[Footnote 1: Don Felipe. Evidently Philip II, born at Valladolid, Spain, May 21, 1527; king of Spain 1556–98; died at the Escorial, Spain, September 13, 1598. Son of the emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. The recluse king made his first visit to Seville in 1570 at the time of the preparations for the great war with the Turks.]
[Footnote 2: el Gran Turco = 'the Grand Turk,' that is to say the Sultan of Turkey. Selim II was sultan at this time, and his navy was considered the most powerful of Europe. On October 7, 1571, however, it was defeated in the battle of Lepanto by the united fleets of Spain and several of the Italian states, commanded by Don Juan of Austria.].
Mirad, mirad ese grupo de señores graves: esos son los caballeros veinticuatros.[1] ¡Hola, hola! También está aquí el flamencote,[2] á quien se dice que no han echado ya el guante los señores de la cruz verde,[3] merced á su influjo con los magnates [4] de Madrid.[5] ... Éste no viene á la iglesia más que á oir música.... No, pues si maese Perez no le arranca con su órgano lagrimas como puños, bien se puede asegurar que no tiene su alma en su armario, sino friéndose en las calderas de Pero Botero.[6] ... ¡Ay, vecina! Malo... malo... presumo que vamos á tener jarana; yo me refugio en la iglesia, pues por lo que veo, aquí van á andar más de sobra los cintarazos que los Pater Noster.[7] Mirad, mirad; las gentes del duque de Alcalá[8] doblan la esquina de la plaza de San Pedro,[9] y por el callejón de las Dueñas[10] se me figura que he columbrado á las del de Medinasidonia.[11] ... ¿No os lo dije?
[Footnote 1: veinticuatros. Magistrates of certain cities of Andalusia, whose duties, according to the ancient municipal régime, were much the same as those of the modern regidores or aldermen. As the name indicates, there were twenty-four of these city councilors.]
[Footnote 2: el flamencote = 'the big (or great) Fleming.' During the reign of Philip II, owing to his religious persecutions in the Netherlands, several eminent Flemish noblemen were sent to Spain to treat with him on this question. Among the most famous were Egmont (Lamoral, count of Egmont), who was in Spain from January to April, 1565, and Montigny (Floris de Montmorency), who made two trips to Spain, one in 1562, and the other in 1566, on which occasion he remained until 1570, when he was murdered at the king's bidding. Philip received both of these envoys with a show of great cordiality and affection. The Spanish nobles, on the contrary, were cold in their reception, and would gladly have given them over to the Inquisition had there been no fear of Philip's anger. Either of these envoys, if they were ever in Seville, may be referred to here, or some other influential Fleming who may have been there under similar conditions, or this may be mere fiction.]
[Footnote 3: los señores de la cruz verde. The officers of the Inquisition. The arms of this body were a green cross surmounted by a crown, with a drawn sword to the right and an olive branch to the left, upon a field of sable. See Emmanuel Delorme, les Emblèmes de L'Inquisition d'Espagne, Toulouse, 1905.]
[Footnote 4: los magnates. Doubtless Philip II and his court are meant.]
[Footnote 5: Madrid. See p. 80, note 2.]
[Footnote 6: Pero Botero. See vocabulary.]
[Footnote 7: Pater Noster. See p. 33, note 1.]