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Ferdinand II, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II, 1578–1637, Holy Roman emperor (1619–37), king of Bohemia (1617–37) and of Hungary (1618–37); successor of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias. Grandson of Ferdinand I, son of Archduke Ch...

Casimir II

(Encyclopedia)Casimir II, 1138–94, duke of Poland (1177–94), youngest son of Boleslaus III. A member of the Piast dynasty, he drove his brother Mieszko III from power at Kraków in 1177 and became the principal...

Urban II

(Encyclopedia)Urban II, c.1042–1099, pope (1088–99), a Frenchman named Odo (or Eudes) of Lagery; successor of Victor III. He studied at Reims and became a monk at Cluny. He went to Rome, as prior of Cluny, earl...

Hassan II

(Encyclopedia)Hassan II häˈsän [key], 1929–99, king of Morocco (1961–99). Formerly crown prince Moulay Hassan ben Mohammed Alaoui, he ascended the throne on the death (1961) of his father, Muhammad V. A grad...

Agesilaus II

(Encyclopedia)Agesilaus II əjĕˌsĭlāˈəs [key], c.444–360 b.c., king of Sparta. After the death of Agis I (398? b.c.), he was brought to power by Lysander, whom he promptly ignored. After the Peloponnesian W...

Mitchell, William

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, William (Billy Mitchell), 1879–1936, American army officer and pilot, b. Nice, France. He enlisted (1898) in the U.S. army in the Spanish-American War and received a commission in the regu...

Chatham, William Pitt, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Chatham, William Pitt, 1st earl of chătˈəm [key], 1708–78, British statesman, known as the Great Commoner. Proud, dramatic, and patriotic, Chatham excelled as a war minister and orator. He was th...

Oscar II

(Encyclopedia)Oscar II, 1829–1907, king of Sweden (1872–1907) and Norway (1872–1905), younger son of Oscar I. He succeeded his brother, Charles XV. He refused to concede to Norway its own consular representat...

Justin II

(Encyclopedia)Justin II, d. 578, Byzantine emperor (565–78), nephew and successor to Justinian I. He allied himself with the Turks and resumed the wars with Persia. During his reign Slavs and Avars attacked the e...

Justinian II

(Encyclopedia)Justinian II (Justinian Rhinotmetus), 669–711, Byzantine emperor (685–95, 705–11), son and successor of Constantine IV. He successfully invaded Arab territory but lost the advantage through a tr...