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Inquisition

(Encyclopedia)Inquisition ĭnˌkwĭzĭshˈən [key], tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church established for the investigation of heresy. The Spanish Inquisition was independent of the medieval Inquisition. It was...

Arras, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Arras, Treaty of. 1 Treaty of 1435, between King Charles VII of France and Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Through it, France and Burgundy became reconciled. Philip deserted his English allies and r...

Margaret of Austria

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Austria, 1480–1530, Hapsburg princess, regent of the Netherlands; daughter of Emperor Maximilian I. She was betrothed (1483) to the dauphin of France, later King Charles VIII, and was tr...

Muhammad II, Ottoman sultan

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad II or Mehmet II (Muhammad the Conqueror), 1429–81, Ottoman sultan (1451–81), son and successor of Murad II. He is considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He completed ...

Shanxi

(Encyclopedia)Shanxi or Shansi shänˈshēˈ [key], province (2010 pop. 35,712,111), c.60,000 sq mi (155,400 sq km), NE China. The capital is Taiyuan. It is bounded on the west and the south by the Huang He (Yellow...

Leo Africanus

(Encyclopedia)Leo Africanus ăfrĭkāˈnəs [key], c.1465–1550, Moorish traveler in Africa and the Middle East. His Arabic name was Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad. Captured by pirates, he was sent as a slave to Pope Leo X...

Lateran Council, Fourth

(Encyclopedia)Lateran Council, Fourth, 1215, 12th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened at the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Pope Innocent III to crown the work of his pontificate. It was one of the ...

Ledóchowski, Count Mieczisław

(Encyclopedia)Ledóchowski, Count Mieczisław myĕchĭsˈläf lĕdo͞okhôfˈskē [key], 1822–1902, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Russian Poland. He became (1865) archbishop of Gniezno and Poznań (th...

Maury, Jean Siffrein

(Encyclopedia)Maury, Jean Siffrein zhäN sēfrăNˈ môrēˈ [key], 1746–1817, French churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. A court preacher and writer before the French Revolution, he was known in th...

Gregory II, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gregory II, Saint, d. 731, pope (715–31), a Roman; successor of Constantine. When Byzantine Emperor Leo III tried to impose iconoclasm in Italy by an imperial edict, Gregory answered that the empero...