P. [49]. Cardinal Francesco Barberini: b. 1597, d. 1679; librarian of the Vatican, and founder of the Barberini Library.
Epitaphium Damonis
P. [50]. In the British legends of Geoffrey of Monmouth and others, the mythical Brutus, before arriving in Britain with his Trojans, marries Imogen, daughter of the Grecian king Pandrasus; Brennus and Belinus are two legendary British princes of a much later age, sons of King Dunwallo Molmutius; Arvirach or Arviragus, son of Cunobeline, or Cymbeline, belongs to the time of the Roman conquest of Britain; the "Armorican settlers" are the Britons who removed to the French coast of Armonica to avoid the invading Saxons; Uther Pendragon, Igraine, Gorlois, Merlin, and Arthur are familiar names of the Arthurian romances.—Masson.
Of Reformation in England
P. [52]. their damned designs: the restoration of Papacy and ecclesiastical despotism.
P. [53]. antichristian thraldom: he would seem to allude to the invasions of England by the Romans, Saxons, Danes (twice), and Normans, and the War of the Roses, followed by the partial reformation under Henry VIII.—Keightley.
P. [53]. Thule: some undetermined island or other land, regarded as the northernmost part of the earth; called in Latin Ultima Thule; often used metaphorically for an extreme limit.
P. [53]. that horrible and damned blast: Keightley understands this as referring to the Gunpowder plot.
P. [53]. that sad intelligencing tyrant: Philip IV., King of Spain from 1621 to 1665.
P. [53]. mines of Ophir: used in a general sense for gold mines.