"Quintain." An upright post, on the top of which turned a cross-piece, having on one end a broad board and on the other a sandbag. The endeavor was to strike the board with the lance while riding under it and get away without being hit by the sandbag.
[96]. "Scriptorium." A room in a monastery where the monks wrote or copied manuscripts. See "School Reading by Grades—Fifth Year," page 170.
[100]. "Nathless." Nevertheless.
[104]. Cortés. Hernando Cortés was born in Spain in 1485. In 1504, at the age of nineteen, he sailed for Santo Domingo, where he was received with great favor, and where for several years he held important offices in connection with the government of the new colony. In 1518 he organized the expedition for the conquest of Mexico. The city was finally captured, after a gallant defense of 77 days, August 13, 1521. Utterly neglected and forsaken in his old age, Cortés died at Seville, in Spain, December 2, 1547.
[106]. "Palanquin" (păl an kēn´). An inclosed litter, borne on men's shoulders, for conveying a single person.
[106]. "Cacique" (kȧ sēk´). A chieftain, or nobleman, among the Aztecs or Indians.
[107]. "Panache" (păn ȧsh´). A plume or bunch of feathers. A military plume.
[109]. "Tenochtitlan" (ten ōch tēt län´). The Aztec name for their chief city, the site of which is now occupied by the city of Mexico. It was founded about two hundred years before the Spanish conquest, and was built on an island in Tezcuco Lake. The name Mexitl, or Mexico, was also applied to the city, or to a portion of it.
[110]. "Bernal Diaz" (dē´äth). A Spanish soldier in the army of Cortés, who afterwards wrote a history of the conquest.
[111]. "Montezuma." Cortés repaid this chieftain for his kindness by seizing him in his own house and carrying him to the Spanish quarters, where he kept him as a prisoner. The Aztecs attacked the quarters, and Montezuma, by the direction of Cortés, appeared on the wall to counsel peace. This so exasperated them that they pelted him with stones, and wounded him so that he died four days later.