[15] So in the original.
[16] Baruch Spinoza, or Benedict de Spinoza as he later called himself, the pantheistic philosopher, excommunicated from the Jewish faith for heresy, was born at Amsterdam in 1632 and died there in 1677.
[17] Michael Scott, or Scot, was born about 1190, probably in Fifeshire, Scotland, and died about 1291. He was one of the best known savants of the court of Emperor Frederick II, and wrote upon astrology, alchemy, and the occult sciences. He was looked upon as a great magician and is mentioned among the wizards in Dante's Inferno.
"That other, round the loins
So slender of his shape, was Michael Scot,
Practised in every slight of magic wile." Inferno, XX.
Boccaccio also speaks of him: "It is not long since there was in this city (Florence) a great master in necromancy, who was called Michele Scotto, because he was a Scot." Decameron, Dec. Giorno.
Scott's mention of him in Canto Second of his Lay of the Last Minstrel, is well known:
"In these fair climes, it was my lot
To meet the wondrous Michael Scott;