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pass

(Encyclopedia)pass, opening or way by which a natural or artificial barrier can be crossed. The term pass is usually applied to a relatively narrow passage through a mountainous region. A pass, like an isthmus, may...

Piedmont, region, Italy

(Encyclopedia)Piedmont pēdˈmŏnt [key], Ital. Piemonte, region (1991 pop. 4,302,565), 9,807 sq mi (25,400 sq km), NW Italy, bordering on France in the west and on Switzerland in the north. Turin is the capital of...

Bern

(Encyclopedia)Bern or Berne bĕrn [key], canton, 2,658 sq mi (6,883 sq km), W central Switzerland. The seco...

Lothair, king of Lotharingia

(Encyclopedia)Lothair, sometimes called Lothair II, d. 869, king of Lotharingia (855–69), second son of Emperor of the West Lothair I. He inherited the region bounded by the Rhine, Scheldt, Alps, and North Sea, w...

Ticino , canton, Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Ticino tēchēˈnō [key], Fr. and Ger. Tessin, canton (1993 pop. 294,100), 1,086 sq mi (2,813 sq km), S Switzerland, on the southern slope of the central Alps, bordering on Italy. Bellinzona is the c...

Dauphiné

(Encyclopedia)Dauphiné dōfēnāˈ [key], region and former province, SE France, bordering on Italy. It is now divided into three departments, Haute-Alpes, Isère, and Drôme. In the east the Alps culminate in the...

Innsbruck

(Encyclopedia)Innsbruck ĭnsˈbro͝ok [key], city, capital of Tyrol prov., SW Austria, on the Inn River. A ...

Hasdrubal d. 207 b.c., Carthaginian general

(Encyclopedia)Hasdrubal, d. 207 b.c., Carthaginian general; son of Hamilcar Barca. During the Second Punic War (see Punic Wars), his brother Hannibal, on leaving for Italy, made Hasdrubal commander in Spain. Hasdru...

Stephen II

(Encyclopedia)Stephen II, d. 757, pope (752–57), successor of Pope St. Zacharias. When Rome was threatened by the Lombard king Aistulf, Stephen went to Gaul and appealed to Pepin the Short for help. He became the...

Europe

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Europe yo͝orˈəp [key], 6th largest continent, c.4,000,000 sq mi (10,360,000 sq km) including adjacent islands (2015 est. pop. 740,814,000). It is actually a vast peninsula of the great Euras...