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Valois, royal house of France

(Encyclopedia)Valois välwäˈ [key], royal house of France that ruled from 1328 to 1589. At the death of Charles IV, the last of the direct Capetians, the Valois dynasty came to the throne in the person of Philip ...

Sorbonne

(Encyclopedia)Sorbonne sôrbônˈ [key], first endowed college in the Univ. of Paris, founded by Robert de Sorbon (1201–74), chaplain of Louis IX, and opened in 1253 for the purpose of providing quarters for theo...

Phoebe, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Phoebe fēˈbē [key], in astronomy, one of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn IX (or S9), Phoebe is 137 mi (220 km) in diameter, orbits Saturn at a mean distance ...

Boniface, Saint, English missionary monk and martyr

(Encyclopedia)Boniface, Saint bŏnˈĭfəs, –fās [key], c.675–754?, English missionary monk and martyr, called the Apostle of Germany, b. Devonshire, England. His English name was Winfrid. He was educated in t...

Edinburgh, Prince Philip Mountbatten, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Edinburgh, Prince Philip Mountbatten, duke of ĕdˈĭnbərə [key], 1921–2021, consort ...

Edward VII

(Encyclopedia)Edward VII (Albert Edward), 1841–1910, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1901–10). The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he was created prince of Wales almost immediately after his ...

Francis, French prince, duke of Alençon and Anjou

(Encyclopedia)Francis, 1554–84, French prince, duke of Alençon and Anjou; youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. Although ill-shapen, pockmarked, and endowed with a curiously formed no...

Livy

(Encyclopedia)Livy (Titus Livius) lĭvˈē [key], 59 b.c.–a.d. 17, Roman historian, b. Patavium (Padua), probably of noble family. He lived most of his life in Rome. The breadth of his education is apparent in hi...

Laudonnière, René Goulaine de

(Encyclopedia)Laudonnière, René Goulaine de rənāˈ go͞olĕnˈ də lōdônyĕrˈ [key], fl. 1562–82, French colonizer in Florida. After accompanying Jean Ribaut on the first French expedition to Florida (1562...

Gothic romance

(Encyclopedia)Gothic romance, type of novel that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th cent. in England. Gothic romances were mysteries, often involving the supernatural and heavily tinged with horror, and the...