Castile of Naples: Castile: A region and former kingdom of central and northern Spain. Autonomous from the tenth century, it joined with Aragon in 1479 after the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand (1469), thus forming the nucleus ofmodern Spain.
Naples: a big city in southern Italy, sits on the Bay of Naples near Mt. Vesuvius. Dating to the 2nd millennium B.C.E., it has centuries of important art and architecture. Its landmarks include Naples Cathedral, whose Chapel of San Gennaro is filled with frescoes and statues, and the lavish Royal Palace.
fortification: something that fortifies: protects or strengthen against attack; surround or provide with defensive military works.
lackey: a servile follower; toady.
Libyan: Italian Libia. a republic in N Africa between Tunisia and Egypt: formerly a monarchy 1951–69. 679,400 sq. mi. (1,759,646 sq. km).
snares: a device, often consisting of a noose, for capturing small game.
Seville: a port in SW Spain, on the Guadalquivir River: site of the Alcazar; cathedral
Trojan horses: Classical Mythology. a gigantic hollow wooden horse, left by the Greeks upon their pretended abandonment of the siege of Troy. The Trojans took it into Troy and Greek soldiers concealed in the horse opened the gates to the Greek army at night and conquered the city.
vessels: a craft for traveling on water, now usually one larger than an ordinary rowboat; a ship or boat.
Lebrija/Liberia: a republic in W Africa: founded by freed American slaves 1822. About 43,000 sq. mi. (111,000 sq. km).
Queen of Carthage : Dido is known best as the queen of Carthage who died for love of Aeneas, according to the Aeneid of Vergil (Virgil).Dido was the daughter of the king of the Phoenecian city-state of Tyre. The legend tells us that when the king died, Dido's brother, Pygmalion, killed Dido's wealthy husband, Sychaeus. Then the ghost of Sychaeus revealed to Dido what had happened to him. He also told Dido where he had hidden his treasure.
majordomo: a man in charge of a great household, as that of a sovereign; a chief steward.
frivolity: the quality or state of being frivolous: characterized by lack of seriousness or sense
ramparts: a broad elevation or mound of earth raised as a fortification around a place and usually capped with a stone or earth parapet.
brocades: fabric woven with an elaborate design, especially one having a raised overall pattern.
Jupiter: 1 Also called Jove. the supreme deity of the ancient Romans: the god of the heavens and of weather. 2 Compare Zeus.Astronomy. the planet fifth in order from the sun, having an equatorial diameter of 88,729 miles (142,796 km), a mean distance from the sun of 483.6 million miles (778.3 million km), a period of revolution of 11.86 years, and at least 14 moons. It is the largest planet in the solar system.
Pharaoh: a title of an ancient Egyptian king.
Rome: Italian Roma. a city in and the capital of Italy, in the central part, on the Tiber: ancient capital of the Roman Empire; site of Vatican City, seat of authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
Alcazar: the palace of the Moorish kings in Seville, Spain: later used by Spanish kings.
harpies: Classical Mythology. a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body.
abscond: to depart in a sudden and secret manner, especially to avoid capture and legal prosecution:
abscond: to depart in a sudden and secret manner, especially to avoid capture and legal prosecution:
regular bluebeard: a fairy-tale character whose seventh wife found the bodies of her predecessors in a room she had been forbidden to enter; any man alleged to have murdered a number of his wives or other women.
Lisbon: a seaport in and the capital of Portugal, in the SW part, on the Tagus estuary.
alabaster: a fine-grained, translucent form of gypsum, typically white, often carved into ornaments.