p. 1. The preface to the first edition, which appeared in 1720, was
written by Defoe as "Editor" of the manuscript. The second edition
appeared between 1740 and 1750, after the death of Defoe. (He was
probably born in 1671 and he died in 1731.) In the preface to that
edition it was argued that the Cavalier was certainly a real person.
p. 2, l. 35. "Nicely" is here used in the stricter and more uncommon
sense of "minutely." This use of words in a slightly different sense
from their common modern significance will be noticed frequently;
cf. p. 8, l. 17 "passionately," p. 18, l. 40 "refined," p. 31, l. 18
"particular."
p. 3, l. 3. Charles XII the famous soldier king of Sweden died in 1718.
p. 3, l. 31. Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, was one of the staunchest
supporters of Charles I, and Chancellor under Charles II. His _History
of the Rebellion_ is naturally written from the Royalist standpoint.
This statement concerning "the editors" can only be intended by Defoe
to give colour of truth to his story of the manuscript.
p. 10, l. 17. England had been nominally at war with Spain since the
beginning of the reign of Charles I. Peace was actually made in 1630.
p. 12, l. 3. A pistole was a gold coin used chiefly in France and
Spain. Its value varied but it was generally worth about fifteen or
sixteen shillings.
p. 14, l. 5. Cardinal Richelieu, one of the greatest statesmen of
the seventeenth century, was practically supreme in France during the
reign of Louis XIII.
p. 14, l. 16. The cause of the war with Savoy is told at length on
page 23. Savoy being the frontier province between France and Italy it
was important that France should maintain her influence there.
p. 14, l. 18. Pinerolo was a frontier fortress.
p. 14, l. 36. The queen-mother was Mary de Medicis who had been regent
during the minority of Louis XIII.
p. 15, l. 3. The Protestants or Huguenots of Southern France had been
tolerated since 1598 but Richelieu deprived them of many of their
privileges.
p. 15, l. 21. In 1625 when England was in alliance with France English
ships had been joined with the French fleet to reduce la Rochelle, the
great stronghold of Protestantism in Southern France.
p. 16, l. 7. The Louvre, now famous as a picture gallery and museum,
was formerly one of the palaces of the French Kings.
p. 17, l. 16. The Bastille was the famous prison destroyed in 1789 at
the outbreak of the French Revolution.
p. 18, l. 13. In the seventeenth century Italy was still divided into
several states each with its own prince.
p. 18, l. 22. Susa was another Savoyard fortress.
p. 19, l. 17. A halberd was a weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft
surmounted by an axe-like head.
p. 21, l. 30. The Cantons were the political divisions of Switzerland.
p. 23, l. 7. Casale, a strong town on the Po.
p. 25, l. 14. A dragoon was a cavalry soldier armed with an infantry
firearm and trained to fight on foot as well as on horseback.
p. 27, l. 25. Saluzzo a town S.E. of Pinerolo.
p. 29, l. 12. This truce prepared for the definite "Peace of
Cherasco," April 1631, which confirmed the Duchy of Mantua to the Duke
of Nevers but left only Pinerolo in the hands of the French.
p. 31, l. 12. This refers to the Treaty of Bärwalde, 1631, by which
Gustavus Adolphus promised to consider the interests of the French
(who were the natural enemies of the Empire).
p. 31, l. 16. In 1628 the Duke of Pomerania had been obliged to put
his coast line under the care of the imperial troops. In attacking it
therefore in 1639 Gustavus Adolphus was aiming a blow at the Emperor
and obtaining a good basis for further conquests.
p. 31, l. 25. _Gazette_ is the old name for _newspaper_.
p. 33, l. 12. Bavaria was the chief Catholic State not under the
direct government of the Emperor. Maximilian, its elector, was
appointed head of the Catholic League which was formed in 1609 in
opposition to the Protestant Union which had been formed in 1608.
p. 33, l. 20. By the end of the sixteenth century the Turks had
advanced far into Europe, had detached half of Hungary from the
Emperor's dominions and made him pay tribute for the other half.
