Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Valois, royal house of France

(Encyclopedia)Valois välwäˈ [key], royal house of France that ruled from 1328 to 1589. At the death of Charles IV, the last of the direct Capetians, the Valois dynasty came to the throne in the person of Philip ...

Saar, river, France and Germany

(Encyclopedia)Saar zär [key], Fr. Sarre, river, c.150 mi (240 km) long, rising in the Vosges Mts., NE France, and flowing N past Sarrebourg and Sarreguemines. It enters Saarland, W Germany, and continues NW past S...

Rhône, river, Switzerland and France

(Encyclopedia)Rhône, Lat. Rhodanus, river, 505 mi (813 km) long, rising in the Rhône glacier, NE Valais, Switzerland. It flows west through a narrow, flat valley that separates the Bernese Alps from the Pennine A...

Robert II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Robert II (Robert the Pious), 970–1031, king of France (996–1031); son of Hugh Capet, with whom he was joint king after 987. Distinguished for his piety and learning, he also sought to strengthen ...

Île de France, island, Indian Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Île de France, island, Indian Ocean: see Mauritius. ...

Jura, mountain range, France and Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Jura jo͝orˈə, Fr. zhüräˈ, Ger. yo͞oˈrä [key], mountain range, part of the Alpine system, E France and NW Switzerland, occupying parts of the French region of Franche-Comté and the Swiss cant...

Moselle, river, France, Luxembourg, and Germany

(Encyclopedia)Moselle, Ger. Mosel, river, 320 mi (515 km) long, rising in the Vosges Mts., NE France, and winding generally N past Épinal and Metz. Leaving France, it forms part of the border between Luxembourg an...

Marche, region and former province, France

(Encyclopedia)Marche märsh [key], region and former province, central France, on the NW margin of the Massif Central. It is coextensive with Creuse dept., much of the Haute-Vienne dept., and parts of Vienne, Indre...

Maine, region and former province, France

(Encyclopedia)Maine mĕn [key], region and former province, NW France, S of Normandy and E of Brittany. It now comprises the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe and parts of Loire-et-Cher, Eure-et-Loir, and Orne. Le ...

Louis XVII, titular king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XVII (Louis Charles), 1785–1795?, titular king of France (1793–95), known in popular legend as the “lost dauphin.” The second son of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, he became ...