The Three Musketeers (Translated by Richard Pevear) - Alexandre Dumas [328]
144.La Houdinière: In the Garnier edition, Charles Samaran notes that a M. de La Houdinière is mentioned as a captain of Richelieu’s guards in the memoirs of La Porte (see note 48) and in the psuedo Mémoires de M.L.C.D.R. (see note 119).
145.Mirame…: This play, which was first produced in 1641 and is thus out of place here, was taken to be the work of Richelieu, but in fact was written by the poet Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin (1596–1676), probably with some supervision and even contribution from Richelieu.
146.Joan of Arc and the duc de Guise: Jeanne d’Arc (1412–31) began the ultimately successful effort to drive the English from French territory. François de Lorraine, duc de Guise (1519–63), was a skillful general who, among other exploits, took the port of Calais from the English in 1558.
147.the Order of the Holy Spirit: See note 45. For Bassompierre, see note 13. In 1627 Bassompierre had refused to join with the duc d’Angoulême at the siege of La Rochelle, but a year later he agreed to share command with the duc and Schomberg. It was at La Rochelle that he converted to Catholicism.
148.revocation of the Edict of Nantes: The Edict of Nantes, signed by Henri IV in 1598 and aimed at ending the wars of religion, granted freedom of conscience and civil rights to the Protestants. Those rights were gradually eroded, and in 1685 Louis XIV revoked the edict itself, causing many Protestants to emigrate.
149.the comte de Toiras: Jean de Caylar de Saint-Bonnet, comte de Toiras (1585–1636), was in charge of the defense of the Île de Ré, some three miles off the coast of La Rochelle. Richelieu’s construction of the forts of Saint-Martin and La Prée on the island had aroused the opposition of the Protestant forces in La Rochelle, under the leadership of Benjamin de Rohan, prince de Soubise (1583–1642), a native of the town, who sought the aid of the duke of Buckingham. In the summer of 1627, Buckingham’s forces landed on the Île de Ré and drove the French into their two citadels, where he hoped to starve them into submission. But the French managed to resupply their troops, and in November, Toiras and Schomberg routed the English. Meanwhile, Richelieu and Louis XIII blockaded La Rochelle by land and by sea, Richelieu’s famous dike having been begun that same November. The Protestant forces in the town numbered one thousand soldiers, two hundred English troops left behind by Buckingham, and a militia of four thousand townsmen. The French had seventeen regiments of infantry and twenty-two companies of cavalry.
150.Mme de Sévigné: Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné (1626–96), was the author of Lettres, addressed to her daughter and others, which in their spontaneity and freshness of style are classics of French prose, and which abound in interesting details of the time. Her father, Baron Celse Bénigne de Rabutin-Chantal, a famous duelist, was indeed killed on July 22, 1627, the first day of Buckingham’s assault on the Île de Ré.
151.the duc d’Angoulême: Charles de Valois, comte d’Auvergne, duc d’Angoulême (1573–1650), the natural son of Charles IX (1550–74), belonged to the cadet branch of the old Capetian family of Valois-Orléans. He fought alongside Henri IV, spent ten years in the Bastille for his involvement in court intrigues, and was pardoned by Louis XIII in 1616.
152.the Minimes: The order of the Minims (Ordo Minimorum Eremitarum) was founded by San Francesco di Paula (ca. 1416–1507). Work on their monastery and the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Victoire, on the southern side of the bay of La Rochelle, was begun in 1634 on orders from Louis XIII.
153.Rochelois: The citizens of La Rochelle.
154.arquebus: The arquebus, or harquebus (from the German Hakenbüchse), was the first portable firearm, supported on a forked rest and fired by means of a matchlock. It was used by the French armies from 1525 to 1630.
155.Schomberg: Henri, comte de Schomberg (1575–1632), was