[24] The Egyptian deity Thoth, was identified with the Greek Hermes, and was considered the real author of everything produced or discovered by the human mind. Being thus the source of all human knowledge and thought, he was termed τρὶς μέγιστος, or Thrice Greatest. A variety of works are preserved, of which he is the reputed author. The most probable opinion as to their real origin is that they were forgeries of Neo-Platonists in the third or fourth century of our era. The most important of them is the Ποιμάνδρης, the book translated by the Bishop. It is written in the form of a dialogue, and treats of nature, the creation of the world, the nature and attributes of the deity, the human soul, &c.
[25] In the Vivarais. It cut off Lyons from communicating with Marseilles by water. See Mezeray, iii. 360.
[26] It is impossible within the compass of a note to give more than the briefest outline of the principal events in the life of this famous Breton chief. He was born in 1531, and became a Protestant in 1558. In 1561 he was one of the French nobles who escorted Marie Stuart to Scotland. Brantôme was another of the suite. In 1570 he was wounded by a musket-shot at the siege of Fontenay; gangrene set in, and it was found necessary to amputate his left arm; Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre, held the shattered limb during the operation. This arm was replaced by one of iron, whence he obtained the famous sobriquet, by which he is best known, Bras de fer. In 1573 Charles IX. sent him to La Rochelle in the hope he would be able to effect some compromise with the citizens, and he was for some time regarded with suspicion by both sides; but he appears to have always acted an honest and straightforward part in a very delicate position. When he found a reconciliation was impossible, he placed his sword once more at the service of the French Protestants. He fought for the Protestant cause not only in France but also in the Netherlands, was Count Louis of Nassau’s right-hand man at the surprise and subsequent siege of Mons in 1572, and at one time, in 1579, occupied Bousbecque and the places in the neighbourhood, Menin, Comines, Wervicq, &c. He was mortally wounded at the siege of Lamballe, in Brittany, and died on August 4, 1591. Thuanus (v. p. 180) calls him ‘a truly great man, who for bravery, prudence, and military knowledge deserved to be compared with the greatest generals of the time, and for the purity of his life, his moderation, and his justice to be preferred to most of them.’ For a further account of him see Letters to Rodolph, [IX.] and [LIV.], note.
[27] This report was correct. See Mezeray, iii. 360, where an interesting account is given of the siege.
[28] The second Edict, of October 23. The purport of it was, that no person should be troubled on religious grounds.
[29] The Comte de Fiesco was chevalier d’honneur to the Queen. The Fieschi were Counts of Lavagna, and one of the four principal families of Genoa. The conspiracy of the Fieschi in 1547 is one of the most famous incidents of Genoese history. The object of the conspirators was to overthrow the power of Andrew Doria, and to detach Genoa from the Imperialists, and bring the republic into close connection with France. The conspiracy miscarried, owing to its leader, Count John Louis Fiesco, falling from the planks by which he was boarding a galley, and being drowned. Owing to the darkness of the night the accident was not discovered till it was too late to assist him. His brothers were executed except Scipio, the youngest, who escaped to France, and is the person mentioned in the text. In 1568 he was Ambassador to the Court of Maximilian. He was afterwards chevalier d’honneur to Louise de Vaudemont, the Queen of Henry III., and one of the original knights of the Order of the Holy Ghost.—Lippomano, Ambassadeurs Vénitiens, ii. 413. He married Alphonsina Strozzi, who is the Countess mentioned by Busbecq. She was originally dame d’honneur to Catherine de Medicis.
[30] The Sorbonne was ‘a society or corporation of Doctors of Divinity settled in the University of Paris, and famous all over Europe. It was founded by the French King St. Lewis, and Ralph de Sorbonne, his confessor, a Canon of the Church of Paris, who gave it its name from the village of Sorbonne, near Lyons, which was the place of his nativity.’—World of Words.
Their determination, dated July 2, 1530, is given by Holinshed, Chronicles, iii. 924. It is to the effect that ‘the foresaid marriage with the brother’s wife, departing without children, be so forbidden both by the law of God and of nature, that the Pope hath no power to dispense with such mariages, whether they be contract or to be contract.’ It was read to the House of Commons with the decisions of the other Universities, March 30, 1531.
[31] Leonhard or Lamoral von Thurn and Taxis succeeded his father in 1554 as Postmaster-General in the Netherlands, and in 1595 was appointed Postmaster-General of the Holy Roman Empire. He died in 1612, aged upwards of 90. He was brother of J. B. Taxis or Tassis, the well-known Spanish Ambassador. See Letters to Rodolph, [XLIII.], and note.
[32] Sebastian, grandson of Charles V., became King of Portugal in 1557, when he was only three years old. At the time Busbecq wrote he was a gallant young man of twenty, dreaming of great exploits as a Crusader. Four years later he attempted to put his ideas into practice, and invaded Africa with a large force. His army was annihilated in the battle of Alcazar (August 4th, 1578), and the brave young King perished on the field. His romantic end produced a deep impression on his subjects. ‘It may be mentioned,’ says the Times (December 1825), ‘as a singular species of infatuation, that many Portuguese residing in Brazil, as well as in Portugal, still believe in the coming of Sebastian, the romantic king, who was killed about the year 1578, in a pitched battle with the Emperor Muley Moluc. Some of these old visionaries will go out wrapped in their large cloaks, on a windy night, to watch the movements of the heavens, and frequently, if an exhalation is seen flitting in the air, resembling a falling star, they will cry out, “There he comes!”’ For a curious story of a hoax played on one of these fanatics, see Hone’s Everyday Book, vol. ii. page 88.