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Constans II

(Encyclopedia)Constans II (Constans Pogonatus), 630–68, Byzantine emperor (641–68), son and successor of Constantine III and grandson of Heraclius. Early in his reign Armenia and Asia Minor were invaded by the ...

Narcissus, in Roman history

(Encyclopedia)Narcissus, d. a.d. 54, secretary of the Roman Emperor Claudius I. A freedman with great influence, he revealed to Claudius the intrigue of Messalina and expedited her death (a.d. 48). The woman that N...

Hayman, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hayman, Francis, 1708–76, English painter. Influenced by the French rococo style, Hayman painted conversation pieces—landscape scenes peopled by fashionable contemporaries (see portraiture). He al...

Waltham Holy Cross

(Encyclopedia)Waltham Holy Cross, town (1981 pop. 19,432), Essex, SE England. The abbey there, the Norman nave of which is used as a parish church, was built in 1030 to contain a cross found in Somerset; it was bel...

Cambrai, League of

(Encyclopedia)Cambrai, League of, 1508–10, alliance formed by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, King Louis XII of France, Pope Julius II, King Ferdinand V of Aragón, and several Italian city-states against the re...

John III, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)John III (John Ducas Vatatzes) do͝oˈkəs vətătˈzēz [key], d. 1254, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1222–54), successor and son-in-law of Theodore I. He extended his territory in Asia Minor and th...

Golden Bull

(Encyclopedia)Golden Bull, term translated from the Latin bulla aurea and generally referring to a bull (edict) with a golden seal. Golden bulls were promulgated by medieval Byzantine rulers and by Western European...

Roman art

(Encyclopedia)Roman art, works of art produced in ancient Rome and its far-flung provinces. The continued striving after three-dimensional illusionist effects revealed in the various phases of painting was dup...

Brooke, Alan Francis

(Encyclopedia)Brooke, Alan Francis: see Alanbrooke, Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount. ...

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