May 14, 1610

May 14, 1610, is recorded in an explanatory note as the date of Ravaillac’s assassination of Henry VI. Its significance here is documentary rather than dramatic: the date anchors a historical reference in the book’s notes, not a narrated scene in the supplied passage.

The Date in the Historical Note

The note identifies May 14, 1610, and names both Ravaillac and Henry VI, stating that the assassination occurred on that date. The entry is marked as note 29 and points to page 120. No circumstances surrounding the assassination, or effects beyond the act itself, are given in the note.

Place Among Nearby References

Adjacent notes mention Damiens’s attempt on Louis XV in 1757 and Jean Châtel’s attempt on Henry IV in 1594. Those references distinguish an assassination from attempted assassinations, while placing the date within a small cluster of historical examples of attacks on monarchs. The passage does not elaborate on the connection or make the date part of the novel’s plot.