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Niccoli, Niccolò de'

(Encyclopedia)Niccoli, Niccolò de' nēk-kōlôˈ dā nēkˈkōlē [key], 1363–1437, Italian humanist. One of the distinguished Florentine scholars in Cosimo de' Medici's circle, he wrote little but is remembered...

Lenclos, Ninon de

(Encyclopedia)Lenclos, Ninon de nēnôNˈ də läNklōˈ [key], 1620–1705, French beauty and wit. Her real name was Anne de Lenclos. She numbered among her many lovers and friends such eminent men as the Great Co...

Diane de France

(Encyclopedia)Diane de France dyän də fräNs [key], 1538–1619, duchess of Angoulême; illegitimate daughter of King Henry II of France. She was legitimized in 1547. She was married to François, eldest son of C...

Guillaume de Lorris

(Encyclopedia)Guillaume de Lorris gēyōmˈ də lôrēsˈ [key], c.1215–c.1278, French poet, author of the first part of the Roman de la Rose. He handled the chivalric conventions with subtlety and charm, and his...

Staël, Nicholas de

(Encyclopedia)Staël, Nicholas de nēkôläˈ də stäl [key], 1914–55, French painter, b. St. Petersburg, Russia. Reared in Brussels, he traveled extensively before settling in France in 1940. De Staël evolved ...

Berceo, Gonzalo de

(Encyclopedia)Berceo, Gonzalo de gōnthäˈlō ᵺā bārthāˈō [key], c.1198–1265?, earliest known Spanish medieval poet. He was a religious in a Benedictine monastery who wrote prolifically on saints and othe...

Scudéry, Madeleine de

(Encyclopedia)Scudéry, Madeleine de zhôrzh [key], 1601–67, who was probably only a secondary collaborator. Georges wrote plays and other works and actively attacked Corneille's Cid. ...

Villehardouin, Geoffroi de

(Encyclopedia)Villehardouin, Geoffroi de, c.1160–c.1212, French historian and Crusader. As marshal of Champagne, he was a leader of the Fourth Crusade (see Crusades), which resulted in the conquest (1204) of Cons...

Glanvill, Ranulf de

(Encyclopedia)Glanvill, Ranulf de glănˈvĭl [key], d. 1190, English jurist. He served Henry II in many offices, finally as chief justiciar after 1180. He commissioned one of the great works of English law, the T...

Gourmont, Remy de

(Encyclopedia)Gourmont, Remy de rəmēˈ də go͞ormôNˈ [key], 1858–1915, French critic and novelist, leading critical apologist for the symbolists. Although his views were seemingly contradictory, he was consi...