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Piccolomini, Ottavio

(Encyclopedia)Piccolomini, Ottavio ōt-täˈvyō pēk-kōlôˈmēnē [key], 1599–1656, Italian general in the service of the Holy Roman emperor during the Thirty Years War (1618–48). He came of a distinguished ...

Roman de la Rose, Le

(Encyclopedia)Roman de la Rose, Le lə rōmäNˈ də lä rōz [key], French poem of 22,000 lines in eight-syllable couplets. It is in two parts. The first (4,058 lines) was written (c.1237) by Guillaume de Lorris a...

Diana, in Roman religion

(Encyclopedia)Diana dīănˈə [key], in Roman religion, goddess of the moon, forests, animals, and women in childbirth. She was probably originally a forest goddess and a special patroness of women. She was identi...

Eugene of Savoy

(Encyclopedia)Eugene of Savoy, 1663–1736, prince of the house of Savoy, general in the service of the Holy Roman Empire. Born in Paris, he was the son of Eugène, comte de Soissons of the line of Savoy-Carignano,...

Marsilius of Padua

(Encyclopedia)Marsilius of Padua märsĭlˈēəs, păˈdyo͞oə [key], d. c.1342, Italian political philosopher. He is satirically called Marsiglio. Little is known with certainty of his life except that he was rec...

Uri , canton, Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Uri o͞oˈrē [key], canton (1993 pop. 35,500), 415 sq mi (1,075 sq km), central Switzerland, one of the Four Forest Cantons. Altdorf is the capital. The most sparsely populated of the Swiss cantons, ...

Padilla, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Padilla, Juan de hwän dā päᵺēˈlyä [key], c.1490–1521, Spanish revolutionary leader in the war of the comuneros [municipalities] against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Charles's conduct and hi...

Milo, Roman partisan leader

(Encyclopedia)Milo (Titus Annius Papianus Milo), 95 b.c.–47 b.c., Roman partisan leader. As tribune of the people (57 b.c.) he obtained the recall from exile of Cicero. At the insistence of Pompey, Milo hired a g...

Mars, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Mars, in Roman religion and mythology, god of war. In early Roman times he was a god of agriculture, but in later religion (when he was identified with the Greek Ares) he was primarily associated with...