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Bibliothèque nationale

(Encyclopedia)Bibliothèque nationale bēblēōtĕkˈ näsyônälˈ [key], national library of France, in Paris, a government archive, and one of the foremost libraries of the world. It originated with the collecti...

Elbe

(Encyclopedia)Elbe ĕlˈbə [key], Czech Labe, a major river of central Europe, c.725 mi (1,170 km) long, rising in the Krknoše Mts., NW Czech Republic, and traversing NW Czech Republic in a wide arc. It then cuts...

chansons de geste

(Encyclopedia)chansons de geste shäNsôNˈ də zhĕst [key] [Fr.,=songs of deeds], a group of epic poems of medieval France written from the 11th through the 13th cent. Varying in length from 1,000 to 20,000 lines...

Pamplona

(Encyclopedia)Pamplona pämplōˈnä [key], city (1990 pop. 183,525), capital of Navarre, N Spain, on the Arga River. An older spelling is Pampeluna. It is an important communications, agricultural, and industrial ...

Pepin the Short

(Encyclopedia)Pepin the Short (Pepin III), c.714–768, first Carolingian king of the Franks (751–68), son of Charles Martel and father of Charlemagne. Succeeding his father as mayor of the palace (741), he ruled...

Offa

(Encyclopedia)Offa ŏfˈə [key], d. 796, king of Mercia (757–96). He succeeded Æthelbald to the throne, but it was some years before he attained the power of his predecessor. Gradually he asserted his overlords...

linen

(Encyclopedia)linen, fabric or yarn made from the fiber of flax, probably the first vegetable fiber known to people. Linens more than 3,500 years old have been recovered from Egyptian tombs. Phoenician traders mark...

Romagna

(Encyclopedia)Romagna rōmäˈnyä [key], historic region, N central Italy, bordering on the Adriatic Sea in the east, now included in the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Marche, and Tuscany. Although its boundaries var...

crown

(Encyclopedia)crown, circular head ornament, symbolizing sovereign dignity. (For crowns worn by nobles, see coronet.) The use of the crown as a symbol of royal rank is of ancient tradition in Egypt and the Middle E...

Harun ar-Rashid

(Encyclopedia)Harun ar-Rashid häro͞on är-räshēdˈ [key] [Arab.,=Aaron the Upright], c.764–809, 5th and most famous Abbasid caliph (786–809). He succeeded his brother Musa al-Hadi, fourth caliph, a year aft...