[101] “He was well named after St. Francis, because of the holes in his hands,” said a Sorbonne doctor.
[102] “Ah! me, how thou art changed! See, thou art neither two nor one.”
[103] Travellers to Paris in the days of King Francis had cause to remember gratefully that monarch’s solicitude, for a maximum of charges was fixed, and an order made that every hotel-keeper should affix his prices outside the door, that extortion might be avoided. Among other maxima, the price of a pair of sheets, to “sleep not more than five persons,” was to be five deniers (a penny).
[104] The salamander was figured on the royal arms of Francis.
[105] About £600,000 in present-day value.
[106] For the first offence a fine; for the second, the lips to be cloven; for the third, the tongue pierced; for the fourth, death.
[107] The image was stolen in 1545 and replaced by one of wood. This was struck down in 1551, and the bishop of Paris substituted for it one of marble.
[108] One thousand two hundred are said to have suffered death during the month of vengeance.
[109] Henry of Guise had succeeded to the dukedom after his father’s assassination.
[110] Suspicions of poison were entertained by the Huguenots. Jeanne, in a letter to the Marquis de Beauvais, complained that holes were made in her rooms that she might be spied upon.