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Isabel of Bavaria

(Encyclopedia)Isabel of Bavaria, 1371–1435, French queen, consort of Charles VI, daughter of the duke of Bavaria. After her marriage (1385) she was several times regent for her demented husband. Sympathizing with...

Knights of Labor

(Encyclopedia)Knights of Labor, American labor organization, started by Philadelphia tailors in 1869, led by Uriah S. Stephens. It became a body of national scope and importance in 1878 and grew more rapidly after ...

Council of Europe

(Encyclopedia)Council of Europe, international organization founded in 1949 to promote greater unity within Europe and to safeguard its political and cultural heritage by promoting human rights and democracy. The c...

Ephesus, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Ephesus, Council of, 431, 3d ecumenical council, convened by Theodosius II, emperor of the East, and Valentinian III, emperor of the West, to deal with the controversy over Nestorianism. Adherents of ...

sphere of influence

(Encyclopedia)sphere of influence, term formerly applied to an area over which an outside power claims hegemony with the intention of subsequently gaining more definite control, as in colonization, or with the inte...

England, Church of

(Encyclopedia)England, Church of, the established church of England and the mother church of the Anglican Communion. In the first half of the 19th cent., the Catholic and apostolic character of the Church of Engl...

Westphalia, Peace of

(Encyclopedia)Westphalia, Peace of, 1648, general settlement ending the Thirty Years War. It marked the end of the Holy Roman Empire as an effective institution and inaugurated the modern European state system. The...

Robert of Courtenay

(Encyclopedia)Robert of Courtenay kôrtˈnē, ko͝ortənāˈ [key], d. 1228, Latin emperor of Constantinople (1218–28). His father, Peter of Courtenay, was elected by the Latin nobles to succeed Henry of Flanders...

Utrecht, Peace of

(Encyclopedia)Utrecht, Peace of, series of treaties that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession. It put an end to French expansion and signaled the rise of the British Empire. By the treaty between England and...

Ordinance of 1787

(Encyclopedia)Ordinance of 1787, adopted by the Congress of Confederation for the government of the Western territories ceded to the United States by the states. It created the Northwest Territory and is frequently...