(1.) “Lemprie; in it is a mountain that is so high, it reaches to the
clouds.”—French and Italian names commencing with a vowel, commonly
became transformed by the addition of the article which preceded them,
and in this way, Imbro was altered during the Latin empire to Lembro,
the name ordinarily given to the island, whence “Lemprie”, and Nembro
of Clavijo. During a part of the 15th century, Imbros belonged to the
Gattilusio, a Genoese family, and in 1430 became subject to the Greek
emperor. The island is overspread with the ruins of many castles, the
walls of which are covered with inscriptions and armorial bearings
(Heyd, _Le Colonie Commer._, i, 416).—BRUUN.
(1A.) The author’s statement may be taken as being the reverse of the
fact, and that the clouds had descended to the mountain, for the
highest point of land on the island of Imbros is only 1959 feet, an
altitude altogether insignificant when compared to the mountains he
must have seen in his journeys; they include the great range of the
Caucasus, shewing summits at upwards of 18,000 feet, and the noble
Ararat, rising nearly 15,000 feet above the plains of the Araxes. Had
his course lay further to the west, Samothraky, at 5248 feet above the
sea, would have excited his imagination still more.—ED.
(2.) “wide, large, and thick as a mill-stone.”—The “golden discs” may
have been simply of golden glass or mosion, with which the interior of
the dome of St. Sophia was covered, as we are informed by Theophanes
and Cedrenus, whose description refers to the present dome constructed
soon after 559, the thirty-second year of the reign of Justinian.—ED.
(3.) “I myself was at that same time with the king in Turkey.” After
the battle of Nicopolis, Bajazet renewed the siege of Constantinople,
the city being succoured by a force of 1200 men sent by Charles VI. of
France, and bodies of troops from Genoa, Venice, Rhodes, and Lesbos.
Marshal Boucicault withstood the siege with his little army, and on
quitting the capital in 1399, the command devolved upon Chateaumorant,
the emperor Manuel being absent in France, whither he had gone to
ask for assistance. It was fortunate for the Greeks that Bajazet was
obliged to muster the whole of his forces to enable him to encounter
Timour’s legions.—BRUUN.