p. 12, l. 3. A pistole was a gold coin used chiefly in France and Spain. Its value varied but it was generally worth about fifteen or sixteen shillings.
p. 14, l. 5. Cardinal Richelieu, one of the greatest statesmen of the seventeenth century, was practically supreme in France during the reign of Louis XIII.
p. 14, l. 16. The cause of the war with Savoy is told at length on page 23. Savoy being the frontier province between France and Italy it was important that France should maintain her influence there.
p. 14, l. 18. Pinerolo was a frontier fortress.
p. 14, l. 36. The queen-mother was Mary de Medicis who had been regent during the minority of Louis XIII.
p. 15, l. 3. The Protestants or Huguenots of Southern France had been tolerated since 1598 but Richelieu deprived them of many of their privileges.
p. 15, l. 21. In 1625 when England was in alliance with France English ships had been joined with the French fleet to reduce la Rochelle, the great stronghold of Protestantism in Southern France.
p. 16, l. 7. The Louvre, now famous as a picture gallery and museum, was formerly one of the palaces of the French Kings.
p. 17, l. 16. The Bastille was the famous prison destroyed in 1789 at the outbreak of the French Revolution.
p. 18, l. 13. In the seventeenth century Italy was still divided into several states each with its own prince.