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Witt, Jan de

(Encyclopedia)Witt, Jan de yän [key], 1625–72, Dutch statesman. Like his father, Jacob de Witt, burgomaster of Dort, he became a leading opponent of the house of Orange and played a vital role in the three succe...

Mena, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Mena, Juan de hwän dā māˈnä [key], 1411–56, Spanish poet and scholar. Influenced by the Italian school, he modeled his chief work Laberinto de Fortuna (1444) upon Dante. This 300-stanza allegor...

Sacrobosco, Johannes de

(Encyclopedia)Sacrobosco, Johannes de yōhänˈəs də săkrōbŏsˈkō [key], or John of Hollywood, c.1200–1256, English mathematician and astronomer. He wrote several widely read and influential books: Algorism...

Guérin, Maurice de

(Encyclopedia)Guérin, Maurice de (Georges Maurice de Guérin) zhôrzh mōrēsˈ də gārăNˈ [key], 1810–39, French writer. At his early death he left two fragmentary prose poems, Le Centaure and La Bacchante, ...

Medici, Francesco de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Francesco de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1541–87, grand duke of Tuscany (1574–87); son and successor of Cosimo I de' Medici. In his reign the decline of the Medici family...

Bourbon, Antoine de

(Encyclopedia)Bourbon, Antoine de bo͞orbôNˈ [key], 1518–62, duc de Vendôme, king of Navarre through his marriage to Jeanne d'Albret; father of Henry IV of France. He converted to Protestantism after his marr...

Unamuno, Miguel de

(Encyclopedia)Unamuno, Miguel de mēgĕlˈ dā o͞onämo͞oˈnō [key], 1864–1936, Spanish philosophical writer, of Basque descent, b. Bilbao. The chief Spanish philosopher of his time, he was professor of Greek ...

coureurs de bois

(Encyclopedia)coureurs de bois ko͞orörˈ də bwä [key] [Fr.,=woods runners], unlicensed traders during the French regime in Canada. Traders were required to be licensed, but to only a favored few were licenses g...

Alarcón, Hernando de

(Encyclopedia)Alarcón, Hernando de ārnänˈdō dā älärkōnˈ [key], fl. 1540, Spanish explorer in the Southwest. He was given command of a fleet that was supposed to support the land expedition of Francisco V�...

Polignac, Melchior de

(Encyclopedia)Polignac, Melchior de də pôlēnyäkˈ [key], 1661–1742, French diplomat, churchman, and author, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. As ambassador to Poland he directed (1697) the unsuccessful ...