During the seventeenth century, however, they were slowly driven back.
p. 33, l. 37. In 1628 the two Dukes of Mecklenburg had been "put to
the ban" by the Emperor for having given help to Christian of Denmark
who had taken up the cause of the Protestants.
p. 34, l. 10. Gustavus Adolphus had been at war with Poland from 1617
to 1629.
p. 34, l. 30. This was not a treaty of active alliance. Both John
George of Saxony and George William of Brandenburg were Protestant
princes but they were at first anxious to maintain neutrality between
Sweden and the Emperor. The impolitic action of Ferdinand drove them
to join Gustavus Adolphus in 1631.
p. 34, l. 33. The German Diet was the meeting of the German princes
to consult on imperial matters. Ratisbon is one of the chief towns of
Bavaria.
p. 35, l. 17. The story of Magdeburg is told on p. 42.
p. 36, l. 1. Count Tilly was a Bavarian General of genius who had been
put at the head of the forces of the Catholic League in 1609.
p. 36, l. 31. The Protestant Union formed in 1608 had been forced to
dissolve itself in 1621.
p. 37, l. 5. Wallenstein is one of the greatest generals and the most
interesting figure in seventeenth century history. A Bohemian by birth
he fought for the Emperor with an army raised by himself.
p. 37, l. 16. The Conclusions of Leipsic are described on p. 39.
p. 38, l. 29. The King of Hungary was Ferdinand (afterwards Ferdinand
III) son of Ferdinand II. The "King of the Romans" was a title
bestowed on the person who was destined to become Emperor. (The Empire
was elective but tended to become hereditary.)
p. 39, l. 39. The Peace of Augsburg, 1555, had been intended to settle
the differences between the Lutherans and Catholics but it had left
many problems unsolved.
p. 42, l. 21. The Protestant bishopric of Magdeburg had been forcibly
restored to the Catholics in 1629. In 1631 the citizens of their own
accord, relying on Swedish help, declared against the Emperor.
p. 47, l. 40. Torgau, a strongly fortified town in Saxony.
p. 57, l. 37. The Prince of Orange at this time was William II who
married Mary, daughter of Charles I.
p. 59, l. 3. Except for the date, which should be 17th of September,
and the numbers on both sides which he exaggerates, the Cavalier's
account of the battle of Leipsic is fairly accurate.
p. 61, l. 39. Cuirassiers were heavy cavalry wearing helmet and
cuirass (two plates fastened together for the protection of the breast
and back).
p. 65, l. 10. _Crabats_ is an old form of _Croats_ the name of the
inhabitants of Croatia.
p. 66, l. 38. _Rix dollar_ is the English form of _Reichsthaler_ or
imperial dollar.
p. 67, l. 6. "Husband" is here used in the sense of "thrifty person."
p. 69, l. 18. A ducat was a gold coin generally worth about nine
shillings.
p. 70, l. 29. This passage describes the conquest of the string of
ecclesiastical territories known as the "Priest's Lane."
p. 71, l. 23. A partisan was a military weapon used by footmen in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and not unlike the halberd in
form.
p. 73, l. 10. "Bastion" is the name given to certain projecting
portions of a fortified building.
p. 78, l. 23. The Palatinate (divided into Upper and Lower) was a
Protestant state whose elector, the son-in-law of James I, had been
driven out by the Emperor in 1620.
p. 79, l. 11. _Reformado_: A military term borrowed from the Spanish,
signifying an officer who, for some disgrace is deprived of his
command but retains his rank. Defoe uses it to describe an officer not
having a regular command.
p. 81, l. 15. Frederick, Elector Palatine, had been elected King by
the Protestants of Bohemia in opposition to the Emperor Ferdinand. It
was his acceptance of this position which led to the confiscation of
his Palatinate together with his new kingdom.
p. 81, l. 24. James I had, after much hesitation, sent in 1625 an
expedition to the aid of the Elector, but it had miscarried. Charles I
was too much occupied at home to prosecute an active foreign policy.
p. 81, l. 35. The Elector died in the same year as Gustavus Adolphus.
His son Charles Lewis was restored to the Lower Palatinate only, which
was confirmed to him at the end of the war in 1648.
p. 82, l. 3. The battle of Nieuport, one of the great battles between
Holland and Spain, was fought in 1600 near the Flemish town of that
name. Prince Maurice won a brilliant victory under very difficult
conditions.
p. 82, l. 30. A ravelin is an outwork of a fortified building.
p. 86, l. 16. It was the attempt in 1607 to force Catholicism on the
Protestants of the free city of Donauwörth which led to the formation
of the Protestant Union in 1608.
p. 87, l. 9. The Duringer Wald.--Thuringia Wald.
p. 97, l. 29. Camisado (fr. Latin Camisia=a shirt) is generally used
to denote a night attack.
p. 98, l. 4. Note the inconsistency between this statement of the
Cavaliers interest in the curiosities at Munich and his indifference
in Italy where he had "no gust to antiquities."
p. 99, l. 7. Gustavus Adolphus had entered Nuremberg March 1631.
