>In putting together this edition, I was mostly looking to help people whose knowledge of Italian is bad, but who still want to read Dante in full. I made the annotations simple and numerous because the special situation of those people (that is, their unfamiliarity with Dante's medieval mindset and classical references) requires extra help to make the story understandable. When in doubt about how much help to give, I have tended to err on the side of caution and give too much, rather than risk giving too little - like the adage of the gate guard of purgatory, who preferred to give wayward souls more of a chance than they deserved rather than risk giving them too little.

Aside from the subordinate clauses, the confusing part is probably just linking up verbs with their subjects/objects properly, made more difficult by the fact that the verbs are used slightly archaically. It's slightly older and rarer English, especially for what is generally taught at a second language level (ESL) these days.

Probably the worst bit is the second sentence. "To whome the whole medieval outlook ... unfamiliar" is a relative clause, referring of the "some [people]" whose "requirements" the author is trying to "serve." So just bracket off that whole clause as a bonus adjective, and skip to the main verb that goes with the subject "the requirements of some" to get the real meaning of the sentence: "may."
>The requirements of some [people] ... may excuse the number of annotations.

Here "excuse" might be slightly weird to you, because it's being used impersonally, which is SLIGHTLY rarer and more formal these days. It's like saying
>The traffic jam on the highway may excuse my lateness today.
instead of
>My excuse for being late is that I was in a traffic jam.

>>7725244
>is a relative clause, referring of the
should be
>is a relative clause, referring to the

Ironic

>>7725244
ty very much sir