LE COMTE DE HABSBOURG

Page 68. The source of this story is found in Tschudi, the " father of Swiss history," as he is called. Schiller closely followed the original. The design is to portray and exalt the virtue of humility.

Rudolph of Habsbourg was known as " the living law." He was the first emperor of the house of Austria, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1273. It is related that at his coronation several

lords refused to take the oath of allegiance because the sword of Charlemagne, the impérial scepter, could not be found. Rudolph seized a crucifix; " This is my scepter/' he cried; and this act won the allegiance of ail. He proved by his many virtues to be a worthy ruler of the Empire. At his coronation feast was celebrated the marriage of three of Rudolph's daughters.

I. Aix-la-Chapelle; a city in Rhenish Prussia. It was the place of coronation of the German emperors for over seven hundred years. In its ancient cathedral is the tomb of Charlemagne. — salle antique du palais: In this hall thirty-five German emperors and fourteen empresses hâve been crowned.

4. comte palatin: count palatine. A title given to one who had any office in the palace of a prince.

" For the name palatine, know that in antient time, under the emperors of declining Rome, the title of count palatine was, but so that it extended first only to him which had the care of the household and impérial revenue." — Selden.

5. les sept électeurs: in the German Empire the Electors were the great princes who had the right to elect the emperor or king. The seven electors were those of Mayence, Trêves, and Cologne; the Electors of the Palatinate and of Bavaria exercised the right by turns, and the Electors of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Bohemia. The Golden Bull describes them as the " seven pillars and lamps of the holy Empire."

6. étoiles qui tournent autour du soleil: stars that revolve around the sun; the planets.

18. troubadour: William IX, count of Poitiers (1087-1127), was the earliest troubadour of whom we hâve any knowledge. In Provençal poetry, a troubadour was a cultivated poet who did not make a trade of his muse in opposition to the musicians and jongleurs w^ho wandered about the country singing for money. Great nobles, princes and kings, who made verses for their pleasure, or out of gallantry, were called troubadours. The most celebrated troubadors had one or several jongleurs in their service, as it was considered undignified for a poet to be his own accompanist. At ail the courts they were esteemed a brilliant ornament of society, and they exercised a considérable influence on the advancement of literature and culture generally. Yet those who practised the art never formed themselves into any spécial school.

Page 69. 16. le corps du Seigneur: the Sacred Host.

Page 70. 2. en laisse: by the bridle.

14. six aimables filles: the royal house of England numbers amongst its ancestors Rudolph, whose six daughters married powerful princes.