[120] Lit. Ponant (Ponente), i.e. the Western coasts of the Mediterranean, as opposed to the Eastern or Levant.
[121] i.e. a.d. 912, when, upon the death of Louis III, the last prince of the Carlovingian race, Conrad, Duke of Franconia, was elected Emperor and the Empire, which had till then been hereditary in the descendants of Charlemagne, became elective and remained thenceforth in German hands.
[122] Anguersa, the old form of Anversa, Antwerp. All versions that I have seen call Gautier Comte d'Angers or Angiers, the translators, who forgot or were unaware that Antwerp, as part of Flanders, was then a fief of the French crown, apparently taking it for granted that the mention of the latter city was in error and substituting the name of the ancient capital of Anjou on their own responsibility.
[123] i.e. of her excuse.
[124] Lit. Thou holdest (or judges); but giudichi in the text is apparently a mistake for giudico.
[125] i.e. of discernment.
[126] Sic (aggiunsero); but semble should mean "believed, in addition."
[127] i.e. That the secret might be the better kept.
[128] Paesani, lit., countrymen; but Boccaccio evidently uses the word in the sense of "vassals."
[129] i.e. that it was not a snare.