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The Saint's Tragedy, a play by Charles Kingsley |
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Notes To Act 1 |
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_ The references, unless it be otherwise specified, are to the Eight Books concerning Saint Elizabeth, by Dietrich the Thuringian; in Basnage's Canisius, Vol. IV. p. 113 (Antwerp; 1725). Page 21. Cf. Lib. I. section 3. Dietrich is eloquent about her youthful inclination for holy places, and church doors, even when shut, and gives many real proofs of her 'sanctae indolis,' from the very cradle. P. 22. 'St. John's sworn maid.' Cf. Lib. I. section 4. 'She chose by lot for her patron, St. John the protector of virginity.' Ibid. 'Fit for my princess.' Cf. Lib. I. section 2. 'He sent with his daughter vessels of gold, silver baths, jewels, _pillows all of silk_. No such things, so precious or so many, were ever seen in Thuringen-land.' P. 23. 'Most friendless.' Cf. Lib. I. sections 5, 6. 'The courtiers used bitterly to insult her, etc. Her mother and sister- in-law, given to worldly pomp, differed from her exceedingly;' and much more concerning 'the persecutions which she endured patiently in youth.' Ibid. 'In one cradle.' Cf. Lib. I. section 2. 'The princess was laid in the cradle of her boy-spouse,' and, says another, 'the infants embraced with smiles, from whence the bystanders drew a joyful omen of their future happiness.' Ibid. 'If thou love him.' Cf. Lib. I. section 6. 'The Lord by His hidden inspiration so inclined towards her the heart of the prince, that in the solitude of secret and mutual love he used to speak sweetly to her heart, with kindness and consolation, and was always wont, on returning home, to honour her with presents, and soothe her with embraces.' It was their custom, says Dietrich, to the last to call each other in common conversation 'Brother' and 'Sister.' P. 24. 'To his charge.' Cf. Lib. I. section 7. 'Walter of Varila, a good man, who, having been sent by the prince's father into Hungary, had brought the blessed Elizabeth into Thuringen-land.' P. 25. 'The blind archer, Love.' For information about the pagan orientalism of the Troubadours, the blasphemous bombast by which they provoked their persecution in Provence, and their influence on the Courts of Europe, see Sismondi, Lit. Southern Europe, Cap. III.- VI. P. 27. 'Stadings.' The Stadings, according to Fleury, in A.D. 1233, were certain unruly fenmen, who refused to pay tithes, committed great cruelties on religious of both sexes, worshipped, or were said to worship, a black cat, etc., considered the devil as a very ill-used personage, and the rightful lord of themselves and the world, and were of the most profligate morals. An impartial and philosophic investigation of this and other early continental heresies is much wanted. P. 37. 'All gold.' Cf. Lib. I. section 7, for Walter's interference and Lewis's answer, which I have paraphrased. P. 38. 'Is crowned with thorns.' Cf. Lib. I. section 5, for this anecdote and her defence, which I have in like manner paraphrased. P. 39. 'Their pardon.' Cf. Lib. I section 3, for this quaint method of self-humiliation. Ibid. 'You know your place.' Cf. Lib. I. section 6. 'The vassals and relations of her betrothed persecuted her openly, and plotted to send her back to her father divorced. . . . Sophia also did all she could to place her in a convent. . . . She delighted in the company of maids and servants, so that Sophia used to say sneeringly to her, "You should have been counted among the slaves who drudge, and not among the princes who rule."' P. 41. 'Childish laughter.' Cf. Lib. I. section 7. 'The holy maiden, receiving the mirror, showed her joy by delighted laughter;' and again, II. section 8, "They loved each other in the charity of the Lord, to a degree beyond all belief.' Ibid. 'A crystal clear.' Cf. Lib. I. section 7. P. 43. 'Our fairest bride.' Cf. Lib. I. section 8. 'No one henceforth dared oppose the marriage by word or plot, . . . and all mouths were stopped.' _ |
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