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Osterman, Andrei Ivanovich, Count

(Encyclopedia)Osterman, Andrei Ivanovich, Count əndrāˈ ēväˈnəvĭch əstyĭrmänˈ [key], 1686–1747, Russian statesman, b. Germany. His original name was Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann. Under Czar Pete...

Henry III, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Henry III, 1379–1406, Spanish king of Castile and León (1390–1406), son and successor of John I. His marriage (1388) to Catherine, daughter of John of Gaunt, ended a long dynastic conflict. Henry...

Menshikov, Aleksandr Danilovich, Prince

(Encyclopedia)Menshikov, Aleksandr Danilovich, Prince əlyĭksänˈdər dənyēˈləvĭch mĕnˈshĭkəf [key], 1672?–1729, Russian field marshal and statesman. Of lowly origin, he became an intimate companion of...

Paul I

(Encyclopedia)Paul I, 1754–1801, czar of Russia (1796–1801), son and successor of Catherine II. His mother disliked him intensely and sought on several occasions to change the succession to his disadvantage. Du...

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...

Engels

(Encyclopedia)Engels ĕngˈgĭls [key], city (1989 pop. 181,000), E European Russia, a port on the Volga River. It has a large chemical fiber complex. Founded by Ukrainian settlers, it was a major destination of Ge...

Pugachev, Emelian Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Pugachev, Emelian Ivanovich yĭmĭlyänˈ ēväˈnəvĭch po͞ogəchôfˈ [key], c.1742–75, Russian peasant leader, head of the peasant rebellion of 1773–74. A Don Cossack, he exploited a widespre...

Chomutov

(Encyclopedia)Chomutov khôˈmo͞otôf [key], Ger. Komotau, city, NW Czech Republic, near the German border...

Poissy, Colloquy of

(Encyclopedia)Poissy, Colloquy of pwäsēˈ [key], 1561, conference of Roman Catholic prelates and Protestant ministers, initiated by Catherine de' Medici and Michel de L'Hôpital in the hope of bringing about a pe...

Banks, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Thomas, 1735–1805, English neoclassical sculptor, studied at the Royal Academy. A traveling scholarship enabled him to study in Rome from 1772 to 1779. In 1781 he went to Russia, where Cather...