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Russell

(Encyclopedia)Russell, English noble family. It first appeared prominently in the reign of Henry VIII when John Russell, 1st earl of Bedford, 1486?–1555, rose to military and diplomatic importance. He was lord hi...

Nicolls, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Nicolls, Richard, 1624–72, first English governor of New York, b. Bedfordshire, England. He served in the English civil war as a royalist and followed the Stuarts into exile, where he entered the se...

Fletcher, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Fletcher, Andrew, 1655–1716, Scottish politician, known as Fletcher of Saltoun. An opponent of the policies of the duke of Lauderdale and the duke of York (later James II) in Scotland, he fled to Ho...

Witowt

(Encyclopedia)Witowt or Witold vĭtˈôft, –ôlt [key], Lithuanian Vytautas, 1350–1430, grand duke of Lithuania (1401–30). In 1382, Witowt, as well as his father, was imprisoned by Ladislaus Jagiello (see Lad...

Moscow, grand duchy of

(Encyclopedia)Moscow or Muscovy, grand duchy of, state existing in W central Russia from the late 14th to mid-16th cent., with the city of Moscow as its nucleus. Its formation and eventual ascendancy over other Rus...

Campbell, Scottish noble family

(Encyclopedia)Campbell kămˈbəl [key], Scottish noble family, the head of which is the duke of Argyll. The Campbells of Lochow (Lochawe) rose to power in W Scotland in the later Middle Ages. In 1445, Sir Duncan C...

Eberhard

(Encyclopedia)Eberhard āˈbərhärtˌ [key], d. 939, duke of Franconia; brother of the German king, Conrad I, whom he succeeded as duke. The first to rebel against the centralizing policy of Holy Roman Emperor Ott...

Casimir II

(Encyclopedia)Casimir II, 1138–94, duke of Poland (1177–94), youngest son of Boleslaus III. A member of the Piast dynasty, he drove his brother Mieszko III from power at Kraków in 1177 and became the principal...

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 ...

Arthur III

(Encyclopedia)Arthur III, 1394–1458, duke of Brittany (1457–58), known before 1457 as comte de Richemont, constable of France in the Hundred Years War. He led the coalition that overthrew Georges de La Trémoil...