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Devolution, War of

(Encyclopedia)Devolution, War of, 1667–68, undertaken by Louis XIV for the conquest of the Spanish Netherlands. On her marriage to Louis, Marie Thérèse, daughter of Philip IV of Spain, had renounced her rights ...

Amadis of Gaul

(Encyclopedia)Amadis of Gaul ämädēsˈ də gōl [key], famous prose romance of chivalry, first composed in Spain or Portugal and probably based on French sources. Entirely fictional, it dates from the 13th or 14t...

Cleves, duchy of

(Encyclopedia)Cleves, duchy of, former state, W Germany, on both sides of the lower Rhine, bordering on the Netherlands. Cleves was the capital. A county from late Carolingian times, it acquired (late 14th cent.) t...

Pembroke, Mary Herbert, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Pembroke, Mary Herbert, countess of, 1561–1621; sister of Sir Philip Sidney. His Arcadia was written for her, and after his death she prepared it and his other works for publication. Patron of a num...

Home of Polwarth, Sir Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Home of Polwarth, Sir Patrick, or Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth both: hyo͞om, pōlˈwərth [key], 1641–1724, Scottish statesman. Devoted to Presbyterianism, he opposed the policies of the duke of La...

Justus of Ghent

(Encyclopedia)Justus of Ghent, fl. c.1460–c.1480, Flemish religious and portrait painter, now generally identified with Joos van Wassenhove; also known as Jodocus or Joos of Ghent. His simple, quiet style provide...

Scotland, Free Church of

(Encyclopedia)Scotland, Free Church of, the secessionist Presbyterian church established as a result of the great disruption of 1843 in the Church of Scotland. The cause of the separation lay in the demand of the l...

Joan of Kent

(Encyclopedia)Joan of Kent, 1328–85, English noblewoman; daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, youngest son of Edward I. She early gained wide note for her beauty and charm, though the appellation Fair M...

Ladislaus II, king of Poland

(Encyclopedia)Ladislaus II or Ladislaus Jagiello yägyĕˈlō [key], 1350?–1434, king of Poland (1386–1434), grand duke of Lithuania (1378–1401), founder of the Jagiello dynasty. Leaguing with Poland against ...

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