[41] A village in the Department of the Gers.
[42] The ancient name was Aquæ Helvetiæ. In the time of Nero, according to Tacitus (Hist., i. 67), it had all the appearance of a town: “In modum municipii extructus locus, amœno salubrium aquarum usu frequens.” But nothing is said about the personal investigations of Tacitus, to which Montaigne alludes.
Querlon, in a note on this passage, remarks: “Je ne sais où l’écrivain a pris cela. La mémoire trompoit quelquefois Montaigne come tous ceux qui citent beaucoup, car on ne peut mettre cette érudition que sur son compte.”
[43] In the spring of 1416 Poggio Bracciolini visited Baden, and during his stay wrote to his friend, Niccolo Niccoli, a description of the place, which is one of the most graphic and vivid pictures of contemporary life. It is given in Shepherd’s “Life of Poggio.”
[44] “... à ceus qui se conforment à eux.” But sense seems to show that a “ne” must have slipped out of the text.
[45] Rodolf II.
[46] 21 batzen = 1 Rhenish florin.
[47] Probably Charles, the younger brother of Henry II., who died in 1545.
[48] According to Querlon this gentleman was Charles de Montmorenci, afterwards Duc d’Anville and Admiral of France, son of the Constable, Anne de Montmorenci.
[49] Fouasses, which Querlon describes as “espèce de galettes.” See also Rabelais, Book i., ch. xxv.