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divine right

(Encyclopedia)divine right, doctrine that sovereigns derive their right to rule by virtue of their birth alone—a right based on the law of God and of nature. Authority is transmitted to a ruler from his ancestors...

Ammianus Marcellinus

(Encyclopedia)Ammianus Marcellinus ămēāˈnəs märsĭlīˈnəs [key], c.330–c.400, Roman historian, b. Antioch. After retiring from a successful military career, he wrote a history of the Roman Empire as a seq...

Fontainebleau

(Encyclopedia)Fontainebleau fôNtĕnblōˈ [key], town, Seine-et-Marne dept., N France, SE of Paris. It is a favorite ...

Jeux Floraux, Académie des

(Encyclopedia)Jeux Floraux, Académie des äkädāmēˈ dā jö flôrōˈ [key] [Fr.,=academy of floral games], one of the oldest known literary societies. It was founded (c.1323) at Toulouse, France, by seven trou...

Lully, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Lully, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ lülēˈ [key], 1632–87, French operatic composer, b. Florence, Italy. His name originally was Giovanni Battista Lulli. A self-taught violinist, he went to Fran...

Caffieri

(Encyclopedia)Caffieri Fr. käfyārēˈ, Ital. käf-fyāˈrē [key], French family of artists. Philippe Caffieri, 1634–1716, left Italy to enter the service of Louis XIV at the Gobelin factory. He and a son, Jacq...

Canova, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Canova, Antonio äntôˈnyō känôˈvä [key], 1757–1822, Italian sculptor. He was a leading exponent of the neoclassical school whose influence on the art of his time was enormous. Canova's monume...

Vendôme, Louis Joseph, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Vendôme, Louis Joseph, duc de dük də väNdōmˈ [key], 1654–1712, marshal of France; grandson of César de Vendôme and son of Laura Mancini. He fought in the War of the Grand Alliance. In the W...

Schomberg, Frederick Herman, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Schomberg, Frederick Herman, 1st duke of schŏmˈbərg [key], Ger. Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg, 1615–90, German soldier of fortune. After serving on the Protestant side in the Thirty Years War,...

Rigaud, Hyacinthe

(Encyclopedia)Rigaud, Hyacinthe (Hyacinthe Rigaud y Ros) ē rôs [key], 1659–1743, French portrait painter, b. Perpignan. From 1688 he became almost exclusively the official painter of the French court. His sitt...