124 It is difficult to gather the meaning of this sentence.
At Innsbruck Montaigne had seen Andreas and Charles, the sons of the
Archduke and Philipina Welser, but there was never any question that
either of these would attain such a dignity as is here alluded to.
125 Montaigne is here speaking of the Church of S. Pietro in
Cielo d’Oro, which at the time of his visit was called S. Agostino. The
tomb was subsequently moved into the cathedral, where it remained till
1900, when it was restored to its old site.
126 A slip for Marcus Aurelius. This statue was known as
the Regisole. There is a legend that it was brought from Ravenna by
Charlemagne. It was destroyed at the end of the eighteenth century in a
popular tumult. Fynes Moryson gives a further legend that it was made
by magic arts by the Emperor Anastatius for his own image.
132 A coin struck in the reign of Charles VIII., and called
after him.
133 Escus-sol. “The best kind of crown that is now made hath
a little star on one side” (Cotgrave).
134 Montaigne is in the arrondissement of Bergerac in
Périgord. In 1860 the castle was bought by M. Magne, a minister of
Napoleon III., and rebuilt. In 1885 it was destroyed by fire.
Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other
spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.