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Henry IV, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Henry IV, 1425–74, Spanish king of Castile and León (1454–74), son and successor of John II. His weakness opened the way to civil strife and anarchy. The Castilian nobles refused to recognize Hen...

Frederick William, duke of Brunswick

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William, 1771–1815, duke of Brunswick, German military hero. On the death (1806) of his father, Charles William Ferdinand, his duchy was seized by Napoleon I and added to the kingdom of We...

Alfonso VIII, Spanish king of Castile

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso VIII (Alfonso the Noble), 1155–1214, Spanish king of Castile (1158–1214), son and successor of Sancho III. Chaos prevailed during his minority, but he quickly restored order after assuming...

Czernin, Ottokar, Graf

(Encyclopedia)Czernin, Ottokar, Graf ôˈtōkär gräf chĕrˈnĭn [key], 1872–1932, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister. He was an adviser to Archduke Francis Ferdinand. As foreign minister (1916–18) he sought a...

Coimbra

(Encyclopedia)Coimbra kōēmˈbrə [key], city, capital of Coimbra dist., W central Portugal, on the Mondego ...

Peter I, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Peter I, 1320–67, king of Portugal (1357–67), son and successor of Alfonso IV. He married (1336) Constance Manuel, a Castilian noblewoman, but subsequently fell in love with one of her ladies in w...

Berchtold, Leopold, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Berchtold, Leopold, Graf von lāˈōpôlt gräf fən bĕrkhˈtôlt [key], 1863–1942, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister (1912–15). During the Balkan Wars he successfully worked for the creation of ...

Boris III

(Encyclopedia)Boris III, 1894–1943, czar of Bulgaria (1918–43), son of Czar Ferdinand, on whose abdication he succeeded to the throne. He ruled constitutionally until 1934, then set up a military dictatorship u...

Alvarado, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Alvarado, Pedro de älväräˈᵺō [key], 1486–1541, Spanish conquistador. He went to Hispaniola (1510), sailed in the expedition (1518) of Juan de Grijalva, and was the chief lieutenant of Herná...

Laibach, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Laibach, Congress of līˈbäkh [key], conference of European powers in 1821, held in what is now Ljubljana, Slovenia. The chief powers at the congress were Russia, Austria, Prussia, France, and Great...

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