Brewer's: Burbon

A knight assailed by a rabble rout, who batter his shield to pieces, and compel him to cast it aside. Talus renders him assistance, and is informed by the rescued knight that Fourdelis, his own true love, had been enticed away from him by Grantorto. When the rabble is dispersed, and Fourdelis recovered, Burbon places her on his steed, and rides off as fast as possible. Burbon is Henri IV. of France; Fourdelis, the kingdom of France; the rabble rout, the Roman Catholic party that tried to set him aside; the shield he is compelled to abandon is Protestantism; his carrying off Fourdelis is his obtaining the kingdom by a coup after his renunciation of the Protestant cause. (Spenser: Faërie Queene, v. 11.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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