Wallenstein was now bent on re-taking it.
p. 100, l. 29. The Cavalier's enthusiasm for Gustavus Adolphus leads
to misrepresentation. The Swedish king has sometimes been blamed for
failing to succour Magdeburg.
p. 101, l. 23. Redoubts are the most strongly fortified points in the
temporary fortification of a large space.
p. 107, l. 13. The Cavalier glosses over the fact that Gustavus
Adolphus really retreated from his camp at Nuremberg, being
practically starved out, as Wallenstein refused to come to an
engagement.
p. 110, l. 38. Though the honours of war in the battle of Lützen went
to the Swedes it is probable that they lost more men than did the
Imperialists.
p. 113, l. 37. The battle of Nördlingen was one of the decisive
battles of the war. It restored to the Catholics the bishoprics of the
South which Gustavus Adolphus had taken.
p. 114, l. 39. The title "Infant" or "Infante" belongs to all princes
of the royal house in Spain. The Cardinal Infant really brought 15000
men to the help of the Emperor.
p. 116, l. 37. The King of Hungary had succeeded to the command of the
imperial army after the murder of Wallenstein in 1634.
p. 119, l. 34. The treaty of Westphalia in 1648 ended the Thirty
Years' War by a compromise. The Emperor recognised that he could have
no real authority in matters of religion over the states governed
by Protestant princes, North Germany remained Protestant, the South,
Catholic.
p. 120, l. 11. This statement is an anachronism. Prince Maurice of
Nassau the famous son of William the Silent died in 1625.
p. 120, l. 39. The Netherlands belonged to Spain in the seventeenth
century but revolted. The Northern provinces which were Protestant won
their independence, the Southern provinces which were Catholic (modern
Belgium) submitted to Spain on conditions.
p. 121, l. 19. The siege of Ostend, then in the hands of the Dutch,
was begun in July 1601 and came to an end in September 1604, when the
garrison surrendered with the honours of war.
p. 122, l. 31. In 1637 Laud had tried to force a new liturgy on
Scotland but this had been forcibly resisted. In 1638 the National
Covenant against "papistry" was signed by all classes in Scotland.
In the same year episcopacy was abolished there and Charles thereupon
resolved to subdue the Scots by arms. This led to the first "Bishops'
War" of 1639 which the Cavalier proceeds to describe.
p. 126, l. 4. Mercenaries (soldiers who fought in any army for the
mere pay) were chiefly drawn from Switzerland in the seventeenth
century.
p. 127, l. 38. By the Treaty of Berwick signed in June 1638 Charles
consented to allow the Scotch to settle their own ecclesiastical
affairs. When they again resolved to abolish episcopacy he broke his
word and in 1640 the Second "Bishops' War" took place. It was the
expenses of these wars which forced Charles to call parliament again.
p. 135, l. 34. It was the English Prayer Book with some slight changes
that Laud had attempted to impose on the Scotch.
p. 137, l. 31. Charles had in fact called the "Short Parliament" to
meet between these two expeditions but had quarrelled with it and
dissolved it.
p. 138, l. 7. The Scotch had no real part in the death of the King.
The Presbyterians indeed upheld monarchy though not as Charles
understood it.
p. 140, l. 26. The Long Parliament of 1640 passed an act by which it
could not be dissolved without its own consent.
p. 143, l. 4. The Treaty of Ripon (October 1640) left Northumberland
and Durham in the hands of the Scotch until the King should be able
to pay the £850 a day during their stay in England which he promised
them.
p. 143, l. 9. The permanent treaty signed in 1641 gave consent to
all the demands of the Scotch, including their freedom to abolish
episcopacy.
p. 143, l. 29. The Earl of Stafford had been the chief supporter of
Charles' method of government without parliament. He was executed in
1641 and Laud suffered the same fate in 1645.
p. 144, l. 21. By the "Grand Remonstrance" the parliament tried to
seize on the royal power.
p. 146, l. 13. The "gentry" of England were not, of course, all on the
Royalist side. Many of them, and some of the nobility, fought for the
parliament, though it is true that the majority were for the King.
p. 151, l. 27. In 1643 by the Solemn League and Covenant the Scotch
consented to help parliament against the King on condition that
Presbyterianism should be adopted as the English state religion.
p. 159, l. 33. The left wing was under the command of Lord Wilmot.
p. 170, l. 36. Leicester was taken by the King in 1645.
