254. #Navas de Tolosa#, village in the Province of Jaén, in the south of Spain, famous in history because of the decisive victory gained there, July 16, 1212, by the allied kings of Christian Spain over the Moslems. In the first edition, at the mention of this disastrous defeat of the Moors, Zulima interrupts Marsilla's narrative with an outburst of feeling quite appropriate in a Mohammedan:
¡Lugar maldito del cielo, donde la negra fortuna postró de la media luna la pujanza por el suelo!
258 et seq. In the early years of the 13th century a religious sect in the south of France, the Albigenses, rebelled against the authority of the Church of Rome. Pope Innocent III proclaimed a crusade against them in 1208, and a bloody war began in which the crusaders were led by the ruthless Simon de Montfort until his death at the siege of Toulouse (1218). During this Albigensian War (1208-1229) Beziers and other important cities in the south of France were almost destroyed.
267-270. #Y en pena … sepultó = y en pena de que mi mano rompió el hierro de mis cadenas, profundo encierro me sepultó en vida.#
281. #haz por escuchar atento#, try to listen attentively to …
293. #aquí#, in the land of the Moors.
303. #Respuesta … dé = es bien que se le dé a ella respuesta.#
311-312. #Medita … reclama#, consider it well and you will grant to time what it demands as its due. If you take into consideration the length of time that has passed since you have seen Isabel, you will realize that she has probably forgotten you, and will become reconciled to changed conditions because of the lapse of time.
321. #dada … recibida#, having given my love and having received hers; or, having given my heart in exchange for hers.
330. #le = su corazón.#