Genevan bands: a kind of collar worn by Protestant clergymen, so called because Geneva, the home of Calvin, was the centre of Protestantism.
palaces along the Strand: if you walk along the Strand you will notice that many of the short streets leading down to the river bear the names of noblemen, such as Arundel Street, Norfolk Street, Salisbury Street, &c. from the old palaces which once stood there.
Staples Inn: a picturesque group of old houses in Holborn was formerly a wool-market (staple means a fixed market). Wych Street is near Holywell Street in the Strand.
Cloth Fair is now a poor neighbourhood near Smithfield.
[42. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART III.]
Impressment: in the absence of some orderly arrangement, such as conscription (where all serve) or a voluntary system (like our own), the press-gang used to kidnap people and force them to serve.
animosity: anger, ill feeling against.
The Steelyard, on the site of which Cannon Street railway station now stands, was the house of the Hanse merchants (see [note on Chapter XXII].).
John Colet, Dean of St. Paul's (born 1466, died 1519), was one of the leaders of the revival of learning in England. St. Paul's School, which he founded in 1512, has been moved to Hammersmith.