The Three Musketeers (Translated by Richard Pevear) - Alexandre Dumas [320]
32.Mlle de Chemerault: Françoise de Barbezière, demoiselle de Chemerault, was maid of honor to Anne d’Autriche, whose words and deeds she dutifully reported to Cardinal Richelieu.
33.play Charlemagne: An old expression meaning to withdraw from a game after winning, without allowing your opponent a second chance. The nineteenth-century lexicographer Littré suggests that it may have come from the fact that the emperor Charlemagne retained all his conquests to the end of his life.
34.La Vieuville: Charles, marquis and later duc de La Vieuville (1582–1653), was superintendent of finances in 1623–24. He was arrested by Richelieu, but returned to his post in 1651.
35.Saint-Germain: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, so named for its proximity to the large and small Pré-aux-clercs, not the town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which also figures in the novel.
36.pont de Cé: On April 8, 1620, the forces of Marie de Medicis and the nobility allied with her, who had revolted against her son Louis XIII, were put to flight at the little village of les Ponts de Cé, on the right bank of the Loire above Angers.
37.M. de La Trémouille: Henri de La Trémouille, or La Trémoille (1599–1674), comte de Thouars, was a Protestant whose father had served under Henri IV. He converted to Catholicism after the fall of La Rochelle. His hôtel was on the rue de Tournon near the Luxembourg Palace.
38.M. des Essarts: François de Guillon, sieur des Essarts, brother-inlaw of M. de Tréville, was indeed a captain of the king’s guards, but probably not until 1638. He was counted among the enemies of Richelieu.
39.the forest of Saint-Germain: The vast royal forest belonging to the château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, some ten miles northwest of Paris, was much frequented by François I, Henri IV, and Louis XIII.
40.Saint-Simon: Claude de Rouvroy, sieur and later duc de Saint-Simon (1607–93), was first equerry and a favorite of Louis XIII. The Mémoires of his son, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (1675–1755), chronicling the reign of Louis XIV, are one of the major works of French historiography and a masterpiece of French prose.
41.La Chesnaye: Charles d’Esmé, sieur de La Chesnaye, was first chamberlain to Louis XIII, and seems to have spied on the king for Richelieu. In any case, he was relieved of his functions and sent away from the court in 1640.
42.Pomme de Pin: I.e. “Pine Cone.” The poet François Colletet (1628–80?) wrote a poem in praise of this famous tavern, which he locates near the pont Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité. It is not to be confused with the Pomme de Pin on the place de la Contrescarpe, praised by Rabelais and frequented by the poets of the Pléiade in the sixteenth century.
43.Picard: The men of Picardy, one of the old provinces of France, to the north of Paris, are known for their stubbornness. Planchet, as it turns out, is also very clever.
44.Mousqueton: A mousqueton (“musketoon”) was a short-barreled, large-bored musket. The name Boniface comes from the Latin for “doing good.”
45. the Order of the Holy Spirit: A French order of chivalry founded by Henri III in 1578 to combat the League (see note 11).
46. Achilles…Ajax…Joseph: After the two most bellicose heroes of Homer’s Iliad, Dumas places the gentle dreamer Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, from the Book of Genesis (37–50).
47.Archimedes: The famous ancient Greek mathematician and physicist from Syracuse (287?–212B.C.).) is supposed to have said of the principle of the lever, which he discovered, that if he could be given a fulcrum, he could lift the world.
48.M. de La Porte: Pierre de La Porte (1603–80) was appointed porte-manteau (“cloak bearer”) to Anne d’Autriche in 1621 and was later chamberlain to Louis XIV. He carried secret messages for the queen to the king of Spain and Mme de Chevreuse, among others, was sent to the Bastille in 1637, then exiled to the town of Saumur, but was restored to favor after Richelieu’s death. His