare their lives. "As murderers of the Lord, as still blaspheming Christ and mocking his Passion, they were to be in captivity to the princes of the earth. As they have the brand of Cain, and are condemned to wander over the face of the earth, so were they to have the privilege of Cain, that no one was to kill them. But those who favored or harbored them were to take care that they did not oppress Christian subjects by usury. It was for this reason that Simon de Montfort had expelled them from Leicester. Whoever protected them might share in the guilt of their usuries."
85. This act, translated from the Norman French, is remarkable in that the King admits that they (the Jews) are, and have been, very profitable to him and his ancestors.
86. The act for the expulsion of the Jews has not come down to us; we know not, therefore, the reasons alleged for the measure. Of the fact there can be no doubt (see Report on the Dignity of a Peer, p. 180), and there are many documents relating to the event, as writs to the authorities in Gloucester and York, to grant them safe-conduct to the ports where they were to embark.
87. "Great," writes the author of Anglia Judaica, "were the spoils they left behind them. Whole rolls, full of patents relating to their estates, are still remaining in the Tower, which, together with their rents in fee and their mortgages, all escheated to the King."