[E12]
[E12b] H. Bielke was Admiral of the realm; his wife was an Ulfeldt, and it was he who procured Corfitz Ulfeldt his leave of absence in 1662, of which he made such regretable use. He, too, was one of the judges that convicted him. Oluf Brokkenhuus was Corfitz Ulfeldt’s brother-in-law; Elizabeth Parsbjerg was the widow of his elder brother Lauridts Ulfeldt. Marie Ulfeldt was sister of Corfitz.
[E13] Charles de Goutant, Duc de Biron, a celebrated French General, some time favourite of Henry IV. King of France, was found guilty of conspiring against his master with the courts of Spain and Savoy. Henry IV. forgave him, but he recommenced his intrigues. It is supposed that the King would have forgiven him a second time if he had confessed his crime; but he refused to do so, and was beheaded in 1602.
[E14] This lady is known under the name of Haxthausen; and Schaffshausen is probably a mistake on Leonora’s part, although of course she may have been married to an officer of this name before she married N. v. Haxthausen. She was a German by birth.
[E15] Elizabeth Augusta, a younger sister of Leonora, married Hans Lindenow, a Danish nobleman, who died in the siege of Copenhagen, 1659.
[E16] That Leonora here speaks of her husband as her ‘late lord,’ is due only to the fact that the Memoir was not written till after his death; at the time of these events he was still alive.
[E17] When the sentence on Ulfeldt had become publicly known, the most absurd rumours circulated in Copenhagen, and found their way to foreign newspapers. For instance the kingdom’s Intelligencer, No. 33, Aug. 10-17, 1663, says, in a correspondence from Hamburg: ‘They say the traitors intended to set [Copenhagen] on fire in divers places, and also the fleet, to destroy the King and family, to blow up the King’s palace, and deliver the crown over to another.’ The Government itself, on hearing of Ulfeldt’s plots, made great military preparations.
[E18] The sentence on Ulfeldt was given on July 24, but probably not published till a few days later.
[E19] A line has been drawn in the MS. through the two last paragraphs, and their contents transferred to the continuation of the Preface.
[E20] Leonora refers to the betrothal of Prince Johan George of Saxony and Anna Sophia, the eldest daughter of Fredrik III., of which an account occurs in the sequel.
[E21] A copy of the fragments which had been recovered of this letter is still in existence.