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Cortes

(Encyclopedia)Cortes kôrˈtĕz, Span. kōrˈtās [key], representative assembly in Spain. The institution originated (12th–13th cent.) in various Spanish regions with the Christian reconquest; until the 19th cen...

Eugénie

(Encyclopedia)Eugénie yo͞ojēˈnē, Fr. özhānēˈ [key], 1826–1920, empress of the French (1853–70), consort of Napoleon III. Born in Spain, she was christened Eugenia María de Montijo de Guzmán and was t...

Bazille, Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Bazille, Frédéric, 1841–70, early French impressionist painter. He abandoned medical school to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, where he met and became friends with Monet, Renoir, and oth...

Barton, Clara

(Encyclopedia)Barton, Clara, 1821–1912, American humanitarian, organizer of the American Red Cross, b. North Oxford (now Oxford), Mass. She taught school (1839–54) and clerked in the U.S. Patent Office before t...

Brazza, Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de

(Encyclopedia)Brazza, Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de pyĕr pōl fräNswäˈ kämēˈyə sävôrnyäNˈ də bräzäˈ [key], 1852–1905, Franco-Italian empire builder. He was born Pietro Paolo Savorgnan...

sonata

(Encyclopedia)sonata sənäˈtə [key], in music, type of instrumental composition that arose in Italy in the 17th cent. At first the term merely distinguished an instrumental piece from a piece with voice, which w...

Limbourg brothers

(Encyclopedia)Limbourg brothers lăNbo͞orˈ [key], fl. 1380–1416, family of Franco-Flemish manuscript illuminators. The Limbourg brothers, Pol, Jan, and Herman, were trained as goldsmiths. They succeeded Jacquem...

Tours

(Encyclopedia)Tours to͞or [key], city (1990 pop. 133,403), capital of Indre-et-Loire dept., W central France, in Touraine, on the Loire River. It is a wine market and a tourist center, with metallurgical, chemical...

Gorchakov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich, Prince

(Encyclopedia)Gorchakov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich, Prince əlyĭksänˈdər mēkhīˈləvĭch, gərchəkôfˈ [key], 1798–1883, Russian diplomat. After serving (1854–56) as ambassador at Vienna, he became Alexand...

Erfurt

(Encyclopedia)Erfurt ĕrˈfo͝ort [key], city, capital of Thuringia, central Germany, on the Gera River. It...

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