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Vergil, Polydore

(Encyclopedia)Vergil or Virgil, Polydore, 1470?-1555?, historian and humanist, b. Urbino, Italy. He studied at Bologna and Padua, served as secretary to the duke of Urbino, was chamberlain to Pope Alexander VI, and...

Ockeghem, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Ockeghem, Johannes yōhänˈəs ŏkˈəgĕm [key], c.1410–1497, Flemish composer. Ockeghem is thought to have been a pupil of Gilles Binchois and was definitely taught by Guillaume Dufay. He himself...

Boniface IX

(Encyclopedia)Boniface IX, c.1345–1404, pope (1389–1404), a Neapolitan named Pietro Tomacelli; successor of Urban VI. The Avignon antipopes Clement VII and Benedict XIII were his contemporaries during the Great...

Dunois, Jean, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Dunois, Jean, comte de zhäN kôNt də dünwäˈ [key], c.1403–1468, French general, called the Bastard of Orléans; natural son of Louis, duc d'Orléans. He joined the Armagnacs in the civil war du...

Loches

(Encyclopedia)Loches lôsh [key], town (1990 pop. 7,133), Indre-et-Loire dept., W central France, in Touraine, on the Indre River. Products include processed food and electronics. It is famous for its medieval buil...

Fouquet, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Fouquet or Foucquet, Jean or Jehan all: zhäN fo͞okāˈ [key], c.1420–c.1480, French painter and illuminator. He was summoned to Rome in the 1440s to paint the portrait (now lost) of Pope Eugenius ...

Lyons, Second Council of

(Encyclopedia)Lyons, Second Council of, 1274, 14th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. It was summoned by Pope Gregory X to discuss problems in the Holy Land, to remove the schism of East and West, and...

Vladimir I

(Encyclopedia)Vladimir I vŭlˌədyēˈmyĭr [key], or Saint Vladimir, d. 1015, first Christian grand duke of Kiev (c.980–1015); son of Sviatoslav. In 970, Vladimir was sent by his father to govern Novgorod. Afte...

Bohemond I

(Encyclopedia)Bohemond I bōˈhəmŏnd [key], c.1056–1111, prince of Antioch (1099–1111), a leader in the First Crusade (see Crusades); elder son of Robert Guiscard. With his father he fought (1081–85) agains...

Visigoths

(Encyclopedia)Visigoths (West Goths), division of the Goths, one of the most important groups of Germans. Having settled in the region W of the Black Sea in the 3d cent. a.d., the Goths soon split into two division...