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Roman law

(Encyclopedia)Roman law, the legal system of Rome from the supposed founding of the city in 753 b.c. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in a.d. 1453; it was later adopted as the basis of modern civil law. Most aut...

Francis I, emperor of Austria

(Encyclopedia)Francis I, emperor of Austria: see Francis II, Holy Roman emperor. ...

Frederick the Fair

(Encyclopedia)Frederick the Fair, c.1286–1330, German antiking (1314–26), duke of Austria, son of Albert I, German king. On the death of Henry VII, Holy Roman emperor and German king, the split between the supp...

John VII, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)John VII (John Palaeologus) pāˌlēŏlˈəgəs [key], c.1370–1408, Byzantine emperor, grandson of John V. Backed by the sultan Beyazid I, he usurped (1390) the throne from John V but was dethroned ...

West Lothian

(Encyclopedia)West Lothian, council area (1993 est. pop. 146,730), 164 sq mi (425 sq km), and former county, S central Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, West Lothian was divided between the Lothian ...

West, Jerry

(Encyclopedia)West, Jerry (Jerome Alan West), 1938–, American basketball player, b. Cheylan, W.Va. One of the game's great shooting guards, he led West Virginia Univ. to the 1959 National Collegiate Athletic Asso...

West Point

(Encyclopedia)West Point, U.S. military post, since 1802 seat of the United States Military Academy. On the high west bank of the Hudson River N of New York City, West Point was the site of Revolutionary forts guar...

West Prussia

(Encyclopedia)West Prussia, Ger. Westpreussen, former province of Prussia, 9,867 sq mi (25,556 sq km), NE Germany, extending S from the Baltic Sea, between Pomerania on the west and East Prussia on the east. Danzig...

West Bank

(Encyclopedia)West Bank, territory, formerly part of Palestine, after 1949 administered by Jordan, since 1967 largely occupied by Israel (2005 est. pop. 2,386,000), 2,165 sq mi (5,607 sq km), west of the Jordan Riv...

Aetius, Roman general

(Encyclopedia)Aetius, c.396–454, Roman general. At first unfriendly to Valentinian III, he later made his peace with Valentinian's mother, Galla Placidia, and was given a command in Gaul. An ambitious general, he...