[91.—4-5.] Como... bañe: this passage is obscure, but the meaning seems to be, as a pledge that the river should so zealously bathe it.
[18. ]la hermosa, according to tradition, was Florinda, daughter of Count Julian. Roderick (Roderico or Rodrigo), the last king of the Goths in Spain, saw Florinda bathing in the Tagus, conceived a passion for her and dishonored her. In revenge Julian is said to have brought the Saracens into Spain.
[27. ]puerta: this may refer to the Puerta Visagra Antigua, an ancient Arabic gate of the ninth century, now closed.
[92.—12.] Las... horadarle = al horadarle las palmas (al rey). According to tradition Alfonso, who became afterward King Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile, when a refugee at the court of Alimenón, the Moorish king of Toledo, overheard the Moorish sovereign and his advisers talking about the defences of the city. The Moors said that the Christians, by a siege, could probably starve Toledo into submission. Upon perceiving Alfonso near at hand apparently asleep, the Moors, to prove whether he was really asleep or not, poured molten lead into his hand, and he had sufficient will power to remain motionless while the lead burned a hole through it.
Mariana (Historia de España, Libro IX, Cap. VIII) relates this story, but rejects it and says that the real cause of Alfonso's nickname ("el rey de la mano horadada") was his extreme generosity.
[13.] circo romano: to the east of the Hospital de San Juan Bautista of Toledo lies the suburb of Covachuelas, the houses of which conceal the ruins of a Roman amphitheater.
[15.] Basílica: in the lower Vega, to the northwest of Toledo, is the hermitage of El Cristo de la Vega, formerly known as the Basílica de Santa Leocadia, which dated from the fourth century. This edifice was the meeting-place of several Church councils. The ancient building was destroyed by the Moors and has been repeatedly rebuilt.
[95.—21.] el templo: the Ermita del Cristo de la Vega. See preceding note.
[27.] Víase = veíase: vía, for veía, is not uncommon in poetry.
[105.—3-5.] Gritan... valor = los que en el mercado venden, gritan en discorde son lo vendido y el valor (= what they have for sale and its price).