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iconoclasm

(Encyclopedia)iconoclasm īkŏnˈōklăzəm [key] [Gr.,=image breaking], opposition to the religious use of images. Veneration of pictures and statues symbolizing sacred figures, Christian doctrine, and biblical ev...

Valla, Lorenzo

(Encyclopedia)Valla, Lorenzo lōrānˈtsō välˈlä [key], c.1407–57, Italian humanist. Valla knew Greek and Latin well and was chosen by Pope Nicholas V to translate Herodotus and Thucydides into Latin. From hi...

Christian VIII

(Encyclopedia)Christian VIII, 1786–1848, king of Denmark (1839–48), nephew of Christian VII; successor of Frederick VI. As governor and king (May–Oct., 1814) of Norway he accepted a liberal Norwegian constitu...

Louis VI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis VI (Louis the Fat), 1081–1137, king of France (1108–37). He succeeded his father, Philip I, with whom he was associated in government from c.1100. He firmly established his authority within ...

Medici, Alessandro de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Alessandro de' mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1510?–37, duke of Florence (1532–37); probably an illegitimate son of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. His prominence began when ...

Clement V, pope

(Encyclopedia)Clement V, 1264–1314, pope (1305–14), a Frenchman named Bertrand de Got; successor of Benedict XI. He was made archbishop of Bordeaux by Boniface VIII, who trusted him; surprisingly, he was also i...

Geoffrey IV

(Encyclopedia)Geoffrey IV, known as Geoffrey Plantagenet plătăjˈənət [key] [O.Fr.,=sprig of broom; he usually wore a sprig in his helmet], 1113–51, count of Anjou (1129–51); son of Fulk, count of Anjou and...

Urban II

(Encyclopedia)Urban II, c.1042–1099, pope (1088–99), a Frenchman named Odo (or Eudes) of Lagery; successor of Victor III. He studied at Reims and became a monk at Cluny. He went to Rome, as prior of Cluny, earl...

Pius VI

(Encyclopedia)Pius VI, 1717–99, pope (1775–99), an Italian named G. Angelo Braschi, b. Cesena; successor of Clement XIV. He was created cardinal in 1774. Early in his reign he was faced with the attempts of Hol...

Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Holy Roman Empire (c.1100) CE5 Holy Roman Empire, designation for the political entity that originated at the coronation as emperor (962) of the German king Otto I and endured until the renu...