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Abd ar-Rahman III, emir and caliph of Córdoba

(Encyclopedia)Abd ar-Rahman III, 891–961, Umayyad emir (912–29) and first caliph (929–61) of Córdoba. When he succeeded to the throne, the Spanish emirate was reduced to Córdoba and its environs and beset w...

Ezra, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Ezra, book of the Bible, combined with Nehemiah in the Septuagint to form the book 2 Esdras. In the Vulgate, Ezra and Nehemiah are called 1 and 2 Esdras respectively. Ezra, like Nehemiah, is the work ...

Cunaxa

(Encyclopedia)Cunaxa kyo͞onăkˈsə [key], ancient town of Babylonia, near the Euphrates River, NE of Ctesiphon. It was the scene of a battle (401 b.c.) between Cyrus the Younger and Artaxerxes II, described by Xe...

Frederick III, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia

(Encyclopedia)Frederick III, 1831–88, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia (Mar.–June, 1888), son and successor of William I. In 1858 he married Victoria, the princess royal of England, who exerted considerab...

Tissaphernes

(Encyclopedia)Tissaphernes tĭsˌəfûrˈnēz [key], d. 395 b.c., Persian satrap of coastal Asia Minor (c.413–395 b.c.). He was encouraged by Alcibiades (412) to intervene in the Peloponnesian War in support of S...

Ctesias

(Encyclopedia)Ctesias tēˈshēəs, tēˈsēəs [key], fl. 400 b.c., Greek historian and physician of Cnidus. He lived many years in the Persian court. He tended Artaxerxes II when he was wounded in the battle of C...

Conrad III, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad III, c.1093–1152, German king (1138–52), son of Frederick, duke of Swabia, and Agnes, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV; first of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He joined his brother Frede...

William III, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)William III, 1650–1702, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1689–1702); son of William II, prince of Orange, stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and of Mary, oldest daughte...

George III, king of Great Britain and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)George III, 1738–1820, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760–1820); son of Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, and grandson of George II, whom he succeeded. He was also elector (and later king) of...

Lampsacus

(Encyclopedia)Lampsacus lămpˈsəkəs [key], ancient Greek city of NW Asia Minor, on the Hellespont (now Dardanelles) opposite Callipolis (now Gallipoli). It was colonized in the 7th cent. b.c. by Greeks from Phoc...