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Christian II

(Encyclopedia)Christian II, 1481–1559, king of Denmark and Norway (1513–23) and Sweden (1520–23), son and successor of King John. After several unsuccessful attempts, he asserted claim to Sweden by force. How...

Charles II, king of Naples

(Encyclopedia)Charles II (Charles the Lame), 1248–1309, king of Naples (1285–1309), count of Anjou and Provence, son and successor of Charles I. In the war of the Sicilian Vespers between Charles I and Peter II...

Henry VII, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry VII, c.1275–1313, Holy Roman emperor (1312–13) and German king (1308–13). A minor count of the house of Luxembourg, Henry was elected German king on the death of King Albert I after the el...

John II, king of Poland

(Encyclopedia)John II (John Casimir), 1609–72, king of Poland (1648–68), son of Sigismund III. He was elected to succeed his brother, Ladislaus IV. The turbulent period of his reign is known in Polish history a...

Christian of Anhalt

(Encyclopedia)Christian of Anhalt, 1568–1630, prince of Anhalt (1603–30). He was a firm Calvinist and a skilled diplomat. As adviser to Frederick IV, elector palatine, he sought to build a strong Protestant all...

John II, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)John II, 1405–54, Spanish king of Castile and León (1406–54), son and successor of Henry III. He was little interested in government, which he entrusted to his favorite Alvaro de Luna. Literature...

Raymond Berengar IV

(Encyclopedia)Raymond Berengar IV bĕrˈəngär [key], d. 1162, count of Barcelona (1131–62). He married Petronilla, daughter and heir of King Ramiro II of Aragón, after whose abdication (1137) Raymond also rule...

Alfonso I, king of Aragón and Navarre

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso I (Alfonso the Battler) ălfŏnˈsō, äl– [key], d. 1134, king of Aragón and Navarre (1104–34), brother and successor of Peter I. The husband of Urraca, queen of Castile, he fought unsuc...

Frederick William II

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William II, 1744–97, king of Prussia (1786–97), nephew and successor of Frederick II (Frederick the Great). He had the power but lacked the ability of his distinguished predecessors. He ...

Charles III, king of Spain, and of Naples and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Charles III, 1716–88, king of Spain (1759–88) and of Naples and Sicily (1735–59), son of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese. Recognized as duke of Parma and Piacenza in 1731, he relinquished the duc...