p. 180, l. 28. The Cavalier ascribes to himself the part taken by
Prince Maurice (the brother of Prince Rupert) and Lord Wilmot in
bringing aid to Hopton.
p. 187, l. 29. It was the King rather than the parliamentarians who
was anxious to give battle. The Royalists barred the way to London.
p. 189, l. 32. See note to p. 61, l. 39.
p. 192, l. 29. The parliamentarians certainly won a victory at the
second battle of Newbury.
p. 194, l. 2. The Scotch nobles, alarmed at the violence of the
parliamentarians, supported Charles in the second civil war (1648),
and after his death Scotland recognised Charles II as King. Cromwell
however conquered their country.
p. 194, l. 27. In 1641 a great Irish rebellion had followed the recall
of Strafford who had been Lord Lieutenant of that country.
p. 195, l. 12. It was not until 1645, when his cause was declining in
England, that Charles determined to seek direct help from the Irish.
This he did in the Glamorgan Treaty of that year by which he agreed
to the legal restoration of Catholicism in Ireland. But the Treaty was
discovered by the Parliament and Charles denied any knowledge of it.
p. 196, l. 11. The "Grand Seignior" was the name generally given to the
Sultan of Turkey.
p. 197, l. 5. William Prynne was the famous Puritan lawyer whose
imprisonment by the Star Chamber had made him one of the heroes of
Puritanism. George Buchanan was the famous Scotch scholar from whom
James I had derived much of his learning.
p. 197, l. 28. The dates are given both according to our present
mode of reckoning and according to the old system by which the year
commenced on 25th March.
p. 198, l. 6. The Scots besieged Newcastle for nine months, not merely
a few days as the Cavalier relates.
p. 202, l. 39. The great Spanish general, the Duke of Parma, went to
the relief of Paris which was in the hands of the Catholics and was
being besieged by the then Protestant Henry of Navarre in 1590.
p. 204, l. 9. As pointed out in the introduction the Cavalier's
account of the disposition of forces in this battle is inaccurate.
p. 205, l. 27. It was really Rupert's hitherto unconquered cavalry
which was thus borne down by Cromwell's horse.
p. 216, l. 4. A posset was a drink of milk curdled with an acid
liquid.
p. 219, l. 40. The Grisons are the people of one of the Swiss Cantons.
p. 222, l. 36. Newcastle was not retaken by Rupert.
p. 230, l. 8. By the Self-Denying Ordinance of 1645 all members of
Parliament were compelled to resign their commands. This rid the
parliamentarians of some of their most incapable commanders. Exception
was made in favour of Cromwell who was soon appointed Lieutenant
General.
p. 230, l. 17. On the "New Model" the armies of the parliamentary side
were reorganized as a whole, made permanent, and given a uniform and
regular pay.
p. 231, l. 15. It was not only the ecclesiastical conditions laid down
by the parliamentarians at the Treaty of Uxbridge which determined the
King's refusal. He was asked besides taking the Covenant to surrender
the militia.
p. 243, l. 26. The estates of many of the Cavalier gentlemen were
forfeited. Some were allowed to "compound," i.e. to keep part of their
estates on payment of a sum of money.
p. 253, l. 32. Montrose had created a Royalist party in Scotland and
was fighting there for the King.
p. 258, l. 1. The "forlorn" was a body of men sent in advance of an
expedition.
p. 272, l. 21. After the defeat of the Royalists dissension arose
between the parliament and the army and naturally the army was able to
coerce the parliament.
p. 274, l. 2. Cornet Joyce secured the person of the King by the order
of Cromwell, the idol of the army.
p. 274, l. 26. The Cavalier exaggerates the likelihood of an
understanding between the King and the parliament. In reality Charles
was merely playing off one party against the other.
p. 275, l. 7. In January 1648 parliament had passed a vote of "No
Addresses," renouncing any further negotiation with the King, but
after the second civil war of that year (in which the Presbyterians
joined the King) they resumed them again in the Treaty of Newport.
The army however became more violent, and the result was the forcible
exclusion of all moderate members of parliament in "Pride's Purge,"
December 1648. The trial and execution of the King followed.
p. 275, l. 35. The Cavalier refers to the acts of retaliation which
followed the Restoration of Charles II.
p. 276, l. 27. There were many republicans among the "Independents"
or "Sectaries" in the army, but the policy actually carried out can
hardly have been planned before the war.
p. 278, l. 5. Cardinal Bellarmine was one of the great
Controversialists of the Counter-Reformation.