The Hague (pp 512–530)

In February 1685, Eliza arrives on skates in The Hague to find the French and English diplomatic delegations frozen in a literal and metaphorical standoff on a narrow street.

“dispatching swift-skating message-boys towards the States-General and the Binnenhof” — The Binnenhof is a Gothic complex of buildings in The Hague that has served as the seat of the States-General, the Dutch parliament, since the 13th century.

“Jean Antoine de Mesmes, comte d’Avaux, your most humble servant” — Stephenson’s annotation: ‘D’Avaux was a real historical figure… an accomplished intriguer; which is to say that he served his King very effectively.’ He was a top-tier diplomat for Louis XIV during the 1680s.

“I represent the Most Christian King” — This was the traditional hereditary title of the Kings of France (Rex Christianissimus), used to assert their status as the primary defenders of the Catholic faith.

“A rabble of Scots at Scone tossed a crown at Charles’s head” — While England was a republic, the Scots crowned Charles II at Scone in 1651; he was the last monarch to be crowned in Scotland until the 20th century.

“until the death of Cardinal Mazarin on the ninth of March, 1661” — Cardinal Mazarin was the Italian-born successor to Richelieu; Louis XIV only took personal control of the French government after Mazarin’s death.

“And they love to accuse Jesuits of sophistry!” — The Jesuits were frequently lampooned by their rivals for “casuistry,” a form of clever but deceptive reasoning used to resolve moral dilemmas in ways that favored their own interests.

“is your beau wanted by the Guild of St. George?” — The Schutterij were voluntary civic guards in Dutch cities, organized into guilds named after saints and divided by social rank and weaponry.

“sluys” — Stephenson’s annotation: “Sluys is fictitious. However, he is representative of a whole class of mostly Amsterdam-based merchants who were dependent on foreign trade, largely with France, and who were hostile to William.”

“The commoners and country folk, as always, side with the Stadholder.” — The Stadtholder was the hereditary office of chief magistrate and military commander, held at this time by William III of Orange.

“during the run-up to the 1672 war” — Known as the Rampjaar (Year of Disaster), the Franco-Dutch War saw the Dutch Republic nearly destroyed by a simultaneous invasion by France and England.

“Acting as a cat’s-paw for the Marquis de Louvois” — The Marquis de Louvois was the ruthless French Secretary of State for War who transformed the French military into the most disciplined force in Europe.

“as they did so memorably to the de Witt brothers” — Johan and Cornelis de Witt were Dutch Republican leaders who were lynched, mutilated, and reportedly partially eaten by a pro-Orange mob in 1672.

“a fleet of Indiamen are expected at Texel any day” — An East Indiaman was a massive, heavily armed merchant ship designed to carry high-value cargo across the oceans for the great trading companies.

“they’ll be heavy laden with saltpeter” — Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) was the most difficult-to-source ingredient of gunpowder, making its arrival from India a matter of national security.

“the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg controls his Faulbaum inventory” — The Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg ruled territories in what is now northern Germany; “Faulbaum” (alder buckthorn) provided the high-quality charcoal needed for superior gunpowder.

“a maneuver in which the diplomats of perfidious Albion are well practiced.” — Perfidious Albion is a classic rhetorical slur for Great Britain, implying the nation is inherently untrustworthy in international diplomacy.

“musketeers and archers dressed in blue outfits with lace cravats and orange sashes.” — The House of Orange took its name from a principality in France; the color became the permanent symbol of the Dutch national identity.

“This was Mary—the daughter of the new King of England, and William of Orange’s wife.” — Mary II was the Protestant daughter of the Catholic James II; her marriage to William was a strategic alliance that eventually led to their joint rule of England.

“the daughter of the Winter Queen herself” — Elizabeth Stuart was called the “Winter Queen” because her reign in Bohemia lasted only one season at the start of the Thirty Years’ War.

“lectures of Monsieur Huygens” — Christiaan Huygens was a titan of the Scientific Revolution who discovered the rings of Saturn and invented the pendulum clock.

“Duke of Monmouth who distinguished himself at the Siege of Maestricht” — At the Siege of Maastricht in 1673, Monmouth fought alongside the French (who were then English allies) and led a daring counter-attack on a fortification.

“fighting by William’s side, against the French, at Mons” — The Battle of Saint-Denis in 1678 was a bloody engagement fought just as a peace treaty was being signed, where Monmouth and William fought as allies against France.

“making Mary available for marriage to one of his French bastards” — Louis XIV frequently used his legitimated children as pawns in dynastic marriages to bind foreign houses to the French interest.

“polder-land of the Dutch Republic” — Polders are tracts of land reclaimed from the sea using dikes and pumps, a testament to Dutch engineering and the literal foundation of the Dutch Republic.

“burn the Pope in effigy” — Pope-burning processions were massive, violent political rallies in London used by Whig politicians to incite anti-Catholic fervor.

“I trade ducat shares, which have one-tenth the value of proper V.O.C. shares” — The Dutch East India Company (VOC) pioneered the modern stock market; “ducat shares” were fractional VOC shares that allowed middle-class citizens to speculate on global trade.

“one of them written in the time of the Stadholder Frederick Henry.” — Frederick Henry was the Stadtholder during the height of the Dutch Golden Age, known for his military brilliance against the Spanish.

“he can ‘appeal to Frederick.’” — Appealing to Frederick was a legal maneuver where a trader could void a “short” contract by citing old edicts that technically forbade selling stock one did not yet own.

Original annotations by: stephenson, bornstein, malssen