Historic Boys: Their Endeavours, Their Achievements, and Their Times

16

Apulia – Southern Italy.

17

The Sirocco is a fierce south-easterly wind of Sicily and the Mediterranean.

18

A stuffed doublet worn under armor.

19

A coat of mail formed of small steel rings interwoven.

20

The "marches" – frontiers or boundaries of a country. The nobles who held fiefs or castles in such border-lands were called "the lords-marchers."

21

Favorers, or abettors.

22

The marzoccho was the great stone lion of the Palazzo Vecchio.

23

The Palle d' Oro, or golden balls, were the arms of the house of Medici, and "Palle, palle!" was their rallying cry.

24

The Church of the Reparata, or Santa Maria Novella, in which Lorenzo the Magnificent was wounded and his brother Giuliano murdered, in the conspiracy of the Pazzi, in 1478.

25

Palleschi was the name given to the adherents and retainers of the house of Medici.

26

'Tzin is the Aztec for prince, or lord. Thus the last of the Montezumas, the noblest of Aztec heroes, was Guatemo-tzin, the 'tzin or prince Guatemo.

27

Maxtlatl, the girdle or wide sash worn by runners and soldiers in battle.

28

Maguey, the great Mexican aloe, from the leaves of which the Aztec made their paper. This wonderful plant indeed was, as Prescott says, "meat, drink, clothing and writing materials to the Aztecs."

29

"Cacique in Mexico and prince in Wales." – Byron.

30

"The Hungry Fox" (Nezahual-Cayotl), "the greatest monarch who ever sat upon an Indian throne," according to Prescott the historian, was the father of Nezahual-pilli, the 'tzin of Tezcuco and the grandfather of Ixtlilochitl the boy cacique. The story of his life is full of marvel, and he was altogether one of the most attractive and remarkable characters in Aztec history.

31

Quetzal-Coatl, the Aztec god of the air. He was said to be fair-skinned, and the Aztecs had a prophecy that promised his return to earth. Hence the Spanish invaders were, at first, taken for gods and but little resistance offered them. Read General Lew Wallace's beautiful Aztec story: "The Fair God."

32

The kings of Tezcuco, like that celebrated Caliph of Arabian story, Haroun al-Raschid, would often mix in disguise with their people, talking with all classes, and frequently rewarding merit and punishing wrong-doers.

33

Transparent quills filled with gold dust, bags of cacao, (shining chocolate beans), and bits of tin cut in the form of a T, made up the circulating currency, or money, of the Aztecs.

34

Ixoxal, an Aztec word applied to cheating in the game of totoloque, and signifying false scoring.

35

Tamane, the lowest order of Aztec slaves. Used as a term of contempt among the higher classes.

36

Haloc, the Aztec god of the sea.

37

"The Smoking Hill," the signification of the name of the great Mexican volcano, Popocatepetl.

38

The Fuyck, or fish-net, – an old Dutch name for Albany.

39

Commissioners and sheriffs.

40

Mush and milk.