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Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of

(Encyclopedia)Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of wĭnˈzər [key],1896–1986, American-born wife of Edward, duke of Windsor, who, as Edward VIII, abdicated the British throne in order to marry her. In 1916 she ...

Poitiers

(Encyclopedia)Poitiers pwätyāˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 82,507), capital of Vienne dept., W central France, on the Clain River. The ancient capital of Poitou, it is now an industrial, agricultural, and communicati...

Stratford, John de

(Encyclopedia)Stratford, John de, d. 1348, English ecclesiastic, archbishop of Canterbury, 1333–48. A doctor of civil and canon law, he was a legal adviser to the court of Edward II and several times an emissary ...

Baliol, John de, 1249–1315, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Baliol, John de, 1249–1315, king of Scotland (1292–96), son of John de Baliol (d. 1269). He became head of the family after the death of his elder brothers in 1278. At the death of Margaret Maid o...

Clarence, George, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Clarence, George, duke of, 1449–78, son of Richard, duke of York, and brother of Edward IV. In defiance of Edward, Clarence married Isabel Neville and joined her father, Richard Neville, earl of War...

Mortimer, Roger de, 1st earl of March

(Encyclopedia)Mortimer, Roger de, 1st earl of March, 1287?–1330, English nobleman. He inherited (c.1304) the vast estates and the title of his father, Edmund, 7th baron of Wigmore. Appointed lieutenant of Ireland...

La Trémoille, Georges de

(Encyclopedia)La Trémoille or La Trimouille, Georges de zhôrzh də lä trāmoiˈyə or trēmo͞oˈyə [key], c.1385–1446, favorite of King Charles VII of France, sometime chamberlain to John the Fearless of Bur...

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...

Armagnacs and Burgundians

(Encyclopedia)Armagnacs and Burgundians, opposing factions that fought to control France in the early 15th cent. The rivalry for power between Louis d'Orléans, brother of the recurrently insane King Charles VI, an...

Romanus II

(Encyclopedia)Romanus II, 939–63, Byzantine emperor (959–63), son and successor of Constantine VII. A profligate, he came under the domination of his second wife, Theophano. She, along with the eunuch Joseph Br...