1       Prisoners in Argamasilla were kept on different levels. The desconocidos, or unknown men, those without position or place, were kept on the ground floor and the most abused because of it.

2       Or Holy Brotherhood, an armed force that policed the countryside and prisons.

3       Another instance of prison etiquette, whereby inmates from different geographic regions rarely commingled.

4       Our narrator and Cervantes were both jailed for malfeasance and placed in minimally secure rooms.

5       Galley slaves had the often more brutal sentence of serving in the Spanish Armada.

6       In the upper levels of Argamasilla, the common room functioned as cafeteria, bathroom and laundry.

7       A cuartillo is one-fourth a real.