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Louis XII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XII, 1462–1515, king of France (1498–1515), son of Charles, duc d'Orléans. He succeeded his father as duke. While still duke, he rebelled against the regency of Anne de Beaujeu and was impr...

Zrinyi

(Encyclopedia)Zrinyi zrĭnˈyē [key], noble Hungarian family of Croatian origin. Nicholas Zrinyi, 1508–66, distinguished himself in the defense of Vienna (1529) against Sultan Sulayman I, took part in the campai...

Thirty Years War

(Encyclopedia)Thirty Years War, 1618–48, general European war fought mainly in Germany. The general results of the war may be said to have been a tremendous decrease in German population; devastation of G...

Hakam II, al-

(Encyclopedia)Hakam II, al- äl-häkämˈ [key], 914–76, Umayyad caliph of Córdoba (961–76), son and successor of Abd ar-Rahman III. In the early part of his reign he successfully waged war against the Christi...

Frederick II, king of Prussia

(Encyclopedia)Frederick II or Frederick the Great, 1712–86, king of Prussia (1740–86), son and successor of Frederick William I. Frederick was tolerant in religious matters, personally professing atheism to h...

Ferdinand VI, king of Spain

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand VI, b. 1712 or 1713, d. 1759, king of Spain (1746–59), son of Philip V by his first queen, Marie Louise of Savoy. When Ferdinand succeeded his father, his stepmother, Elizabeth Farnese, lo...

Pressburg, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Pressburg, Treaty of, 1805, peace treaty between Napoleon I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (also emperor of Austria), signed at Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia). Defeated at Austerlit...

Scot, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Scot, Michael, c.1175–c.1234, medieval scholar, b. Scotland. He served as astrologer and physician at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, where with other scholars he translated Aristotle ...

Bahadur Shah II

(Encyclopedia)Bahadur Shah II bähäˈdo͝or shä [key], 1775–1862, last Mughal emperor of India (1837–57). A political figurehead, he was completely controlled by the British East India Company, who found it c...

Este, Italian noble family

(Encyclopedia)Este ĕsˈtā [key], Italian noble family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597) and of Modena (1288–1796) and celebrated patrons of the arts during the Renaissance. Probably of Lombard origin, they took ...